Life...

As many of you may know... since we have been married, life has been a bit of a roller coaster ride, as life can be sometimes. My Nanny passed away on September 1st, just 4 days after our wedding. And on December 31st, my Dad passed away after a brief illness. Losing someone who is so important to you is never easy, death is never an easy thing to deal with, nor understand. Especially when it is unexpected. When my Nanny passed away, she had been sick for some time... so it wasn't entirely unexpected, but nonetheless, it wasn't easy. We were extremely close & I have missed her dearly everyday since she left. My Dad's death was completely unexpected, which made it that much harder to deal with & that much harder to understand. What we were told was that he had Strep Pneumonia, it is the worst kind of Pneumonia you can get & is usually fatal. The doctor's held out hope that he would be able to fight off the infection that had so rapidly taken over his body... but his body was just too weak. He was in the hospital for a week & one day and on the morning of New Years Eve, he went home to be with our Lord. Everything felt so surreal, like it was all just a bad dream. Not to mention that it all happened right around Christmas. I would love to say that it has gotten easier with each passing day, but it just hasn't. Everyday it seems that I get flooded with happy memories of my childhood & can't help but be sad that we won't be able to make new memories... that I won't be able to see his sweet smile, hear his big laugh (that seemed to have come from his toes), get one of his famous BIG hugs or hear him call me "Little Foot" again. There was so much left to be said, so much left to be heard, so much left undone. The morning of his funeral, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotion, it began to overtake me. I decided to take a minute to just sit down & pray... I asked God to bring my family & I comfort, strength & peace. I asked Him to be close to me that day & help me to make it through whatever the day would hold. I have grown closer than I ever imagined to God. I have drawn ever near to Him in all of my sadness, with the passing of two very important people in my life. It seems His word, His love, the feeling of His loving arms around me is what helps me through each day. It has helped me to realize how important it is to have a relationship with Him, a relationship that only grows stronger each day. Sometimes it's hard to not ask "why"... "why him", "why now"? Those of us on earth don't know why, but God does. He sees the bigger picture. He is the one who always has our best interest at heart. That's where FAITH comes in. Hebrews 11:1 says; "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." My faith has grown stronger than I ever imagined through all of this.

My Jordan... I truly don't know what I would do without him. He knows that I always "try" to be the strong one, for everyone... he constantly tells me that "its okay to be sad" &  that "it's okay to lean on him when I'm feeling weak". For the past 4 weeks now, I have had what I call "bad days", not every day, but at least once a week if not more. I have found that if I tell him I am having a "bad day", it makes my bad day's a little easier. He holds me tight & wipes away my tears & tells me that it will get easier with time, how much time... he doesn't know & he tells me that, it helps that he doesn't try to act like he knows what I'm feeling. He just holds me close, and that is more than enough. Each day is a gift &  no one is promised tomorrow, we have both come to know & appreciate that fact even more. I can't imagine that either one of us could have foreseen the first 4 months of our married life going through all that we have been through so far. I do believe that it has made us grow closer together & we have become a much stronger couple because of it. He is my rock & the biggest blessing in my life. I am grateful for him beyond measure. Despite everything that has happened, I can say that this is the happiest I have ever been. Jordan makes me happier than I ever could have imagined... happier than I ever thought possible. Everyday with him, I learn something new about him to love. Being married to your best friend is the greatest feeling :)
 

I can hardly believe that we will be celebrating our 6 month wedding anniversary this Friday!! I keep telling Jordan; "it can only go uphill from here". I eagerly look forward to what our future has in store... anywhere we go, I'll be happy just having Jordan by my side.

My Family... We have always been so close & I have always been so grateful for that. With the recent events, we have grown closer than I ever thought possible. We make sure to say our "I love you's" more, give more hugs & just check in with each other more often. Each day is a gift & I think we are all learning to appreciate that gift & each other a little more. I would like to give a special thank you to The Schott Family, especially my "T" & Uncle Victor... words just sometimes aren't enough, thank you just sometimes isn't enough. You two are the most amazing Aunt & Uncle that anyone could ever ask for. You are always right there whenever I need you. You'll never know how much you mean to me. I love you both so much. I am so blessed to not only be surrounded by my amazing family, but now Jordan's wonderful family as well. I truly couldn't have asked for a better family to become a part of :) Thank you so much Joel & Jane for being so supportive & loving through everything. You will never know how much it has meant to me. I am also so thankful for my wonderful church family, they truly are some of the sweetest people I have ever known. I feel so lucky & blessed to have such wonderfully amazing people in my life.

