The Adventures of Aaron and Jenny: Alaska Edition!

I have a little bit of time to write an update, so I thought i'd loop everyone in! Aaron and I have been in Eagle River, Alaska (which is just outside of Anchorage) for about a week now. I hadn't mentioned anything about this trip before because it was a surprise for Aaron's mom :)

We flew military space available and it was quite the experience. You really learn to be flexible. We made it to Travis AFB in Sacramento, but it took us 5 days to finally get a flight from there to Elmendorf here in AK! We can't complain too much, though. Flying this way is FREE. But, it wasn't easy because it was a bit of a let-down each time we showed up for a flight and discovered that we couldn't get on. Fortunately, my very best friend in the world, Bre, lives in Sac so we got to spend time with her! Aaron's best friend, Matt, is also in the area. He flies c-17's out of Travis, so he kindly carted us back and fourth multimple times to the terminal and then picked us up again when we couldn't make the flight. Thanks to Matt for giving us a place to shower and lay our heads!

We did end up sleeping in the terminal at Travis for one night. Thankfully the military flight terminals have showers!

Finally, we caught a kc-35 (refueler jet) to Eilson AFB in Fairbanks (6 hours from where we needed to be) but we were just happy to finally be in Alaska! Our flight there was really exciting because we got to go down in the belly of the plane to watch them refuel two Navy f-18 jets (very similar to AF fighter jets.) It was amazing to see all of the ground below and it felt like we were hanging off a cliff with the big windows in front of us! Refueling from this type of jet is done maunually, so we could see every move they made and it was strange that we could look at the face of the other jet pilots. So fun!!

Once we arrived, we thought we would rent a car and drive down, but we discovered that it would cost us $1200. Are you kidding me?!? That was out of the question. So shortly after we arrived at Eilson, we heard that Fort Wainwright, the army base just down the road, had a small leer jet leaving for Elmendorf later that day. Praise the Lord!! So we hopped in a taxi with a retiree who was on our first flight and trying to get back home to Anchorage and the 3 of us hopped a plane at 4 p.m. It was just a small 6 passenger and a really exciting experience! The flight was only 45 minutes and we got to see all the beauty of Alaska from the air. We like to think of it as our personal rock-star jet. It kinda felt like that! Ha!

So our time in Alaska has been wonderful and almost indescribable! I've seen moose, a bear down on the Kenai, TONS of bald eagles, dall sheep, Alaskan husky puppies (used for the iditarod) and I caught my first Sockeye salmon! Actually, I caught 4 and they are huge! Let me just tell you all, God really took his time working on Alaska. It is breath-taking! Aaron and I climbed Mt. Baldy which is basically in his parent's backyard. It was a humbling hike. Just when you think you're in shape, you trek a hike like this one! Once up at the top, we could see over Anchorage. Aaron also took me float-tube fishing (the link gives you an idea of what it looks like)! All of these experiences I won't soon forget!

We are loving our time with Aaron's parents and his brother Sam. We also finally got to meet Sam's lovely girlfriend, Marilyn! Our conversations together as a family are a gift to us. Time spent with family is so precious!

It's soon time for us to head back and we hope to be back in VA this Sunday. I'll be sure to post pictures of our many adventures when we return! Please pray for our safe travels and a speedy return - at least speedier than our trip out as I have a really important Dr. appointment I need to be back for on Monday. More updates soon!

Hello, New England Adventure!

I just realized after uploading photos that they are up backwards! So the beginning of our trip actually starts with the pictures at the bottom. But don't be fooled, you're only seeing about half of our trip in pictures! We did SO MUCH. We experienced so much history that my brain was exhausted by the end of our trip. Really and truly, if I post everything we did, i'd have to publish a large book, so i'm just going with bullet-points in this one. I'm sure y'all understand :)

Starting from the beginning:

