Ringing in the New Year

On New Year's Eve we went to dinner at Maggiano's with Ryan's family. Afterward we planned to head down to The Landing to ring in the new year and watch some fireworks. Unfortunately....The Landing didn't end up being the classiest of places. Fortunately for us, we have some awesome friends that live close by! We called them up and they invited us over to hang out and watch the ball drop and say cheers to the new year! So thankful for great friends!

 Down at The Landing

Happy New Year!

Jingle all the way

On Christmas Eve our church has a live nativity before & after the services with shepards, wise men, horses, sheep, a cow, and of course Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. This year Ryan & I got to be Mary & Joseph! I held a baby doll for nativity when we were outside around the hay and animals, but inside for the service (Ryan & I didn't have any speaking parts, just held the baby and sat on the stage!) we had a real baby! She (yes, we only had a girl for the part) was the perfect baby Jesus & slept through BOTH services!

       Afterward we all went to Ryan's aunt & uncle's house for Christmas Eve together. We had dinner together, watched the younger cousins open gifts, and then exchange gifts with the adults. My family & Ryan's family both have a tradition of getting pajamas on Christmas Eve and this year it kept going! Ryan's parents got all four of us UT pajamas in honor of young Nathaniel!

       We spent Christmas morning together opening gifts (which we already knew about) & stockings (that we surprised each other with) at our place. Later we went down to my parents house to spend Christmas & a few days with my family. We had such a great first Christmas together & are so thankful for both families we got to share it with!

 My awesome Gator scarfs from the Flemings! 

 One of Ryan's stocking stuffers & quite possibly his favorite!

He's been a big fan of TMNT forever!

Christmas at Mom & Dad's!

Ryan turns 24!

        Ryan's birthday was on a Monday this year, so naturally we celebrated it Saturday, Sunday, & Monday!
On Saturday we went to the Jacksonville Giants basketball game at the Veterans Memorial Arena. We had never been to a game before, but we wanted to do something fun and different!

Here is Ryan with the Giant's mascot, Mr. Biggs!

(Please note the guy in the background picking his nose!)

        On Sunday we celebrated with his family. We went to La Nop for lunch after church and then went back to his parents house for cake, ice cream, and some football watching! I was so excited to make Ryan's cake for his birthday! I had never made a cake before (only cupcakes) so I kept it pretty simple....3 layers of funfetti cake & icing, and some cute decor on top! :)

        Finally on Ryan's REAL birthday we went to a Japanese Steakhouse Restaurant because you can your meal for free on your actual birthday! It was yummmmy! Afterward we went to see Sherlock Holmes; Ryan is  a big movie fan & he couldn't wait to see it!

We had a great time celebrating my sweet sweet hubby!

Here's to many more years!

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

          For our first Thanksgiving together Ryan & I stayed in town and celebrated with his side of the family. We all went over to his aunt & uncle's house and (since there are around 30 people) they set up long tables in the back yard so we can all sit together! His aunt is a VERY crafty woman so the tables and decorations looked great! It was a neat experience to have Thanksgiving dinner outside, but I clearly wasn't thinking about the weather when I got dressed that morning! It was a pretty cold day this year AND it was windy, but between borrowing a jacket and a blanket, I was covered! ;) 

          Ryan has 5 little cousins and each year the older 4 (the youngest one just turned 2 so he's not old enough yet) put on a Thanksgiving play for the family each year. This year they did "Stone Soup" which was a witty story about 2 soldiers coming to a town and all the townspeople hid their food because they didn't want to share. The clever soldiers told the towns people they could make soup from stones but they just needed a few things....the people were so interested in how to make soup from stones that the soldiers were able to trick them into bringing out their food...."all we need for stone soup is a few carrots, 3 potatoes, 2 onions...." and so on. It was fun watching the kids act it out and remember their lines! Ryan's aunt hinted that they will need "more actors" soon...haha but we're not quite ready for that yet! Chelsea could always join in though!

        Later that night Ryan & I went out on out first Black Friday adventure. And adventure it was! We left at 9pm and stayed out until 7am! Walmart was our first and craziest stop! There were hundreds of people there and they were definitely on a mission! Three fights broke out while we were there from 9:30pm-12am! We also hit Best Buy, the mall, and Jo Ann Fabrics (got a great deal on a Christmas tree!). It was a fun experience together but we decided we might not do it again together since we couldn't surprise each other with our gifts on Christmas since we bought them together haha! 

University of Tennessee

At the end of October we traveled up to Knoxville for Ryan's youngest brother, Nathan's, official visit to UT! We left at midnight on Thursday and got into town at 8am on Friday! You could say we made great time, or something like that! We went to breakfast & shopped around for a little while, and then checked into our hotel. We had a couple hours down time to get ready, and then we were off! We were going going going allll weekend! Lunch with some coaches, touring the campus, touring football facilities, and then dinner with the players & coaches. That was just the first day (2pm-8pm). When we  got back to the hotel and get ready for bed it felt like it was midnight...and it was only 8:30! The next morning we were up and at 'em by 9am for breakfast with the team & coaches, touring more of the school and meeting the dean's of the two college's Nate is interested in, going to the Vol walk, and watching the team warm up on the sidelines. Tennessee played South Carolina that day and unfortunately lost, but as if just being up there didn't make Nathan want to be living there already, we know he got even more excited to be up there after watching that game. The rest of the weekend kept up the same crazy fast pace but it was great for everyone to see and learn about the place Nate will be spending the next 4-5 years! We are very excited for him, and may have even donned that strange shade of orange for him that weekend. But I guess we're warming up to it...at least for the next 4-5 years ;)

Halloween

In the spirit of fall and Halloween, we went pumpkin picking with the Frye's in mid October (see previous post). And then our pumpkin sat. and sat. and sat. We didn't do anything with it! So finally on Monday, such an odd day of the week for Halloween to fall on, we decided we better carve this baby or it was totally pointless to get! Clearly neither of us are artists, but we gave it our best shot! We ended up with an off center smile and one buck tooth haha!

Petermans pick a Pumpkin!

         Wow..well, it looks like I haven't done too well on keeping up with this blog, but that's life I guess! Since the last time I blogged I have started my grad classes and while its only 2 classes, I am learning they definitely require more time than undergrad! I have been kind of hard on myself thinking that I am an underachiever since I can only take 2 classes per semester rather than a full load (that's how the program is designed) but now I am thankful because it allows me time to work part time and still enjoy time with Ryan and cleaning and cooking and all those joyous wifely duties! :) Also since the last blog, football season has started! We are at Nathan's games every Friday night and watching our alma mater play every Saturday. We love Gator football, but this season the Bartram team is providing MUCH MORE excitement and victories!

         This past Saturday we went pumpkin pickin' at a local church who has a pumpkin patch every year. I don't remember if I have ever been to a pumpkin patch (Mom & Dad: if you did take me, forgive my forgetfulness!) so I was pretty excited. Especially because I am sooo ready for fall and the weather that comes with it! We went with our friends Brooke & Jacob, which was also good considering Brooke & I later found a craft show so the guys thankfully had each other to make it through that! ;)

Waiting in the car to meet the Frye's!

He is always being silly! 

 Love my man!!