one big, happy family :)

9.14.10






my hubby is now FINALLY home for good!! WHOOP!!! jaccob's last day actually working for the navy officially ended on wednesday, september 8th. he is on terminal leave now, which technically means he is finishing off his career in the navy- ON VACATION! how awesome is that?! oh and on top of that, he's getting his full pay!

he will be officially separated from the navy on october 31st. with a nice little bonus to make parting ways that much more sweet ;)

anyway, let me tell you, he is in HEAVEN right now! he's home in TX, with his family, enjoying the good life and doesn't ever, ever in his life have to return to VA :) no longer does he have to report to a job that makes him miserable and dissatisfied. as much as he is proud to have served his country faithfully and honorably in the military for 7 years, he is happy not to have to deal with its politics any more. i don't blame him either. i was pretty miserable and dissatisfied at times myself (jaccob missing isabela's birth being the biggest grievance against the navy for both him AND me).

not all parts of it were bad though...i did meet some wonderful people, some who i know will be friends for life, and i got to travel to places i never thought i would have visited like guam, malaysia and hong kong. those memories i'll keep with me always :) the not so good ones...well, we can just forget about those and move on. haha!!

needless to say we're so happy to have him home. it's nice waking up to my other half every morning, and watching him "just be" with our two princesses. i just love watching him with our girls. it just warms my heart :) he is so gentle with them and gives them little kisses here and there. you can tell they love their daddy very much just by the way they look at him and the way they smile at him. they are all definitely lucky to have one another.

now that he's technically out of the navy he'll be shipping out with the merchant marines. it may sound like he's still in the military, but these "marines" have nothing to do with the u.s. marines. merchants have to get certified through the u.s. coast guard, but they work for unions. jaccob will still be going out to sea, the length depending on the specific contracts he is able to get. for the most part it'll probably be for 3-4 months at a time. his plan is to ship out for 6 months (not necessarily consecutively) and be home for 6 months. the good part is is that when he's home, he's home. no going to work, no reporting to anything or anyone. it'll be during this down time that we'll be able to go on vacation or do anything we want as a family.

i know it isn't going to be easy, i know it's going to be a lot of hard work raising our kids basically on my own while he's gone, but knowing that he'll be doing something that he loves and most importantly WANTS to do, will be worth it. i know what it's like to have him out to sea for long periods of time and i know i'm strong enough to make it through. of course it'll be different this time around having kids and all, but i'm lucky enough to have my parents and my sister here to help me and keep me company :)

part of me is a little scared, i'm not gonna lie. since we've been married the military life is all we've known and our only source of income. now with this shift in jobs, and our newly found status as civilians, i can't help but feel uneasy, but i know together as a family we can take on anything and achieve any goal. the only thing i ask of y'all is to please keep us in your prayers as we begin this new chapter in our lives. change is never easy and not always a peaceful transition, so any positive, and uplifting thoughts for our family would be greatly appreciated!