All In The Family

Growing up, I was one of seven grandchildren on my mom's side of the family. There's a 22 1/2 year age difference between the oldest and youngest grandchild, with everyone else spaced out between. The point is: none of us have any cousins our own age... or even remotely close to our own age. Yet despite the fact that we're so spread out, our entire family is really close. Most of us have always lived within a half mile of each other, we've always all gone to the same church, we all have dinner together at my grandparents' house at least once a week, etc.

Everyone, that is, except one of my cousins, who now lives in Florida with his wife and two ridiculously adorable girls.

No worries. We're still close, and we still get to see them a couple of times a year. This past weekend just happened to be one of those times!

Meet Kaylie Ann, age 5 1/2

And Myla Rae, age 2.

Even though they're in Winston for almost a week, Corrie & I only got to spend Saturday with them (Corrie is a senior high camper at Camp Bethel this week!) All seventeen of us enjoyed going out to eat & then heading back to my house for some homemade ice cream :)

When I was younger, the cousin gender ratio was: girls-5, boys-2. Then my cousin got married, so the girls gained another, and then BOTH of their kids are girls... bringing the score up to 8-2. Needless to say, there are always lots of polly pocket parties when the Adams' family comes to visit!

We also enjoyed some good ol' trampoline and baseball in the front yard :)

(I am not even kidding... she totally posed like this & said, "take my picture!" As soon as she heard the shutter, she'd whip out another pose. Girl is a natural.)

And although there is no photographic evidence, we did play numerous rounds of Wii Dance... boys included. Honestly, no pictures could do it justice.

Love you all! Amy/Justin/Kaylie/Myla---have a safe trip back to Florida & hopefully I'll see you SOON!

June 27, 2008

My dear friend Brad sums up my feelings toward Zach's & my three year anniversary rather nicely:

"Now you're my whole life; now you're my whole world.

I just can't believe the way I feel about you...

Like a river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been,

We've come so far since that day, and I thought I loved you then."

Summer 2008

Summer 2009

Summer 2010

Summer 2011

Zacharie Jones, I didn't know it was possible, but I honestly fall more in love with you each and every day. We've been through so much in the past three years, yet through it all, God has been so faithful to us, and it is such a blessing to celebrate our relationship. I love you with all of my heart! Happy anniversary!

June Birthdays

Apparently June is a good month to be born, because three of my favorite people are celebrating birthdays this week.

Happy birthday, Sophia (Zach's youngest sister - age 11), Grandpa, and Reese (my cousin - age 3)!

Deployment: Week 5 & 6

I haven't posted about Zach & the rest of the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in a while. No worries, Afghanistan is still...hot and sunny.

Soon after the boys arrived over there, one of the officers sent out a list of suggested things to include in packages. He mentioned ramen noodles because "all of the Marines will have fairly easy access to boiling water." No duh. Stick the bowl outside for twenty minutes and you should be good to go. It's crazy hot over there & will definitely get hotter throughout the upcoming months.

Zach doesn't really mention the heat whenever we talk, though. However, he did tell me all about his trip outside the FOB this week... in a helicopter.

Yep, boyfriend got to escort a couple of interpreters from the FOB where he's stationed to the main base in Afghanistan via a helicopter. How legit is that?

Zach also informed me this week that he bought a ukulele. Yes, a ukulele. And it's currently being shipped to the middle of the Afghan desert. It's actually really funny, because unbeknownst to him, I've been looking at ukuleles online to buy for myself (I have a basic knowledge of ukulele chords & have played them before).

Does Zach have a basic knowledge of ukulele chords and/or experience playing one? Negative. But I guess he's got six months to learn how. I'm not gonna lie---I'm a sucker for guys playing stringed instruments of any kind. Woo away, boyfriend.

He's started receiving more mail---it takes about three to four weeks to get out there. I'm not sure how long it takes for mail to get back to the States, because he sent his first letter a month ago and I still haven't gotten it. Any day now, I'm sure. I can't wait... I'm pretty sure I like receiving snail mail even more than I like guys who play stringed instruments ;)

The only other major update is that Zach has figured out how to send texts to my phone via his email account, so he goes into work early/stays a little later and sends me a few texts from the armory computer! Goodness, I sure do love "texting" that boy. Minus the period of time when he was outside the FOB on the helicopter, I've gotten a text from him every day for the past two weeks. We typically get to talk on the phone once or twice a week as well---I feel so spoiled! He's doing really well; he's in great spirits & so up-beat and positive.

