New Year, New Routine

Happy New Year everyone!  These last few weeks have been crazy for us.  Corbin finished up school on December 21st and we spent the next two days with his family before heading to New Jersey for the holidays.  It was so great to spend time with the Murawski's.  We surprised Nate and Cole at Cathy and Scott's house before continuing on to stay with my parents.  They were so excited to see us, especially Uncle Corbin.  We were able to see the boys several times while we were there and enjoyed every minute.  Watching them open Christmas presents was so much fun and we look forward to doing it again in the future.  We were also able to spend a lot of time with Patti and Ray and their adorable little guy.  We miss them all very much already.

In addition to spending time with family, we were also able to see some friends.  Corbin and I went to the Franklin Institute with my friend Elizabeth and her boyfriend and then went to dinner in Philly.  It was so nice to be able to spend time with her since she's my oldest friend.  Being in Michigan can be tough since my friends are so far away but every time we get together, we can just pick up where we left off. 

Although our vacation was nice, it had to come to an end.  We arrived back in Michigan on January 3rd and found ourselves busy right away.  One of my best friends from college came to visit the first weekend back because our friend Chelsea got engaged right before the holidays.  We had a great weekend full of dress shopping and wedding plans.  It was awesome to be able to catch up with some friends and spend the weekend together.  With the catching up came some lack of sleep, however, and I found myself with the flu on Sunday morning just in time for the start of my second semester of grad school.  After a few days of battling with it, getting asked to leave class for being sick, and missing a day of work, I'm starting to feel much better.  

Corbin and I are looking forward to getting back into a normal routine now that the semester has begun and we're both back at work.  We hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and that spending time with family and friends brought as much happiness and joy to you as it did us!

Holiday Craziness

It's so hard to believe that in just 10 days we will be back in New Jersey for a much needed vacation!  It has been way too long since we have seen all of our friends and family in the "Dirty Jerz."  However, before we actually take that 10 hour road trip back east, we have a lot to get done.  Corbin will be finishing up his second graduate course today as he hands in his final assignment.  I'm so proud of all he has taken on this fall/winter.  He puts in so much time at the high school between coaching and tutoring after school and then he has to come home and get all of his lesson plans, assignments, and tests typed up.  He has done all of this without getting sick or having too many mental lapses.  What a trooper!  

I've been enjoying my time off between semesters but I do look forward getting back into the swing of school in January (I'll regret saying that later).  In the meantime, I've been catching up on some reading and have also been trying out lots of new recipes I've found on Pinterest.  I love that website.  Although I won't be coaching in Clinton this spring (heading to Tecumseh), I am still taking at least one of my former athletes through workouts twice a week.  I'm actually doing the workouts with her because I'm also trying to get back into shape.  As I took her through our first workout together, she said, "You must have been in such amazing shape in college doing two sports."  That was all the motivation I needed to start working out again. Thanks Ellen!  We just finished up our third week of workouts and I know I feel stronger already!  

This weekend looks like it's going to be a busy one.  Tonight we will head up to E. Lansing after the Varisty basketball game for a Christmas party/housewarming party.  One of Corbin's classmates from the education program just recently bought his first home and we're really anxious to see it.  We're also looking forward to seeing some of his friends from college and being back in the E. Lansing area.  We love that place!  Tomorrow, we're hoping to get our Christmas tree up and decorated (even though we leave in a week and a half).  I feel like it's the only thing that gets me in the Christmas spirit!  Corbin's cousin was kind enough to pick one up for us from their Christmas tree farm up north.  I'm hoping it isn't a complete Charlie Brown Christmas tree even though I know my mom would love it.  They're her favorite.  Tomorrow night we have another Christmas party to head to with some of Corbin's volleyball teammates.  Sunday, I'm really hoping to get some Christmas cookies baked.  I can't wait to make some of our classic "Murawski" cookies to share with the Brown's next weekend.  

