I sit here wondering where the time went. How do we only have 8 WEEKS left until our little one arrives? I have no idea. Thankfully for me, since the start of second trimester, I've been a cleaning, organizing, project planning fool and have had plenty to do to keep me busy. While we are very much looking forward to the arrival of our baby, we are also trying our best to make the most of our time together.
Everyone has seen or heard about the blogs or people that say "just wait." Wait until the baby arrives, wait until you can't sleep a full night, wait until your house is a mess, wait until it's your baby crying nonstop, wait until you can't function etc. Well, we've been waiting and wanting this moment and we intend to cherish the heck out of it when the "fun" times come. After all, that's parenthood, that's what our goal is and was, to become parents. This was an intentional choice. Why would we want to wait any longer? We know there will be challenges, we know we will be tired, but we also know it will be worth it.
Now comes the time in the pregnancy where I'm thinking, wow, 8 more weeks of just my husband and I. We've known each other for nearly 15 years, we starting dating (the second time) 8 years ago, and have been married for a little over 6 years. It's always been him and I. We have accomplished nearly everything we have wanted to do together (though our European trip is on hold). We shared our first job together at McDonald's in high school, went to prom, graduated high school, college, and grad school. Planned a long distance wedding, traveled all over the country, accomplished our first long deployment and many TDYs. We've added two pups to the family, conquered debt, and have moved five times. It's always been him and I.
So, now as our family dynamic is about to change, I am excited to embrace it. Excited to see my husband hold his little baby girl for the first time, to see them napping together, see them playing together. I'm excited to see him come home from work and embrace his two girls. I'm excited to see him proudly carrying our girl around town, to work functions, and at get togethers. I don't fear the sleepless nights, the crying, and the hecticness, because of these things. We won't be anywhere close to perfect parents, but no one says we have to be.
The Lord doesn't give us more than we can handle, and we will definitely cling to that promise.
So yes, our family dynamic is about to change for forever. We accept it and pray that God will continue to bless us just as he always has.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
What's new
It doesn't look like people really blog in the summer, and it looks like I'm one of those people! But for memories sake, here's a recap of what we've been up to since May.
1. We had the Hoes family come and visit from Abilene over Memorial Day weekend, had such a great time! Love this family so much!
2. Our nursery is coming along, we now have a crib, dresser, and painted light gray walls, possibly some tealish curtains. I've had many people ask, and if you are interested, we are registered at Amazon, Target, and Babies R Us.
3. We celebrated 6 years of marriage and actually stayed in town! Very rare for us! We had a rather classy meal at the Applebees :)
4. We found out we are having a baby girl and everything looks healthy! If anyone happens to have some used baby girl clothes and would like to send them our way, we would appreciate it! After watching my nieces and nephew grow up so fast, the thought of paying for new clothes sickens me!
5. We spent 4th of July weekend in South Padre Island, another Texas city to check off the list! We love the beach, it was so good to get away. We also took the pups in the new car and they did so well. We puppy proofed the car and it came out unscathed. We LOVE our new car, LOVE LOVE LOVE!
6. As far as the pregnancy goes, this week I will be 7 months. I've officially gained 20 pounds! It's getting harder for me to bend over and get up after sitting down. Sleeping on my back is getting difficult. I'm not sure if it's the hormones or the heat, or both, but at times I feel myself turning into a crazy impatient person, especially with strangers. I still haven't been sick, it's been an easy pregnancy, we are so blessed!
I think that's about it. Hope you all had a great 4th!
1. We had the Hoes family come and visit from Abilene over Memorial Day weekend, had such a great time! Love this family so much!
2. Our nursery is coming along, we now have a crib, dresser, and painted light gray walls, possibly some tealish curtains. I've had many people ask, and if you are interested, we are registered at Amazon, Target, and Babies R Us.
3. We celebrated 6 years of marriage and actually stayed in town! Very rare for us! We had a rather classy meal at the Applebees :)
4. We found out we are having a baby girl and everything looks healthy! If anyone happens to have some used baby girl clothes and would like to send them our way, we would appreciate it! After watching my nieces and nephew grow up so fast, the thought of paying for new clothes sickens me!
