Happy Anniversary in NYC!!!

So I finally have something to blog about. Well two somethings really. :)

First off, Tuesday September 29th was our third anniversary and I have to let my husband know that I am more in love with him today than I was three years ago. He is my best friend, the person I am ALWAYS excited to see and the true love of my life. I am so lucky to have found him. Thank you Andrew for loving me and for wanting to spend each day with me! You are my Superman!

So this leads me to our trip to New York City. Last year, while I was still working for US Bank, my staff and I all won trips to a destination of our choosing. After careful consideration, Andrew and I decided we would go to NYC. Worked out great because we got to use the trip over our anniversary weekend! Free trip + anniversary weekend = A very happy Andrew and Annalise. They paid for the airfare, hotel stay and also gave us a little bit of spending money. (And I say little because everything in NYC is pretty expensive.)

Since this was our first time flying out of Tucson, and also flying as a Federal Law Enforecement Officer, we weren't really sure what to expect Friday morning when we left. Our flight took off for Atlanta at 6 am and I think by the time we got through the paperwork and security they were already boarding the plane. We will definitely know for next time, leave extra early when flying L.E.O. So anyways, the flight to Atlanta went just fine, had a short layover in ATL and then finally got on the way to our final destination. We landed at La Guardia airport at around 4 Friday afternoon and we were tired (been up since 2 am) but so so excited to see the city.

We took a cab to our hotel, which ended up costing us like $40 but it was totally worth the adventure! We had a female taxicab driver and she was maybe 4 1/2 feet tall! She was sitting on several pillows just to see over the dashboard and had a few behind her back to keep her propped up. And holy cow, the drivers in NYC are INSANE!! We clipped a few pedestrians but I don't think anyone got seriously hurt. It really is a contest between vehicle and pedestrian to see who gets the right of way. There were so many cars and it seemed like they were all trying to go the same direction! Anyways, driver got us to our hotel in one piece but it was an experience getting there.

After we got checked in and all settled, we decided it was time to get out and see the sights. The hotel we stayed at was literally around the corner from Times Square so that's where we went after we ate some Atomic Wings. By this time it was getting dark so the first time we saw Times Square was at night, when all of the signs were lit up. And oh my gosh, what a sight to see! It's as bright as day and so beautiful! It was so much better than the lights on the Vegas strip. I have never seen anything like Times Square in my life. You just have to experience it yourself! So we walked around for a while, found the Hershey's Chocolate store and bought a few treats, wandered a little longer and then headed to bed.

Saturday we got up late and headed over to Times Square to see it in the daylight. It's still pretty cool, but definitely better at night. After eatting gyro's from the street vendors (hands down the best food I've ever had!!) we decided to take the subway down to the World Trade Center Memorial. Now, I gotta say, Andrew is amazing. Not just because I love him and all that, but his sense of direction is uncanny. He had the subway and the streets of New York figured out in like five seconds. He ALWAYS knew right where we were and how to get to where we needed to be, no matter how turned around we got. If I had been in charge of navigating we would have been in big trouble. :) So anyways, we went to see the memorial and there are no words to describe what is there. The feeling in the air down there is almost reverent. And it's right in the middle of the financial district of Manhattan. But it's quiet and there is just a feeling that takes over. Right across the street from where the twin towers once stood, is a church. This church survived the 9/11 attacks and was the headquarters for the search and rescue teams. If those walls could talk....It was a very memorable experience and one you definitely have to have yourself.

Since we were down in the financial district we took a little wak down Wall Street. We found the New York Stock Exchange, Tiffany's, one of the Trump Buildings and Trinity Church. Very cool part of town.

Next we got back on the subway and headed back uptown to the North end of Central Park. Andrew thought it would be a good idea to try to walk the entire length of Central Park. Central Park is quite large, and has lots of winding footpaths so it's easy to get lost in there. He always knew exactly where we were and we didn't get lost once. We stopped to take lots of goregous pictures (Andrew is becoming a very good photographer) so the walk took us several hours. It was goregous though. Everything is so green and just starting to change colors. And we timed it just right so there weren't too many people there either. We walked all around the main reservoir, saw the castle and boathouse and even saw some raccoons. It was such a romantic time. The weather was just perfect, cool enough for jeans but didn't need a jacket. We walked hand in hand, talking and laughing, being silly. It was so great to not have to worry about work or bills or any of lifes stresses. We just enjoyed the moment. We stayed in the park til dark and then finally made our way back to the subway to head home. We ate at an Italian restaraunt that night that we didn't really like. We were still hungry so we grabbed some pizza off the street and called it a night. What a great first day!

