Christmas Countdown!

We've been busy over here getting everything organized for Christmas. Between holiday parties, school finishing for the semester, and buying lots of presents for loved ones, time is flying by!

Update #1: Laura's Birthday (Dec 10th)
I had an amazing birthday courtesy of family, friends, and students. The Pykes came down from Dallas to help us put in a new garden that now features lots of beautiful flowers and delicious herbs. I've been using rosemary, dill, parsely, etc from the garden in our recent dinners, and it's been delicious! I also got a new fancy camera (Nikon D3100), which I'm excited to learn how to use and take lots of pictures for this new blog! The whole family (Pykes and Somers) went to Sunday brunch at Brennan's of Houston, where they made a big fuss of my birthday complete with a New Orleans style brass band singing to our table.

My birthday was rounded out by a surprise party at school thrown by my wonderful and fearless classroom roommate (Sam) and some of my students from last year! There was lots of singing, party hats, Starbucks coffee, balloons, decorations, thoughtful notes from students, and general excitement :)



First Period Surprise Party!

Update #2: YES Prep Southeast Holiday Party
One of the most fun parts of my Communications role at school is organizing the annual Holiday Party. This year it was held at Cork Soakers - a cute little wine bar in East Downtown. The space was beautifully decorated for Christmas, and everyone had a great time munching on delicious food and partaking in the adult beverages!



7th Grade Team at the Holiday Party!

Some of my favorite ladies :)

 

That's all for now! I promise to experiment with my new camera so that I can get some better quality pictures for the blog in future. Until then, I'll leave you with this fun picture of me and my friend Erin from earlier today:

Erin and I bumped into each other at Whole Foods Market wearing the EXACT same outfit!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!