Thanksgiving

Let me begin by saying that I should be grading projects. I've done literally anything BUT grade those darn things today. #YOLO am I right?

Y'all, the holiday season is awesome. Seriously, the best. It starts with Thanksgiving. I L-O-V-E Thanksgiving. This year was a very special Thanksgiving because family came to us in North Carolina rather than us having to travel to Texas. I know I'm a couple of holidays behind, but this semester has been crazy (isn't it always?!), and I am just getting to it... don't judge.

Right before the Thanksgiving holiday, the last of mine and Matt's siblings got his Aggie ring. This is a big deal to us Texas A&M people. Some say bigger than graduation day. We were so proud of him and all of his accomplishments. Unfortunately, I could not take off of work (so goes the teaching profession) and therefore celebrated from NC with Avery, but Matt was able to fly down for the occassion and got to see his brothers and our sister-in-law and dad. I was so happy he could be there. Is that not the studly-est looking bunch? Shout out to the cutie pie on the left!


 Pretty much the whole month of November was dedicated to school and getting ready for Thanksgiving company. The two ran together a little bit, too. Here is a Color by Number I assigned to my students before the holiday break. They loved it! Even though it was solving equations, you have them color it, and all of a sudden, they can't wait to get their hands on it. I also changed our kitchen chalkboard to a verse of thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for, it seemed like a great daily reminder.
            
















The first to arrive in North Carolina was my mom. She came early to help get everything ready and grocery shop but also just to be here. It was so fun having her here for a few days before everyone else got here.

The next to arrive were my brother and sister-in-law (with my soon to be born niece or nephew!) and her family, as well as Matt's brother and his girlfriend. So many people that we love all in one place! We took them to one of our favorite lunch spots, and later, some of the group even got to enjoy a Duke basketball game. Here are the Cameron Crazies in Cameron Indoor.

I stayed back with my mom to pick up these two goofballs from the airport--my dad and sister. They didn't arrive until Wednesday night, but we soaked up all the time we had together.

On Thanksgiving Day, my mom, sister, and I were in the kitchen most of the morning. My mom is pretty much a professional when it comes to holiday meals and even created a timeline of when things would go into the oven, etc. Think we are related? Yes. That afternoon, we indulged an abundance of great food, football, and family time. After lunch, we went on campus to explore the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and took some pictures (some of which ended up on Christmas cards this year).
          
















That night, many of the ladies took to the streets mall and braved the Black Friday shopping while the others went to see a movie.

The following day was spent trail hiking, showing family around our new city and the beautiful Duke campus, and again just enjoying the company. That night, we went to The Angus Barn, a Raleigh icon, that serves some of the finest steaks and seafood in the Triangle. It really was an experience. It was decorated for Christmas already and was such a wonderful atmosphere. We even took a tour of the wine cellar and kitchen.

      

     
















While we were waiting to be seated, we took pictures by the Christmas tree. If you look closely, you can see a little elf who was sitting in the tree. On the right, the boys checking out the cigar collection after dinner.

All too soon, the week was over and everyone had to go back home. We didn't get to see all of our family, but we cherish the times that we get to see any of them, especially since being so far away now. Once Thanksgiving was over, it was time to finish out the first semester strong and begin to get ready for Christmas. December was upon us!

Veterans' Day

Today is my first Veterans' Day holiday off of work. In the past, we have had school on Veterans' Day. We always had an assembly that brought me to tears every year. The assembly was to honor veterans, specifically family members and loved ones of students and teachers who had served our country that were able to attend the assembly.

Last year, I proudly invited my grandfather to be an honored guest at the assembly. He served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1940's. This year, I'm thanking my favorite veteran from another state and from home, giving me the time to write about it. This man right here, he is the best. He doesn't think of himself as any sort of hero, but man oh man, he has a passion for the Lord like no other and will always be a hero to me.

Our Move

Well, we made it! We are officially residents of North Carolina, and after today, I will have a new state driver's license, which may be a little hard for me to swallow, but at least people won't inspect my ID like it's fake every time they ask to see it.