• drove up to CT and stayed the night with the Nonz, aunt, uncle and cousins. The kids are big goofs! We will miss spending Turkey day with them in beautiful Old Greenwich!
• found our way up to Rhode Island and saw the mansions and coast and then had my birthday dinner in town.
• Finished in Rhode Island and drove up to Boston, checked in at Hanscom AFB and went out to Cambridge to celebrate over a nice birthday dessert - Aaron's buddies ditched us...i'm not bitter! ;)
• Spent the sabbath with the Lord at Fenway Park! GO SOX! (only because we just can't possibly be NY fans.) It POURED when the game first started. I mean POURED! We, along with everyone else, were drenched. See pictures below! The sox ended up killing the Mets. It was a great game.
• Saw Park Street church which was a dream come true for me. My grandparents were married there about 60 years ago, and we're all so thankful they did! There was a church service going on, so we worshiped with them for a little bit and then headed out to walk to Freedom trail; saw Paul Revere's house and ate lunch at the Green Dragon pub. They have so many great pubs out there!!
• Next day, climbed the tower at Bunker Hill and got an amazing view of Boston
• Drove out to see Ticonderoga...also met a bull dog puppy there. She was cute! (just had to mention that.)
• Had a tour in Portsmouth at the Red Hook brewery. I'm not much of a beer fan...plus my gluten-free diet doesn't support it either! But the boys loved it and it was a fun time!
• Drove out to Maine and had fresh lobster. AMAZING. Enough said. And Maine is gorgeous! Stayed the night at a camp ground at lake...something....started with an S. There's so much to remember!
• We also hiked in the White Mountains (New Hampshire) hence the pictures of the enormous waterfall. It was such a true taste of New England!
• Next stop was the BEN AND JERRY'S ICE CREAM FACTORY!!! Heaven. YES.
• Then the most peaceful stay at a campground in Vermont. We were one of two groups there and had pretty much the entire place to ourselves! We went for a long run, made a camp fire, enjoyed the beauty of silence and slept like babies - Until it rained early the next morning! Oh well.
• Left that morning and drove out to Cooperstown, NY to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. Aaron and Jesse were in heaven! It's definitely worth making a specific trip to see.
• Later that day, tried to find another national park campground, but couldn't. Had to stay at a DIVE motel. Seriously....New York dive hotel. We slept in our sleeping bags on top of the bed. HA!!
• Drove back to NY City to stay at Jesse's place and Aaron took me to see South Pacific on Broadway!! I AM IN LOVE!
• Left the next day and stopped in Philly to see Sarah Wiele, had really great conversation with her about her life in the inner-city (I love Sarah!) and visited the Liberty Bell
• Then drove out to Lancaster PA. to Amish town (neat history there) and stayed with Julie and Jeremy. Julie and I lived together our last semester at Azusa and I adore her! I wish we took pictures with them because we had such a blast. Slept under the stars in her parent's backyard - after having a camp fire, woke up and spent most of the day on the river with Julie, Jeremy and Julie's parents. The two boys wakeboarded...Julie and I tanned in the front of the boat. SO MUCH FUN!
• Visted Gettysburg on our way home.
• Lastly, I had to add a picture of Aaron's promotion to Captain ceremony. My camera died right after this picture, so it's all I have :( It was the day after we returnded from our trip. I am SO PROUD of him!
  

Aaron's Colonel swearing he and Jon in as Captains

Gettysburg

Liberty Bell with Sarah in Philly!

The "Flavor Graveyard" at Ben and Jerry's. RIP, Vermonty Python. Cry, cry, cry.

MMMMMMmmm hmmmmm!

White Mt. hike in New Hampshire - Probably my most favorite scenery in New England

White Mts. with the boys. No, Jesse and I aren't really twins. We're in-laws, actually.

View of Boston from Bunker Hill

Birthday shots. The boys got me to drink Whisky!

Paul Revere's house

Our new digs in Rhode Island ;)

Aaron and I at Park Street Church. If it wasn't for that man, this would look professional!

Getting SOAKED!

We love Fenway!

The fam in Old Greenwich! Silly kids

While We're Waiting

The events of the first year of our marriage have been pretty crazy. From getting married to preparing for a deployment and then having that canceled (praise God!); to going through a very painful work experience and being unemployed for the past few months, to working day and night all week just to finish the updates on our house by March, and finally putting it on the market and selling so quickly (praise God, again!). And now with Aaron looking for a civilian career in Civil Engineering. Talk about life changes!! Did anyone know that selling a home is considered to be one of the top 3 most stressful events in someone's lifetime? I had NO CLUE! But now I understand why. And for us military families, the deployment of a spouse is up there, too. All in all, we have been blessed. And even if things hadn't turned out the way they did with Aaron's deployment, we would STILL be blessed and praising the Lord. And even if our plans with this move don't work out how we planned, the LORD will be praised!

I was visiting with a Young Life leader named Kevin who works out of the basement of the home we'll be crashing for the next few months until we're officially out of the military. As I was pulling clothes out of one suitcase and putting them into a smaller one in preparation for our trip to Boston this week, we were chatting about the craziness of life, but how we can see in the midst and as we look back just how God took the trust and hope we gave him and guided us each step of the way.

