Sunday, January 8, 2012

Where To Begin?

Brady & I have now been married for 7 months, 10 days, 4 hours & 41 minutes. Where does the time go? I have sat down several times over the last few months to blog and decided to tackle it later because there is so much to share...I didn't even know where to start...there are so many exciting things I want to write about (wedding, the excitement of our new life together, kids starting school, vacations, new friends, the holidays)!

We have been amazingly busy in those first several months of marriage, to say the least. Speaking for myself personally, I think I WAY UNDERESTIMATED what the transition from my old life to my new life would look like in the way of time. For starters, Zeke, K & I had 4 addresses over a 10 week period. We sold our house in Deer Park and moved into my parents' home for 6 weeks, then after the wedding, we moved into Brady's smaller home on the North side of San Antonio for 4 1/2 weeks, found renters to rent out Brady's home and then moved into our new BIGGER rent home in Schertz and that is where we are residing currently. Moving took quite a bit more time and effort than I imagined. Combining two complete family's worth of household items took some sorting, organizing, and deciding whose Kitchenaid mixer we were going to keep (the dark blue one or the stainless steel?) Sara & I both share a love for kitchen gadgets so our combined kitchens had an overwhelming amount of items to sort through. I think Brady & I counted 17 cookie sheets between us & about 13 spatulas.

The other more obvious adjustments were moving away from my parents, my brother & sister-in-law (fabulous babysitters whenever I needed them), our other extended family, moving away from our incredible sitter, Sheyla, my amazing office assistant Valerie, our beloved neighbors, the LeMaire's (and many others), and my unbelievably supportive church family. The kids and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to create a new community of family and friends in Schertz, but it does take a little bit of time to create that network.

God has blessed us abundantly in our new life by putting amazing people in our path. We have gotten very close to many sweet families within Brady's squadron. Some of the same families who cared for Brady just after Sara's passing, openly welcomed me into the squadron family by inviting me to lunch, setting up playdates we me & the kids, and inviting us over for dinner. We have found a wonderful new church home at Journey Fellowship (a satellite church of Oak Hills, home congregation of Max Lucado) which happens to only be 2 miles from our house!

We have gotten connected with several new babysitters to help with the kids.
By far one of the biggest blessings has been meeting our sweet widow neighbors, Nan & Sue (mother & daughter) who live only 2 doors down from us. These two amazing women have taken in our children as surrogate grandmothers. The girls walk down with me almost every day to "go say Hi to Sue & Nan" (Chloe's words). Sue & Nan very kindly help keep the kids so that Brady & I are able to go out on a date night a couple times each month. Our relationship with the two of them has been a direct answer to prayer and has been such a comfort in our new life.

A tremendous amount of support has come from a very dear couple named Ginger & Jim Ravella. Ginger lost her first husband, Troy in a plane crash in Iraq in the fall of 2006. Jim lost his first wife, Andrea to breast cancer in December 2007. Their friendship has been so easy and so helpful for our family. It is far more than coincidence that the Ravella's moved from their station in Florida back to San Antonio the same week that Brady & I got married. Ginger & I have had the wonderful opportunity this fall to meet almost once a week for a book study. Her thoughts on life as an Air Force wife, her experiences in losing a spouse, and her insight on joining two families has been so helpful and reassuring. Jim & Ginger have been such a gift to us.


I am so grateful for the multitude of ways that God has blessed our family these last seven months. Being married to Brady has been so joyful and so easy. Having him be a sweet, loving father to Zeke & Kaelyn has been such a blessing and being given the incredible opportunity to be a new mother to Chloe has been a tremendous gift. My heart is so full....I feel so grateful and so very content.

19 comments:

  1. So glad to hear all is well Jenny! I think & pray for you guys often. Thank you for updating!

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  2. Glad to see you blogging again and glad you've met Ginger! She probably doesn't remember me, but she was in my MOPS several years ago and I have thought several times of your families' similarities.

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  3. Your family continues to inspire and uplift me in so many ways! Thank you for continuing to allow us to folow your family in 2012.

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  4. I am so very happy for you. I was so excited to see an update pop up on my feed. God is good, and has blessed you. I truly believe God has brought you together.

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  5. This is so wonderful you guys. Really...I've prayed for such a thing since the moment I knew about Brady and Chloe. I'm so happy for all of you. And Jenny, you are so very beautiful! You both deserve a happy ending. Can't wait to see you all prosper in this life. God bless, Sara

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  6. I am so happy for your sweet famiy. I started following Brady and Chloe's story upon Sara's passing and have been in awe of what God has done! Looking forward to reading "the rest of the Sullivan story" that God has written for your family. :)

    Happy New Year!

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  7. Yay! The story continues. Great to hear of your present happiness. Cheers from Laos.

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  8. such a beautiful post Jenny, I'm just bummed we had to move from SA just as you were moving there! How excited that Ginger moved back, she's an amazing woman who spoke at the MOPS group I attended in Garden Ridge. If you need some great ladies to hang out with, look them up too! :) and God bless, I can't stop smiling for you all!

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  9. Beautiful post!! I have followed Brady and Chloes story for awhile and I met Ginger in Phoenix before Troy's accident. What an incredible testimony of Gods faithfulness in your lives, I look forward to watching what He has in store for your new family together.

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  10. This warms my heart! I have followed Brady and Chloe's story for quite some time and I have always hoped that someone as wonderful as you would come in to their lives! God is wonderful!

    Always,
    Shonda

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  11. So very happy for you all! I love seeing the huge smiles on everyone's faces! So sweet! May God bless you in the days to come! :)

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  12. I second Shondas statement! I have followed Brady and Chloe's story as well and it just brought tears to my eyes to see what God has done in your lives and how he brought you two together. :) SO happy for you all!

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  13. I am so thrilled to see an update! :) I'm so happy that you are all doing well and are happy. When I first started following Brady's story, I was stationed in DC. Now I'm stationed at Randolph and probably take my son to daycare about a mile or so from your house. Wishing God's continued blessings on you for a lifetime of love and happiness!

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  14. So wonderful to have you blogging again! :) Your family is just beautiful, Jenny, and it gives me joy to read about how well you are all adjusting to the blending of the two families now one. God is so gracious with His blessings. Happy New Year to all of the Sullivans and Wims!

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  15. I, too, am so happy for your sweet family. God is good ALL the time and so faithful to see our needs and heal our hearts. I look forward to following your blog and seeing all the happy times you have ahead of you!

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  16. I have so missed keeping up with you and the kids, Jenny. So happy to see your new blog that will help me get to know Brady and Chloe. Love from College Station.

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  17. This blog brings me great happiness! I am so glad you started it. Regarding the combining of two households, have you considered storing some of the duplicate items for when all the kids are older? I.e. if one of the mixers was Sara's maybe it could be saved for Chloe etc. I know that's an awful lot of stuff to store for a long time but it might be something to consider.

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  18. It's such a small Air Force... I "know" the Sullivans through many F16 friends that we have who were stationed with them in Japan, and then followed their blog until now. I also know Ginger as I taught her youngest son in Phoenix the year her husband was killed. I am so glad that you 2 couples have found each other and supported/love on each other - what a bittersweet & amazing blessing! --Anne Embry

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