24 hours from now...

...we'll be getting our new assignment! I can hardly believe its really almost here. The anticipation has been almost unbearable. Thank goodness this has a been a really busy and fun week which has helped a little to keep my mind off it. Tuesday was my birthday and I have now reached the ripe ol' age of 23 ;) It was a really nice day and I felt pretty spoiled by the end of it. Jake had a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to my office which was the best surprise ever and then I had a fun birthday dinner out with my friends (Jake had to fly that night so we celebrated my birthday dinner together last night instead. Hey, I didn't mind... Two birthday dinners? Oh yeah!). But the best part of all? I'm getting my new computer!! Like I said, GREAT birthday!

And yesterday was a HUGE day too... Jake completed his last flight of UPT! He is now officially done with the program which means no more ridiculously long days of studying for him and that I finally get to have my husband back (woo hoo!). It has been a long, long year of training and we are both so ready for this chapter of our lives to come to a close. Tomorrow is our Assignment Night - the night where all of Jake's hard work pays off and we'll finally get to know what's coming next. I'll keep you posted :)

The 10-13 Drop!!!

We got our drop of assignment choices yesterday and couldn't be happier with the outcome. Just about everything we wanted showed up on the list! Here's what we have to choose from (in alphabetical order, not the order we want them)...

AC-130 Hurlbert (Florida)	C-17 Charleston (South Carolina)	C-17 Elmendorf (Alaska)
C-17 McChord (Washington)	C-17 McGuire (New Jersey)	C-17 Travis (California)
C-5 Dover (Delaware)	C-5 Travis (California)	E-8 Robbins (Georgia)
KC-10 Travis (California)	KC-10 McGuire (New Jersey)	KC-135 Fairchild (Washington)
KC-135 Hickam (Hawaii)	KC-135 Kadena (Japan)	KC-135 McConnell (Kansas)
KC-135 Mildenhall (England)	KC-135 Seymour-Johnson (North Carolina)	RC-135 Offut (Nebraska)
RPA Creech (Nevada)	RPA Cannon (New Mexico)	T-1/T-6 Instructor (Mississippi)

So now Jake will turn in his "dream sheet" with the assignment options listed in the order we want. The hard part about this list is that it also applies to the two other 10-13 UPT classes at the other training bases. We know that those are the planes and locations available to us but we don't know how many there are of each assignment and which ones will come to our base. So for now its definitely still a guessing game but in just 9 more days we will know for sure - and those of you who know Jake and I can probably guess exactly which locations we are hoping for :) Well alright, fingers are really crossed now... say a little BIG prayer for us!!

UPT: Phase 3 (Almost) Complete!

I can't believe that this long year of pilot training has pretty much come to an end. As of today Jake only has six flights left!! Here's a reminder of the plane that Jake is currently flying - the T-1 (the AF trainer for cargo and tanker aircrafts)...

Unless you've seen it first hand, its really hard to even imagine what these guys have gone through to get to this point in the UPT program. They've done well over 100 flights (including navigation, formation, air refueling, low levels, etc), several checkrides, weekly tests and stand-ups, and of course all the "behind the scenes" study work that goes into each of those things just listed.

And speaking of checkrides, can I just take a second to brag? My hubby has worked so hard; he has a focus and drive to achieve his goals like nobody I've ever known. He studied his face off for both of his T-1 checkrides and I'm so happy that all of his efforts were rewarded - he got an E3 on BOTH of his checkrides! (For those of you not in the UPT world, that is an amazing score...) And on top of all his hard work, Jake never complains. When he gets thrown into random flights or double-turns multiple days in a row or gets told he has to fly over his entire weekend, he just sucks it up and does it - and does it well, might I add.

Can you tell I'm a proud wife? Oh yeah, I'm proud alright, and I know that August 13th (Jake's graduation) will be such a huge day for him. I seriously can't wait to see his wings pinned on. But before we can get there we have one more HUGE thing - something that makes my stomach knot up just thinking about it - Assignment Night (dun dun dun...) July 30th is coming up fast and while I am ready, I'm not sure I'm really ready! haha. For those of you not in this situation, just imagine the anxiety of a day where you find out where you will be living for the next 4 years, knowing that whatever location pops up on that slide by your name is where you will be going - no ifs, ands, or buts - and you have zero control over it. Yeah. It's scary and exciting and oh-my-goodness its next Friday!!!

I mentioned that we were supposed to get our "drop" on Friday... well it didn't come (no surprise there... Air Force...). We should hopefully be getting it on Wednesday but definitely by Friday. The drop is essentially the list of all the locations and planes that are available for us to get on our assignment night (basically if something is not on the list, there's a very little chance of getting it). Once we get the drop, everyone will fill out their dream sheet, listing those planes and locations in the order they most want. Getting the drop is huge because we can literally look at the list and say... "one of the assignments is going to be ours". It can really narrow our options.

I'm so excited to see what everyone ends up getting. Where will all my friends end up?? Most likely we'll all be scattered across the globe. The guys and the wives of class 10-13 have become like family to me and I'm hoping to see everyone end up with great assignments. 12 more days and we will know!!

Girl Time

Lately Jake and all of his classmates have been on overload with their flying schedule. Being just weeks from graduation, the instructors are trying to push everyone to get finished up early. The result of this? A couple of lonely wives. But we have come to the unspoken agreement that instead of sitting around the house by ourselves bored, we'll just have lots of girl time! I've said it before and I'll say it again - I am SO thankful for my friends here! This place would be miserable without them and I know leaving them will be the hardest part about moving.

