Ten on Tuesday

Questions for Tuesday, December 22, 2009.

1. When do you put up and take down your Christmas decorations?
This year we put up our Christmas decorations and tree on November 30th. We bought our first Christmas tree on black Friday and we were so excited to put it up! The tree has colored lights and 70% of the ornaments on the tree are related to Star Wars. Eric got all his ornaments from his mom when he moved to Austin and I still haven't collect all of mine.
2. What do you do to simplify the holiday season?
This year I tried to buy all of my Christmas presents on the first week of December so I could have the rest of the weeks to relax. The key word is I tried, I probably got done on the 15th.
3. What do you do to remind yourself and your family what the Christmas season is all about?
I have been studying the first couple chapters of Luke. Even though I have heard the story of the birth of Jesus many times, it never ceases to amaze me how God sent his son to save the world. What also helped me remember the true meaning of Christmas, was teaching my 4 year olds about the birth of Jesus. These past weeks I have been teaching them the story and then asking questions to see if they understood. Last week I decided to ask this question, "Why was baby Jesus so important?"
Here are some of the responses I got.
- He heals people with leprosy
- He makes you feel better when you are sad
- He protects you against lions
- He makes you happy
-He saves you from our sins (isn't that awesome!!)
- When your toy is broken, he will fix it
4. How do you spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
This has been my second Christmas being a Brinkman. We spend Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Eric's. For Christmas Eve we usually go to candlelight service at 6pm, head to China King and get take out. (best Chinese food I have ever eaten.) We sit around the table and eat our feast, watch "It's a Wonderful Life", open presents from the family and then hit the sack.
On Christmas Day we get woken up with jingle bells ( i love it!) run to the living room and open presents that Santa got us. We get ready and drive to St. Louis to be with our extended family. We have a aweosme meal, open presents and visit.
5. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? I have a few
1. Hearing the story of the birth of Jesus at Christmas Eve service.
2. Eating Chinese food on Christmas Eve with my family.
3. This tradition has just started, but it is hearing my 4 yr olds sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
4. Making tamales with my grandma.
5. Kissing Eric under the mistletoe.
6. Getting to see my family and friends
6. Did you do the whole Santa thing growing up? What do you like/not like about continuing the tradition?
I did do the Santa thing growing up. I think I believed in him til I was about 9. I loved seeing the plate of cookies we would leave out for him and see that he only took one bite out of them. My mom would say, "He only took one bite because he had to make room for all the other cookies he would have to eat that night." I thing I didn't like growing up was hearing my mom and dad say, "Santa is watching you." I am a people pleaser so the thought of Santa putting me on the naughty list was horrible.
7. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?
My MIL (mother-in-law) and SIL makes about 6 different kinds of cookies for Christmas. They are all amazing, and I would have to say that their sugar cookies and snowballs are my faves.
8. How do you take your egg nog?
I like it poured in a glass Christmas cup. And all you Egg Nog haters...don't hate...appreciate the beverage of calories and holiday joy! :)
9. What is your favorite Christmas carol and why?
Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful
I love the repetition of, "Oh Come let us adore him."
10. When was the last time you had a white Christmas?
I have never had a white Christmas.
On Sunday we did get some snow here in IL. It wasn't a whole lot but I enjoyed seeing the yard covered in a blanket of white.

A Weekend of Games

Being married I realized that no matter what month, day, or time there will always be a game on that my husband HAS to watch. Saturday was no exception. We saw three games and only one game had a happy ending.

The morning started off with Eric watching his alma mater, University of Illinois. I have to admit that it was a good game, but at the end Fresno won with only 2 seconds left beating Illinois 53-52.

We still had some hope for our second game. We were going to go watch the San Antonio Spurs. We got two tickets to the game from our wonderful friends and we were so excited to watch a live NBA game. The beginning of the game looked promising. They were leading for awhile but after halftime things started to look down. They lost to Denver, 106-99. We still got to take some pictures!
Heading from the stadium to the car we were nervous to hear the score of the UT game, seeing that each game we saw ended with losses. We got in the car and turned on the radio. Through the AM static we could hearing cheering and Coach Brown congratulating his seniors. THEY WON!!! We were so excited to hear the awesome news and felt that the win of the Horns was worth the 2 losses...well maybe.
In this picture, you can tell I was excited to have my Saturday full of games! I am doing much better about enjoying one of Eric's favorite past times, and hope I will soon blog about Eric enjoying one of my hobbies.

Seven Quick Takes

My wonderful friend Chelsea is an amazing blogger and on Fridays she writes seven random things about herself and refers to this post as seven quick takes.
So...here are mine! Enjoy

1. Tomorrow (Friday, wrote this post last night.) the temperature will be from 25-36 degrees. I have been looking forward to this all week. I have planned my outfit since about Tuesday and have been daydreaming about how wonderful the snow showers will be. Knowing my awesome luck, there won't be any snow and I will be sweating all day from the obscene amount of layers I have on. Oh well...I am still excited!

2. On Tuesday I scheduled my dvr to record, Charlie Brown Christmas. Every year I miss it on tv, so I was determined to watch it. I even planned on my best friend to come over and enjoy hot chocolate and brownies while enjoying the movie. Tuesday afternoon I got the sad news that the show was getting postponed because of Obama's news conference. I was crushed.

3. For the past 3 weeks I have had puppy fever. Eric and I moved into our house in September and we now have room for a sweet little puppy. I realize my wonderful husband is extremely allergic to dander, and almost every dog makes him have an allergy attack. I made the word almost stick out because a few weeks ago we were over at a friends house and got to hang out with their maltese. Eric and I got to play with him for a little bit and to our surprise there was no runny noise, itchy eyes, and sneezes from Eric. I was in disbelief! Eric still thinks he is allergic to all dogs, but I know there is hope for the Brinkman family to one day be dog owners!

4. I am writing this post and it is 10:24pm. WAY past my bed time!! I try to go to bed between 9:45-10:10. I wake up at 5 and I am on my feet all day with my 4 yr olds...it's pretty exhausting.

5. Since it's December I got a new ringtone to celebrate the Christmas season. The song I choose was Last Christmas by Wham. Nothing says Christmas like a sad 80's singer who gave his heart to his girlfriend and then the very next day she gave it away.
The really sad part is that I hardly get to hear it play because my phone is always on silent when I'm at work. If you have my number, call me so I can hear my awesome ringtone. If you don't want to talk to me then let it ring for a bit and hang up. I would really love that...no really. I'm serious.

6. My new favorite website is lala.com. You can hear full length songs for free!
I have been using it to play Christmas songs while I am addressing my Christmas cards. You should check it out!

7. I really really hope I will be able to wake up tomorrow.

From October to December

The last time I updated the blog was at the end of October. I thought I was really going to keep up with writing every week but I soon failed. I made many attempts to make a new post but got intimidated by my fellow bloggers who post everyday.

I am done being intimidated and I stand in confidence that I will update regularly. (As much as I can...but more then once a month.

So here it goes...

A Typical Halloween

Since I haven't updated in so long I decided to be an overachiever and do two posts in one day.

Eric and I went down to San Antonio for Halloween. We spent the afternoon with friends. (see post below) After we finished carving our masterpieces we went to my parents house to have dinner and pass out candy.
I forgot to bring my 60's costume that I wore to a Halloween party last week and Eric definitely didn't bring his Reno 911 costume, so I needed to find another one before the kids started to come to our door for candy. Now I know I didn't NEED a costume but wearing one just makes the night so much more fun. I decided to look through my closet in my old room and try to find something I could wear.
I scanned through all my old outdated clothes I still had in the closet and found the perfect costume.
When I turned 15 my parents threw me a quinceanera. If you don't know what that is, check out the Wiki definition here. It was a big celebration that included a big dress.

So what did I do when I found it in the closet...I put in on, along with a tiara and petticoat from my sister's wedding dress. I was the Mexican version of Cinderella. I kept it on the whole time I passed out candy.

It was funny to see the kids faces when I opened the door. They seemed shocked and confused to see a woman wearing a puffy white dress. Their surprise quickly vanished when I grabbed a handful of candy and placed it in their sacks.

After the kids stopped ringing the doorbell, I decided to have Eric take some pics of me in my costume. I wanted to soak up the moment for all it's worth and keep my ridiculous costume on as long as possible.

The clock struck midnight...(9:30) and my dress turned back into (reluctantly took off my dress) my normal clothes.

But it was ok, because Eric and I got to enjoy some homemade cream cheese frosting my dad had made for a carrot cake!

That was a typical Halloween for the Brinkmans!

Pregnant Pals and Pumpkins

Yesterday for Halloween Eric and I hung out with Molly, Leslee and Bridget. Eric also came along and joined in the fun fall festivities.

We all enjoyed Molly's homemade stew and carved pumpkins.

I loved seeing Leslee and Molly with their cute bellies. I think it is so neat that they're both pregnant at the same time. Maybe I will be pregnant with my 1st when they are pregnant with their 2nd?!


I carved a traditional jack-o-lantern and Eric carved on the side of my pumpkin an "I" for the Fighting Illini. I think it was good luck, because they won their game!

Bridget carved her trademark, the Batman symbol. It's funny how each pumpkin we carved shows a little bit of our personality.

We all hope to get together in December and make gingerbread houses!
It was a great way to start off Halloween.