As I sat there looking at all I have for the next 4 months, I thought, "Lord, what am I to learn in this time?" And then Kevin said, "You know, I think sometimes God just wants us to lighten our load for awhile." I am so happy that he said that! As challenging as it will be to live out of two suitcases, I realized in that moment that I have everything I need. The Lord going before me, clothes on my back, and the love of my life, Aaron.

As I drove home, I heard this song come on the radio and I love every single lyric. My favorite part is about how even in a time of waiting, not only do we need to worship the Lord, but we need to serve him by ministering to the people of this world wherever we are at - Even in a time of transition. Becauase as Aaron and I are well aware, this transition has been and could continue to take a long time!

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord

Lyrics by John Waller

In the army now!

Well, not really in the army, of course. But, we did experience the most amazing army simulator at the Andrews AFB air show! We were lucky that we went on the "DoD only" day because i'm sure it wasn't nearly as crowded as Saturday and Sunday. We had a front-row view for everything! In the simulator we got to ride on real-life black hawks and convoys. They even gave us ID cards and had us "briefed" by an army sergeant on how we did. All I gotta say is that this is probably their best recruiting tool. I didn't sign up, though! I think I make a much better "supportive air force wife."

We toured through the two cargo planes we'll be flying in the next few months....a c-5 and a c-17. It's amazing how huge these planes are. I'm still trying to prepare myself for flying backwards and sideways...hmmmm....

The Thunderbirds were pretty amazing. I had to laugh a little when the kids would scream as they flew over us. They are SO LOUD! It wasn't that it was funny, I was mostly laughing at the parents as they would try to console their crying children. I mean, they know what they're about to put their kids through before it even happens! Mean parents! haha

We really enjoyed the Golden Knights. I just think these people have got to have one of the most thrilling jobs in the military. I know it isn't really fun and games when it comes down to it, but they sure put on a great show for all of us!

We got pretty sun-burned. It was cloudy most of the day, but I realized just how deceiving that is! Thankfully, my farmers tan and racoon eyes are nearly gone. It was pretty cute. We're just glad that we could go and enjoy the air show this year since Aaron is usually working at it all weekend and especially since this is our last one at Andrews. We won't miss everything, but definitely a lot of things about this place!

The Army Golden Knights

Prop-plane tricks. I honestly have no idea if this is right-side up, sideways or upside-down!

Of COURSE the Thunderbirds kinda steal the show.

Cozy-ing up in the c-17 :)

The inside of the c-5. HUGE!

Positively the most handsome man i've ever seen! I sure do love this guy.

Travelin' Fools

This is just a sneak preview to all the other pictures in this blog! Aaron and I have been happily using up his 45 days of leave and loving EVERY MINUTE! We just returned from a trip down to Savannah where I got to see one of my favorite people and college roommate from APU, Shelley. It was so much fun to see her! She took us around down town Savannah and it was adorable. Aaron loved all the spanish moss on the trees. She showed us the little upstairs apartment she used to rent from some people and I loved it because it has so much character!

After spending the night and one day in Savannah, Aaron and I were off to Charleston to see his cousin Haley and her boyfriend Bryant who attends the Citadel. They took us to an incredible true, southern-style restaurant where we got the most amazing grits and crab cakes and hush puppies that take the cake over any others that we've tried! Yum! I wish I had gotten a picture with Haley and Bryant, but somehow I forgot to do that :( We loved Charleston so much that we decided to stay for a second day. Not only is Charleston one of our new favorite places, but we stayed on Charleston Air Force Base and it was probably one of the nicest AF bases (according to Aaron.) We really enjoyed our stay, and it was close to town, 20 minutes from the beach, and 5 minutes from a really great outlet mall. Yes, Aaron let me splurge a little bit...so fun!

Honestly though, one of the best parts of our trip to Charleston was randomly running into Aaron's best friend who is a C-17 pilot stationed in California. Let me try and explain how all of this craziness unfolded! Aaron and I had just left the cutest wine bar (where I met a new furry friend! Hence the dog in the tu-tu at the top of this post. Bliss is her name and I LOVED her! She was the "mascot" at the wine bar!) and we were walking over to a hotel with a roof-top bar. All of a sudden, someone grabs Aaron from behind and says, "Give me your money!" We both jump and turn around and BOOM! There's MATT! It was the most amazing experience because Matt didn't know we would be in Charleston and we didn't know he would be either! It turns out that he and a few other pilots were spending the night re-fueling their aircraft. We joined all of them for a drink and had a great visit. He said they had never stopped in Charleston before, so it was truly meant to be. Isn't that so much fun?!? Our favorite spot in Charleston is now the Isle of Palms. It's a gorgeous beach town! Let me just admit right now that I even bought a t-shirt. I NEVER do that. I loved this place!

