A Sad Day Remembered

Today is the 1 year anniversary of one of the saddest days I have lived. Today is the day that Comair flight 5191 went down in Lexington , Kentucky. To most, this was just a regular Sunday morning, but to the families and to the Comair family, this was absolutely devastating. Every Comair employee that worked there at the time, can tell you exactly where they were when they got the news.
I was at my parents house. It was 8am Sunday morning and I was up with my dad, drinking coffee and watching the morning news. The news came across and I nearly dropped my coffee. I instantly started to cry. I couldn't believe it. How did this happen? Is this real? Did I hear them right? I did.
Due to miscommunication and bad runway lighting, the flight crew mistakenly took off on the wrong runway. The runway they took off on was too short for the plane to clear the trees that were ahead of them. The plane went down in the dark just after 6am. 50 souls were on board and only one survived. I did not know any of the passengers but I was familiar with the flight crew. I can recall talking to all three of them at some point in my Comair career. First Officer Polhinke was the only survivor. I can recall talking to him only 3 weeks before the crash.
After I got the news and managed to calm my shaking hands, I began to frantically call some of the flight attendant friends that I knew. Thankfully, they were still in bed and completely unaware of what had happened. I called Jonathan and tried to tell him, but I was sobbing so much he couldn't understand what I was talking about.
Jonathan later picked me up for church, and I was completely in shock and unable to talk. We stood up to sing our worship songs and after only a few bars, I was in tears. I began to sob uncontrollably. Thankfully, everyone was singing loud enough that they couldn't hear me. Jonathan had to put his arms around me to comfort me.
The whole day was a complete blurr.
I felt the need to be at work with all of my work family. But when I called to see if they needed help, I was told everything was under control. So I didn't have to go back until Tuesday. The Comair team did and excellent job of taking care of the victims families and even did a great job of keeping the employees updated.
So now a year later I sit here and reminisce. But I am somewhat torn. Sadly, some of the victims did not die on impact. Some were still alive when rescue crews arrived but later perished in the heat of the fire. Some passengers were lucky enough to die on impact. But were they saved?? The unsaved wouldn't have had a chance to pray to God for His love and forgiveness. However, the people who died the worst possible death had that chance. As awful as I think it would be to die like that, I think they were the lucky ones.
So today I sit here and pray for the families and also for F.O. Polhinke who is no longer able to fly. I pray that he is aware that the Lord chose him to be the one lone survivor. That he was given a second chance for a reason.
The point of this blog today, isn't to scare people, but to ask people: Are you ready for "on impact"? If you died today without a moments notice, are you ready??
Today's blog is dedicated to all of my wonderful Comair friends. I miss you all dearly.

Married Life

Everyone keeps asking how married life is. Well, 7 weeks married and all is well.
It is definitely an adjustment though. Starting all the daily routines now for 2 instead of 1, and just making sure the other has what they need for the day. We now do our daily devotions together and has become a wonderful learning tool for the both of us. What I love the most is the, Honey I'm home kisses I get every day.
We still have a busy schedule through the week and even busier one on the weekends. Unfortunately, I have been sick all of this weekend, which kept me from getting the list I had for this weekend, done. But the next several weeks we are once again, booked solid. My favorite season is right around the corner and I am totally excited that I get to share it with my new husband. Fall is always the busiest and most fun time of year (for me at least). In September we will be going to the Shekinah quilt auction then we are headed off to Pennsylvania to visit my new Yoder family. We will also be visiting Thomas the Train in Strausburg. I can't wait!!
Then all of the festivals about this time. And of course all of the yummy apples. I finally get to make my applesauce for the year. MMMMMM!
We will be sure to take plenty of new pictures as we share our first Fall season together as husband and wife.

Honeymooning on St. Pete's Beach

We left on our honeymoon on Monday July 9Th before the crack of dawn. We flew Air Tran all the way to Tampa International. We then drove to St. Pete's Beach which was about a 35 minute easy drive. It rained a little bit on our first day in the morning but other then that is was sunny and HOT the whole week. We stayed on the beach at the Grand Plaza Hotel. It was the only round hotel on the beach and had a revolving restaurant. The beach was absolutely beautiful. We even watched, from our room, 2 weddings that were held on the beach at the hotel. They were both beautiful.
Of course we had to make good use of our car, so we took a day and just drove up the coast. We tried to get to Clearwater Beach, but the construction was so bad that we couldn't find a place to park. So, we headed back and stopped at Sand Key beach instead. I think it was the better choice since it wasn't so crowded. We also found some really great shells there too!!
We also took a boat ride on the Dolphin Racer. We got to ride through the Bay and into the ocean to watch the dolphins jump behind us. WOW! that was really awesome to see!! Some were really big and some were just babies. They jumped off and on, but we did see 5 jumping at one time behind us in the Bay.
We definitely got what we wanted out of the trip. Which was a relaxing, go-with-the-flow kinda vacation. Just what the doctor ordered after a VERY busy year.

