Travel Day One

Today Jared and I checked out of Altus AFB and left Oklahoma! YIPPIE! Below is our day in pictures. Enjoy!

Jared ready to drive us to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Ashley and the ever present Mr. Bear are ready for the ride!
Cows in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma

Crossing the Texas State Line; So long Oklahoma!

Driving in the middle of nowhere, Texas

This photo doesn't do it justice, but we are driving thru a dust storm.

Passing a big wind farm in TX.

And we made it to the New Mexico State Line!

Driving in the middle of nowhere, NM.

Beginning to see some elevation in the scenery

... Until we ran into a snow storm? Yup, it went from 52 degrees to 32 in about 15 minutes.

Again, it's hard to see in the picture, but it was a blizzard out there!

And then just as fast as it started, the snow stopped and we were back in the 50's!

Big mountains on the horizon

Driving thru those mountains; beautiful.

Looking out my window...We made it to Albuquerque! They hung their stop lights the wrong way.

Arriving at our destination for the evening: Kirtland AFB

Our beautiful hotel room! The living room and bathroom are separate rooms. It's HUGE!

The view from our hotel room: New Mexico Mountains (with snow on top!)

Finally Heading West

This picture really doesn't do justice to the amount of stuff in our hotel room at Altus!
The backseat of Jared's car

Literally jam packed from floor to the seat tops

A very full trunk!

The car is packed with about 500 pounds worth of stuff! And we are ready to GO!

It's a bit small, but marked on the map above is our planned rout from Oklahoma to California. Saturday we are planning on getting up and on the road to drive from Altus, Oklahoma to Albuquerque, New Mexico. That leg of the trip is approximately 450 miles. We have reservations at Kirtland AFB (right in Albuquerque) Saturday night.

Sunday we will head to Arizona, meet up with my Grandparents and plan to spend two days seeing the Grand Canyon. That trip should be around 400 miles. We have reservations at the Red Feather Lodge just a mile from the park entrance!

Tuesday we will try and drive about 500 miles to Bakersfeild, California. No good hotel reservations; but I'm sure when we are sick of driving we'll find something!

And finally, we will have just over 300 miles to Travis AFB, Fairfield, California on Wednesday. That is a grand total of just about 1700 miles! I did a little dance in our hotel room yesterday morning because when I called to confirm our hotel room at Travis they informed me there was lots of room in TLF (Temporary Living Facilities) and we have it booked for a month! That means a KITCHEN and no more eating out!! HOORAY!

More Altus ... Yup.

Day 4: [3-25-10] Happy Birthday Grandma P! Jared's night flight went fine and we are still on track to leave Saturday morning. Praise God! This morning was pretty early since Jared didn't get back until about 2am last night and we had to be at the Medical Group by 0800 to pick up his records. Between the two of us he is almost done with his out-processing. His flight planning for tomorrow is also complete. I have all the laundry done and shortly, we are going to pack and load the car so that we can weigh it tomorrow. Jared's check ride is scheduled for 0900 tomorrow. We have mapped out our rout to California and I made reservations at a hotel right outside the Grand Canyon this morning. California, we're getting close!

Day 5: [3-26-10] It's Friday and check ride day. I got a message from Jared saying their jet might be broken ... but about 10 minutes later I got another message saying "off we go". This afternoon I received yet another message, "we landed" and very soon after an aircraft qualified C-17 copilot was standing at the door! So now the car is 98% packed, our plans for the drive are set and we will be on the road tomorrow morning. I can't believe it! Keep us in your prayers as we travel and I will update as much as possible. Look for tomorrows blog and then for lots of pictures and updates around the first of April!

Altus Continued

Us
Home-Sweet-Hotel at Altus AFB

The Altus flight line: C-17 in the front, KC-135 behind

Day 3: [3-24-10] Today has been long. It will be longer still for Jared. Thank goodness! The storms and rain predicted for this afternoon and evening have yet to appear, so Jared took off for his NVG flight as planned. I am praying the weather holds out and they are able to finish the ride successfully. Otherwise we basically did nothing today. I was afraid to jinx our luck by planning on leaving Saturday. However, a Saturday departure is looking pretty good at the moment. Tomorrow should be very interesting between out-processing, flight planning, laundry, shopping, packing, etc. Bring it on!

Altus

Day One: [3-22-10] Jared hit the flight line and flew the C-17 for the first time! I started to tackle my 'phase 2 moving to-do list' (really long title, eh) Eight things (schedule car tune up, empty car, clean inside the car, weigh car, return Jared's old phone to Verizon, call and pay the oral surgeon, refill my prescriptions, mail our tax papers in) done! Take that 'list'! I even started sorting and pitching the contents of the car, which are currently taking up way too much room in this already claustrophobic hotel room.