After spending an exra day in Charleston, we were off to Virginia Beach. We drove through Kitty Hawk, which was really fun. We had hoped to see the museum, but it was 5 p.m. when we drove though and they had just closed. So we went on our way to the beach and checked into our beach-front cabin at Fort Story, a small army base along the VA. Beach Atlantic coast. Even though we didn't love it as much as Charleston, we HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone. And we especially recommend Cape Henry Inn at Fort Story to any of our military friends (Mari :) hint hint) The boardwalk at VA. Beach was a little ghetto. Not because it's old and/or run-down, but because there are some weird-o people hangin out there. Seriously. Lets put some clothes on people!! As Aaron says, "It's just annoying to be around people who only want to draw attention to themselves." So true honey! All in all, it was a really great stay!

Finally, after two days in VA. Beach, we packed our stuff and hopped in the car to Williamsburg. I don't need to go into much detail on this one, because Jamestown and Williamsburg speak for themselves! It's amazing to walk around the oldest towns in the United States. The history just blows me away and I loved, loved, loved it!

Before we knew it, it was time to go home and 5 minutes from our house, our car started acting up. We thanked the Lord that this hadn't happened earlier in our trip when we were so far from home. I went to take the car into the shop yesterday and couldn't even get it into reverse. Nothing. Ugh! I had to call a tow truck and the mechanic thought the transmission might be shot. Thankfully, the filter just needed to be replaced and it was just that all of our trasmission fluid had spilled out causing it to not shift properly. I guess all of that driving really did it in. But it was a much easier fix than we had prepared ourselves for. We only have one car, so this would have been a huge blow. God is good and he provides. We give him thanks!

There's so much more I could blog, but i'll have to do that after our trip up to NY to see a broadway show for my birthday at the end of this month. We'll also be picking up Aaron's brother, Jesse, in Harlem to make our way up through some of the New England states. I can't wait to see Boston which is where my grandparents are from. I love traveling and these opportunities for us are not taken for granted!

We officially close on our house this Friday and then the movers come on May 20. Thanks to Joel and Maggie, our amazing "God-Parents" at our church here in Virginia who mentored us before we got married, they are providing us free housing at their gorgeous home until we move. AMEN!! We can't thank them enough and we feel so blessed.

I'll do my best to keep everyone posted on how things are going for us!

Uh oh. Public humiliation at the courthouse in Williamsburg!

I know, I look too happy!

The historic Williamsburg Capital

At lunch with Shelley in cute, cute Savannah Georgia!

Shelley's first apartment when she moved to Savannah. Isn't it amazing?!?

Sitting down to visit after running into Matt in Charleston. AMAZING!

The Gas Light wine bar, downtown Charleston

2.5 million dollar homes at the Isle of Palms. Whoa.

Beach lovin' - My man needs a tan ;)

Life is pretty rough...

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!

My Niece is Finally Here! Addison Marie :)

Hello world! My name is Addison Marie Scheuffele and i'm finally here to see everyone! I am 8 lb 10 oz of love, 19 in long and I have lots of strawberry blond hair (along with a few little curls already, too! Thanks Daddy!!) I don't cry very much but I sure do sleep, eat and poop alot!

I was a bit stubborn and my mommy was in labor with me for 30 hours before everyone finally decided to get me out via c-section. Mommy says I'm completely worth it, though!

Everyone keeps kissing my cheeks...i'm not sure why. Maybe you can figure it out from my pictures?? Now that everyone has passed me around a million times, i'm just excited to finally see my Auntie Jenny on April 10th when she visits me for the first time!

"Home" Stretch

Sorry I haven't been blogging much about the house! A bunch of you keep asking for more updates and pictures. Well, sorry, no pictures today (please don't hate me!) but they're coming soon! Our decorator came over yesterday to move a few things around the house and finalize plans. She's coming back on Tuesday to completely finish decorating the house. We have spent so much time and money on the remodel that we haven't purchased too many pieces of furniture. We did go out and get a really comfy loveseat and two armless chairs, but our decorator is bringing in some paintings for the walls, lamps and a number of other things.