THE BIG DAY!!

July 7, 2007. OUR WEDDING DAY!!
I have started this blog for all of our family and friends who live near and far who have been a part of our lives. Thank you to Jonathan's Aunt Connie for this great idea. I have promised to post our wedding pictures and this will be our gathering place. We were so happy to see so many people at our wedding (sorry if we didn't get a chance to talk to you). The weather was warm but comfortable. The wedding was at Swigart Park in Laura, Ohio along with our reception. The ceremony was under a tent while our guests sat at there tables. I thought the ceremony went pretty well, except for me stepping on my dress and nearly falling down the aisle(thank God my mother saved the day). She pulled the dress out before I fell. WHEW!!
Our goal was to have a beautiful but simple ceremony with a casual reception. We had a pig roast with all the fixins and a beautiful cake. I think we managed to pull it off. Thank you to so many who took the time to share our day. If you feel like checking in on us, just check this blog every now and then to catch all the latest happenings.

Our wedding pictures

Our wedding pictures

Photobucket Album

This is our story

Every couple has a story. This is ours. This is the story of how Jonathan and Sommer came to be, Jonathan and Sommer.For those of you that already know the story, this might be a good time to day dream.Our story begins July 5, 2003 (clearly, Sommer is telling the story).My family was throwing a last minute family reunion after a long lost cousin unexpectedly arrived into town with his family. When thunderstorms began to ruin the fun, the men moved to the garage, while the women moved inside. All of us women were inside waiting out the storm, when my cousin Shelly started talking about this crazy guy that she and her family spent the day before with at a church function. They were at a pond and this crazy guy brought his 4-wheeler. He was pulling someone around the pond trying to water ski, when oops! he drives right into the pond. After my cousin tells me this story, she then says that I should meet him. So three weeks later, on August 10, we went on our first date. Jonathan picked me up is his hot rod truck (WOW). We went to Unos for pizza and then walked around the Taylorsville Dam. (the first time ever I had been home by 7pm after a date). For our second date, he met me at the Darke County Fair (little did I know that 4 years later I would become a Darke County Girl). By October, I had transferred my job to the Cincinnati/N. Kentucky Airport. The next three years, we spent driving back and forth somehow making it work. And, During this time Jonathan also introduced me to the Love of Jesus. I spent so much time studying the bible and asking Jonathan so many questions. It has been a slow process and I am still a work in progress, but I am so thankful to have found Jonathan and grateful for what he has brought into my life. On May 5, 2007 I officially asked the Lord into my life. I can't imagine where I would be today if I had never gone to that unexpected family reunion. On February 24, 2006, Jonathan and I went to Carraba's for dinner, where he asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES!! This was definitely a very challenging year. We spent the year trying to plan a wedding, trying to find a home, and I had to find a new job.The wedding planning was the easiest part. I had everything planned the first 4 months or so. We looked at several houses (we also peeked through a lot of windows...Shhhh). But we finally found our house in February of 2007 and we got our keys in March. I was all by myself when I got the keys. I walked into the house, looked around and began to cry. I couldn't believe all the work that needed done that we didn't see before. I moved out of my apartment in KY on March 31, 2007 (I cried then too). But since our house wasn't ready and I still didn't have a new job yet, I needed a new plan. I spent the next 2 months staying on the floor at my friend Reba's apartment in KY and working in Ky and driving to my parents house in Dayton. I am so grateful to them for all of there help. I saved so much on gas with their help. While I was in Cincinnati, Jonathan, his dad, and cousin Steve worked so hard to get our house ready. I couldn't figure out exactly when they were sleeping. They replaced all the windows, painted, new baseboards, and carpet and flooring. I moved in in May and lived by myself until we got married. I finally got my new job and started on June 4. I applied for so many jobs, but knew that this job was the one when I saw the posting. I applied in February and didn't get it until June. But thank God, I got it!!. So many times this year I questioned why things were taking so long to progress, but I kept reminding myself that everything happens for a reason and when it's supposed to. It was completely out of my hands. Everything did eventually work out no matter how much I worried.
And that is our prequel.
We were married July 7, 2007