2 months

I am so sorry I have not updated our blog in 2 months. I promise I will be writing again really soon. It's been a whirlwind for the Brinkmans and we are so excited to tell you all about it soon!
(and no, we are not pregnant.)

Please keep on checking the blog for updates on Being Brinkman!

Love you all,
Christine

One Year

Happy 23rd Birthday to Me!

I turned 23 last Wednesday and I had a fantastic birthday. Eric woke up early that morning and made me strawberry pancakes and eggs. We both went to work where I continued to decorate my classroom. I left work early because I had a very important appointment. I scheduled to get my long hair chopped off. I went in with long hair and came out with a bob. I loved it!

After my hair appointment I went home to get ready for my birthday dinner at Trudy's. We met a bunch of friends at the restaurant and had wonderful drinks and mexican food. If you are ever in Austin you have to go and try their mexican martini, it's amazing!

And that was my fun birthday! I wish I could say the day that followed was as fun as my birthday but it wasn't . Following my birthday I got all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. I am still recovering and each day I am getting better. I thought drinking smoothies and milkshakes would be so yummy but after a few of them and watching my husband enjoy a pepperoni pizza, the facade quickly faded.
I hope to enjoy "normal" food my the end of this week.

And sorry to disappoint you all, but I will not be uploading the flattering pictures that Eric took after my procedure. :) But here is one of us on my birthday with all my wisdom teeth!

love you all,
Christine

I Heart My Poncho

Almost half of the time we were in Germany it was raining. Packing for the trip I was very optimistic that it was going to be 75 degrees and sunny the whole 2 weeks we were there...I was very wrong. I should have listened to my Eagle Scout (Eric) when he told me, "Always Be Prepared!!" I traveled to Germany without an umbrella packed in my suitcase.

The days passed and so did the bright, warm sun. It became dark, gloomy, and cold. It finally got to a point where I needed some waterproof protection and the only thing I could buy was... a poncho! This blog is dedicated to my life saver on the trip, my blue poncho. Here are a few pictures that shows how I wore it everywhere.

Eric joined me and wore a poncho too!



...but I think he enjoyed wearing it a tad bit more.


And a big shout out to my mother-in-law, who bought me my life saver!!! Thank you!!! :)

Auf Wiedersehen
Christine

Guten Tag!

Eric and I have been back from Germany a week now. Even though we enjoyed coming back home, we miss our family, friends, and the sights of Germany.
We took our two week vacation from June 19th-July 3rd. A group of nine of use went. Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Eric, Alex, Andrea, Greg, and I. We planned this trip so we could visit Grandpa's siblings and get to know our extended family who lived in Germany. It was an incredible 2 weeks and the only way to describe our visit is through pictures!

Our Sister is Getting Hitched!

Eric and I are so excited to announce that our sister, Andrea will be getting married to Dustin Bailey on June 5th, 2010!! Dustin popped the question back in late May, and we are so happy for the newly engaged couple. Before heading to Germany, Eric and I got to see Andrea try on a few wedding dresses. Let's just say she looks amazing in all of them! She is going to be an absolutely stunning bride! Eric will be playing the trumpet at the wedding and I will be a bridesmaid!! We can't wait for the big day and are praying for Andrea and Dustin as they begin to prepare to be husband and wife. Love you two!

Weekend Update

There has been a lot of exciting stuff that has been happening to the Brinkmans. I apologize for not keeping up with the blog, but I hope to update everyone before Eric and I head to Germany next week.

One of my favorite news to tell people is...Eric and I will be an aunt and uncle next year!!! My sister, Leslee is expecting and we found out last Sunday. I was in San Antonio from Sunday to Wednesday, taking some classes for my teacher certification, so her and Brett broke the news when I was there. The following days she told other friends and family. Leslee and I were planning to have dinner with out best friends on Tuesday, so we devised a plan on how to break the news to Molly and Bridget. Here is what we did!

I had Leslee get together w/ Molly and Bridget for a group picture. I took one picture and after I took it I told them that I needed to take another one because the first one was ok. While I was looking at the pic on the camera I changed it to the video setting. I began to take another picture but before pressing the button I said, "One...Two...Three...Leslee's Pregnant!!" They were a little confused when I said it. They thought I was telling them a scenario and they needed to give me their expression. After a few seconds then it finally clicked. Here is the picture of the picture before the news and pics after. I tried uploading the video but it's not working! I'll try on facebook.

Finding our Home Sweet Home

As I am writing this entry I am waiting to be picked up by my fabulous realtor. Eric and I have been searching for our future home for 3 weeks now. It might only seem short to many people, but to us it has been a long journey. We fell in love with a home last weekend, but found out that someone else sent in an offer before we did. We have also seen countless homes, and none of them have been Brinkman worthy of living in.

