New toys!!

AH, Christmas! Mike and I made out this year. We got a Tom-Tom GPS and Wii Fit from his parents....and a DSLR camera from mine. Along with lots of movies and other little gadgets. We've been using the Wii Fit and took the camera for a test run to Paso Robles Wine Country the other day. Here's a little selection of pics. (The camera is still on Auto setting as I have yet to learn all the fancy doohicky buttons yet!!)

These two are using the "close-ups" setting on the camera.

Pics of Sunset.

These three are from different points on the drive through Paso Robles.

This is one of the wineries we stopped at the day. Apparently the owners have a thing for castles, cause they built their own!

New Abode...

Welcome to our new home!

When we found out we would next be stationed in Lemoore, CA we called to see about getting a house on base again. They informed us the wait list was 3-6 months, and we wouldn't go on the list until we detached from Meridian. Well we decided to go ahead see what would happen so we filled out all the paper and went on the October 14, a week later we got a call saying they had a house available did we want to take. So much for 3-6 months!! We hadn't even made it to Lemoore when they called us. We said we would tentatively take it but we wanted to walk through before we signed anything. We walked through it and the selling point was...

The Kitchen!!

This kitchen is so much bigger than any of the kitchens we have had so far. Look at all the counter space!!!

We have gotten all of our stuff and have started to unpack and find new homes for everything. This is the living room you see when you first walk in the door. The kitchen is to your right, and three bedrooms and two bathrooms are to your left. There is a ton of storage space in the house, and shelving in the two car garage.

I can't wait to get all settled in!!

Doggie Beach

I was in AZ for two weeks while Mike was at survival and p.o.w. training in San Diego. When he was finished Sunset and I met him in San Diego and we stayed for a night there before going to S.B. for a night. While in San Diego, we took Sunset to the Ocean Beach doggie beach.

She played for awhile, and then she was all done and layed on the beach refusing to come back in the water!

Arizona Trip

As I was driving into AZ from CA, I took this picture of the sunset. Something about the moon high about the purplish mountain, and then the changing colors of the sky. It struck me as gorgeous. This picture, and the others I attempted, don't even come close to the true majesty of the sky that night. This is what I missed about being on the east, the sunsets and the being able to see for miles and miles. It is incredible the vast difference in climate and vegetation from one side of the country to the other, a testament to the painting and architectural powers of our Creator God.



Anyways, on to the rest of my trip home. Mom and I spent a day with Melissa, Amanda, and Abby at Out Of Africa in Camp Verde. It's about an hour north of Scottsdale. If you are in Phoenix/Scottsdale and are looking for something to do for a day, take the trip out it was amazing. And it is a day trip, not because it's far away but because of all the amazing things you can see and do out there.

You go on a safari ride, and the animals literally come onto the front steps of the bus...There are a few animals that you as a guest can actually feed, the zebra not being one of them because of their massive teeth.....I wouldn't want to loose a finger to that guy!!

The giraffe is one of the animals that you can feed. Their tongues are HUGE!! For the safari ride you load onto an old school bus with no windows and no door. You then go out into the "Serengeti" where there are all sorts of animals from the African plains. Out of Africa started as a big cat rescue and has since expanded over the years. As far as I know the same owners that started it are still owners and a large part of the day to day runnings.

The camel is the other animal on safari that you can actually feed. Our bus driver, Bob, really liked Humphrey, the camel. All the workers are so in love with the animals and it really is all about their interest, humans come second. The animal trainer relationship is incredible here as well. You would assume that with a camel that wouldn't be too difficult, but how about with tigers....

Out of Africa does a show called "Tiger Splash" where three trainers bring in two tigers, or a lioness and a tiger, or various other animals and play around with them. You can't see it in this picture but there is a pool in there that they jump in and swim around. The trainers have all these crazy toys filled with balloons that they run around to get the tigers to chase and then jump in the pool. The day we were there for the first few minutes it was just the trainers in the pool, the tigers would always stop at the edge and watch the trainer get soaking wet, almost as if to say "HA, I made you do that!"


This one particular tiger was something of an acrobat and would often jump up against the fence to get at the toys!