On Tuesday after work we created a mini dog park in Allison's backyard (there are 5 dogs between us 3 girls!). We just sat and enjoyed a cool glass of wine in the humid summer weather and relaxed. So wonderful. Check out our pack...

Tonight we are going to Allison's fitness class (she's a personal trainer) to let her kick our butts in a workout and then we plan to stuff ourselves with frozen yogurt... I know that makes no sense really but it sounds fun right? Tomorrow night is girls night out and I am SO excited for that too! Six of us are going to get all dressed up and ditch the boys for dinner and dancing in Starkville. Then Saturday is a shopping day (woo-hoo!) and Sunday we'll start the week right with our weekly afternoon pool date. See, lots of girl time - and it is great! I refuse to be the UPT wife that sits on the couch, bored-to-death, waiting for her husband to come home.

PS - Only 2 more weeks until Assignment Night!! We should hopefully be getting our "drop" tomorrow (Eek!). More on that to come...

Wishing + Hoping

Being that I now have a career that attaches me to a computer for most of the day (plus the fact that I'm currently an online student) I have had my eye on a certain something...

Oh yeah - The 15-inch MacBook Pro. This little beauty would make my life so happy :) I've been needing a new computer for a while now so I've been doing my research and comparing options. At first I thought I should get an iMac (the apple desktop) because of its ginormous screen and reasonable price but I can't seem to get around the fact that it is SO appealing about being able to pick up my work and go. I could take my work anywhere with this computer and it would hold my entire design studio.

I've been saving and saving my hard-earned design money to get this new computer and with the added bonus of my birthday being at the end of this month I'm wishing and hoping it will be mine very soon!! Here's to wishing and hoping :)

How cute is this?!

I was looking through my iPhoto the other day and stumbled across a video I never even knew I had! It's from the day we adopted our puppy Bailey and brought her home just a week after we had moved to Mississippi. She was only 6 weeks old, 4 pounds, and was so stinkin' adorable!! See for yourself... and please excuse my crazy lady puppy voice :)

Anticipation.

I'm having a hard time blogging lately. It's not because I'm too busy with school and work and design, although those are totally valid reasons, it's because I'm living in a state of wild anticipation. Seriously, I can't seem to focus on the "now" when I'm so excited about the changes coming in the next few weeks... finding out our new assignment, leaving my full-time marketing job, going on an overdue vacation with my husband, moving to who-knows-where and starting a new life... the list goes on and on.

I've been really anxious about finding out our new assignment. It's still 3 weeks out and I already have a big knot in my stomach. It's not that I'm worried about where we go (because I know we can make a great life anywhere after living here in Columbus) its just that I want to know so bad!! I am such a planner and for me to not know where we will be moving next month is crazy! People keep telling me "It's out of your control... Don't stress about it..." but they've got me all wrong. I'm not upset or worried... I'm filled with excitement and anticipation! I'm so excited and beyond ready for something new. This next month is just huge for us! Remember when we moved to Mississippi forever ago and my blogs were all about the anticipation of the big move? Well its the same thing now. And I have to say that I am so meant to be a military spouse because after staying in one place for too long I get the itch to move and its all I can think about! Anyways, with that said, I am throwing out the warning that my blogging this month will probably be geared towards all things military and my posts may be a bit sporadic. July 30th is the big day and I can't believe its almost here!!!

Hello Hello... Im Back!

Hello everyone! How has your week been? My trip was so wonderful (and jam-packed!). I'll give you the quick run down...

Friday: Flew across the country, Found out that Delta now offers free satellite TV on the back of every seat (Yes!!), Met my family in San Francisco, Officially met my future brother-in-law(!!!), Ate at BJ's, Went home and crashed!!

Saturday: Got Starbucks for the first time in months :) Headed to Pinecrest Lake for the day with my Dad, Denise, Seth, Jacs, and Stephen, Layed on the beach and enjoyed the 0% humidity (well thats what it felt like to me), BBQ'd on the lake for dinner, Went home and played Wii with my brother before "camping out" in the living room for the night.

Sunday: Caught up with lots of people at my home church, Went to Olive Garden with the fam (Notice that I am enjoying all the good food we don't have in Columbus haha), Spent the afternoon visiting with my grandparents and loving every second! Enjoyed the night hanging with Jaclyn and Stephen before they left to go back to Seattle.

Monday: Shopping day with my mom!! One word: Nordstrom :) I also managed to find the perfect gown to wear to Jake's very formal graduation banquet next month! Later that night was girls night and we seriously laughed until it hurt. I have the best friends... ever.

Tuesday: Ran around all day filling out papers for my business and sitting through appointments. It took forever but its done and now my studio is more than officially official :) The rest of the day was spent soaking up every second of family time possible.

Wednesday: Left for the airport at 3:30 in the AM, Slept on both plane rides, Finally made it back to Columbus, Loved on my puppy dogs while waiting for Jake to get home, Went on a date night with my hubby to celebrate his awesome checkride (more on that in another post) and then tried to get myself out of vacation mode for work the next morning.

I had such a great time and feel so ridiculously thankful and blessed by the people I have in my life. Now I'm back at work and so excited for the things that are on the horizon: Getting our new assignment (July 30th), Ending my full-time job to focus on design and school (July 30th... ish), Jake's graduation and then..... ?? Ahh! Life is so exciting right now :)