We are going to see a home today, I have some good feelings about this one. We'll just have to wait and see. We will let you know the verdict later. Til then, have a wonderful Friday!

Happy Birthday Leslee

I wanted to give a shout out to my wonderful sister, Leslee. She turned 24 today and I am praying she has a wonderful day!! Love you Les!

To keep you entertained

I am aware that I have not kept up with the blog. It has been a busy week here in the Brinkman family and I plan on telling you all about it. Till then enjoy this silly survey about me.
1.High heels or boots? uggs!! but since we live in TX and it's never cold, then I would say heels
2. What time did you get up this morning? alarm clock is set for 7:30am, we don't get up till 8:30am.
4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Star Trek! It was awesome!
5. What is your favorite TV show? So You Think You Can Dance?, Grey's, and 24
6. What do you usually have for breakfast? Depends on my mood. Today I chose Apple Jacks. A fine decision!
7. What is your middle name? Cathryn
8. What food do you dislike? watermelon
9. What is your favorite song at the moment? What Can I do (but love you): Joy Williams
10. Favorite sandwich? Jimmy Johns #12: Beach Club, easy on the sprouts and no cucumbers
11. What characteristic do you despise? selfishness
12. Clothing? sun dresses
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Hawaii, Germany, Italy, and France
14. Are you an organized person? depends on what it is. I am very organized with my scrapbooking materials but not so much with my makeup
15. Where would you like to retire to? Wherever my family is
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? I can't remember what I did last year
17. What are you going to do when you finish this? clean, lay out, and read
18. Furthest place you are sending this? IL, but if the Campell's read this then Hawaii
19. Person you expect to send it back first? Leslee? Molly? V? Chelsea?
20.When is your birthday? July 15
21. Morning person or a night person? Night
22. What is your shoe size? 8 or 8 1/2
23. Pets? 7 fish
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I got a job on Monday. I am a pre-school teacher at Redeemer Lutheran School!!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? a teacher...I always knew what I wanted to do. God put the desire in my heart and I followed it!
27. What is your favorite flower? bright colored roses
28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? June 17th! Our Germany trip!!
29. What was the last thing you ate? ham and cheese sandwich
31. Do you wish on stars? nope
32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? periwinkle
33. How is the weather right now? hot hot hot
34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Eric!
35. Favorite soft drink? shirley temple, does that count?
36. Favorite restaurant? too many to choose one. Thai Chile in San Antonio
37. Hair color? dark brown, but i hope to change it to light brown!! :)
38. What was your favorite toy as a child? my cabbage patch baby doll
39. Summer or winter? Summer!
40. Chocolate or vanilla? vanilla
41. Coffee or tea? sweet tea!
42. Do you want your friends to do this also? Yes!
43. When was the last time you cried? hmm it's been a stressful week.
44. What is under your bed? books, weights, and binders
45. What did you do last night? went to small group and then made rice crispies
47. Salty or sweet? Both, together. white chocolate covered pretzels!! my favorite!!!!
48. How many keys on your key ring? 6
49. How many years at your current job? will start in August!!
50. Favorite day of the week? Friday
51. Positive or negative? Optimistic
52. How many people will you send this to? whoever reads the blog
53. How many will respond? I hope at least one person
54. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? of course!!!

Spring Banquet

Eric and I went to Concordia's Spring Banquet. We enjoyed the great view, played black jack, and of course danced the night away! They had the dinner and dance at Oasis, huge restaurant that overlooks Lake Travis. We had a great time and it was one of those nights that it hit me, "I'm graduating!"

Sorry I have not posted lately. It's the week before finals and my mind is focusing on projects and exams. I promise I will not let down the readers and provide exciting tales of the Brinkmans soon!

17 days

I can't believe I only have 17 days left until I am a college graduate! I can still remember my senior year of high school, sitting on the floor in my bedroom trying to choose what college to attend. I took a leap of faith and left the Alamo city for weird Austin. I didn't know anyone at my school, let alone the whole city, but I trusted in God the whole time. Little did I know I would fall in love with a boy from Illinois, meet incredible friends, and be actively involved with Austin Stone. I still have finals and projects to do before crossing the stage in my cap and gown, but I am so excited to end this chapter of my life and see what God has in store for me.
Here are some pictures that sums up my last four years at Concordia University!

I have been truly blessed during my college years and I look forward to posting pictures of my graduation!

love you all,
Christine

La Casa de Brinkmans

We have lived in a humble abode for almost nine months. We love our one bedroom apartment, and as you can see I love to make it cute and comfy. We enjoy having our family and friends over for dinner and play a few rounds of catch phrase. If you are ever in the Austin area please call us! We would love for you to hang out at our home sweet home!