The day we were there was feeding day for all the predators cats. We followed the meat truck around and watched them through racks of ribs, legs of horses, whole turkeys, and various other meats into the pens for the animals to eat. This white tiger, was patiently waiting for his meal trying to look innocent and sweet. He was talking and purring while his neighbors were being fed.

Boom-Boom, the Rhino

Boom-Boom the rhino has an amazing story. He came to Out of Africa in an unusual way. He was bought by a hunter who was going to put him into an enclosure as game. He was bought to be hunted and killed. Someone from Out of Africa heard about this and they offered to pay the hunter double what he had payed for Boom-Boom, in order to save his life. The hunter accepted and Boom-Boom now strolls around the desert in his new home.

All the animals at Out of Africa have similar stories. They are mostly rescued from people who buy them to hunt them, or people who purchase them as pets and then can no longer take care of them. The entire admission you pay goes back to help the animals, Out of Africa gets no outside money. I know this sounds like a sales pitch.....it was an amazing experience though!!



A few more pics of the day

Mike and I have now moved to Lemoore, CA!! No more MISSISSIPPI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prior to us coming here we were in the hands of the Navy waiting on housing...so we took a drive down to Santa Barbara so as not to completely annoy our friends who were letting us crash at their place. My mom's brother and his family live there so we spent a few days with them.

I love Santa Barbara, it is this cute little beach town that has your typical CA feel to it. State Street is a blast to walk up and down and go into all the little boutique shops, as well as your name brand stores. There are two, yes TWO, Starbucks on State Street!! (Oh and did I mention that in Lemoore, the base has a Starbucks??? And Target is now only 15 minutes away AND it has a Starbucks in it as well!!! I'm a little stoke to be out of MS if you can't tell!!)

Anyways, back to our little two day vacation.... We went down to S.B. on a Tuesday with the intentions of staying only one night. We stayed two because it was just so nice.

I had not been back to S.B. to visit my aunt and uncle since I was in high school. I had remembered the Santa Barbara Mission to be amazing and so Mike and I took some time and went there. (We also went to the Natural History Musuem, which might have been alright if we had kids, maybe). The mission was not a disappointment.

This picture is an attempt to recreate and amazing postcard I saw where the mission was reflected in the water, I think I kinda got the effect.

The gardens and the cemetery at the mission are also picturesque and amazing. This one is the center of the complex and at one point was a prayer garden for the monks that lived there. The flowers were blooming and the sun was shining. Just an all around perfect day to be wandering around outside. We attempted to take a picture of Mike and I with this in the background, but there was no one near by and no where to place the camera without having a tri-pod. Maybe I should get one, I could be a real tourist then!!

We have since been back to Santa Barbara for a weekend. At that time we enjoyed a four year old's birthday party and his older sister singing in an opera!!

Cross Country Move

Well I'm driving across the country again, only this time it's going back to the west, YAY!! We leave Meridian bright and early and will stop in Austin, TX to stay with family and then from there we will take two days and be in AZ for about a week to see friends and family. We should make it all the way to Lemoore, CA about Oct 25. Mike has to check in with the squadron on Oct 26. I will be back in AZ while Mike it at survival school and then we will also be there for Thanksgiving. Lots of driving back and forth between CA and AZ, but hey that's why we wanted to get back out west. Can't wait!!

Europe Pics

Since I've already uploaded a lot of pics to facebook I have just copied the links to the photo albums here so you can access those pics. I may do a few posts on some of my favorite stuff but we'll see. This just seemed easier!! Hope you enjoy.

The Beginning and Brussels, Belgium

Versailles

The Louvre

Paris and Dijon France

Switzerland

Munich

More Munich

Mike got his Wings!

I know this is way past due, since Mike got winged August 7, but it's been a little hectic around here with going to Europe, and Annapolis, and moving. So I'm finally putting up some pics from the winging. His parents and my family came in for the winging. We had a great long weekend with all of them.

One comment from a fellow wingee to Mike about the above pic: "Dude, it looks like you brought Blink 182 on stage" when in face it is just my 3 brothers.
This was Mike's class that he went through advanced with.
A pic of everyone that came out. Notice the awkward guy to the far right of the pic? Not a part of our family just some random officer from the wing that stood awkwardly in ALL of our family pics!
Just the two of us! So proud that we made it through, and now ready to move to sunny CA!!

