My favorite place on Earth.

There is only one place I'd ever rather be than home. That place is New York City. If you've read this blog for a while, you know of my love for New York.

Today is always hard for me, every year. I know it is for everyone in this country. I have a love for this city that I can't really explain. It was love at first sight, and I fall in love more every time I'm there. It's electric, it's alive, it's beautiful, it's serene, it's amazing.

In late August of 2001, my husband took me to NYC for my first trip. I loved it like I knew I would. If I lived another life before this one, I know I was a New Yorker.

We went to the top of the Statue of Liberty, and got shots with the skyline as the background:
This is a picture of a picture because our scanner isn't working today, so excuse the quality. I still find it eerie how you can barely see the towers behind me. Less than two weeks later, those towers were gone. I treasure this picture so much!

Today I thought it appropriate to share a few of my favorite pictures of NYC with you. The first (above) was a makeshift cross created by the workers at Ground Zero.

My favorite shot of Lady Liberty (again, sorry about the quality):
A view of the city from to top of Rockefeller Center (the best views are seen from here), from my most recent trip in January:

The city is so big, you just can't fathom it until you drive up to the island and see it...breathtaking. (This view is just half of it.)

In my opinion, Times Square at night is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen:

ALIVE!

My husband took his band there the January after the attacks. We were supposed to go to Japan and cancelled that trip for obvious reasons. Instead, we thought the best place to go would be our favorite city. We thought it was important the students be there at that time.

This is just some of what we saw at Ground Zero:

Absolutely, positively heartbreaking and heart-filling at the same time.

People would stop us on the street, seeing all the students, and thank us for coming to their city. I don't care what anyone says, New Yorkers are some of the best people on Earth.

You don't think of natural beauty when you think of New York, but Central Park is hands down one of the most gorgeous places I've been:

I know it sounds cliche, but we can't forget. I know it's getting easier to, but we just can't. We need to remind ourselves every year, we need to teach our children about it. We need to keep praying, healing, loving. On a trip a few years after 9-11, this was written on one of the walls around Ground Zero, and it still makes me cry:
God Bless America.