Day Two: [3-23-10] Jared spent most of the day flight planning and sitting in breifs. Thrilling. I got up early and took the car to the Chevy dealer, gassed it up on the way back and stopped at the base post office. Hooray! The box I mailed to myself from Ohio arrived today, two days ahead of schedule. That means A. my workout stuff is here, so back to work and B. GIRL SCOUT COOKIES and really good tea from West Point Market. Life is good.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 5:13

C-17 Flightline!

Today Jared officially hits the flight line! He is done with all of his simulators and passed his sim check ride. This week, if all goes well, he has his three C-17 rides of copilot school. After so much hard work and time, he is getting to fly his plane today! Very exciting, but also very nerve-wracking.

He is scheduled to take off at 1100 this morning and fly half of a five hour flight. His stick buddy will fly the other half. I had to smile a little when he took his lunch with him this morning, the exact same lunch he ate every single day while flying at Vance. So, with the debrief, he should be done between 1730 and 1800 tonight.

The picture I put up today is of an Altus C-17 on the flight line. Not necessarily the plane Jared will be flying, but I took the picture when I visited Jared in February and thought, what better day to post it?!

The plan is to head to the local dive for burgers and then get some ice cream tonight. It is supposed to be around 70 degrees and sunny today!

On the move again

My Mom and I got up early and left for Indiana Friday, March 12th to spend a long weekend with the Plunkett family. I feel so blessed to have seen so many people during my visit. Besides spending a lot of time with my Grandparents, I also got to see two sets of Aunts and Uncles, three cousins (two of which I hardly ever see) and several second cousins. Abbie and Ryan came up on Sunday, went to church with us and then got to eat famous chicken and noodles with us for lunch. Besides visiting, Mom and I made some excellent food over the weekend and went on a shopping trip with Grandma. It was a really good weekend; a great last weekend at "home".

Tuesday I spent most of the day finishing my packing. One of my good friends, Steph, spent the day helping me and then she went out to dinner with us at Hartville Kitchen. I love their black rasperry pies and ice cream.

Wednesday Dad came in to town and Luke had the entire day off, so the three of us spent it together. We started with breakfast at iHop and then there was a rather interesting haircut fiasco involving Dad, three haircuts, 2 hairdressers and in the end, a very short military haircut! The afternoon was spent in Amish country. We shopped and enjoyed the beautiful day and had lunch. Then a bit later, after I picked up the temporary tags and registration for our new car from the dealer, Luke and I got smoothies and met Dad at a local park in Green and spent the evening walking. It was a great day!

Sadly, Thursday morning came. Mom got up early to get me to the airport at 5:30 and I was on my way. I HATE leaving Ohio and everyone there. And after three and a half months of being back there it was really hard to go. However, my flights were all smooth, no lost bags, and the Blakes have kept me good company until the twins drove up to the City Friday night.

Unfortunately, Jared's first flight was pushed back from Friday to Monday. That means we will be really lucky to get out of Altus on Saturday! But no matter what, we should only have about a week left in good 'ol Oklahoma. For Jared it is going to be long week, but it'll be the last one here for a while.

Now that I am here and with Jared I am getting a little excited to head to California. It has got to be better than Oklahoma right? We are hoping to make some stops in Arizona on the way; we would love to see the Grand Canyon and meet up with my other set of Grandparents. But we will have to see when we actually are able to leave Altus.

So for now that catches us all up. Please pray for a good week for Jared so we can get out of here! And some prayers for good temporary housing would also be greatly appreciated.

Oh! I almost forgot, Today is Jared and I's 8 year anniversary. Hard to believe we have been a couple for that long (And this year we'll have been married for 3 of those years?!) ... but in a way I can't really remember Jared not being a part of my life. :)

So... missing "home", but we are on our way to finishing move #3 and setting up our new Californian house of dreams. :)

It might as well be spring ...

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." - Song of Solomon 2: 11-13

It is 64 degrees and sunny! Hard to believe it is March in Ohio today. There is still snow on the ground, but it has been melting and I can hear birds singing and even saw a big fat cardinal in the tree outside my bedroom window this week. Spring isn't far off.

I keep thinking, it is only March! Don't get your hopes up too high because it will snow again before spring is really here. But then I stop and remember, I wont be here! I think spring really has come for me. The weather has been warmer both in Oklahoma and California, and I doubt either location will be seeing anymore snow!

The spring movie of choice in my family is State Fair. My brother got it out of the library for me yesterday, and then the next day my sister sent me a text asking if it was too early to watch it. :) Definitely not; I am watching it this afternoon.

I leave tomorrow with Mom to spend the weekend with the Plunkett family!

Teeth, take 264

OK, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it feels like the only thing I have been thinking about, talking about, or posting about are my stupid teeth. (Seriously, what is so bad about dentures...?)