I'm going to make a confession here....

Aaron has this huge painting that he LOVES of birds...or ducks...I dunno, I can't really tell! All I know is that i'm not the biggest fan of it. I tend to like more abstract pieces and landscape paintings. Anyway, this bird/duck painting that he has needed a new piece of glass because it had cracked down the middle a while back. Since we need things for the walls, I decided (a little against my will) to drive down to Michaels and I figured I'd just purchase a new frame. Come to find out that the frame isn't standard so they suggested that they could buff out the scuffs in the frame and put a new piece of glass over it. "Sure, that sounds good." But $89 later!! The things we do for love. I admit, the colors in it are beautiful, but it just isn't my style. I know Aaron really appreciates it and I love him, so i'm biting my tongue on this one! Our decorator loves the painting, too. So much that she is bringing two more from the same artist (Audubon) over and will be hanging one in our bedroom and two in our living room. I wonder if I might start ducking throughout the house in order to save myself from flying birds pooping on my head! Ok, that was a joke....

Well, the next week and a half will be a bit crazy. This is the final stretch of our house work! As I mentioned, our house will be decorated on Tuesday, our realtor is coming over to take pictures on Thursday and we have a window cleaner coming on the 13th. Basically, we'll be completely done with the inside on Monday! I can hardly believe i'm writing that.

We are hoping for an open house on March 15, but that will depend on when the work gets done on the outside. Though we've been able to do pretty much everything ourselves, we had to hire someone to replace the trim on the outside of our house because a lot of it was rotting. He'll then put a new coat of paint on all the trim as well. Tomorrow, our realtor and I are going shopping for plants and flowers to decorate the outside of the house. I think it'll look beautiful! We're really going to enjoy living in a completed house for a little while.

Good news is that a house that went on the market in our neighborhood two weeks ago is already under contract! I know they put it on the market for a pretty good price, too. Apparently there are still a ton of home buyers in our area. Yay! If we sell within the next month or two, we'll need to find a temporary place to live until we move in early June. Aaron will pin as Captain June 1 (sooo proud of him!) and then he has 44 days of leave, so we can actually leave town as early as about June 5.

We're hoping to take a hop over to Europe for two weeks sometime between May and June. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

J-O-Y.

I just thought I'd share some thoughts on how i've been feeling about life lately. The biggest thing on my heart is how much I love Aaron.

I hate admitting that the past few months (if not year or so) I realize i've dwelled on all the bad, "ho-hum" things that happen in my life. I'm ashamed of my self-centeredness at times. I'll also admit that i've accused Aaron probably one too many times of not having my best interest at heart. I've usually said this because of something he forgot to do or maybe didn't make the best decision about. But I can say with all confidence that Aaron does and always has had my best interest at heart. I know that he wants nothing but the best for our family.

We've gone through a lot of change together in the last two years or so. I think both of us feel quite unsettled. One reason for this is that as a military family, you automatically accept that your life will never feel completely stable. At any moment, your life can be turned upside down with a deployment. Now, as we prepare to separate from the military, we are again faced with various challenges from scrambling to finish our house and decorate it (this is EXPENSIVE!), to attempting to sell our house in a very difficult and uncertain market, Aaron's search for a civilian engineering job (hopefully on the west coast!), etc, etc, etc.

Recently, I've been making a conscious effort to focus on the good in a bad/difficult situation. Here's what i've discovered that has flipped my life around and back on the positive track:

1) God makes good from ANY situation if I submit myself and our circumstances to allow him to do it.

2) Aaron is the love of my life and I really could care less at the end of the day if the door frame is crooked, the kitchen too small, the dry-wall is uneven, etc, etc. because I get to spend my life with the most amazing man in the world and I find so much joy in his company!

3) I am in this season of my life where I won't be working again until we move this summer. If you had asked me 3 months ago what i'd be doing right now, I never would have thought I'd be home finishing the house, diving into cook books to prepare yummy, healthy dinners for me and my hubby, attending the most amazing woman's bible study at BCC (Burke Community Church - the most incredible church "home" away from home!) and volunteering each week to work with young women who are living through an unplanned pregnancy. The bible course i'm taking is a Beth Moore study. I can't put words to how wonderful she is. She ushers you into a closeness with God like i've never experienced before. Right now we're doing the study of the Psalms of Ascent and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone in any stage of their life. This is a true into-the-Bible type of study!

