Jessica

Sweet Home Alabama

2009-08-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jake and I drove to Lake Eufala with some friends. This is the mansion that was seen in the movie "Sweet Home Alabama." We toured it and it was beautiful. We are trying to get out and see more of the south.

Triathlon

2009-06-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Katie, Jess, Julie, Brandon, Jake, Josh

The girls team name was "Break time" and the guys was "This'll hurt"

Guys finish

Girls finish

Jess at finish line.

Jake at finish line.

Jake and I ran the 5K for a relay team triathlon this morning. We had a great time with friends. Jake would like to train for a whole triathlon but I will just stick to running another 5K.

Cape San Blas

2009-05-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

On the deck of the house we rented.

We went to Cape San Blas, Florida for Memorial day weekend. It was fun to get away from Alabama for a few days. We enjoyed the beach and was glad Ally was allowed at this beach.

New house

2009-05-16T10:51:00.001-07:00

Goodbye Pooler, Georgia, hello Enterprise, Alabama.

Packing up our old house.

bedroom of new house

living room

kitchen

back deck looking into dining room and living room.

Oregon trip

2009-05-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

Orcas Island

Mt. Constitution, highest point in the San Jaun Islands.

Timberline, Spring skiing.

I know it has been a while since I last posted a new blog. I have been enjoying spending time with Jake and the beautiful city of Savannah. With that said we have moved back to Ft. Rucker, Alabama. Jake is going to be taking a Captain's Career Course here, so we will be stationed here for at least 7 months. During the transition we took a two week vacation to Oregon. It was great to see family and friends and do some exploring of the Northwest.

Jake is home!

2008-07-23T06:21:00.001-07:00

He arrived home safely yesterday afternoon. Thanks for all of your prayers for him.

Mom's weekend in Savannah

2008-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

My mom came to see me last weekend! We were talking on my way home from work Thursday and we discovered that we both had the next 5 days off work. She joked that is would be fun for her to come out if we could find a good air fare. So I looked when I got home and booked the ticket and hour later, and she we her 24 hours later! Thanks mom for being spontaneous. We went to the beach, the pool and went shopping. She also helped me around the house, thanks mom. It really helped pass the time while I am waiting for Jake to come home. He will be home in a little less than 2 weeks! Thanks you for all those who have been and are praying for him and us. We couldn't have done the last 15 months with out your prayers. God has been faithful.

One gnome mystery solved!

2008-06-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

It was my friend Katrina that lives here in Savannah that placed the yard gnome on my front door step. Her husband is deployed with Jake and we go out to lunch every now and then. I mentioned that I sent one to Zoe and told her about the gnome hunting in college. She thought is was funny and saw the little gnome and bought it for me. It has been on my door step since March! She has keep it a secret since then. Today at lunch I told her I was doing a little yard work and she asked me if any strange little men have shown up? All I could say was, it was you! Mystery solved, except who sent Zoe and I the matching gnome shirts???

NASCAR...yes really NASCAR

2008-05-23T18:55:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I went to a NASCAR race with my friend Sarah. It was so much fun. It was in Charlotte, North Carolina. We had an awesome connection with garage and pit passes. Part of the race we watched from a suite and the other part from the center of the track. The cars are so loud, and fly by very fast. My favorite part was being a few feet away from Jeff Gordon's pit stop! Those guys work fast to change the tires and add fuel. I took away a few lug nuts as a memento. Who knew that someday I would be a NASCAR fan?

My Grandma Joan's Wedding

2008-05-11T18:01:00.000-07:00

My parents.
Grandma, Melissa and I after she caught the bouquet!
The Holtz's
Cousin Ryan with Auntie Cherie's tulips.
Annie and Jon's new addition Joseph.

Holly and I.

Grandma Joan
Cousin Tyler, Aunt Wendy, Cousin Ryan and Uncle Randy.
Grandma and Gary! My cousin Ryan.
Mom and I.

My grandma got married last week on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful and the couple is very happy. I was home and busy with family for a few days. To all that read my blog and live in Gresham I apologize for not seeing you. I had family in from Maine and California. We had a wonderful time being together. Also during my visit home my sister-in-law Annie had her third child, Joseph William!

