2010: A Roller Coaster Odyssey. And what a ride it has been.

Wow, what a year this has been. So many things have happened this year. Linda and I have many things to be thankful for, and if you have been following the blog you already know some things about our journey. Nevertheless, I want to take a few minutes to re-cap some of the things that have made this year the toughest, and at the same time, the best year of our lives.

Linda and I started off the year visiting Virginia and the DC area. I have never really had the opportunity to explore the mall area and really wanted to go to the many war memorials that are there. I took this picture at the WWII Memorial. I cannot begin to tell you how humbling it is to stand in the midst of something that represents the men and women of this great nation. It was a real treat for me and I must admit that I shed a few tears of thanks for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom.

But of course, the most important reason for our trip was meeting the parents. Meeting the parents of the person you love is always a little un-nerving, and it was no different for me. In most cases you get to meet them long before things get to the "love" phase, and they get to learn who you are right along with that special someone. That wasn't the case for me. I was head over heels in love with Linda long before I met her parents. In fact I bought her ring almost 3 months before then. (Of course she didn't know that) Anyway, despite the difficulties of distance, I have come to know Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw better and I trust that the years ahead will continue to bring us closer.

From there, we returned to Texas where I quickly proposed and was pleased to get a very enthusiastic, "Yes!" Up to that point, that was the happiest moment of my life. Unfortunately, the next few months brought some very difficult times for Linda and I. We faced hurdles of a personal nature that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I think I speak for both of us when I say that the spring of 2010 was one of the most difficult times of our lives. But with God's help and ever-lasting grace, we managed to come through it all and on May 28th I had the pleasure of saying, "I do" to my best friend. Needless to say, that was my new "happiest moment ever".

However there was a downside to that happiness. When Linda and I got married, I had to walk away from a job that I really enjoyed. Not so much because the work was crazy fun (although I did enjoy it), but because I was blessed to get to work with my father every day. I hear so many people complaining about their parents or blaming them for one thing or another. Sometimes they are legitimate, but many times the complaints are just plain stupid and quite frankly, immature. Well let me tell all of you something right now. I don't have a single complaint about my parents in any way shape or form. In fact, any bad situations that I have found myself in, were and always will be 100% dependent on the decisions I have made. Not anyone else. And especially not my parents. If you go through your life blaming your bad situations on others, stop it!! Take responsibility for your own actions.

Okay enough of that, I'll get off my soap box. What I was getting at is this: I had to leave a job that I loved. I loved it because my partner was my dad and he is the fairest and most honest man I have ever known. I truly loved working with him and it tore me up inside to have to leave. But my heart was with Linda and so that is where I had to be as well. Like I said, it was the toughest, and the best year of my life.

After Linda's graduation from residency we took time off for a wonderful honeymoon and another trip to visit family and friends. We flew from Houston to Vegas to Cancun, and back to Houston. Then drove from Houston to San Antonio and on to Virginia where we got on another plane and flew to Turkey. All within a month.

While in Vegas I got to spend some quality time with my new brother and sister in-law. I really enjoyed getting to know them better and miss them greatly. As you can see, Lisa was expecting at the time. Since then she has given birth to a beautiful baby boy. As you can see in the video, Clara is singing to her little brother. I have no doubt that she will treat her little brother better than Linda and Lisa treated theirs.

Our adventure in Turkey is basically where Keeping up with the Joneses got started, so I won't bore you with all of the happenings we have already written about. Suffice to say that we have had a wonderful 5 months. As you probably already read in a previous entry, Linda spent the better part of our first three months here studying for her boards. I am pleased to announce that on Monday, Dec. 13th, she was informed that she passed, and is now a board certified pediatrician.

It was kind of funny really. We were in Germany for a little vacation and she checked her facebook page. There, she came across the status of one of her classmates that read, "I passed my boards!" Needless to say Linda's heart was now in her throat and she could barely think straight. Here we were, on vacation, and the news of her test score was awaiting her. I recommended that we go to dinner and check the email as soon as we got back. That was all well and good, except the butterflies in Linda's stomach wouldn't let her eat a thing. Despite my prayer that she be able to just put it out of her head for an hour, she was clearly not at dinner with me. I would say something and Linda would respond with a, "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Or something similar. Fortunately we were having dinner at the resort and it was just a short walk up to the room to check the email.

No matter how positive you may be of something, there is always that little voice of doubt that whispers to you. Well for Linda, that voice was screaming right in her ear. So, as I held her hand and prayed, she opened the email and read the letter. When she breathed a very large sigh of relief my eyes were closed and I wasn't sure if it was what I thought, or if it was a sad sigh that would quickly be followed by tears. But it was made clear as soon as I heard those five little words, "Oh thank God, I passed!!!" We both ended up shedding a few tears, but they were tears of joy.

As I said, we were in Germany for a little vacation time. Linda has some friends there and we were able to stay with them for the majority of the trip. The nights that we didn't spend with friends, we were at Edelweiss Resort in Garmish. It is a military only facility that is just beautiful. We had such a good time. We arrived on Monday, skied all day Tuesday and then on Wednesday, went to Neuschwanstein castle.It's a castle that was built in the late 1800's and is absolutely breathtaking. (See photo below) We had to drive an hour in the snow to get to it, then take a horse drawn carriage ride the last mile or so up a very windy and steep road. All the while the snow kept on coming. But it was all worth it. From there we drove back up to another one of Linda's friends house were we spent the remainder of our trip.

We returned to Turkey just in time for Christmas and lots of packages were waiting at the post office. Prior to leaving for Germany, Linda had done a wonderful job of decorating for the season. Our tree is beautiful and the house is very cozy. The only thing missing is a fireplace.We spent Christmas eve with some of our new friends here at the base. And then got up Christmas morning to open presents. That afternoon we again went to a friends home for a wonderful Christmas meal and some games. We always play boys vs. girls and normally the girls spank us pretty bad, but Ole' St Nicholas was on our side this time around cuz we beat them good. Several times!! Afterwards we came home to spend a nice evening cuddled up in front of a movie together. Again, I know I speak for both of us when I say it was the best Christmas ever.

Now with the New Year upon us, we have a lot to look forward to. I will be finishing my degree at Liberty University (online classes of course). After much prayer and internal debate, I have decided to pursue a degree in religion. I am very excited about where that could lead and am looking forward to classes starting in mid January. Linda and I will also be doing a lot more traveling this coming year. We already have plans for Israel, and are looking into many other places here in Turkey to go visit. Of course as always, we will do our best to keep you posted on what's happening here at the Jones residence.

I hope and pray that no matter how bad things get, you will always look to God for guidance. I can say without question, that every time I have done so, things always turn out better than when I try to fix them myself. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless.