The Buerglers

This Christmas began with a bit of sadness as my boss and pastor passed away unexpectedly from complications of leukemia.  I spent most of the week preceeing Christmas at work helping set up the funeral receptions and photo gallery.  Selfishly I needed to be working to help myself cope with the loss in a hands on way.  It was good to laugh and cry with my coworkers all week.  The funeral was beautiful, the receptions were healing, and going to the burial was just the closure that I needed. My family was so patient with me and understood I needed a low-key Christmas and we had just that. Christmas in the Corsetti Family usually is it's own Octave of events.  This year was no different, however it was more spread out, which made it feel less hectic than usual. The events started the week before Christmas with Christmas dinner at my parents.  David and Paige were in town so they opened their presents, we exchanged sibling gifts,...

January We started the year with some goals, most of which we met.  One was to pay off my car and another was to pay cash for the Buergler family Christmas trip to Vieques, PR.  Done and done.  We also spent most of January trying to adjust to our new apartment and new life together. I was back in school taking a Psychology of Learning class and Cultural Diversity in Education class.  I loved both.  My comfort level was challenged and I was able to take a stand on some Religious beliefs in class.  I also joined a running club that prepared me to run a 10k, half marathon, and to complete another triathlon or two.  Eric chaperoned a Life Teen retreat of 80 kids, the largest in Saint Brigid history. February Another low key month for us as we continued race training, attending UD Basketball Game watches at Taco Mac, and kicked off Lent.  Eric chaperoned a Jr/Sr retreat for a small group of teens the same weekend I took about 15 middle scho...

Caitlin Elizabeth Eric Rosemary Sam Sarah Enter Rosemary's dad, Tim.   "Father Reynolds was our Parish Priest when St. Thomas the Apostle got started back in the early 60's, in Smyrna, GA. We had Mass in the Belmont Hills Movie Theater. On Holy days we had to bring brooms to sweep up after the movie goers. My m other was his secretary and housekeeper when the church moved to it's present location. My brothers and I did the yard work at the church and my father bought the wine and others spirits for the Rectory. Father Reynolds said the Wedding Mass for one of my brothers and the Funeral Masses for my Mom and Dad." ~ Tim, Facebook,  Dec 18 Rosemary remembers family stories about Monsignor, and went on to attend Saint Mary's College. Enter Eric and Sam. They grew up in Saint John Neumann parish, another parish founded by the then Father Reynolds.  He was such an integral part of their childhood faith formation.  In fact, we thought Eric might have been bapti...

The way our Groupon fine print was worded we had to make two versions of our Christmas card.  In the end it worked out because after I made the Notre Dame ones, we took that super cute picture at the Falcons Game.  And there we have it, two Christmas cards for 2010. Not going to lie - I was pretty excited when design guru Ashley text me (not even twitter DM!) to say how much she loved the cards.  Yep, she's the one who did our wedding invitations! Anyway, here is a copy of our lovely Christmas poem written by Eric and editing by his Father, the master of all cheesy Christmas poems. Buergler Christmas Poem 2010 In true Buergler tradition Here is our year in rhyme This is the first rendition So bear with me this time We began this great year A couple of newlyweds Upgrading our small home To one with rooms for two beds Together we made trips to see family in Milwaukee, Beaufort, and Savannah Then good friends made their wedding vows So we traveled to Indiana ...

For as overwhelming as last Christmas seemed - mall decor, radio ads, inflatable santa lawn decor, a million parties, terrible traffic - this Christmas seems under whelming. It seems as though everyone is having a apathetic Christmas. I've only heard one radio station playing Christmas music, I've maybe heard a few Christmas commercials (granted we don't have cable TV), and we've only received two Christmas cards.  Even the parties seem fewer in number, and the treats in our office break room are certainly lacking. I started asking around.  Is it just me? Is it because Thanksgiving was so late this year?  Is it that everyone is on tighter actual budgets?  Is it a more dramatic battle of sacred vs secular?   Or maybe, as my good husband pointed out, maybe it's that we're in the in between stage so our perception is one of apathy, even though the rest of the world is still bustling.  He said that we are past the stage of the Ch...

This weekend was one for the books.  In all honesty, each event deserves it's own post but to give you a clue of the intensity of our 24 hours, they are all combined. I took Friday as my day off from work, so I could cook a prepare myself for the weekend.  I offered to make most of the food for a baby shower on Saturday.  The shower was moved from noon to 10 am, so everything needed to be ready to either be reheated or already plated for the guests.  I made: 30 mini oreo cheesecakes 8 taco bell copy cat quesadillas buffalo chicken dip sausage dip 16 sliders w/sauteed onions 2 dozen chocolate dipped sugar cookies with sprinkles and a homemade pizza for my lunch :) Friday night was my office Christmas party at a lovely home in Country Club of the South.  We agreed that their garages are bigger than our apartment.  Impeccably decorated with incredible religious art and a fantastic vintage China collection.  Anyway, the party was nice, as ...

Last Sunday we left Atlanta at 7am to drive to North Carolina to pick out our own Christmas Tree.  We have a certain tree farm near my grandparents' cabin that my family likes to go, and now the Buerglers have joined in on the tree cutting adventures. When we'd planned the trip, we had NO idea that it would be 20 degrees, snowing and wind gusts of 25 mph.  In fact, it was 40 when we left Alpharetta - the temperature dropped as we drove.  I was literally digging more socks, shirts, scarves etc in the back of my CRV (let's be honest, there's a lot to choose from in there) to keep warm as we walked the tree farm. Eric found the perfect tree.  Just about about six and a half feet! And of course, Eric brought his OWN saw, because last year we waited almost an hour for them to come cut it for us. Dan was quite the man and carried their tree part way down the mountain. However, we opted for the tractor trailer to do all the heavy lifting.  And before we lef...