They fly 'em...We drive 'em

Mike's squadron did a wife taxi day a few weeks back. I got to put on most of the flight gear they have to wear (not the g-suit) and walk out to the plane, climb in, and then taxi to the runway. Unfortunately Mike was not in the front seat but I had an instructor. He was way cool though, call sign Bum, he let me taxi the plan all the way to the runway. Once at the runway he took over and we did what was called a high-power taxi, where he ran the engine let the plane get to about 90 knots on the ground before cutting power off and coasting to the end of the runway from there. It was neat! Kinda crazy to be sitting in such an expensive piece of equipment touching buttons and running up the throttle and using the petals to steer! But what an experience. I'm so glad I was able to do it!

Europe so far...

Pictures and more details to come after I return to the States since I don't have internet for free here. But here is a quick update.

Day 1 - Made it to Ramstein and headed to Brussels, Belgium.
Day 2- Walked around Brussels. Made it to all the major tourist stops in one day walking around; Mannekin Pis, Grand Place, a bunch of chapels and cathedrals, the Royal Palace and gardens.
Day 3- Drove to Paris with an over stop at Versailles. Gorgeous. It is a must stop to anyone that goes to Paris.
Day 4- Paris. We did a total of 9 hours of walking and saw all the major stops, including into going into the Louvre for about 3 hours and seeing the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, as well as other major historic works of art.
Day 5- Drove to Lausanne, Switzerland with a stop over in Dijon, France. Walked around a little bit and got some Dijon mustard, had to of course.
Day 6- Today we drove to Zermatt and saw the Matterhorn, the real one. Very cool. It was about a 2.5 hour drive there and back so that was all we did one day. The town was a very cool Swiss mountain town.
Day 7- Spent the day driving around Lake Geneva stopping in little villages along the way. Saw a few chateuaxs. Went through the town of Evian, where the water comes from.
Day 8- Saw the town of Lausanne, where our friends live. Lausanne is the headquarter of the Olympics and they have a Olympic Museum we went to today. We also saw the main cathedral in town. Little side note: from the main tower of the catherdral a town crier announces from 10pm-2am every hour: The hour has struck; all is clear.

Tomorrow we head to Munich and then Salzburg. And then we try and catch a flight back to the states. And like I said pics and such to come when I return!!

Europe Trip

So Mike and I are traveling space-a to Europe for about two weeks! Don't know how much I"ll actually get to a computer while over there but I'll try and update at least once while there. But will post pics and updates when I return.

We plan to fly in to Ramstein, Germany and then road trip to: Brussels, Belgium; Paris, France; Lausanne, Switzerland; Munich, Germany; Salzburg, Austria; and then back to Ramstein via Stuttgart, Germany!!! Fun, fun....wish us luck!

Getting close to the end...

So Michael will be going to the July boat and has a tentative winging date of August 7. All he has left to do is ACM and the boat!! So excited!!

Books...

So I had said I wanted to read one new book a month, and I've done a lot better than reading one new book a month. Lately I've been reading a lot...and Mike doesn't care for it too much. He says that I'm not paying enough attention to him because I'm reading too much. I read the entire twilight series in one week...I can see why everyone enjoys them so much. Now I'm going to see the movie and all that. My only problem with it was I wish she would have done an epilogue to the last book. Kinda like what JK Rowling did with the Harry Potter series. Not an entire book but maybe just 10 pages or so about how the future worked out. But oh well. I enjoyed them none the less.

I also have been reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels and love them too. There's about 15 of them I think and Im on number 9 right now. They are quick easy reads, I can usually do one in the evening after work. I love em! They are fun and totally just mindless reading.

I found a few Christian authors that I really enjoyed. Mindy Starns Clark Whispers on the Bayou and her one about the Amish (can't remember the name right now) were both very good. I like Whispers better than the other but they were both very good. Recommend them, they are both kinda dark gothic mysteries I guess you could say.

The other Christian author I really enjoyed reading was Denise Hildreth's Will of Wisteria. Gives a good perspective on life and what's important....even if you are raised with an endless supply of wealth.

