Out and about.

Today was a great day! Just what I needed after a lonnnnggg week of work. It started out with me sleeping in until 10:30 (gasp!). It's been quite a while since I've slept in that long and it was wonderful. Then I met up for lunch with the lovely ladies you see above. Mmmm... Mexican food! It was actually kind of a sad lunch because two of my good friends Katie and Diana are leaving next week to go to their new bases. Today was our last time all together as a group. I'm going to miss them both so much! I know though that the community of AF pilots is pretty small and we are bound to see eachother again.

After lunch, I drove out to Tuscaloosa to do some shopping for my trip next week. Tuscaloosa is about an hour away and is the nearest town with any decent shopping. Okay let's be honest here... I basically went there today just for Target and Starbucks. What can I say, I was having withdrawals :) Anyways, it was a beautiful day so I opened the sunroof, rolled down the windows, and blasted some good music the whole way there. And when I got there, I cruised right into an open front row parking spot (which never happens, right?) and then proceeded to find some amazing deals on some very cute clothes for the cruise. Seriously, it was a great day out and about.

Now, I'm home and have no plans to leave for the rest of the night. Jake is going out with some guys tonight so I'm going to put on my jammies, pop in a chick flick, and catch up on some scrapbooking... the perfect way to end a perfect day! Hope you all are enjoying your weekend so far!

Thankful Thoughts #17

Today I am thankful for music. For me, music is so powerful and listening to the right song can make my whole day better. Instantly. Music makes the hard times bearable and makes the good times that much better. Everyday when I get off work, I plug my iPhone into the car and blast whatever song I'm loving at the moment and seriously... instant happiness :)

I like so many different kinds of music and my playlists are always really random. I love country music (Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift). I love music I can dance to (Black Eyed Peas, Kesha, Rihanna, GaGa, Jay Sean). And yes, I am that girl that dances in the car, in my room, in the shower, while I vacuum... always always dancing. I also love Christian music (Praise You In The Storm by Casting Crowns always helps me get through tough days). I love music that calms me down and makes me happy (John Mayer, Train, Kings of Leon, Owl City). And I can always enjoy some good ol' Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett. I love it all!

Last night, I bought a ton of new music on iTunes in preparation for my trip in a few days and my new playlist is making my Friday extra wonderful. Here's one song that I'm currently obsessed with, Hey Soul Sister by Train...

Book club.

Over the past year or two, I've discovered how much I love to read. I guess I've always known that I like to read, but when I was in school it was never very appealing to pick up a novel after hours of reading boring textbooks. Now it's become my weekend hobby of choice to pick up a girly novel and just read for hours. This past summer I found out that my good friend Ann also loves to read. Ever since we've been swapping our favorite books and talking about them together. We've been kind of like our own little book club and have mentioned numerous times how fun it would be to join a real book club someday...

Well, someday is here! Last week we discovered that there is a spouse's book club starting here on base! We both signed up for it and I am sooo excited. There are about ten other spouses involved so far and basically we just all read the same book each month and then meet at the end of the month to discuss our thoughts on it. The book for March is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I'm really happy about the book choice because it has been on my list of books to read for a while now. Has anyone read it? I'm hoping it's good! Here's the book jacket...

Little stinkers...

In case you can't tell from the picture above (and please ignore our temporarily disgusting yard), the dogs decided to scratch and chew through one of the big panels on our screened porch . I know, I know, they look so cute and innocent. Jake actually came home to quite the funny scene on the day this happened...

Bailey was barking uncontrollably (nothing new there) so Jake went outside to get her to stop. When he went out on the back porch he not only discovered their massive screen destruction but also figured out why Bailey was barking... Badger had jumped through the hole they made and was stuck inside the porch! It must have scared him that he actually made it through because he would not jump back through it to get outside and was huddled in a corner. Poor guy! And Bailey was too scared to jump through it too so she was just barking at him from outside. Oh goodness... just another day in the life of puppy parents...

Speedbump.

Up until yesterday, I was flying down the road to my dream career pretty effortlessly. Things were lining up all too well in regards to starting school April 1st. I suppose eventually I was bound to hit a speedbump, or a roadblock, or some other type of other metaphorical road situation...