He also alway tells me to tell everyone hello, so dearest blog readers, hello from LCpl Jones (soon to be Cpl Jones!) in Afghanistan. Thanks again for all of your love and support---it's crazy to think that six weeks have already passed since Zach and I last saw each other. It's absolutely flying by! It's also crazy to think that TOMORROW is our three year anniversary...and I'm spending my entire summer where it all began :)

Horse Obsession

I think every girl goes through a "horse phase." (At least... I'm hoping so. Please tell me that you had a horse phase too so I don't feel dumb.) My little sister had a horseback riding party at Tanglewood Park for her 8th birthday. My baby sister once wrote the cutest letter to Santa Claus telling him how good she had been all year and that "the only thing" she wanted for Christmas was a horse.

However, I'm certain that my horse phase lasted 10x longer than everyone else's.

I eventually did outgrow my horse phase. I gave away my plastic horse collection with the Barbie stables. I also gave away my horse shirts (and sweaters. Yes, I had horse sweaters. I wish I were kidding...) I took down the horse posters in my room and found other things to fill the pages of my sketchbooks.

But I jumped at the chance to drive the junior high adventure unit on their horseback riding trip this week :)

And despite the fact that my insanely sharp tailbone is bruised beyond repair, I loved being a ten year old girl again.

(I also loved the chance to be all artsy with a legit camera for 20 minutes or so.)

Let's be honest: Did you have a "horse phase"?

If not, what was your preteen obsession?

PS: Happy Father's Day to my favorite daddy in the whole world---mine!

(He is pretty awesome, even if my baby sister never got that horse...)

A Light That Is So Lovely

This is my current quote for the week.

And by week, I mean summer.

And by summer, I mean my life.

[photo taken at Camp Bethel; quote by Madeleine L'Engle]

I cannot begin to express how much I love that. As in love, love, loveee it. It's so beautiful. And so true. It's what I believe. It's how I strive to live. And it's just been on my heart a lot lately, so I wanted to share :)

Deployment: Week 4

Guess what I received in a package this week?

Yep, flowers & chocolates sent from my boyfriend in the middle of the Afghanistan desert.

And guess how many of those chocolates are left?

Don't answer that question.

Needless to say, boyfriend is doing well. I received my "just because I love you" package on Tuesday, I got a phone call on Wednesday, and we "texted" for the first time in a month today! (He texted my phone from his email account... so much fun!)

He's also finally started to receive my letters --- I'm pretty sure 4 weeks counts as legit snail mail :)

Birthday Princess

Yesterday was Katherine's 19th birthday, so Robby & I left camp as soon as staff training ended for a whirlwind trip to Winston-Salem. Of course, we brought our friend, Josh, along.


Katherine is not only 19 years old now, but she is one of the most creative people when it comes to playing charades ("the woman who makes Mr. Roger's sweaters" & "a man working in a Q-tip factory"...? Yeah. You wish you were part of the Haynes family.)

Happy birthday, little sister! I love you :)

(Haynes sisters---ages 16, 19, & 21)

Staff Training: Week 2

Oh heyy, blog world :)

Needless to say, I've been a little busy the past few weeks with staff training at Camp Bethel. Although the entire staff has been together for just twelve days, I'm amazed at how much everyone has bonded and how God is so evident in the life of our staff body.

Here's a little glimpse at what I've been up to:

Leading songs/skits/campfire/worship for Parent-Child Overnight Camp



Eating ridiculously burnt marshmallow s'mores because I don't have the patience to toast them until they're golden brown.



Soaking my feet in the spring with my fellow SPCs :)



Getting pulled around by fellow staff members & a noodle on a makeshift slip-n-slide



Leaping over sprinklers like the gymnast I am :)



Helping Dwayne monkey-crawl his way up Jacob's Ladder on the high ropes course



Spending time with two of my favorite boys everrr, David & Robby



Building a one-match fire at Home-in-the-Woods



Bonding with the lovely ladies of Unit 2



Lashing a TV at Home-in-the-Woods for the sole purpose of being ridiculous



Adopting Italian "tuh-tles" as pets & naming them "Carlos Pisafordeener"



Hiking Horseshoe Bend in the middle of the afternoon on the hottest day of the week



Chasing Lucy the dog as she ran into the middle of the Blue Ridge Parkway



Rockin' my official USMC skivvy shorts at Black Horse Gap



Tubing on the James River for our 2011 staff trip




Acting a little crazy, as always



Getting the most intense sock tan of my life



Singing lots and lots of "Little John..."
(Giddup, Nell!)



Loving my favoritest bunkmate/roomie for the summer



Staff training ended this morning & (finally) the first day of camp is... TOMORROW! In the meantime, I have LOTS to write about & hope to get caught up on my baby blog, so stay tuned for updates about my family, Zach, snail mail/packages, an incredibly belated end-of-the-month FAQ post, and more :)