Though Spring has officially begun, we are still grabbing our down jackets every morning as Alexa cheerfully reminds us of the 20-30 degree temperatures outside and high chance of snow showers next week. Regardless, the slow changing of the season has definitely been noticeable – the sun is out more often, the nets on the tennis courts have finally been put back, and our much needed Spring Break a few weeks ago was fantastic!
Our spring break adventures started off in Irvine, where we ate delicious Taiwanese food, sampled ice cream in a puffle cone, caught up with college friends, and celebrated the lovely wedding of our dear friend Christine!
Since we no longer live within a days drive of Southern California, we also used the opportunity to visit my little brother Brandon at UCSD. He was a wonderful host, and we enjoyed some Mexican food, coastal views, and quality board game time (I’m really into Bohnanza right now, it’s an amazing game).
After our short SoCal stay, we flew out to New York City to play! Thanks to the 3+ itineraries and many suggestions we gathered from friends, our 4-day trip was packed with “must-sees” and “must-eats” as we wandered through the boroughs. We clocked in close to 10-miles a day on foot in the 30 degree weather, but it was totally worth it (and totally necessary to burn off the food we were eating…)!
Manhattan highlights: watching Chicago on Broadway, Juniors Cheesecake, lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar, Joe’s Pizza, walking through Central Park, touring NY Public Library, Xi’an Famous Foods, Museum of Chinese in America, pizza and cannoli in Little Italy
Brooklyn highlights: bagels, Brooklyn bridge park
Harlem highlights: Levain Bakery cookies, lunch at Sylvia’s, Amateur night at the Apollo Theater
Queens highlights: Ramen Shack, Flushing!!
We came back pretty exhausted (especially me because I got some sort of stomach bug on the last night of our travels and barely made it on the plane back to Milwaukee), but it was so nice to have the stress-free week of not doing school things!
Overall, spring semester has been smoother than the fall, and we have been enjoying new experiences, having friends over frequently for dinner/game nights, growing closer to our neighborhood community church small group, finally seeing Black Panther, and making our apartment feel more like home. We are also celebrating our one year wedding anniversary at the end of this month, and we are so thankful for all the ways God has provided for us and blessed us beyond belief!
Happy (belated) Easter! He is Risen!
grablifebythehorngs 