7 Years {And Counting}...

July 29, 2005

Do we look like we could be any happier?  Hehe!  I just thought I loved that dude in the picture that sweet Friday that we got married... I'm happy to say that love grows and grows.  And if you work hard enough, keeps growing :).  Time really does fly.   A friend of ours who almost always comes to greet us at church today came to talk to us.  I told him it was our Anniversary and he of course gave us his well wishes and asked how long we had been married... 7 years, is what I told him.  He said next month him and his wife would celebrate 6 years.  I looked over at his family of 3 small children and learning one on the way and thought, wow we just have our little Trevor to show for all these years of marriage.  Then after our friend left, my mind began to reminisce on all the years of marriage we've shared.  I thought of that day where I knelt across the alter from my best friend and balled my eyes out as I couldn't have thought of anyone I'd rather marry.   As we were dressed in white and saw each other for eternity, I felt such love from my Heavenly Father.

As I sit here now, I think of the fun we shared going to LSU Football games year in and year out.  I think of our 2nd anniversary and how we only had $13 to our name and shared dinner at Jason's Deli and how we had a great time doing it (especially since we got our own ice cream cone too!).   I think about how we happy we were to buy out first house and how I cried and cried because I didn't want to spend the extra $5K to buy it but how I didn't want to lose it over $5K.  And how grateful I am even to this day for the person who helped us with our deposit so we could buy it.  I think about Markus taking me to NOLA for Mardi Gras for the first time (my mom would NEVER let us go) and how I LOVED it!  The Tennis Tournaments I've been to and being so proud of my man!  Going thru Hurricane Gustav as a homeowner vs. a renter like Hurricane Katrina.  I think about how the loss
 of a job affected us... tremendously!  The discovery of our pregnancy and intro to "Momma Jenn-Jenn Blog".  The birth of Our Trevor Christian!  And how he has basically consumed our life and is all we can think about :)  So really and truly I guess it wasn't too fair to compare my family/marriage to theirs as we have seen a lot in the 7 years we have been married.  And my how I wouldn't change a thing!  I've learned so much about myself and most importantly how to love.  And how that love really and truly can get you thru the happiest and the toughest of things as long as Heavenly Father is  included in our marriage.

Markus Christian my how I love you my baby and how I promise to continue to love you forever and ever.  You are my heart!

Bye Bye LSU

It's almost officially official... December 2012 Graduate, could it be?  Markus hasn't quite scheduled his last class (we are in the process of gathering funds... more on that later in the post), but it's right around the corner.  I have so many mixed emotions about this coming semester I don't even know where to begin.  Firstly, I don't believe it.  The day has never felt close.  There has been so many changes both ups and downs in Markus' college education over the last 10 years we have bee together, it's crazy.  I'm waiting for the last curve ball to be thrown this semester... I hope I'm not right and he can get the hell out of there before we shuffle more money into their bank account!  However, it feels like the cleanest new beginning, I'm eager to smell, taste, and reap rewards of all of our hard work.  I think mainly Markus' hard work.  I've been more of the complainer than anything (I'm sure Markus would agree), lol!  He has seriously done some working to make this all happen.  Some days I wonder how he did it all, work full time AND go to school!  I remember his last semester at BRCC he had 5 classes and had to make A's in all of them in order to get into LSU.  <CRAZY!  At times, he worked more than 50+ hours and still went to school.  Yes here have been semesters off here and there.  Sometimes necessary, others not.  But nonetheless we can proudly say that we won't have any student loans to speak of and can walk away from LSU with no excess baggage other than an extra piece of paper we might hang on the damn wall!  And rightfully so!  That piece of paper has earned it's keep at our house and THEN SOME!   We are even clearing out the house making room for it by having a garage sale in a few weeks.  I originally wanted the proceeds to go to something fun, but the dreaded question of tuition rapidly came to the forefront of my mind... and naturally it only seemed fair to give it to LSU.  But it will be the last time!   (Minus Football Season Tickets, LOL!)

I can't help but think of our future and what it holds for us with no college tuition?!?  Which quickly turns my thought process to my little man Trevor.  I have been thinking a lot about his college education.  My mom wasn't in any position to put any of us thru school.  However, always taught us the importance of getting an education.  We knew it and pushed hard to qualify for the TOPS program in LA.  Of course, I forfeited that by moving my Senior Yr. in high school.  But that's another story for another day.  Then Markus was a tenth of a point away from qualifying for the TOPS Program, which fell onto his parents to pay for tuition.  He tells me they paid for his first semester, but when he didn't make the grades, they stopped.  I believe if I'm not mistaken, that he had to maintain a certain GPA and they would continue to pay for it.  That seems fair enough.  But Markus has a different opinion of it all.  I asked him shortly after Trevor was born or sometime around then what our plans were for Trevor and college?  To which I vividly remember him saying he wouldn't pay for it, or to that affect.  I remember being shocked out of my mind, especially knowing how long he (and I) have been paying for his schooling.  Recently, we revisited the subject.  To my surprise he didn't remember saying he wouldn't pay for college.  I was so relieved.  I went on to tell him how to me as a parent, it just makes sense to help your child to put his best foot forward and help out with college!  Is it just me?  Now I'm sure the argument would come into play... as long as you are able, etc. etc.  But isn't that the whole point of starting now, and planning to pay for college?  I feel such a responsibility raising a son to help him to be a provider for his wife and kids one day.  I would hate to see it take him as long as it has taken Markus to get thru college... though there have been some contributing factors to it, I don't want Trevor's to be about $$.  I tell you I would do anything for that child.  Man I love that kid.  But for now, I can just wait for him to get into college... wait and SAVE!

