Jeremy checked out of the Navy this morning. After 8.5 years in the Navy he is a free man again! Woo hoo!! {We are still waiting to find out if he will be able to join the Reserves.}

I can't put into words how proud I am of my husband. He has made countless sacrifices for his country and his family. I know without a doubt he will do great at his next job.

. . .

We said our goodbyes to friends over the weekend. We had a going away dinner at Applebee's ("you can't go to Applebee's alone!" 10 points if you can name that movie) on Friday, Saturday we went to an egg hunt for Jer's command and saw friends there, and Sunday we had dinner with our friends Brent, Stacie and their 3 girls.

Last night was the most emotional for us. Our friends Mark, Sarah, and their daughter Jessica stopped by to say goodbye.. After they left we stood in the kitchen and cried. We are excited for the next chapter but we are really going to miss the friends we made here. We are already making plans to see some of them in the summer though!

Easter 2013

Easter was fun this year with Joel! He woke up Easter morning and discovered a basket full of goodies from the Bunny. He even found a few eggs in the living room that the Bunny left behind. He thought it was awesome!

Later that day we went to a friend's house for an egg hunt. Each time Joel picked up an egg he would open it up and try to eat the candy. It was cute--and needless to say he ate way too much sugar that day. Haha!

I didn't plan to get Joel's picture taken with the Easter Bunny this year, but the NEX on our base was doing it and you could either use your own camera or pay $5 for them to do it, so we did it anyway. (The mall Bunny is almost $30 for their basic photo package.. Isn't that ridiculous?!) He was thrilled as you can tell.

I have struggled with whether we should do the Bunny and Santa thing for Joel. As a Christian I want my child to know the TRUE meaning of why we celebrate Easter and Christmas. I don't want him to think it's just about candy or how many presents he can get from. How do I balance it--the fun and making sure he knows the true meaning?

Purple Day

Today we are wearing purple for global epilepsy awareness!

{To learn more about Purple Day click here}

Bug Museum

Joel has shown an interest in bugs and reptiles lately.. He loves to find pictures of bugs or snakes and then show it to me so I will freak out. He think it's hilarious when I shriek in fear and run away! Friday afternoon we took him to a local bug museum and he LOVED it. His mama.. not so much! haha!

Good News & The Hunt is On

Jeremy got a job!! He received the job offer at the beginning of the month and of course accepted! He had a few companies interested in him but most couldn't/didn't want to do anything until we were in Ohio. We were starting to freak out a little bit, but thankfully a company came along and was willing to do a few phone interviews and then set up a face-to-face interview at a local job site here in WA. They formally offered him a job after the face-to-face interview. We were so relieved and excited!!

Now that Jeremy has a job waiting for him in Ohio we can begin house hunting! Yay!! ..and nay! We are excited that we will be able to buy a house but so far we haven't seen anything [online] that has really caught our attention. We're hoping we will be able to find something once we get to Ohio in just a few weeks! (Ahh!) We have considered just building a new home but that could take 6+ months and we would rather not wait that long. We will be staying with a relative until we find a place, so we're hoping and praying the whole process of finding and buying is as quick as possible.

In the meantime we are having fun daydreaming about our future home! We have never been able to paint any of our homes the colors we want because we have always rented/lived in military housing, so that's obviously at the top of our list! Browsing all the ideas on Pinterest has been lots of fun lately! I think I might do a post every day of ideas I have for our future home.. do it room by room.. Sounds fun, yeah?  :-)

Hello Sunshine (Parks & The Zoo)

Proof that Spring is around the corner: the sun has actually been shining in the Pacific Northwest! It's still cold but we don't even care. We have been taking advantage of the sunny days every chance we get! We love to explore different parks/playgrounds in our area. Joel always has a blast. He would stay outside all day long if we let him, so we definitely need to find a house in Ohio that has a big yard!

 

Our monkey--always climbing! He is brave but his mama is usually a nervous wreck! HA!

. . .

 

Today we went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Joel and I have been to the PD Zoo once before with my friend & her little girl, but Jeremy has never been [other than today]. The last time I brought Joel he was only a year old.. It was fun to see how he reacted differently to everything this time. He seemed to be more aware of the animals today which was fun. I think he really enjoyed the aquarium because he made us walk around it three times. :-) It was exciting for us to see him point at the fish and then actually say the word "fish!' {Joel has speech delays caused by tuberous sclerosis complex.} He also liked seeing the elephants and the tigers.

 

 



Seabee Ball 2013



Jeremy and I attended a military ball tonight. Joel stayed with a sitter for the first time ever. It was hard for me to leave him but we definitely needed the alone time. I know date nights are important for our marriage.. it's just hard to leave Joel because of the seizure fear. He hasn't had any seizures in months but there's always the fear that it could happen at any moment. I almost talked myself out of going--I stayed up late the night before crying to Jer about all of it. In the end I'm so thankful he talked me into going! Joel did great at the sitter and we had a wonderful evening with friends. +It's always fun to get dressed up!