Quick Update

Just wanted to update quickly on our moving status in case I don't get a chance to blog later this week. We won't have power for 8 hours tomorrow (or so they say) due to installing power lines or something for some construction the base is doing, so no updating tomorrow unless I post in the evening.

Wednesday the movers will be here to pack our stuff, so we are planning on doing some of our own packing tomorrow for things we will take in our cars. Thursday is our cleaning day, and Friday we will leave after our final inspection which is scheduled for 11am. Hopefully it will not take long and we can get on the road so we don't hit rush hour traffic in Atlanta.

We are driving to Augusta, GA on Friday, which takes about 6 1/2 hours according to yahoo maps. Saturday we will finish our drive to Goldsboro, another 4 1/2-5 hours. I'm sure it will all take a bit longer since we'll have to stop now and then to let Wizzo out. We'll each be in our own cars, so it may be a boring drive.

We have lodging set up at Seymour-Johnson until we can get a house or apartment. We're hoping that nice housing will be available on base and we can get in right away. So in case I don't update for the rest of the week, wish us luck on our first official Air Force move together! :)

Kris Allen wins American Idol!!

I'm so glad Kris won! He wasn't my favorite from the beginning, but I think he improved throughout the season and became one of my favorites. Adam was the judges' favorite all along, and I felt like the show made a big deal about him. Everyone assumed he would win, but I'm glad America proved them wrong! Don't get me wrong, Adam has an amazing voice, but I thought he sounded the same with every song. And his screaming just drove me crazy! I think he'll get a record deal no matter what, so I'm glad Kris has American Idol behind him for the deal and help with publicity and all. I definitely think he'll be more marketable as an artist and more fitting for the radio. Adam is too theatrical, which is no doubt a result of his experience in theater since he was young. Anyway, I'm glad Kris won...I'll definitely consider buying his album!

[And on a side note...I am working on a post about our trip last week, but I've been pretty busy this week with appointments and getting ready for the move. The movers are coming on Wednesday and we leave next Friday!!]

Off to The Emerald Coast!

We're on our way to Pensacola as I write this, although I won't be able to post it until I get a wireless signal since I'm using the iPod touch. It's raining right now and in the mid 70s, so I really hope the weather gets better. It's no fun to be at the beach and have to stay indoors all day!

We dropped Wizzo off at the "sitter's" before we left (I'm still bummed we couldn't take him!) and I hope it goes well for them. They also have a Yorkie so I'm sure the dogs will have fun together. Wizzo had taken one of Bailey's toys and was running from her with it. She kept chasing him and finally barked at him because she wanted it back! It's hilarious to watch them play together. :)

I may or may not update the blog this week, depending if I have access to the Internet. Definitely stay tuned for an update after we get back!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Just wanted to give a little shout-out to all of you Mothers out there, especially our moms, my step-mom, and my grandmas! Have a fantastic day!

Yes...I made another cookie to use up leftover frosting from the IFF cookie I made last week. I wasn't sure what to write on it, so since Mother's Day was coming up, I thought it would be appropriate. We shared it with some friends at a party the other night, and it was again delicious!

What are the benefits of being unemployed?

You can take a trip to Florida for a week without having to worry about taking vacation days from work! :)

A while back I think I mentioned that Grant has yet to complete water survival training for the AF. He was originally scheduled to go the last week of May, while we would be moving. Luckily, he got his dates changed to next week. So now I won't be moving by myself, and I get to spend a week on the beach in Florida! We will leave Monday around noon for Pensacola Naval Air Station, where his training is. He has 3 days of training (Tues-Thurs), and then we are going to spend Friday through Sunday in Navarre/Fort Walton Beach/Destin!! I'm pretty excited to go back there....it's such an awesome area!

Unfortunately, we can't take Wizzo. :( I really wanted to, and we even had lodging set up for Friday-Sunday that would accommodate pets, but lodging at NASP won't allow pets. Boo to them! There is another couple who has a female Yorkie here on base, and she is only a month or so older than Wizzo, so I've asked them if they would mind keeping him for the week. I'm sad we can't take him to the beach though, and I feel bad that he'll miss us for such a long time!! ((Geez...imagine how I'm going to be when I have a kid!))

Anyway, hopefully it will be a nice trip and we can go back to some of the place we visited when Grant was on casual down there. Look for me to be doing a lot of this next week:

Wizzo Wednesday

Yes, I'm posting on Thursday. I forgot that yesterday was Wednesday! Anyway, here are just a few pictures from the past week.

See why we need a new couch?!?