5. We spent 4th of July weekend in South Padre Island, another Texas city to check off the list! We love the beach, it was so good to get away. We also took the pups in the new car and they did so well. We puppy proofed the car and it came out unscathed. We LOVE our new car, LOVE LOVE LOVE!
6. As far as the pregnancy goes, this week I will be 7 months. I've officially gained 20 pounds! It's getting harder for me to bend over and get up after sitting down. Sleeping on my back is getting difficult. I'm not sure if it's the hormones or the heat, or both, but at times I feel myself turning into a crazy impatient person, especially with strangers. I still haven't been sick, it's been an easy pregnancy, we are so blessed!
I think that's about it. Hope you all had a great 4th!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
My birthday/anniversary/mother's day gift
We've been talking about it for awhile now. We need a new car! Not that there is anything wrong with ours, it's just that I'm a very impatient person and having a baby and two two-door coupes is just not going to fly for us.
If you're an "avid" reader of the blog, you know that nearly a year ago we paid off the last of our 100k+ debt. See Here. SO, we are coming up on a year of being completely debt-free!! I must say, it's been a great year. Throughout that year, we've been saving and saving for a new car. We've test drove the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Ford Explorer, Infiniti JX, and the new Nissan Pathfinder.
My personal favorite from the get-go (after all the test drives) was the Infiniti. I liked that it was unique, the interior and exterior were beautiful and not cheaply made, and I liked the extras it came with that were standard. Josh also loved the Infiniti, but we weren't sure if the extra price was worth it. So, a close second was the Ford Explorer. We liked the thought of having two captain chairs as opposed to the bench style backseat. The interior of the explorer was also rather nice, but still second place to the Infiniti. We left the Ford dealer pretty much thinking that we were probably going to go with the Ford because it was cheaper. We then ran the numbers for each car. We found out the captain chairs for the Ford were a bit extra and quite a few other things that were standard on the JX, were extra on the Ford. SO, when it came down to numbers, the difference between the Ford that we wanted and the JX that we loved was about $3,000. We.were.shocked! Why get a Ford, when you can get a "luxury" car for just a little more? Not to mention, a better resale value.
During Josh's birthday trip, we spent the last day in Austin dealing wtih the Infiniti dealer there. The biggest shocker was after working with the San Antonio Infiniti dealer for the past year, not once did they mention that Infiniti does a military discount similar to employee pricing. That was one of the first things the Austin dealer had mentioned, so we decided to stick with them. And SUPER long story short, we have a car being delivered to Austin for us from Baton Rouge, and if all goes well, we will pick it up Memorial Day weekend.
Another long story short, we sold my car! I posted it on the base yard sale page late Saturday evening, Sunday morning we had a bite, Tuesday afternoon it was sold!! We were able to get KBB value on it as well. SO, goodbye to Coby.
Debt-free/slightly pride-filled sidenote. Spending a little over 40k on a car is a HUGE deal to us, so we were rather meticulous with a lot of things and debated the purchase throughout the past year. I found myself having to justify the purchase in my head in order to defend it, if anyone thought we were being too spendy. I came up with this. I have been driving the very base base base model of a nice new 2006 Chevy Cobalt. I had taken great care of it and because I started off with a cheap car, that was more money we saved in paying off other debt. After selling the car, I realized that that car only cost me $1070/year to have!! That's pretty awesome. I had mentioned that we had been saving so that in addition to the sale of my car, we are going to be able to put half down in cash. Praise the Lord for financial responsibility. We were also eligible for an amazing loan rate through USAA. So, this car should take us about 2 years, MAX, to pay off. And, if I have to validate it anymore, all the debt we have is a car payment. Amazing. Plus, with this being a 7 seater, we plan on having this car FOREVER.