Sunday we woke up to rain. We had originally planned to take a boat tour on Sunday but with the rain we decided to try something else. We took the subway back down to the Central Park area, with the intent of seeing a museum. I was put in charge of navigating that day (mostly so Andrew could get a good laugh I think :) ) and we didn't find it. I got frustrated and quit so we sat down to take a little break and realized we were right in front of FAO Schwarz! After a little lunch from the hot dog vendors, we went in. Partially to get out of the rain, but this is also one of the biggest toy stores in the world! They had a Batman made out of Lego's that was almost 7 feet tall! And a Chewbaca! So cool! Andrew was in Lego heaven! They had every kind of stuffed animal you could think of, Barbies as far as the eye could see and all kinds of other cool stuff. I would love to see that place at Christmas.

We still happened to be across the street from Central Park so wandered back over to see some more of it. It was still raining so there weren't a lot of people out, which was perfect! We were able to take all the pictures we wanted and no one was in them! We walked all the way down the Mall (just a long straight walkway lined in trees and benches) to the Bethesda Fountain and didn't see a single person. It was so quiet, calm and peaceful. Not what you would expect to find in the middle of Manhattan. We took some pics at the fountain, played in the puddles and then went home, but only because our feet were so wet that they were squishing and I didn't want us getting sick.

We changed socks and shoes and headed back out to see some more and ended up over at the Empire State Building. Holy cow! What an awesome awesome view! We were 86 stories above New York City! You could see everything! The storm clouds had finally moved out a bit and you could see the Hudson River, the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Chrystler Building, everything! I was amazed at how tiny everything else looked. We got up there at dusk/twilight so all the city lights were just turning on and the fog was rolling in from the ocean. Breathtaking. Just an awesome experience.

So by now our feet are pretty tired. At least mine were. My shoes were uncomfortable and made my toes bleed so I was pretty ready to get some dinner and call it a day. As we were walking back from the Empire State Building to our hotel, which was just a few blocks away, I was taking some pictures of things that we passed. Like the New York City Liabrary, which is a really cool building. And the Fire Department of New York, the firemen are very handsome. :) So I had the camera wrapped around my wrist and was taking random pictures along the way. Well we stopped to get something to drink and I had to get into my bag to get cash. I put my camera in the pocket of my jeans and did what I needed to do. It wasn't until we were half way down the block that I realized that I was missing something. I stopped Andrew and asked him if he had the camera. He said no, he didn't. Sometimes Andrew likes to tease me and I thought maybe this was one of those times, because I couldn't find it. It wasn't in my pocket, wasn't in my bag, wasn't in my jacket. I think my face went white because Andrew's went red. He went running back to where we had stopped to buy the drink and started looking for our camera. We weren't so much concerned about the camera as we were about the pictures. We had just lost two days worth of priceless pictures, detailing all of our adventures in NYC! Actually, I had been pickpocketed. We spent the next hour or so combing the streets looking for the camera and asking everyone that walked by, but we knew it was a lost cause. We were both pretty upset about the situation, totally bummed out that we had just lost all of those awesome pictures and memories. We were able to find an electronics store that was still open at 10 pm on a Sunday night and the salesman was so nice! I was crying and upset and he kept reassuring me that he would "give us a good deal" and even gave me a free I heart NY keychain to try to cheer me up! We were so sad to lose almost 300 pictures but tried to make the best of things anyways. We went right over to Times Square, took some pics at night and decided to get up early Monday and head out to snap some more. This is why there aren't any pictures of the Empire State Building or our earlier trips to the park. Or anything else. (Moral of the story: download your pics at the end of every night. That way if you lose your camera, at least you haven't lost all your pics. Only the ones from that day.)

Monday, our last day, we got up and took our 3 hour boat tour of Manhattan Island. It took us to see so many things we wouldn't have been able to see otherwise. We got to see the WTC from a different angle, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Gracie Mansion, the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, the United Nations (which was in session so LOTS of extra security) but didn't get to see Yankee Stadium. There was an accident on one of the bridges that we would have to go under to get to it and the river was closed. Too bad. The tour guide was hilarious and we met a very nice lady from Denmark. She was traveling alone so we agreed to take pictures for each other and it worked out great. And since the weather was so beautiful, we even got a little sunburn on our faces and arms. It was really nice and relaxing.

