Look'n for Mr. Right.

Bailey got a surprise present in the mail this week from her grandma Kathlyn...

Life in Columbus.

I feel like I have so much to talk about and update on that I should probably divide it into sections so that I am not just randomly switching from subject to subject :) Here we go in no particular order...
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Work
I have almost been back at work a week now and for the most part I have just jumped right back in where I left off. When I got back to work on Monday, I already had projects waiting for me! That has made me excited and happy because it makes me feel really needed at work and accomplished when I finish my long list of to-do's. Most of the week has been filled with the usual: proofing, research, research, and more research. But I also got to go to a Facebook seminar for advertising which was pretty fun. I already knew most of the information but I did manage to learn a few things from it.

Tomorrow I have my official training to take over the media bills and other financial bookkeeping on Quickbooks, which is a huge work load to take on but I am excited for the challenge! Also, my work is going to have me take a class on Google Adwords and get certified. This is an awesome opportunity for me and something to help build my resume. I think I will start on that next week sometime. Overall, work is going great and I definitely feel like part of the team. Its great to be back at work doing something that I can be proud of!

Family
Of course by family I mean Jake and Bailey :) Jake is doing great in his training still. Yesterday was another big test for him and he's been studying pretty hard for it all week. He got an A on it and I am so proud of him! He is really working so hard and I'm glad he's seeing the rewards of his work. He's been involved in a lot of study groups with other guys in his class and really seems to be making some good friends along the way.

Jake and I have really been great lately working as a team; supporting eachother through both of our hard work days and still making time to put one another first. We don't get a lot of time together so we have been making the most of our time. Instead of laying on the couch watching a show, we have been very active, like last night we went for a long bike ride around base together, and a few nights ago we washed the car together. It sounds funny but its a good way to be together and do something together.

Of course, Bailey is always our "something together". To us, she is our child and we spoil her ridiculously. We are so thankful to have her and she brings so much fun and laughter into our lives. Sometime in the near future we plan to get another dog too. Bailey really needs someone to play with and we always feel so bad leaving her at home alone all day long. I'm not sure that we will get a puppy because they are so much work but I guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

Church
It's great to be back at church and getting involved again after being gone all summer. It's strange that most of our friends that were there when we first got there in January have already left and moved on to their next bases. Its given us a great opportunity though to meet so many more great Christian people and connect with other Christians within the AF community. Pretty soon I will also be starting my Thursday night bible study again with the girls. This time we are going to be working through a book on being excellent, Godly wives :) I think that will be a wonderful study and hopefully very beneficial to the foundation of our young marriage.

Friends
Looking back on my blogs from when we first moved here, it is amazing to me to see how God has really provided in the area of friendship. I still remember so strongly those feelings of loneliness and need for friends; now I am surrounded and overwhelmed by the people God has brought into my life. My closest friend out here, Ann, has been such a blessing to me. We are so much alike in everything that we like to do and the way we think. She is someone I can call whenever I need someone and she is there for me and we can talk for hours.

Then, I have all the wonderful wives of UPT class 10-13. There are 10 of us and we all have such a great time together. Last week we did quite a few things together and some of us even took a day shopping trip to Tuscaloosa, AL. Everyone gets along so easily and so far this group of girls seems to be pretty drama free. The hard part is though that I am the ONLY one who has a full-time job out of all the spouses. Therefore, most of the meetings are in the mornings and I am at work. I already missed one and I know that I'll miss many many more. Its kind of a bummer to feel left out but I know that I should be happy and excited to be working and thankful to have a job. And there are also plenty of events at night for me to attend. Like next week I have an AF or spouse event almost every night! I have a social on Tuesday, a jewelry party on Wednesday, the pilot partners welcome on Thursday, and a baby shower to go to on Saturday! I know it will be such a fun week and I am excited for all the girl time. Oh and also, my good friend Patty and her husband get here next week! I can't wait for her to be here and I know we are going to have a ton of fun here in good ol' Columbus.


Visitors
This week we have had the joy of having some good friends come back to visit for the week, Matt & Logan. They were our neighbors when we first moved here and they are the 2 single guys that I would also mention in my earlier blogs from Columbus. They are such great friends and we've enjoyed every second of there visit with us. Now one is stationed in Washington and one is in New Jersey and both are flying C-17s.

