Six Years

October 22, 2011 Josh and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. We count this as a true blessing. There are so many people who have encouraged, coached and prayed for us and we are grateful. We are thankful God has gotten us this far and we look forward to six more years.

Holidays 2011

It has been way too long since my last post. So the way I can best think to sum up the past three months is to highlight the holidays.

October: This would be Ainsley's second Halloween, however it was quite cold so we opted to stay home. Quite the opposite of when we visited the Pumpkin Patch. It was so hot we all were sweating, but Ainsley had soo much fun. We got to hang out with our friends Judy and Mark and their suggestion of the very remote cut your own pumpkin patch in Leesburg was a winner.

November: Ainsley's second Thanksgiving, this year she actually got to eat her own plate of food. She was a huge fan of the Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, but not so much a fan of the cole slaw! The day after Thanksgiving is Burke family Christmas tree hunt day. We did not stick to our usual schedule of going to Sneeds Farm early in the morning, but the late in the day venture proved successful also. Honestly, I think Josh planned it that way. My selection was on a time limit due to the sun going down, I could not spend my usual hour (exaggerating) to pick the "perfect" tree.

December: I can't believe we are almost through with December. Time flies. This is Ainsley's first Christmas that she can actually respond to the decorations etc. She loves the Christmas tree, she often stands in front of it squealing. We took our first trip to NYC during the holidays. Whoa is all I can say. It is beautiful, but soo crowded. May not happen again until Ainsley is big enough to walk by herself. Nonetheless it was a good experience, I recommend staying at the Homewood Suites in NJ and taking the ferry into the city. It was much more cost effective, the hotel was nice, very attentive staff and a complementary shuttle service from the hotel to the ferry. I also got to stop by "Carlos'" bakery (Cake Boss), I wanted a Canoli, soo bad but was not willing to stand in the rather long line. Maybe next time.

A little too late

Why is it that we don't tell people how special they are until they are gone. Why is it that some people stay in your life for a life time and others for a very short period. I'm not really sure the answer to these questions, but what I do know is that I'm going to greatly miss a sweet friend who is leaving and I am thankful for God allowing our paths to cross.

I feel those who know me best, know that I can be high energy and very particular. Through out life I feel this has not always brought me the "closest" friends because I run them off, lets be honest. My token saying is, "I'm getting better". No seriously, I feel through God's grace and through having a Godly, patient husband I am getting better. Through no effort of my own, this past year I have gained two wonderful friends. Friends who much like my husband have caused me to want to be a better person.

I cherish and value these friends because I see attributes in them that I long to strive for. Attributes such as gentleness, patience, over abounding joy, generosity and godliness. I do not mean to put these people on pedestals, I simply want to let them know they have made a difference in my life.

Hannah Hadaway I cry even as I write your name. Never thought the day I met you at a pre-natal yoga class you would have such an impact in my life. You are sweet and genuine. Your care free spirit encourages me and your generosity humbles me. Correction, I met you at Matt and Pris's house, where you very bubbly came up with your hand out stretched and said, "hi, I'm Hannah Hadaway. The warmth and kindness that radiates from you is infectious. Another thing that you taught me is to just "get it done". You may not realize this, but when I would freak out about something, you would just take the bull by the horns and find a solution. Thank you for that example and for being patient with me. You and your sweet family will be missed soo much. We definitely met a little too late, but I am thankful for the sweet, precious time we were able to have.

Hannah Hendrix where do I begin. I met you so long ago, but I guess God knew when I needed you most! Faithful friend = Hannah Hendrix. "Sweet as Pie" and "Bless your bones" are a few of my favorite things she says. Hannah has a genuine spirit and I am thankful for the example she has provided to me in so many things. She speaks good of all people and she always seeks to help in whatever ways she can. She knows if she moves I will seriously need to be resuscitated!

I know God has a plan and I trust that plan is good. I am happy for Hannah, Kerry, Mary Lou and Rachel as they move and pray for God's blessing and provision in their lives. I will miss them greatly, but am oh so happy to have met them. The same goes for many people, but these two friends have had significant impact in my life this year and I am grateful. I pray as the years go on I can reciprocate the things I have learned to others. I pray He will continue to give me grace by helping me see things that need to change and bringing people into my life that help me flesh those things out.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. C.S. Lewis

In every one's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. Albert Schweitzer

Birthday # 1

It finally arrived, in a flash of light just like I knew it would Ainsley's first birthday. The past year has been pure joy. I never imagined being a parent would be so enjoyable. The joy it brings to be able to see Ainsley grow and learn new things is priceless. So to celebrate Ainsley we threw her a Woodland Fairy Birthday Party! It was such a fun time, lots of work but so fun.

