Guest Bathroom Upgrade!

I got 3 snow days this week (even though it forced us to move Kiawah back a few days, I was grateful for the time off), so I decided to be productive and upgrade the guest bathroom. It was really the one room in the house we never did anything to when we moved in. No paint or any kind of style. It was bugging us, so we took a can of paint, a new mirror (from clearance at Target!), and some simple decor and turned it all around! 

Before: Ugly and absolutely noooooo style

After: Simple and updated!

Luke picked out the color...he is very proud of himself

Gus the Football Star

While visiting the new baby, Gus was showing off his football skills while the big guys were watching the game. 

Girls Weekend

Over the long weekend, my a group of friends and I went to Columbus, OH to see our dear friend Nikki. It was a fun 4 hour car ride, and we had a lot of fun seeing Nikki's new "neck of the woods." We ate good food at Cheesecake Factory, talked and talked and talked, and we even did ear candles to drain the wax out of our ears! It was a short, short trip, but we really enjoyed making time to spend with each other.

Welcome Solomon Jude!

Luke's brother Seth and his wife Liz welcomed their second beautiful son into the world just after midnight on January 15th, 2009. They are very patient people who did not know the gender of Solomon or his older brother Gus until they were born. I will not be this patient! However, it was fun to guess and take bets on what gender the baby would be. We got the chance to visit Solomon a few days after he was born, and of course I took lots of pictures! Enjoy :-)

Aunt E and Uncle Luke (or Aunt Luke and Uncle E as Gus says...) holding baby Sol

I was DYING for a chance to hold him!

He was so sleepy! Being 4 days old was very tiring.

We got him to open one eye.

Big brother Gus was showing us his football gear.

I can't wait to see Solomon and Gus grow up together! Congrats, Seth & Liz!

St. Vitus

Luke and I attended the St. Vitus dance over the weekend, which is the annual med school formal. It was held at the Marion County Library downtown. It was an absolutely beautiful place to have it. 

The ceiling of the library

Beautiful archways (not like Muncie libraries!)

We enjoyed a great dinner at an Italian restaurant with some of Luke's friends. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant, but it was really hard to pronounce. Good food, though!

It was FREEZING cold outside, and I didn't think I was going to survive in my dress and heels, but as soon as we got inside, the drinks and dancing kept us warm. :-)

It was nice to get all dressed up and have a great time with friends. We're already looking forward to next year!

Just dancing and having a great time

Luke, myself, Katie, Bernie, Taylor, and Jessica

Happy New Year!

What a crazy year 2008 was. It had its ups and downs. I always like to reflect back and see how far we've come in 12 months.

We either attended or were a part of five weddings this year. 

We went White Water Rafting in Tennessee, which is something I thought I would never, ever do!

I finished my first year of teaching and Luke finished his first year of med school :-)

We went on our first getaway as a married couple to Chicago and loved every minute of it!

We bought our first home and said goodbye to apartment life forever!

We went to our first Colts game in Lucas Oil Stadium.

We experienced the joy of finding out we were pregnant and the sorrow of losing our first baby.

We shared countless great memories with friends and family...through it all we had a great year! We can't wait for 2009...

We rang in the New Year with a dinner at Champps downtown with friends, and then we headed to Sarah & Ryan Ordo's home for the 2nd year in a row to be with them and Abel & Elizabeth. 

On our way to Champps with friends

E and I waiting for the ball to drop!

A new year's kiss of course!

The following video was too good not to share. We were just a little too excited for the new year... :-) (sorry E!)

Christmas 2008

Oh how much I love Christmas. I love the traditions that my parents keep up, I love the food and family get-togethers, I love the music, I love the decorations, I love the anticipation, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't "like" the presents (both giving and receiving). Ultimately, Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year, and I think I look forward to it now the same as I did when I was little.

As the Ernstbergers get older and more spread apart, we find ourselves scrambling to find a date to hold our family Christmas. We had the Ernstberger Christmas on December 20th-21st, which was a little early, but it was the only time we could all be together in the same place (which is what Christmas is all about anyway, right?)!. I was photographing a wedding on the 20th, so I had to come really late that night, but I was there for the breakfast and gifts the next day. We enjoyed sharing our gift exchange gifts and seeing Gus get into his presents. Christmas truly is wonderful in the eyes of a child. Last year, he was such a little guy....and this year he was so into it!

 

I presented the family with the annual "highlight reel" video of pictures from family events over the past year. It's always fun to take a moment to remember all the wonderful things that happened over the last 12 months. 

A few days later was the real Christmas Eve/Christmas, and I was happy my brother could come home. My parents, Chris, Luke, and I really had a great time catching up, eating, and going to midnight mass together. My parents did WAYYYYYY too much (err...I mean Santa...) for us, and ended up getting us a Wii, Wii Fit, AND Guitar Hero. I was absolutely blown away! We had so much fun playing the Wii (my dad even bowled)! We are soooo thankful for all they do for us.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve PJs (a tradition!)

Christmas night, Luke and I headed to New Albany to see his extended family and grandma. It was wild and chaotic like always, but we enjoyed the annual Nativity play with the little kids. Again, being around kids on Christmas is exciting in and of itself. They are definitely hyper and crazy, but they make you feel young again!

The sky on Christmas night!

Luke posing with Mr. Gus at Grandma's!

We traveled a lot of miles over the last week, but we truly enjoyed every minute of seeing all of our family members and making lots of memories. We are very blessed to have such great people in our lives!