Our Favorite President

For most of you, its relatively obvious that we are, by nature, politically conservative.  And most of you also remember our wonderful little dog's name: Reagan Liberty.  While we would never be that direct in naming a child, we thought it was a pretty classy way to slip our firm standing into a family name.  And no, we didn't actually realize Reagan had a Cavalier before we got Reagan...

So while in California, we visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.  It was incredible, and not just to staunch young conservatives like us; everybody there seemed to be amazed by The Great Communicator, all the things he had to say (people took pictures of his quotes), the impact he had while president.  Perhaps its a little cheesy to say, but our patriotism and love of this country grew a little more that day.

Oval Office Replica

Marine One...not Reagan's.  Actually it was Kennedy's because Reagan's was still in use up until 2010.

Air Force One!  In front of it is a wall of windows...that's how they got the plane there!

To the Berlin Wall/Communism and Threat Corridor

The Berlin Wall Speech...middle of bottom right, two lines: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate.  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Berlin Wall...in California.

Riding with The Gipper

Rex, the Cavalier!

And here he rests.

 So if you should ever find yourself in southern California, the Reagan Library is worth a couple of hours to visit.

"Well, one of the worst mistakes anybody can make is to bet against Americans."  - Ronald Reagan

And we're back!

For those of you who didn't know, we spent most of last week in California, gallivanting across the west-coast state under the guise of attending a wedding.  We did in fact attend a wedding, but not until we had toured most of LA, Joshua Tree National Park, and San Diego.  As per the pictures above, I left most of my hair behind...

We'll do our best to actually post pictures this time.  I'm not sure that our first year anniversary trip will ever be finished, but its old news by now anyhow.  A general list of things we learned while in California:

 1. Turkey and avocado, a sandwich concoction of CA (or perhaps the west coast), isn't that great.  Very bland and disappointing.
2. While I wouldn't advise some one to enlist in the military for this reason, it is helpful to tote a military and dependent (Jonathan is my "dependent" as my spouse) ID when booking rooms and touring landmarks and parks.
3. Dulles airport has a full-body scanner.  Please tell me then, why do I still need to remove my shoes and sweatshirt?
4. Driving California is all about views...you can see everything 6 miles up the road.  It has something to do with going through valleys between mountains, driving to the top of mountains and hills, but also with small skinny palm trees and desserts that don't block the view.

And as any traveling couple knows, most of our pictures are self-portraits...arm extended, trying to get the perfect background-to-person ratio.  Here are our best shots...more pictures to come later.

At the Getty Center in LA

At the Reagan National Library

At Griffith Park

At Joshua Tree National Park

Again, Joshua Tree

At the San Diego Zoo...Giraffes behind us!

At the Hotel del Coronado

Genevieve comes to Virginia!

For my family members reading the Mitford series, my titling sounds a little like Cynthia's "Violet" books.  We had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with Emily and Genevieve a week or so ago.  It was so much fun to play with Genevieve all day...especially for Reagan.  And as always, it is a special blessing to be with family.  Jon and I talk about this often (and follow with tears of joy) that our family (both, whole entire families) surround us constantly with love, joy, and much support.  Praise the Lord!

 

Baby's Self-Reflection

Papasan Baby!

Two years, and two wonderful weekends in a row.

For our two year anniversary, we decided to nix a big trip.  For those of you who have winter anniversaries, you have probably come to grips with the fact that most of the Northern and Eastern parts of the United States (which are good road-trip destinations) are not as hospitable during this time of year.  While the Biltmore estate was gorgeous last January, I will say that we both wish we had seen it in bloom, spring, summer, or fall.

So we went back to our honeymoon destination, the Blair Mountain B & B.  If you are ever in the Harrisburg area, for the glorious skiing at Roundtop or for a wrestling tournament at Messiah College, Tracie's hospitality is wonderful and the house is amazing, especially with 8 inches of fluffy white snow.  We decided to forgo skiing, mainly because I was terrified of us driving my poor old Toyota through the mountains.  So instead, we built a fire, enjoyed delicious butternut squash soup for lunch (thanks to Tracie), and watched the birds in the forest through our enormous windows.

What a relief to celebrate our anniversary this year, without the burden of the deployment continuously on our hearts and minds.  Again, I think I say this in each post, but Praise the Lord for bringing me home and bringing us back together. 

