Two minutes...

I just got this video from my dad in an email and it struck me. I think as a Military wife, myself, I often forget that ANY sacrifice, even mine, counts as a sacrifice for OUR country and OUR rights. I can't get over how proud I have been to be able to support our Military as a wife of an Airman and now Seaman. My heart fills with admiration and love every time someone remembers the sacrifices made in every way, small and large. We are all so blessed to live in this free country. I am proud to be a part of what keeps it free and safe. God Bless.

Newport...

So, I took Logan and Mya, our horse, I mean dog, down to the beach this morning to let them run off some energy. I love the beach. Enough said. However, I do look out at the Ocean and it is somehow odd to me how it can be both extremely terrifying and very calming at the same time. Today, while we were out there, it was either high tide, or Newport is slipping into the Ocean a lot more quickly than I had originally thought. Which means, we will be vacating and moving inland as soon as possible. Anyhow, I look at the magnificent ocean and can't help but know that God loves me. The Earth, with all of it's functional parts, everything working together to fulfill God's divine purposes, mountains and valleys, oceans and dry earth, desserts and rain forests. Does it seem distinct to anyone else how a loving Heavenly Father made everything not only FUNCTIONAL, but breath takingly BEAUTIFUL? We live just off of the Pacific Coast Highway, which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful stretches of pavement in the entire world. If any of you are familiar with at least the Oregon Coast, you know of it's majestic nature and awe inspiring beauty. You honestly have the best of both worlds here. You have the gorgeous woods and mountainy areas and all the camping, fishing and hunting you could ask for. Then just across the street, you have the Ocean. With it's rugged cliffs and striking beaches. I love it here. You should come visit. There is truly so much to see and experience. The wind has been incredible here the last few days! I heard somewhere that we were expected to have gusts of 95 MPH! That's insane! I love sitting in my house, listening to the rain. It's so calming to go to bed at night and here it falling right above my head outside our window. You can't ask for anything better. Okay, maybe a fireplace would be nice to curl up in front of. Our TV just doesn't generate that warmy feeling quite like a fire... Newport. I love you. Thank you for being here. Ocean, you are amazing. Thank you for letting me feel your breezes and watch your waves. Adam, thank you for bringing me here. I love it. And you. Logan, thank you for giving me a reason to get up and out of the house this morning and every morning. Mya, thank you for NOT attacking those dogs this morning like I thought you were going to. I don't want to ruin my thoughts of the beach. That's all. Come visit. And stay a while. Jenn. And Newport...

My Veteran, on Veteran's Day.

Today is Veteran's Day. Well, for the next 23 minutes, it is. I'm a little late in getting this up. But I wanted to take a minute and thank MY Veteran. We have been in the military together now for going on four years. Well, 3.5, I guess is more accurate. We've been through trainings, getting married, having a baby, deployments, long hours, time apart, switching branches, more training, more time apart, moving, unpacking, packing and a whole bunch of stuff that we could write a book on. I love this guy. He sometimes wonders why. But I do. I love him!! He goes to work and sometimes wonders why he does. It's hard. He is pushed and challenged and forced to think outside his box. But he does it. He does it for me. He does it for Logan! And he does it for our future children. He gets seasick. But goes out on the boat, anyway. He spends a lot of time away from us. That's hard on him. But he is trying to make it work. We all are. We love him. We loved the Air Force and all the opportunities it afforded us there. The banquets, the friends we made, the BBQ's and Christmas parties! We loved it all. And here in the Coast Guard, we love it, too! We have friends from everywhere! The sacrifice of a service person is almost always high. Military can be hard on families and relationships. Adam and I have seen our share of struggles and trials and have tried to come out on top. It's not been easy. Military is taxing, even when they are not "deployed." It's a demanding job and often exhausting. But those inside do it because they LOVE it. They LOVE protecting you. And me. And our freedoms and rights as we know them now. So when you hear the stories of servicemen and women, listen for an extra minute or two. Their stories are truly amazing. They are, each and every single one of them, heroes. Next time you hear the jets over your house, look up and think about the person flying it. And be thankful. I love my Veteran. I love supporting him. I love supporting all these men and women I know! Adam, thank you for being so amazing and so supportive of me. You are so strong, though you may not think so. I know you are. I love you and all you stand for. Don't forget that. And thanks for being My Veteran! Happy Veteran's Day, Baby!

We really love to go to the beach as a family. Logan LOVES the sand and running and the wind and everything! We want to someday be stationed by a beach that has WARM weather and we can play in the water. I am SO not a cold


BAH!!! Look how big she is!!! Can't stand it. Period.

This may seem like a silly post. I think Logan looks so big in this picture. She is watching her favorite Elmo movie and just lounging on the couch. It makes me crazy to think of my baby being this big. She is talking like a big kid now and she and I have great conversations. She is my little sidekick and we do everything together. I am so in love with this little munchkin. My heart aches with love for her. Watching her grow has been a joy I cannot describe and I can't wait for every little stage and phase of her life to come and have more great experiences with my little sidekick. I love her.

She was pointing out a bunch of Geese that were flying over our house. We just can't get over how big she looks in these pictures.
My little blondie. Her hair is getting so long! We LOVE it! I had to trim her little bangs the other day and I almost cried!
Here, she is coming up to give me LOVES. These are my very favoritest moments in the world!
She loves to run around our backyard and explore. I feel so bad that it's so rainy here that we don't get out there as much as I would like. But she DOES love it!
She also LOVES her puppy, Mya. She's WAY bigger than she is, but they get along really well. This is her giving Mya LOVES! How tender is that?! Can't stop lovin' that gal of mine!

A girl after my very own heart. These are Peanut M&M's. She loves them. If you look closely, you can see that she actually has chocolate around her mouth. Hahaha! LOVE it!
I think this is one of my favorite pictures of Logan ever. I can never get a picture of her smiling. But I did here! Yay!
Here's the loot! Or the bag of loot. She was pretty excited.
Have I ever mentioned that she has major ATTITUDE? We were in a road block and apparently she wanted to move on to the next house. So she's voicing her opinion. Hmmm... Not my kid...

This is a cute video of Logan at the Aquarium on Halloween. She loves walking around anywhere she can. It's so fun to watch her! Sorry it's crooked, I was trying to get the long way, but it didn't quite how I had planned...

For Halloween here in Newport, we went to the Aquarium. Logan LOVES the Aquarium! And now that she is just a little bit older, she really enjoys wandering and really looking and exploring. It is so much fun to see her eyes light up when she sees something exciting to her. We love watching her discover!!
Seriously, this starfish was HUGE!!! I couldn't believe it, and I think Logan was pretty taken back too. She didn't want to walk away.
The seal was sooo cute! SEAL is one of Logan's new words lately, so she was really excited to have one come right up to her at the window. They were so cute playing in the water and coming up to the window. It was fun to see.
Hi. Does anyone else want this guy on your plate? I saw him, and I was like, Whoa... He would be so yummy! It sounds so horrible, but I LOVE CRAB!!! And this guy certainly took the cake! We had such a great time on Halloween at the Aquarium. I can't wait til we can get a membership and we can go whenever we want!!!