Love Your Spouse Challenge, Day 7

Day 7 (Final Post)

For my final picture of the love your spouse challenge, I chose our first family picture with Isaac. I chose this pic partly because we’re going to be doing this again in just a little over a month! There is a lot that a stressful situation can reveal about a person and there are few things that are more stressful than labor! Jake was a fantastic partner during my labor with Isaac. He was calm, loving, supportive and completely selfless (much how he’s been throughout our relationship). Thank you, Jake, for giving me reasons to respect and honor marriage. There is no one I would rather be in this covenant with. And as we prepare to have our second child, I am confident it will be a positive experience just because I know you’ll be at my side. ::kiss kiss::

Love Your Spouse Challenge, Day 6

Day 6

This picture is from our baby monitor and I love it. I had already been in to console our crying child with no luck, so I sent Jake in. I didn't hear any crying and so I looked at the baby monitor to find Jake siting on the floor, playing his guitar, while Isaac quietly listened. Jake is the sweetest dad (as anyone who knows Jake can imagine) and Isaac adores him. I love embarking on this parenting journey with him!

Love Your Spouse Challenge, Day 5

Day 5

In this picture, Isaac was one month old and Jake and I FINALLY got out for some time by ourselves while my parents watched him. Naturally, we didn't have enough time to go to a movie or do much else, so we ended up driving to Avila Beach (only 15 minutes away) and grabbing a beverage from one of the only little shops open (hence the classy lime-a-rita) and spent time just hanging out in the car, with the windows rolled down, listening to the ocean. And of course, we spent pretty much the entire time talking about Isaac and making up little jingles for him on our phone. It was simple and short, but completely perfect. I love any time I get with my husband.

Love Your Spouse Challenge, Day 4

Day 4

The day two became one. I loved our wedding day and our adventurous honeymoon afterward. Just the other day I quoted part of Jake's vows to me in order to in an argument. ;) but in all seriousness, having the opportunity to commit to each other and make those vows in front of family and friends was powerful and wonderful. I appreciate marriage for the love and more so for the struggles that end up binding us in a type of love that I could have never understood before. I look forward to growing in an even deeper love with Jake through the rest of our lives. This day was only the beginning!

Love Your Spouse Challenge, Day 3

Day 3

This picture was taken right before Jake proposed. Of course, his proposal was fantastic, but the main reason I wanted to share this picture is because there is no one I would trust more to fly me around in a plane (or drive me in a car or drive a boat, for that matter). Jake is so good at what he does and so humble about his skills. He takes great care of his family by bringing in the dough so I can be a stay at home mom.

Love Your Spouse Challenge

Yesterday, I was given a challenge on Facebook to post a picture of my spouse for 7 days to celebrate love and honor marriage. I thought I would post on here as well, since I know some people aren't on Facebook and I'm excited to do it because talking positively is always refreshing to write and read.

Day 1: This first picture is a selfie of Jake and I during my first visit to his parent's in Moran, MI. We had just started dating and after traveling stand by to Michigan with him and watching him with his parents, siblings and pets, I realized how much I liked him and wanted to be in a relationship with him.

Day 2: This picture is from when I was first living in Grand Junction, CO, starting my LPN program. Jake has always been super supportive of whatever I'm doing and visited me often even though he was living in San Luis Obispo, CA. I also chose this picture because Annabel is in it and since she was my first born, Jake has always made extra space in his heart for her too. :)

Mrs. and Mrs. Hansen Curran

Today one of my best friends married the love of her life. We have walked with each other through a lot of changes, struggles and triumphs over our decade of friendship and I was honored to support her as she married her girlfriend of 4 years. What a time in history to be a lesbian! There are so many opinions and conflict surrounding peoples' choice to love one another, that it was a privilege to attend such a glorious celebration filled with love and support. The woman officiating began by discussing the mystery of God's plan as outlined in Ephesians chapter 3 and Paul's prayer:

14When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,^e 15the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.^f 16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT

As I listened to the words and truth of God, I couldn't help but beam from the Spirit igniting my soul with pride of what God gives us in Him and the honor of what these women are becoming together. It was so great to be a part of such an occasion.

Congratulations Megan and Emily!! You are bold and beautiful and simply two of my favorite people. May God bless your life together!

Cotton

Yesterday was Jake and my 2nd wedding anniversary. It's really not very long, especially when you think about all that has happened and it's only been TWO years since we said, "I do." Either way, I am still incredibly happy and blessed to be married to Mr. Jacob Springsteen. Not only is he a great husband, he is also an awesome father.

