Giving thanks

We were blessed with safe travel and reasonable weather as we returned to visit family for Thanksgiving break.  We enjoyed our first holiday as married folk, and much to niece Lauren's good fortune we are still quite silly.

Alternating nights between the Nebraska and Iowa side of the river, we even got to have two helpings of Thanksgiving day desserts and two different recipes of Black Friday chili.


Between an Xbox dance off, a sprint into a head-on praire wind, and 3 children under 6 we were ready get some rest. As it would have it the end of the semester always brings heaps of deadlines. We are just beginning to catch up now in the second week of December. I guess that means we are ready for Christmas!

1st annual Brockmeier halloween party

After 4 years of living in Gainesville and always talking about getting dressed up and hosting a Halloween party, we finally did it! No classes or qualifying exams to give us an excuse not to host this event. We enjoyed having our friends over for some food, games, drinks, and to see their great costumes.

This is our first marriage pumpkin carving :) Austin free-handed the "B" and I did the leaf cut-outs

Austin dressed as a summer festival goer/peaceful samurai (i.e. no sword)

I went as Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games book and movie series. Mainly easy because all I needed was a braid and a sweet bow and arrow set and I was good to go :)

Austin made some orange pepper decorations for the food table

We also had some unusual snacks (thought of and made by Austin)-peanut butter and bread-and-butter pickles on crackers...

 Some of my lab mates came dressed up like the characters in the "Gagnam Style" music video

Austin's lab had a diverse array of costumes-vampires, flappers, and a Colombian guy :)

 

Lisa made some fantastic sugar cookies for the get-together!

 Mameshiba kept an eye out on the party goers...

Happy Halloween everyone! We currently have plans to help out with a church event on Wednesday evening and then will go out for a drink with some friends. I will post any more fun photos we take while we are all dressed up :)

October shenanigans

We've had a really fun and busy month! Soon after our honeymoon we hosted a belated wedding reception with our Florida friends. We had several people from both of our labs come-it was quite the party!

Lots of wine, fruit, and cheese to be had!

People always end up in the kitchen :p

Austin with his labmates

Erica and the tox group

Thanks to our wonderful friend Divya for taking photos!

October also means birthday time for me (Erica)...this year I celebrated the big quarter century mark in GNV with friends and my wonderful husband. We had some drinks at downtown on Friday night and then hit the archery range on my birthday to try out our skills with a bow and arrow. It was a lot of fun! We finished off the evening with some amazing Indian food at our favorite place in Ocala and even had some birthday cupcakes :) All in all it was a great way to ring in the big 2-5!

I am very much still a novice after only shooting once but it was a lot of fun! Looking forward to trying it again soon.

This weekend we decided it was time to get out of town for a bit. We have both been rather busy at work with projects and papers and were needing a break to clear our heads. We spent the day at the beach at one of our favorite places in the Tampa Bay area-Fort de Soto park-a great beach and camping area set away from the busy city. After some sun and relaxing in the water we arrived back in Gainesville refreshed and ready for another busy week!

After spending the day at the beaches in Fort de Soto, we headed to Pass-a-Grille to watch the sunset.

The very happy Florida Brockmeiers :)

Honeymooning in Maine

It's hard to believe that it was only a week ago that Austin and I came back home to Gainesville from our honeymoon in Maine! We couldn't have asked for a better time to enjoy each other's company while enjoying some of our favorite pleasantries of life. We spent our first two nights driving and exploring some coastal cities, four nights of camping and hiking amidst the spendor of the ocean/rocky/mountainous landscape, and two nights at a charming bed and breakfast in the lovely city of Portland. I

t was quite the trip-lots of driving and the joys and challenges that come with camping-but it was great because we got to do so many of the things that we both love: being outside in splendid scenery, hiking in the woods and along rocky mountain paths, visiting three different art museums that all highlighted some amazing American artists, and lots of delicious dinners in the very foodie-centric cities of Maine.

We both had an incredible time and came back to Florida rejuvenated and even more excited for our lifetime to come :) We took TONS of photos (over 900 between the two of us) but below you can find a couple of our favorites.

This next month of matrimony looks to be a lot of fun as well between tailgating, my 25th birthday, a visit from my parents and aunt and uncle, parties and happy hours with friends, and hopefully a beach trip and some Halloween festivities. Stay tuned for more updates on the Brockmeier adventures!

 Portland head light

 Pemaquid Point (the lighthouse on the Maine state quarter)

 View from the summit of Mount Megunticook at Camden Hills state park

Along the ocean path at Acadia national park

 Gorgeous morning color at Acadia

After summiting Mt. Champlain in Acadia

Our 2 first weeks of matrimony

We have had a nice couple of weeks here in our new Gainesville home together! We got all of our gifts unpacked and are so overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends and family. Thanks to everyone for being so thoughtful and for providing us with so many great things to get our married lives off on a good foot :)

While work has kept us busy during the day, it's nice to come home and talk about lab/school as we enjoy each other's company during dinner and in the evenings. I think we both missed this the most while being away from each other this summer and we are very happy to have our chances to talk about life face to face again. We've also had the chance to host some of our friends for dinner as we try to catch up with all of our grad school pals after a busy summer. We've thus far enjoyed sushi, enchiladas, and jambalaya with some good friends of ours. Looking forward to hosting more people over at Chateau Brockmeier in the months to come!

Today we took a break from organizing the new apartment (mostly set up but a few organizational things still needed for Austin's closet) and we went to the springs this morning. We both love snorkeling in the cold waters on sunny, quiet mornings while we watch the fish and turtles swim around us. After a stop at a fun outdoor restaurant in High Springs for lunch we made it back to Gainesville for some evening tennis. Unfortunately it was humid and we are out of tennis shape but we are determined to play again soon and get our game on with friends soon enough :)

We are leaving for Maine on our honeymoon on Tuesday morning. We are very excited for some cool weather, opportunities for hiking and nature viewing, and some good food and drinks as well! Going to spend the remainder of our weekend packing and planning and looking forward to the big trip!

A new normal

After nearly 10 months of engagement/wedding planning, a long summer apart from one another, and a busy week back in Nebraska, Austin and I are finally getting settled into our new apartment as man and wife :) The wedding and pre/post-wedding festivities were all fabulous! Lots of running around with last-minute to do items but still had time to spend with family and friends before the big day. We are both ecstatic to be starting off this new chapter in our lives after such a wonderful ceremony and reception as well!

We will be in Gainesville for 2 weeks getting caught up on lab/school work, unpacking gifts, and enjoying our new space together before leaving for Maine on our honeymoon. Hopefully during that time we will have more photos to share as well! Here's one of my favorites so far that my bridesmaid Jordan took at our first dance.

Thanks to all for your well-wishes and for helping us celebrate our big day!

Apartment photos

I wanted to post some photos of our new apartment. I've been here for over 3 months now and just cleaned it today so I thought it would be worthy of a few photographs :)

View from the front door into the living room

Love the new futon cover and pillows from IKEA :)

Dining room towards kitchen

Our lovely kitchen! Much wider and open than my old kitchen.

Quirky kitchen decorations

Austin's office/reading room

My reading daybed that we made from Austin's old bed

From the office looking into the bedroom

Small and simple bedroom (thanks to mom for the new blanket!!)

Fun wall art, books, and me!