And so a new chapter begins...

Yes, I believe its true that today marks the beginning of the next chapter of my life. I know you are thinking that my new chapter began when I made the big move from CA to MS but in retrospect I don't think that was it. I mean, I was still a student, still a newlywed, and had an eventful summer of travel ahead of me.

Today is new and different: its adulthood. I went back to work today and realized that I am actually a grown up. When everyone starts to go back to school this month, I will not. I will be working. And in fact, I will keep working with no vacation in sight until the holidays. I am also no longer a newlywed. I mean, I'm sure I am compared to most married couples but for me the newness has worn off and marriage is comfortable and normal now. I am also no longer the lucky girl who gets to spend most of her day with her best friend. When dating, Jake and I got to spend our days together on campus at Biola and when newlyweds, we got to spend months exploring Mississippi together before he and I began working. Now we barely get dinner together.

I know I have done an impressive job of making this new chapter of my life sound like a drag in comparison to the last chapter but in reality, I am so thankful for this change. I love change and I think it makes life interesting. Yes, I am working all day, every day in the "real world" but I really do like it. I have a great job with decent pay and I really enjoy the fact that I no longer have tests, homework, and classes. I get off work at 4 and I still have a huge part of the day that I get to enjoy doing whatever I want. And sure, Jake and I are an old married couple now but in reality the first year of marriage is quite tough change. Its hard to completely mesh your life with someone else's; its a huge transition. Now we are past all of that and have found our groove. I really think that marriage, if you work at it, just gets better and stronger with time. The part about not seeing eachother as much really is hard to put an optimistic spin on. Jake is so busy with training now (which I'll talk about some more in a sec) that he is constantly studying and working really long days. I guess it does make us appreciate our time together though and in the end I would much rather have him be busy and be here at home with me then be gone again at another training.

And UPT has officially begun...

Now some info about what Jake is up to right now. Here's the short version: He is in his 3rd week of UPT (pilot training) here in Columbus. The first 6 weeks of this year-long program are strictly academic, other than an occasional flight simulator. Once week 7 comes around, which for Jake begins right after labor day, it is almost daily flying in the T-6. In February, Jake will track select into either the T-38 (fighter trainer) or the T-1 (heavy trainer). He will continue in that until July 30th, 2010 in which he will receive his official assignment for his plane and our new location. Its crazy to me that in just a year we could already be leaving for somewhere new! Anyways, Jake is doing great so far and seems to have a really good class of guys. He is studying ALL the time and I've been trying to do whatever I can to help support him. I'll be sure to post lots of updates about his training in my blogs from now on to keep everyone filled in. But keep Jake in your prayers often because I know this training is no cake walk and how he does in it determines our whole future!