As the fairies and gnomes entered the party they could take a wand or a pinwheel, the goodies ranged from finger sandwiches, chocolate covered pretzel wands to edible acorns. We played pin the star on the wand, had a wishing stone hunt and finished it off with a classic pinata. Ainsley was blessed abundantly with fun toys and lots of cute winter clothes, however she enjoyed playing with the tissue paper rather than open gifts!

Everyone enjoyed "looking" at Ainsley's birthday cake, however due to the abundance of cupcakes Artemus the owl went untouched. Ainsley was not so much a fan of her 1st cupcake she sampled the frosting and that was pretty much it. We were so blessed by everyone that attended and ultimately I think we are all blessed to have Ainsley Claire in our lives.

BurkeLaw?

The month of August has been a whirlwind much like the entire summer. I mean really, I feel like my child was just born and as of August 2 she is 11 months old. Josh was gone for 5 days this month hiking in the Tetons, we are planning on going to the beach for 1 week, I started babysitting a very good friends little boy two days a week, I am planning Ainsley's 1st birthday, we have said good-bye to the much loved Marks family, again whirlwind.

The other thing that has added to the craziness and the title of this post is are cars are falling apart. Now we asked ourselves do we pay the money to fix them or would we like another monthly car payment. We chose the latter. Unfortunately, you sometimes take a gamble with car "maintenance". Josh's jeep needed some transmission repair that we figured would be a couple hundred dollars, no big deal. Well $778 later and that repair not working is definitely a different story. So now Josh's jeep is getting the transmission completely redone and the grand total once it is all said and done will be $2500. However, in the meantime my car has needed a few repairs as well and for two days this week those repairs left us completely without a vehicle.

Da, Da, Da, Da, in steps the Pelt family. The Pelt family generously allowed us to borrow the Tahoe. This has been "different" for us, we have never had to borrow a vehicle before. However, it became very different for us as we drove to the Marks going away party last evening. I kept getting the feeling as if someone was watching me, starring. I thought to myself, "but Jadey we are driving down 610, why would someone be starring at you". I then look over to my left, I was in the passenger seat mind you and the people in the vehicle riding right next to us are staring at us. I immediately remember that we are in Jason Pelt's Tahoe, "PeltLaw". We have PeltLaw, along with support Jason Pelt stickers on the back of this vehicle. So one of two things is happening. These people are staring because they do not support Jason Pelt and they want to get a tiny glimpse of who their "opposition" is. Or these people very much support Jason Pelt and they want to catch a glimpse as if he's a movie star.

Well needless to say I at least felt like a movie star! We are grateful to the Pelts for their generosity and though August has been a whirlwind and had lots of unexpected's Josh and I are thankful for what we do have and we know that we truly are blessed.

Traditions = Good Times

This past year has been the year to declare traditions. At Christmas we have decided on the parade followed by Bangkok Thai, at Halloween we have decided on a Sydney sleepover that includes smores and a hot dog roast, Josh has decided the end of March will be his annual 4x4 camping trip. Well the new summer tradition we have decided on is the Virginia Derby. Josh and I along with several friends attended this glorious event last Saturday. It was a blast to say the least.

Upon arriving I was nervous, not sure why I just get that way when I try new things. Over the past year I had started following horse racing, so I was very much looking forward to this event. There were so many people, and so many of them were dressed to the nines. I definitely represented the "southern belle" category with my bright yellow flowered dress, red shoes, red sunglasses, pearls and last but not least thanks to Jenna Quann my huge red hat.

We decided to reserve a covered umbrella table right next to the track and it was definitely a good choice, though we may do finish line seats next year! Overall we saw every race clearly and it was a good time. There were five big stake races and we tried our hand in betting on those, $2 here, $5 there. We won a few and lost a lot, but overall it is an experience like I had never had before. It is so hard to put how it felt and what fun I had into words. I literally have not stopped talking about it.

Needless to say we will be going next year. Let the horse studying and over the top outfitting begin, Virginia Derby 2012 here we come.

So Far, So Good

June has been a whirlwind of a month. I feel this way mostly due to directing VBS at my church. Quite the endeavor, I have a new found respect for those who have been directing VBS for years. That is besides the point though, June has flown by along with Ainsley's 9 month mark, Josh's first fathers day and last but not least my 30th birthday.

