Bingo Night!

We are bringing bingo night back into style for young people or at least for our friends.  This was our third bingo night at our house and it continues to be a really fun tradition.  We plan to host bingo nights every other month.  We have people bring a small prize with them to contribute as prizes for each round.  We bought our bingo set on Amazon over the summer and plan to get a lot of use out of it.  Here are a few candid photos from the evening:

Loft Walkthrough

Oh my goodness it’s getting real.  We have talked for years and years about the transition from the in town loft to the suburbs but it’s starting to really happen.  We had our real estate agent come do a walkthrough of our place to make a list of things we need to fix, change, and stage as we prepare to list our house on the market in the spring.  After recovering from a little shock that this is really happening we felt good about having a solid game plan and will start getting to work.  We plan to work on some of the small fixes a few at a time on the weekends.  The next big step is getting a storage unit to store our extra stuff (clutter, personal items, etc.).  Then going through each room and clearing it out to just the basics so people can better imagine living there without our personal items and taste affecting how they feel about the space.

C&A Came Back (for a weekend)

Chad and Amanda came back for Megan's wedding and it was so nice to get to see them.  I know it's only been a month since they moved but we had been having major withdrawals.  We got to catch up on life, their new apartments, and new jobs.  We ordered pizza, played games, and had at least one too many Manhattans on Friday night.  On Saturday we met up with some friends for coffee and then got ready for the wedding.  

As mentioned in my other post about Megan's wedding it was beautiful and so much fun!  It really reminded me that even though they moved away our friendship is very strong and won't end just because of the distance.  We are planning to go visit them in Charlotte in early spring!  

   

Megan & Mark's Wedding!

Their wedding was absolutely beautiful!  They got married in the Log Cabin Community Church - it is a beautiful little church with wooden pews and a very intimate and cozy feel to it.  Her dress was stunning and it was a really beautiful ceremony!

She had beautiful winter inspired details like pine cones mixed in with the beautiful red roses in her bouquet and pine trees on the details like the invitations, programs, and favors.  The whole wedding really reflected their style and personalities.  One of my favorite details was the bright red classic truck that they rode away in driven by her dad. 

Then reception was at the Heritage Center in Sandy Springs.  We ate great food and danced the night away.  These are some of my favorite pictures from the evening!  It was so fun to be with so many our friends to celebrate such a momentous occasion.  It is only bittersweet because the wedding being over means she is moving to Texas but I know she's excited to finally live in the same state as Mark again!

Megan's Bachelorette

We had a really fun day celebrating Megan’s bachelorette!  We started with pottery painting at Splatter’s, then went to Noche for tapas, and ended the night at my house for her lingerie shower.  

Finished Product from Splatters - a set of four plates and four coffee mugs for their new kitchen:

Group Shots from the Shower:

Pure Barre

In the spirit of my resolutions of being fitter, stronger, and more comfortable in my own skin I wanted to try something new with my workouts.  Despite considerable training and effort I still don’t love running and while Zumba is fun it’s not really helping me get stronger.  I was talking to some friends in December and they mentioned barre classes.  I had always wanted to try them since I grew up doing ballet barre all the time I figured it would be fun for me.  However I was really intimidated since when people talk about barre classes it normally goes something like this: “it’s wonderful but it’s really, really hard” or “it is torture but you’ll love it”.  You get the drift.  It makes it tough to take the plunge to sign up for the first class when you aren't sure you’ll come out alive.

I finally bit the bullet and signed up.  People were right.  It is really hard and a glamorous form of self-inflicted torture but I do really like it.  I love that the small movements start working really fast and seem to target all my problem areas.  I love fighting through my shaking muscles and finishing an exercise without having to stop or modify it.  I was crazy sore the next day but I've gone back a few times and while it’s still hard during the class the lingering soreness afterwards is more manageable.  I signed up for a new client special at Pure Barre where I get five weeks unlimited.  I have signed up for 4-5 classes a week each week.  I am really excited to see my strength and fitness levels at the end of the five weeks.  

2015 Resolutions

I love New Years.  I love the representation of a blank page in a new chapter and the opportunity it gives to reflect about the past year and prepare our minds and attitudes for the coming year. 

