Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Brad & Jessica: A Love Story Picture Montage

In honor of Valentine's Day, here is a picture montage showing "our story". I hope you enjoy!

Brad and I when we first started dating. Weren't we just so adorable? I was 21 and Brad was 24 (I think), in December 2007!




We were so in love right from the start!



This is us at a military ball.. Sorry the picture quality is bad, I forgot my camera so this was taken on my phone! LOL.




BRAD PROPOSED in September of 2009! What a beautiful ring huh? :)




And we got married! It was a super small wedding planned in about a week! But it was beautiful and I wouldn't trade our small private ceremony for anything (Although I did get the big fairy tale wedding after the deployment!)



My parents took some couple photos of us together before Brad deployed. Isn't this beautiful?



One of the saddest days of my whole life.. the day I said goodbye to my husband knowing I wouldn't see him for a year. :(





this is Brad in Iraq. I lived for pictures of him, but got very few.




REDEPLOYMENT CEREMONY! BEST. DAY. EVER.




can you feel the excitement in our faces? Amanda was just there for moral support for me :) Her husband came home about a week later!



Shortly after Brad came home... I GOT PREGNANT! So here we are at the MPCCC02-10 military banquet, while I was 6 months pregnant.


And here we are with our beautiful baby at Christmas this year.


What a whirlwind! We have been together for a little over 3 years now and some days I can't believe that it has only been 3 years, I can't imagine my life with anyone else. Brad and I fit together perfectly and I am so in love with him, even more so now that we have a baby. I didn't think it would be possible to love him more.

MUSHY MUSHY!







Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Bloggity-Bloggity-Blog

My dear friend Kelley over at Daily Sips gave me an award. I don't really understand it but here it is:


and now I get to post 10 things about me that you may or may not know. I am not sure how all of this will go but here we go!

1. I have a brother, who has a Canadian wife. But we like her anyways. :) I have a sister, who is probably my best friend, and has made me believe that every girl needs a sister. And I have a sister-in-law who is probably the smartest person you will ever meet (and she's in Med School right now!) but you wouldn't know that she's a genius just talking to her.

2. I have two pets. One pomeranian (named Miley) and one cat (named Lola). Miley was a present from Brad while we were dating because he kept leaving me for months at a time all the time. Seriously.. she got me through the deployment. I treated her like a baby. I think her life has gone d0wnhill since we have had a baby :) and then there's Lola. When Brad and I moved to Missouri about a year ago, January of 2010, I was so lonely! It was the first time I didn't live even close to my family, it took me awhile to make friends there, and I wasn't going to get a job since we would only be there for 5 months.. so we got a cat. I was lonely. I was vulnerable. and I blame my husband for knowing I didn't really want a cat but going along with it (because he wanted a cat and never thought I would give in). Now.. she drives me nuts. I am definitely not a cat person. She is the only cat we will ever own.. whether that is 2 years of 20 years. Sigh.

3. I really wish I was an artistic person. If I could just infuse some artsy-ness into my DNA, I definitely would. I can be crafty (not as much as my mom!) but I can, but artsy.. its just not there. I think if I were artsy, I would try to do photography. I took a photography class in high school and for some reason I did not get the hang of it. I think maybe I didn't pay enough attention.. maybe photography can be a learned skill? But Brad won't buy me an uber expensive DSLR camera just for me to figure out if it could be a hobby of mine. I have to KNOW i will like it and use it, which I don't know. I have no idea whether or not it will "click" with me.

