Here Comes New Years?!

With Jared here I have been trying to savor every moment as opposed to blogging, posting pictures, emailing and the other normal internet activities I engage in. But I thought I'd post a quick picture from Christmas Day and let everyone know that more pictures and updates from our holidays will show up here sometime after the New Year!

Christmas Eve

Well, yesterday was a major bust. After two cancelled plane rides, lots of calls to airlines, increasingly bad weather, and lots of money, the boys are currently driving, yup DRIVING not flying, to Ohio. :(

Really wish things had worked out for them to fly home last night, but I guess we should just be thankful they had the means to get home another way. Otherwise, who knows when they may have arrived! My heart goes out to the hundreds of other stranded travelers.

Christmas Eve wont be quite as I had envisioned. But at least, at some point, Jared will be here. I'll send him off to a hot shower, feed him and then tuck him away in bed! And maybe by tomorrow (CHRISTMAS!) he'll be recovered and ready to celebrate.

Really makes you realize that what's important about Christmas is Jesus birth and being with loved ones. I would trade all the white Christmases and gifts in the world as long as my family was with me!

Tomorrow!

Jared is flying home tomorrow. I am SO EXCITED!!

Christmas morning 2008

Christmas Week

It is cold and very snowy here this morning. Looking out the windows over the golf course here is just like a picture postcard; perfectly smooth snow and tall, green pine trees. It's beautiful! A great morning to stay inside a cozy house, with the Christmas tree lit up, carols playing, candles burning and bake. So that is just what I am doing (making batch #3 of homemade chex mix, the first batch of puppy chow and 5 chip cookies). Momma and Abbie have run out to get shopping done, Dan is working and Luke is still sleeping.

Went to Greenwood Christian Church yesterday with the family. (Side note: Abbie came home Saturday night and surprised us!) Momma and Dan have been going to Greenwood but it was my first time. Really enjoyed it and even saw an old Sunday school teacher from FCC. Looking forward to going back for their Christmas Eve service.

Jared had a nice weekend. He got out of Altus and saw a movie on Friday night with some friends. And his 13 lb ham (won in the golf tournament last weekend) actually got baked and eaten! His stick partner in school is staying at the local B&B with 4 other guys and they have the run of the house, including kitchen. So Jared donated the ham and got invited to dinner last night.

Both of us are VERY excited to have him in Ohio on Wednesday!!! Praying for good flying weather!

Holiday Baking: Take I

1.) So far, this cookie has been the huge new hit of my 2009 Christmas cookies! I got the inspiration from a friend; visit her blog here http://debrasdelectables.blogspot.com/

Mixing up peanut butter cookie dough

Hiding the mini snickers inside the dough before baking

A very surprising peanut butter cookie!

I decorated them with melted chocolate and sparkling sugar

2.) Next up: my first try at homemade fudge

All my ingredients ready for triple chocolate fudge

Heating things up

Boiling!

The (amazing if I do say so myself) final product

3.) The Pioneer Woman's snack mix

Gathered all the ingredients

Mixing everything up before baking

The final product cooling before being stored.

7 Days

Jared will be flying to Ohio in just seven short days! We are both very excited! As much as I would love a white Christmas, I am praying for good weather next Wednesday so that there are no problems or delays with flights. (Andy is flying home with Jared, and of course I'm happy he'll be here for Christmas as well!)

Jared flew the C17 for the first time in the simulator today. Up to this point they have been pushing buttons and practicing various ground procedures only. He said it was pretty cool to "fly". It seems incredible that my husband will actually be flying that enormous plane here shortly. I'm so proud of him!

The news on my end here in Ohio: It's been nice to be at my Mom's and have family and friends around. I've been baking up a storm and still need to sit down and upload my baking pictures. Luke and I made peanut butter snowball candy yesterday. It's really good!

This past weekend Momma and I took a car trip down to Indiana (right outside Cincinnati) to visit my Grandparents. They have not had a Christmas tree for several years now, so I helped Grandpa pick one out and then decorated it for them. Mom helped with some cleaning, and we both baked up a storm (homemade wedding soup and a big turkey dinner). I brought several homemade goodies to share including fudge, 2 kinds of cookies, homemade chex mix and Mom made a fabulous double layer chocolate cake from scratch. We got to see an Aunt and Cousin and my Cousins little boy in church Sunday which was a nice surprise!

Last night Momma, Dan, Luke and I all went to the Hartville Kitchen for dinner. We got there early to beat the crowd and had delicious, huge dinners. I even got a big slice of black raspberry pie with ice cream! Then we did some Christmas shopping in their gift shop. It was quite a fun evening. However, when we finally left we were met with freezing and snowy weather. Yuck! So we spent the rest of the evening indoors with hot tea and played Euchre.

Today I was "Alice". I cleaned house and am doing laundry for Mom. Also wrapped some gifts for Dan and am about to prep our dinner for tonight: chicken and stuffing, green beans, baked potatoes and rolls. Just the kind of day I enjoy!!

Shopping ... for real

This morning I got up and at 'em bright and early. I decided that I would try and tackle the remaining odds and ends on my Christmas shopping list. Despite some very wet and windy weather, what a fun morning! I had forgotten how nice it is to drive 10 minutes and have every store you could want right at your finger tips. It was actually a bit overwhelming. Where do I go to shop for what?! And all the stores seemed so big and well stocked ... I love civilization!

