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!

One Year in One Post

DISCLAIMER: I want to start off by apologizing for the length of this post.

This weekend signifies our One Year Anniversary as Mr. & Mrs. (the paper anniversary), so I guess we will be getting each other Hallmark cards... and plane tickets! We are going to Sonoma! That will end up on a later post since it will be after school is out for me. For now, we are just going to sit back, relax, and reminisce on our last year together as husband and wife. On April 28th of 2012, we were married at the same altar my own parents said "I do" thirty years ago. It was the most amazing day of my life, and I love getting to relive it with pictures from that day that make me feel like we are getting married all over again. (Thanks to the one and only Kelly Hornberger Photography) I don't really want to get all gushy on the world wide web--I can save that for the Hallmark card. So, instead, here goes some highlights from our first year as "The Bormanns" in pictures...

APRIL 28th: Starting from the beginning, our wedding. I got to dance the night away with my handsome groom, and we were sent off by all of our family and close friends! Thank you again to all of our incredible vendors!

APRIL 29th-May 5: We traveled to Kauai, Hawaii for our honeymoon! We enjoyed every minute of it and called ourselves "The Honeymooners." The first picture was before we took a tour of the Kauai island from a helicopter (with no doors) and the second picture is from the Smith's Family Luau. We cannot wait to go back one day.

May-July: My parents bought a bayhouse, and we all spent many many days over the summer down at the bay. Matt caught the very first fish out of everyone--hopefully, there will continue to be many more catches! 

July-September: Our sweet girl, Avery, went to training camp a puppy and came back a wonderfully trained dog. Even though she was gone for a long time, it was well worth it, and she had a blast. We called it "Summer Camp".

 

October 5th-7th: We went to Palm Springs, California with my parents and grandparents to play golf and enjoy resort-life. This was our first married vacation after the honeymoon. Let's just say that we looked better than we played. :)

October-November: Many, many Texas A&M University tailgates and Corps of Cadets march-ins. Gig'em! 

November 21st-24th: We spent our first Thanksgiving in Dallas with Matt's amazing family. We started the morning off by running in the Turkey Trot in Downtown Dallas, and then his grandmother hosted all of us at her house Thanksgiving Day.

December 15th: I graduated from Texas A&M University! (finally) I walked across the stage, received my diploma, and then we celebrated. Along with Matt's and my immediate families (including my wonderful parents), both sets of my grandparents were there (man, how I love getting to say that.) It was such a special day.

December (Christmas): Our first Christmas together as a family. We spent part of our Christmas break in Gruene, Texas with Matt's family. We participated in the "Annual Bormann Bowling Party," but unfortunately did not come home with the trophy this year. We came back home for Christmas dinner with my family.

December 31st: I planned my first wedding. What? Yes. Well, kind of. My cousin got married on New Years Eve, and she and my aunt had planned most of it, and then I came in and helped with the "week-of" planning and bossed people around the "day-of" :) Okay, not really "bossed" but you get the idea. It was so fun--something I hope to get into more a little later in life.. or now. We'll see.

  

January 8th: Start my first day of my career as a middle school teacher. I teach the most hilarious and quirky little 7th graders. The subject I teach is science, but I hope and pray every day that they are learning more than just science from me. 

January 13th: After 6 months of training, the Mr. completed his very first marathon! We ran in the Chevron Houston Marathon (Mr.) and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon (Mrs.) This was definitely a huge accomplishment. I am still so proud of him for running 26.2 miles! Awesome!

February-March: The Mr. and I both joined Houston Rodeo committees back in October--the Mr. on the Calf Scramble committee, and I joined the Mutton Bustin' committee. We had a blast working our shifts in the 2013 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. We also met some new friends this year in our Newlyweds or Close class at church and got to take them to the rodeo for the first time. 

March (Easter): We went to the bay for the first part of our Easter break with my grandparents and parents. Easter morning, we were back home and got to go to the early service at church and then had a delicious Easter lunch with family at home. He is risen indeed! 

 April 12th: Another Aggie in the family got his Aggie Ring! We spent the day in College Station, Texas to celebrate with Matt's brother, Sam, who got his Aggie Ring!

April 19th: We celebrated the 60th Wedding Anniversary of my grandparents. What an incredible example they have set for the rest of us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in every part of our marriage.

And here we are. One year later. A pretty awesome accomplishment. It's not 60 (yet), but we are on our way. Thank you to my husband for being my better half and best friend. I have loved going through life together this past year, and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. I know it will be great things. I love you!