Thank You!

It's almost 8 am here in NYC. I'm sitting in bed waiting for room service to be delivered. We were supposed to head up to the Upper West Side to have breakfast at one of the fire houses up there, but it is our last morning here and we are exhausted. James more so than me!

It's been a wonderful trip. I'll be writing about it all soon, but today I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who made it possible. James was one of less than 100 firefighters to make the climb yesterday. He climbed with people from all over the world - New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Seattle - and it was amazing to see all those people come together. Especially after visiting the 9/11 Memorial Museum earlier that day. I'll be sharing more pictures later, but here's one from the museum. 

This was the Ladder 3 truck. Most of the men on this truck died on 9/11. I have so many thoughts on the museum; there was one voicemail in particular that I listened to that has stuck with me. 

But more about that later. Now our room service is here and I am going to enjoy the last few hours we have in the city before we head home. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

New York, Here We Come!

It's really happening y'all. Flights are booked, bags are packed, and we are ready to go!

And I want to say thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen. We've had so much support as we threw this trip together. The GoFundMe campaign blew me away! And we are still receiving financial donations from some of you, which is amazing. We could not have made this happen without your help, truly.

I will, of course, be taking a ton of pictures on this trip, and I will share them with you wonderful people when we get back! Our itinerary isn't set in stone (nothing ever is where James is concerned!) so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. We are for sure attending a pre-climb meet up at the Blind Pig on Sunday (where they will be fundraising for the charities involved in the climb) and going to the 9/11 Museum on Monday before the climb. I also have some 30 Before Thirty items to check off the list (breakfast at Tiffanys!) and I would love to go to a UCB show.

So bring on the suggestions! What do we have to do in our short visit to NYC? I've had lots of different feedback on the major landmarks like the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and Rockefeller Center, but what do you think? I'd love to know!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

Send James to NYC for the Firefighter Stair Climb!

Yesterday James texted me a link to the NYC Firefighter Stair Climb and said he wanted to go. I laughed. The climb is on March 16th, there was no way we could go to New York in less than two weeks. Clearly he'd forgotten who he married. I'm the kinda person who plans everything out in advance.

But after I got home last night we talked about it in more detail. That's when I realized how much he really wants to do this. So now we are going to try to make it happen, but we do need a little help!

First, let me tell you what this event is. The NYC Firefighter Stair Climb is New York City's first annual stair climb for firefighters only. 100 firefighters from around the country are going to come together at the World Trade Center site and remember their fallen comrades while raising money for two very important charities (Friends of Firefighters & Hope For The Warriors). The firefighters are going to climb the 72 floors at 4 World Trade Center in memory of the 343 firefighters who gave their lives to try to save others on September 11th.

James has been participating in the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb here in Oklahoma City since it began three years ago. We'd only been dating a few weeks when I woke up before dawn to head downtown to watch him participate in the very first one. We were engaged by the time the second one rolled around, and we were married by the third. (Read my blog post about it here.) And now, a month before our first wedding anniversary, we are headed to New York City so he can participate in the first ever stair climb at the new World Trade Center.

Every year he has climbed here in OKC he has carried the names of fallen firefighters with him as he went up each and every flight of stairs. He plans on taking those names with him to NYC and climbing for them there, right next to where these men and women actually gave their lives.

I don't know about him, but I know that I'm sniffling just writing this post. I'm going to be a giant crying mess on the March 16th when I stand there and watch 100 firefighters enter that building to climb in memory of their fallen comrades. And I am so incredibly proud that one of those firefighters will be my husband.

So here is my tiny little pitch: if you have any desire to help get James to NYC for this, would you visit the GoFundMe page and donate something? Every little bit helps. As of right now we've raised about 20% of the goal.

If you want a little background info on James: He has been a volunteer firefighter with the Piedmont Fire Department for six years. (I wrote more about how important volunteer firefighters are here.)  And at the annual banquet last month James was recognized as Firefighter of the Year! Plus he passed his EMT certification exam back in January, so really y'all, this guy has clearly been working his butt off for the fire department. As his wife who often eats dinner alone because he is off fighting a structure fire or helping pull someone out of a wrecked car, I can attest to that.

You should also know that his friends will probably tease him mercilessly for this post. But hey, he's my husband and I have to brag on him occasionally ;)

And regular readers, don't worry. I will be back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...