2014 in Review

2014 was a big year. So many fun things happened this year, and I loved getting to look back and re-live many of these moments. So here's to bringing 2014 to a close...

January

On the 19th, my mom and I ran the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon. This was my third half-marathon and by far my favorite one I've ever run. I loved sharing this experience with my mom.

February

 Our Family Fitness Challenge ended with a bang and a Brennan's Dinner Celebration. 

Matt and I enjoyed a mini Texas road trip and vacation. We went to my favorite resort, The Hill Country Hyatt and celebrated Valentine's Day there and then in Austin.

March

On the 14th, we celebrated Pi Day at school. Being a 7th Grade math teacher definitely has its fun days! And this was one of them.

 For Spring Break, we took our first trip to the East Coast. We visited Thomas Jefferson's house, Monticello while we were there. 

March also brought Rodeo season! One of my closest friends joined our Mutton Bustin' committee this year which made it even more fun. 

April

We took a little weekend vacation to Boston to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary. It was Matt's first time there, so we did all things Boston tourist- Freedom Trail, cannolis, Red Sox game, etc.

May

Bayhouse trips galore! I feel like we were in Galveston pretty much every weekend in May. Mom's birthday, Mother's Day, Memorial Day...

June

Summer Softball. Matt and my brother, Chase, have been playing in a summer league for at least three years. Avery loves watching her daddy play ball.

July

 We spent the Fourth of July at the bayhouse in Galveston. Matt and I took on a little project to help celebrate the 4th!

We participated in Mission 1:8 with our Sunday School class. We helped put on a small Vacation Bible School for some refugees, most of which had never heard about Jesus before.

My roommates from college and I had a reunion weekend. It is so rare that we are all together, so we took advantage of the time we had together. 

August

 On the 1st, we celebrated the wedding of our friends, the Debayles, and we got to spend time with some of our favorite people.

The weekend before school started, we visited Matt's family in Fort Worth.

On the 26th, I started my third year of teaching middle school.

September

On the 24th, many of our students gathered for See You at the Pole. I will never forget listening to their sweet voices singing songs of praise to our Heavenly Father at the flag pole of our public middle school.

October

 The fall brought Aggie football season, so we traveled to College Station for tailgates quite a bit throughout October and November.

Since I can't post pictures of my sweet athletes, here's a selfie of me before our big volleyball tournament, in which my team won 1st place!

November

 On the 4th, we made our voices heard by voting in the midterm election.

In the week before Thanksgiving, we took advantage of my time off of school, and we traveled to Washington D. C. for the first time. We loved it!

December

 On the 21st, my grandparents got baptized in the same church I grew up in.

We spent Christmas traveling around Texas and visiting all of our family :)

It was such a great year. I cannot believe it is now over. We learned so many things this year, especially me. I am constantly working on trying to be the best wife I can be to Matt. I have learned to be patient with God, that things are perfect in His time. I have been continually reminded of how abundantly blessed we are. God is so good! I know He has really big plans for 2015. I can just feel it. I pray that we continue to keep Him at the center of our marriage and trust Him in all things, and I pray that we cherish time we get to spend with family and friends.

Here's to 2015!

It's Rodeo, Y'all

March in Houston brings one of my very favorite times of year… The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. If you are visiting Houston during March, or if you have lived here all of your life and have never been, it is worth going. Everything about the rodeo just makes you proud to be a Texan and a Houstonian. The people, the clothes, the atmosphere, the extremely reckless (yet extremely talented) cowboys that get thrown off of bulls that are about twelve times their weight, and of course, there are the concerts, both country and otherwise.

If you are planning on attending the rodeo this year, let's talk about rodeo fashion. There is no such thing as "too tacky" at the rodeo. You will "see it all" as I like to say. First, let's talk outfits…

Rodeo Get-Up by hnbormann featuring slim jeans

Once you have the perfect outfit, you need the perfect pair of boots. We're not talking riding boots, anymore, ladies--cowboy boots. Now, I will say that if you do not have a pair of cowboy boots, you have two options: 1) you can definitely wear your favorite pair of riding boots, and you will not be out of place, or 2) go ahead and make that investment now… you won't regret it. Here are a few options… 

Cowboy Boots by hnbormann featuring square toe boots

So, you may be thinking you are ready to go now, but there is one last thing… turquoise. Don't leave the house without it. Here are some fun and stylish options that are out there now…

Turquoise Rodeo by hnbormann featuring bead jewelry

Have I convinced you yet? 

I sure hope so! 

Enjoy, and look fabulous while doing it! 

Happy Rodeo season, y'all!

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!