A trip to the museum

When the weather turns too cold to stroll around New York, we love checking out the city's many amazing art museums. We took a trip recently to the Whitney Museum of Art in downtown New York City. The Whitney has been around for decades, but it only recently reopened in a new building on the west side, that has amazing views over the Hudson River to our home state of New Jersey.

The current exhibit at the Whitney is devoted to an amazing artists named Frank Stella, who makes very colorful paintings and three-dimensional sculptures. We both loved this exhibit and took a bunch of pictures of ourselves in front of the artwork.

Nate in front of one of Frank Stella's optical illusion paintings. 

Halloween ...... just around the corner!

Here we are, mid-way through the fall and Halloween is just around the corner. If you are like me - for whom costume picking is not a forte - picking up a wacky, haphazardly self-made, costume is still lots of fun. Leave it to Chris to outshine me with his cool tiger costume. Below are some of our wacky costume photos.

Nate in a hand-made alligator costume

Chris in a "real" life Tiger costume

A weekend in the big city

Our favorite time of the year in New York City is the fall, when it's finally cool enough to walk the streets, and when all the new Broadway shows and museum exhibits premiere. We recently spent a busy weekend in the city, shopping, eating at our favorite restaurant, strolling through Central Park, going to a concert and seeing a Broadway musical.

Nate waiting for the ferry to New York City

A selfie at Lincoln Center, where we went to a great concert

Chris' photography experiments

A couple of years ago, Chris took an evening class in photography at a nearby university. Since then, he's been driving everyone crazy, constantly snapping pictures and asking people to pose, and trying to experiment with different angles and lenses.

Here's a few samples of his recent photographs. Let us know in the comments which are your favorites.

A cool view of the famous Colgate clock in New Jersey

An old-fashioned auto supply store in rural Vermont, where we visited last year

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Living in New Jersey provides us proximity to the hustle and bustle of the City and also to landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island. This summer we hopped on a ferry and got to witness the majesty of the Statue of Liberty and the rich history of Ellis Island. Both places offered great amusement and valuable history insights on the immigrant origins of the US.

Chris taking a shot of Statue of Liberty

Why summer is the best time to cook

Chris loves to cook. Nate loves to eat. We always say it's a match made in heaven.

And Chris' favorite time of the year to cook is the summer and fall — when fresh vegetables are available from the farmer's market, and when the basil we grow on our fire escape is in full bloom.

Our uncle gave us this cucuzza squash that he grew in his garden.
Cooked with some olive oil and garlic, it was delicious!

There have been a lot of peaches at the farmers' market this year, and so Chris decided to make a pie.

Tucker in action

One of our favorite things to do is to take our dog Tucker to the park near our house, where he  chases squirrels and runs to his heart's content. Here's him at the park, running in slo-motion:

Tucker also loves to play with other dogs. Here are some of our favorite pictures of him:

Is summer really over?

Seems like just yesterday we were complaining about how cold it was in the Northeast, and wondering if summer would ever arrive. And now it's almost September 21, and we're wondering how the last three months could have gone by so quickly.

We had a great summer, though, and got to do a lot of traveling.

Nate in Albania, where we spent a week exploring the beaches and ancient ruins

In June, we spent a long weekend in Vermont and Massachusetts, enjoying the beautiful scenery. 

In July, we travelled to Europe. We spent our first week in France, visiting Paris and then the northern part of the country. Then we spent our second week on the coast Albania, swimming in the sea and eating fresh caught fish.

In August, Chris travelled to Washington D.C. for a work event.

And then we finished the summer with friends on the beach in Connecticut.

Our hotel room in Paris had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower

Here are some pictures we took along the way:

Chris in front of the Palace of Versailles in France

America's newest citizen

Earlier this month, after sixteen years living in the United States, Nate became a naturalized American citizen. It was an amazing day for him. He stood beside nearly 100 other people, from 35 different countries, all of whom were becoming citizens that day. What an amazing sight to see, all of these people – many of whom left war-torn countries — getting to become citizens and experience the liberty and freedom that the United States promises. We were both filled with pride and patriotism.