As I mentioned, i'm loving my volunteer time with the Alexandria Pregnancy Help Center (AKA Sanctity of Life Ministries.) I can't thank God enough for allowing me this season of my life to dedicate some of my time to connect with other women who are in need. We have an incredible director at APHC named Rebecca and an office manager who i'm really connecting with named Margie. Margie is a widow as of 4 years ago who has an amazing outlook on life from an eternal perspective. She's captivating and I love visiting with her. And I must add that I love babies so much! There is nothing more special in this life than life itself and the gift of an innocent child. I look forward to having a family with Aaron and I often wonder what our children will look like :) I would love to have a son someday because I know he'll be just as handsome as Aaron!

4) I am choosing to enjoy the house at this point. Yes! I said it! I'm ENJOYING our house! I have had such a bad attitude about this in the past. You really have no idea the mess we've lived in at times throughout this process, but God is so good! We have food, clothing, a roof over our heads and each other!

5) We are anxiously awaiting the day when our first niece Addison arrives! JOY JOY JOY!!

I know I could list more things, but maybe i'll just write a book later. What's so cool about this list is that i've slowed myself down enough to spend time focusing on these wonderful things and counting it all JOY that no matter what difficulties are happening right now, there are so many wonderful things to dwell on. I feel happier and more energetic with just a simple mind shift.

To end, I want to share a few old photos from my college volunteer days. I spent a great deal of time last week going through old photos from working with homeless children on Skid Row in LA. I promised myself when I left LA that I wouldn't forget what's important in life and get caught up in senseless, meaningless work (y’all know what I mean here.) My first year of work out of college, I pinned pictures of these kids up in my cubicle and I just love and miss them so much and hope their lives continue to be touched by other people who also love them.

My special boy, Jose

Goof Balls!

Look at those eyelashes!

Attitudes!

Unfortunately Consuming

I'm using this entry to make a serious confession. I'm not very proud of this, but maybe sharing it will help me to overcome. I have this consuming fear that someone will break into our house when I'm home alone. Recently, i've attempted to discover when this fear actually began and I think this is how:

For starters (just a little background here), I was fortunate and blessed to have grown up in a very safe home in a safe area. My parent's house sits right on a quiet lake at the bottom of a long driveway. I can't think of a time that I locked my car door before going in for the night. I don't remember waking up to strange noises or anything like that because it just wasn't ever a fear. THEN I moved to the oh so awesome city of Los Angeles.

Experience #1: There were a number of incidences around the APU campus that involved creepy men groping girls when they'd go out for a run, but nothing too serious ever happened - At least not that I know of. I sort of just tucked the recommendations to be cautious and aware in my back pocket until one night after a choir concert. We had just returned to campus late - about 10 p.m. - and for some reason I had to stay back and talk with our choir director. The guys were really good about not letting girls walk back to their apartment alone, but I insisted that a guy who offered to wait for me actually not wait because I didn't want to inconvenience him. I assured him i'd be fine so he went ahead and left. I made it most of the way to my apartment when I stupidly decided to enter the side gate (locked by code) rather than the front gate which actually had street lights out in front of it. As I approached the door in my choir dress and heels, I heard a man's voice behind me. "Hey, come here." That's when I said, "What??" Then he said, "Come here." Honest to goodness I assumed this guy was another student who knew me, but his face was shadowed by a baseball cap so I couldn't tell for sure. That's when instinct shot straight through me and at the same time I noticed the duffle bag over his shoulder. Something about his voice and the way he had approached me (while my back was turned...in the dark...at 11 p.m.....with no one else around in that moment. I immediately punched the code into the key pad and ran through the gate. That's when he started yelling at me! Not to sound too dramatic, but I know that guy was up to no good. I called campus police, but there wasn't much they could do without much of a description of the creepo.

