Thanksgiving in Kentucky

The sunset-at this point we are almost to my hometown.

  

As much as we wanted to answer the question “Are you guys coming home this year?” we had to give the vague, “We don’t know.” to both mine and Tim’s families. Tim put in a request in August, I believe, and I put my name down at the end of August to be off for the holidays. Tim is still considered new and we were not sure if he would be allowed off for both Christmas and Thanksgiving. I was stressed. I wasn't sure what the best choice was. If we only got one holiday off which family to visit? I worried because I didn't want either side to feel slighted or hurt that we chose to go to one family instead of the other. In the end we found out the week before Thanksgiving that Tim would be able to go on vacation. The decision of where to go became a financial one. We couldn't afford two plane tickets that close to the holidays and driving to Ky in our gas saving Prius wouldn't be that expensive. So we chose Thanksgiving with my family and hoped to be able to spend Christmas with Tim’s.

I am so grateful that we got to go home. My grandmother loves Tim, I honestly think she would chose him over me! That’s sort of a joke, but kind of not. She thinks that he is smart and a good person. We spent several hours in the mornings with her and then a couple of hours in either the afternoon or at night depending on what else we were doing. We got to see my brother, his wife, their two kids and his grandmother (plus some other people from his side of the family, but I can’t think of their names or how they are related to him).

I was really excited to see Justin and Taylor, I haven’t seen them in about four years, my niece, Emerson, was just a baby and now she is 6! I had never met my niece Adeline, who is a doll, she is 1! We spent some time with them and my other older brother William and his wife Lisa stopped by for a little bit-they were getting ready to go to Lexington to watch the UK basketball game and we didn't get to spend nearly as much time as we would have liked with them. We were also able to go out to dinner and see Christmas lights with them. Justin and Tim got along great and I am really happy they got to meet! I am also glad that I got to see my favorite Taylor, my sister-in-law. She is more like a sister and I adore her. I have known her since I was 16 (I think). She is a great person. I am lucky to know her.

Leaving was hard, as always I never know when I will be able to go back home. I never know if it is the last time I will be able to see my grandmother. It was hard. After driving for about 14 ½ hours we made it safely home. It to longer to get home than to get there because: Dwight threw up while in the front seat (picture dog puke on Tim, in my purse and the car), it was snowing in West Virginia and traffic in Maryland. But luckily we had a safe and relatively uneventful drive.

There was plenty more that we did. We saw friends and had other interesting experiences, but this post is long enough. If you read all of it-you’re a trooper. If you just skimmed it there are some cute photos for you to take a peek at! Coming soon-Christmas in Az blog.

Me with Tim and Emerson.

Tim and I in a sleigh.

Emerson posing for the camera.

Emerson and her sister Adeline.

Me, Emerson, Justin, Adeline and Tim

My sister-in-law told my brother not to do the peace sign-so I helped him out.

Tim with my grandmother.

Fall 2013

I have been neglectful of the blog. I like updating because it's fun for me to look back at all the interesting things that we get to experience. Tim has been doing well. He has completed another training for his job. His job title is Airman, he is an E3. He also took a Precalculus class this semester and finished well in that class. He really likes math, next semester he will be taking Calculus. As if that does not make him smart enough in his spare time he is working on learning to build a computer.

I was also busy this semester. I took 18 credit hours and I worked part time. I am grateful for a job and an education, but must admit sometimes it gets a little overwhelming trying to make sure everything gets done. But everything did get done and I finished the semester with 2 As and 4 Bs, I was pretty proud.

In the midst of school and working we bought a house. Moving during this time was quite hectic, but we are really glad to be in our own place. We have no pictures yet, but I will post them as we work on the house. So next month we are hoping to start work on the living room (hopefully) and I will post a before and after picture of that project.

The holiday time was slightly hectic and stressful. Trying to figure out time off from two jobs, figuring out the school schedules was quite a task. However we were really lucky to be able to visit both families this holiday season. I will share how those visits went another time.

Tim and Jessica

Washington D.C.

The weekend of the 4th of July we decided to make a trip into D.C. to go to the zoo. In hindsight probably not the best idea to go into the nation's capitol during the fourth. We did not enjoy the city and have no immediate plans to return. The purpose of the trip was to see the National Zoo. I will admit that the zoo was nice. Although driving through D.C. makes me more nervous than the zoo was worth. But we did have a nice time seeing the animals.

The elusive anteater.

Snapping turtle.

These guys were too fast for the camera, but they were one of my favorite things to see.

Finally a close up of the camera shy anteater.

May 25, 2013

I forgot to write anything in May about our anniversary, how neglectful of me. May 25 was our 3 year wedding anniversary. I still can't believe I am married or better yet that I am lucky enough to be married to Tim. I promise I won't get all mushy. I could not have chosen a better person to spend eternity with. For our anniversary we went to a Japanese Hibachi Grill. Our together gift was a new bed. Tim got a book about Einstein. We had a really good day. No pictures. I just wanted to post that I love being married. :) Some interesting thoughts:
-Tim does not really like desert (I really haven't met very many people like this).
-Sometimes going to bed mad is fine (seriously sleep is the great mediator).
-If a boy refuses to play with your hair, don't marry him (Lucky for me Tim never tires of this task).
-Together we have lived in 3 states, 6 houses and had 5 wards (we are part gypsy I think).
-There is nobody that I would rather be with than Tim (Chauncey and Dwight are also included in that statement).

Goodbye Winter

The beginning of winter was not so bad, but it seemed like spring was never going to get here. It stayed cold or coldish up until the middle of May. I do not really mind, but Tim is not a fan of cold weather.

We took the dogs to the park, when the weather got nicer.

These flowers are pretty.

The dogs are happy to be outside again.

This has nothing to do with winter. It was a Pinterest recipe that turned out well. This is before I cooked it.

After it was cooked. It was really good.

This is a project of Tim's. He is growing watermelons. This was taken a coupe of months ago when  his plants had just started growing. They look pretty good now. We will have to take another picture of their progress.

Spring Zoo Trip

Our favorite animal at the zoo.

We took a trip this spring to a zoo in Wilmington. It turned out not to have the best assortment of animals, but we still had a nice time.

Taking a nap.

She/he (I'm not sure) looks so friendly. Probably not though.

My zoo friend.

This is a member of the rodent family. Who would have thought.

The expression reminds me of Chauncey.

Relaxing

Gross.

Outside of the zoo. 

There were some friendly ducks next to the river outside of the zoo.

This little guy was friendly.

Life is beautiful

Tim: Tim now works a crazy schedule; it’s called the Panama schedule. Basically one week he works Monday and Tuesday, is off Wednesday and Thursday, then works Friday, Saturday and Sunday and that is the night shift. The following week he is off every day, but Wednesday and Thursday. He is doing well and is in the process of getting his school figured out. He still plans on starting classes soon. He has also been doing volunteer honor guard. When fallen soldiers come back to the United States, they come here first. There are protocols that are followed surrounding these brave people. Every couple of weeks Tim is on call. Two weeks ago was his first experience doing that. It would be too sad for me to do. But Tim serves honorably as always.

 Jessica: I finished the semester with a 4.0, I am quite proud. I am currently waiting to see if I am accepted into the social work program. I am currently working at a doctor’s office. I am glad to be working. Right now it is not so bad because school is out so my only focus is work.  I am nervous to see how working full time and school full time will work out. I’ll get a trial run this summer. I am going to be working and taking one class at night. Not the same as full time, but I suppose we will see.

 

Really life is great. There is nothing that we could ask for.