Our Annual (...kinda) Family Letter

Greetings from the Borst Family in Tampa Florida!
We hope this letter finds you in the new year of 2012 doing better than 2011. Our 2011 was quite full as we know most of yours probably was as well. Take heart, the Mayans said the world would end this year… so don’t worry about 2013. Live it up this year in 2012!
Our lives in 2011 revolved around family, church, and school. We took trips to Longmont, Colorado to see Troy’s grandmother and family, Atlanta to see Kelly’s parents, and Houston to see Troy’s parents. It was a full year of trips to see family. The kids each spent a week at Lake Aurora Christian Camp in Lake Wales, Florida and loved it. They all started a new school in the fall… a charter school in downtown Tampa which has turned out to be a complete blessing for all three kids and a great step as they will open middle school grades next year. New Beginnings Christian Church always keeps us busy and is the hub of friends and activities.

You all of course want to know about the kids first. Abigail is 10 and doing great in 5th grade. Abby concluded her interest in Girl Scouts so you all will need to find a new source for cookies this year. She just won the Science Fair for the second year in a row for her grade and will be heading to the countywide Science Fair in February. Her project this year was a blind taste test of different apple varieties. She is  looking to be “Superior” two years in a row! She is an avid reader and will be making great use of the Kindle she received for Christmas. She is also looking forward to trying cheerleading with UpWard Sports in 2012.
Nathanael is 9 and in the 4th grade. He loves Super Heroes, building things, and enjoys sports whenever he can play. He recently wrote a descriptive piece about being a Paleontologist when he grows up… after being Iron Man. We’ll have to see how things work out. The rest of us think he will be an architect. Nate is looking forward to getting back on a regular team in 2012 as he will try out basketball with UpWard Sports. Dad, Nate, and Ian have been shooting a little hoop in front of the house to prepare. Nate is beginning to enjoy reading more and more and just finished a book about the sinking of the Titanic.

Ian is 8 and in the 2nd grade. He is our video game guru and beats everyone else in the house at most video games. His dad can still school him every so often which comes as quite a surprise to him. Ian is the most outgoing and friendly child and is always surrounded by a cloud of friends no matter where he is. Ian also loves to read and is into the “Secret of Droon” series as well as the “Magic Treehouse” books. His #1 request for Christmas was a Gamestop gift card followed by a Barnes & Noble gift card. He will use them both soon after Christmas. Ian will also try out basketball like Nate and thinks he will do pretty good on the team.

Kelly is thoroughly enjoying her new job with Bayshore Baptist church in South Tampa. It was a great move for her personally and spiritually which allows her to pick up the kids from school and have a better schedule. It is certainly less stressful and brings more meaning to her work day. She was blessed with this job after praying over Psalm 84:10, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” She still enjoys leading women’s Bible studies at the church and even branched out for a few non-Beth Moore studies. Shocking! In 2012, she will return to her Beth Moore roots which will be great for all involved. One of the highlights for Kelly was organizing a successful women’s conference at church called ‘Fresh Start’ which enabled women to enter the workforce with confidence (and a new outfit) with our youth minister's wife.

Troy is busy but balanced. He is the Associate Minister at the church and will begin to transition to the Senior Minister role within a few years. He is on the downward slide of his PhD with Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia and also began to teach Public Speaking for Florida Christian College in Orlando this year. Getting this instructor position marks the first in a long line of bucket list items he checked off this year. He also fought in the US Open Karate tournament and lost, but plans to fight again several times in 2012. He also self-published five books for the Amazon Kindle, with a few more in the works (another bucket list item… sort of). Troy and Kelly also lost over 80 pounds between them and are sporting slimmer figures with more hard work and pounds lost to come in 2012. In 2012, he also plans to flesh out two fictional works which have been brewing in his mind.
2012 for us holds great promise. Organized sports, a Bahamas Missions trip, concluded coursework for a PhD, weight loss, camps, trips, the NACC in Orlando, and things not yet dreamed of are on our agenda. All of it must be taken on faith… right? James 4:13-15 says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.’ So, in view of that, if the Lord wills it, we will complete our plans, but in all things we will let Him direct our ways. We wonder what He has in store for us. For you? If the Lord wills it, we hope to do all we have planned and more.

May your 2012 be full of promise! And, by the way, just ignore the Mayans.


(written by Troy)

FAB: New Favorite Blogs

I hope you all are reading the fabulous blogs by our NBCC family like Seconds and Esther's Blessing.  I also want to share with you all some blogs that have recently become my favorites!! I think you will find one to love!

I love The Dating Divas! The dating divas are married women who are committed to keeping the romance in their marriages by dating their husbands. Eleven women share a different date idea each week and fun stuff in between. It's fun and encourages me to think about ways to focus on my marriage.

The Girl Who Ate Everything has some great recipes! I found her on Pinterest (obsessed with that, yet? Let me know if you need an invite).

Plain Chicken is another recipe site that I found on Pinterest.  The recipes are easy to follow and have been delicious!!

I get my fashion fix at Polyvore. It is full of outfit ideas.  Another Pinterest find, most of the fashion ideas that are repinned come from Polyvore!

For the guys...check out "husbands", a user's guide. I know there is a grammatical error in the title, and it should be a blog for wives to understand husbands.  Honestly, that almost disqualified the blog from my favorites list. But the content is too good not to share. This blog has Biblical encouragment for husbands. I was really impressed with the writer's honesty and the topics he tackles. Definitely worth the time, guys!

Check them out and let me know what you think!!!

FAB: Christmas Fashion

So, December has rolled around and, for some reason, many people lose their fashion minds around this time of year.  Bad fashion choices are made in the name of holiday spirit, and I find myself saying oh...bless her heart more than normal.  There are contests for the ugliest Christmas sweater all over the place, but sadly, you can participate in one by purchasing a sweater next to well meaning shoppers who are excited about the good deal they are getting and plan to proudly wear the sweater to a party that night.  So far this season, I have seen ill fitting sweaters, t-shirts with animals, and what can only be described as festive pajamas. Oy Vay.

SO, how can we survive this season and still look as fabulous as we are?!?!?!? Here are some tips:

• Don't feel stuck choosing between green and red. I think there are several colors that say holiday. Black, cream, or purple. I would stick to vibrant jewel tones but even a hot pink is fun and festive. In fact, assuming most people will be wearing red or green, you can make an amazing statement with a different color. Imagine how beautifully you will stand out in royal blue! Remember a color that suits you will look better than any holiday color...which leads to tip number 2.
• If you do go with red or green, make sure you choose a shade that looks good with your skin tone and coloring. There is a shade in the red or green family that looks good on you. Red can have blue undertones or orange undertones. Green can have blue or yellow undertones. Make sure your red or green is highlighting your face.
• Use the fabric to dress up your outfit. Go for a silk, satin, or chiffon instead of a jersey knit.
• Bling your outfit out!! The holidays are a perfect excuse to pile on the bling (tastefully). I know some fabulous jewelry ladies who can help you out with that...
• Speaking of bling: try metallics! Don't go overboard but metallics can really dress up an outfit!

Here are a few really cute holiday options from party attire to a casual holiday get together: