I can’t believe that 2012 has come and gone. This has definitely been an interesting year for me and Casey, one that was worth talking about. Usually we send out a picture perfect Christmas card to family and friends, but this year we wanted to let everyone know what what’s been going on so we wrote a letter. I sent this out a while ago, but then realized that you all are like family too! So I’ve shared the letter with you all below and also our Christmas card.  Happy New Year!

The Bresnahan Christmas Update

Congratulations! You have received the first (possibly annual) Christmas update from Casey, Shana and Minny. We wish that we could stay in touch with all of you throughout the year, but sadly, it’s just not possible. This is our attempt at catching you all up on what we’ve been up to. For those of you that won’t read past this first paragraph, just know that we had very exciting year. Enjoy!

Making Some Changes

We started out the year with a big change. We left the church that led to our introduction and hosted our wedding, the only church Shana’s ever known, to start a new church with a group of about 50 others. From leading the children’s ministry to singing songs in Swahili, being a part of The Church at Antioch has been quite a growth opportunity for us. We love it!

After coaching most of his life, Casey stepped down as the basketball coach at Sunset Middle. He’s looking forward to having more free time this winter, and Shana’s looking forward to getting an extra 3 months with her husband. Now Casey will have more time for his new side job, selling custom sunglasses to schools for fundraisers.

The biggest step of faith was when Shana left her incredible job as the Interactive Marketing Manager at Vanderbilt to launch her own business as an engagement marketing consultant. Despite some hardships at home right after leaving Vanderbilt, her business is booming. It’s been amazing to see God bring clients to her and provide for us in such tangible ways. We thought Minny would love having mom at home, but she just lies in bed until she hears Casey’s car pull into the driveway. The debate about who’s her favorite is officially settled.

Becoming Grown-Ups

This might be the year that we actually turn into adults. Between the two of us, we have 12 awesome nieces and nephews. We had the pleasure of hosting a few of them in our home this year. The opportunity to practice our parenting skills was very unique. We learned that we should always check the room for iPods before bedtime, how to stand our ground when a child won’t eat their dinner, and that it’s not wise to let a 3-year old nap on your couch without a waterproof pad. It was trying at times, but we are truly thankful for the extra time we spent with them this year, and Minny was definitely a fan of all the extra attention!

This was also the year of two major purchases. After months of scouring craigslist for the perfect couch, we finally gave in and bought a brand new one from a furniture store. It was our first purchase of a new piece of furniture for our home, and a big piece of furniture at that.

If that wasn’t scary enough, we decided to take an even bigger step and upgrade to a 4-door sedan, not for kids, for Minny. We tested the viability of our new-to-us Sonata right away when we piled in the car with Minny and our nephew for a 20+ hour drive to North Dakota. Now we know why people with kids drive minivans and SUVs. Crazy!

Gallivanting Around Town

Shana’s favorite thing to do is travel so we feel incredibly blessed that God gave us the finances and time to travel this year. During trips to visit friends, we watched a Boston Red Sox game from the Green Monstah, put our toes in the sand off the coast of Wilmington and even ventured into the backwoods mountains of Boone, North Carolina. With Shana working for herself, we had the freedom to spend a week in North Dakota and a week at the lake in Minnesota for the annual Bresnahan family vacation. That’s where Minny reluctantly had her first swimming experience and finally got to meet her Uncle Kobe.

We made some shorter trips as well to Alabama and Kentucky to spend time with Shana’s clan and even to Chattanooga for some time for just the two of us and the world’s best 80’s cover band. Sadly, we had to cancel this year’s anniversary trip to Arizona because Casey came down with mono and passed it to Shana, but thankfully, we’ll be headed that way for Christmas. I guess next year’s anniversary trip will just have to be twice as big 😉

Welcoming Our Family

It’s incredible how our family showered us with their presence this year. We were blessed with a lot of quality time with Shana’s family. Although the loss of her granddaddy was bittersweet, we cherish the moments we spent with him before his passing and are thankful it brought the family together. We even made a couple special trips to Kentucky this year to visit Shana’s parents, aunt and uncle. Even though Minny was sad she didn’t get to go fishing on the lake with dad, she had a blast hanging out with her cousins, Rocky and Max, and her uncle, Harley.