Four Things

2008-04-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

Four jobs I've had:
1) Baby Sitter
2) Real Estate Secretary
3) Nursing Skills Lab Assistant
4) Nurse

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1) Meet the Parents
2) Adventures in Baby Sitting
3) Juno
4) Devil Wears Prada

Four places I've lived:
1) Boring, Oregon
2) Corvallis, Oregon
3) Enterprise, Alabama
4) Pooler, Georgia

Four TV shows I watch:
1) American Idol
2) The Office
3) Criminal Minds
4) Lost

Four places I've been:
1) Booth Bay, Maine
2) Oahu, Hawaii
3) San Diego, California
4) Orlando, Florida

Four people who email me regularly (doesn’t include blogging comments):
1) Jake
2) Mom
3) Zoe
4) Grandma Joan

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Pad Thai
2) Mexican
3) Grilled Chicken
4) Ice Cream

Four places I would like to visit:
1) Virgin Islands
2) London
3) Greece
4) Hawaii (again)

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1) JAKE COMING HOME FROM IRAQ!!!
2) Long Vacation with Jake
3) Going home for Christmas
4) Spending time with Jake

Four friends I'm tagging:
1) Jake
2) RaeAnn
3) Holly
4) Laura

Visiting with Andrea in Charleston and Savannah

2008-04-23T08:44:00.001-07:00

My friend from nursing school came out this way on vacation. She came to Charleston first because her boyfriend has a conference there. So on Sunday I went and spent the day with her touring Charleston. We went to brunch, took a boat to Fort Sumner, and went shopping. Monday night they came down to Savannah. We went to dinner on River Street then they spent the night at my house. Tuesday we got up and went to Savannah and had lunch and I showed them around downtown. It was a lot of fun.

Mystery Gnome

2008-04-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

So this friendly creature showed up on my front door a couple of weeks ago. Who sent it?! I have no idea who it is from. If anyone out there has a clue let me know. My sister thought I did it and I thought she did it, then I blamed Zoe and she said she didn't put it there either. What a funny mystery. I hope some day I find out who came to Pooler, Georgia and placed this lovely specimen on my front step.

Julie and Disney World

2008-04-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Julie came out to visit last week. I showed her around Savannah for a couple of days then we went to Orlando. We visited Disney World's Animal Kingdom and Epcot. She is a wonderful friend and I was thankful for the time we were able to spend together.

Spring in Savannah

2008-03-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

These photo's are from Forsyth Park in down town Savannah (kinda the Central Park of Savannah.) The sun is out and it is so nice here. For all you Oregonian's hang in there the sun will come out soon for you, and it will be too hot to go outside here in a couple months.

Jake picked one of these flowers for me last spring.

Jake's trip home!

2008-02-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

At the airport when he first arrived! Can you tell by my smile I was happy?
Downtown Savannah on River Street.
Pioner Square downtown Portland.
Jake's birthday cake with his nephew Jonathan.
Jake and Ally at our neighborhood park.

Jake came home for 18 wonderful days at the begining of the month. We had a great time and it reminded me of how God has blessed me with a wonderful husband. The time together came and went quickly but we enjoyed downtown Savannah, time with family in Oregon, downtown Portland for one night, celebrated Jake's birthday, being home, and working on projects at home. Jake is truely my "family handy man" he replaced our kitchen faucet, fixed a toilet, fixed the counter top, and cleaned up the garage. I am so thankful for him.

New Year's trip to Oregon

2008-01-15T08:29:00.001-08:00

While I was in Oregon I went sledding, snowmobiling and spent a lot of time with Jake's family and my family. It was nice and relaxing.

I "heart" New York

2007-12-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

Melissa and I decided last minute to go to New York City a couple of weekends ago. I have always wanted to go there before Christmas so we did. You have to take advantage of the East Coast while you live there right? Anyway neither of us had been there before so we were amazed. It was beautiful! We went to Phantom of the Opera, the Empire State Building, Times Square, Chinatown, the site of the World Trade Center, Wall Street, shopping on 5th Ave, Ice Skating in Central Park and I even held a sign at the Today Show that said "hi" to Jake. Here are some of our photo's.

Thanksgiving

2007-12-07T18:35:00.001-08:00

This year I was very thankful for my mom's visit. Here are some of the photo's from her trip. We had a fun time.

Go Beavers!

