Wild 'N Wonderful!

Wow, I haven't blogged in a really long time! My sister who is a brand new mom is blogging more than I am - Unacceptable me!

I feel like I could write a million things (they're all going through my head) but i'll do my best to condense them:

*Aaron and I just got back from an amazing trip to Sugar Grove, West Virginia! If you didn't know, it's the "Wild and Wonderful" state according to their license plates. oh boy, is it ever! We were out in the middle of nowhere! When I say "nowhere", I REALLY mean it! We stayed on a Navy base in a cozy MWR cabin with a commissary the size of a 7-11. It's a neat place, but I honestly feel so bad for the personnel stationed there! Even more for the wives.....no jobs, BORING! I'm sure they're all really close. For us, it was just nice to get out of the city and see nothing but nature and each other. FABULOUS.

We slept in every single day, watched two movies, hiked up to Seneca Rocks and watched the rock climbers. It was pretty amazing and looked incredibly dangerous!

We also hiked up in the Shenendoah Mountains again which was a completely different experience than our hike there last July. We hiked about 4 miles down to a river, Aaron fished for a little while (unfortunately didn't catch anything, though) and we ate lunch when we reached the bottom. On our way down we saw a female black bear with two cubs that appeared to be about 1-year old. Apparently the mother bear abandons her babies when they're about 14-15 months old. I thought this was sad! Aaron says, "It's just what they do..." Haha. After fishing for a little while, we decided to hike back up which was a tough hike and another 4 miles back and saw another bear! This time it was a HUGE female black bear with a baby that looked like it was about 1 month old!! It was AMAZING to see all of these bears! We were thankful to be far enough away, but it was still kinda weird. I realized I wasn't very smart for wearing a bright pink sweatshirt. Way to be so incognito, Jenny.

We're bummed that we didn't have a digital camera because our battery died, but we had purchased an old fashioned disposable one and took a few shots that we're hoping turn out pretty nice. Once we develop them, i'll scan them in and post them. It'll be an old-fashioned, modge-podge of fun!

We enjoyed seeing another beautiful state while living out here on the East Coast and had fun practicing our awesome southern-drawls - Ha! Oooh yeah, i'm feeling a little bit country!

*Our house went under contract 6 days on the market for almost our full asking price! Though, I won't mention how much we are paying in their closing costs...ugh. Now this whole experience has been a whirl-wind. There are so many "contingencies" that you have to pass on before the sale can actually become final. Thanks goodness, those contingencies are moving forward much faster since our buyer wants the closing date to be May 8. The appraiser came into our house today, which is the last HUGE hurdle. Anyone who has purchased and/or sold a house knows exactly what i'm talking about. Hold......breath......BREATHE.....hold breath again.......We should hear back on all of that within about two days. After May 8, we will rent back from the buyer for two weeks and then we are officially homeless as of 9 p.m. on May 22nd. SAD!! But thank goodness my wonderful husband is taking me to Europe for my 25th birthday which is May 23rd! I think we'll probably leave on my birthday or right after. We're hopping a military cargo plane over to Germany...for FREE. Should be exciting!! Our plan is to see Germany, Italy and Prague. Other than that, we haven't really decided yet! Aaron has about 40 days of leave he hasn't used yet so we will get every second out of those 40 days that we can!

*Still nothing set in stone with a job for Aaron, but we are confident in the potential options that have been presented to us. We trust that God is taking us down this journey to reveal His plan in His perfect timing.

*I leave this Friday to visit my family out in Washington and FINALLY get to see my sweet niece Addison in person! I can't wait! My mom and I are also speaking at a mother-daughter conference the weekend of the 18th. I get to be in glorious Washington State for 10 whole days! I was really hoping Aaron would come with me, but he has lots of work to do these days. Secretly, I think he just wants fishing adventures with the boys ;) Hey, i'm A-OK with that!

Last but not least, I am excited that it's finally Spring. Not only because of all of the beautiful flowers and weather, but because of Easter which is one of the best times of the year. When I realize just what sets my God apart from any other "God" it's incredible. No other God has sent his only son to die such a terrible death on a cross and give me access to eternal life in heaven. I couldn't be more grateful and have anything better to live for than the One who did that for ME.

Until next time, may you be BLESSED!