Welcome to our adoption journey

We are a married couple, living in New Jersey. We met in 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas, and got married in 2013. A year later, we decided to relocate from Texas to New Jersey, in order to be closer to our families and to start a family of our own.

We can't wait to adopt a child of any race or background. Our promise to you is to give your child all of the love, support and opportunities he or she deserves.

We are embarking on the adoption journey with our utmost love and devotion. We both adore children, and we are especially excited about the prospect of sharing our passions and joys -- home-cooked meals; reading; traveling the world -- with a son or daughter.

Chris (according to Nate)

An amazing cook, an accomplished writer, an adventurous reader -- these are just a few attributes that describe Chris. What best sums up Chris, though, is that he is a devoted and generous soul, who fights for what he believes in, and who loves his family deeply.

Chris is passionate about education. He is a gifted writer who has written for magazines and newspapers, and even published a novel. He already has a shelf of books that he wants to read to our son or daughter.

Nate (according to Chris)

Nate is the bravest, most curious and most loyal person I know. He came to the United States from Albania by himself as a teenager, and put himself through college and graduate school.

He's incredibly curious about the world, and he believes fiercely that education never stops. He speaks four languages (English, Albanian, Italian and French), and reads every newspaper and magazine he can get his hands on.

Yet for all of Nate's hard work, he also has a playful side. He loves music, and is usually at the center of any dance floor. He likes to take bike rides and to go for runs with our dog.

He also has an amazing love for children. He can spend hours playing with our nephews and nieces. "Uncle Nate" is everybody's favorite, because the kids know he'll push them higher than anyone else on the swing, and read them as many storybooks as they like.

Nate's family

Nate's family lives in Europe. We visit them at least once a year, and enjoy vacations on the seaside with them. They also love to visit us in the United States, and take in the sights of New York City.

During rehearsal dinner

At Brooklyn Bridge

Chris' family

Chris grew up in New York, and has a huge family: three siblings, six nephews and nieces, and two great-nephews and nieces. His family members get together all the time for parties and holidays. (There will be lots of babysitters and cousins for the new arrival!) His parents are excited to welcome their tenth grandchild.

At our wedding

At a media event

Our home

We live in New Jersey on a historic street lined with brownstones and trees. We love spending the weekends exploring our neighborhood, which has amazing views of the New York City skyline. We're only a ten minute train ride to Manhattan, so we also spend a lot of time attending Broadway plays and trying new restaurants. The other member of our family is Tucker, our 8-year-old Jack Russell terrier. Tucker is incredibly affectionate and patient with children. He particularly loves trips to the dog park. Like a lot of kids, though, he hates taking baths. 

Front steps

At the dog park

Celebrating the holidays

Our favorite time of the year is the holiday season, and the opportunities it brings to spend time with family and friends. For Thanksgiving, Chris prepares an elaborate feast: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and apple pie. For Christmas, Nate is in charge of the decorations. We open our presents on Christmas morning, and can't wait to share that special day with our son or daughter. Come New Year's Eve, it's an epic party with Chris' family -- lots of noisemakers and games as we celebrate into the early morning.

Thanksgiving turkey

Chris serving turkey for Thanksgiving

Travels and vacations

We both love to travel and discover different corners of the world -- and we can't wait to share these adventures with our child. Nate's family lives in Europe, and we visit at least once a year, enjoying beautiful and relaxing vacations on the Mediterranean Sea. Some of our other favorite places to travel are Los Angeles, Texas, Vermont and Canada. A few years ago, Nate's job sent him to Australia, where we lived for four months, petting kangaroos and spotting koala bears in the wild!

Kangaroos in Melbourne, Australia

Koala in Victoria, Australia

Our nephews, nieces and godchildren

We both love kids -- their sense of joy and wonder is an inspiration. We are lucky to be surrounded by nephews, nieces and godchildren, who enrich our lives (and who can't wait for another cousin to play with). 

Playtime with our niece Ava

New Year's eve with our nephews and nieces