sight.

Have you used lightroom? I started messing around with it the other day and thought i'd show a few of my masterpieces (ya right). That's what brought on the "sight" idea. The way we see things is incredible. If you don't know what building this is then you don't deserve to.

up close and in detail...

or out the window of a car driving through maine. If you had to enter one of them, which one would it be...my answer will be at the end of the post.

or at my alma-mater

or at the place I want to take Julie most. Lake Windermere

or a secret shot from my waist in one of the most beautiful architectural feats in Londy.

Or the spot where Julie said yes.

or one of earth's greatest mysteries

or in the land where it all began

or through the art of the self timer

the eye and the camera and a computer can do some pretty amazing things. sight is an incredible thing. so notice what is around you and try to see it in a new way. i'd go in the the one on the right second from the top. and only in my dreams did i go to Columbia.

Cruisin with my Broskis

So Mom and Dad were awesome enough to take me and the brothers on an awesome cruise. It was so fun to be there with my 4 brothers and my parents. I don't know the last time the 5 of us were all together at the same time. These are pics from Cozumel where we rented scooters and drove all over the island. Tal was with us in spirit as he met up with us there in Cozumel.

Here's Josh with his camera strapped in tightly (which was a good thing cause there were some unexpected bumps.

Here's Noah showing some leg. These little things were pretty fast.

I almost fell off my scooter trying to take these pics while going...so I hope you can appreciate them.

We all drove along in a little caravan. All following behind mom and dad who opted for one of these instead of the scooters. Dad is obsessed with these things. I drove it too. Pretty fast little pups. I hope he really gets one.Here we are with Pops after formal dinner night. The food was so dang good. We went through a lot of food at our table each night. Had to try at least 2 or 3 of everything...appetizers, dessert, and entrees.

And with our Beautiful Mom. What a lady she is to put up with 6 guy for a week. It was so fun to sit there for hours at dinner or lunch or on the deck, or wherever to have really in depth conversations and discussions about everything from the economy to politics, to hopes and dreams. I have some great brothers as role models. It was awesome to get their take on life and how they do things.

Here is something I had to show people. Every night the room steward left these animals on our beds made out of towels. We had a good laugh about this seductively posed puppy.

Here we are at Chichen Itza. These incredible Mayan ruins. 7 square miles of pyramids and ruins. Some for the 5th century AD and the newer part from the 10th century AD. These explorers went out in the 1850s in search of what was a legend of an old city. And happened onto these incredible ruins that had been buried in the jungle. (Notice the pyramid shape of our heights as well).

We had a grand old time. Even though we weren't able to go to Roatan Island in Honduras b/c of a political uprising, or to Belize because of a big old tropical storm. We had a whole lot of fun scuba diving in Cayman, and a trip to the Turtle farm (see video of mom below). In Cozumel on scooters and snorkeling, and in Progreso (a replacement site for the places we couldn't go) at Chichen Itza. Or on the "fun days at sea" as they called them, eating up a storm. Cruises are also a great motivator to get in and stay in shape as there are some gigantic people lumbering around. Other highlights were watching some awesome Red Sox games on the boat, only to be let down in game 7 after we got off the boat (luck ran out), the waterslide, having fun with drunk people. Thanks mom and dad, that was a trip to remember!

Here are a few more pics for the fam and my bro's wives cause I know no one else will post pics (except maybe Josh). And one more, can't forget this awesome little room we packed into. The beds folded out of the ceiling. It was sweet!

Mom Likes Turtles.

life

so i just realized it has been a while since i have written on here. and it really has. i mean if i am a blogger i need to keep up with my sisters who blog like 8 times a day. just kidding, their blogs are awesome. anyway. life is good for me and jules. i've been trying long and hard to deny the fact that we moved back to utah, provo nonetheless, but i have come to grasps with it and it is going to be a great year. julie is finishing nursing school this year, and so we'll be here until next june, from there, who knows.

i am in new york city right now, and being here is really making me feel that we need to move back here. we just had a little taste of it as we lived here this summer, but this place there is just a feeling about it that is so...well hard to describe. there is just a great energy about this place. i am here helping noah with some dinners he is hosting this week for work. imagine learning sent me out here to help him, can't complain about that other than the fact that julie isn't here. all the brothers and my parents got to go on a cruise last week in the carribean so i have only seen julie for about 24 hours in the last 12 days and it is killing me. she is an amazing girl. it is weird to go from being with someone so much for so long, and then not to see her at all. it is killing me. it really makes me love and appreciate her more though, so in some ways it has been good, still though, i don't plan on doing it again any time soon.

well, that should do for now, i will put some pics on of our apt and the cruise and some other stuff when i get home. this world is an amazing place. think of all it has to offer, think of how much of it you haven't seen. set a goal and go to the place.

the jazz start in less than a week. i am so bloody excited. julie's even excited. talk about progress. this is the year. if you don't believe me then do me a favor and give yourself a nice big slap in the face.

Maine Anybody

We had a beauty trip up to Boston, NH, and Maine on our way out of the East Coast. That place is so beautiful. We had a fun day in Boston and had dinner with Saydi and Jeff and co and walked the freedom trail. It is pretty cool how much history is in that city. We then drove up to New Hampshire and Maine and spent a couple of days there (went back to Boston in between as we were a bit late on booking the overpriced B&Bs. So Saydi was nice enough to let us stay in her B&B aka Cappy Cap while she was camping with her fam. I found myself taking pictures left and right. That place is about as picturesque as it gets. A church on every corner, beatiful beaches with dune grass and white sand, the beginnings of fall (colors) and boats.

His head fell off.

Quite the fire escape system. Can you see the reflection? There were a lot of cool pics, so I decided to do a couple slide shows. The first is Boston and NH and second is Maine. We are back in Utah now. Adjusting would be a good way to describe it. It is going to be a fun year though. Julie had a great first week of school, and we are now in the process of deciding just where to live... the next post will probably be about that. But for now, enjoy these pics below. Sox are going to win the AL East...mark my words.

Sunset on New York

This is one of the coolest sunsets that I have seen. You see red and orange a lot, but not so much purple and blue. It was significant of our summer in New York coming to an end. It was an absolutely incredible summer that we'll never forget. We'll never for 1409 York Avenue Apt. 2b. Even though it was short, it was our first home. It was where we began our marriage and started something incredible. It was awfully hard to leave as I had a bit of a lump in my throat...but we'll be back. Thanks to Julie who was willing to go with me this summer and thanks to Tal and Noah and Kristi for all the good times we had this summer. We're back in Utah now and Julie is back in school...we'll see what the next few weeks entail as far as where to live and what I will be doing for work.

We finished off the summer with a trip up to Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine. It was beautiful, with some foliage already occurring (the changing of the leaves). Pics of that to come.

US Open

It has always been a dream of mine to find myself at the US Open, and last night it came true. We were there and we saw some amazing matchese. In particular, this one between James Blake and Donald Young (the up and coming American). The match went 5 sets and ended at about 12:45 am. But that is what is awesome about the US Open they just keep playing and the fans stay pretty dang roudy. It was an amazing match between two of the quickest guys I have ever seen. Blake ended up winning 6-4 in the 5th, but I am telling you what watch out for Donald Young. I think he is my new favorite player. Just a 19 year old pup. This was Julie's induction to the world of pro tennis (live) and judging by her yelling and getting into it as much as me...I think she liked it.

So knowing the Eyre mentality, soon enough me, Julie, Tal, Noah, and Dad found ourselfs on the front row on the baseline, which are the best seats in the house. It got a little late for the wealthy folk that had the tickets, so we took advantage. We were sitting right on top of the players and had a beauty view. The match got better and better as we sat there. This was highlighted not only by the match, but by Dad getting on the jumbo tron while he was dancing and doing peace signs between games (peace signs, I tell you the guy is a born politician).

Here is Donald Young, an awesome 19 year old from Chicago that wears hit hat a little bit to the side (just watch a rap music video if you don't know what I am talking about). He played incredibly. The whole crowd was behind him as he made his run.

Noah and Tal have pulled this off before, but for me and Julie it was a first (the Open). It was inspiring to watch these guys play, makes me wish I would have done more to go further in tennis. Not like I would have played in the US Open but maybe in college. We got home about 2am, now we are getting ready to head out there again with Dad for the day session today...then tonight Dad and I are going to Red Sox v. Yankees...Can you have a better sports day, I mean seriously. More pics to come.

THE POLICE

Yes, that is me and Sting. Tal got tickets to The Police concert at Jones Beach last Monday. He won them at an auction at a Unitus fundraiser. Unitus is an awesome nonprofit that does microfinance all over the world. The Police teamed up with them for this reunion tour and because of that they donated all access passes to the concerts to be auctioned off at Unitus fundraisers. So that would explain why I am standing right next to him in the picture. We got to go up on the stage for the sound check to meet him and the members of the band. Then he even let us sing with him for a couple of songs. There were some 30 something girls that were obsessed with him and kind of hogged the microphone, but nonetheless it was really cool.

Here we are singing "Message in a Bottle," after we finished Sting looked over at us and said "you know you were singing into a dead mic right?" That was pretty funny, but those girls wouldn't let us near the other mic.

So we had the backstage tour that included seeing all the backstage stuff including the tour busses and learning how the whole tour works. Quite a lot goes into these things. This was the 3rd to last show of the tour of about 200 shows.

