10 years…

15 countries visited
9 wine regions tasted
8 different jobs held
7 deployments and trainings apart
5 homes together
4 military “permanent change of station”
2 cats to join our family
1 daughter created

It was a sunny, but very windy day on April 17, 2011 in Wichita, Kansas. Ara and I stood before a small group of our family and close friends as we got married. Ten years ago! If you would have told me ten years ago that I would live, visit and experience all the things that have happened—I would have never dreamt it!

How it started…

Ara and I met in February 2009 while I was finishing my bachelors degree at Wichita State University. He had just moved to Wichita that prior fall to his first station at McConnell Air Force Base as a qualified pilot. We were both out with friends one evening and he decided to have the courage to go up to the bar and talk to a “couple of blondes.” Well one of those blondes turned out to be me, and I ended up giving him my number that night. The next day I met up with him and a few of his friends and the first picture was taken. Don’t we look like babies?! We were!

Ara proposed to me in August 2010 and I’ll never forget (he doesn’t let me forget either) that when he was down on one knee—he said he promised this would always be an adventure. And he has definitely kept that promise! We’ve had quite a lot of adventures in our years together. The picture on our right was taken the night of a small engagement party at Oeno Wine Bar in Wichita, where we first met.

Hawaii: The first chapter

Four days after we got married, I found myself boarding a plane (technically two) as we left Kansas and made our way to Honolulu. Ara had already been living there since December 2010, while I stayed back in Wichita and worked/planned our wedding. It was quite the culture shock for me to dive into life in Hawaii as a newly married woman, first move out of Kansas and figuring out the military life. Hawaii was definitely our first chapter in married life. We learned to navigate a lot of things there as we both opened our eyes and ourselves to new horizons in many ways. We discovered a joint love for our foodie lifestyle and wine while there. We found ourselves outdoors hiking most weekends and traveling to other Hawaiian islands.

The honeymoon + first anniversary…

Since we got married and immediately moved to Hawaii together, we delayed our “honeymoon” until our first anniversary. We headed off the island and set out to San Francisco and Napa Valley. We checked things off our list like the Golden Gate Bridge, brewery tour at Anchor Brewing Company and our first ever tasting menu at Flour + Water. We wine tasted all afternoon and ate delicious food in St. Helena and Yountville. We woke up at the crack of dawn one morning and took in the sunrise from a hot air balloon over the vineyards. Our passion for food and wine was definitely ignited during this trip and has not slowed down at all.

Military Life

I can safely say that I knew less than an ounce about life in the military before I met Ara. I even thought it was “a line” that he used on me the night we met when he said he was an Air Force pilot. No one else I knew was in any kind of military branch, and it seemed so foreign to me. Life in and around the military is one of the most unique things I’ve ever come to know. It’s a beautiful thing and heartbreaking all at the same time. I fell in love with someone who has selflessly given a commitment to our country. It means moving around to different corners of the country and the world every 2-3 years (in our case so far). It means kissing them as they leave for a flight and hoping you get to hug and kiss them when they return. It means saying “see you later” as they leave for a training or deployment for months on end. It means making friends that typically turn into family that will last a lifetime. It means staying up hours past when you should be in bed and make that phone call 7 time zones away to hear an “I love you” on the other end during a deployment.

Ara has had the opportunity to fly two different jets during his time in the Air Force — the KC-135 and C-17. I’ve had the chance to “taxi” him in on two occasions as we were moving from Hawaii and Tacoma.

I wore Ara’s leather bomber jacket to his deployment homecoming in May 2015. This photo that was taken of us embracing after his arrival home is one that will always give me so many memories.

5th Anniversary…

Ara and I spent our 3rd & 4th anniversaries apart while he was deployed on separate occasions so we wanted to make it count for our 5th anniversary. I planned a 12 day getaway for us to Italy—a dream location for both of us. We spent several days each in Florence, Cinque Terre, Umbria and Rome. We feasted on some of the most amazing food we’ve ever had, drank amazing Umbrian wine, hiked 12 miles in Cinque Terre, survived our first fender bender in Perugia and saw historic sites in Rome.