Without further ado, out with the old, and in with the new:
If you're an "avid" reader of the blog, you know that nearly a year ago we paid off the last of our 100k+ debt. See Here. SO, we are coming up on a year of being completely debt-free!! I must say, it's been a great year. Throughout that year, we've been saving and saving for a new car. We've test drove the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Ford Explorer, Infiniti JX, and the new Nissan Pathfinder.
My personal favorite from the get-go (after all the test drives) was the Infiniti. I liked that it was unique, the interior and exterior were beautiful and not cheaply made, and I liked the extras it came with that were standard. Josh also loved the Infiniti, but we weren't sure if the extra price was worth it. So, a close second was the Ford Explorer. We liked the thought of having two captain chairs as opposed to the bench style backseat. The interior of the explorer was also rather nice, but still second place to the Infiniti. We left the Ford dealer pretty much thinking that we were probably going to go with the Ford because it was cheaper. We then ran the numbers for each car. We found out the captain chairs for the Ford were a bit extra and quite a few other things that were standard on the JX, were extra on the Ford. SO, when it came down to numbers, the difference between the Ford that we wanted and the JX that we loved was about $3,000. We.were.shocked! Why get a Ford, when you can get a "luxury" car for just a little more? Not to mention, a better resale value.
During Josh's birthday trip, we spent the last day in Austin dealing wtih the Infiniti dealer there. The biggest shocker was after working with the San Antonio Infiniti dealer for the past year, not once did they mention that Infiniti does a military discount similar to employee pricing. That was one of the first things the Austin dealer had mentioned, so we decided to stick with them. And SUPER long story short, we have a car being delivered to Austin for us from Baton Rouge, and if all goes well, we will pick it up Memorial Day weekend.
Another long story short, we sold my car! I posted it on the base yard sale page late Saturday evening, Sunday morning we had a bite, Tuesday afternoon it was sold!! We were able to get KBB value on it as well. SO, goodbye to Coby.
Debt-free/slightly pride-filled sidenote. Spending a little over 40k on a car is a HUGE deal to us, so we were rather meticulous with a lot of things and debated the purchase throughout the past year. I found myself having to justify the purchase in my head in order to defend it, if anyone thought we were being too spendy. I came up with this. I have been driving the very base base base model of a nice new 2006 Chevy Cobalt. I had taken great care of it and because I started off with a cheap car, that was more money we saved in paying off other debt. After selling the car, I realized that that car only cost me $1070/year to have!! That's pretty awesome. I had mentioned that we had been saving so that in addition to the sale of my car, we are going to be able to put half down in cash. Praise the Lord for financial responsibility. We were also eligible for an amazing loan rate through USAA. So, this car should take us about 2 years, MAX, to pay off. And, if I have to validate it anymore, all the debt we have is a car payment. Amazing. Plus, with this being a 7 seater, we plan on having this car FOREVER.
Without further ado, out with the old, and in with the new:
29th Birthdays!
As most of you know, Josh and I are only two weeks apart, with our anniversary a week after my birthday. SO, April and May are pretty fun months for us.
As I mentioned before, we spent the morning of Josh's birthday flying out of Vegas back to Austin. That day we had a delicious dinner at Shady's Burger and then went downtown for a concert Josh had been wanting to see, The Gaslight Anthem. They were playing at a bar, outside, on a beautiful night. There were a TON of people there, and even though I didn't know a most of the songs, the band put on a great show. We also had some drinks (mine virgin of course) on 6th street. It felt good to feel young again, going to rock shows and staying up late. And then, midnight hit and we were exhausted and headed back to the hotel!
Josh's apple pie was a little delayed this year because of our trip, but he got it and loved it. I'd say I'm getting better at making it, but it's different every time!!
His birthday gift from me was to get the window tint on his car fixed! It held up really well where he purchased his car, Indiana, but the Texas heat on that tint isn't holding help to swell. So, it's on the agenda to get fixed on a San Antonio trip.
As for my birthday, we were a little more low key, but with some Texas flare! We had a squadron function at a local RV park where we enjoyed some Texas two-step lessons. And contrary to what we had originally thought, Josh and I CAN dance together, and the two-step CAN be done in flip flops :)
It was a great time filled with many laughs, great food, and awesome friends. 