Here's the issue: Remember how I was getting all that financial aid through the Air Force spouse grant? Well, turns out that program ran out of funds and has temporarily halted operations, which unfortunately means that my big plans to start school again in a month have been put on pause as well. I'm hoping that "temporarily" means that the wait is short term, but realistically I know that the military takes a long time to sort out issues like this, and without the $6,000 worth of grant money it's just not feasible for me to start the program right now. Ugh. I hope this situation works itself out quickly so I can start my classes... Prayers please!

Weekend in the sun.

Wow, where did the time go? The weekend flew by like always. I apologize for my lack of blogging over the past few days... I've been in total design mode working on my friend's blog (which will hopefully be launched this week, so stay tuned for all that excitement). But anyways, did you all have a good weekend? Mine was just wonderful. The weather here was beyond amazing! It was only about 60° but that felt extremely warm compared to the 20° weather I've gotten used to here this winter. In fact Saturday, I wore shorts and a t-shirt and it was perfect! It's amazing how your body starts to adjust to living in different temperatures, because in Los Angeles, 60° weather would have had me bundled up in a sweatshirt!

Jake and I loved the warm weather all weekend and spent lots of time outside going on walks, washing the car, bike rides, etc. On Saturday, we decided to take the dogs to Sac Lake, which is a small lake on base surrounded by lots of walking trails. It was so fun! I basked in the sun on a picnic table while my cute little pups ran and ran and ran; and whenever they would get warm they'd both jump into the lake and play. It was so funny to watch! Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day. I wish I could show you how Bailey covered herself in mud til she was just about black or how Badger hopped through the lake like a little bunny rabbit (Needless to say they both got baths the second when we got home). I'm sure we'll be going back there a lot this spring, so next time I'll try to catch some moments on film for you. For now, here is a picture of us at Sac Lake in November when we took the dogs out there for Christmas pictures. I just love these moments with my little family ♥

I get an award too?

Hey, check it out! The guys weren't the only ones given awards at Wednesday's track select; all of the 10-13 Sabre wives got one too! Yep, we are now all honorary T-6 pilots. Click on the picture below to read the certificate...

Okay, so clearly this certificate was a joke but really it was nice to be recognized for the role we play in helping our husbands get through this difficult time of training... and seriously, everything written above is 100% true (especially the part about enduring the "Swamp Land of Mississippi") Truthfully though, I am happy to do whatever little things I can to make Jake's UPT experience a bit easier. And truthfully, I really was happy to get this silly little certificate :)

Track select!

Well folks, the wait is over and the results are in! Jake got assigned to train in the T-1 yesterday, which means he got his first choice and that we will be staying in Columbus until August. That big beauty you see above will be his new ride for the next six months of training. Yesterday's track select was so much fun and had a ton of "picture worthy" moments. So without further ado, I present you with what might be the longest picture post ever!

Today.

Jake's Track Select is finally here!! I took the day off work so that I wouldn't miss any of the fun parts of the day. This morning we had a nice breakfast, got to see what the guys have been up to in their flightroom for the last 6 months, fly the flight sims, and even got to go out to the flightline to take some pictures with the planes! Now, we're home for just a few minutes and then we're headed to the Club for the much anticipated Track Select ceremony. Crossing my fingers that there will be no unexpected surprises... eek! I'll be back with all the details and pictures tomorrow so stay tuned :)

P90X at home.

Remember a few months back when I discovered P90X at the base gym? Well I still absolutely love it and it still kicks my butt every single time. However lately it's definitely been harder for me to keep up with it daily like I used to. The main reason is that it's just so cold outside! Does anyone else have a hard time getting out to the gym during the winter?! I know I can't be the only one. I mean putting on shorts and a t-shirt and heading out in the freezing cold to go to the gym after I get off work is literally the last thing I want to do. But I love this workout and I love how I feel when I keep up with it everyday. I really wish I just owned the DVD set and could do the workouts without ever leaving the house.

