HEY! I am Ashley, I decided I would start a blog to help me get through some things that are going on with my life and I know if I write everything down it will be a good outlet for me. Bare with me since I am not a great writer and this is the first time I have wrote anything aside an email or text in 5 years! :)
First things first, I am a wife to the most amazing person, John Rodewald II, he has been there for me when no one else was and I wouldn't have it any other way. We got married March 22nd, 2009, John is in the Army so it started a whole new life for me. I discovered what "Military" life truly is about and how different it is from "Civilian" life. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into but I soon learned how to adapt. We found out shortly after we got married that we were expecting, this was wonderful news to me since we had just lost a baby Jan. 2009, John was so thrilled and I did everything I could to make sure everything would be okay. John deployed Jul. 2009 to Afghanistan and wow what a shock. I never thought I would get married only to live alone for a year and have the pain of my husband being in great risk. In Dec 2009 I delivered Jennika Rose Rodewald, she is one amazing little girl. John got to meet her when she was 2 wks old and I was complete even if only for 2 weeks. John left again and it was just Jennika and I. Being a mom is the greatest feeling in the world. John came home from Afghanistan in Jun. 2010, we started prepping to move to KY. In Oct. 2010 John's younger brother Joe was killed in Afghanistan and it was the WORST feeling in the world having to tell the man you love that his brother was killed. we were devastated. John, having just came back from the same area and traveled the same road that his brother was killed on, he lost a piece of him and myself not knowing Joe for all that long lost a piece of me also, I hurt more knowing that my daughter wouldn't be able to run around and play with her Uncle. October was a hard month for us, and as a family we came together and spent as much time as we could doing things we loved. November we found out we were expecting our second child and at a time of grieving we were so thrilled! Telling family at a time like this was a little harder however everyone was so happy for us, I know Joe would be thrilled too! In Feb. 2011 we left WA and headed towards KY, we got a month and spent time with family cause we knew it would be a while til we got to see them again. Traveling was a whole new feeling when you are going to a place where you have never been and leaving the west coast was a shock since i grew up there my whole life. I was thrilled when my mom said she would come with us and help us get settled. I was 4 months pregnant and really didn't want to unpack and organize alone haha. In Jul 2011 we welcomed Ruth Marie Rodewald (named after my grandmother) she is a spitting image of her sister and WOW are they so much alike. I quickly got the hang of having two kids and LOVE being a mom even more. every day is a new adventure and they do something new. Now its October and we are prepping to move again to Fort Bragg NC, it is going to be a huge change since John has accepted a new job and will be busy a lot more than before. I was grateful to go to Oregon this past week to visit family and introduce Ruth to everyone and i had a blast, we went for Joe's year mark and Jennika talks about him a lot with is so wonderful to hear. Jennika is now 22 months and Ruth is 16 wks. i look at pictures of John when he was little and see a lot of Ruth in him, and we look at pictures of Joe when he was Jennika's age and WOW do they look a lot alike! Jennika is changing every day and getting so smart, she is talking and signing, potty trained (which is awesome!), such a wonderful big sister and loves her sister so much! Nana is visiting and we are heading to NY for my moms (nana) 50th birthday! It is going to be SO much fun!
Well there is my last 2 1/2 years in a nut shell, and I am excited for the future.