One piece of good news is that I saw the oral surgeon on Tuesday morning. Although I still have gaping holes in my gums, he said that everything looks great and should finish healing just fine! YAY! I am very thankful that surgery is behind me. (And I'll be even happier when we're done paying for it!)

The other (hopefully LAST) bit of news about my teeth is the Wednesday morning root canal. It went pretty fast, but it hurt a lot more than my first one!! Motrin has helped the pain, but I have been super tired all day. Everyone just needs to pray that when this tooth settles down, that my mouth will feel 110% better, and that I will be able to chew and eat like a normal human being again. My mouth hasn't been in good working order since early January now.

So enough about the teeth. I have had a pretty productive week thus far. Got some things in order at the bank. I washed, cleaned out and had the oil changed in my car so it is ready to be officially handed over to it's new owner next week. I think I got all the information I needed to fly the cat out to California. I would guess that about 3/4 of everything that needs packed here is, well, packed. (Just need an address now!) Most importantly, I got my hair trimmed up and highlighted by my favorite hairdresser. (I really hate finding new people to do my hair...)

Jared has had an early and busy week. He is still 'simming' a lot, but he is also starting classes and briefs so that he can fly for real over the next two weeks. That means he is almost done! Right now we are guesstimating he will be done on the 25th. So say a prayer for good weather and good aircraft maintenance.

Still lots to do, but we're getting there. Personally, I am going between being pretty excited about seeing Jared and starting the trip to California, and very sad about leaving everyone here and slightly terrified to start our trip. :)

Tis the season

For Girl Scout cookies! I wont lie, I bought four boxes. And I refuse to feel in the least bit guilty about it. Both Jared and I have been exercising regularly and deserve some kind of treat while having to live in Air Force hotel rooms for who knows how long! (No TLF for us childless people).

So hooray for Girl Scout cookies!

Now

Why can't I ever just live in and focus on the moment? I am always looking ahead ... worrying about what's coming next. It is a bad habit, but I'm not really sure how to break it.

I leave Ohio next week. I feel like there are a million things to do to be ready. But then, who is ever ready to leave 'home' ... again. Sigh.

But I'm not leaving yet, I am still here. And I am going to try very hard to focus on the here and now! And to enjoy it instead of worry about everything that needs done and the actual leaving next week.

And really, it's not all bad. Jared is waiting at the other end. :)

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4: 6-7

Fabulous

What a fabulous last few days I have had.

Thursday afternoon I drove down to Marietta to spend the evening at my sister's house. It was a beautiful day. That rare day in March that tricks you into thinking spring has come. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the 40 degree weather felt like a heat wave. I got so toasty driving down the deserted highway that I had to wrestle off my winter coat one handed. Good thing the highway was quite empty.

Abbie and I went out to dinner, then back to her house and made a delicious batch of cupcakes (complete with pink frosting). We watched a black and white, 1930's chick flick entitled The Women. If you have never seen it, rent it! It is absolutely hilarious. And the clothes ... le sigh ...

The next morning I got to wake up to the smell of freshly brewing coffee. Strange that it is one of my favorite smells in the world since I have never, ever, been a coffee drinker. But when I wake up to that smell it means that either my Mother or my Sister is there. I drank tea and we both had the most divine peaches and cream scones. I can still smell their spicy, sweetness.

We drove back to Mom's Friday afternoon and spent it with Luke. We played board games and the Wii, just the three of us. It was great fun! And the sun was bright and beautiful for the second day in a row. After the games, Abbie and I did a little shopping ... Mom made pizza ... and Luke and I fell asleep watching one of our favorite movies: Muppet Treasure Island; perfect Friday.

And then today, oh today! What a day. Mom, Abbs and I went out to lunch and then spent several hours scouring one of my favorite places on earth. We spent the afternoon at West Point Market, a gourmet grocery. We browsed their extensive wine selection, fabulous cheeses, the entire row of exotic teas, European tea crackers and cookies, and their amazing bakery. Between the lavish displays, classical music, and incredible selection of goods, it is simply an amazing experience. One of my favorite places to go when I am here.

Bonus! Abbie bought 3 petit fours at the bakery and we each had one in the car before heading home. I think it might have been the most amazing thing I have ever eaten. Some kind of indescribable lemon filling and moist cake and melt-in-your-mouth icing ... really, there are no words.

And the weekend is not over. Tomorrow after church we are having a big family breakfast (complete with some of the goodies purchased at the Market this afternoon) and preparing to watch the Oscars.

Less than two weeks left here in Ohio with my family ... and these past few days have been some of the best and so special. I am so very blessed.

