Here and Now

CJs Solo! (Better late than never...)

2009-12-11T09:13:00.005-06:00

I've really got to get better at this blogging thing...too much has happened recently that I have no idea where to begin. If I remember correctly, the last I reported, CJ had just started flying. Since then, he has actually flown that plane all by himself! As unbelievable as it may sound...trust me, it's true!! The day started out like any other around here. CJ up before me, stress and anxiety followed. And in no time, he was out the door and on his way. Now, while I can't actually tell you what happened up there, or what he was thinking, he did have a great flight and he got thrown in the pool regardless of his evasion maneuvers. My favorite part of the story-favorite meaning memorable and awful, not wonderful-was when we were standing right next to the jet before he took off all alone, getting pictures of this historic moment. He was just taxiing out when security forces rolled up, lights flashing and everything. He approached our group asking immediately for our IDs and who had been taking pictures. He asked if we were authorized and one of the guys in CJs class said there should be an outstanding letter of authorization-after all, this isn't just a one day thing. People are out there practically everyday watching our boys fly! Well, Mr. SF wasn't going to take his word for it and had to go check. He came back to report that, in fact, no one was authorized to be out there and we were going to be escorted off the flight line IMMEDIATELY! (He seemed to stress that point greatly!) I responded a little heated by saying this is my husbands solo and I can't miss it. I will put my camera away if I can just stay and watch. I think I was them laugh at this. They said "no, ma'am you have to come with us IMMEDIATELY!" So, as we walked by the rest of the crowd, I waved...and the same guy that said we should have an outstanding letter, said he was going to take care of it and ran inside to seek this authorization. We were "escorted" to the front of the building where we would be no threat and after a very heated starring contest, the authorization was heard over the walkie talkies. We were given our IDs back and the excuses flew in. Apparently, it's not a matter of authorization, really. It's a matter of getting caught. In my opinion, it's a matter of security forces flexing their muscles and making themselves think they are better than all those officer student pilots!! But, I'm sure you've figured out, the whole time we are waiting for this authorization, CJ is up there, flying around all by his lonesome...and I have no pictures of it!! That is one very important day that we will never get back. Thank you, security forces!

Taking off for his solo!

The fam-before the solo!

Kylan greeting daddy-he's getting ready to solo!

Landing from his dual.

After the security forces incident...

It was still a pretty amazing day. And such an accomplishment. It took him awhile to come down from that high. And still, even though he has progressed in his training and the solo seems like so long ago, we can't help but remember that day!

Roger, Roger...

2009-10-27T08:49:00.006-05:00

Yes-I know it's been a WHILE!! Somehow I've managed to keep myself pretty busy around this town that many other things have fallen by the wayside. And seeing as how is has been so long, I supposed I have much to catch everyone up on.

CJ has now officially moved from Phase 1 into Phase 2-which means he has hit the flight line. He's now officially getting paid to fly! Of course, with this perk comes many downfalls, 12 hour days for one. He's also on formal release which means he can't come home for lunch or use his cell phone. While they are in the flight room, they can not speak to each other unless one of the instructor pilots or flight commanders allows it. But they use their quiet time to study, study, study which allows them to help prepare for the next day while at work.

So far, everyday has been an adventure and yesterday was definitely no exception to the rule. CJ had his dollar ride-his very first flight in the T-6. On this ride, he doesn't get graded. He has this flight to get a free feel of the entire process and everything that will be expected of him. And while the leash might be a little short right now, everyone is very acceptant and receptive to the spouses and girlfriends being a part of these momentous occasions. So, with bells on and cameras in tow, Hayley, Tori and I ventured out to watch! It was very last minute because the weather was so bad that morning but we got there in plenty of time to watch the first of our husbands step to the jet, not before we hunkered together in a bus stop getting rained on and wind-blown where we were rescued by a Col. Hedger. He escorted us inside to dry off so he could find out what was happening with their flights. I believe then he went into the flight room and asked where the husbands were with the super supportive wives because he had to rescue them from the bus stop. Eric, Hayley's husband, proceeded to tell Col. Hedger that one wife is from Ohio, one's from Michigan and one's from Alaska-if they don't know how to dress for this weather, then that's their fault!

Katie, Tori and Hayley waiting in the bus stop!