The day of my birthday I was thinking back over my life and to be honest Satan was getting the best of me. I felt unaccomplished, worthless, small and that my life had left no "real" impact. However, God had other plans for me that day. I eventually was reminded that I am a child of God and the lies I was hearing all that morning began to fade away.

Josh was up to something the day of my birthday. I knew he had some type of party planned, due to him spilling the beans. However, all I knew other than that was that I needed to be out of the house and then to my parents house by 4pm. So Ainsley and I ventured out to attend a retirement party of my former boss at Bethany. It was a joy to see all my old co-workers at Bethany, catching up and seeing the progress Bethany is making. I was reminded that Bethany was an amazing ministry that I had the privilege of being apart of for the past 7 years of my life. I had the opportunity to minister to hundreds of women who were contemplating aborting their children and others being desperate to find an adoptive family for their precious ones. God in his mercy and grace allowed "little" me to be a part of helping women and children in that very vulnerable time of their life. However, I was also quickly reminded of the new ministry He had given me to care for and Shepard my own child. My beautiful baby girl Ainsley what a blessing to be able to stay home with her. I told you the lies quickly started to fade away.

So after the retirement party I headed home to rest briefly before heading to my parents house. Josh was home and said he wanted to go with me so he could see my face, whatever that meant at that time I did not know. However, once we got to my parents I knew very much so what it meant. Upon arriving at my parents house it was full of family and friends, friends traveled from North Carolina and Ohio to be at my "little" me, my birthday party. Yet again I was reminded of how many people God has blessed me with in my life. People who love and care for me, people who I meant enough to for them to take a day out of their life or for them to travel so far to make my 30th birthday special.

Then lastly, I was reminded of one of the biggest blessings in my life. Josh! Josh had gone way beyond himself with planning this party. My husband is the spur of the moment, let it be guy. However, he had been planning this party since January 2011 and it showed. Every detail was perfect, from the decorations, my gluten free pizza, my mint chocolate chip ice cream cake, the guest list all the way to my amazing gift of one on one photography lessons!!! It was an amazing day, I was humbled by the thoughtfulness and generosity everyone showed to me. As I looked over the party attenders I could not look at one person without seeing how God had placed them in my life at the perfect time. For those who couldn't make it you were missed. Needless to say by days end the lies had completely faded and 30 is so far, so good!

Note: My parents gave me a pinata at the party and it was one of my favorite parts. I so enjoyed seeing my friends and family enjoy the party and the pinata made it to where their kids enjoyed the party too! It was a big HIT with the kids!

A weekend of first's

It has been over two months since my last post. That is way too long, so much has happened I can't begin to recap. I will briefly hit a few highlights. Josh went four wheel drive camping the end of March and had a great time, we celebrated Ainsley's first Easter and then my first Mother's Day and oh did I mention my baby girl will be 9 months old tomorrow. I can't believe it.

Ok now onto this weekends festivities. Memorial Day weekend 2011, those who know us well will remember last year at this time consisted of me being 5 months pregnant walking all of D.C. in the blistering heat pouring water all over my bare pregnant belly. I survived though! This year Memorial Day weekend was just as busy and just as memorable.

Friday Night: The GOP Lincoln - Regan Fundraiser dinner. This was an awesome experience being able to support the Stafford GOP, as well as Jason Pelt (Stafford Commonwealth Attorney Candidate), along with hearing VA Governor and Congressman Wittman. I was slightly nervous when Josh asked me what would I give him if when he met the governor he said, "ello govnah" with a British accent? I told him I would leave the dinner immediately knowing he was completely capable of pulling this off straight faced.

Saturday Night: First fish fry of the year. A childhood memory that will always be connected to my dad. Going fishing, dad coming home cleaning meticulously and removing every bone yes I said every and then us having a huge fish fry.

Sunday: Josh's cousins annual Memorial Day cook out. We had a great time relaxing and swimming and Josh's cousins house. Ainsley was able to test out her frog floaty for the first time in a BIG swimming pool. She loved it of course.

Monday: My, yest Jadey's first 5K. I have been working up slowly to running further and further and I finally committed and showed up to my first 5K. I had awesome support from Hannah and Hannah and of course Josh and Ainsley. Everyone was so patient and encouraging. I run very slow, so for these individuals to be willing to run/walk with me each step of the way was a sacrifice. I ran all but half a mile and I finished in 47 minutes. Which is not great but for someone who last year at this time was not running at all that is pretty good as far as I am concerned. Monday concluded with an awesome cookout at the Hendrix home with wonderful friends and family.