And in case you were wondering what Josh got me.....it's on the next post.
And proof my husband doesn't age....
And proof my husband doesn't age....
Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Red Rock, Austin - 4/19-4/27
As always, we like to get away.
We've been planning our Vegas trip for quite a while. We wanted to catch some shows, cool sites, pool time, and time with friends. Missions accomplished! We drove out to Austin on the 19th so that we could catch the Austin auto show and hopefully get some more insight on the car we are going to purchase. Also, Del Rio's airline just exited DR on 4/13, so now our flight options are 2.5-3.5 hours away. Austin was cheaper, and we had things to do there, so Austin it was. Can you believe that? Our city is so friggen small, they can't sustain an airport! I digress...
Saturday morning we flew out of Austin to Las Vegas. Our first plans were to get to the hotel, walk around, and get a quick bite to eat. I did not know where we were staying, Josh had stressed that it was a surprise. We've always wanted to go to Europe, and with my 5 years of French, Paris has been on the top of my list. SO, we pulled up to the Paris hotel and he said, "we've wanted to go to Europe before we had kids, so here were are!" My husband is awesome.
We had plans to see Tim Allen at 10pm (midnight our time) so we decided to take a little nap. Well, someone hit snooze on the alarm a little too much (Joshua!) and we had about a half hour to book it nearly a mile down the crowded strip AND have time for dinner for this soon to be crabby and hungry, pregnant lady! Needless to say, McDonald's was a life saver and we made it just a couple minutes late. Tim Allen and his opening act were great!
The rest of the week was a little bit of a slow blur, I guess that's what I get for taking so long to blog about it. We walked around the strip A LOT! Caught all the free shows, the Mirage volcano, the Bellagio fountains, and the Treasure Island pirate show.
Then we headed over for a tour of the Hoover Dam. Pretty magnificent to see! It's amazing how they could have constructed something so elaborate so many years ago without the technology, health regulations, and wages that we have today.
After that we headed over to meet up with our friends the Luppolds and the Pachlhofers. We had some delicious food and wonderful conversation catching up. We have missed them so much!! On Tuesday a few of us headed over to Red Rock Canyon to check out the area. It was rather gorgeous and definitely a different type of desert and hill country than we are used to seeing here in Texas! On our way home we stopped at the infamous In-N-Out Burger. Josh and I's first trip there, believe the hype, it was delicious!!!!!
Later that day (Brooke's birthday!) the ladies headed out for some pedicures before our nice dinner. Our dinner that night was delicious and I've never seen a restaurant so accomodating to birthdays! They had an insert in their menu wishing Brooke a happy birthday, she got a free dessert, and they gave us each a copy of the picture they took of our group.
The rest of the week was spent back on the strip. This time we stayed at Mandalay Bay for two nights. When we arrived, they for some reason gave us a free upgrade to a premium Vegas Strip view. Awesome! This hotel was our pool time and Josh has been wanting to stay at this pool forever!! It was a beautiful hotel with many pools (some heated), and a lazy river. The highlights toward the end of the trip were eating at a Brazillian Steakhouse for the first time and seeing a Cirque du Soleil show for the first time, Ka. I wasn't really wanting to go to a Cirque show, they all seem too feminine, but boy was this one awesome!!
Garner State Park Trip - April 2013
Trying to catch up the blog here.....
In early April a group of us went up to Garner State Park, the most popular state park in Texas and only 1.5 hours from Del Rio! We had a great time roasting marshmallows and brats and sharing "ghost stories." While Josh, Kiel, Stacy and Jake went crusing on the three twisted sisters, Lisa and I took the four dogs on a little hike and came back to discover our campsite covered in BEES! It took us about 1.5 hours to smoke them and smack them out. Craziness!
In early April a group of us went up to Garner State Park, the most popular state park in Texas and only 1.5 hours from Del Rio! We had a great time roasting marshmallows and brats and sharing "ghost stories." While Josh, Kiel, Stacy and Jake went crusing on the three twisted sisters, Lisa and I took the four dogs on a little hike and came back to discover our campsite covered in BEES! It took us about 1.5 hours to smoke them and smack them out. Craziness!