So, with Mike, Tori's husband being the first to go, we followed him out to his jet and waited for the rest to follow. Eventually, after about 2 hours in the rain and wind, all 3 were flying above our heads! In my book, it was definitely an incredible feat and a moment worth documenting!

CJ in his T-6

CJ with his IP

Tori and Hayley

Mike and Tori

As I sit and type this, CJ is in his briefing for his second flight. Today he will actually be graded for the process. So naturally when he left this morning, he was anxious and eager. In 45 minutes he will once again be one of the many, many planes I hear everyday and I can't wait to hear all about it!

La Vida Loca

2009-09-21T08:50:00.005-05:00

For those of you counting down the days until our return to Fairbanks, we've now been in Del Rio for 5 weeks and 2 days! And I'm gonna say it-I love it here! No, I don't want to make it my permanent home, but with everything this base has to offer for CJ's career and my well-being, we've already had so many great experiences and made so many great friends!

With never a dull moment, the last month has been crazy busy. We've been robbed, we've unpacked-which, I'm ashamed to say I'm still working on, we've made 4 trips to San Antonio, we've bought a boat, we've thrown the best 4th birthday party in the history of 4th birthdays-of course with much, much help from our wonderful neighbors who we will miss dearly! I have attended practically every spouse event I could to listen to every commander and every commanders wife prepare us for the next year, and a lot of other things that I didn't even need to hear once! But through those meetings, I have met a lot of wonderful spouses and girlfriends and already fast friends. In the midst of what probably seems like chaos and us finally getting our feet on the ground, we have enjoyed our first out of town guests. My parents have made their maiden voyage in their new used motor home for Kylan's birthday. After their second day here, they had already seen all of Del Rio! But, of course they weren't here for the Wal-Mart or the lake, even though they enjoyed both thoroughly! Kylan has loved having Mamaw and Papaw here to play with and she even got to have a sleep over in the motor home!

It's definitely already been quite a ride and even though we're practically settled, we haven't quite gotten down a routine. Who knows if we ever will because really, how easy is it to put down roots when you know you're going to be somewhere for only a year?! Should be interesting. All I know is we're together in this adventure and we're excited for whatever is to come!!

Lizards, Cockroaches, Snakes-OH MY!

2009-08-28T09:55:00.003-05:00

God Bless Alaska and it's critter-free land! I can see a moose or a bear from a mile away any day! But the little ones, the belly crawlers and the eight-legged houdini's-they are hard to see!

Now, the lizards are fine. They don't bother me, maybe because they are victims themselves. Apparently, if you have lizards...wait, let me correct myself. We have been told they are geckos. The geckos are dinner for tarantulas! YES!! So, if you have geckos, it means somewhere nearby are those creepy, ginormous spiders that I hope I do see before I step. We have actually had a "pet" gecko around the house that I named "Stubs"-he was missing part of his tail. I'd like to think he gave that tarantula a run for his money one day when he was searching for his dinner. Well, I found Stubs yesterday just as I was getting in the shower. The little rascal was hiding in the corner, playing dead. No wait, he was really dead! Maybe they don't live that long, or maybe his tail or lack there of finally took it's toll on him, I don't know. But I will say, I'm gonna miss that guy spooking me whenever I walk into a room!

On to the cockroaches...our neighbor was telling us that when they first moved in, they had roaches coming through their kitchen drains. Thankfully we hadn't seen any since we moved in...until yesterday. Poor Kylan has never seen any kind of little critters like this before so she screams "BUG" and we come running. Sure enough, hiding behind the closet door was a 2 inch roach. And again, thankfully, those guys are easy to spot, but they sure are quick little buggars! And don't you just love that "crunch" sound when you step on them?!

The piece de resistance-the notorious bully and my nemesis-THE SNAKE! I've heard the stories (thanks, Dana!) and I think my phobia is normal, maybe even somewhat healthy. Anyone who loves snakes is weird! I'd say my fear is based on a level of respect I have for a creature that is designed to fool it's prey in many, many ways. They can strangle you, they can poison you, they appear to be fleeing when they really are chasing, some can sit up on their ends and become as tall as you, some are ridiculously long and wide and could probably swallow you whole! They blend into their surrounding so if you are just walking through your yard you don't happen to notice the green and brown stick like creature hiding in the grass!! And, do I even need to mention that, in the bible, the devil disguised himself as a snake?! I do realize that the majority of the snakes you will ever be likely to run into is the harmless gardner snake. It's more startling than it is dangerous. However, I haven't confirmed this because I don't really want to know, but I bet the Texas state reptile is the rattlesnake! (If any of you decide to do the research, please, I don't want to know!) Our neighbor had a slight encounter with a rattler between our houses before we moved in, and just last week a Captain was bit while tending to his yard. He was in the hospital for days and after a $3000 visit, is said to be doing better. Of all the creatures we could run into here, I am praying everyday that this is the one I never see!