4. I watch Rachael Ray .. like every day that I can. And usually, whatever she makes I really want to eat for dinner. Today she is making waffle sandwiches with ham and cheese and now I have a fierce craving for waffles. Ugh Rachael Ray. Why do you do this to me. A couple weeks ago she made Shepherd's Pie with Tater Tots instead of mashed potatoes and I thought "MMMM THAT SOUNDS AMAZING" so I printed the recipe and tried it this past weekend. Well, my husband (who likes everything) couldn't even eat it and we ended up throwing it all away. It was horrible and I can't figure out why ... I followed the directions exactly. Do you think I should call RR and ask her? :)

5. I look forward to bed time. Colton's bed time is 8:00 lately (he has changed it.. it used to be 9:30 but he keeps trying to go to bed earlier and earlier and it's back to 8.. although I am sure he would be okay if it were 730 silly baby!)... some days I can't wait until 8, because I know thats 12 hours of not worrying about him.. no crying.. no feeding.. nothing. But sometimes I dread 8 because I know thats no cuddling, no laughing, no smiles. It depends on the day, how I feel, and Colton's mood that day. Does that make me a bad mom?

6. I have an addiction to strollers. This is a confession. And it's weird. I have two strollers... a jogging stroller Baby Trend Expedition and a regular stroller the Britax Vigour and I love them both. We got the jogging from my parents as a baby shower gift and I love it. Since it is so huge when folded and took the whole trunk of our Jeep Compass we bought the Britax one.. which is so nice and sleek, and I love that the seat can face me or the world. But now I am trying to convince Brad that I need a super lightweight travel stroller.. and I think the one I want is the Baby Jogger City Mini or the Bumbleride Flite. I really can't decide. I have spent HOURS looking at different strollers on the internet and I totally check out other people's strollers when out walking outside or the mall or the zoo or anywhere! It's weird!!! There are certain brands that I get a little excited when I see. Like the Bugaboo. Or phil & teds. Or StrollAir. or MicraLite. I could go on. My husband tells me I have "strolleritis" and the only cure is to just go cold turkey. But really.. I don't want to. Honestly I want to have another baby so I can have a double stroller. And I think I was the Bumbleride Indie Twin. It's beautiful. Somebody please cure me.

7. My husband and I are both craigslist addicts. I can't even tell you how much money we have saved by purchasing things off craigslist. I know that someday we will need to become "adults" and have more adult furniture, but until we are out of the army it is hard for us to want to spend tons on furniture that we will be moving every 2 or 3 years. Furniture doesn't last through very many moves, and we never know how much or how little we will need in our next large or tiny house. Let me make a list of things we have bought off Craigslist: our kitchen table (which was a steal.. its a crate & barrell table with 2 chairs in great condition for only 100! and we just purchased 4 more chairs!) our TV stand, Colton's baby swing and vibratey chair, the Bumbo, Brads road bike and rollers for it, the jumperoo, etc. Sometimes I want to count what we would have spent on buying everything new instead of used but I haven't.. although if I did I am sure it would be enough to take us on a vacation! (And I want it to!)

8. I once accidentally pulled the fire alarm at a children's science museum when I was in 1st grade. There were these things that you put your ear up to and push a button and listen.. well along that wall was the fire alarm. (Bad planning, science museum!) So I pushed a button and put my ear up to it... and all the sudden all the kids were being evacuated. I was SO EMBARRASSED. My teacher was livid... until I cried. And I didn't even want to tell my parents when I got home because I couldn't believe it had happened. I eventually did, because I felt so guilty I couldn't sleep. Whew, glad thats off my chest! :)

9. I am scared of squash. Weird, right? I want to cook with squash. I like things made with squash, but I have no idea. Same with some of those other vegetables: pumpkin, asparagus, etc. I really want someone to come over and teach me "this is how you cut it, peel it, this is the part you use, etc."

10. This was really hard. But, for my last one I think I will say.... I miss living near my family more than you know but wouldn't trade this military lifestyle for anything. I am so proud of my husband, so proud to be an army wife, so proud of the sacrifices my husband has made and is making for our country, and yes it sucks when he leaves but I can handle it.. and do.. and will. With (hopefully) little complaining :)

WELLP. That's my 10 things. Here are the people I am tagging:

Megan over at Lost Thoughts
Valerie over at Denim & Lace
Laura over at The Smarts

I think that's it! Happy Tuesday ya'll!