I'm glad that I've gotten myself into reading. It has helped me make it through this crudhole of a town I currently live in. Yay, for reading!!!

So I found out that work is going to give me two weeks of to go home on vacation with my family!! Woot, we are going to DISNEYLAND for a few days and I couldnt' be more stoked about it. Especially since at first it seemed like Bailey wasn't going to give me the time off...no one's taken that much time is what she had said...even though I was gone for longer than two at Christmas and New Years, oh well. I'm going! I'm so excited to see friends and family. I think it's going to give me the rejuvenation I need to get through that last few months here.

Update

Alright, so it's been awhile since an update so here goes...

I am stuck in a job I don't really enjoy. For the most part I enjoy all my co-workers and even the family I would for. It is just the work that I do. It is not challenging and it is the same thing day in and day out. I input number's into the computer which takes maybe fifteen minutes, tops! I print the bills twice a week. I have to sort the mail. The only saving grace, ok well there's two things. First. I'm leaving soon. And second, I get to leave the office for about an hour each day to run errands. If we were going to be here any longer than the short time we are I would not still be working here.

Now on the Mike...he is set be done in July or August. Currently he is going through weapons training and learning to drop bombs on targets. So far he is realy enjoying his training. He probably only has about 30-35 events left before he goes to the boatto get his carrier qualifications and then he gets his wings.

From here in Meridian, MS we go either to the east coast and Virginia Beach, VA or to the west coast and Lemoore, Ca or Washington. We haven't really talked about what we want to put as our preference. Where we go from here we could be at for a year of four years before we might move again. And it also could be longer than that. Somewhere in our future could be a three year tour in Japan, which would be quite an experience. We also could do what is known as a shore tour in D.C. Which would mean no flying for Mike but an amazing place to live for a few years.

As you can tell we don't know what the future holds beyond August!!

My life isn't what I want it to be. I'm not who I want to be.

Life in Meridian has just gotten me a little down. Not much to do. No real friends to hang out/talk to. I'll expand more about what I meant a little later when I have time. 

I am not enjoying my job as much as I would have hoped. Most days all I do is watch the clock waiting for it to be 5. Some days it's tolerable and I am able to stay busy. But more often than not it is boring and time just drags on. The only thing that keeps me going is knowing I'm only here for a little while longer.

I feel that at almost 24 I should have more and inkling or idea of what I want to do with my life. I went to college and payed a lot of money for a degree I'm not even using. I'm thinking about back and getting my masters in teaching. But I also think that maybe I should substitute a little first to see if it is even something I am interested in. I also am afraid that if I pay the money for a master I will end up doing the same thing, spending a lot of money on a degree I'm not going to use. 

I miss having close girlfriends to hang out with, get coffee with, and just in general talk to about stuff. I know I can talk to Mike about anything but sometimes I just need girl talk. There are girls here that I can hang out with but none really that I would want to share my life woes with, I'm just not that close to any of them. Part of the problem is that this place is so transient that as soon as I get close to someone and I feel like I could share a deeper part of myself, either they have to move or I am having to move. Hopefully from here on it when our location will be more steady this one will work itself out.

I want to start a book club.

I don't really know why  want to. I enjoy reading but one of my least favorite things to do was pick apart books to find "what the author was trying to say/meant" I think I enjoy the idea of a book club. Meaning how they are portrayed in movies, and even books. Women of various backgrounds brought together by an author, or a genre, or a subject. In the movies and books the women are from all different lifestyles: wealthy and rich, to librarians, to starving artists. They always meet in some cool locale like a London flat, or a NYC penthouse, even on the beach. During their meeting they are discussing books while sipping wine and eating chocolate, or something equally as erotic and decadent. Thats the book club I want to be a part of. Just discuss how we thought and felt; what characters we loved and who we loathed.

Na'lins

This past weekend Mike and I spent in New Orleans. Mike's birthday was on Monday the 19 and since I had to work we decided to take off on Friday and spend a few days out of town. We have been saying we were gonna go to New Orleans since we moved to Pensacola over a year ago, and we finally made. We had a blast!!