Although Casey’s family is far away, his parents were able to surprise him with a visit on his birthday. We really enjoyed welcoming them into our home and showing them around town. His brother, Rich, and sister-in-law, Robin, plus their two sweet kiddos were also able to spend some time in Nashville. Since they used to live in Nashville we had the pleasure of more quality time at home. It was such a treat to have our nephew, Liam, visit us for a week for a robotics camp. He had an absolute blast and so did we. It was the week before that we had our niece, Ashlynne, for a week too. Who wants to come next?

Living in Community

We feel so blessed to have such an incredible family, but this year, we’ve really seen the power of community. From our missional community at church and wives connection night’s in our home to monthly neighbor dinners and supper club with some of our closest friends, we are amazed at the incredible people God has placed in our lives. We are beyond thankful for the prayers, support and laughter our friends have shared with us over the past year. You all are a blessing that we don’t deserve and proof that family is not bound by blood or law.

Minny has been living in community too! She has playdates with her best friend, Petra and gets to run around with the other dogs at daycare when mom and dad need a break. She even had quite a few sleepovers this year – Petra, Porsche, Rafiki, Moose, Callie, Kobe, Harley, Max, and Rocky. Wow! This was definitely an exciting year!

Thank you for being a part of our life. We love you all so much!
We pray you have a Merry Christmas and a Joyful New Year!
Casey, Shana &Minny

For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Most people spend Thanksgiving with family. We did too. Only this family is not of flesh and blood or even law. They are friends. Some might even call them strangers.

I didn’t grow up in a home that had formal Thanksgivings. We’d cook as much food as we could manage and open our doors to whomever wanted to eat whenever they wanted to eat. It was a time for sharing, for being thankful for all the people in our lives, family and friends. So this year, when someone asked me where a good place to get Thanksgiving dinner was, I couldn’t help, but say “WITH US!”

Casey and I were standing in line to see an incredible Bluegrass band at the Station Inn, and quickly struck up conversation with the couple in front of us. It didn’t take us long to find out they were visiting from Massachusetts, one of their sons was coming in from Florida and they were pondering their Thanksgiving plans. We didn’t know it when we invited them to join us, but they are one awesome couple. We spent the next two hours getting to know each other and then enjoyed some ridiculously good music. We left with the hope that we’d see them in a few days over a delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Not even a week later, 14 people, friends, strangers and family, joined together to give thanks, enjoy abundant food, and share lots of laughter. From Hawaii and Florida to Massachusetts and Chicago, we gathered in Nashville to spend 8+ hours together as a family. It was truly a picture of Heaven on Earth, and a Thanksgiving I won’t soon forget.

 

So this year, I’m thankful that Casey took me on that date to Station Inn. I’m thankful that God put us in line behind Lynnae and Denis. I’m thankful that Amy and Clint were generous enough to not only invite us to their home, but to welcome our new friends with open arms. And I’m especially thankful that family is not bound by blood or law.

Do you think if we all opened up our homes on Thanksgiving we’d have a whole lot more to be thankful for?

Oh and our new friends are avid travelers. They spent 1 month here and have since popped over to Florida for a few months. Check out their travel blog, Travels with Tucker.

Pin It

I don’t know about you, but Casey and I are not big fans of Halloween. Although I loved scary movies at on point in my life, that love quickly faded when I moved away from home. Now I hate scary movies, loathe haunted houses, and frankly, I get quite nervous whenever a commercial comes on during the month of October. But there is one thing I love about Halloween – dressing up.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an actress so I was always dressing in costume, trying new makeup and pretending to be someone I’m not. I was able to carry that into my high school and college years through plays and Young Life skits, but those days are gone. Now there’s only one day a year I get to play dress up.

Since I love dressing up so much you’d think I’d spend all year preparing, but the truth is I usually wait to the last minute. I’m always digging through the house and running to Goodwill to try and piece something together.

Last year we were s’mores which was awesome because I got to use spray paint and we had to hug to be complete. This year we were rednecks. It all started from a mullet wig I bought and Kroger and the rest was pieced together from Goodwill and things around the house.

Casey and I just had a blast with it. Christmas lights on porch furniture, candy out of a trash can, slingshotin’ candy to kids, and of course, the accents. I think Casey’s accent was even better than mine! Check it out in the video below.

It’s too much fun to only get to do it once per year. I mean, how often do you get to be in costume and acting goofy with your spouse? It really brings you back to childlike laughter and joy. Once per year just isn’t enough. Any ideas for other excuses to dress up with your spouse? What were you and your spouse for Halloween?