Long Time No See, Blog!

Well, I think it has been long enough to go without an update! The reason I haven't updated isn't because I haven't had anything to blog about, but because we have been going non-stop since my last update! As most of you know, two days after my last blog (June 26th) we got evacuated from my friend, Laura's, house from the Waldo Canyon fire. What most of you don't know is the story of that horrifying day. I was at work that day, it was about 4:30pm and I looked out our window and saw nothing but black smoke and flames coming down the mountain. It was moving fast and straight towards our office. I ran out of the office and into my car just as they were closing the road in the direction of the fire. I sped my way through the traffic on Centennial Blvd. towards Laura's where we had all of our sentimental/important thing and, most importantly, the three doggies! (Misty, Lacy and Laura's dog, Guinness). I have to say that was one of the most frightening moments of my life. Not knowing where this fire is going or how fast. I got to Laura's and started loading dogs, belongings and whatever else I can get my hands on. Jason came home about 30 mins after I got there and the AMAZING Tom and Aubrey came by with their truck to help load stuff and get out of there! (They got evacuated shortly after that too!) We headed to our house our here at Schriever AFB (that we got that morning, THANK YOU LORD!) and just waited to hear anything. Jason went to work the next day and I sat around in an empty house with three dogs for two days. We found out that Saturday that my work was still standing and that my co-worker, Julie, who's house was in the area of the fire, house was still standing with minimal damage. As terrifying as it was, God blessed us and protected us :)

This was taken at lunchtime the day we evacuated.

The burn area from my work.

The night before...

After I ran out of work... the fire coming down the mountain.

The following evening

On a happier note, we are here in our home at Schriever AFB! We are all unpacked and settled. Being in such a small place in Indiana, we are so thankful to have so much space in this place. We have plenty of room for guests and more than one bathroom! I have a 45min commute to work, but it is so worth it to come home to my wonderful husband and our beautiful home.

My boo boo (Valerie), her husband, Jesse and their four month old cutie pie, Ben, came for a visit the week of the 4th of July. It was so amazing to get to see them and meet Ben for the first time. He is such a little cutie and has the chubbiest legs I have ever seen! I am so glad we are close to them for the time being. Jesse is contracted with the Air Force so they can be heading off somewhere else soon, too :( At least we have them close for now.

This past weekend we headed to California to visit with my family for a couple days and then head down to LA for one of our friend's weddings. It was such a great trip, even though it was so short. We got to see out niece, Zoey, who just turned 1 in April. Last time we saw her was our wedding and she was barely 2 months old. Steve and Erin's wedding was amazing. We had such a great time and are so glad we took time to head out there for it.

On our way to CA!

Glad I saw her for a couple hours.

Ruffle butt!

Wedding!

Yay!

Still smile when I see this name :)

I am realizing more and more how difficult military life is going to be. On top of leaving all our friends and church in Indiana just last month, we had to say goodbye to some of our really good friends and my old roommate yesterday. Tom and Aubrey are now stationed in Texas while Tom goes through school. We knew they were leaving, but we still miss them and it's still hard to say goodbye. We don't know when we will see them again, but know our paths will cross again someday. I know this life will be full of goodbyes and tears, but it doesn't turn us off from making friends wherever we go. We will just have best friends all over the world!

One Year on Fire!

Well, tomorrow is mine and Jason's one year anniversary. I can not believe how much we have been through this year already, and how much more in love we are today than we were last year. I hope and pray that we continue to grow in our love for each other in the upcoming years of marital bliss.

We had planned to celebrate our anniversary this weekend with exchanging gifts and then heading to the Warehouse for dinner. The Warehouse was the first place we went out to dinner here in Colorado Springs back in 2006 during Prep School Parents Weekend. I got Jason a gift certificate for Sky Venture indoor skydiving in Denver and he got me the most amazing gift I have ever received. A hand painted picture of myself from our wedding day. The pictures I post won't do it justice, but it is done so well and is absolutely gorgeous!!! I am so bless to have such a thoughtful and loving husband :)

Amazing, right? I can not wait to hang it in our new house... which we get the keys to on TUESDAY! Our stuff doesn't get delivered until Friday, but still exciting! :)

Now, I said Jason and I were heading to dinner last night at the Warehouse. Well, that didn't happen. I am sure most of you have heard or seen that there are some insane fires here in Colorado. One popped up on the other side of the front range around noon yesterday and was headed East towards Colorado Springs. We were put on a voluntary evacuation last night and got everything packed up in case we had a mandatory evacuation in the middle of the night. Nothing too serious has happened today. The fire is spreading like crazy and is threatening the surrounding towns here, but not Colorado Springs, yet. We have spent the last 24 hours at home, watching the news and waiting for any info. I keep reminding Jason that this is going to be a GREAT story to tell our kids about our first year anniversary ;) 

Here are some pictures from the fire. We have a great view of it from Laura's deck.

Around 1pm on Saturday

Saturday evening

Sunday morning

Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon - the first time we have seen flames over

the mountain range.

We are so thankful that we know so many people in Colorado Springs and have a place to stay if we need to evacuate. Plus, we have had plenty of time to prepare for a possible evacuation and won't have to scramble around to gather all our belongings. Keep us in your prayers these next few days. And for updates about the EIGHT fires in Colorado burning right now, KRDO.com keeps you in the know!

PCS #2

I just read back to my first two blogs written right after Jason and I had gotten married and moved to Indiana. Now, as I write this, I am sitting in the beautiful Colorado Springs... again. I still can not believe we are back here. It has been a crazy week and half since we left Indiana, but we have been so incredibly blessed through every step.

I started my job (the same one I worked at for 4 years while Jason was at USAFA) on Monday. There is still a lot I need to learn, but most of it came back to me pretty quickly :) Jason started work last Thursday (two days after we arrived). He is learning a lot every day he works. I think he is going to enjoy working in this PA office. It is pretty small and all of the people in the office are wonderful. We are looking forward to moving into our house on the 29th and starting our life out at Schriever. It has been so wonderful of Laura to allow us to stay with her while we are homeless, but we are so excited for our new house. We got word this week that our stuff is in a storage unit here in Colorado Springs. That gives me peace of mind that it is in the same state haha.

Home Sweet Home

A couple days after we arrived here we met up with Tom and Aubrey and it really felt like no time had passed! We are so glad that we got here before they head out to Texas in July.

We always have a great time together!

In 10 days we will be celebrating our anniversary. I still can't wrap my mind around that. An entire year has passed since that amazing day that I became Jason's wife. I feel like this past year has been full of moves and changes, but that's military life for ya! Jason took me to Big R last Sunday and told me to pick out some cowboy boots for part of my anniversary gift :) I LOVE them!! It's been so warm here that I haven't had a chance to wear them, but I will be getting plenty of use out of them.

All in all, we are glad to be back in Colorado, will always love and miss the short time we had in Indiana. Full of strong lifelong friendships and growth in our walk with Jesus. I could not have asked for a better place  for Jason to get his Masters :)

Here are some pictures from our trip out here and from our first week around town :)

We just couldn't stay away!

I have much fonder feeling towards USAFA since

they are no longer holding Jason prisoner.

Oh nostalgia.

This is new... 9/11 memorial

Can't say that I miss it all that much...

Love and miss these two!

Beautiful sunrise in Kansas

We made it!!!

Misty likes to know what is going on.

Jeepsky got to tow Landy #2 the entire way ;)

YAY!