A Few Snaps

I've been a teacher for quite awhile, but this is the first year that I've been the lead teacher of my own classroom (and not teaching in the projects). I had never even put any thought into these lovely things known as... TEACHER GIFTS! It was a wonderful surprise and left me feeling lots of love from the parents of the kiddos that I spend all my days with. I made out with a TON of baked goods, and a nice handful of gift cards. We went back and forth on what we wanted to use them for, but in the end it seemed most appropriate to buy something that could be practical for us AND practical for the classroom. And THAT is how I got my hands on a brand new digital camera (I haven't had one for nearly two years, boo!)

Here are some photos that I snapped of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Ball Ground, GA:

New toy

Watching muppets on the couch

Everyone gathered around

Not even ALL of the presents!

"testing" out some cookies in the kitchen ;)

Mom and I

The boys getting ready to take a Christmas shot

Himself and herself

Some Christmas wonder

Christopher opening gifts

Tami and her fancy new scanner

JoeDad's sister Colleen opening gifts

New zombie skeleton gnomes for the yard haha

Christopher trying out Papa's new helicopter toy outside (and crashing it haha)

Climbing Day

Last weekend Keith and I got a chance to relax and just catch up on some things around the house (which are all still slightly unfinished) and on Saturday in an effort to try something new we flipped through our coupon book and decided to meet some friends down in Murfreesboro to go rock climbing. We love spending time with Brittney and Brandon and we had a blast at the climbing gym (even though it was my very first time and everyone had to be patient with me) Now I'm pretty pumped to go back again soon! After an evening of climbing we got dinner at a pub nearby and went back to their place to hang out around the firepit. Thanks Bergers for another great weekend!

He kept trying to get me to spiderman kiss him haha

Brittney was a champion and climbed the craziest course of the night

and while the boys were out back smoking cigars, we MIGHT have placed just dance on the wii

Home Office

This weekend while we were in Atlanta we got a quick chance to stop at Ikea and pick out a new desk for our new home. We had previously been using my desk from college, but it didn't fit very well and the color didn't match any of the other furniture in the room, so we were on the hunt for something a little more simple. In our new house we have the benefit of having a bunch of space at the entryway of the front door, and it looked a little awkward there without anything to fill the space. As much as we always thought a guest room would be a good place for an office, we found that this was a good way for us to NEVER use the desk, or the calendar. All that put together is how we decided to make the wall of our entryway into a mini office! That way the calendar is right out in the open and a perfect reminder of things that need to get done, and I can use my computer and still be able to hang out with Keith in the living room. Best of both worlds! We love how things are coming together in the house and how it's already feeling like home even after just a month of being here. So excited to show it off to my family when they get here in a week!

Keith is the designated builder in our home, so I was pretty proud when I managed to build this chair all on my own :) 

Our new "office" complete with framed diplomas! We're so fancy ;)

2011 Review

Alrighty kids, it's time for a yearly review! 2011 was an extremely awesome year, and I can't believe all the things that have happened! Keith and I both got new jobs, we bought a second car, we saw lots of people get married, visited a few states, celebrated our first anniversary, ate at a lot of amazing new restaurants, played tourist in our own city and then Theo learned how to catch snakes (boo!) also, it was certainly the year for weddings and babies!! haha Here is our list of highlights:

In January, we rang in 2011 with friends Ryan and Chelsey and then visited New York City to have a belated Christmas with my parents and brother. We played lots of loaded questions with friends, and I took my students on a field trip to the museum. We became official Tennessee residents, it snowed a bunch, I got some awful food poisoning, helped friends move and then our blog turned one!

In February we started the month with a new job for Keith! Carolyn had a baby shower, we hosted a super bowl party and I discovered nutella cookies. I got nostalgic about old roommates, we finally organized our guest room, my cute valentine gave me the best gift ever: shaving that beard! and then I watched an inspiring film. Also, we bought our very own washing machine and dryer, and then I baked my first cake entirely from scratch!

March started with a Black History Month program at work, I baked a delicious crumb cake and our friends Isaac and Carolyn had their first child: the perfect little baby Sage! Keith came along on a field trip to see a Predators game and the next big event? MOM AND JOE-DAD GOT MARRIED!!! At the end of the month we enjoyed some great weather in the park with friends, there was an extremely scary shooting at work :/ but on a lighter note, we got to spend more time with beautiful little Sage.

April was pretty awesome! It started with Keith treating me to a Krispie Kreme date (or two), and then we road tripped to Georgia for Braves opening day. I helped throw a baby shower for Chelsey and we started our love affair with food trucks. Then it was party time! Keith and Jordie shared a birthday and Keith celebrated by getting a big green egg!

May: my parents came to Nashville for the first time! We had an awesome time sight seeing with them, and we even went to our first horse race in Kentucky. Then we hosted a pre-Easter BBQ to test out the grill, we got to see Jackie play roller derby in Clarksville, and played with Sage even more. Lastly? I took my students on a treacherous field trip to the Georgia Aquarium and wrote a manifesto about surviving such events haha.