Can you say HOT!? Whew!
On his way to cruise the three twisted sisters, a popular scenic, must do, biker route in Texas.
On his way to cruise the three twisted sisters, a popular scenic, must do, biker route in Texas.
Walking the pups
The whole gang
The biker bar we ate at for lunch. Great chili dog :)
We are expecting!
This is rather "old" news now, but it's still good to blog about as my blog has become how I keep my memories straight!
After all that encompasses a year and a half of trying, the Lord has blessed us with a viable pregnancy! I am just about half way through (tomorrow is 20 weeks). Long story short, I told Josh by handing him a slip of paper with our top three car choices for when the baby comes. We said we would get serious about cars once we got pregnant. At the bottom of the paper, I typed, "if all goes well and is meant to be, we need to decide by Oct. 4, 2013." He was of course sarcastic and asked what it meant, but gave his crooked smile, and said that was exciting, and we hugged :)
We are incredibly blessed, the pregnancy has been so easy, no morning sickness, no major concerns, not gaining too much weight too quickly, and I can still fit (snuggly) into my jeans, my shirts are another story!
On May 28th we hope to find out the gender.Yes, we have names picked out, our nursery is painted (gray) and I have a registry on Amazon which will become public once we find out the gender. As chaotic as pregnancy may seem, throughout the waiting to become pregnant process, we were already 90% decided on names, nursery color, most of the small registry items, and the car we wanted to get. It may sound weird to have all that done early, but we couldn't help but keep faith for the day when it would all happen.
Let me stress, I know a year and a half is not "that" long in TTC (trying to conceive) terms, we have many friends that have had to and continue to wait years longer. However, throughout that time there are battles of emotions that many people can't begin to comprehend. Whether it is 6 months, or 6 years, it's not an easy time. We are so thankful it is our turn, and we continue to pray for those who continue their journey to parenthood.
To everyone who has prayed for us throughout this time, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
After all that encompasses a year and a half of trying, the Lord has blessed us with a viable pregnancy! I am just about half way through (tomorrow is 20 weeks). Long story short, I told Josh by handing him a slip of paper with our top three car choices for when the baby comes. We said we would get serious about cars once we got pregnant. At the bottom of the paper, I typed, "if all goes well and is meant to be, we need to decide by Oct. 4, 2013." He was of course sarcastic and asked what it meant, but gave his crooked smile, and said that was exciting, and we hugged :)
We are incredibly blessed, the pregnancy has been so easy, no morning sickness, no major concerns, not gaining too much weight too quickly, and I can still fit (snuggly) into my jeans, my shirts are another story!
On May 28th we hope to find out the gender.Yes, we have names picked out, our nursery is painted (gray) and I have a registry on Amazon which will become public once we find out the gender. As chaotic as pregnancy may seem, throughout the waiting to become pregnant process, we were already 90% decided on names, nursery color, most of the small registry items, and the car we wanted to get. It may sound weird to have all that done early, but we couldn't help but keep faith for the day when it would all happen.
Let me stress, I know a year and a half is not "that" long in TTC (trying to conceive) terms, we have many friends that have had to and continue to wait years longer. However, throughout that time there are battles of emotions that many people can't begin to comprehend. Whether it is 6 months, or 6 years, it's not an easy time. We are so thankful it is our turn, and we continue to pray for those who continue their journey to parenthood.
To everyone who has prayed for us throughout this time, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Let me tell ya bout my best friends
I must say, the Lord truly knew what he was doing when he paired me up with Josh to travel the country with the Air Force. I cannot imagine a more enjoyable life than the one we share, simply because of all the amazing people we have gotten to know and love over the years. And that is the best way to recap the last couple of months for us. But for the long version, here we go!