After the boat tour, we grabbed some pizza and then headed back to Central Park, again. In hopes of getting some great shots like the ones we lost. It was kind of a bust. The park was packed. Every nanny in NY was probably there. So many baby carriages and screaming kids. We managed to get some more pictures but it just wasn't the same. We still had a great time but we were so tired we just did a few pics and headed home. Central Park was incredible though! It's so massive, right in the middle of the city and so well taken care of. The trees were huge and beautiful and the lawns were perfect. There were so many goregous places to take pictures. You could be lost in there for days. It was definitely my favorite part of our trip.

As an extra special anniversary gift, my husband bought us tickets to the Phantom of the Opera for Monday night! Oh my goodness, what an experience that was! The music, the costumes, all of it was breathtaking! Still gives me goosebumps. It was so wonderful! I cried, of course, and was sad to see it end. It was the perfect way to end our trip.

I'm realizing that this post is extra long, but I figure if I don't get it down now, it probably won't happen. So one last little story about our trip and then I'll be done. We were at La Guardia on Tuesday morning, just getting through security when Andrew's phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but decided to answer it anyways. Turns out, it was a neighbor of ours, calling us to let us know that she had our puppy Tobey! We had left our dogs with our friend Fermin, who was supposed to be watching both of them at our house. Well, this phone call upset us both and we immediately tried to call our friend and could not get a hold of him. We were really starting to panic because the neighbor said she only had Tobey, Baxter was still missing. We called some of our other friends to see if they could go get Tobey and start looking for Baxter. There is nothing worse than being 8 or 9 hours away and not being able to help. We finally heard back from Fermin, who had Baxter, and he was out looking for Tobey. Turns out the two little troublemakers busted out of Fermin's backyard and went for a little adventure of their own. Baxter got smart and went back to Fermin's house but Tobey was a little more mischevious and followed our neighbor home. She lives a few blcoks from us but saw our phone number on his name tag and gave us a call. Thank goodness she was a good person and called us! Fermin of course was freaking out, wondering how to tell us he'd lost our dogs and it turns out they were both fine in the end. Gave us a good little scare though.

In ending the longest blog ever written, our anniversary trip to New York was awesome! There were a lot of adventures and memories made, some learning experiences too. We fell in love with the city. The lights, the sounds, even the smells. It wasn't as dirty or grimy as I thought it might be. New Yorkers actually take pride in their city and there wasn't any trash anywhere. I would go back for another visit anytime. What a great way to celebrate three wonderful years together! I love you Andrew. Here's to many more adventures with you!

P.S. Last thing I promise! There are a lot more pictures. I will try to put them into a slideshow so that it's easier to look at them. Just wanted to post a couple.

Surviving the Streets

Surviving the Streets with Lt. Jim Glennon
No respect: Borders and Border Patrol
During the past two years I’ve had the absolute privilege of working many times with members of our nation’s Border Patrol as well as other Agencies within the Homeland Security umbrella (ICE, Customs, OIG, etc.). As an instructor I have been in the Border Patrol Sectors of El Centro and San Diego California, as well as Del Rio, Texas. I’ve been with ICE in Los Angeles and at an OIG Conference in Dallas.

Prior to my involvement I was totally ignorant to the following:
• who these people actually were • what their respective agencies were responsible for • how bad the illegal immigrant problem is • how incredibly violent many of these illegals are • the massive amounts of narcotics seized by Border Agents annually • the emergence of Mexican terrorist “hit squads” murdering thousands along the border • that Phoenix, Arizona (yes right here in the U.S.) is second only to Mexico City for the most kidnappings for ransom in the entire world (!) • and finally, how incredibly ignorant the rest of this country — especially our objective and “unbiased” media — is to the reality of this dire national security threat
What seems to get lost in the mix is that these Border Patrol Agents are out there, in the desert, with little back-up, always outnumbered (sometimes 100-1), often outgunned, facing sociopathic killers who are trafficking in either humans or narcotics, and most of the time they are facing these opponents in the dark! I’ve looked into the faces of hundreds of these brave young men and women — some as young as 21 years old — and you know what? They have only one goal and mission in mind: protect our borders.

It seems like 99.9 percent of the time, the media line is that 99.9 percent of the people crossing our southern border are just poor innocents looking for work and a meager wage. Evaluated in the most simplistic terms, this is of course, partly true.

But the more complex reality isn’t that simple or sanitary. Many, many of these people become victims themselves. Most pay a ridiculous sum to unscrupulous people who lie to them about where they will go, how they will get there, and what riches await. Thousands are robbed by human traffickers or “border bandits” who take everything of value away from these defenseless people as they wait to cross into the United States. Often they are forced to transport narcotics or at least ride in a truck loaded with illegal drugs. Many wind up as victims of sexual assault.

In recent years, the violence has escalated to heights never experienced before on either side of the border. In Mexico there were approximately 3,000 murders in 2007. That number doubled in one year. In January 2009, Mexico recorded more 1,000 murders, most of which were attributed to the drug trade, gang violence, and Cartel hit squads. On June 6th just outside of a popular Acapulco Resort, 17 people were killed in a five hour gun battle between at least two rival drug gangs, police, and Mexican Army personnel. The gangs threw approximately 50 hand grenades and used assault rifles indiscriminately as civilians and tourist dove for cover.
Jennifer L. Hesterman wrote an exceptional article in The Counter Terrorist titled “The Mexican Drug War Spills Over United States Border.” In it she chronicles the emergence of one particular violent paramilitary group. “Imagine, for a moment,” she writes, “that one of America’s elite special operations units goes “rogue” and starts using its specialized skills, equipment, and training against the U.S. government. The members of the unit participate in illegal activities such as drug trafficking, gun running, and human smuggling. They also serve as hit squads, willing to murder innocent victims in return for cash. The unit does not fear, hide, or run from law enforcement; rather, it engages. Meet the Los Zetas organization.”
This is who our, and I do mean our, brother and sisters in the Border Patrol, out there alone in the desert, are in a position to face.

The United States Border Patrol realizes what a daunting task they face both internally and externally. The training directors I’ve met and befriended — John Ramos, Emily Bowling, and Mike Hanson — care deeply about preparing their agents to do their jobs and go home safely to their families at the end of their shifts. They concentrate on Street Survival, Communications, Ethics, and Leadership training. They know all too well the reality of who it is they are facing along that border.

Typically when any law enforcement officer makes a mistake, commits a crime, uses lethal force; the media jumps. Story after story about police wrongdoing — or even the POSSIBILITY of police doing wrong — is written about and reported Ad nauseam. But what about the day-to-day reality of what our Agents are facing? Why aren’t the videos of border penetration and insurgencies shown on the nightly newscasts? Wanna see one? Click here and watch hundreds of illegal immigrants moving across our desert. Notice how many Border Agents there are trying to stop them and protect us?

Before you continue reading, go on back to BLUtube and watch a radical Islamic terrorist (with a smug smile on his face) talk about assigning someone to carry anthrax across the Mexico / U.S. border with the intent to kill more than 300,000 of our citizens.
Then check out the statistics and see how many of our Border Patrol Agents have been killed in the line of duty over the past 20+ years: car accidents, pursuit fatalities, heat stroke, heart attacks, drowning, vehicular homicide, and murder.

Where the hell is the outcry among our citizens? Why aren’t we screaming at our respective representatives about this clear and present danger? I know I sometimes rant, but in this case I do it unapologetically. I know these people — our Border Agents. I know many of them by name and consider some to be true friends. I see their frustration. But let me assure you, their frustration is dwarfed by their very real desire to accomplish their mission, which is simply to protect the rest of us. And we as a society don’t even know they are there. We don’t realize that as we sleep these people are out there, standing guard, in the dark, all alone, in the desert. Most of us can’t even fathom being in that position. I spent 30 years as a cop and I wouldn’t do it; I’m a coward compared to these people.
I think it is high time that we get on their side and realize that there is a terrifying real threat to our borders, our way of life, and our border Agents. It is time to let them know that we appreciate them. I think at least it is time to let them know that in fact we do realize — they are out there.

Lt. Jim Glennon, the third generation in a family of law enforcement officers, has been with the Lombard, Ill., Police Department since 1980. Lt. Glennon has been an instructor in both the law enforcement field and private industry for more than 17 years. He teaches courses in the fields of interview and interrogations, communication skills, and leadership methods for police supervisors. Lt. Glennon is currently the lead instructor for the Calibre Press Street Survival Seminar. He has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Law Enforcement Justice Administration.