June was packed and brought with it lots of heat and a ridiculous amount of cicadas :( but my camera was broken so I didn't take many pictures :/ we went to our first food festival, and I relished in my love for Keith after he surprised me with an iphone 4! I visited family in Florida for my cousins graduation which was bitter sweet because Keith couldn't get off work to come with me. But! when I returned we got to celebrate with Ryan and Chelsey as they welcomed their son Elliot! Keith and I got baptised, I went to Ruby Falls, we bought a new car! I had a yucky root canal, we BBQed with more friends, played with their babies and I got to teach art. Awesome, yet super busy month!

July was another crazy busy month, it started with my aunts and cousins visiting us from Florida. We got to do so many cool things with them, like taking a tour of the Jack Daniel's Distillery and Mammoth Caverns. I got to spend a day hiking and exploring Clarkesville with my friends Sara and Sarah, my students made even more art and I got home sick for Philadelphia. Then we flew to Florida for a long weekend to see our great friends Catie and Erick get married! I scanned some old family photos, camp finally ended and I worked on our heirloom book.

Then there was August... a trip to Georgia to have fun at 6 flags turned into me getting a horrible eye infection, I worked with a different camp for a week, I hung out with Chelsey and Elliot a BUNCH and Cheryl and Andrew stopped by for a quick visit. Keith refinished his drum set, Theo got fleas, and then we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a trip to the zoo. We reminisced about our amazing wedding, then ate our delicious year old cake haha. Some other highlights were taking our first trip to Arrington Vineyards with Carolyn and Isaac, making dried fruit strips, and bringing Keith to my ultimate favorite vacation spot: Bald Head Island. Unfortunately Hurricane Irene had other plans for us, but we finished our vacation inland in North Carolina. Lastly, our first car Marty turned one!

September started with our beautiful friends Katelyn and Anna visiting from DC. We took an extreme amount of pictures, and even jumped off cliffs and danced at the Parthenon! I made recycled art with my students, and we had our first Mas Tacos experience. Then we enjoyed the weather cooling off, Keith started a band, Ben and Jackie visited, and we went to Georgia and stayed with Dane, Deb and their adorable children. Lastly, I got ready to start my new job, and Theo brought in his first snake, ugh. 

In October I blogged a lot! We started the month by taking advantage of the Goodwill half off Saturday, I zumba-ed, watched Elliot grow up so fast, and laughed when my friends joked about my hatred of horses. Then Jonathan and Erin visited, I went on my last field trip, started running more intensely, watched football with friends, celebrated Theo's 2nd birthday! and had a going away party for our sweet friends Ryan, Chelsey and Elliot. Theo continued to bring in more snakes, I made wedding decorations for Jonathan and Erin, we bowled with Brad and Jen, I made Reese's cups, Keith carved a ridiculous pumpkin and played ultimate frisbee, we said our last goodbyes to The Meyer's and I showed you a glimpse of my life as a portable art teacher. OH! and I made a dinosaur hoodie for a Halloween costume. Woof, that was a mouthful haha. 

November was full of traveling: it all started with Keith's band playing a show, then we went to Philadelphia for Dan and Aly's wedding. Within a few days of returning, we left town again for Jonathan and Erin's wedding in North Carolina. Both were EXTREMELY beautiful and so much fun! Out of nowhere we surprised everyone with news of Keith's new job, we had an awesome friends giving, and I celebrated turning 24 with a brand new computer! My friends threw me a party, I baked a pie, we had Thanksgiving in Georgia (with no arrests!) and my students made some awesome projects. 

Last but not least... December! Thanks for hanging in there if you've read all of this haha. We started the month by joining a CSA, then we got a Christmas tree, I had lots of fun at a girls night, we got our house all decorated and festive, I learned about the bike share program at the park and we got to babysit Sage. We celebrated the two year anniversary of our engagement, I cooked with purple peas, my students had an exhibit, we went to a Christmas party at Steve's, and I made a new year's bucket list (of which I've already crossed a few things off!) Our big December adventure was heading to Florida for a week to celebrate Christmas with my family and soak up all the warm weather that we could. Lastly, I shared this years Christmas card.

2011 definitely came with some highs and lows, but if I'm being honest, most of those lows hardly feel memorable at this point. We got to experience some amazing milestones, share our city with the friends and family that mean the most, and we got to visit so many of the people we love. This past year was filled with so much joy that we can easily brush the pain and the struggle aside, and move forward having learned valuable lessons. I can hardly believe how blessed we've been, and hope that that is just a sign that 2012 will be even bigger and better. I am so excited to see what is to come in the year ahead!

Lastly, I want to thank you all for reading our blog so faithfully, and taking the time to catch up with all that we have going on in our world. It means so much to hear that people enjoy reading what we have to say, and is such an encouragement to continually record and reflect on our lives. Love you all! Happy New Year!