My Surprise

As a general rule, I'm pretty lame. Therefore the things that excite me tend to be pretty lame too. With that said, I can tell you about my "surprise" mentioned in the last post.

Yesterday Mr. N and I met in NYC so we could attend the temple after his school got out. We arranged to meet at the train station when I got in, and then would take the subway to the temple. Like a nerd, I decided to leave a little early and surprise him at his school. I don't know why, but I was so excited. I caught an early train (a million thanks to my mom for watching the girls!) and got to the city at about 3:00 pm (instead of the agreed upon 5:00 pm). I was thrilled that I didn't even get lost...I actually felt fairly comfortable and knew where I was heading. It all made sense...and I attribute it to looking at a map on the Internet and a prayer prior to getting to the city. I even got a free soda on the walk. They're always handing out free samples there. The whole walk there I was so excited, imagining what Mr. N would say/do. I kept grinning hugely at random times during the walk as I thought about it. People probably thought I was nuts...but I thing a quarter of the city is nuts, so maybe no one cared. I got to the school and tried to think of a novel idea of how to let him know I was there. I didn't just want to walk up to his floor and into his classroom...not because anyone would care, but because I knew in the afternoons they worked with live models and there are some things I'd rather not see! I racked my brains but came up with nothing brilliant. How disappointing. Finally I settled on just calling him and asking him what he was doing and if he was busy. Then I told him I was at his school. He was surprised, and asked where I was. I told him, and he told me to come up. As it turns out, Tuesday afternoons the students work on portraits. It's the only afternoon of the week they don't draw the full body. That worked out well for me. I was able to go in and watch him draw. It really is amazing to watch him work, and it was nice to be able to do so without having to keep the girls from destroying stuff.

We left the school about 15 minutes before class was actually over and started the 15 block walk to the Temple. We planned on catching a subway, but didn't come across the right line until we were about 5 blocks away...and by then we were almost there so it wasn't worth the ride. The New York Temple is actually one of my favorite temples. Not because it's incredibly beautiful on the outside like some other temples, but because of the tangible difference in the spirit when you enter it. For me it has to do with how fast paced and chaotic New York City is. It's loud and noisy, people are always yelling things and cars are honking. It's not a place I feel calm in. But as soon as you enter the temple doors, and they close behind you, everything is quiet and peaceful. It's like walking into another world. Like walking through the doors of Heaven. At other Temples I haven't felt such a stark difference as I feel walking into the Manhattan Temple. The temple grounds are always so peaceful, as is the drive knowing you're going to the temple. It's more of a gradual increasing of holiness as you journey to the temple. With the Manhattan temple it's like stepping from one of the most worldly, hellish places in the world to the most Heavenly. Just a few steps. I love it. When you're inside the city fades. Everything calms down and becomes peaceful and time stands still. If Mr. N and I hadn't gotten married in the Las Vegas Temple (which I love and honestly would not want to change), I think I would have liked being married in Manhattan. It wasn't really a practical option for us though.

After the temple we took the subway, then train, then drove, and arrived home. It was a late night. I don't think we actually got to bed until midnight, and Mr. N had to be up at 4:30 am today to start another day. Poor guy. Luckily he has the rest of the week off (again, we love Thanksgiving) so he should have plenty of time to rest up!