Josh and I can not begin to tell you how God has blessed us with a wonderful baby girl, great friends, wonderful church family and wonderful local family who babysit for us and support us each step of the way. We are truly grateful and thankful for each of you and ultimately thankful for God's grace and mercy.

A weekend of first

You will be missed

Being five years older than your only sibling often makes you feel like an only child. Growing up my brother and I were not very close, he was the pesky little brother who came in from playing outside and was sweaty and stunk! However, as we got older we grew closer and we did more things together. Most of the things were me driving Caleb around because I could drive and he could not. Upon graduating college I moved back home and that allowed my brother and I to get a lot closer. Getting closer with Caleb also caused me to get closer with his friends. Caleb has had many friends through the years that have been dear to my heart. One friend in particular though was a very nice guy, all around good person and a person who would do anything for you. This one friend was Phillip. Phillip attended several Kearns family vacations, hung out at the house a lot, attended my and Josh's Bible study on occasion and was one of my brothers very good friends. All of these reasons are reasons why Phillip was a good friend and reasons why Phillip will be missed. On Saturday Phillip passed away, my heart is shocked and grieves. However, I am overjoyed and I have hope. I had not seen Phillip in a while and about two months ago I was visiting my parents and he was there hanging out. Phillip shared with me how he had recently accepted Christ and he shared his testimony with me. It was sweet to hear his story then, but now with this unexpected passing his story is much, much sweeter. Phillip you will be missed, but I look forward to seeing you again.

One down, two to go!

Yesterday once Josh got home from work we prepared for a run. It had been almost a week since I had run last so I was slightly anxious. With Josh pushing the jogging stroller we headed out for our plotted out 1.2 mile course. I started out strong and by the time I came upon my usual stop and walk point I still had energy, so I kept on running. I was getting a little mentally side tracked so I put in my head phones and turned on the ipod. I got mildly annoyed once I realized that my ipod was set to switch songs every time it was shaken. Therefore my song was changing every 3 sec as I was running, boo! I stopped long enough to trade my phone for the old school ipod that I knew would not switch songs on me. After the switch I kept on running and running and running. I felt so great once I reached the end of the 1.2 miles, I had run the entire thing. This is a great accomplishment for me, I haven't run a mile since P.E. class in the 8th grade. I was very proud and Josh was proud of me too. Now I have two more miles to go before my 1st race April 9, 2011. CASA Superhero race here I come.....

Party Girl

Ainsley was recently invited to her cousin Gavin's 1st birthday party. All in all it was a fun experience. Ainsley enjoyed wearing her party hat and she sat patiently and watched Gavin open his presents. Periodically while Gavin was preoccupied with opening other presents, Ainsley would grab and start playing with the present Gavin had just finished opening. It was cute. She participated in all the activities, except eating cake we will save that for her 1st birthday of course.

Look who is 6 months old today

I seriously have blinked and it is Ainsley's 6 month marker. She is still a little peanut, but growing every day. She is a true joy and I love her so much. Josh and I are constantly saying to one another we can not believe how much we enjoy being parents. The ways she does things, turns her head, studies everyone she meets, smiles, her bright blue eyes are just some of the wonderful things about Ainsley. She is truly living up to her name Ainsley (a calm or peaceful place) and Claire (full of light). She is very much both of those things and we thank God for her presence every day. She is right now anxiously awaiting the rest of her breakfast so I better wrap this up. Happy 6 months Ainsley Claire.

68 years

Today I got out of the house to go running with Ainsley in the jogger. It is definitely easier to run without that thing. I did fairly well, though I must say I like running with Josh much better. On my way home I stopped to speak with a neighbor on my street whose husband recently passed away. It encouraged me so much and reminded me of God's blessings in my life. As I spoke with this lady you could definitely see her grief, but she kept repeating that she and her husband had a wonderful life together. She shared with me a time that she could remember being her maddest at him, but then also shared some great memories. My conversation with her prompted me to think to not take any days for granted and to be thankful for the time God gives you with those that you love. She and her husband had been married for 68 years. I often think what will Josh and I be like in 10 years, but 68 whoa. I hope however at the end I can be like my neighbor and say that Josh and I had a happy, blessed life. When I think back over all the memories I have of Josh and I together the good definitely out weigh the bad. I am definitely looking forward to the next 63 years with my best friend.