Experience #2: I won't go into the long details about the transformation of mine and Aaron's relationship, but I had actually come out to D.C. to visit for about 3 weeks prior to moving out about a month later. Before I came out for my lengthy visit, I was so excited and didn't think I would have any hesitations. But, about 1 week into my visit, things changed a bit. You'd think I would have learned from my college experience, but no, not much. One day while Aaron was at work, I decided to take a walk up to the Target shopping center about 3/4 of a mile away. I didn't realize there were two ways to get there but I ended up taking the route that went along Richmond Highway which is a really busy street in Alexandria. My next stupid mistake was grabbing my I-Pod and cranking it. Ugh. Anyway, I was just about to Target when a man startled me in a black honda which had pulled up next to me. To make a long crazy story short, he kept asking me to get in his car with him. I refused - Of course. I began walking again. That's when he pulled into the closest parking lot and had the nerve to get out of his car! He approached me on foot and told me he "wanted to take me on a date." That's when I said, "Um, I really don't think my boyfriend would appreciate you doing this." I then told him to "please leave me alone." He huffed a bit then got back in his car (i'm walking a bit faster now.) That's when I realize that he was creeping in the right lane behind me. So naturally I made a run for it to the Target parking lot. This crazy guy started chasing me with his car through the parking lot WHILE PEOPLE WATCHED! I'm in tears now and my heart has just dropped to my toes while I go running into the store and hid in the women's clothing. I called Aaron and he left work early to come get me. I still regret not calling the police. He had a CVS pharmacy polo on and a few weeks later I recognized his car in the CVS parking lot right by our house. The regret.

Experience #3: My car broke down last spring (surprise surprise) so I had to walk to the metro one morning from Aaron's house to get to work. That's when an old nasty man came up beside me in an old maroon toyota and said, "Hey, let me give you a ride. You look like you're going to the metro." Thanks, Sherlock. Then he said,"I'm going there anyway and I can drop you off." I said all too nicely, "No, i'm fine." This guy started to get antsy (Dude! What is it with the men out here?!?) and he yelled, "Just get in my car! I told you I'm going to the metro!" Alright bucko, what part of N-O don't you understand?? "No!" I said. Then he just jetted off. For the record, rather than turning left to go to the metro, he hesitated at the innersection and turned right. I broke into full on tears, called Aaron and then called in late to work so I could get myself together. I thank God that under these last two cicrumstances, there were a lot of other people around. But, let me tell you, people are funny. I think we get so caught up in what we're doing that we aren't very observant. Now I often wonder how many terrible things happen in public and in broad daylight. Scary.

Well, you might be wondering why this is coming out in a blog now. That's because there was an incident this afternoon. I can admit, I love our house (the remodels are amazing) but we have a lot of strange people that walk around here. We're the end unit on a pretty busy street and there just so happens to be a homeless man that sleeps in his car out front. I have no idea if this is even legal. Anyway, Aaron also caught 3 teenagers smoking pot just behind our fence. Oh joy. All of that to say that we just installed new french doors in our basement that lead out into our backyard. It's a bit exposed because part of our fence fell down when it was windy outside but we'll be fixing it soon. Of course I asked Aaron to immediately put the dead bolt and door knob on because I didn't want to be asking for something stupid to happen, so he did. Well, this afternoon as I was painting upstairs, I came down to the basement to get a paint brush and the right side of the french doors was swung wide open. For a split second I thought, "I KNOW I locked both locks." So I threw my stuff down and grabbed my cell phone as I ran out the door. I called Aaron in a panic and said, "I think someone tried to break into the house!" He says, "Oh, no, it's windy and the doors aren't secure yet." WHAT?!? He feels really bad that this happened and I feel bad because I really put him through the ringer over it. He knows the experiences i've had out here and that it's not safe for our doors to be like that when i'm home alone all day. It turns out that the doors swung open (locks still in tact) because the wind picked up and pushed them open since they weren't secure.

Now i've just been thinking, "What's the point of having two locks on the door if a toddler could press it open with their little finger??!?!" I love Aaron so much and I know he means well, but i'm not particularly happy this happened. I suppose I could blame it on my bad experiences. I just don't want to live in fear like this forever. Interestingly enough, i've just started a bible study at church that has already been confronting me with my fears. I pray there's hope because I want more than anything to trust that God can and WILL protect me all the time! But I also keep telling Aaron, "Let's at least still try to be responsible people."

:(

Ohhh the curse on me!

5:45 a.m. Wake up to take Aaron to work (we only have one car right now...)

6 a.m. Out the door, 1/4 awake. Eek. At this point I do remember mentioning, "Honey, I left my cell phone in the house, but it's ok, let's just go." After all, I would just be coming right back.

6:05 a.m. We see Aaron's buddy driving in front of us (they had some sort of early formation this morning) At this point, Aaron suggests, "Hey, i'll just call John real quick and tell him to pull over so I can catch a ride with him and you can turn around and go home." "Sure, that's fine", I said. "But I didn't grab my keys, so i'll need your's." Alright, I assumed (emphasis on that) that Aaron would just take his office key off the key ring. So, he stops the car and we both get out. He hops in the car with John, I hop in the front seat of our car.