Mohawk man {with big boy Sippy}

I think Trevor looks so grown up here with his Mohawk and big boy Sippy cup. His hair is getting longer and longer on top. But the sides haven't quite caught up. However, his hair is slowly starting to fill in everywhere else.
We finally broke down and bought him some big boy Sippy cups. He has had them for 2 days and has done pretty good. I just couldn't find any that I liked. Weird but true. Target has the best selection (other than babies r expensive us). I absolutely hate buying anything baby at walmart. They never have anything.

Catch of the day

Markus went off shore fishing Friday. I am always nervous when he goes off shore, but love to hear the stories when he gets back. He came back with (4) mangrove snappers. On Saturday Markus filleted them and we put one on the grill. I was already prewarned this was a good eating fish so I had high expectations. Markus told me how people were preparing them and I followed his suggestion and went with butter and I mixed with olive oil and put my secret spices on it. Man oh man was it greatness! And such a treat for lunch! Here's the pics I snapped with my phone. I'm so proud of my baby.

The Lake Ride

We stayed with Markus' Aunt Nancy & Uncle Bruce when we went on our vacation.  They live just outside of Pensacola on a pretty piece of property which has a spring fed lake.  I wanted to take Trevor out to see what he thought.  So we packed everything up and headed to the lake (on foot).  Trevor liked it at first, but then he got super fussy.  Poor Markus just wanted to fish.  So I paddled where he wanted to fish while Trevor screamed and basically it just wasn't ideal fishing conditions.  I was able to snap a few pictures both with my camera and my cell phone.  They went everywhere I went on the trip.  That is until I lost my cell phone in the lake!  Stupid.  I was so sick, I didn't even know how to cry.  Markus thought I was stupid for taking it.  But it was too late at that point.  Oh well!  It's gone.  Forever.  I thought I had lost all 3K of my pictures.  Come to find out, I backed my iPhone up in February.  So only 2 months worth of pics were gone.  Needless to say I will be backing up the new one a lot more often.

The lake.  The boat.

Trevor baby!

Gross!  But I wanted a pic with my baby!

Markus fishing while Trevor wants to play!

Daddy showing Trevor how to fish.

Trevor's turn!

Spinning the reel.  I love his pinky in this pic.  Haha!

The beach

The beach/lake/boat.

Trevor loved when his feet could hit ground.  He took off!

I sure learned my lesson on this boat ride.  I hate when that happens... I love my new phone, but miss everything I lost with the old one.  It still hurts to talk about it.  But oh well.  Live and Learn!

Family Vacation 2012

It's time I stop being lazy and catch up on what's been happening in our world over the last couple of months.  At the end of April, we took a much needed vacation to the beach (well kinda).  We were anxious to get away and nervous to see how Trevor would do in the car ride.  We tried our best to leave around nap time so he would sleep much of the way there, which he did.  That was smart.  He woke up in his carseat and was mad he was there.  Poor baby.  The joys of traveling with toddlers :).  We stopped in Gulf Shores where Markus' childhood friend Blake now lives.  We hung out with him and his family which was fun.  They have 2 little girls and were great playmates for Trevor.  That night we went to see a live band play and ordered Mellow Mushroom pizza to go.  That was pretty cool.  Trevor just wanted to run all over the park the band was playing at, so Markus and I took turns chasing him around.  We headed to Aunt Nancy's where we would be staying.  The next day I insisted on going shopping.  Foley outlet mall here we come!  After spending a small fortune there, we headed to the beach.  We settled at Perdido (border of Alabama/Florida) where Markus and Blake were to fish.  I didn't care where we ended up as long as it had the ocean and sand I was good.  Markus had to stick to the Alabama waters side where he bought a fishing license, so I guess you could say we were in BAMA.  :).  We went late in the evening when the sun was setting and thought it was a good time for Trevor, (no sun!).  Well turns out, it wasn't the best time for him.  Not in April when the water is still a bit chilly without the sun heating things up.  He LOVED the sand.  He LOVED the water.  He just got cold really quickly and the water part didn't last as long as I hoped it would.  Below are some (ok a lot) of pics from the beach.

He had lots of sand toys to play with from Mommy & Daddy, Uncle E & Nanny, & Ms. Glenda.  They were a big hit!

Probably his favorite toy of the bunch, a shovel!

He couldn't get enough of the sand.  It was cute to see him explore it for the first time.

Posing...

I love this shot.  Once he heard the water... he had to go see!

His reaction when he walked closer to shore and saw the water :).

I was on the beach looking up at him... looking at the water.  So cute!

Walking to the ocean!

Wow that was cold!  Love the action shots :).

Then another wave came!

And another wave, which was cold!

Then he was like, yeah I got this!

Sitting on the shoreline.

Hi!

Markus came back from fishing...to talk on the phone!

I think Trevor wanted his attention.  Haha!

Pausing for a drink.  Love those sandy fingers!

And then a snack.  Nothing like goldfish and sand.

Overall, Trevor loved this beach.  I couldn't wait to go back.  We never returned while we were there.  That was sad.  But not the only sad thing that happened on vacay.  But oh well.  We know where to find it when we want to go next time.  I loved watching him explore everything.  That was the best part.  Looking forward to more beach trips with my boys!

How does this fit?

Last Saturday I tried Markus' Xbox headset on Trevor to see how he looked. He gave me this adorable look with those blue eyes. I couldn't help but resist taking a picture of him. Too cute!