pensacola ramblings

i am overwhelmed by the response i received from my last post. i had no idea that people would even read it - and more so that they would reach out to me. i've been contacted by so many beautiful people who have offered prayers, advice, stories, and even thanks. it touches my heart to know that in some small way by sharing my story i have helped someone else - that maybe in it's own way, my experience has a purpose beyond myself.

i suppose that's what a testimony is though. you go through a trial, and once you're coming through the other side you share with others what you've learned. that's how we grow. how we learn. i'm grateful to have been able to share my story in such a platform that was even bigger than i knew. 

sam and i are still dealing with everything, but we're beginning to be at peace with the situation. this is largely due to you all - to the prayers that have been prayed for us whenever we were unable to pray for ourselves. thank you. 

thank you, thank you, thank you.

***

i view this blog as my own little space of the internet. a place that years from now i can look back on and reflect on what my life was like whenever i was a newlywed living in pensacola, and getting my first taste of Marine life.

i'm an overly sentimental person.

some say pack rat, but overly sentimental sounds better.helpful tip.

i'm the person who writes down when a picture was taken, who was in it, how old they were, and the situation surrounding each picture on the back of them all. i still have concert ticket stubs stashed around my house and storage unit. i hang maggie's first collar on the christmas tree with the ornaments. i still have receipts from my eighth grade trip, y'all. 

hi, my name is kayla, and i have a problem.

but i think when all is said and done, maybe it's not such a problem - a little inconvenient at times, but i think one day everyone will thank me for holding onto all these memories, and making sure we never forget. and this blog is just one of the ways i'm ensuring that our memories, emotions, and lives are documented.

okay, maybe i could let go of that receipt from eighth grade trip, and no one would notice.

so far, pensacola has been ..... a change. 

i'm a kentucky girl through and through. i wear a necklace around my neck just so everyone down here knows that i am not a local - i may as well tattoo it on my forehead. 

told you so.

even though the change has been anything less than graceful, i'm finally starting to embrace this new little place that i'll be living for the next couple months. i guess it's about time.

1, 2, 3: we spend lots of hours at the dog beach. 

4: our first night in pensacola - aka: the first time we'd been together since early february. we went to McGuires - and they were in trouble, so he had to wear his Chucks.

5: first family photo in 8 months. Memorial Day cookout at the apartment.

1, 2: love getting to skype my best friends, and these sweet babies.

3: when liberty is secured, that leaves only one option - The Crows Nest.

4, 5: a wedding Sam was in down here. it was just as awesome and beautiful as it looks.

1: beach bumming. he wanted to take a picture like i used to in high school. jerk.

2: couldn't resist getting a picture with Hubs when he's in his Blues.

3: while Sam was on bravo shift, that meant that most of our dinners took place on base. i would cook, pack everything up, and go sit at a picnic table and eat with him so we could spend some time together.

4: beach all day, err'day.

5: william and lucas came to visit, so we obviously had to take them to mcguires. also, i'm wearing a "dress" that i got a target, that i didn't realize was actually a large maternity tank top until after the tag was off - #sorrynotsorry #storyofmylife

***

i know my blog posts are generally heavy and well thought out, but this is also a place for me to put down our adventures and pictures so that i'll never forget. because just as the hard stuff shapes you and changes you, i think sometimes we forget that the good stuff can as well. i never want to stop focusing on my good days - the days where it doesn't seem that anything important happens. because those are the days that life happens. and those are the days that we so quickly forget about in the grand scheme of things.

so, here's to the small days as well as the big ones. to being content with where we are, and excited for where we're going.

and here's to pensacola - because as much as i sometimes dislike it, i'll never be able to argue its significance in my life. it's where my husband and i got to be together for the first time in our married life. it's where i learned a hard lesson about loss. where i learned to branch out and make friends. and where i learned that i'm never truly alone, no matter how i may feel.