I would also like to say thank you to everyone who came to my Dad's funeral, it was a wonderful testament to the sweet, caring, big-hearted man that he was & it meant so much to me & my Sister.
 

 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD. -Jeremiah 29:11-14
 

I will update soon with pictures, until next time... lots of love!!

Blessings,
Jenna

Tree time!

The Meaning of Christmas Tree

Evergreen coniferous trees stand for the ever-burning fire of life. The evergreen attribute signifies abundant life throughout the year. According to some, a Christmas tree represents the Paradise Tree in the Garden of Eden. The triangular shape is believed to symbolize the holy trinity and the trees branches that point upwards are believed to point to Heaven. Then again some believe the evergreen attribute symbolizes man's everlasting hope in Christ and the branches pointing to the sky symbolizes man's thoughts turning to heaven.

True Meaning of Christmas Tree Ornaments and Decorations

Star: God promised the World a Savior, who would come and set humanity free. The star on the tree represents God's fulfillment of the promise He made ages ago. It also represents the shining hope of mankind that first shone in Bethlehem leading the three wise kings to the manger.

Decorative Balls: The decorative balls represented the planets of the universe. The tree and its ornaments are believed to witness to the Incarnation that happened centuries ago.

Bells: Bells hung on the Christmas tree are objects that remind us of who our Savior is! The tinkling sound of bells help guide the lost. In the same manner, when we see the bell on the Christmas tree we should be encouraged to walk in God's ways.

Candles: Candles or lighting on the tree stands for Jesus Christ who died at Calvary on the cross for the salvation of mankind. He came as light and hope into a dark and doomed world.

Candy Cane: Candy canes represent the shepherd's crook, which helps the shepherd gather his lost and strayed sheep. The candy cane can also be turned upside down, wherein it stands for the letter 'J' in Jesus. The red and white sugar coloring stands for Christ's blood and purity, which when brought together make us holy before the Father's eyes.

  Wreath: Christmas wreaths represent the unceasing love of the Father. It shows how God's mercy's are new every morning and how true love has no beginning or end! Wreaths remind us of how privileged we are to have a Father whose love is never ceasing!

Gifts: Gifts hung on the Christmas tree serve to remind us how we have received the greatest gift on earth, which is 'eternal life' through the blood of Jesus Christ. It reminds us how God gave His all for us.

Red and Green Colors: Red stands for fire of the spirit, while green stands for nature and one's life on earth. Red along with green symbolizes the Holy Spirit's union with nature to be incarnate on Earth and save the world.

Now that we know the meaning of Christmas tree decorations, we can look at the tree and understand how it actually fits into Christmas. The Christmas tree and the decorations on it serve the purpose of reminding us of how God, the Father sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to come to earth in human form in the womb of a virgin Mary, then to be crucified on the cross for the salvation of mankind! Tree or no tree, it is important to never forget the great price Jesus paid, just so that we could be saved! 

Make sure you don't allow the shadows of Santa's and glittery Christmas trees to obscure your vision of God's light!

 We were beyond excited to get our first Christmas tree, we actually wanted to get it the first week of December, but weren't sure it would last until Christmas, so we waited patiently until it got closer to Christmas :) After walking around the Christmas tree lot for what seemed like forever, we had found the perfect tree at last!

Beyond shocked that we got our sweet Emme girl to sit infront of the tree for a picture :)

Our first attempt at a "family picture". We were laughing hysterically, she did not like being held!

This is probably the best one we took :)

The Richards :)

 Our stockings hung by the chimney with care :)

 J for Jordan annnnd Jenna ;)

 Jenna won this ornament at a Christmas luncheon, so cute!

 Our very first married ornament!! Too cute!!

 Richards mantel, love these!

 We saw this one & couldn't resist! It's perfect!

 R for Richards, of course!