Goodbye old friend

Today we officially bought our brand new, and I do mean brand new, car. Oops! Crossover SUV that is! The pictures above are not of the actual cars (either my old red Saturn or our new blue Terrain). They are stock pictures I found on-line, but I thought it would be more fun to have some pictures to show you guys! I'll post real ones of the new car once we get to California.

Somewhere along the line it has gone from being my new car, to our new car. Jared is thrilled! I am excited too, but a little sad. I have to bid my faithful Saturn goodbye when I leave Ohio. It will be in good hands, Dan bought it from me, but still, it's no longer mine.

And that car really and truly was mine. I paid for it myself and it's been paid off for several years. It has driven me to Kent for nursing lectures, to who knows how many hospitals for clinicals, to Columbus to see Jared and go to football games. (It even got towed during an Ohio State game one weekend...) It drove me to our first Air Force base and home together in Delaware. It has taken me to Oklahoma and back again. It has dodged tumbleweeds and cows. It has been a faithful little car. My faithful little car. And I will miss it!

But, lets pull ourselves together! (OK, I'll pull myself together.) It is just a car. And we are moving on up in the world of cars. To a brand, spakin' new custom built, fresh off the factory line 2010 GMC Terrain. It was built on March 3rd, we officially bought it this morning (well, I did anyway with the aid of a POA. Seems Jared is always conveniently abscent whenever there is paperwork to be done....) It will be shipped to Vacaville, California to await our arrival. I am sure that I will have to beg Jared to check us into the Travis hotel before he goes to get the new car!

Safe travels to California new car! Can't wait to meet you soon.

Blog Anniversary

Today marks the first anniversary of our blog. I find it difficult to believe that an entire year has already gone by since I began to chronicle our Air Force life. Oh, but how much has happened in that year.

The First Entry of this blog was approximately one week before Jared's JSUPT track select, or the halfway point in pilot training. We were anxiously awaiting the next step and extremely excited to bid the T-6 farewell. Has it really been a year since that memorable day? It seems like only yesterday...

Today we are also on the verge of great change and much uncertainty. Pilot training is over and we know what plane Jared will fly and which base we are to call home in a few weeks. What I wouldn't have given to know those two things when I started this blog! But, as always, there are still many questions to which we do not have the answers.

Where will we live? How long will we have to wait until we have a house to make into a new home? Is there a job waiting for me somewhere out West? What new friends await our arrival? What is it going to be like for Jared to finally fly in the operational Air Force ... what will it be like for me? How do I find the library, what aisle is the cereal in, where should we get the oil changed?

I am sure that in another year the answers to those questions, and many more, will have long been answered. We shall be knowledgeable Californians and an experienced pilot family. Instead of being the 'newbees', we will be welcoming and helping other young copilots. At least I hope so. And in reality, I hope it doesn't take that entire year for much of that to happen.

I wonder where we will be in another year? Since we are supposed to be stationed at Travis AFB for 4 years there will be no impending upheaval. I suppose I should say there should be no impending upheaval. ;-) Looking back on this post I wonder what I will think and feel? I guess there is nothing for it but to wait another year and see.

Enter March

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

Well, it's March. Seems like it was just December and I was making the long drive to Ohio from Oklahoma with seemingly endless time at "home" stretching before me.

But this is the month in which we are going to start the end of our big move ... that we really started back in the beginning of December.

For Jared that means getting busier at Altus, working Saturdays and preparing for his three end of course flights in the C-17. I am also hoping he will start to get his dorm room organized to go back into suitcases and boxes which will ultimately fit back into the car ... but I have a feeling he'll be waiting on me for that.

Before I can head back out to Oklahoma I have my own list of things to get done here.
I must sort through what I brought to Ohio and determine what gets packed into boxes and shipped to California and what gets packed into a suitcase and comes with me. This is going to entail some serious skill to combine clothes for a cold Oklahoma and a warm California.

I have to figure out a plan for the cat. Right now it looks like he is going to have to stay in Ohio for a while yet. Once we are somewhat settled in California, the plan is to put him on a plane to us! But I have no idea about exactly what that will entail, how much it will cost, etc.

This week I am getting our taxes done and filed. Not terribly hard or exciting, but one more thing that must be checked off my list.

The only other big thing I can think of that needs done here before I go, is a last root canal. Sigh. Not fun and very expensive, but it needs to be done and over with. Then, I HOPE, my teeth issues will be completely fixed and behind me!

The list that we have to conquer when we get to California is quite daunting. The larger items include figuring out our housing situation and most likely finding temporary housing while we wait for a place on base. I need to find a job. And Jared has to acclimate to being a co-pilot with a unit who is currently deployed.

Trying really hard to NOT think about the list we are facing once we get to Travis. I have quite enough to be getting on with right here and right now. We would appreciate your prayers for us, and everything we need to deal with, in the upcoming weeks.