The traditional gift for 2 years is cotton and the modern gift is china. We already have china and I was thinking we would have Chinese food, but Jake is on a pretty limited diet right now, so that wasn't going to happen. So for our gifts- Jake got me a robe. He wasn't entirely sure it was cotton, but he made sure it was at least "made it china." ha. Good job, honey. :) I ended up getting Jake (and kind of myself) a cotton hammock. We spent the afternoon and the evening cuddled up in it. Pure bliss! I was impressed how comfortable it was with both of us in it, particularly at night when we watched a two hour show on Jake's iPad! Success.

In the afternoon, I set up Isaac's chair right next to the hammock so we could talk to him and he could eat his chicken.

We also let our kitties out for the first time. A few days ago we got them up to date on shots and we also got them new collars and tags. They need one booster in a couple weeks, so we only let them out while we were outside and close to dinner time. :) They had a marvelous time exploring the yard.

All in all a lovely relaxing day with the ones I love. God is good.

Mid-State Fair

I love spending time with Jake- just me and him. Now, especially with a little one, I have to make us time intentional. Since Jake is gone usually a few days a week, I have tried to make one day out of the week where we spend some exclusive one on one time. This last week, on the 31st, my Mom and Dad watched Isaac so Jake and I could go out. We had such a good time.

First we went to the Derby Wine Estates to get dinner and wine and listen to my friend, Aaron, perform. Then it was off to the Fair.

After walking around some, we went on a few rides, starting with the Zipper (a childhood favorite of mine). As we stood in line Jake looked up the history of the ride and its safety. 

Our view from inside the cage of the Zipper!

We then went on the Hammer and finished the night with a ride on the Ferris Wheel. Such a great time with the one I love. If I were to die on one of these rickety rides, I would want it to be with him.

Love you, honey!

Skip In My Step

Jake and I have been looking for a place to live in the Sacramento area and very little has come up and what does come up ends up getting snatched very quickly. Needless to say, it's been frustrating, exhausting and stressful. This last trip consisted of me driving to San Jose to stay with my sister, picking up Jake late that night and then driving to Sacramento the next morning on the 26th and then driving back to San Jose that evening to have Jake fly out and return to work and I stayed at my sister's before driving home the following day (yesterday, the 27th). Even though the driving went well and we got to look at a few places, I returned to San Luis Obispo feeling troubled.

Today has been MUCH better. Two glorious things arrived for me today:

1. Beautiful flowers with a note

It's funny to get a message from Jake in a woman's handwriting

The flowers smell SOOO good!

This was such a nice gift to have unexpectedly arrive. Jake tends to be more pragmatic and so little romantic gestures do not come naturally. I, on the other hand, love romance and am more idealistic than Mr. Springsteen. So to have flowers delivered out of the blue today was quite a treat and definitely an act that does not go unnoticed! This thoughtful gift put an extra skip in my step the rest of the day. I do have a very loving husband and it's great.

2. My wedding album!

I have been working on this for a long time and so it was fun to finally finish it and have it arrive. Every time I look at the pictures I am reminded of the love that Jake and I share and the fun and specialness of that day.

Then there's this kid

Oh how he makes me smile. It's not a bad job hanging out with him all day (especially when he takes a two hour morning nap! YAY!). 

I look forward to Jake coming home on the 30th. Until then, I will smell the flowers and remember how blessed I truly am.

Meet the Johnstons

Congratulations to the Mr. and Mrs. Kevin and Yasmin Johnston!!

Yesterday, June 27th, Jake's good friend from flight school married the beautiful Yasmin Akhtar. The wedding was beautiful despite the rain and it was lots of fun to hang out with Jake’s friends and their wives. A big thank you to my in-laws for watching Isaac during the wedding. There were a couple babies at the wedding, but it was nice to kick back and enjoy adult fun and be worry free since I knew Ike was having a blast with his Springsteen grandparents.

During the wedding I had to pump a couple of times and Jake kept me company. Later we found out that a rumor spread that Jake and I were getting lucky in the utility closet. That’s a much more fun alternative to the truth, so I guess there’s no need to really argue it. ;)

There was also a zip line at the wedding. This was a groomsmen adventure, but one too fun not to share. The zip line was not necessarily for guest use. It was discovered by the group after they took some wedding party pictures and Jake decided he would be the first to test it out.

Next Adam took a ride on it. During the course of the first two zip liners the string got a little tangled which caused the following scene:

Hilarious. 

Kevin is an awesome guy and it was fun to be a part of his and Yasmin's day.