We have been here for about three weeks (minus a week for a family vacation we took), but I want to go back to pre-move to document some of our last days in Houston.

When we first decided on coming to NC, my mind already started worrying about how in the world we were going to get all of our stuff here. On the other hand, Matt's mind started planning the best roadtrip ever! After much persuasion, I talked him into NOT driving a 28-foot UHaul truck with our entire house in the back, our dog in the passenger seat, and my car being pulled behind by a trailer (making the entire ensemble about 40 feet long! Did I mention HE wanted to be driving the thing? Ya, all of that terrified me and gave me nightmares (and I am not exaggerating about the nightmares).

I knew that in order to ruin his "best roadtrip ever" plan, I had to come up with something good, so I did my research, and I found some companies, and one in particular that matched our budget, that would send our stuff across the country to let us meet it there. The company we used was called U-Pack, and it was exactly what it sounds like... YOU (us) PACK. Here's the deal: you pack everything you own in boxes, and then a driver comes to your house, drops off a trailer and then leaves. You then pack all of your boxes/stuff in that trailer as best you can (crossing your fingers that it makes the 1,200 mile journey without being completely destroyed). Then, for a small fee, you can actually choose the day your stuff is delivered to your new house. So, this is what we chose to do.

I wasn't aware at first, but I apparently married a master-packer, which is awesome. Single ladies, add that quality to your "Must Haves" for your future hubby. Seriously, he worked so hard to get all of our things packed and packed well. I owe our stuff not getting destroyed to him. Just check out some of our furniture items... #saranwrapisyourbestfriendwhenmoving <-- that hashtag should be trending.

Once we had everything pretty much packed, we took a quick trip to visit as much of our family as possible. Since my family all lives in Houston, the trip was really to see Matt's family. We got to visit both of his grandmothers, both of his parents, and his brother and our new sister-in-law. We also got to do two Texas-things that we hadn't done before. While we were in Waco visiting his brother, Sam and Sam's wife, Shannon, we went to Magnolia Market (the Texas "landmark" made famous by the hit show Fixer Upper. We also went to the Fort Worth Stockyards with Matt's mom while we were in Fort Worth.

We got back on a Saturday, and the trailer and movers came on Monday. We ended up hiring two men from a small moving company to help us load all of the boxes and furniture into the trailer. They were clutch, because they were speedy and knowledgeable about how best to pack everything in the truck. Here we are right before closing up the trailer. And below that, what our house looked like afterward. 

A very confused golden retriever and three tennis balls. Crazy, Since everything was now packed, we had planned to stay a couple of nights at my parents' house before going to the bayhouse for the Fourth of July. During our last couple of nights in Houston, some of our amazing friends threw us a Texas farewell party. We left some dear friends back in Texas and can't wait for them to come out to NC! 

After leaving Houston, we went to Galveston to stay for the Fourth of July holiday. We were there for five wonderful days, and got to spend some quality time with my family before leaving Texas. 

We came back to Houston Sunday evening, and here we are bright and early Monday morning to start our journey east. 

We drove all day on Monday, leaving at about 5:30am from Houston, stopping a few times for gas, bathroom breaks, and food, and we arrived in Atlanta, where we were staying for the night at about 8:00pm after the time change. We checked into our hotel, and immediately left to go get dinner. When we got back, we cleaned up and went to bed in an attempt to get some much-needed rest. The following morning, Tuesday, Matt woke up at about 3:30am to get on the road to meet our moving truck which got to our house at about 11am. My mom and I left at about 7:30am to make the 5 hour drive to our new home. After three days, we had every box unpacked and all pictures hung on the walls.

We left for a family vacation on that Saturday, so having everything mostly finished was a priority of mine. It felt great to be able to leave knowing that we wouldn't have a ton of work to do when we got back. We loved getting to spend eight days in Palm Springs playing golf and hanging out by the pool without any unpacking looming ahead. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted, but here are a few from the golf course on the day of our family tournament and from the pool (with Matt's lifeproof-cased iPhone).