Enter, my sweet hubby, with some added Valentine's Day gifting pressure and... wah-lah! I am now the proud owner of the P90X Home Fitness regimen! And I got the whole shebang - the 13 DVDs, the calendar, the fitness guides, the nutrition guides, resistance bands and a yoga mat. I am one happy camper. Good job Jake :)

You're probably wondering why I didn't just buy the DVD set in the first place. Well, it costs over $100 and I tend to get bored with workout routines and just give up; that's why I decided to give it a try at the base gym. Now, I know that this system works great for me and I never really get bored with it. I know I sound like an infomercial right now but I'm just so excited. If you're looking for a fun, super intense workout and haven't tried P90X yet, you definitely should! Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Valentine's weekend.

I love Valentine's Day. It's just a fun day to love on your significant other simply because you can. In the many years Jake and I have celebrated this love holiday together, we've never done anything too fancy or over the top. I figure sometime in the future we'll use the occasion as an excuse for a fun getaway or something but this year we stuck with our usual, dinner and a movie, and it was great.

As I mentioned before, my parents came to visit this weekend, so we made it a double date! The photo above is the four of us at Old Venice for dinner, which is this amazingly yummy Italian place in Starkville, and then after dinner we headed over to the movie theater. Any guesses on what we saw? You're thinking chick flick right? Wrong. The guys won on the movie choice this time and we ended up seeing Mel Gibson's new movie "Edge of Darkness". It was actually a pretty good movie but definitely not my first choice for Valentine's Day. It's okay though because after we got home we balanced it out by watching an hour of Olympic figure skating :) I also got an amazing present from my sweet hubby, but more on that later...

Here's Jake and I at the movies (Fyi, my mom thinks its so funny that Jake and I are always on our iPhones so that's what the second picture is about).

So yes, Valentine's Day 2010 was a success and the whole weekend with my parents was a ton of fun.

California meets Mississippi.

My parents are flying to Mississippi today and I am sooo excited! Jake and I have lived here for well over a year now and this is the first chance they've had to make it out for a visit. My mom has heard countless stories and seen tons of pictures but nothing compares to seeing everything firsthand. As I mentioned before, we don't really have any plans yet except for a dinner/movie date night on Sunday for Valentine's Day, but I know that whatever we do, we will have a great time.

I also have a feeling that at some point this weekend the guys and girls will separate to go do their own thing. This always happens when we take a trip with my parents. You see, my mom and I are very similar in that we love doing all the things girly, like getting our nails done and shopping, shopping, shopping, while Jake and my stepdad, Ken, are also two peas-in-a-pod and enjoy anything to having to do with  planes, electronics, bike riding, golfing, etc. It works out perfect then for us to pair up and go off to do our own girl or guy stuff :)

Example. Two years ago, my mom and Ken came down to visit us at college in Los Angeles. While we were there, my mom and I had an awesome girl's day shopping for my wedding dress! We didn't end up finding "the" dress that day but had a great time. Here's a snapshot... (Yes, my hair was much darker then and that is my natural color by the way)

Like usual, the guys decided they would do their own thing that day, obviously not wanting to spend the entire day shopping. Like they were invited anyway... I can't remember exactly what they did  (golfing maybe?) but when we came back to the hotel room, this is what we saw...

...two exhausted, sleeping men (Haha!) Guess they had a good time too! The point of this story is that we always have a great time when they're around and I'm so excited to see what's in store for this weekend. Apparently there is an 80% chance of snow showers tomorrow so that should make things interesting! Anyways, I might miss a few days of blogging during their visit but I promise I'll have some good pictures and stories to show for it. Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Thankful Thoughts #16

I am so thankful for encouraging words. When my boss tells me I'm doing an awesome job on a project, it makes me feel confident and makes me want to work even harder. When my husband gives me a genuine "thank you" after doing something for him around the house, it makes me want to do everything for him. When someone says that they know I can do [insert challenge here], it helps me believe that I can too. Words are powerful and meaningful.

So encourage someone today. Show them that you care. Show them that you notice. Show them that you understand. It may seem small to you, but it might be just what they need to get through their day. I find myself constantly surrounded by encouraging words, and what a difference it makes! I am so thankful!

Phase 2 complete!