We only had 2 tickets but we lucked out and got Noah in for the actual show so he was there to see it with us. It was awesome to be there with my bros to see a band that we have heard since we were kids. There are a few more pics below and a video or two. Thanks Tal!

A Quarter

I am not writing this to glorify my own birthday, but I am writing it to tell you how amazing Julie is. She knows that I love surprises and that I was probably hoping for some sort of surprise, and let's just say she surprised me...and I didn't even see it coming. Started out with her surprising me in the morning with my favorite waffles and strawberries, (she's found another way to my heart other than the Jazz). Then she headed off to work (or so she said). I worked that morning and then met up with Noah in the afternoon to go over some stuff for work and make sure we were on the same page on stuff.


So she calls me from work (which was a bit false as I later found out) to tell me that she needed me to meet her at home at 5:15 and to get my tennis shoes (what the heck?). So I headed home, open the door, get scared half to death by Julie with this in front of me.


In case you can't figure it out, that is a giant 25 spelled out with donuts and bagels on our table. Donuts and Bagels huh? So I told Julie about a time when Jonah and I were in NYC a couple years ago visiting Noah. We went to Dunkin Donuts at closing time and asked them if they would be throwing out any old donuts (supposedly they bake fresh daily, which turned out to be true). We were expecting a dozen or so. The guy preceded to fill up 3 garbage bags full of donuts and muffins. We looked at each other, slung the bags over our shoulder and headed home to show Aja and Kristi. They were surprised and grossed out at the same time. The next night Noah and I tried our luck at Krispy Kreme, and came away with 12 dozen boxed up beauties. We were pretty excited about our feat. So anyway, I guess Julie concocted up the plan to do the same, not to eat, but to make a creation. and she sure did. There were probably like 150 or so donuts and bagels making up this beauty held together by toothpicks. She had spread silver baloons and quarters ALL over the apartment (you know, silver, quarter, 25). Needless to say she surprised me. I think that would surprise me any day, a huge mass of donuts telling you how old you are.


here are some shots of the apt as well, for those of you who haven't seen. a nice little studio apt in manhattan.


just in case this is making you hungry here are a few close ups



She knows she surprised me pretty good, you can see it in her eyes...you can also see that she still has a few more up her sleeve.


So from there Noah and Kristi came and picked us up and we headed to a place in the Bronx called City Island. This beautiful little harbor style town on an island. We went to an awesome little seafood restaurant right on the harbor and had some great Lobster and fish. We were accompanied by the lovely Lyla (N and K's new baby girl) and had a great time, and saw an incredible sunset unfold.


Noah put on his best digs for the occasion.



Water and boats make sunsets that much more incredible. The NYC skyline is on the horizon right in the middle if you can see it.


Then after I thought the surprises were over, we headed back to Noah and Kristi's for the best cake I have ever tasted, adorned in querters, chocolate, and raspberries...(some more keys to my heart, well not so much quarters I am more like a benjamin type of guy, but definitely raspberries and chocolate). Serious you gotta ask Julie to make it for you sometime.



So, Julie definitely set the precedent. She surprised me. Period. Again and again, and I loved every minute of it. Julie is an amazing woman. Life is incredible when you have your best friend right there, thinking about you all the time. I love you Jules. This is just the first of many to come. Stay tuned for some crazy surprises in this marriage!

Wave Hill - The Kew Gardens of America

Last weekend Mr. London took us to Wave Hill. This absolutely beautiful British style estate and garden up above the Bronx overlooking the Hudson and the Palisades. The art of gardening is one of my favorite things about England...while we were there I felt like I was right back in England. In the middle of the estate is the house, a beauty built in the 1830's that has had some pretty amazing tenants...the likes of Teddy Roosevelt and Mark Twain. The place was gorgeous, and it had just rained which made the flowers even more beautiful to be photographed. Have a look.

metropolitan

this is one of the most photographic spots there is. there is a post below so read that too.

life in the city

 

This right here, is why I love this city. Look at that. This has been such a beautiful summer up until this point. Though there have been some ridiculously hot days...and some serious humidity...overall, it has been so beautiful. Last week, Julie and I did one of my favorite things, which is to spend time on the Brooklyn Bridge. This time though, to make it even better, we went over to Brooklyn to Grimaldi's and got this incredible pizza and took it with us on the bridge and ate some dinner there together right on the bridge. It was an absolutely beautiful evening.

 

When we got there, the sun was just setting, so we got to see the sunset with the skyline in front of it.

 

This little hole in the wall has some of the best pizza I have ever had.

