Sienna Irene Strohman was born in Eugene, Oregon on August 3, 2009 at 6:26am. She weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 19.5 inches long. She looks just so cute in the pictures I have received! Which now makes me and Matthew the proud aunt and uncle of two beautiful nieces!!! We will first see the little bundle of joy the 3rd of September, so when she is a month old. The plan is for them to all make the trip to Ohio (crossing our fingers) for our wedding- so another reason I'm for that "special day" to arrive.
Baby is healthy and Mom and Dad seem to be doing great as well!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Bridal Shower Blessings
I am very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! This weekend's bridal shower festivities (a bridal shower in North Bend and a bridal shower in Lynchburg) were nothing less than amazing! I love love loved all of my wonderful new gifts but I truly did enjoy getting together will most all of my family and friends just as much, actually more! Especially because I know how limited my gatherings like this with all the family around will be limited once I move out to Colorado and then who knows where from there. I thank everyone not only for the many gifts but most importantly for just being there and sharing in this time with me.
Thanks again to everyone and much love to all!!
Thanks again to everyone and much love to all!!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Learning the Ins and Outs of Army Life
As many of you already know, I have been spending part of my time at home with the family and the other part in Ft. Knox with Matthew. Here at Ft. Knox we live in a grungy old hotel room that they call an apartment, ha! But it has been a wonderful experience nonetheless. I told Matthew I didn't care if I lived in a cardboard box, as long as I was with him. While being here I have begun learning the ins and outs of Army life and am preparing myself for our big plunge into the "out on our own" and "in the real army" lifestyle we will be living out in Colorado.
I wake in the morning hearing cadences being called out and I end my day listening to taps. I have lunch waiting when Matthew calls to say he won't be getting to come home for lunch afterall or I am waiting to start lunch so that it's ready just in time for his arrival and 10 minutes before I plan to start he walks in the door with 15 minutes to eat and then he has to be back out the door. I just try to smile and say okay.
We have evening discussions on whether or not he should take take certain follow on schools or not, how many days he should take for leave and how it'll effect trainings and whatnot, how we will handle deployment time lines and issues, and what I might want to do in the year that he is gone. March might seem far away to some but I know for me it's going to come all too quickly! Our wedding is only a month away and then our move and then his NTC training in November, then holidays and it'll be 2010 before we even know it- and then it'll be just right around the corner. At times I am "okay" with it all and plan to spend as much quality time with him as possible and not take for granted all the time we do have. And then other days I go into panic mode and think of all the things we might need to discuss and plan for, but then I remind myself we have no choice and that we'll get through it- we have to, we have no other choice! So back I go to being "okay" with it; then something comes up and the cycle repeats.
Right now with my free time I am just trying to focus on not only the wedding planning- but the marriage that will become of it. I know we need to have a strong foundation on which to rely on to get us through some of the times that lie ahead so we've been making an effort to strengthen the wonderful relationship that we already have! I do my fair share of research and reading and coupled with my educational background we do our own mini-version of "marital counseling" every now and then :)In addition to focusing on us, I have also surrounded myself with many other wonderful women in the same place as I and have become rather close with them in the past couple of months.
We all get together multiple times during the week and just hang out and chitchat about this and that. I have learned a lot through our little group get-togethers. Some of the girls have had husbands who were prior enlisted soldiers and have great info to share, some have parents who are currently or were once officers in the Army, so again great advice and stories to share. Plus when you get a group of women together--- haha! It's a great time and I really do appreciate the opportunity to have met and make friends with all of them. It has given me a glimpse of my future lifestyle and has taught me that its a bittersweet one, but one I think I just might love, one that somehow I will be able to manage and make it through. All with a little help of friends- and my family and husband, of course!!!
An even more exciting result of this opportunity is that one of the ladies will actually be moving out to Colorado with her husband and children about the same time we do (her husband is training with Matthew right now). I am very excited to know that I will have a friend moving out there with me! We have already devised many plans and are excited to put them into action! :) Colorado here we come!
I wake in the morning hearing cadences being called out and I end my day listening to taps. I have lunch waiting when Matthew calls to say he won't be getting to come home for lunch afterall or I am waiting to start lunch so that it's ready just in time for his arrival and 10 minutes before I plan to start he walks in the door with 15 minutes to eat and then he has to be back out the door. I just try to smile and say okay.
We have evening discussions on whether or not he should take take certain follow on schools or not, how many days he should take for leave and how it'll effect trainings and whatnot, how we will handle deployment time lines and issues, and what I might want to do in the year that he is gone. March might seem far away to some but I know for me it's going to come all too quickly! Our wedding is only a month away and then our move and then his NTC training in November, then holidays and it'll be 2010 before we even know it- and then it'll be just right around the corner. At times I am "okay" with it all and plan to spend as much quality time with him as possible and not take for granted all the time we do have. And then other days I go into panic mode and think of all the things we might need to discuss and plan for, but then I remind myself we have no choice and that we'll get through it- we have to, we have no other choice! So back I go to being "okay" with it; then something comes up and the cycle repeats.
Right now with my free time I am just trying to focus on not only the wedding planning- but the marriage that will become of it. I know we need to have a strong foundation on which to rely on to get us through some of the times that lie ahead so we've been making an effort to strengthen the wonderful relationship that we already have! I do my fair share of research and reading and coupled with my educational background we do our own mini-version of "marital counseling" every now and then :)In addition to focusing on us, I have also surrounded myself with many other wonderful women in the same place as I and have become rather close with them in the past couple of months.