IFF COMPLETE!!

Grant graduated from IFF on Friday, May 1st. He is so happy to be finished and can now call himself a "Fighter Pilot!"

The day was pretty low key, much different from UPT (undergraduate pilot training) graduation. Grant's parents came into town for the weekend, so it was nice to celebrate the day with them. We started off by having a sim at 9:00 am so we could try to shoot missles and guns, and try to take off and land the jet. It's a lot harder than Grant makes it look! Graduation started at 11:14:49 (his squadron is the 49th...) with his flight commander saying a few words, giving out the certificates to the 2 pilots and 2 WSOs (weapon systems officer--guy who sits in the back and controls some missles, etc.) for completing the program, and then the squadron commander handed out the awards. They had a top WSO award, and 2 Top Gun pilot awards--Air to Air and Air to Ground. The other guy in Grant's class is an A-10 pilot and doesn't do Air to Air fighting, so Grant won that award. They said the Air to Ground award was really close, but Grant ended up getting it! Maybe I'll try to scan his awards/certifiates in so you can see them...they look pretty cool. Anyway, so they said a few more things, the students gave out their favorite IP and toughest IP awards, and then we had lunch.

I made a cookie cake (following Heather's idea over at Heather Drive) to take and everyone loved it! It was very yummy and looked pretty neat too! I decorated it to be similar to their squadron patch (they are 49th Fighter Training Squadron--the Black Knights). The IPs commented on how cool it was that I made it, so that was nice of them. I just used the same cookie recipe that Heather did and then made Wilton buttercream frosting to decorate.

After lunch, we took a few pictures and then just hung out for the rest of the day! Now it's onto Seymour-Johnson AFB for F-15E training! :)

Happy Gradu-anniversary!

I graduated with my Masters degree a year ago today. Holy cow, I can't believe it's been a year already! Unfortunately I'm not exactly where I thought I might be at this point, but oh well. Congrats to my friends who have great jobs and are certified SLPs!!

Here are a few pictures from graduation and some memorable grad school moments!

Out to Celebrate! Last Week of School - Katie's Birthday! Last Week - Mud Hen's Game Steph's Bachelorette Party - November or December 2007 Geta's (secretary) Going Away Party - May 2007 4th of July Party - 2007 Beginning of Grad School - Fall 2006

5k Race - Finished!

I ran the 5k in 26:25, which is the fastest I've ever done! I'm pretty happy with my time, but I do think I could have finished a little faster. Grant ran alongside me the whole way, so that was nice (I'll tell you more about that later...). I also meant to take a picture after the race, but forgot.

The weather held out, and it was actually enjoyable. It was warm (70s probably), but not too humid thankfully. There were a TON of people there...at least 150 if not 180. They said it was the most they've ever had! The race was at the Riverwalk, so it was just a paved trail that went through the woods. We went out to a turn-around point and then finished at the start. They didn't have mile markers (at least that I saw), so it was hard to know your pace. A guy was calling out times at the turn-around point (mine was 13:04), which was nice, but still. I also wish I had been familiar with the route because it was hard to know how much was left so I wasn't sure when to pick up my pace toward the end (why I think I could have went a little faster). Anyway, it was a good race and I had fun, although I was pretty tired and remember thinking it was hard! I just kept trying to pick people out that I wanted to pass! :)

They gave out awards for the top 3 finishers in each age group (mine was 25-29), and I thought I might have a small chance to get one. Well, since there were so many people (and mostly women!), I didn't make it. I'm not even sure how close I was to the top 3, but I did finish 39th overall, so I figure I can't be too far off. There were some kids there that did beat me though, haha! Once they post official race results, I'll try to remember to blog about it.

So anyway, Grant let me finish before him, but here's the kicker. He gets the 1st place award for males in the 25-29 age group! If I had been a man, I would have won that! I also beat the 2nd or 1st place finisher (can't remember which) in the 20-24 age group! Apparently there were a lot of women age 25-29 running! We just thought it was so funny that I beat him and he still got a trophy! Guess it goes to show that I can never out-do him at anything! ;)

5k Race Day!

Just getting ready to leave for the race. So far, the weather is cloudy but still warm and no rain! I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will stay dry. A little windy, but not too bad. I think Grant is going to end up running with me, but he doesn't want to pay the fee to enter in the race, lol. So we'll see if they let him run or if we end up paying. I'm hoping to run under 27:00 (9:00 mile), which I've been pretty close to doing on my training days. I'll let you know how it goes later today or tomorrow. Wish me luck!! :)