We got back to North Carolina on the 18th, and we hit the ground running. Matt is already in his second day of official orientation, but he has been working and studying for a couple of weeks now, and I have been working in my classroom for a couple of days, but mostly enjoying being in our new home with the dog, running errands, and exploring this new city.


Will update more soon! Happy Thursday, friends! I'm off to get my new driver's license! Fingers crossed they let me! ;)

Christmas 2014

This year was the first year I spent Christmas Day somewhere other than home. Everyone knows that once married, holidays are more complicated. You try to see and be with as much family as possible in the little time you have. We did just that. Our Christmas started on Sunday, December 21st--a day I will never forget. The reason this day is so special to me and will always remain special is because my paternal grandparents were baptized in the church that I grew up in. They decided to join the church about 3 months ago, and they chose to be baptized on the 21st, a day when the whole family could be there to witness it. It was amazing. God is amazing. Below is my sweet grandmother right after the service. She was on Cloud 9 all day, as were the rest of us. God's love is overwhelmingly infectious in the best way possible. 

That day, we went to Maggiano's for lunch to continue celebrating my grandparents. Then, we convened at their house afterward for dessert. That night, we had Christmas with my family. We ate great food, drank "Christmas cocktails" as my mom liked to call them, we laughed, and we enjoyed being together, even if not on Christmas Day. 

On the 22nd, I met my mom and sister for lunch and then helped my mom set up her dining room tablescape for Christmas Day lunch. That night, Matt and I had our little Christmas together at home and exchanged gifts. The morning of the 23rd, we finished packing up, and then we headed to Dallas for Christmas with his mom's side of the family. We got in to Dallas in the late evening, and went straight to his aunt and uncle's house for dinner with everyone. I'm so sad I wasn't really great at taking pictures while in Dallas--must of been having too much fun!

On Christmas Eve, we met up with Matt's mom, two younger brothers, Sam and Russell, and Sam's fiancé, Shannon, for lunch at Brewed in Fort Worth. It was such a neat restaurant with delicious food and a great atmosphere. After lunch, the boys wanted to "be boys," so they decided to go to Dave & Buster's, while Shannon and I went to "be girls" and got manicures. After playing for the afternoon, we all went back to get ready for Christmas Eve service at church. In the car on the way to church, my mom sent me a selfie from their car ride to church back in Houston, so we returned the favor. I love technology. And check out those matching earrings...great minds think alike!

        

        

After a wonderful Candlelight Service, we went to dinner with Matt's family and then back home for one more sleep until Christmas! 

We woke up Christmas morning, and went for a run. As you may be able to already tell, we ate WAY too much over the holidays. One of my favorite things to do is run with these two, and it felt very necessary. 

      

      

It was already a very Merry Christmas, indeed. But the fun was only just beginning. After we showered and got cleaned up, we went over to Matt's grandmother's house to have Christmas with his mom's side. Even though Dallas is in Texas and seems so close, it is rare that we get up there, so it made the time there so sweet. 

Our time in Dallas seemed to end too quickly. But when it did, all the kids packed up and caravanned to the middle of Texas where Matt's dad's side of the family lives, New Braunfels. His dad had rented a house right on the river for all of us to stay in together. They had decorated the house before we got there and had a tree full of gifts. 

    

    

The first night we were there, we enjoyed a quiet dinner at home, all nine of us (still missing two). The following morning, Matt and I went on what was intended to be a nice and easy run, and now I understand why they call it the HILLcountry. Also, it rained on us, so we were soaked when we got home. I quickly got over it, obviously. 

Every Christmas, for much longer than I have been in the Bormann family, the extended family has gathered in New Braunfels for a Bormann Bowling Party. I have been fortunate enough to attend the last four.

We always have so much fun, and most years, it is the one time of the year that I bowl, and I always love it and am usually sore the next day. This year was no different. It was our first big event of the weekend. Our team didn't win, but it didn't matter. Getting to see 50+ family members from Matt's side made it completely worth it, even without the bowling. 

     

     

Back at the house that night, we played games (corn hole, Kuub, ping pong, pool, and fetch of course) and stayed up way too late. I swear, I think Matt enjoys playing fetch with Avery just as much as she does.

