Happy Birthday, Dad

Today would have been my Dad's 53rd Birthday. I have truly missed him every minute since he left. At times I feel envious that he is in the place we all long to be, Heaven - a place where all of the trials & struggles of this life are no more and life & love never end. Today... I am missing him, as I have all of the days before, but I am also choosing to be thankful for all of the time & memories I did have with him, while wishing I still had just one more. Happy Birthday Dad, I love you & I can't wait to see you again.

"No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. You were gone before we knew it & only God knows why. Our hearts still ache in sadness & secret tears still flow. What it meant to lose you, no one will ever know. But now we know you want us to mourn for you no more, to remember all the happy times, life still has much in store. Since you'll never be forgotten, we pledge to you today, a hallowed place within our hearts is where you'll always stay."

Love,

Jenna

Our first photoshoot...

While working at Shoob I met a girl named Shawna, unbeknownst to us we were neighbors... her & her husband Ben had moved to Riverbank from Oregon a little over a year ago & they now live right down the street from us :) Like me, both Shawna & Ben share a love of photography - Shawna is also trying to start a photography business of her own... so she asked Jordan & I to play her models one Sunday afternoon & these are just a few of the pictures from that day...

I have the most handsome hubby ;)

We are calling these our "1 Year" photos, because they were taken just a little after our 1 year anniversary :) I can still barely believe we have been married 1 year... actually, almost  1 1/2! We are blessed.

Love & Blessings,

J & J

Obsessed....

So... I had heard about this cool website a while ago, where people share all kinds of cool ideas through little "pins" aka pictures, on this website called Pinterest. So... last week, I looked up the app on my phone & anxiously awaited my "invite" (yes, you have to be invited). It didn't take long to get my invite, I actually got it this morning, I was so excited to see what it was about! They have the cutest ideas on there.... anything from photography, fashion, wedding ideas, baby room ideas, recipes, photography, DIY stuff... the list is endless! When you click on the picture it takes you to the original post so you can see what the pin is all about - definitely a great web invention! I urge you to go check it out :)

Love & Blessings,
Jenna

Today...

Today, I have realized that I need to work on something...

PATIENCE: (n)
1. Bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint
2. Manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain
3. Not hasty or impetuous
4. Steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity
5. Able or willing to bear

I also realized that in order to do that, I need to fully accept that God is in control & that everything happens in His perfect time. I am perfectly okay with that statement. He knows much better than I do, He sees the big picture. The bible does says that patience is a virtue. Now... PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE, JENNA! ;)

 Psalm 139:13-14
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.

 That is one of my favorite bible verses :)

Love & Blessings,
Jenna

Halloween 2011

Halloween feels like it came so soon! It seems like we were just celebrating our S.F. Giants World Series victories, but as I've said in many previous posts... this past year seems to have just flown by!

So... as I also discussed in our previous post, Jordan & I are trying to start a family (we would definitely appreciate your prayers on that matter)... we figured this may or may not be our last Halloween without a child, so when we got the invites to a few costume parties in honor of Halloween, we were all for it! ;) The first night, I borrowed a cop costume from a friend (free is always better lol) & we made Jordan's costume with stuff he already had at home, he was a "cholo" lol The second night, I wore the cop costume again & Jordan borrowed a costume from my cousin Adam... he was Pauly D from the reality show Jersey Shore! :)

Arresting my "cholo" husband ;)

My sister - Catrina, Beth, Me & Ashley...  headed to our first party of the weekend.

Love me some Pauly D! ;)

Josh, Jesse & Jordan :)

Happy Halloween!!

Jordan & Jake :)

All in all, we had a fun weekend celebrating with friends & family - Halloween night we went trick or treating with my little cousin, Aunt & Uncle. We also spent a little time wondering what next Halloween would hold... hopefully we'll be holding a baby! ;) I also took  my "little" cousin Annie's senior pictures this past weekend, I guess she isn't so little anymore :( She is stunning & it made for an easy photography session! I'll share some of her pics soon!

We hope everyone had a fun  & safe Halloween!

Love & Blessings,

 J & J

Our Fall trip to the cabin...

 As many of you know, Jordan's family has an adorable cabin nestled in a national forest - what could be better?! It's one of our favorite places to escape to, and we go any chance we get :) So, when Jordan's parents said they would be going to close it up for the winter & that they needed some help with a few repairs... we hopped in the car & drove up for the weekend.

My favorite.

Chimney cleaning = precarious ladder situation.

Just a lil' bit of snow on the ground.

Brother's fishing :)

Gorgeous Lake Alpine.

He is too cute!

Waitin' on a bite...

Watch out... professional fisher-woman here ;)

I was actually the only one that caught a fish that day! Woohoo!

This huge mud puddle = one dirty car

THE cabin :)

L.O.V.E.

Getting ready to head home.

Such a great picture of these two!

Momma Jane & I, getting ready to head home.

It was a great time! We can't wait to go back again! :)

Love & Blessings,

J & J

Richards Happenings Update...

Found this yesterday and knew that I had to share it...
"You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense." When I read that, it was like a light went off in my head... I feel like so many times in life we get caught up living for the wrong things - material things, people, etc. I am guilty of this myself. I try to be quick to remind myself that we aren't meant to be 100% happy here on earth, otherwise what would we have to look forward too... that's what heaven is for ;)

Onto The Richards Happenings... There have been a few changes going on in The Richards household. As many of you know, Jordan applied for the FBI some time ago. Well, about 2 weeks ago... Jordan received a call from someone from the FBI while he was at work. We had been talking about the FBI & the possibility of Jordan leaving since he applied, but a lot of things have changed since then. We had actually just had a conversation about it a few days before... we were both discussing the reason why Jordan even applied to the in the first place... because he didn't have job security at that point in time, but now he does. We also weren't married when he applied, we also hadn't gone through all of the things we have in the last year, we also weren't wanting to start a family at that time & now we are. We had been praying for guidance on this for so long, and for one reason or another, things just didn't seem to be happening like they should. Perhaps God was trying to show us that he has a different plan for our life ;) Getting back to the phone convo... Jordan went on to tell me that he told the woman that he appreciated the offer (the conditional letter of employment they had given him almost a year ago), but that he was going to respectfully decline & withdraw his application. In my head I was thinking... "WHAT?! Could it really be that simple to take this huge weight off of both of our shoulders?!" Apparently it was.The woman told Jordan that it was completely understandable, that he shouldn't wait around if he had a better offer. And as a matter of fact, he did! Just the day before that phone call, Jordan had been moved to a new unit, a unit that he has been wanting to be in for quite some time, a unit that he can best use his God given talents & abilities in. (God is good!) Jordan really loves what he does at the Probation Department, he likes the "helping/counseling" aspect of it & he is so good at it. We have seriously been discussing starting a family & we both discussed how hard that would be for Jordan to be away & as our kids got older, how hard it would be to miss out on different activities they might be doing. Financially the FBI would give us a lot more freedom, but God always provides & we are trusting that He will. After Jordan got done telling me about the phone conversation, he said he felt like this huge weight had been lifted from him... the constant not knowing when & if he would be leaving for the academy was draining him, physically as well as emotionally. We are both so thankful how everything has worked out. So, that is one big update in the Richards household!

Our second update... this past week Jenna received a text message letting her know she had been laid off at Shoob Photography. REAL PROFESSIONAL! I was at a complete loss for words! Who lays someone off through a text message?! I had been informed that work would "slow down" during the Fall, but the words "laid off" were never mentioned. So, we are now incessantly praying for me to find a job, we would appreciate your prayers as well. I feel like I have applied for a million, but I will apply for a million more if that's what it takes! God definitely has us working on our "trusting".

Other than those two big things... we have just been living life as Mr. & Mrs. :) We both so enjoy spending time with our families. We have taken a few trips to the cabin with The Richards, which is one of our favorite places to go! We have enjoyed this rather long Summer weather that we have been having, and are anxiously awaiting some cooler Fall weather. We hope this info packed post finds you all happy & healthy :)


Words to live by...
"God is able to accomplish, provide, help, save, keep, subdue... He is able to do what you can't. He already has a plan. God's not bewildered. Go to Him." -Max Lucado

Love & Blessings,
J & J