In mid January, we met up with the Haggard's, Robert, Josh's friend from Purdue, and we were able to meet his new wife Shannon. We had a great time showing them a little bit of San Antonio that they haven't seen before, as well as a wonderful meal on the Riverwalk. It was so great to catch up with them and see how life has been as newlyweds living in Dallas.
That same weekend we also got to meet up over lunch with our Abilene friends, the Calame's. We tried a new place that I can't remember the name of and it was very delicious!!
We started February with our formal OG Ball on base and we had a great time! The girls went out and got our hair and makeup done and had a fun time. Here's some of our closest buds, the Johnson's, and the Spencer's. (I was too cheap and too late to buy the actual print).
Then, as a surprise from Josh, he took off the afternoon and we ventured on up to San Antonio for Valentine's Day. We stayed at the BEAUTIFUL JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. It was so nice to get away and relax! (This is not my picture, but it was the fireplace we sat next to outside, and a little waterfall on the other side).
After spending Friday day shopping around in San Antonio, we then headed up to Abilene to visit more friends and the best church ever! We stayed at Keri and Chad's (affectionately called Hotel Hoes) for the weekend and had a blast playing with their kids, going out to eat at Perini's, singing happy birthday to my brother over voicemail and in the midst of it singing we're all going to die, AND meeting up with the Jenning's and Ingrams. It's like we never left, and that is why those friends are SO awesome!! The church service at Beltway was phenomenal, and honestly I don't know why I chose to wear mascara that day, I was a mess before the first worship song was over!
That covers the rest of Jan and Feb. As for March, so far, it's been a great month. We started the first weekend with the Laughlin OSC Auction, or as everyone calls it, the most surprisingly fun thing to not miss out on in Del Rio. It was a blast! I know Dyess does one too, so next year, GO to it all you Abilene peeps! We got to see live and silent auctions raise money for our OSC Charitable funds which help fund local high school student and spouse scholarships, and other great charities both local and national. Rumor has it we raised over $18,000! There were Taylor Swift tickets (went for $700 with rental car and hotel stay included), signed golf memorabilia (also went for $700), trips to Fredericksburg, with wine tours, and much much more! They also raffled off a free trip to the Bahamas, we did not win anything though.
Then last weekend started off with the 1st annual Devil Dash 5K, put on by our squadron. Their goal was to have somewhere around 100 runners, and they ended up with around 250, they wanted to raise $10,000 (without sponsors) and we raised over $11,000! They also had a special guest appearance from a native Del Rio wounded warrior, and it was such an honor to hear him speak. Although I didn't run, Josh did, I helped work race day, and it so great to be involved in such an awesome event. The highlight of the run for most, was being able to run on the flight line with all the planes lined up. Josh finished with a time of 25:47 and said it felt like a great and easy run, not too shabby!
And that evening was the squadron 80s party. I have been looking forward to this for months!! I LOVE THE 80s! We had a blast, and here are some pics from that.
As for what's next, we hope to go camping at Garner State Park in a couple weeks with some friends. We also planned a week trip to Vegas in April to visit the Luppold's and Pachelhofers. We are flying out of Austin so that when we fly back in, we can spend the night of Josh's birthday in Austin for a concert he's been wanting to go to. It should be a great time!
In mid January, we met up with the Haggard's, Robert, Josh's friend from Purdue, and we were able to meet his new wife Shannon. We had a great time showing them a little bit of San Antonio that they haven't seen before, as well as a wonderful meal on the Riverwalk. It was so great to catch up with them and see how life has been as newlyweds living in Dallas.
That same weekend we also got to meet up over lunch with our Abilene friends, the Calame's. We tried a new place that I can't remember the name of and it was very delicious!!
We started February with our formal OG Ball on base and we had a great time! The girls went out and got our hair and makeup done and had a fun time. Here's some of our closest buds, the Johnson's, and the Spencer's. (I was too cheap and too late to buy the actual print).
Then, as a surprise from Josh, he took off the afternoon and we ventured on up to San Antonio for Valentine's Day. We stayed at the BEAUTIFUL JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. It was so nice to get away and relax! (This is not my picture, but it was the fireplace we sat next to outside, and a little waterfall on the other side).
