I know, I know what a cheesy title this may be but its 100% true...Andrew and I are currently reading a book titled "I Love a Firefighter." It was a wedding gift from his Captain. Along with the book came a very sweet, heartfelt note from his wife. Needless to say I was very touched by the advice she offered us and their sincere concern for Andrew outside of the workplace. Public Safety workers (Firefighters and Police Officers) are known to have one of the highest divorce rates. In fact, a lot of Andrew's coworkers are divorced and definitely have some negative opinions about marriage. Many tried to talk him out of it and some even offered him some pretty sweet vacation getaways if he didn't take the plunge.
Andrew and I have been married for six months now and I have definitely learned a lot about the fire service. I always knew a lot because my brother is a fire fighter as well, but I never realized the small effects it can play on a marriage. Reading this book with Andrew allows us to discuss some of the tough subjects and find ways to turn them into positives, so we don't turn into another statistic. For example, the long hours he is gone. They are normally only 24 hrs, but sometimes it can be as long as 72 hrs. Those definitely get to me! I get lonely at times, but I'm learning to try and look at the bright side: I get my own "me" time when he is working, I get the whole bed to myself, I don't have to worry about cooking a nice meal, and the fact that those long hours apart mean long hours together...sometimes.
I'm still trying to learn that just because I slept the night before doesn't mean he slept at work. When he gets home I'm ready to be with him and spend every second with him when sometimes all he needs is some peace and quiet or a nice nap. Oops...still working on perfecting that one. :)
If I saw this book in a store I probably would've laughed at anyone purchasing it just because it sounds so ridiculous, but it has been such a blessing to us. Some of it makes me laugh at how heroic and glamorous people view fire service, but I truly think it is important to have a slight glimpse into what Andrew deals with at work and to understand that at times hows it spills over into family life. While I will never witness or deal with some of the emotional things he sees on call, I now have a deeper understanding of why he does things the way he does and how I can support and help him as his wife in certain situations.
All of this to say that I love my studly firefighter. While at times it is rough being home extended periods of time without him, I can honestly say I wouldn't have it any other way. I am proud of my husband and the profession he has chosen. Reading this book with him has only deepened my respect for Andrew. I know that with God as the foundation of our marriage that we can beat the odds set against us. Oh and did I mention that he looks great in uniform?! :)
It seems like yesterday that we were in California enjoying the cool weather and awesome photo session. This week Radiant Photography finished their pictures from our time with them and all we can say is WOW! We are so glad we took the incredible opportunity to take pictures at all the unique spots San Diego had to offer. Its impossible to choose favorites when every single picture is spectacular in its own way, so here are just a few:
First we started off at the Torrey Pines State Park
Then we found a cool pathway of dirt walls
Our last stop was the gorgeous beach in La Jolla
The water was so cold
But definitely worth these AMAZING pictures!A HUGE thank you to Scottie and Breanna for all your hard work! I seriously adore the passion and talent you both possess. We LOVE our pictures and I'm pretty sure every single wall in our house is adorned with at least one photo. We love our friendship and how much it has grown over this past year. To sum this all up before it gets too cheesy: You are awesome and keep rockin at life!
Life has definitely been eventful these past few weeks and I am so grateful for a loving Father who never left my family's side. God is so good!
Saturday, June 26th, my mom had a severe migraine. It was so intense that she couldn't sleep much, walk much, and her blood pressure had sky rocketed. This continued throughout the weekend, but we thought it was just a bad headache due to stress or a lack of sleep. Monday rolled around and the migraine was still full force. My mom went to work Monday - Wednesday with the help of Tylenol to semi relieve the pain. By Thursday, July 1st, the pain was so bad that she stayed home from work. In the afternoon she started vomiting, so we took her to the Emergency Room. At Scottsdale Shea she received several CAT scans and MRIs. The doctors found a pool of blood and concluded that she had an aneurysm. Since an aneurysm is so dangerous, they wanted to begin surgery as soon as possible. They were going to send her to Scottsdale Osborn but they were packed, so they transported her to St. Joes. Such a miracle in itself! She was given the head doctor at Barrows and for some reason he had some doubt about the whole situation. All prior testing led doctors to believe it was an aneurysm, but he wanted more testing so he could be 100% sure. After extensive testing all day Friday, the doctor concluded that there was no aneurysm! Can you imagine if he (or any other doctor) went through with the surgery to find out that no aneurysm exists?! My mom gets to keep her beautiful scar free head. I know God was nudging on that doctor's heart to just keep testing and testing!
So how do you explain the bleeding in her brain? My mom had a brain hemorrhage (the same exact thing Bret Michaels was recently in the hospital for...the same hospital actually). They told my family that 50% of the people with this issue do not even make it to the hospital in time and of those people that do only 50% survive. My mom is part of the fighting and surviving 25%! Such a blessing! During her stay there were times where her sodium levels would drastically drop or her heart rate would become so low that they would give her oxygen, but God was there through it all. She was released Wednesday after about a week in the ICU. She will return in the coming weeks for continued testing. She is currently resting, relaxing, and regaining strength. Its still a long road ahead of us, but we are just so incredibly grateful for the amazing mother that God has blessed us with.
