Life Update - July '17

Sisterly Love

Wow, it has been a while since we have posted one of these, huh?! Well, best type to it.

E is 9 months now, as you may have seen in our previous post. She loves her Ate and is about ready to walk! It is crazy!!! AJ adores her MeiMei and gives her lots of hugs and kisses. It is such a joy to watch them grow, play and learn together.

PJ was selected last month to begin a leadership program with work. Right now, this entails going to monthly classes at the area office and implementing suggested management techniques at his store. Later, it could mean moving to different stores within his district to develop under-performing pharmacies; then it may mean a corporate promotion as a district manager. One step at a time, though. Jessy is so proud of him and excited to see how the Lord develops his leadership skills and uses his work ethic within his company.

Jessy is continuing in her weight loss journey, and right now this means taking a maintenance break in order to allow her body to balance out after a 65lb weight loss in 6 months! If you would like to follow her journey, she has a separate page here. She has begun to do some team training classes at Chuze fitness which has been awesome! It is such a fun place to work out.

The Great Escape

PJ and Jessy were blessed to see Christine (PJ's sister) graduate from her residency program last month and spend a long weekend in Ohio to celebrate her's and Peter's (their brother's) graduations. He completed his undergrad in Washington. It was a good reunion and we are excited that Christine and her boyfriend will be working in Reno beginning this Fall as they start their first official careers. It was so much fun seeing all the places Christine has lived over these last few years and enjoying some of the sites. Columbus had an amazing Farmer's Market, we found an escape room (and won!), there was a beautiful hiking trail and old town area we were able to visit, and we saw the largest Air Force Museum in the country!

Disney Babies

The girls had a difficult time spending those 4 days with Jessy's family. They (we) were blessed to have the time at home since Jessy's mom stayed overnight, but it was still pretty hard, particularly on E, as she had just started eating table food, was (and still is) teething, and found it difficult to eat while mommy and daddy were away. She had a bit of stress issues and tummy problems and it took a couple of days to get back on track, but Jessy is so proud of her troopers!

I think that is it for now. Thank you, everyone <3

Life's Encouragements

About a month ago, PJ told me that his district manager wanted him to recreate a panel discussion regarding his store's success at the national conference in Boston for Area Managers for the company. I really wish that my response was, "Oh my goodness, honey, that is amazing! I am so proud of you and the work you have accomplished at your store this last year!" To my shame, however, I responded with, "Well, how long will you be gone?" in a tone of contempt for his accomplishments. I felt the excitement drain from his demeanor and I knew there was no way I could take that moment back.

I was being completely and unreasonably selfish.

I wanted him to say he would bring ME with him. I wanted him to acknowledge how difficult his absence would be for ME. I wanted to feel as needed as I feel I need him.

It is not easy being a full time mommy and housewife. But I think that being a true helpmate and encouraging wife are even harder. As much as I give myself to my precious little girls each day, I have to give my full support and encouragement to my husband each day. That is a lot of work and takes a lot of investment. I want my husband to be successful and I desire him to do well. If I am aligning my life with his, which is what I am called to do, then I need to be more uplifting in my attitude.

Gee, this wife thing is tough, but I am so glad to have this opportunity to love and minister to my husband in this way.

Please pray for PJ as he heads off to Boston tomorrow. There is an ice storm warning in effect this weekend on the east coast and I pray his flight is not delayed or cancelled coming home. He will be flying out tomorrow morning, his meeting will be all day Thursday, and - Lord willing - he will be returning on Friday afternoon.

-Jessy

Update - May 14

It has been a great week for me here at home. After a successful grocery trip, I was able to spend Friday preparing for next week. All of our dinners are ready, lunches are done, just have to do the actual cooking :) I am so excited that I was able to prepare everything and feel so accomplished about how I spent my time and energy yesterday.

PJ has had a bit of a rough go at work this week. A few wrong fills brought about an incident report and he had to stay late yesterday to keep up. The store is definitely feeling the loss of their awesome extern, along with a few days without one of the top technicians (his wife had a baby, so we're excited for them). It has just been a tough week, though, so we are praying that he can get ahead today. It seems to be overcast, so hopefully it will be a slow day.

AJ is growing and learning and very adventurous. Every chance she gets, she is pulling herself up to stand, starting to scale the coffee tables, couches, and walls; and she loves to laugh, squeal and observe, as well as eat everything she climbs on. There seems to be some constant teething, but nothing has cut still. Yesterday she made a huge stride in eating. We have been giving her dissolvable cereal and letting her test other foods besides the baby stuff, and she picked up her cereal yesterday and put it right in her mouth! The simplest things are so exciting! We are not quite doing it every time, as she is fisting pieces and not opening her hand to put them in her mouth, she leans over her tray to eat like a puppy. I love my silly little peanut!

We also had dinner with Kelley and Sean this week. Kelley was here on Wednesday to enjoy some yummy comfort food, and brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day! She is such a loving friend and encourager! Sean stopped by on Monday to enjoy some pasta and catch up after a long while! Enjoyed catching up and hearing about his schooling and church. We are excited to stay caught up and see how school goes over the next couple of years.

Tuesday was a tough day for me after I got my first adjustment with steel ties on my braces. It has been new pain, as cold has become quite sensitive for me. It's going to be more getting used to, after I thought I just got the hang of these things.

Thursday was a great day, too! PJ's parents were generous enough to watch AJ while we had a movie date to go see Captain America: Civil War! Highly recommend, you should go check it out. Later, my brother came over and for dinner, PJ's parents took us for a yummy evening at Red Robin!

So, it has been an awesome week, busy, but fun. I am definitely looking forward to having a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home tomorrow.

That's a short update for our little family. Love you all!

-Jessy