Two Years

Brendan and I celebrate two years of marriage today. Two years seems so short, but I feel as if we've always been married, always been together.

Our one-year anniversary couldn't come soon enough, and we looked forward to that first relationship milestone to celebrate our marriage. Now that year two is here, I don't have that "Yes! We made it!" feeling, but more of a warm contentedness and a desire to keep going. Instead of celebrating the event, I would rather rejoice in our relationship together.

Merry Christmas

Due to the inevitable chaos that ensues when one is a first-year teacher, unfortunately my Christmas cards will be tardy this year. But fear not; they will be in the mail very shortly. So, here's a little something to tide you over. Happy Christmas!

My Little Niece

Brendan and I spent Thanksgiving with his family in Sugar Land, and one of the trip's highlights was spending time with my little niece, Allison. She's eight months old, and every stage keeps getter more fun. Sure, she was cute when she was super tiny, but she didn't do very much, except sleep and stare at you. Now Allison is crawling and sitting up, which means she can finally play with toys! We already bought her Christmas presents, which was way too much fun.

Here are some highlights from our visit at Thanksgiving.

Giving the herkie. Perhaps she has a future in cheerleading.

Sweet, sleepy baby

How can you resists that face?!


Enjoying some playtime with Aunt Erin

Giving Thanks

I have a full week off from school this week, so I'm (finally) enjoying being lazy and not doing anything. As much as I love my job, it can be very exhausting in many ways, so I'm looking forward to re-charging and enjoying some time with family.

We're traveling to Sugar Land on Wednesday to spend the holiday with Brendan's family. It's the first time for me to spend Thanksgiving with his side, which seems crazy since we've been married for almost two years. Being introduced to another family's holiday traditions and foods is always interesting, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the Vosses celebrate. Hopefully it will include the Cowboy game and a long post-lunch nap.

One more thing to be thankful for this time of year: my baby niece. I get to see her this week for the first time since July, and I cannot wait. Babies make everything better, and I can't wait to snuggle with her, or at least try to catch her as she's crawling madly across the room.

Go Spurs Go

Note: I've made a resolution to blog more. Balancing life with this whole first-year-of-teaching deal has been interesting, but trust that you'll find copious blog updates in the future.

I've been a Spurs fan as long as I can remember. Actually, anyone who has lived in San Antonio for any length of time can probably claim fandom; since the Spurs are the only professional sports team in this area, we townies tend to be rabid supporters. So when Brendan and I found out that we were moving to San Antonio, one of my first thoughts was, "Yes! Live Spurs games!" We attended our first game on Wednesday, which was the season opener against the Hornets -- and we crushed them. The game was wonderful, and I look forward to many more in the future. And I just may coax Brendan, a long-time Rockets fan, over to the dark side.

Everyday is Spurs Day at my house.


No Spurs game is complete without cotton candy.

How appropriate

Kicking some Hornets tail

The first of many Spurs games together

Happy Days

Five reasons to be happy this week:

1. Fall(ish) weather, which qualifies as anything cooler than 90 degrees.
2. The return of 30 Rock.
3. I'm beginning to hit my stride at school.
4. It's candy corn/mellowcreme pumpkin season.
5. I can see the new Spurs season on the horizon.

Downtown

Brendan and I ventured downtown on Saturday to enjoy some cheesy tourist fun. It had been quite a while since I'd been there. Even when I was growing up, trips to the touristy parts of downtown were rare and usually were reserved for visitors and out-of-town guests; tourist attractions are never as appealing to the townies.

I had a wonderful time going back with Brendan. We visited the Alamo and the Riverwalk, and ate dinner at the best restaurant on the River.

We remembered the Alamo.

My 'coon-skin cap

On our River Cruise, the guide informed us that the top three reasons people fall into the San Antonio River are: drunkenness, horseplay, and texting.

We finished off the evening with a delicious dinner at Paesanos.