 Jenna's Mom & Grandma hand painted this ornament among many others on our tree 30+ years ago, they definitely hold a special place in our hearts :)

Christmas is now just 8 days away! It seems like the last few months have just flown by! With the wedding, Nanny passing away & all of the holidays... Christmas seems to have just snuck up on us!


We have been trying to watch at least one Christmas movie each night, to get in the spirit of Christmas. The other night we watched Fred Claus & after it was over, Jordan shared with me how he hadn't really felt like it was Christmas this year... he said with the hustle & bustle of life, the stigma that the "gifts" are what it's all about & just everyday things, had lead him to feel like it wasn't really Christmas & that had been weighing on him. The weird thing, I felt exactly the same way! At the end of Fred Claus is a beautiful rendition of Silent Night by Sinead O'Conner. Jordan told me how he had caught the end of Fred Claus the night before we watched it & the lyrics really spoke to him, he told me how they had been on repeat in his head all day. So, after the movie was over... we sat in our family room & he played the song for me on the computer... it brought me to tears... it definitely reminds you what the REAL meaning of Christmas is... the fact that we wouldn't even have a "holiday" to celebrate, if Jesus had not been born. What a beautiful gift we have all received. Our prayer this Christmas if that all of you don't lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas & its enormous significance in each of our lives.

We wish everyone a blessed Christmas!
Hopefully we'll find time to blog one or two more times before then :)

Love & Blessings,
J & J

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I sometimes think people are almost more friendly this time of year, as if something is in the air that is making people more cheerful :)

It has been waaaay too long since we've last blogged! With Thanksgiving, family coming in from out of town & birthdays, there just hasn't been much time. Tonight, I decided to make time before it gets closer to Christmas & life gets even crazier! Now to post some pictures of our recent adventures...

We started out Thanksgiving Day morning with the annual La Loma Grace Church football game...

Members of both families played & had lots of fun. Jenna was their cheerleader :)

After the football game we went home & got ready to head to Mom & Dad Richards house. We were excited to celebrate our first Thanksgiving meal as Mr. & Mrs :) After celebrating there we headed to Jenna's Aunt & Uncle's (The Schott's) house for more family fun & food... we were stuffed by the end of the night... and needless to stay... in a serious food coma!

Pictures from our Thanksgiving Day photoshoot...

Such a goofball!

Ms. Annie Rose & Jenna :)

Love love love!

Definitely most thankful for each other this year.

Thanksgiving 2010

Before, during & after Thanksgiving Day, Jordan & I couldn't help but reflect & be so thankful for all of the many blessings we have received within the past year. God has provided us with so much & continues to meet our needs each day. We thank Him daily for providing us with a roof over our heads & not just any roof, a beautiful first home that most people would give their right arm for... for providing us with food in our bellies, not just any food, but cupboards & a refrigerator full of food... for blessing us with a family that loves us & not just any family, but a family that is always there for us, always loves & supports us in all we do... for blessing us with the love we share with each other & not just any love, but a love that grows stronger each day, a love that allows each other to grow, a love where we can be ourselves, a love where laughter is a daily ritual :), a love that some people never find. And most importantly the loving relationship we share with Him as our Lord, a relationship that is unending, a relationship that in some countries is forbidden, but that we can share freely... a love that is forgiving, selfless & the truest form of love we will ever know.

 The day after Thanksgiving I had to work, Jordan could hardly wait for me to get home so that we could decorate the house for Christmas!!

Our beautifully decorated mantel...

Stockings hung with care :) We need to get one for our Emme girl!

Just some of our cute decorations around the house.

Christmas is fastly approaching & we are so excited to celebrate our 1st as husband & wife :)

 P.s. We can hardly believe we have been married a little over 3 months! Where has the time gone?!

Love & Blessings,
J & J

Cold season has officially hit The Richards household... yuck!

So... its been a while since we have blogged, 

no reason in particular... just living life ;)

Last Friday Jordan came home from work not feeling well & has pretty much be knocked out since then :( Sore throat, cough, achy... the whole deal. Poor thing! He finally started feeling better last night & then I woke up feeling sick this morning! Grrr! Jordan has been disinfecting the house with Lysol pretty much all day today, not to mention taking care of me. He also currently has potato soup cooking in the slow cooker ;) I am blessed beyond measure. 