FOODE

I think most everyone that knows Josh and I know we try to eat pretty healthy. I have my certain food restrictions and those are unfortunately impressed upon Josh too. After watching a certain documentary about how food production is managed in our country and after visiting several holistic doctors who said the same things Burke manor has officially switched for the most part to free range, organic food. The only thing we have yet to do is join a co-op which we may do in the future. We realize for the most part this is how we choose to eat at home and when we go to restaurants we understand these choices are not usually available. Unless you choose to eat at FOODE in downtown Fredericksburg. It is a new restaurant and it is delicious. All free range, organic options and the food is wonderful. The prices are very reasonable as well. Today Josh and I ate lunch there and last week Jonathan and my mother in law ate there. I had heard nothing but good things and I had to experience for myself. I had the half winter salad and half cup of chili. It was wonderful. Josh had the chicken Quesadilla and he said it was good as well. We finished it off with an organic chocolate pudding with bananas and fresh made whip topping, delicious. Also Pastor Bill will appreciate that when you order coffee they bring your very own French Press to your table!! Total for Josh, Jody and myself to eat and have dessert and coffee was $45. They are not open on Monday's, but I hope you all will venture out and try for yourself Tuesday - Sunday.

Run, Run, Run

Well today unfortunately was my 1st day of training. I was hoping to get started sooner, however after delivering Ainsley I came to realize that none of my shoes fit me. I seriously only have 1-2 pair that still fit. So I had to buy new running shoes. The Burke's have also purchased a jogging stroller and I was fairly pleased with it. We got the Instep Grand Safari and I was pleased with it thus far. My running shoes were great, but they did not help me in the speed or endurance area:). I have plotted out a 1.2 mile area to run and today I ran roughly half of it. It was not pretty, but Josh took one for the team and ran with me, he actually ran ahead of me which in turn helped me because I felt as though I needed to keep up. Ainsley was in tow and she enjoyed her in stroller speaker which allowed her to listen to Death Cab for Cutie, at least I think that was the selection for today. Josh was pushing the stroller, I would have been listening to something too pop culture for Josh. So for day one of training it was not terrible, but the training must continue.

1,2,3,4 where did they go??

Well it is no lie when someone tells you to love, cuddle and spend time with your kids because time flies. Months 1-4 have felt like a blink. I am somewhat panicked because to be honest I am relying on my self too much. I am constantly in fear of being a horrible parent. I think last night I had a eureka moment or maybe it was a swift kick in the tail from the Holy Spirit. No matter what I am going to fail, people fail each other. Being willing to acknowledge your failures, make efforts to change them and move on I suppose is vital. I am honestly thankful and grateful for the gift God has given me through Ainsley. She causes me to truly reflect and want to be better, not just a better mommy but wife, daughter, friend and so on. It really is true that your kids show you things you might not have been willing to see before. I pray I don't waste four months or four years unwilling to reflect and therefore unwilling to change. I pray for God's grace and mercy and ultimately for time to SLOW down...

Burke 2011 Race Schedule

1. Irish Sprint 1mile (Josh and Jadey)
2. Rumpass in the Bumpass Tri International (Josh)
3. Colonial Beach Tri Sprint (Josh)
4. Heritage Festival 5 mile (Josh and Jadey)
5. Sandman Tri Sprint ?? (Josh)
6. Turkey Trot 10k or Turkey Trot 5k (Josh and Jadey)

There it is folks!!! Let the training begin...

What a difference a year makes!

Move it, Move it....

This year in 2011 there are going to be a lot of firsts for myself (Jadey). Obviously I am a new mom and that is going to bring a lot of firsts. However 2011 is going to be the year of "moving". No, Josh and I are not moving away. This year I have decided to become more active and mobile. Therefore I am going to attempt to run two races this year. I am not planning on doing any crazy Triathlons I will leave those to Josh. I do however plan on running a 1 mile race in March and either the July 4th 5 miler or the Turkey Trot in November. I am setting my goals low it is true, however if I accomplish them they will be big for me. When I was diagnosed with MS in 2008 I had no way of knowing what was to come. MS takes movement away from people that is pretty much all I know for sure. I am not sure what is in store in the future for me with my health. However, right now I can move so I don't want to take that for granted. Therefore my goal for 2011 is two races and to at least finish them.. Josh and I are also taking up Fly Fishing. I love to fish and haven't done much of it since getting married. Josh is not one for sitting quietly on the river bank or in a canoe casting for hours. So Fly Fishing seems as though it will be something we both can enjoy and we hope to get a few lessons from Colby Garman. So those are the new "movements" we will attempt in 2011 I hope to report back next January that they were all successful.