2007-11-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend the Oregon State plays Oregon in the traditional "Civil War" game. I found these old photo's from a couple of years ago when Jake and I were home visiting. I love going to the games and watching OSU play on TV. It is very rare to see a game out in Georgia, so when it is on it is exciting. I think that the game will be televised tomorrow but I have to work, maybe I will record it or go into the break room a lot. Anyways....Go Beavs!

Sister's weekend plus Joe

2007-11-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my mother-in-law Holly, aunt-in-law Janet, and sister-in-laws Kara and Annie came to visit. We had a wonderful time together and I am so thankful for Jake's wonderful family. We ate at great restaurants, ate a lot of Swedish fish candies, went shopping, and enjoyed catching up. Joe joined us for a couple of those day's too since he just lives about an hour north in South Carolina.

Costumes and Pumpkins

2007-11-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Melissa and I went to a costume party last week and carved our pumkins this week. We had a good time. Melissa carved a pirate pumpkin and my pumpkin is a woman with big lips and eye lashes.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

2007-10-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sisters!

I took Melissa out to dinner downtown Savannah for her birthday last week. Then we went to a breast cancer benefit called "The Chocoholic Frolic." There was a lot of chocolate to eat. We had a great time!

Charleston again.

2007-10-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went up to Charleston with girls from my bible study. We went to help a family that just had a baby. It was a great time to get to know the girls and to talk about what God is doing in our lives. We cooked and baked a whole freezer full of meals for the family. I got some really great new meal idea's. I think we made enough for them to eat for a month! We did have an afternoon to get downtown Charleston. It was a beautiful day nice and cool. These photo's are of us eating lunch in a park.

Fall Center Piece

2007-10-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

The other day I went downtown Savannah and it was a beautiful warm fall day. I found a little market on one of the corners that had pumpkins for sale. This is what I put together for a fall decoration, with only a small hint from Crate and Barrel. Happy Fall!

Teeny Bopper Weekend!

2007-10-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

So Zoe came out to visit me last minute. We enjoyed the sun bathing on the beach, swimming in the warm Atlantic, shopping, staying up late, listening to loud music in the car with the windows rolled down and watching teeny bopper movies. Oh and of course watching our OSU Beavers on game day. Sounds like we are still in high school or maybe college? Well it was like that times 10. We also went to a pond near my house to let Ally swim. We had so much fun, but it always goes by so fast. Here are some photo's from the weekend.

Pennsylvania

2007-09-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I had a chance to go visit my sister-in-law and her family. I had so much fun seeing them. The boys are so much fun. I was able to see soccer games and have the ultimate soccer mom experience, thanks to Kara! Small trips like that make time go by fast and keep my spirits up while Jake is gone.

Birthday Party's in Oregon!

2007-09-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last July I went home to Oregon for my mom's 50th birthday. It was such a good time but I didn't have any photo's until she sent me some of her's. We did a 50's them which was appropriate for her 50th bday and she was born in the 50's. Many friends and family were there to celebrate with her. I was glad to make it out there to be with her. It was also my cousin Ryan's first birthday a few day's later, so we had a party for him too! Here are some of the photo's from the party's.

What are you going to do next? I'm going to Disney World!

2007-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yes I went to Disney World last week. My friend Julia came out to visit so we took a short trip south to Orlando. We stayed in the military Disney hotel, Shades of Green. It was a very nice hotel on a golf course and it even had a Mickey Mouse shaped pool. We went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Epcot was a full day of fun, we showed up at 10AM and left at 1AM. There were extra late magical hours for people staying at the resorts hotels. Epcot has crazy rides and different "countries" you can tour. We went to Morocco, Germany, France, Japan, China, Canada, and the UK all in one day! The little replica countries are amazing. I have never been out of the country but I imagine that is what they look like. Even the people at the shops and restaurant were from the country they were working in. So Epcot was my favorite part of the trip. We did however go to an amazing dinner one night. My sister Melissa worked for a fancy restaurant in Key Largo two winters ago at a place called Norman's. So there is one in Orlando at the Ritz Carlton, so we went. I have never had a meal like this before. I tried everything fried Oysters, sweet breads, yuka root stuffed shrimp, fried cod (which was my favorite), oh and the dessert was this strawberry sauce over champagne sorbet with a crape on top! Melissa knew the manager so this whole fancy meal was about 30 dollars each instead of about 100 or even more. He only charged us for the main dishes! This dinner was the best meal I have ever had.

Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary Nick and Julie Palmer

2007-08-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Nick and Julie! I can't believe it has been a year since your wedding. You two are a wonderful couple. I founds these fun photo's from your reception! I love you two and miss you.

Charleston

2007-08-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Charleston, SC with Melissa and her friend Taryn. We had a good time seeing the beautiful buildings and being in a bigger city. We sayed right downtown at a historic hotel. It was nice to be able to walk from our hotel into the downtown area.

Ryan and Marley's visit

2007-07-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ryan and Marley Stevens came out this way on vacation. They were able to stop and stay with me for a night. We had a good time touring Savannah and hanging out. It was good times and it was great to catch up with them. I just wish Jake could have been there too.

Creatures of the South

2007-07-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

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So some mornings you let your dog outside to find this creature digging in your yard! Mystery solved. I wondered what was making holes in the front yard. Ah the wonders of the south. This is the second time I have seen one of these up close. Last week I saw one in the back of my house by the big trees and forest area. It wasn't really scared of me or Ally. It just kept digging and looking for food. What do armadillo's eat? I think they are the south's opossum equivalent.

June

2007-07-02T11:19:00.001-07:00

A month has come and gone and I haven't posted anything. June was a good month. Work keeps me busy and I love it. Melissa and I have been having a good time together. We recently joined the Pooler YMCA. The classes have been fun and kick our butt too. It is nice to have each other for motivation to go in the morning. Usually it is me getting up and sending Ally in to wake her up. Also I threaten to sing the "good morning" song; which I learned from her. It goes something like this, "good morning, good morning it is time to rise and shine,"and repeats until the person gets out of bed.

I am looking forward to coming home to Oregon in mid July. The sound of warm days without humidity and cool nights sounds oh so good. Right now in the south it is definately very hot and humid.

I am doing well without Jake, but I do miss him like crazy. I feel God is strengthening us individually and together through this time apart. God has blessed us both with a joyful attitude about this deployment and we pray that continues. Thanks for all of the prayer for us and for Jake's safety.

This photo is taken in front of the downtown Starbucks yesterday, we went and saw Melissa at work.

Zoe's trip to Georgia

2007-05-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Zoe came to visit last week. We had a great time catching up. We went to a couple different beaches, shopped and enjoyed the warm southern sun. I am very blessed by her friendship. I'm ready for more visitors...look at all the fun you could have. :)

Photo's 1.) Beaufort, SC 2.) Hunting Island, SC 3.) Savannah, GA historic riverfront

Garden

2007-05-23T11:05:00.001-07:00

This is a photo of our new garden in the back yard. My parents help us build it while they were visiting. The south is like a green house during the spring and summer so everything does very well. I have tomatoes, basil, parsley, and rosemary as well as flowers.

Lawn mowing adventure

2007-05-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

I had an adventure mowing the lawn this weekend. I haven't mown the lawn since we moved here (or really since I was younger and my parents had a riding lawn mower) because Jake always did it so....I did it Sunday. It was due because Ally was having a hard time finding her ball and the grass was seeding aswell. First I couldn't get it started so the neighbor kid came and started it for me. (Not a kid but a "teen", he was bigger than me.) Then I didn't stop because I was afraid that I couldn't get it started again. So I realized that it is a lot of work, and today I am sore. Also my dad and Jake gave me a few tips over the phone like using the choke to start it (the choke makes it easier to start) and it is easy to start again once it has been running for a while. This experience definitely made me appreciate all that Jake did around here, and I will be so excited to have him back in 14 months and 3 weeks (ish)!

I am also posting a photo of my fresh mowed lawn and our little garden.

Jake off for his army adventure...

2007-05-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

Jake, Ally and I before Jake deployed. Ally and I are now on our own. My sister Melissa will be moving out here to live with me while Jake is deployed next week. I am looking forward to having her here with me. It sure is quiet around here. I am hanging in there, it is one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. Thanks for all of the prayers and I know God will give us strength to get through this.

Ally swimming in the pond

2007-04-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

First Blog

2007-04-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

This blog will be a way to share photo's and video's with Jake while he is deployed. I figured that it would be fun for everyone to see what I'm up to in Savannah as well. This first photo is Jake and I on base while his family was visiting.

Here is the Freshour family photo. We had so much fun having all Jake's family out here over Easter weekend.