Today Jake had his last checkride in the T-6. He was really nervous because the weather this morning was  awful. But guess what? He did awesome! Wooo hoo! He still has a few flights left in the T-6 before track select, but having completed his final checkride, he has officially passed Phase 2 of UPT! Seeing all of his hard work firsthand, I could not be more proud of him. Phase 2 is done. Yes! On to Phase 3 and then he finally gets his wings :) Congrats baby!

10-13 spouses.

You may have noticed that the pictures I posted from the weekend did not turn out so great. I was frustrated when I loaded them onto my computer because they all looked horrible! In a nutshell, they were way too bright and strangely pixelated. I was thinking, "Great, I just got this great new camera for Christmas and my old camera takes way better pictures..." Well, call it a blonde moment, but last night I realized that my camera was on the "snow setting" all weekend long. I didn't even know my camera had a snow setting! Figures...

There was one picture in particular that I really wanted to get on Friday: All of us 10-13 spouses playing cards. So many fun memories involve us playing cards around Diana's table at our Friday night parties. These girls have been some of my closest friends here, and with a few of them possibly leaving after track select next week, I was really bummed when my picture didn't turn out. Thankfully, Diana got the same exact picture on her camera (which wasn't on snow setting). So here we are... the beautiful wives of 10-13!

Oh, and if you are wondering what "10-13" means let me explain really quick. 10-13 is Jake's UPT class number. It essentially means that he is in the 13th graduating class of 2010. See, you just learned a new piece of AF lingo :)

The not-so-newlywed game.

Saturday night, Jake and I went with our friends Derek and Ann to the Officer's Club here on base for a dinner event. The party was decorated all Valentine-like and the food was yummy and delicious. We had a great time! At the end of the meal, they began picking volunteers for a "Newlywed Game", where 5 couples would come up front and compete for a prize, seeing who knows their significant other best. Although, they ended up calling it the "not-so-newlywed game" because none of the players were really newlyweds (ha!). The four of us volunteered to play and rushed up front, putting our game faces on and managing to squeeze in 30 seconds of "Wait, what's your favorite (color, food, hobby...)?" It's funny that we've been together for almost 5 years and know each other so well, yet can't seem to remember eachothers basic likes and dislikes. It's also pretty humorous how competitive Jake and I can get, especially when we're on the same team. I'm already a bit scared for our future children who are sure to inherit both of our competitive, type-A, slightly OCD personalites. I should mention that Jake's UPT call-sign is CDO (pronouned see-doo by the guys) - Its OCD in alphabetical order... haha...

Anyways, the game was hilarious and entertaining and ended up causing some really funny debates between couples who wrote down different answers, including us! For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, they send the girls out of the room, ask the guys questions and have them write the answers down on their whiteboard. When the girls come back in, the ask them the same questions and have the girls write down their answers. If the writing matches, you get a point. Then they switch the roles and do it again.

Here are some examples of the questions the guys were asked: What's your wife's shoe size? What perfume does your wife wear? What is your mother-in-law's middle name? What was the address of the first house you lived at together? And so on and so forth. The wives were asked questions like: If your husband were a car, what would he be? If he could live anywhere, where would that be? Did he kiss you first or did you kiss him? What story does your husband like to tell over and over? How many "future children" did you decide you wanted to have before you got married? You get the picture...

After 20 questions, two couples were tied for the lead... and (oh yeah!) we were one of them, having only missed 4 questions. Some of the questions that we answered exactly the same blew my mind. I think we got really lucky. Like when asked "where he would live?" we both wrote "In the northwest, Oregon/Washington" Word for word, even the slash mark. And when Jake was asked about my perfume, and I thought he had no clue, he wrote "Marc Jacobs Lola"! How in the world did he remember that? Amazing. What can I say, we dominated.

Then we won the entire game with the simplest question ever! "Where do we plan to go for our next vacation together?" Europe!! So yes, we won the silly game and we had such a great time making complete fools of ourselves in front of everyone (I do not deny that there were many air high-fives thrown across the room to each other). The prize was a complete shocker too. We got an Applebees gift card, 4 movie tickets, and a movie-themed basket full of popcorn, movie candy, etc. Jake and I agreed that this gives us the perfect excuse to have another fun date night with Ann and Derek. Free dinner and movie with friends? Sounds good to me!