Naturally, they are a plethora of other critters crawling around that I haven't mentioned: scorpions, fire ants, the monstrous looking crocodile fish hybrid, whose name escapes me, but is said to be in Lake Altus where CJ intends to be spending every weekend jet skiing!! BUT...I am tough and brave, and I am cautious. And since I can't spend every second of every day of the next year of my life in this house, I will take this cliche to heart : "look before you leap!"

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

2009-08-21T12:35:00.002-05:00

So, today was going to be great. We were getting our brand new washer and dryer delivered to our new home and shortly there after our household goods would be arriving and we could finally be home! We pull into our car port, noticing the back gate was open, but we knew there was some outside work going on around the neighborhood so we didn't think it was anything to worry about. We had some stuff in our house that we had dropped off when we first got the house because it was camping stuff that we really didn't need while living in a TLF. So, to make room for the washer and dryer, I started putting those things away...until I realized, this doesn't look like everything. So, I asked CJ, "where's the tent bag?" and he said he had brought it in...but it wasn't there. We start looking around and realize, not only is the tent bag gone, but so are 3 of our 4 fly rods. I'm sorry, our $500+ fly rods!! We checked everywhere only to find that, yes, we've been robbed and some of our most prized possessions were gone. Really...REALLY!!! Of all the places that you'd think you'd be the safest, wouldn't living on base rank pretty high?! I mean, they take your drivers license away from you for 6 months to a year if you are caught driving 10 over the marked speed limit. So, as a "welcome to the neighbohood", the MPs show up to take our official statement, which we all know will be all that's done. We do have home owners and the housing company does as well, so we are covered for sure. But...talk about a good time. Not really how I was picturing our first week here!

On the flip side, I did meet one of our neighbors (right across the street from us), Ashley and Zack. Zack will be in CJ's class starting Sept. 8. And as a first impression, both seem very very nice. (They didn't notice any burglars though...)

Let's hope we can move past this feeling of violation and get excited about our stuff coming any minute and finally making a home.

A Truck Full of Stuff...

2009-08-20T10:13:00.004-05:00

From Fairbanks, our stuff was picked up and driven to to Anchorage where it sat for about a week. Then it was put on a barge and sent to Seattle. From Seattle is was driven to Portland, OR and then on to Oklahoma City where it sat for a day or two. Then from OKC is went south to a little town outside of Dallas called Garland. The next day it was driven west to another little town outside of Dallas called Irving. Again, it sat for a day. From Irving it went to San Antonio, then from San Antonio to Eagle Pass-a little town about 60 miles south east of Del Rio. As of today it is "on-hand" at Eagle Pass. Come on, Trucker...get in your cab and drive the 1 measly hour to Del Rio and drop off the truck already!!!

The Beginning...

2009-08-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

The adventure is well underway and we have already learned so much. We left Fairbanks on August 4th where we began our eleven day drive to Del Rio, TX! We made a few stops along the way...visiting Edmonton and the worlds largest mall, Yuma where we spent two wonderful days with GG, Jan and Steve, and Phoenix where we spent an evening with Lauren and Mike. We enjoyed visiting family which also helped delay the inevitable. The closer we came to Texas, the more anxious we became. We couldn't help but remember our trip to Altus, OK when we were first married. We drove right through before realizing that was it! Del Rio is no Altus, but it is definitely a different culture than we are used to. However foreign this may seem, we are ready to accept the challenge. We just got our house yesterday and we are very excited about it. Hopefully our stuff will be arriving in the next couple days and we can finally move out of this TLF and into our own place with all of our stuff! In the meantime, we will continue to explore this town and make it our home!

Today we will check out the gym and possibly buy our first washer and dryer!! Is it weird that I'm excited about that?!