 And the following weekend, both of my dear sisters visited, bringing along with them the bundle of joy that is Genevieve, the youngest of our two nieces.  We shopped and hunted for bargains as Jonathan carried Genevieve and kept her entertained.  It was wonderful to spend time with my sisters, and I'm so thankful they took the time and travel-hassle to visit us down here in Virginia.

So here's to another blissful year of marriage and to having a wonderful family to visit with and love on!

These are a few of our favorite things (e.g. babies):

First, meet Genevieve.  She is the youngest of the nieces, only 2 months old in these pictures (around Thanksgiving 2011).  On the Taggart side of the family, she is Emily and Bryan's first little baby, a sweet girl with red hair, grey eyes (for now), and a toothless little smile.

I love holding newborns up to 3 months...something about their dependency on you to even hold their little heads up is soothing to me.  Fragile?  Hand them over.  And as you all know, Jonathan is a sucker for babies, especially little girls!

And then there's Adeline, our little niece on the Reimer side, born to Charles and Charissa.  In these pictures, she's about 8 months old.  She is a goofy ball of fun, especially when someone (i.e. Aunt Christina) joins her in her silliness.

We are so excited to be one of the Aunts and Uncles to these baby girls, and we pray for their parents and their salvation all the time. 

And as much as we love babies, we are willing to hang out with everybody else's babies until we have our own.  There's plenty of time for that.

I'll be home for Christmas...

 This is the first picture taken, the day after I got home.  Dear Jonathan went with me to get my hair cut and drove me everywhere I needed to go.  What a blessing to have such a sweet husband, one who loves me, helps me, and wants to be by my side.

The next few pictures our from Christmas this past year (2011...Happy New Year!).  Sorry to catch up, again.

We are firm believers in getting a live Christmas tree each year...we have developed a better-buying strategy for next year, but a lovely fir we did get.

The ornaments all have various origins, but all have meaning (I'm not one for simply purchasing sets of ornaments or, if I did, they are not longer on this tree): cookies and cooking utensils from my sister, many "first Christmas" from all family members, the decorated balls from my bridal shower (the blue and silver), silly ones from friends, ones that represent the places we've traveled together or endured apart (Kuwait, for example).  What a blessing to look at the lovely Christmas tree and be reminded of all the blessings we have, before we even see the items sitting wrapped underneath.

And this chair you see...this was my favorite gift.  Not only is it a beautiful piece of furniture with great nurturing value for our future children, it was a thought from my husband to welcome me home.  It was made by my father-in-law (with an hour or two of hands-on from Jonathan) and his class, none of whom he allowed to perch on it before I took the first sit.  The cushions, of course, are the beautiful and delicate handiwork of my mother-in-law.  So once this makes the move to DC with us, you'll all know the wonderful workings behind this chair, and the incredible way my husband and family care for me.

Home...

The unfortunate part of being particularly affectionate and attached to eachother (that is Jonathan and me) is that it doesn't lend itself to pulling out a camera and taking a lot of pictures.  Not because we're all that private but, really, we're much more occupied with living a lot of our moments than we are of capturing them on film/pixels.  Perhaps we should make room in the budget for a personal/family photographer to follow us through our precious moments...or just get a grip on life and just start clicking and flashing away.  (If someone has photos, please send and I will post.)

Good news is that I'm home and have been back at the McLean residence for about a week now.  Everybody jokingly asks me to rag on Jonathan about having to put the apartment back together after 9 months without a woman running the household...untrue, except for emptying the vacuum cleaner (which does help with its efficiency) and decreasing our "dry cleaners" budgeting envelope by taking up ironing again.  You can probably imagine but perhaps not fully comprehend the amount of gratitude I have for being home: the green grass and beautiful trees with crisp fall air, the independence of attire and schedule (at least until I go back to work), the ability and need to complete household tasks, and the chance to bask in the company of Jonathan and other family and friends we've been blessed to visit so far.

I will continue to write about things I learned while away (or because I was away), but one current and pressing lesson is about trusting in God and remembering to let anxiety and fears be his and not mine.  There are times when the weight of the transition back home and the soon-coming transition out of the Navy (no uniform, no free healthcare...) get the better of me, and fears about money, future endeavors coming nearer in time (new car, new apartment, new civilian job, possibly children) threaten to overwhelm me.  Jonathan has been so good to remind me of God's sovereignty and his goodness, even though he is facing these trials and changes with me.  One lesson Jon brought up was from one of John Hutchinson's sermons, from Luke 12:22-34 (just a few verses below to highlight):

"And he said to his disciples, "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  For life is more than food and the body more than clothing...

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.  Provide yourself with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail...For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."