I wanted to try to recap the rest of 2019 the best I can. It was such a fun year for the Orsburn family.
February:
In February 2019, I started Yoga Teacher Training at Downtown Yoga Center. It was one of the most special experiences of my life. I did a 200 hour training, which included weekends in the classroom, yoga classes as both a participant and observer during the week, and teaching 10 demo classes. I finished all my requirements in August and received my certification on September 1. I started teaching at the studio in October.
My YTT class - 8 warrior sisters plus two of our instructors. These women will forever be a part of who I am. Lindy, Ami, Janet, Ginger, Patrice, Bryanna, and Candra. So grateful.
I couldn't have done it without Scott's unending support - he took on weekends with the boys, did A LOT of yoga along the way, and continues to support me on this yoga journey. I might have made a yogi out of him! 😊
May:
On May 20, 2019, We attended the Awards Banquet at Science Hill for Brayden. He did not know he was receiving an award. We got a post card in the mail asking us to attend. I was so proud and excited. I also love surprises, so we didn't tell him. Neither did his teacher. First, I had to convince him to go. Second, I had to convince him to dress nicer than athletic pants and a hoodie. When we arrived, he figured it out when I told him he had to go sit with the award recipients! :) Brayden received an award for Architecture and Engineering Design 3. I am so thankful Nan and Pap were able to join us. Since I am writing this entry in 2021 during the pandemic, I have a different appreciation for all the things grandparents were able to attend in the past. 💗 Anyway, here are the pictures from that event:
On May 25, Brayden, Michelle and I attended SHHS Graduation. We went so they could see their friends, and I could see children of my friends. I'm only posting because I just like this picture of us. 😊
On May 27, Karen and Bob came to visit. I wish I could remember this visit. We definitely went on a hike, I'm just not sure where. Here is the photographic evidence.
June:
June 8th, we set out on our annual week long vacation to Ocean Isle Beach! Gosh, we love OIB. 2019 included all the normal things - hanging out on the beach, early morning runs on the beach, swimming in the pool, fishing from the pier, and eating lots of yummy food. Brody had taken up lacrosse, so he played some lacrosse on the beach. This might be picture over load, but here are just a few of the pictures I took.
As always, we had a great time. I really love this family tradition of ours. I think the kids do too. Over the years, this has been a family only vacation. We've never taken friends or (more recently) girlfriends. It has always just been the 4 of us and I am so thankful for all the really great memories we've made together.
On the heels of returning from the beach, Brody and I took out to go to Phoenix, Arizona. I had a work conference and Brody tagged along. On June 18, we boarded the plane at Tricities Regional Airport headed for Phoenix by way of Charlotte. This was Brody's first time on an airplane. This was the trip where I discovered what a great little travel buddy Brody is! We were traveling with one of my coworkers too, and the three of us made the most of every minute of this trip. Brody fell in love with Arizona. I wouldn't be surprised if we found him living there one day.
First flight!
Once we arrived in Arizona, we planned out our days. Brody got busy on stub hub and found us tickets to the Arizona Diamondbacks game. He also scheduled our Uber ride to get us downtown to the stadium. Our hotel was a resort - so we had food, pool, lazy river, golf....all the amenities. We spent plenty of time at the pool. Brody also spent plenty of time (and money) at the Starbucks in the hotel. They thought his name was Birdy, which we found very funny. 😊
We learned Arizona is HOT. Before we went to Arizona, everyone told us it was a 'dry heat' and it would be different from the humidity we normally experience in the summer in Tennessee. I don't care if it is dry or humid, 110 degree is just hot. I know it doesn't look like it, but I did actually attend conference events too. Brody stayed in the room while I was at the conference. I think he probably slept in on all of those days. It was a great trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I'm pretty sure Brody would too.
July:
In July, Brayden's senior year became a reality for us. He went in for his senior yearbook photos. At first, he didn't want anyone at the school with him. He called me a few minutes after arriving to come join him. Goodness. I was not prepared for all the feelings that would come with seeing my first born in his graduation cap and gown. I had to be sneaky about pictures, but I got one quick one with his demo cap and gown.
Also in July, we celebrated birthday number 96 for Mamaw.
July also included the Nashville trip, but somehow I managed to do a blog post about that particular event! You just never know what you're gonna get with me, I guess.
August:
One of Scott's favorite hobbies is photography. In August, he and I headed up to Roan Mountain to Carver's Gap and the Appalachian Trail for some night photography of the Milky Way. I will spare you my iPhone pictures of the night sky, but I did take some pictures of our evening hike in to the rock balds, where he took the night pictures of the sky. We've done a lot of hiking over the years, but not so much at night. Luckily, this hike is mostly across balds with very little hiking through the woods. That was good news when we were coming off the trail in the dark!
He is so silly! His pictures turned out amazing. I learned a lot about the planets and identifying them in the night sky that evening.
In August, Brayden started his senior year of high school and Brody started 7th grade at Liberty Bell, officially a middle schooler. I also blogged about that previously, so I won't repeat those thoughts here.
September:
September started with my birthday. We went to Mamaw's house to celebrate with my Mom. I did get my favorite thing: a cookie cake. I also got some sweet memories of my Mamaw and Scott. She was pretty far into dementia by this time. She really just wanted to hold your hand. Scott stood with her for the longest time while she held his hand. I will forever cherish these photos.
On September 20, we got to celebrate Scott's birthday. We opted to do so with a day-after-his-birthday hike on the 21st. We spent the day hiking the White Rock Trail on Buffalo Mountain pretty close to home. The hikers included Scott, Carla, Brody and our two dogs, Summit and Maisy. What I remember most is how hot it was hiking that day. Maisy was probably the hottest of all of us.
Scott took his camera, of course, and took full advantage of the opportunity to take some awesome pictures from above the city.
October:
In October, we did two big dances: Brody went to his first middle school dance and Brayden and Michelle went to the fall formal. I know I am biased, but my boys are SO handsome. 😍
I want to include November here, but it was such a fun month for us. I want to give it it's own post. I'm on a roll, so...maybe I will actually get it done.
December:
Christmas and all things merry!
Shew! Longest blog post ever, but that was 2019 recapped. I have really enjoyed spending these few hours looking through the pictures from 2019 and reliving some of the fun stuff we did.
The truest words from one of our family favorites:
Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing. ~Dr. Seuss
No comments:
Post a Comment