We took a ride on the St. Charles Street Car, which is the oldest operating street car! St. Charles Avenue has some of the most beautiful Southern homes. For $1.25 each we rode it all the way to the end of the line. The end of the line has a Walgreens, a park, and a little market/grocery store. We got some muffins and coffee at the market and had breakfast in the park. We then boarded the street car for the return trip. I think I would live in one of those houses if I wasn't worried about hurricanes and such!

After some wandering around the French Quarter and the French Market, we got some drinks (it's amazing, you can walk around with alcohol and no one stops you). And yes, we were drinking before lunch, it's Na'Lins! We finally got some lunch at a local brewery, tasted their local beers and then took a lovely horse-drawn carriage ride from Jackson Square around the French Quarter and got to here a bit of the history. Our guide even pointed out Brad and Angelina's $3.5 million house in the French Quarter...lemme tell ya, it didn't look like no huge house! 

That night we decided we would take our chances at some gambling and hit the casino floor. While all the craps and poker and blackjack tables were too high rolling for us, we did enjoy playing $20 worth in slot machines. And we even found one perfect for Mike, a TOP GUN slot machine!! Although he didn't do very good at, he quickly lost the $5 he put in! Let's hope his really flying goes better than that.

The picture to the below is Jackson Square in the background.

We ended our New Orleans trip with a visit to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. We will be going back to go to the zoo, but it was still too chilly to want to be walking around for a long time to look at empty animal cages because they were all in their warm little homes!

Speaking of homes, we found a home in the giant sea anemone (sp?) at the aquarium!! We had an awesome trip and can't wait to go on our next adventure (who knows when that will be)!!

Tag, you're it!

So apparently I was tagged like 8 years ago by Brianne and Mari. I'm finally getting around to responding to that....

1. I am a Disney and Harry Potter fanatic. I have the scene-it versions of both. I've stood in line for 7-8 hours to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter movies. And even though I have no children of my own I often buy, and put on my Christmas and birthday lists, Disney movies!

2. I am the oldest of 4 children and the only girl. Coincidentally I grew up quite a tomboy playing sports and video games which has followed me through the years. I am an avid Halo3 player and often play online.

3. I have an inch long diagonal scar on the top my head from trying to balance beam on the back of my neighbors sofa, falling, and the hitting my head on the corner of one of the huge 1970's brown floor speakers, when I was about 7 or 8.

4. I have never broken a bone in my body. But have caused my brothers to break bones or caused them to acquire major cuts on more than one occasion.

5. I wish that I had a closer relationship with Christ, and felt more secure in openly sharing my faith.

6. My parents are still married. All 4 of my grandparents are still living and have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries. I also have great-grandmother who is still living.

7. And since it the New Year this is dedicated to things I would like to accomplish this year:

I would like to get healthy and in shape.

I would like to read one new book a month.

I would like to get back into the habit of praying and reading the Bible.

Well that is it on my seven facts and such...hope you enjoyed learning about me!

AZ for the holidays

We were able to go to AZ for Christmas and New years. We spent a lot of time with my family and our friends and enjoyed every minute! It helped that the weather was sunny and 72!! yes there were days we laying out by the pool. Don't be jealous.

Above: My brother enjoying time at the grandparents

Below: My crazy dad

Below: My brother Shane is planning on traveling Europe this summer and so my parents got him a world map to decide his route

My parents great dane, Diesel enjoying his Christmas present

Christmas in Meridian

Just some pics from lovely meridian for the holidays!

Our family picture:

Yes Santa was taxi'd in a T-45!

Our house all lit up:
The tree and Sunset:

It's been awhile...

So I've decided that maybe I should update since it has been a few months. Mike is trotting along in flight school and should make it to the end of phase 1 in about March. At that time he will find out if we stay in meridian and he continues training for the F-18, or if we will be moving and he will be flying the E2 or C2. He obviously prefers the F-18. I am still working at the furniture store doing bookkeeping, again still not my favorite thing to be doing but it is keeping me busy. 

We have found an OCF Bible Study that we have been attending and it has been great. Unfortunately, I am usually the only wife that attends; most of the group are single student pilots. But it is still great and we have met a lot of people through it as well. 

Well that's about it, our life in little Meridian, MS is not all that exciting. We are hoping after this to move somewhere to enjoy more of life, and now that I have an income we will start exploring the area around us as well!