This is one of the first weekends in quite some time that Walker and I have been able to explore. He had been studying so hard for the test he took last week and now he gets to relax a bit. Woo!
I had it in my head that I’d like to see one of the beached in town so we trekked it to Golden Gardens by bus and by foot. We walked along the beach a bit, looked at rocks and driftwood, and took a few pictures. It was such a sunny day but don’t let that fool you, it was super cold out. I was wearing wool mittens nearly all day long.
We took our time getting home and stopped half way for a happy hour and a couple of beers before hopping back on the bus to go home. Walker and I had a bit of a miscommunication about where to get off the bus and we ended up downtown. I for one was ok with it because they’ve started to put holiday lights up and it was really pretty.
Yeah! I’m so glad you joined me today! It’s so exciting when I get requests for custom orders and it’s even better when it has such a special meaning to someone. I’ve got a really great story today from Emily so I’ll let her take it away!
My name is Emily, and I have been sitting her trying to come up with the importance of this necklace to me but how do you come up with words, when the feelings attached to this necklace are indescribable? My husband is a Sailor, currently deployed. We met about 6 years ago at work. It took us awhile but we finally got together and got married. Going through a deployment is hard to describe. It’s kind of like having your heart in the middle of the ocean with limited communication (oh wait, he is in the middle of the ocean… ;)).
One day I was on Pinterest, and saw the state necklaces with the hearts in them. I got to thinking, since my heart doesn’t lie in any one state (we’ve lived in 3, in the past 3 years) what if I could get one of his ship with a heart in it?! What a great idea, the only problem was, who makes such a thing? At first I thought, “I could just make it myself!” Haha! Not the case, I don’t have the skills or the equipment to make something so delicate and beautiful. So my search was on.
I turned to Etsy (my favorite handmade website) and did some searching. When I ran across Jessica’s page, I loved her work! She did such a good job and seemed to love what she does. So I took the chance and asked her. To my delight, she was more than excited to help. We talked back and forth for a couple days to get the particulars down, finding pictures and such. She was amazing through the whole process!!
We settled on the design and she got to work. I got my necklace in the mail today, in a cute little box, when I opened it I was SO unbelievably excited and amazed with the final product (the pictures don’t do it justice). It’s such a small thing, a delicate little necklace, but it has such a huge impact. It helps me feel close to my husband when he is thousands of miles away, and this is the last crew that will be on the USS Reuben James, the last wives that will be attached to this ship. I am honored to have a piece of my heart on this great warship, and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Jessica! Thank you for giving me this small gift, that takes up a huge place in my heart.
I had such a great time getting to know Emily and I’m so glad I could be a tiny part of their story. How cut is their family picture?! If you enjoyed this story and are interested to hear more like it or perhaps even tell your own be sure to subscribe to the list!
These more monumental events make you look back on your life and remember where you were for the last one. Walker and I reminisced about the first time we voted and about times we could remember waiting for the results of an election when we were little. I have an especially clear memory of betting a penny on the playground in elementary over who would win.
The election I was thinking about the most though was the one 4 years ago. I had recently moved to Austin with my best friend and we barely knew anyone. We happened to meet a guy in the park doing a cleanup who understood how hard it is when you’re new and invited us to a few events. During that initial friendship we were invited over to a results viewing party at his place with his girlfriend and lawyer friends. It just reminds me a lot of where I am now-in a new place, not really knowing many people or places and finding my way.
This year I wanted to make a memory too so we could look back at it in 4 years. It was also a huge plus that Walker had just taken the test he’d been studying so hard for and we could let loose a little and enjoy ourselves. We went out to a bar that was super crowded but ended up at a more relaxed place where we had drinks and bar food (ah). There was a pretty positive energy in the place and also on the streets as we walked home. It was a fun night.