            

The following day, the 28th, we did a Christmas gift exchange with just Matt's immediate family. And then that afternoon, we did the whole big family Christmas lunch thing again with Matt's dad's side of the family. We did a White Elephant gift exchange and had a big ping-pong tournament going. There was a men's bracket and a women's bracket, and while it was no easy feat, yours truly came out on top.

Game faces... obviously.

I loved every bit of this trip, but my favorite part may have been early in the morning of the day we were leaving, watching these two do their thing and with that view... 

Another really neat thing that happened that morning was that we got to pet a deer that roams around near the house frequently. I believe the family who owns the place actually considers it a pet.

After watching a little bit of the Aggie game, it was time to head home. All three of us were exhausted and still are, but I think that speaks to the good times that were had.

It was nice to use the drive home to reflect on the past week and also the past year. It seems like I blinked and it came and went. And it was a good one.

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

From Our Family to Yours

4th of July

As always, another holiday weekend at the bay did not disappoint. While I have time in the summer off, most of my family does not get to enjoy that luxury. But, this weekend, we did. The whole gang was there by Thursday evening, and we enjoyed 3+ days of sweet summer together. 

One of the highlights for me was definitely getting to spend some time working on a project with Matt. My parents had brought an old gate from their old house down to the bay a long time ago with the intention to use it in some way. But, almost two years later, and it was out by the trash, waiting to be picked up. I moved it from the trash and into their garage a few weeks ago, only to find that it was back by the trash. Thankfully, it still had not been picked up, so this was the weekend something had to be done, or it would be a goner. 

When the rest of the family went on an afternoon fishing trip, we stayed behind and got to work. In true 4th of July fashion, an American Flag. 

I had painted the entire fence white the day before, so that we had a blank canvas. First thing we did was use measuring tape to decide how thick the stripes should be. I wanted the stripes to be as authentic-looking as possible, since I knew the stars would be... less than authentic-looking. Once we decided on a thickness, we began placing painters' tape in place of where the white stripes would be. 

Above is a picture of what the flag looked like after it had been completely taped. Then, I started spray painting the red stripes. Once I was about three-fourths of the way finished, Matt sweetly asked if he could finish the red stripes. I had gotten so in my zone that I had forgotten that he was there to help. :) So, he finished up the red stripes.

Once we removed all of the tape (see above), we re-taped/covered what we needed to be covered in order to paint the blue section.

I wish I had taken a picture of this next step, but I got too excited and forgot. But, I took an Exacto knife and cut out a star shape in a piece of cardboard. Then, we used that as a stencil, and sprayed white paint into the stencil to create stars in various spots of the blue section. And then after letting it dry....

It makes me so happy to DIY with my sweet hubby. He is very creative and enjoys a good project, too. 

So, what else did we do this past weekend? Well, we hung out in the canal- floating, kayaking, paddle-boarding, AND Avery got a new life-jacket. Yes, she can swim, and actually maybe a little TOO much. Since my parents' house is on the canal, there is always a chance she could go in purposefully or accidentally and no one is right there to pull her out. Therefore, the life-vest. It calms my nerves, and she looks adorable in it! 

Don't you just want to hug her?

My mom always overdoes herself on food. She made this red (and blue) velvet cake. It was delicious! And look how pretty it was!

              

     

This is one of the reasons I am currently hosting a 5-Day Clean Eating Challenge group right now. I have over 20 people who have committed to eating clean this week, and today is just Day 1. Just look at all of those bright colors?

Don't worry if you missed this 5-Day Clean-Eating Challenge. I'll be doing it again in August. But if you are really interested in getting healthy and making a positive change for you and your family, 21-Day Fix is where it's at! Commit to 21 days with me!

Fitness + Nutrition + Accountability = Success.

We can do it together! Comment below or send me a message if you are interested in knowing more!

I just finished my first round of 21-Day Fix and drinking Shakeology and am LOVING how I feel. Today, I am still doing it, but I'm looking for people who want to join me in this journey!

I will leave you with one last picture from the weekend with my family.

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July, as well! 

Happy Monday!