After my shopping I met my Mom at Panera for lunch. I think the last time I ate there was the last time I was in Ohio over the summer. Love that place. And we even splurged on an amazing dessert!

After lunch was a shoe shopping trip for Mom, which turned out to be a huge success. I myself continue to eye a pair of fabulous red heels at that store ... le sigh.

Jared continues to do well at Altus. He had computer learning today, but nothing else. Tomorrow is his first sim and we are both interested to see how it goes!

My plan for the remainder of the day is to light a Christmas candle, put on White Christmas, brew some chai tea and wrap presents! Then I have chocolate crinkle cookies to make.

Cookies and C17s

I had a great first day back home. Made a huge pan of fudge, peanut butter cookies and a new cookie involving peanut butter cookie dough and snickers bars! They are a keeper! (In fact, I'm going to have to make another batch or two). I am planning on making dough for cut out cookies to chill today. Then I'm headed to a friends house to bake cookies with her. Should be fun! (Baking pictures to come!)

Jared also had a good first day of C17 school. He met the C17 scheduler, whom he liked, and his partner (he's not part of a class this time, just paired with another guy) whom he also liked. He got a tour of things yesterday and said the simulators are just amazing! They are so realistic that you can keep up your currency in the actual plane just by doing those and not flying. The course is made up of 40 some simulators (several hours each), lots of computer based learning and 4 actual C17 flights. Jared will observe in one of those four flights and fly the other three. So today he has some other tours (life support, etc.) and computer learning. His first simulator ride is Thursday.

Funny Lists

In celebration of our departure from Enid, America (as the local Enoids say) I thought I would share the following lists that we compiled a while back. I think it may give you a laugh!

You know you're in Oklahoma (at least near Enid) when. . .

One of the first signs of spring is the dead armadillo you pass on the road

You have to dodge tumbleweeds on the highway

They turn off the stop lights at 9:00pm and roll out the mini stop signs (some of which are attached to trash cans!)

You pass fake cows in the fields

The cool place to hang out is the Super Wal-Mart, closely followed by Roosters Honkey-Tonk bar

You can clearly see the next town over, despite it's being about 10 miles away

A light breeze is considered anything under 30mph

The temperature swings over 50 degrees in a few hours ... and it's normal

You can get your dry cleaning done at the local liquor store, or if your choosey, there is always 'Suds Yer Duds'

In every direction there is either A.) Sonic or B.) Braums

There are pictures of stores on the walls of the mall instead of actual stores

It is common to see signs on little brick huts in developments that say 'tornado shelter here'

Your source of outside water is a pump

Things I'm looking forward to having in our next house:

Heating and AC that I don't have to shout over and/or turn the TV up about 10 notches to hear over

An oven that I don't have to adjust both by temp. and time so that it doesn't burn everything

A fridge that has all it's drawers and shelves. . .

Carpet that doesn't smell like dog and amoxacillin despite repeated cleanings

Water that stays hot for the entire shower!

Windows that don't let in such a huge draft that the steam from my tea cup gets blown across the room.

Doors That I can't see sunlight coming in under, that don't burn me when they are hot, and that do not let in the rain

Toilets that flush

No bugs (mainly spiders) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Separate Ways

Well, have officially left Vance AFB and Enid, America. Yesterday morning, at about 6am we left the keys to our house on the counter and got on the road (412 to be exact) and started our journeys away from Enid. It was a bit funny, because as I drove East on 412, Jared was driving West on the same road. He made it safely to Altus AFB in SW Oklahoma and begins C17 copilot school tomorrow. I also made it home (after a LONG 16 hours) with the cat to my Momma's in Ohio.

Jared was not at all sad to see Enid and Sunridge (where we lived) go! His none too sentimental comment was "every time I think of this place I'll think of airsick bags. GOODBYE!" I was not sad too leave Sunridge, and 98% not sad to leave Enid. But it's always hard tearing apart and packing away your home. And of course, we'll both miss many good friends we made! It's going to be odd when we set up house again and Andy is no longer around.

So Jared is on to copilot school and I'm in Ohio for the duration. Going to do lots of visiting family and friends and, finally, get excited for Christmas! Jared will fly to Ohio for Christmas, December 23- January 3, and then I am planning to fly back to Oklahoma to visit him for about a week over presidents day in February. He is scheduled to graduate C17 school on March 24, 2010 and then we'll hit the road for California. (Since we're getting rid of my car in Ohio for a new one in California we only have to drive one car that trip)!

So that's the latest. It's going to be a challenging few months for very different reasons from pilot training; namely being apart and trying to live without most of our things. I'm not very good at these transition times. However, we know it'll all turn out well and there is a perfect house waiting for us, and all our stuff, in California! For now, we're just going to enjoy the Christmas season. (And getting through the start of school for Jared!)

December

Happy December! It's officially the Christmas season, my favorite time of the year! However, it doesn't exactly feel very Christmasy around here. Instead of putting up our usual 3 Christmas trees we are prepping for everything we own to be packed, shipped and stored in the next 2 days.

However, there have been Christmas movies, music and candles to help get us through the un-fun tasks that moving brings.

Hopefully once we're both settled in our respective places next week, we'll both feel a little less stressed and a lot more like celebrating Christmas!

This may be the LAST post from Enid .... !