All in all, this weekend was a blast! Keep reading to see some more pictures I took at the "End of Phase 2" party on Friday and the Superbowl celebration on Sunday.

Home sweet home.

Saturday morning tends to be cleaning time here at the Pruitt house. We do a good job during the week keeping our house clean and tidy (we both hate clutter!) but once a week our house needs a good deep cleaning, mainly due to our two four-legged family members. We love our dogs and love having them in the house with us but I refuse to be the lady whose house smells like dog. Yuck! I'm so paranoid about this that I regularly wash the downstairs curtains, steam clean our fabric couch, and weekly vacuum/wipe down all the baseboards. Oh and Febreeze Pet Odor Eliminator is my best friend. No doggy odor here! I love love love having a fresh, clean house!

Changing the subject, how crazy is it that Jake and I have lived in three different houses in our short year and half of being married? I guess home really is where the Air Force sends us! First, we were in a small apartment in LA, then an old 50's style house here on base, and now we are in the beautiful new two-story home you see above. The Air Force has really been good to us. The other day I realized that I never put any pictures of our new house up on my blog. We have lived here for six months now and I have no excuse; so after cleaning this morning, I decided to take advantage of my tidy house and snap some pictures. Want a tour?

Career planning.

First of all, I want to say THANKS to all of you for the many encouraging comments and emails I received in response to my blog about going back to school. I can say that it's pretty much official now that I will be starting classes in April! After I begin my classes, I plan to post weekly updates on my blog about my progress and post pieces of my portfolio work along the way. I know I will need lots of support and encouragement and I think this will be the perfect place to get it! 

The more research I do, the more I realize that its near impossible to just jump into a career in freelance design. It's a very competitive market and keeping a steady booking of clients is a definite challenge. But even though I keep finding more and more challenges to this career, I must say that I have never been more sure about anything career-wise in my life. I know this is the right direction for me and I've never been so excited to learn and work! It's kind of scary jumping into something so new but I have so much peace about it and full confidence that I can succeed. To get going I have come up with a loose 3-year plan for myself, with the end-result of having launched my career as a freelance web designer...

Life is good.

Other than being a bit under the weather yesterday, I've had a really great week! I'm just really excited about life right now. My new career plans are the major reason, which I will write a separate post on, but I've also realized this week how many fun vacations and events that I have to look forward to in the next few months. Ready for a random blog of updates? I've even provided handy little sub-titles for those of you who only care to read certain parts of this long and random post.

Jake's decision: Drum roll please.... Jake has chosen the T-1 as his #1 choice for his upcoming track select! According to Jake, the T-44 track is officially out of the running. I can practically hear the sigh of relief coming from our family and friends who are eager for us to get back over to the west coast. I had a major sigh of relief myself. I will not be moving in a month, I will not be leaving my friends or my job, and the hope of a west coast assignment out of UPT is still a realistic possibility! His track select is in less than two weeks and now I can enjoy the day without being nervous for the outcome. Out of the T-1 track, Jake will have several different cargo and tanker planes to choose for his career and I know he is already so excited and anxious to find out what he will get assigned. July 30th is the official assignment night for his class - that's less than six months away people! I know that these next six months will fly by just as fast as the last; I mean, seriously, is it really February?! By the way, the picture on the right is my handsome hubby in his G-suit before a flight.


Weekend plans: I'm very excited for this upcoming weekend and have lots of fun things to look forward to. Tomorrow night we are going over to a friends house for a big "End of UPT Phase 2" party with Jake's class! It will be the last time that we get to do something with everyone all together, as we will be losing some people to other training tracks after February 17th. It's sure to be a fun and crazy night! Saturday night Jake and I have a double date with some friends for dinner and then Sunday is the Superbowl! We'll be heading to a Superbowl party at our neighbors house and I know it will be such a great time. I plan to bring my camera along with me everywhere this weekend so hopefully I will have some fun picture memories to show you on Monday.

