Video blog!

 

Its getting better.

This last week was pretty uneventful as usual. I will say that every week we are here, things get better. We are meeting more people and feeling more comfortable and seem to be fitting in well. I do have some good highlights from the week to tell everyone though.

Last tuesday, Jake and I had to go to this welcome briefing because we are new to the base. It was basically all day long and every department on base came to tell us what they do and yada yada. It was very long and very dull. However, there was one other couple in there and they were sitting by us so we started talking. It turns out that they are in Jake's class (His training class starting in August). The odds of meeting another couple from class are slim, especially since there are usually less than 5 other wives in a class. I got along with the girl great and Jake and her husband really clicked too. She is the only one I have met so far that is comparable to my friends back in California. We are going to have dinner this week and hang out some more. I'm not sure if we will ever be good friends because we just met, but it really made me realize that God is going to take care of me out here. I mean what are the odds that the one new couple we have met are going to be in our class and be here the whole time we are here? God has a plan.

Bailey has been doing good. She is almost 4 months old now and looks so grown up. She is still a puppy so her energy wears on us but she has definitely become part of the family. She is learning tricks now too! She will sit, lay down, stay, and crawl on command. It is probably the cutest thing ever. We still want to teach her more things like shake, speak, roll over, play dead, etc. Its a lot of fun when she understands what you are saying. I just noticed that I am able to post videos on this blog so maybe for my next post I will post a video and see if Bailey will do some tricks for you.

So last week I joined the spouses forum online for our base. Its basically a yahoo group where all the wives can post things they need like babysitters/dogsitters, things for sale, event reminders, etc. Anyways, after joining I saw that there was a spouse dessert social that Friday. I thought that would be the perfect way to meet some other wives. Boy, was I in for a surprise. It was the most painfully awkward and boring 2 hours of my life! There was about 8 of us and I was the only one without a baby on my lap. Again, I got picked at for saying that I thought I was too young to have kids and wanted to work for a while first. All these ladies did was talk about their kids, argue, and gossip about really inappropriate things. I didn't say too much and at the first chance to leave, I was out of there. It was awful! I don't want you to think that all the wives out here are like that because I have met a good handful that aren't but a lot of them are. I don't think I'll be joining another social for awhile, at least not by myself.

Friday was our 8 month wedding anniversary. I can't believe how time is flying by! We didn't do anything special really but we did go out to a nice dinner. Saturday was Valentine's Day and as you know from my last post, I was really bummed about our plans getting cancelled. It turned out to be a great day though! We slept in and went to lunch and then Jake and I went shopping together and picked out our own gifts :) and then went to a nice Italian dinner and a movie. It was simple but really such a good day together. I am just so grateful that we got to spend it together because so many wives here were without their husbands on v-day.

Sunday we went to church and then I spent most of the day doing homework for my classes. A wife that I met at church came by on sunday night and invited me to go to a women's bible study that is on base on thursday nights. I am definitely going to go and looking forward to it.

Jake and I also spent part of the weekend working on Jake's birthday present. For a long time now he has been wanting to build a computer that he can use for flight simulators and gaming. We finally have the money to be able to get one so he researched all weekend and ordered the computer! His birthday is coming up in a few weeks so it worked out perfect. We got it early because he will be gone in Montgomery for his birthday. I am nervous about him being gone (and its coming up soon). It will be six weeks without him home with me and it will be strange and lonely. Luckily I have met people out here now and can find things to do on the weekends with them. Also, the girl that we just met that is in his class will be alone then too (her husband is training with Jake then) and so we can hang out and even carpool to see them on some of the weekends. Keep me in your prayers though. I am nervous about being home alone for that long.

I'm trying to think of what else I have been up to out here. I updated and improved my resume and started looking for jobs. I won't be able to work until August but I figure that in this job market, its never too soon to start putting my resume out there. I am going to send it out to some places in town with a letter letting them know my situation and my qualifications. That way if something comes up in the future, they can remember me and call me. I can't wait to start working again! Well I think those are all my updates.

Great weekend, bad monday.

This weekend was awesome. First off, the weather changed from being 20 degrees to 70! We've had such great weather, like California winters except with bugs and humidity (ha!). Friday we went out to Mexican food with some people and had a fun night out. Saturday was probably the most fun I have had since being out here in Mississippi. We went with about 10 other people out to the house of our bible study leaders for the day. They are a couple who have lived in the same town their whole lives and live on this HUGE property that has been in the family for generations. They are such awesome people and it is clear that they have a gift for relating to young adults. Their sons were there too and they are about our age. We spent the whole day enjoying the outdoors. We shot guns, shot bows and arrows, had ridiculously funny competitions, played board games, watched the Office and ate lots of food. It was so much fun and it felt like I was on vacation with a big family. Oh I forgot that we went armadillo hunting. Yes, I am a true Mississippi girl now who has shot a gun and gone hunting. I kind of got talked into the hunting and was VERY relieved when we never actually saw any armadillos :) I have a feeling that we will be out at their house a lot over the next few years as it really felt like a home away from home. Bailey loved it out there too and thought she was a farm dog for a day. Anyways, it was a wonderful day that I will always remember. Sunay was good too: Bible study, out with everyone after church to Chinese food, cleaning, relaxing, enjoying the good weather, etc.

Today was not the greatest day for me though. Not that everything was bad but one thing was enough. I think I mentioned before how Jake and I were going to be leaving for Valentine's Day weekend and going out of town. We were going to take Bailey to the kennel and do something special. Well I called to set up the kennel stay today and it turns out that Bailey is one month too young to be put in a kennel. We also can't leave her with friends because it is Valentine's Day weekend and she is a handful as it is. Anyways, we ended up having to cancel our reservations and will be staying in town for the weekend. I have been really bummed and upset all day because I had been looking forward to this for a while and really wanted to get out of Columbus for a weekend and make our first Valentine's Day really special. I'm sure we'll find something to do but it definitely bummed me out. Then I got mad when my shows got cancelled tonight because of Obama talking (which did not really interest me). I know that is kind of silly but it was just icing on the cake.

So the weekend was great...today was not the best...but tomorrow is a new day and I bet it will be a good one :)

Ramblings.

I remembered that I was supposed to post but honestly not much has happened this week worth talking about. I figured I would just sit down and let myself ramble. The weeks here seem to be flying by but when I look back at them we haven't done much. I've done all the usual things I do during the week and finally started putting together the scrapbook of our honeymoon. It's turning out pretty good so far.

Jake and I worked on our budget and getting everything in line for school payments, bills, savings, investments, etc. I am officially back to my "allowance" of $20 a week (haha!). For those of you who don't know, let me explain this "allowance". I love to go out to eat, go to coffee, and buy random things just because I feel like it. Unfortunately these little bits of spending start to add up after a while. When we got married I asked Jake to hold me to a limit to what I could spend every week and came up with $20. This doesn't include the obvious things like groceries or necessities, and when Jake and I go out together for dinner or with a group it doesn't come out of that. However, things for scrapbooking or decorating the house DO come out of that so my $20 is going fast! It works out though because I am getting like one small thing every week for the house. It would be smart of me to save that money to build up enough to buy a new pair of jeans or a shirt or something but I'm not that great at doing that. This is a learning process for me and helps me to choose wisely about what to spend that money on. Put it this way, I haven't gotten fast food this week because I wanted to get scrapbooking stuff. I guess its best in the end but its just another thing to get used to now that I'm married.

Jake and I also decided that we are going to go away somewhere for Valentine's Day. We haven't had the opportunity to travel much since we've been in the South and there is so much to see! We are leaving Bailey at the kennel for the weekend and going to relax. Jake is planning the whole thing and somehow it has turned into a big surprise. I have no idea where we are going or what we are doing but Jake is very excited. I am too!

