Happy Monday!

October 30th marked the first official day of snow here in Alaska, and although some of you probably already have snow, and some of you also may be laughing as well, I’m super excited. But what do you expect from someone who’s been born and raised in Southern California? So yes…for now, I will celebrate and have lots of snow fights with Jimmy and Layla! Maybe I’ll grow tired of it, maybe I won’t. It’s taken me a while to get used to the weather changes as it is, and I’m still getting there…but we’re loving it! As you can see here, Layla and I played around outside while Jimmy was shoveled our driveway, a daily task we are required to do since we live on an Air Force base. I’m looking out the window and I’m seeing our driveway that has yet to be shoveled today…along with our walkway and sidewalk. The snow looks beautiful falling right now, but I definitely do NOT feel like going outside and shoveling at the moment…nope not one bit

Happy Snow Day!

We watched episodes of Modern Family on the laptop and kept up the fort for a few days longer than planned. These were taken a few weeks ago, but I am foreseeing lots of fort-nights in the months to come, with the darkness and all. A perfect way to bundle up for the long Winter ahead of us and make the most of being indoors. By that time I am suspecting our fort making skills will be excellent

…less than 15 minutes from my house.

The fact that I am lucky enough to be making a home with the love of my life and sharing this journey with him. A journey of unmade beds, piled up dirty dishes, and leaving lights on. But also a journey of slow dancing in the kitchen (yes, we ARE that couple), decorating with what little we have, and quality time in the AM before he goes off to work.

Getting encouraged by some wonderful wives here and my sis-in-law back home to pursue my love for photography further…(not to mention having them be my guinea pigs and pose for me so I can get the experience!)

and last but not least, taking full advantage of it when the sun does decide to pop out and say hello.

By the end of the day, I realized that this won’t be the last time I’ll get the weather blues. But God will remind me once again, how good He is and how much He has blessed my tiny family. So once again I will say, we are blessed. So. Incredibly. Blessed.

Bring it on snow and darkness, I’ll be welcoming you with open arms.

at around 8am I got up and got ready downstairs. I heard Jimmy calling me upstairs so 15 minutes later I came up to a semi annoyed husband..

He doesn’t like when I take too long to get ready Then we were off! Our first stop was an obligatory Starbucks run, then to Costco with our friends Kristen and Guillermo to sign up for a membership!

Jimmy got the vacuum he had his eye on for a few months!

Next up: The furniture store. We were looking for a bedroom set

proof that I got a bit camera happy and Jimmy looks a bit like a stalker in this. I laughed at this picture for a good 5 minutes.

Lunch at Subway!

Then to Sears to look for a lawnmower which came out to be successful.

I left from Sears to do a photoshoot for a family that we had scheduled…it turned out well and for my first family photo shoot, I felt really good about it!

I came home exhausted and ready to start editing photos, spend time with Jimmy, and call it a night.

because i totally just got caught…yes, i accidently left my drink out.

dinner consisted of our Subway leftovers and soup!

And thats it! I might try doing this again, except on a day thats not spent running errands Perhaps this weekend, since there’s some fun things planned. Have a good Saturday!

This lady moose (also known as a cow) was with another female at first, but she ran off when she saw me, and this girl decided to stick around. I hope I didn’t ruin their afternoon stroll

These photos consist of helping our friends move in to their new home (which just so happens to be down the street from us!) and having a lovely dinner at a little Japanese “hole in the wall” restaurant. You know if a place is tiny and homey-looking, they have good food!

This past week we’ve made some big purchases and done things around the house that are worth getting pretty dang excited about. I will be flying back to California in less than a week to attend my best friends wedding, but that subject itself deserves a different post which will be coming soon! I’m making this post quick tonight because it’s midnight and I have to be up in the morning, but just know that we are alive, well, and having the best time here in Alaska

The next time I blog, I will be blogging to you straight from Anchorage, Alaska! I can’t believe how fast time flew by in a span of 10 days. Please keep Jimmy and I in your prayers/thoughts for a safe flight(s) within the next few hours (I get uneasy and jittery on planes) and smooth travelling. The time has come to say goodbye to sunny Southern California and say hello to snow, hours of daylight and darkness, and definitely a new adventure.