Saying goodbye…

One of the hardest things that we’ve had to say goodbye to during our marriage has been our homes. All of our homes that we’ve lived in over the past 10 years have been so unique and different in their own regard—carrying all the good and bad memories we’ve made there. We’ve definitely had our favorite homes and our Tacoma home takes the cake for me. We spent three years in a gorgeous 1900 home in a historic district of North Tacoma. We could walk 3/4 of a mile downhill to the Puget Sound and take in the glorious water view of the Pacific Northwest. There was a beautiful sunroom that could light up even the grayest day and such character in our old home. We also fell in love immediately with our home in Weilerbach, Germany the moment we toured it before moving in. It was a beautiful spot to bring Nora home to and share so many memories with our friends in Germany.

It’s become tradition for us to play a song that is special to us and share a dance after all our household goods are out of the home. Such a bittersweet feeling felt through tears as we remember all the things that happened under that roof.

Our 7th anniversary

Since we dreamed big and headed to Italy for our 5th anniversary I had set my sights on making our way to Greece for the next big milestone anniversary at 10 years. And then we got military orders to move to Germany, and European travel became much easier. We spent our 7th anniversary soaking up the sun and culture in Athens and Santorini, Greece. It was an absolute dream of a vacation where everything fell perfectly into place. We took in the history of the Parthenon, had sandals hand-crafted on my feet and walked miles in the streets of Athens. Santorini was like stepping foot into something I’d only ever dreamed about. We had amazing food every meal, an amazing view from our Inn and had a fabulous food and wine tour.

Here comes…baby!

We woke up on Mother’s Day 2017 and received some news that would forever change us. A positive pregnancy test. I spent the next 10 weeks with major morning sickness and Ara showing me care and devotion like I’d never received. We spent the remaining part of the pregnancy reading several baby books and listening to podcasts trying to figure out how we were going to be capable to raise a tiny human. In late August we found out during our anatomy scan that the baby we would be welcoming was a girl. We had felt all along that the sweet baby I was carrying was a girl. We’ve had several moments during our marriage that we call “big magic” moments and one of those came about back in 2014. Ara’s grandfather had passed away and we had read in his obituary that his mother’s name was Nora. We both had read the obituary separately as he was training in Altus, Oklahoma and I was living in Hawaii still. That evening, we discussed the obituary and both mentioned how if we ever had a girl Nora would be a perfect name for a baby.

January 5, 2019

Nora Elizabeth joined our family on a snowy, cold day in January. We finally had our Nora.

That day forever changed us as a couple, making us a family of three. Reading all the baby books and preparations never prepare you for how life changes when a baby enters. We spent the first few days oooing and ahhing over how tiny our new baby was and then life came to a halt. I was admitted to the hospital with postpartum preeclampsia. My blood pressure was scarily high and at risk for stroke or seizure. I remember looking from the hospital bed and seeing Ara look so concerned for my well-being and on the other side, our tiny sleeping newborn. Life definitely takes some crazy turns and sometimes we aren’t ready for them—this was definitely one of them. We all spent the next four days in the hospital together as I received treatment and recovered, trying to lower my blood pressure. I didn’t realize it at the time of my admittance to the hospital but it became some of my scariest memories and I’m so thankful that Ara was by my side every step of the way.

Life as three…

It didn’t take long for Nora to have us both wrapped around her little finger. We spent our first days and months with life revolving around her every move. Ara and I had been married for 7 years before she burst into the picture and it definitely changed our tempo and routine in more ways than one. I’d say we are still adjusting and she’s two now—ha!

We wanted to make the most out of last months in Europe and added our newest family member on as many travels as we could. We all ventured to Paris, Greece, Northern France and the Netherlands before heading back to the USA when she was six months old. COVID hit and Ara started doing his school year from home and we entered into full time family mode. We were able to spend so much family time together that we wouldn’t otherwise have and it was priceless. Ara and I have learned a lot from our two short (yet, somehow long?) two years and the biggest one has been patience. We’ve been humbled daily by how difficult and rewarding each day with a child is.