6:10 a.m. I arrive home, reach for the ignition and ONLY FEEL THE CAR KEY! AHHH!! That's right, snowing and all, locked out of the house! By this point, i'm starting to wake up...about 3/4 now. "Alright, i'll give him a quick call" is what i'm thinking to myself. Within seconds I remember that my cell phone is locked in the house!

6:25 a.m. Yep, i've been sitting in my car for a bit contemplating what to do next. Option 1: I can drive to base, but have no idea where Aaron will be for his, well, whatever the heck men in uniforms do at 6:30 in the morning.....cleaning the guns they never use in the Air
Force....something like that. Option 2: I can go knock on our friends' door (the husband gets up pretty early) but I absolutely knew i'd freak the heck out of his wife....I know this because she's a lot like me. Option 3: Wait and hope one of my neighbors is leaving for work and I can ask to borrow their cell phone really fast.

6:30 a.m. Yay! I see movement in the darkness!! One of our neighbors whom we haven't even met yet is just starting her car. I hop out of our car, run over to her and as not-too-creepily as possible, I explain that i've been locked out of my house, my cell phone is inside, and wondered if I could trouble her for a few minutes to call my husband. She was very sweet and handed over her phone right away. I catch Aaron and explain to him what happenend and I get this,

"Oh. Hmm. Ok." (so enthusiastic.)

Uhhh, honey!! Do you hear what I'm telling you?!? It's the butt crack of dawn and i'm locked out with no cell phone AND it's snowing!! I ask him to call our neighbor to let him know i'll be knocking on their door and to ask if I can stay warm in their house until Aaron's meeting is over." That's when Aaron says, "No, just go over there and knock." I say, "Right, and give the poor couple a heart-attack." Anyway (why are we wasting time arguing about this??), Aaron finally agrees to call them, but they didn't answer their phone. SO, I drove over to Andrews and just got home after sitting in Aaron's office waiting for him so I could get the house key, hair all over the place, pajama pants, NO BRA ON! (don't worry, I was wearing a big fluffy jacket.) Some of the guys offered to make me breakfast, but in my mind i'm thinking....("I just want to put a bra on and brush my hair.")

Moral of the story: We'll be hiding a house key by our front porch.....sigh.....

Snow Day!

I got up early this morning to take Aaron to work and the snow was just starting to fall. By the time I was leaving base, there was already almost an inch!

It's still snowing like crazy and i'm bundled up in my blanket blogging and watching it fall. I love it!

By the way - for those of you who may not know - I am currently staying home full time to finish our house and get it ready to sell in early March. I'll also be volunteering each week for Sanctity of Life Ministries which is a pro-life organization that assists women (and men, too!) through the process of pregnancy and raising their children. I'm looking forward to helping out however I can.

Aaron and I are getting out of the military in June and plan to move back to the Northwest! So Aaron is looking into different options for work in civil engineering (Employers...act fast! He's a catch! hint hint) and we are so thrilled to be closer to family as my sis and bro-in-law are making us an auntie and uncle for the first time in mid-March! We are excited to cuddle and spoil little Addison! Aaron's brother, Jesse, is marrying his lovely fiance, Jen, this August and they also plan to live in the NW. That means we'll be taking a trip out to Alaska for the wedding! We can't wait!

I'm a lucky wife!

I married the most amazing handy-man! For as often as I get frustrated with the seemingly endless construction in our house, we are finally about 95 percent finished! Thanks to Aaron for creating such a beautiful home for us to enjoy. Sometimes I stop and stare in amazement at what he has done and CAN DO! I feel pretty lucky because we save so much money on things like plumbing and electrical issues. I tell you what, i'm convinced my honey can do almost anything! I've asked him before, "How on earth did you know how to do that?" And he says, "I don't know, I guess I just read up on it and then did it." Uhh, wha?? That just seems foreign to me. I think it's quite a gift he has.

Some people can pick up any instrument and play it, he can pick up any tool and use it or take on any project and figure it out! Also, since he's an engineer, the guys who work for him have tons of tricks of the trade, too. So sometimes he'll just run something by them and they'll step him through it a bit. WOW. Love it! Here are a few shots of how far we've come!

Our gorgeous dining room!

Our front door molding. I love the east-coast style. Very common out here!

Our finished living room (floors and all. Finally!!) But, you'll have to excuse our mess ;)


I almost can't believe this project. Much harder than it looks and it only took him a day! I love it. Yay hubby!!