As I mentioned earlier, I am trying new recipes every week. First I tried Parmesean chicken and it was SO yummy! It might be one of my new favorite dishes to make. It's easy and tastes like you spent hours on it. I always invite our neighbors over whenever I try making a new dish. There is just way to much food in the recipe for Jake and I to eat alone. Plus, they are 2 single guys in pilot training and they basically only eat frozen food so its good for them to have some home cooking. Last night I tried making a pot roast. My mom gave me her recipe and some detailed instructions. It was pretty easy to make but there were lots of ingredients and lots of clean up. It tasted great though and we have some good leftovers!

Now its the weekend and it looks promising. Tonight some friends invited us to go out to dinner with a group of people and then just go hang out at their house. We may also be going to a shooting range with our neighbors. That would be a lot of fun because I have never shot a gun before! Sunday is bible study and church and the beginning of a fresh new week. I hope everyone is doing great. I miss you all SO much!  Talk to you soon!

Wonderful weekends.

I really need to get back to this blogging thing. I'm happy to say though that I haven't been blogging because I haven't had much time. We have been meeting lots of people and doing things and have actually been pretty busy. Tori came out this last week and we had a great time catching up. We didn't do too much (being that we are here in Columbus) but it was great to just be around eachother since we only see eachother a few times a year. It was sad to see her go and I forgot how nice it is to be around a really good girl friend.

Jake has been doing pretty good. He is just so anxious to get up in a plane! I'm sure it doesn't help that all day long we hear planes flying around. As for me, I have been keeping busy with my schoolwork. Online classes are so hard for me to keep motivated. I find myself doing the work at the very last minute, which is not like me at all. All I keep thinking is how I can't wait to get a job and start a career. I realize though that when that happens I will wish I was back doing schoolwork. Funny how life works like that.

I've been doing much better with not being so homesick this past week. I think it helps that we have been really busy and have been meeting even more people. It was really weird for me though when all my friends started their new semester at Biola and I wasn't there. I definitely don't miss the hectic schedule, boring and long classes, and loads of homework but I do miss the social life a whole lot. I can't wait to go back in May for graduation and see everyone again!

This past weekend was a lot of fun. It started with me re-doing the bathroom (HA!) I know I said I would  deal with it but I just couldn't handle it any longer. I spent 2 days putting primer on it and a new coat of lovely light tan paint. It looks so good! I am so happy with it! I know it seems funny for me to be so excited but it really was bad before and now its perfect. On Friday night Jake took me out to dinner to this really nice grill place. It was fun to get dressed up and go out and do something. Saturday was a beautiful day here in Columbus and it was actually pretty warm. Jake and I had a lot of fun relaxing and taking the dog for a long walk together. We also drove into Starkville and bought Jake a roadbike that he really wanted. We meant to get it months ago but things got too busy. He was really excited to finally get a bike and even rides it work now. That night I made a big dinner and we had a friend over. Afterwards, my friend Angela invited us over to her house to hang out. There was a group of people and we just hung out and laughed a lot and even sang some karaoke. It was hilarious watching Jake and the other guys sing as a group! Sunday morning we made it to Bible Study before church for the first time. It was great! There was about 25 people there and all were from the base. There were a few other wives there that were so nice and I definitely related to. The class was more of a discussion style class and Jake and I both really enjoyed it. After church, we enjoyed a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap and relaxed until the superbowl. One of our neighbors was having a party so we went over there and had a great time and ate way too much (of course!).

This week looks like it will be fun and busy too. I've been trying to take advantage of the awesome fitness classes on base and aim to go to at least 3 a week. I've also decided to try at least 2 new cooking recipes a week to improve my cooking skills. This week my new ones are parmesan chicken and a pot roast (with my new crock-pot). I'm trying the chicken tonight so I'll let you know how it goes.