Furry family members

Our story is not complete without mentioning two sweet additions to our family, Riley & Newman. Riley joined my life in July 2009 when I adopted her from the Humane Society in Wichita. She came as a package deal with me when Ara and I started our relationship—but now she prefers him over me any day. Funny how those things happen! Newman joined our story in September 2011 after we rescued him from the car engine area of our Honda Accord. We weren’t sure if we would keep him (I’m still shell shocked from the long process of taking a cat to Hawaii when we moved Riley) but we soon found ourselves naming him Newman and I knew all bets were off when we named him. These two have added so much to our lives and marriage—good and bad. They have kept me company and snuggled warm with their comfort during many times with Ara away. They’ve also make us say some curse words with how difficult it is to move overseas with them, constant health issues with Newman and overall sassy behavior from Riley. We sure do love them though!

Where are you from?

One of the most frequently asked questions we get is “where are you from?” Both Ara and I are originally from the Midwest but I find myself being so conflicted now when asked this question. For the last ten years I’ve found myself making “home” in different spots across the USA and Europe. I no longer feel like my home is the place where I was born (Kansas). We’ve got a sign in our house that reads “Wherever you are is…home” and that couldn’t be truer for me.

It’s been noted that one of life’s top stressful moments is moving. Ara and I have now moved four different times during our marriage and will be embarking on our fifth move this summer. The stress for each move is always a little different depending on different factors. Some people have commented to me before that since we do it so often we must be used to it; but that’s definitely not the case. Each move comes about with different struggles and positives. Each move there are many tears shed, countless lists made, hours spent researching new areas, relentless searches for a home and discussions about what to keep and sell.

Making it count

Moving to Montgomery, AL was the hardest transition for both of us during our marriage. Ara left a great position at Ramstein AB to begin a year long school at Maxwell AFB. The schedule was extremely demanding and very different than we were both used to as new parents. I had reverse culture shock returning to the USA and immediately began suffering from postpartum anxiety and depression. It was definitely our hardest year of marriage as we navigated through some hard situations and had to lean on each other in new ways. One thing we’ve always made time for, especially since Nora has arrived on the scene, has been date nights. We make a point to focus on each other, our love and connecting with each other—making sure we can keep our love at the forefront of our marriage. Both of these pictures were taken in East Montgomery, a year apart.

Through the years…

It’s impossible to list all the memories that we’ve made together in ten years—the good, the bad and the in between. We’ve been able to do some amazing things and see some incredible sights. We’ve visited 15 countries together - Canada, USA, Ireland, UK, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, Greece, and New Zealand. We’ve also made some amazing memories doing regular life together. Cuddling our kitties on the couch, shopping for wine, high fives (our secret to a good marriage), Rainier’s baseball games, playing new vinyls on the record player, neighborhood walks, spilling turkey brine all over the kitchen, emergency room visits and roasting marshmallows around the fire.

How it’s going…

If you would have asked me on my wedding day where I’d be in ten years and what our life would look like I’m really not sure how I would have answered. I’m not sure if 23 year old me would have believed that I would have all the life experiences under me that I do now. It’s a beautiful and humbling thing to think back on all our years together and take some time to be in awe and celebrate all that we have done and accomplished. All the life we have learned either through beautiful moments or hard conversations, has culminated into such fulfillment that I would probably tell my younger self, “buckle up, the ride is only getting started—also, make sure you have your passport handy.”

Ara, I’m so thankful that God placed you and I in the same spot together at the right time. You were definitely placed in my life for a reason and I’m so thankful to be your wife. We have created such a beautiful life together that I enjoy living each day with you. I’m so lucky to call you my husband and to be raising a fierce, little soul with you. The first ten years have been quite the adventure (that you promised) and I’m eager to see what else the future holds for us together. Cheers to our love!