Our First Snow Day

When my home state gets snow, it's a miraculous occasion.  Our new state, however, has snow several times a year, as does Jake's home state.  Look below to see how Jake and I spent our first snow day as a married couple in early 2010.  We drove over to a college campus close to our apartment to take advantage of some of the pristine hills.

Note: This wasn't our our first snow day as a couple, though.  Our first snow day together occurred when we were in college.  I'll never forget it.  I called it the March Miracle.  In a state where snow is rare even in the middle of winter, that year the white stuff came fluttering down on the first day of March!

Jake posing with our fantastic "sled."

The view from my window when I woke up
that morning--what a great surprise!

The view from our balcony.

Jake with our original sleds.

Me sliding downhill.

Me with our snowman.

A close-up of my handsome husband.  : )

Jake with our snowman.

2010

This year, our first full year as a married couple, was wonderful (and just plain FULL)!  After this overview, I'll be adding a few additional posts (with pictures!) to highlight some of our activities over the past year.

We:

• Bought our first home, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in the country with a couple of acres of land.  We've invested lots of time and energy in fixing up the house.  Our projects have included: changing out locks, sanding floors, adding laminate flooring, lots of painting and caulking, repairing a roof leak (the biggest challenge so far), conquering floors bowed with age, replacing bathroom counter tops and sinks, adding trim (including crown molding in every room), and more.
• Traveled together on several business trips for Jake's job, visiting places like Cincinnati, OH; Lima, OH; Knoxville, TN; and St. Louis, MO.
• Made friends with a couple our age (surprisingly, a huge achievement and a major answer to prayer)!  Steve began working with Jake over the summer.  We got to know him and Lindsey through lunch dates.  Now, we try to get together once a week.  After we meet our husbands for lunch, I go over to Lindsey's house, where we spend hours chatting and catching up on the latest episodes of crazy television shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians.  
• Searched for a church and finally found one that is right for us.  (We hope to join later this month.)
• Enjoyed several visits with Jake's parents, at their home and ours.

Jake:

• Was commissioned as an officer in the Navy Reserve.  He has been actively working towards this goal for many years (since high school).  While Jake accomplished a lot this year, this is probably the achievement that means the most to him.
• Made progress on a number of projects at work.  He never stops learning and doing!
• Traveled to Belgium on a week-long business trip.  (This was his first time overseas.)  He brought me back TONS of chocolate and some Coke Light (Belgium's version of Diet Coke).  He obviously knows the way to my heart!
• Got the ball rolling on prosthetics partnerships he hopes will be used to help further God's kingdom and aid people in need of quality, low-cost prosthetics.

Jennifer:

• Completed two education classes at a local college while working part-time as a library assistant.  
• Attended graduation ceremonies.
• Experienced a change of plans.  Originally, I had planned to start grad school in the fall.  After a series of talks and some major decision-making, Jake and I decided that it would be best for me to put grad school on hold for a bit.  
• Began working as a freelance writer and editor, resigning from my position at the library.
• Took delight in making our house a home by painting rooms and adding furniture, fabrics, paintings, candles, decorations, organizational tools, and more.
• Adjusted to a new climate, complete with occasional snow!

2009

Here are the highlights of 2009:

Jake graduated (with honors) and completed a senior design project involving prosthetics, an area of interest that remains with him even now. In May, he started working as a process engineer with a great company in another state.

Jake and I got engaged--and married!

A favorite pic from the wedding
(and the only one on my laptop at the moment).
Don't worry, I'll do a separate wedding post
and attach ALL our favorites there!

I completed 21 hours of classes in order to graduate in December. I ended up with all A's and successfully completed my honors thesis, earning departmental and university honors in English. I give God all the glory for a successful semester. There were so many times that I didn't think it would be possible for me to complete all the work I had to do, but He made it happen!

I was completely blessed by my understanding roomies (Mary Ann, Emilianne and Tara), who kindly allowed me to live with them, even though I was married and would be gone after the first semester, leaving a vacancy that any random person might have filled.

Our year included lots of traveling! Jake and I met at a halfway point (the city where we got engaged) for weekend rendezvous, and I skipped a few classes here and there (something I had always avoided in the past) in order to create long weekends so I could be with my husband. I'd leave my vehicle in my college town and ride the shuttle to the airport (a 1.5 hour drive). Most of the time, I flew into a big city near our new home and Jake came to pick me up there. Just before I finished school, our town started offering connection flights to and from the bigger cities nearby, so I took advantage of that my last few trips home.

When I finished school, Jake came to our college town to help me load up my stuff. I was shocked when I stepped outside and realized that he had rented a HUGE Penske truck to get me. How much stuff did he think I had?!? My belongings couldn't have taken up more than a quarter of the available space. The vehicle seemed like something that should require the driver to have a special operating license, but alas, Jake was allowed to drive it without any special training. I was nervous about the ride home, especially since we had my car attached to the back of the massive vehicle, but Jake absolutely loved driving the big truck. He was proud to park alongside professional drivers to fuel up with diesel. Now, every time he sees someone driving a large moving vehicle, Jake says they are his people. Well, I guess if the whole engineering thing doesn't work out for him, Jake may have a future as a truck driver!

Jake in his element.  : )

Jake drove this big ol' thing for 14+ hours all together...
and he loved every minute of it!

This picture was snapped after several loads
had already been taken inside.
Still, not a lot of stuff if you ask me--
look at all that empty space!

A cheerful mover.

King of the hill--of stuff!

After we made it back home, we unloaded my stuff and started settling into "real" married life. Jake's days as a "married bachelor" (as he liked to say) were over!

And now, for a few pics of our first apartment...

The view from our balcony on a snow day.

Our living room.

Dining area.

The "office."  

Our one bedroom apartment was tiny (not to mention overpriced), but it was a great first place!  It was certainly a step up from the four years of dorm rooms we both had previously endured.  Looking back on where we have been helps us appreciate all the space we have now.  : )

Welcome!

I (Jennifer) have created this blog so that Jake and I can share our lives with friends and family, both near and far.  It also serves as a place for us to record our lives so that we'll  be able to look back and remember special moments (and mundane ones).  I'll be preparing some posts to update you on where we've been since we got married and where we are now.  After that, I'll just be keeping the blog current as much as possible.  Enjoy!