Next week will most likely be the longest week ever since we're both so excited to head east.  Before we go, however, we will be enjoying a Christmas dinner with the Brown side of Corbin's family.  It's always a large gathering and that's with many cousins missing.  This year, Corb's cousin Kate and her husband Mike will be coming in for the occasion as well as Kate's brother Jordan and his wife Sara.  We saw Kate this summer but Mike was away on deployment so it's been a while since we saw him.  Jordan and Sara just moved up to Kentucky in the last 6 months or so and we haven't seen them since their wedding 2 years ago! Definitely excited to see everyone again!  We're planning on leaving after the dinner on Sunday afternoon and then driving through the night.  We should arrive early on Christmas Eve.  Although we'll be tired, I'm sure all of the excitement will keep us going for a few days!

Hopefully these next 10 days will fly by but not too quickly so we can really enjoy them!  I hope everyone is gearing up for Christmas without too much stress!  

Catching Everyone Up

Well this is my first go at blogging so we'll see how it goes.  I figured I would start one to keep everyone updated on mine and Corbin's lives since we're so far away from everyone.  Here goes nothing...

The last six months have been incredibly busy for us.  In June, we moved into our first home together.  It is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home that sits on just under an acre of land.  It is 2200 square feet with plenty of room for a family in the future.  Since moving in we have painted the downstairs living room, dining room, and family room as well as the hallway and half bath.  Getting the downstairs painted was quite a hassle.  Thank goodness for my parents!  The original owners of the house put up wallpaper without prepping the drywall first.  They also used the wrong glue so although we were able to remove the wallpaper, the glue stayed put.  We ended up having to sand the walls down by hand, prime them, put wallpaper liner up, and finally paint them.  Again, my parents are a Godsend.

After the painting fiasco, I returned home to New Jersey to prepare the last details for our wedding.  We had a lovely rehearsal and rehearsal dinner with our closest family and friends to prepare for the big day.  August 10, 2012 was an amazing day.  Although it poured that morning, the skies were clear when it came time for the ceremony.  It went off without a hitch and we were able to continue onto the reception for some cocktails, dinner and dancing.  The day was so much fun but went by incredibly fast.  The next day we had some family and friends over for a cookout before heading to the Rascal Flatts concert.  (Corbin got me tickets as a wedding present!)  After the concert, we had to head back to my parents and pack for our honeymoon in Punta Cana.

Our honeymoon was a blast!  We went to the Majestic Elegance resort in Punta Cana.  Although the food didn't agree with us, the beaches, sunshine and excursions sure did.  We swam with sting rays and sharks one day which was a great experience.  We also took a countryside tour of Punta Cana which was an eye-opening experience.  We were able to see a sugar cane plantation, banana plantation and what an average house looks like in their country.  The "houses" were more like huts than anything else with no electricity.  It was actually somewhat sad to see how many of these people live because their monthly income is only about $120 a month.  Our third excursion was deep sea fishing.  Corbin really enjoyed this one.  I just watched and took pictures but those fish really seemed strong!

We finally returned back to New Jersey to pack up our car and make the long trip back to Michigan.  Upon our arrival, we had to jump right into coaching.  Corbin and I both had practices to attend in order to prepare for football and soccer season to start. On top of coaching, we also both began grad school.  I started at Siena Heights University which is about 15 minutes away from us and Corbin is continuing his education at Michigan State taking online courses.  Corbin coached middle school football and helped out with the JV and Varsity programs as well.  Although his middle school team did not have a great season, Varsity went 9-0 in regular season and lost by one point in their playoff game.  They had a lot to be proud of this season.  My JV boys team had a ton of potential this year but with 14 freshman it was clear we were inexperienced.  I look forward to next season when the guys will be more confident in their play.

Now that both our fall seasons have wrapped up, we have finally had more time to spend together.  We have rewarded ourselves with a few dates nights to the zoo and bowling.  It has been really great to finally figure out what married life is all about now that we see each other for more than one or two hours a day.  Corbin has decided to help out with the Varsity basketball program a little bit here and there but has not committed to it full time this season.  Maybe in the future.

We can't wait to head back to New Jersey for Christmas and New Year's.  It has been a few months since we've seen our rugrat nephews but we're anxious to see how much they've grown.  It will also be nice to just relax and laugh with my family and friends for a week and a half since we haven't seen them in a while.

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season as it quickly approaches!  I know we will!

The Browns