We have both decided that us getting sick = God telling us to slow down. We are always on the go, which can be a good thing, but every now & then it is good to just slow down & reflect. We are so blessed to have everything we have & realize that on a daily basis... we have both admitted that being able to spend the last couple of days together has been nice. Although we didn't like the being sick part. lol

I baked very yummy cookies last night...

 Funny thing though... they were almost all gone by the time I got up this morning... we must have a little mouse... named Jordan ;)

This Friday is the annual Thanksgiving dinner that our church La Loma Grace puts on. We are serving food again this year, we really enjoyed serving food last year. It's a great chance to enjoy fellowship with our church family. 
We are REALLY looking forward to it & are praying that we both feel much better by then!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner & we can hardly wait for that either. Before we know it Christmas will be here, too! Jordan LOVES Christmas, he is like a little kid the whole month of December... it is so cute! ;) We are so excited to have our own house to decorate this year... we get to buy our own tree, put up lights, buy presents, send out Christmas cards! Not to mention... reflect on the REAL reason for CHRISTmas :)

I came across this prayer that I had seen a few yrs ago that really impacted me. I text messaged it to Jordan last night before we went to bed, being that we were in different rooms do to the fact that he was sick (lol) & he LOVED it! So, I thought I would share it...

St. Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, 

and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, 

and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Love & Blessings,

 J & J

A day at the range...

 So... being that Jordan is in law enforcement & is around guns on pretty much a daily basis, he thought it was necessary that I learned how to shoot a gun myself... so this past Saturday we went to the gun range in Ripon. I was beyond nervous at first, but quickly got over my nervousness & learned that I am actually quite good at it ;)

Here are the pictures from our day...

 

Jordan shootin' :)

 Me shootin' :)

My target! 

From what everyone at the range told me, I'm a pretty good shot!

Me shooting, video courtesy of Jordan :)

Jordan shot too fast, so I couldn't get a video of him.

Love & Blessings,
J & J

A season of thanks...

We can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is almost here! And boy do we have so much to be thankful for this year... each other, our heavenly father, our wonderful family, our beautiful home... the list could go on & on!

This year seems to have just flown by... perhaps because we were planning our wedding ;) Regardless, it was a year filled with so many new memories, new adventures, highs & a few lows. We are looking forward to the new year we will soon have a head of us.

There will be many new adventures & a "few" changes...

As some of you may know, Jordan has singed a conditional letter of employment with the FBI. Yes, the FBI :) He does love his current job, but sadly because of the current economy he has little to no job security. We both did a lot of praying on the matter & Jordan happened to hear about the FBI hiring. He did a little research & began the application process. It has been about a year since he started the whole process & it is slowing coming to and end, or I guess the beginning. lol He had to fill out a rather lengthy application, go to a very intense interview, pass a very rigorous physical agility test & recently had a very in depth physical... from his head all the way to his birth marked toes ;) He has passed all of the tests & is now in the background check stage. Once everything is clear, he should begin the FBI Academy in January. The academy is 5 months long & is in Quantico, Virginia. Yes, you read that correctly... Jordan leaves in January for Virginia, for 5 months! We will barely be married 4 months at that time, so that is the part we are having a hard time dealing with :( Jordan has been told that the FBI will fly me out once a month. I could technically move to Virginia for 5 months with Jordan, but Jordan will be living on the base M-F. We both decided that it would be silly to move both of us away from our families, our home & my job when we will only be able to see each other on the weekends. So, for now, the plan is for me to fly & see Jordan as much as possible, which I think we decided would be every other weekend. We are praying & hoping that the 5 months just fly by! We know it won't be easy, but we are faithfully putting ALL of our trust in God, knowing that it is all in His hands & that He sees the bigger picture. The FBI will definitely be a huge investment for our future & we are focusing on the fact that out of what will be a very long life together, 5 months is just a short period of time. At least we keep telling each other that ;) After Jordan graduates from the academy, which should be some time around next May, he will come home & we will have a week or so to relocate to wherever they station him. They let him make a list of 3 preferences... 1. San Francisco 2. L.A. 3. Sacramento. He was told that if you move to a "big city office" first, then you can move back to the place of your choice, after 2 years. San Francisco is a big city office, as well as LA, so we are hoping for either one of those. We would like to only move once. We are planning to come back to Modesto after the 2 years. There are a lot of unanswered questions & little details up in the air at the moment, but we know God has a plan for us & we are going to follow where He leads. We have decided to call this "our little adventure" :)

Phew, now that I got all of that out... here's a little of what we have been up too the last couple of days...