There are so many things and people I’m going to miss. Starting with family. I’m going to miss my mother-in-law’s selflessness and wise words when I’m caught in a bind, my father-in-law’s teasing and stealing food off my plate, spontaneous photography adventures with my sister-in-law Jhen and talking in blog language, My brother-in-law Jon who NEVER fails to crack me up and has perfected timing for “Thats what she said” jokes, shopping trips with my sister-in-law Jacky and her voice of reason (mostly when it came to purchases, but so many other things too) and last but definitely not least…my sweet niece, baby Josselyn. The little girl who could instantly cheer me up during all those times when I was missing her uncle. I know that if it weren’t for her, it would have been much harder to get through these last few months. As much as leaving everyone is hard to think about, tears well up in my eyes within seconds when I think about saying goodbye to her.

But I’m certainly not intending for this to be a sad post. Bittersweet, absolutely….but my heart is SO full and the timing is so right for us to finally leave the nest my in-laws have so graciously opened up to us and begin making our own. God has been so good to us this past year and for a while I wasn’t able to see that. Oh my, so much has changed. We are so blessed. SO blessed!

Be back soon!

It was a ridiculously hot and humid day so we enjoyed snowcones (probably the best snow cone I’ve ever had, if that’s possible)…

…And proceeded to NOT act like mature married couples in our early to mid-twenties…

Twas a fun day indeed. I know as an AF spouse sometimes us wives can easily find things to get upset about when it comes to the Military, but through the AF, we met awesome people like the Santare’s and have made quite a few friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime. And for that I am thankful. Look at me, already getting mushy and we’re not even leaving yet! It’s just crazy and exciting to think that in less than two weeks we will be living in a whole different place, with a whole different lifestyle. Maybe a little scary too, I’ll admit. This week will consist of packing, visiting people, and probably some bittersweet tears. But we can’t wait and look forward to it as we spend our last days here with our favorite people making memories to cherish!

Here are some photos that were taken at an amusement park in Virginia. It’s definitely no Disneyland (What can I say, I’m a spoiled Southern Californian!), but it had a Starbucks and I thought that was pretty sweet.

Seriously, who looks that peaceful when they sleep? He was knocked out and in deep sleep mode there too. When I sleep, my mouth is wide open, drool is dripping down my mouth, my hair is all over the place..it’s just not pretty.

Anyway, this post is titled Good News because we found out yesterday that Jimmy is finally free and gets to come home! Granted, I’ll be coming home with him since I am still in Virginia, but my medical clearance finally went through and we are going to Alaska after all! We will be arriving there in around two weeks so yeah…pretty dang soon. Which is not a surprise when you are a Military family, but still, we’re so excited that he’s not stuck there anymore and playing a waiting game. This week will consist of preparation and looooots of paperwork. Then we will be flying home this weekend, spending time with loved ones, and packing up to go! So if I’m absent for a little, that is most likely the reason why. But I’ll try my hardest to post at least once a week.

God is so good and we are so excited to finally begin this new chapter and settle in to our new home!

Lately we’ve been hearing friends and family saying, “There is a reason why God has you in this situation.” (I’m looking at you, Momma Hammer) And after thinking about it for a while, it seems that they are so right. One of the reasons we know this is because of the people in these pictures. Meet the Gallipeau’s. Jimmy became really close with another Airman who was in the same position as him and was unable to go home to his wife and beautiful little girl. When I came to visit, we found out that it was the same weekend his wife and daughter were coming too. We spent most of the weekend with them and got to know them and hear a little bit about their story, which is absolutely beautiful.

It was a huge wake-up call for me as well, because to put it bluntly, I was thinking that I had it so hard. But I can’t imagine what Falon, Cameron, and their daughter Ariana must have went through. It also felt SO nice to be able to talk about how things have been (and yes, including our frustrations with our husbands being kept away for silly reasons). I know now that if Jimmy got to go home on time and when he graduated tech school, we would have never met them and became such good friends. Fortunately, Cameron was released recently and is now reunited with his lovely family. As for us, Jimmy is still there, and I am still waiting. But as challenging as this time is and will be for however much longer we need to endure it, I’m pretty confident that even if he’s stuck there for another month, I would do it all over again.

Thank you Lord, for giving us the strength to be apart and giving us blessings such as great friends and memories to make this time a little more enjoyable