 

Here we are dining on the bridge. I gotta say that is one of my favorite things about living here in New York. It is basically like, you want it, you got it. You want authentic Italian pizza on the Brooklyn Bridge, you got it. You want a little Shakespeare in Central Park you got it, you want a little BO wiff when you walk past someone on a hot day, you got it...and so on. We are having an incredible summer...work is going great for both of us. I am working with Noah and really enjoying it, and Julie is temping and finds herself in all sorts of offices from hedge funds to banks, to you name it.
We had a great trip up to Boston, but Saydi has the pics and I haven't got them yet. Mom and Dad were here last week, and now Josh is here. So we are definately keeping busy. I have been helping Noah remodel his bathroom over the last week or so and I must say it looks quite nice. And to put icing on the cake. Kristi had her baby girl this morning at like 7. We (me, Julie, Tal, and Josh) were all over for dinner last night, and all was perfectly fine. Noah has been guessing for weeks, that the baby would come on June 30. And he must be able to read the future or something, cause this morning I got a message that they were at the hospital and Kristi was about to have the baby. So, I am here with McKay while we wait for Kristi to rest a bit, then I get to take McKay to the hospital to meet his new little sister!
Life is good in New York.

marriage/new york/you have a fire/mugginess

this has to be one of my favorites from the wedding. how beautiful does julie look. i love seeing julie every day and thinking wow that is my wife. i can't believe how time flies. it seems like just a minute ago that i was sitting there taking this picture with my beautiful wife of a couple hours. now all the sudden it has been nearly a month and half and we are here sweltering in Microwave City aka New York City. it was 97 today with enough humidity to make your body wonder if you are at the center of the earth or something. the good news is...it will be 98 tomorrow.

but who am i to complain. i am here in my favorite place with my favorite person. it has been so incredible to experience all of this with julie. here in new york, on our own, walking into this whole marriage thing. we learn so much about each other each day, and things just keep getting better. i am loving her a little more every day. it is so crazy to go from being single, (being your own self, doing what you want, when you want) to being married where suddenly you aren't making decisions for yourself anymore, you are making decisions two. what an incredible transition it is. so fun in so many ways, so tough in a couple of ways, but mainly just an awesome ride and a part of our lives that julie and i will certainly never forget.

it is so amazing to always have someone to turn to for advice. or to turn to tell a story, or someone just to talk to. and to know that that person loves you as much as you love them. it is just something you can't really imagine until you are there in the moment. all of you married people who are reading this are probably like "man just wait for this or that, or you don't know what the heck you are talking about" but really, i am just telling you what i am experiencing.

it has been an awesome week, and couple of weeks now that we have been here. one of my mission companions and his wife were in town, had some fun with them catching up. mark, one of my best buddies from childhood was here with his dad as they were passing through on their way home from europe. we have had a lot of fun with noah an kristi, including a trip to Hershey PA for some good chocolate, a sweet 1.5 star hotel, getting into Hershey Park for free (a theme park there with some wicked awesome roller coasters, we asked like 30 people to let us in for free, finally someone gave in and let us in (tix were 60 bucks a pop) so we lucked out), and some awesome amish country and amish people. see the pics below.

one quick story, the other day, julie and i went out for our "sweet we made it throuhg the first month of marriage" dinner at this awesome thai place that julie found. anyway so the food was awesome, there was this greek guy and his girlfriend sitting next to us, probably in the 50s or so. and throughout dinner they asked a couple questions about nyc and the states as this was their first trip. so julie, got up to go the bathroom and while she was gone, the guy asked me if i knew any night clubs in the area where they could go have a drink. i tried my best to think of somewhere to send him (really had no idea what i was talking about (i gave up clubbing in 9th grade). anyway so he is in the middle of sentence in a thick accent and he says in the same tone "you have a fire," and i was like "what?" then again he says, "you have a fire" in a total monotone voice. just then i see something out of the corner of my eye. my napkin was on fire. i picked it up and tried to shake it out which just made the flame bigger. so i had a pretty nice fire going in the restaurant when this sweet asian dude comes running over and just like me, he picks up the napkin and shakes it, only to make the flame a little bigger. so then he grabs my big glass of water and starts dumping it all over the the table, and finally the fire went out. it was hilarious though, you kind of had to be there. but just imagine a monotone accented voice saying "you have a fire" then the confusion or a big fire on your table and then an asian guy dumping your water all over the table. that might make you chuckle a little. and oh ya, the cause was that i accidentally pushed the napkin over the candle where it was sitting.

so anyway life is awesome here in new york. it is hot and muggy, but that is all part of the experience. thank goodness for cold showers and refridgerators. not thank goodness for B.O. and the nasty smells that the heat does to garbage bags on the street. here is a pic or two of the hershey adventure, more pics to come when i load them on my computer. hope life is beauty in your neck of the woods.