Remember when...

So I'm feeling kind of sick and yucky today. Boo. I hope I'm not catching a bug. Sadly, I'm not really in the mood to blog but I thought I would still post a little something for all you dedicated Busy Thoughts readers who check the blog daily (Haha... right). Anyways, this past weekend I spent some time looking through old pictures from college and it took me back to some really great times (Dare-I-say the best four years of my life so far?) I decided to compile a facebook photo album with some of my favorites and thought I'd share it here. Take a look! Other albums that might be fun to look at for old times' sake are the Hawaiin proposal, June 2007, and our engagement photos from November 2007.

Back to school?

I am so excited. No, ecstatic is more like it! In fact, if there was an even more dramatic word for happy, that would be me at this very moment. Things seem to be falling into place and I have some great news! Remember a few weeks back when I finally figured out what I want to do with my career? Well it might all be starting and I might be going back to school much, much sooner than I originally thought!

Lately I've been struggling with the feeling that I'm wasting time career-wise. I know that the longer I wait to go back to school, the longer it will be until I am actually doing what I want to be doing. Originally, I was not open-minded about going to school online, having done that before and not enjoying it, but the more I thought about it I realized that type of schooling might be great for classes in web design/graphic design. It will surely be challenging but it will require me to use all my own software and figure things out a little more on my own (which is definitely the way I learn best). On top of all this is the added benefit of being able to start school now, versus waiting until we move somewhere more permanent, which would delay me at least another year.

So after deciding that I will do my schooling online, I began to research, because for the sake of my future career, I need to do everything the right way. Not only did I research different schools and programs, but also the type of training I should acquire in order to reach my goals (such as a BA, AA, Certificate, etc). The problem I kept running into was the separation of web design (categorized in technology) and graphic design (categorized in art) - I want training in both! Also, there were so many programs that required me to take classes completely unrelated to my future career goals, which is not something I want to do. Yesterday, I stumbled across the answer to all these problems: The perfect program with the perfect schedule and timeline, encompassing everything I need for a successful career. Since my discovery, everything has fallen into place. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

Good friends.

As you know from my last post, our weekend did not exactly go as planned - at least not for Jake. He did end up having to rent a car and drive home from Ft. Rucker, staying overnight in Montgomery on Friday, and missing his trip to Florida entirely. He got back to Columbus early Saturday afternoon and was definitely bummed about how wrong his weekend had gone. I'm really proud of him though for making the best of a bad weekend and going out with a friend in Columbus on Saturday night. He got over the situation a lot faster than I would have if it were me!

When I found out that Jake was coming home early, I figured I would end up canceling a lot of the girl time I had planned for the weekend so I could be home with Jake; but being the wonderful husband that he is, he saw no point in both of our weekend plans being ruined and wanted me to go have some fun. And so I did. And for me, it was one of the best weekends I've had here in Columbus. It made me realize just how close I am with the girls here.

Friday night's dinner with Patty was a great start to the weekend and definitely pulled me out of the bad mood I had fallen into on Friday. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Hacienda, and talked and talked and talked, and then planned my trip to visit her in Germany :) I'm so excited for all the things she gets to see and experience during her next few years overseas.

Saturday was round two of girls night! Ann and I drove to Starkville and went to a yummy, fancy place to eat called Old Venice, before going to see the chick flick Leap Year. Its crazy to think I've only known Ann for less than a year because I feel like I've known her forever and we can talk about anything and laugh together about everything! Its so great to have a friend like that here.

And what's better than having one friend like that here? ...having two! Allison was one of the first friends I made here in Columbus and between being neighbors and having our husbands in the same class, we've become really good friends. I seriously think we could have a good time in just about any situation. We're both not-so-secretly hoping that our husbands will get assigned the same plane out of UPT :) Yesterday, Allison and I went to Tuscaloosa for a fun shopping day (Hey, we actually managed to snap a picture of our little adventure, on the left) and then we ended the day back in Columbus with a glass of wine and our weekly watching of Desperate Housewives. All-in-all, I had a really great weekend and realized yet again that I'm so thankful for my friends here. Mississippi would be so lonely without them!