We all get together multiple times during the week and just hang out and chitchat about this and that. I have learned a lot through our little group get-togethers. Some of the girls have had husbands who were prior enlisted soldiers and have great info to share, some have parents who are currently or were once officers in the Army, so again great advice and stories to share. Plus when you get a group of women together--- haha! It's a great time and I really do appreciate the opportunity to have met and make friends with all of them. It has given me a glimpse of my future lifestyle and has taught me that its a bittersweet one, but one I think I just might love, one that somehow I will be able to manage and make it through. All with a little help of friends- and my family and husband, of course!!!
An even more exciting result of this opportunity is that one of the ladies will actually be moving out to Colorado with her husband and children about the same time we do (her husband is training with Matthew right now). I am very excited to know that I will have a friend moving out there with me! We have already devised many plans and are excited to put them into action! :) Colorado here we come!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Army Wives Field Day
Shortly after returning from Costa Rica I headed back down to Ft. Knox to watch Matthew in action. All the wives and fiancees were invited to watch the guys complete a training mission in a "city" that was built by Disney to simulate Iraq- to be used for training purposes. All in all it was a very interesting experience. I got to wear some awesomely big eye protection goggles, shoot blanks in a .50 caliber machine gun, and most importantly--got to see Matthew at his best ;) meaning full gear- as dirty as can be with no shower for several days (and it was darn hot while he was there) so Im sure you could only imagine! haha! But I loved every second of it and didn't hesitate to give my man a big hug and kiss!
Costa Rica
Another big happening in June was my trip to Costa Rica! My mom, my sister- Brooke, and I all went to Costa Rica with Brooke's Spanish class at the end of June. I love to travel and learn about other cultures so it was a great adventure for me. I learned to eat rice and beans for EVERY meal and also picked up on some spanish words. I even caught myself still responding with "si" weeks after my return back home. I really enjoyed the physical activities of hiking and exploring, zip lining, and also loved horseback riding in the mountains. Parts of the country were absolutely gorgeous and other parts of the trip reminded me of why I was so proud to be an American! My least favorite of all was the cold showers! I don't do well with cold and literally by the second to last day when I'd had enough of the cold showers I was singing out loud "and I'm proud to be an American" while trying to washing my goose-bumped body.
By the end of the trip I was ready to return home to see family and friends (Matthew was in the field so I wasn't able to see him right away) and to eat some "good" American fast food and/or home cooked meal, and to finally take a hot shower! Although I was happy to return I missed being there and having the daily adventures, I love traveling and I am not sure if I am ever completely content with just being "home." Maybe it's a good thing that the Army will help to keep me on the move and never stationary for too long- or maybe I'll end up changing my mind about that whole ordeal...who knows?
By the end of the trip I was ready to return home to see family and friends (Matthew was in the field so I wasn't able to see him right away) and to eat some "good" American fast food and/or home cooked meal, and to finally take a hot shower! Although I was happy to return I missed being there and having the daily adventures, I love traveling and I am not sure if I am ever completely content with just being "home." Maybe it's a good thing that the Army will help to keep me on the move and never stationary for too long- or maybe I'll end up changing my mind about that whole ordeal...who knows?
June 2009
So May came and went with the excitement of baby Jessa and then came June! The end of my college career(at least for now--so exciting!! I graduated with my Masters of Social Work on June 14, 2009. I was then set to move home "for good" until Matthew graduated from his trainings, we had our wedding, and moved to Colorado. Yet that wasn't exactly how it;s worked out. As if driving back and forth between Lynchburg and Columbus wasn't enough for me I have decided to now drive back and forth between Ft. Knox and Lynchburg (double the time to & from Columbus). Anyhow I spend about half my time at home with the family and half of my time at Ft. Knox with Matthew. It's been good but busy and hectic--unlike I had planned for this "relaxing time period as an unemployed graduate, with nothing to do" to be. But I wouldn't have it any other way-I have the best it can be of both worlds right now. Only wishing I could be in more places at once! Perhaps at home with the family (and friends) at all times before I move yet in Ft. Knox with Matthew and the other wonderful Army wives and fiancees at all times, and maybe sometimes visiting Columbus where some of my friends are left and to just enjoy the city that I love and have spent the last 5 years of my life (oh how the time flew by) Oh and I also would love to be traveling to visit all my wonderful friends who have moved all across the U.S.--I am trying to learn I can't do it all and be everywhere at once. It's gonna be tough when I get out to Colorado and want to be home for all the family gatherings and Jessa's firsts! Ahhh!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Jessa Lynn Spaeth-Pettit
Jessa Lynn Spaeth-Pettit entered the world on May 15, 2009 at 11:31am! She weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 19in long. Her mommy did wonderful and was accompanied in the delivery room by Jessa's grandma, three aunts, and her daddy. She was just absolutely beautiful from the very first moment! And spoiled she will be!!
I think it's important to also note that Aunt Tara won the guessing game of Jessa's time of birth with the closest guess of 11:21am- ha! I sure was cheering Heather on come about 11:15--it was a close one!
I think it's important to also note that Aunt Tara won the guessing game of Jessa's time of birth with the closest guess of 11:21am- ha! I sure was cheering Heather on come about 11:15--it was a close one!
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