We purchased 100 new cookie cutters & a new mixer, time for baking our favorite cookies... all from scratch! The frosting is made from scratch too & they are de-licious! ;)

Cookies are officially in the oven...

Out of the oven and decorated...

J loves J, of course :)

We took a little trip to the pumpkin patch...

Jordan searching for the perfect pumpkins...

Such a goofball!

Jenna, very excited about the pumpkin selection :)

Happy Halloween 2010! Our first as Mr & Mrs :)

 GO GIANTS... WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!

Lately, we have been pondering...

"Why only a season of thanks? Shouldn't we be thankful every season?"

Love,

J & J

Happy 2 month-iversary...

Here starts the beginning of our blog :) We hope you will all enjoy being able to have a little sneak peak into all of The Richards Happenings. We are so excited about our new life together & look forward to sharing all our adventures with our family & friends.


Today we celebrated our 2 month anniversary of becoming Mr. & Mrs. :) Time seems to have just flown by. We can hardly believe that it's been 2 months since we said "I Do". What a beautiful day that was! We watch the wedding dvd's quite often & all of the emotions of that day start coming back. Seeing each other for the first time is something we will never forget. We find ourselves telling each other that we thought we loved each other then... but with each passing day, our love only grows stronger. What a beautiful gift from God!

This picture was taken moments after seeing each other for the first time.

Tonight we celebrated by... Jordan going to play softball, like he does every Thursday night (he LOVES it), while Jenna stayed home & cooked him a delicious dinner ;) We finished up dinner just in time to watch the Giants win World Series game 2!

Our first month of marriage was definitely a whirlwind... we had an amazing time on our honeymoon, it was so nice to get away & just relax for a few days. We made so many new memories, spent time at the beach, rented beach cruisers & went on a beautiful 5 mile bike ride. We also went to the San Luis Obispo Mission, we both really enjoyed being able to see that.

These pictures were taken at the infamous gum wall in downtown San Luis...

I told Jordan it probably wasn't the best place to take his germ freak wife ;)

Kisses @ Avila Beach

Gorgeous view - Shell Beach

The beautiful cross outside of the San Luis Mission, it reminded us of the one at our ceremony.

Stopped for a quick pic on our beach cruisers :)

Then on September 1st, we got the call we had been dreading for months... Nanny had gone home to be with the Lord. It was such a mix of emotions for both of us. It was so hard to see her suffering like she was, but we were so sad to see her go. We sought comfort in knowing she was with our heavenly father & the love of her life, Poppy. 

"Knowing what I know about heaven, believing that you're all the way home. Knowing that there's somewhere better, is all I need to let you go. I could hope that I could pray you back, but why on earth would I do that? When you're somewhere life and love never ends, knowing what I know about heaven."

Life has continued to change each day since then... as life will. We are loving getting settled into our cute little house in "the city of action" aka Riverbank ;) Here are a few pictures of our house...

Isn't it cute?!

R for Richards :)

We love our new carpet!

One of our favorite decorations.

Love these!

On September 7th Jenna had a milestone birthday, turning the big 25 :) "Jordan made everything extra special. With the passing of Nanny only being 6 days before, everyone definitely needed a good dose of happiness. He was truly wonderful through it all." -Jenna

Headed to Dewz for Jenna's birthday dinner :)

In celebration of our 1 month anniversary we took a trip to the cabin... it is one of our very favorite places & was a much needed trip.

Family photo @ the cabin.

She adores him.

So curious about everything, she loved being able to roam around.

Emme's first time swimming...

Needless to say, she absolutely loved it :)

Looking out at God's beautiful creation.

We are so excited for all of life's adventures, especially because we know we'll be sharing them together.

Love,

J & J