After spending Friday day shopping around in San Antonio, we then headed up to Abilene to visit more friends and the best church ever! We stayed at Keri and Chad's (affectionately called Hotel Hoes) for the weekend and had a blast playing with their kids, going out to eat at Perini's, singing happy birthday to my brother over voicemail and in the midst of it singing we're all going to die, AND meeting up with the Jenning's and Ingrams. It's like we never left, and that is why those friends are SO awesome!! The church service at Beltway was phenomenal, and honestly I don't know why I chose to wear mascara that day, I was a mess before the first worship song was over!
That covers the rest of Jan and Feb. As for March, so far, it's been a great month. We started the first weekend with the Laughlin OSC Auction, or as everyone calls it, the most surprisingly fun thing to not miss out on in Del Rio. It was a blast! I know Dyess does one too, so next year, GO to it all you Abilene peeps! We got to see live and silent auctions raise money for our OSC Charitable funds which help fund local high school student and spouse scholarships, and other great charities both local and national. Rumor has it we raised over $18,000! There were Taylor Swift tickets (went for $700 with rental car and hotel stay included), signed golf memorabilia (also went for $700), trips to Fredericksburg, with wine tours, and much much more! They also raffled off a free trip to the Bahamas, we did not win anything though.
Then last weekend started off with the 1st annual Devil Dash 5K, put on by our squadron. Their goal was to have somewhere around 100 runners, and they ended up with around 250, they wanted to raise $10,000 (without sponsors) and we raised over $11,000! They also had a special guest appearance from a native Del Rio wounded warrior, and it was such an honor to hear him speak. Although I didn't run, Josh did, I helped work race day, and it so great to be involved in such an awesome event. The highlight of the run for most, was being able to run on the flight line with all the planes lined up. Josh finished with a time of 25:47 and said it felt like a great and easy run, not too shabby!
And that evening was the squadron 80s party. I have been looking forward to this for months!! I LOVE THE 80s! We had a blast, and here are some pics from that.
As for what's next, we hope to go camping at Garner State Park in a couple weeks with some friends. We also planned a week trip to Vegas in April to visit the Luppold's and Pachelhofers. We are flying out of Austin so that when we fly back in, we can spend the night of Josh's birthday in Austin for a concert he's been wanting to go to. It should be a great time!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Happy New Year!
Welcome 2013, happy to see you.
We start off the year after a beautiful trip home to South Bend, Indiana, Michigan, Chicago, whatever you want to call that area. It was the prettiest winter I have seen in quite awhile. The highlights of my trip were going to a Notre Dame basketball game with my grandma (even though it was women's game), ice skating with my brother and his girlfriend, and visiting Silver Beach in Michigan. Josh and I affectionately call this "our place," because of all the fond memories we have here, including our engagement. We also got to spend time with family, which is always fun (and stressful). We also got to enjoy TWO days in Chicago this year, and that was an absolute blast.
Surprisingly, I still have my job, it's always on the cliff of disappearing and then ends up sticking around. I am now the sole biller for the company which can be pretty tedious at times. However, it has bumped me up from 10 hours a week to about 30-40, so that's a nice pay increase. My new year's resolution is to read through the Bible. So far, I've finished the book Job and Genesis. I'm trying to journal along the way so that I can have my own account of the Bible, and what I've learned from it. So far, it's going quite well, and I really enjoy it. I'm also staying busy as the social treasurer for the OSC. This is my first year being apart of an Officer's Spouse Club, and it's actually been really enjoyable. I'm also helping out in the squadron when I can with fundraising events. On Wednesday evenings I help with AWANA at church, which is a great time. I'm in the Sparky group and we average around 20 kids a week. Also, last week, Josh and I taught our first Sunday school class with about 8 kids ages K-2nd grade. It was fun! AND, finally, I just started another Beth Moore study going to the Psalms of ascent, pretty interesting stuff. So, that's me!