This year I have a few resolutions:

• Working on becoming fitter and stronger
• Working on reducing my negative attitude about my body and feeling confident at whatever point in my fitness journey I’m at
• Cook at home more often – I admire what amazing cooks my parents are and I need to put a bigger dent in my 10,000 hours towards being a great cook!
• Letting go of grudges and past hurts – they are only weighing me down and have no effect on the people who inflicted the wound.  For my own sake I need to allow myself to feel hurt and then move on.  I have too many wonderful people in my life to focus energy and effort on the ones who don’t.
• 2 books a month
• In the words of Tracy Chapman “buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs”
• Declutter

This year along with my resolutions I also wrote a New Year’s poem that reflects my prayers and hopes for the coming year.

I’d like to live like a tree
Arms reaching into the sky
Basking in the sunlight
Adept at changing seasons
Beautiful and natural in each stage
Braced and prepared for any storm
Roots nestled firmly into the earth
Growing stronger with each passing year 

Christmas Celebrations

Here are the group photos from our many wonderful Christmas celebrations this year.  We are blessed beyond belief to have such wonderful families and friends!

Christmas with Colin & TMNT Ornaments

We had our Christmas celebration with Kyle’s mom, his sister Heather, her husband Clayton, and our nephew Colin.  We decided this year to start a new tradition of making an ornament each year at our dinner party.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and knew it was the perfect choice for this year.  We made our own teenage mutant ninja turtle ornaments.  Colin also improvised and made his own alien turtle creation in addition to the regular crew of Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, & Leonardo.

2014 Year in Review

This has been an incredible year for us and I continue to be extremely thankful for the many blessings in our lives.  We are preparing for some big changes in the New Year including moving so we’ve both been very reflective this year.  We can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store!

• Kyle changed jobs and moved to Lanier High School to become an Academy Lead and to continue teaching in the classroom
• Kyle turned the big 3 0
• We celebrated our 6^th wedding anniversary!
• I finally got my SLR camera and have loved learning more about photography
• Kyle presented at GCTE & NCTE
• I celebrated my 4^th work anniversary with T-Mobile
• I started a book club with an amazing group of ladies!September – The Giver; October – The 100 Foot Journey; November – Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children; December – Let It Snow

Weddings:

• Chad & Amanda on 6/7
• Emily & Wes on 9/13
• Blair & Jenna on 11/15
• Heather & Kyle on 12/28

New Additions:

• Kim & Austin had Owen in April
• Brian & Brant had Lucas in August
• Amy & Josh had Savannah in September
• Keri & Brandon had Lucas in November

Trips:

• Expedition Everest 5k in Orlando
• Colorado – Denver, Vail, Edwards, Glenwood Springs, & Golden
• Our 5th Annual 12 Mile Trip for the 4th of July
• Washington DC for the NCTE Conference

Races:

• iRun at the Bridge Church for the Lawrenceville Food Coop- 5k
• Dawg Jawg for the UGA Auxiliaries - 5k
• Expedition Everest at Disney World - 5k

Jenna's Beachelorette

This is another post that is out of sequence but I wanted to make sure to write about this fun girls weekend celebrating Jenna!  We rented an amazing house in Santa Rosa Florida.  It was just a mile to the beach and the neighborhood had a beautiful walking trail and sitting area with stunning views of the marsh.  I really enjoyed getting to know Jenna's friends better and can truthfully say after the weekend I consider all of them friends of my own as well.  We took turns cooking meals, had late night kitchen dance parties, enjoyed two lazy days at the beach, and a fun night out dancing in Destin.  It is a trip I'll always remember with some amazing ladies!

NCTE in Washington DC

This post is out of sequence but back in November we went to Washington DC for the NCTE conference.  Kyle stayed pretty busy listening to speakers and participating in his round table session but we managed to fit in a lot of sight seeing and fun as well.  Our favorites by far were:

• Getting a private tour of the Capitol building from an intern for one of the representatives. It was so much more fun and informative plus we got to move at our own pace.  We also got to go out on the Speaker's balcony which hands down is the best view of DC.  Big thanks to our friend Jeff for hooking us up!
• Newseum
• Walking the National Mall (the Lincoln and Jefferson monuments were my favorite) - the emotion in Lincoln's face and the beautiful architecture of the rotunda on the Jefferson memorial
• National Air & Space Museum
• Holocaust Museum - very powerful and emotional
• Karaoke with Nick's friends - sometimes the most fun things are experiencing places that locals that live in the area frequent
• Brunch with Kyle's Uncle Mark & Aunt Itura - they live in the area and were so sweet to come meet us for breakfast while we were in town.