Monday, December 12, 2011

Birds of a Feather

Merry Christmas!

Last year, we gave you our virtual Christmas card here, and so we are starting out our Twelve Days of Christmas in similar fashion.

This year began with Stephen continuing his job at Garmin and my continual unemployment. The biggest change of 2011 was my current job at North Platte (where I did my student teaching), teaching Junior High Media, Junior High Reading, High School English RTI I, High School English RTI II, and High School Media. I'm also Junior Class sponsor. It's busy, but fun. But back to the beginning of the year. I had a part-time job at the Library (again) working as a page (again), and I hated it (again). But we had a wonderful summer, traveling to New Orleans, Gulf Shores, Georgia, and Michigan.

In New Orleans, we visited my old friend Josh and his new (and totally awesome) girlfriend, Kali. They both work at the WWII memorial, and we had a blast going behind-the-scenes at their work. It was also fun hanging out in Josh's apartment on Frenchmen Street in The Quarter. After two days visiting them, we continued our trip on to Gulf Shores with my family staying in my Grandma's fantastic home in Orange Beach. We sunned and relaxed and ate to our heart's contents. I'm still dreaming of the grilled shrimp from Doc's...

After the beach, we went to my Aunt Jess and Uncle Shayne's wedding in Atlanta, Georgia. (That's an on-going joke because Shayne, Stephen and I's new uncle, is only a year older than me, making him a year younger than Stephen). Shayne's an awesome addition to our family - it's only a shame he and Jess live so far away! (we miss you guys!) The wedding was one of the most beautiful we've ever been to, and it was a blast being a part of it.

About a week after that long all-in-one-trip, Stephen and I headed to Michigan to visit his sister and her husband Chad, daughters Destiny and Allie, and to meet our new nephew, Isaac. I adored going to Michigan after hearing so much about it from Stephen, and we had a ridiculous amount of fun visiting. Another family that lives too far away... Hopefully we'll get to visit again soon!

The rest of the summer was hot, and when it ended, school began, which was nerve-wracking and terrifying and totally awesome. The fall was relaxing for the most part, hanging out with friends, celebrating my new job with a visit to Crate & Barrel and a new couch from Nebraska Furniture Mart after Stephen finished the dining and living rooms. He also started a blog, which is totally awesome, but we need more questions submitted! If you have questions about anything, Stephen is your man. Head over to his site or email him and he'll blow your mind with his knowledge!

The beginning of winter has been nice: a huge Thanksgiving at my mom's with her family and Stephen's mom; tree decorating and hanging out with James; Christmas shopping and day dates; and getting ready for Christmas Eve at our house with family and friends.

In recent news, I may or may not have a weird food allergy or a bad gallbladder. We're not really sure on that, so we'll keep you updated (hopefully with pictures from my ultrasound on it - fun, right?). Stephen says he doesn't have anything to share because he doesn't even remember what's happened this year, but to let people know it's been a long year. James is still in Texas, being an awesome musician. We watch his concerts online and he sends us recordings of his playing - it's amazing to hear him play. He's so talented and dedicated; we only wish he weren't so far away! We do love when he visits. He's trying to decide what the next step is, so if you know of any openings in top-notch symphonies, let him know!

If you're a regular reader you pretty much know what's going on and what's been going on, if you're new to the blog, check out the tabs at the top for different sections or our archives. It's fun even for us to go back and see what's been going on.

Hoping your Holiday Season is as fun and magical as ours is! (Corny yes, but oh-so-true) All we need is some SNOW!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya (and James, too)

The Watersbrook Family. 

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