As for Josh, he just received his second "promotion" within the past few months. I use quotes, because it's moving on up, but there's more work and no pay increase. When he returned from training in October, he moved up to assistant flight commander of his flight. Now, he has been moved up to the flight commander of his flight. He's excited and really enjoys the flight that he gets to be in. I'm pretty sure this will be the first time he has his own office as well. He is still in love with flying and the crazy stories he tells are a great to listen to. Although, it would probably be more funny if I understood all the aviation terminology. He works a lot, but it's so nice to have him home every evening. This year shouldn't bring us any deployments, but come April of 2014 it's possible he will be up for one.
This weekend we are going to San Antonio to visit Josh's friend from college, and also some friends from Abilene. Then in February, Josh and I are going up to Abilene to hang out with great friends and eat some PERINI'S!! Very excited. We are hoping to visit Vegas later this spring. We are also saving for a new car, which is great timing to do because we don't need one any time soon. We are just about a third of the way there, who knows, maybe we will be paying cash for a brand new car. How fun would that be?! I must say, saving money isn't nearly as much fun as paying off debt. But, ah well!
That's it, you are caught up. Sorry that I am too lazy to post pictures. Except for this one, because I was really happy about the fact that I'm getting better at doing my own hair (at least I think so! Look!!
We start off the year after a beautiful trip home to South Bend, Indiana, Michigan, Chicago, whatever you want to call that area. It was the prettiest winter I have seen in quite awhile. The highlights of my trip were going to a Notre Dame basketball game with my grandma (even though it was women's game), ice skating with my brother and his girlfriend, and visiting Silver Beach in Michigan. Josh and I affectionately call this "our place," because of all the fond memories we have here, including our engagement. We also got to spend time with family, which is always fun (and stressful). We also got to enjoy TWO days in Chicago this year, and that was an absolute blast.
Surprisingly, I still have my job, it's always on the cliff of disappearing and then ends up sticking around. I am now the sole biller for the company which can be pretty tedious at times. However, it has bumped me up from 10 hours a week to about 30-40, so that's a nice pay increase. My new year's resolution is to read through the Bible. So far, I've finished the book Job and Genesis. I'm trying to journal along the way so that I can have my own account of the Bible, and what I've learned from it. So far, it's going quite well, and I really enjoy it. I'm also staying busy as the social treasurer for the OSC. This is my first year being apart of an Officer's Spouse Club, and it's actually been really enjoyable. I'm also helping out in the squadron when I can with fundraising events. On Wednesday evenings I help with AWANA at church, which is a great time. I'm in the Sparky group and we average around 20 kids a week. Also, last week, Josh and I taught our first Sunday school class with about 8 kids ages K-2nd grade. It was fun! AND, finally, I just started another Beth Moore study going to the Psalms of ascent, pretty interesting stuff. So, that's me!
As for Josh, he just received his second "promotion" within the past few months. I use quotes, because it's moving on up, but there's more work and no pay increase. When he returned from training in October, he moved up to assistant flight commander of his flight. Now, he has been moved up to the flight commander of his flight. He's excited and really enjoys the flight that he gets to be in. I'm pretty sure this will be the first time he has his own office as well. He is still in love with flying and the crazy stories he tells are a great to listen to. Although, it would probably be more funny if I understood all the aviation terminology. He works a lot, but it's so nice to have him home every evening. This year shouldn't bring us any deployments, but come April of 2014 it's possible he will be up for one.
This weekend we are going to San Antonio to visit Josh's friend from college, and also some friends from Abilene. Then in February, Josh and I are going up to Abilene to hang out with great friends and eat some PERINI'S!! Very excited. We are hoping to visit Vegas later this spring. We are also saving for a new car, which is great timing to do because we don't need one any time soon. We are just about a third of the way there, who knows, maybe we will be paying cash for a brand new car. How fun would that be?! I must say, saving money isn't nearly as much fun as paying off debt. But, ah well!
That's it, you are caught up. Sorry that I am too lazy to post pictures. Except for this one, because I was really happy about the fact that I'm getting better at doing my own hair (at least I think so! Look!!
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