Next month, I am even more excited that 2 of our best friends are coming out to visit for a few days, Andrew & Cassie. Hopefully I will be able to take a day off work when they are here and we can plan something fun. We might drive to Atlanta for the day and go to Six Flags because its military day and we get in free and it'd be something fun to go do. Jake is also insisting that we go Armadillo hunting while they're here. Oy...

We may also be having some family out for the holidays. That would be so much fun and give me a good reason to decorate! Anyways, I am very excited to have some visitors come our way and show them our new house and introduce them to Mississippi life.

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So there ya have it. All my updates and probably much information than you wanted to know :)

Check this out.

My sister is in Panama right now teaching English with a group from our church and she has been blogging everyday about her experiences. God has really been doing some amazing things through her down there and it's been really encouraging to read so I thought I'd share it with ya'll. It's http://jaclynwilliams.blogspot.com. Please pray for her and her team as they wrap up the last few days of their trip and begin the long travel home!

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!

My whirlwind summer.

Wow, it has been a LONG time I blogged! My summer has been flying by and I haven't had time to stop and think about writing on my blog, which is kind of a shame because so much exciting stuff has happened this summer. I will give you a brief overview of my last 2 months.

I left for California in May and went to my college graduation. It was so awesome to walk across that stage and know that all my hard work over the past 4 years was finally complete. I also got to see all my friends who I have missed so so much since I've been gone. Here's a picture from graduation.

After that weekend, I said goodbye to Jake (he left for training in Colorado) and I headed to my hometown of Turlock. The night I got home was not a good night. Bailey had to be rushed to the emergency room, almost too late, and was hooked to an IV for 12 hours. It was so awful! Apparently according to the doctor, Bailey ate a large dose of a narcotic drug and said that it was most likely marijuana. Figures, my dog comes to CA and gets some pot. My whole family was shocked and upset but all we could think about was the fact that she was okay once it got out of her system. I realized then that I don't know what I'd do without her. She is my best companion when Jake is gone and I'm so thankful to have her. Here is a pic of her and my brother at the park this summer.

June was seriously a whirlwind. I had a graduation party the first weekend of June with my best friend from home, Allison, which was so great. Then the next weekend I was off to Europe! We went to Praque, Vienna, and Salzburg. It was such an amazing trip and it really opened my eyes to the fact that we live in a huge world! It definitely gave me the desire to travel more. I will have to post some pictures from that trip in another blog. The last week of June I mostly helped Allison get ready for her wedding, worked on her wedding present (which was a scrapbook of us from kindergarten until now), went to the beach, and hung out with friends and family. Here are pictures from my grad party and one from Europe.

July started with me getting to go to LA for a taping of Family Feud! My family auditioned a year ago and finally got asked to go on the show. It was a lot of fun and a crazy weekend! I think its supposed to air around October but I'll keep ya posted. The next week was a good surprise. I got to see Jake! He was able to get some leave to see his family in Sacramento, which is only 2 hours from Turlock, so Bailey and I drove up there for a few days. It was so amazing to see him after 6 weeks apart and we were so giddy the whole week :) We got to see our friends John and Sarah while we were up in that area and that was awesome. I also stopped on my way home to have lunch with my good friend (and old roomie) Candy. It was just a great trip! From there, I rushed back to Turlock to begin Allison's wedding festivities. Her wedding was so beautiful and I bawled through the whole thing (which by the way is very unlike me...thats how perfect the wedding was!) It was a bummer that Jake couldn't be with me for that but he needed to get back to Mississippi and it was great for me to have some girl time.

Another surprising turn of events is that Jake and I got the offer to move into a brand new house on base!! It was literally finished being built in June. Its a two-story, 2000 sq ft. home with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It has a wonderful screened porch, walk in closets, and a garage! Its my dream house that I never thought I'd get, at least not for a long time, and the best part is that its free!! My dad and my sister drove me back out to Mississippi and even stayed to help us move and get settled. We somehow managed to get the whole house moved, unpacked, and decorated over the time of one weekend. And even more surprising is that all my decor and furniture from our tiny old house seemed to fully furnish the massive new house! Now thats a miracle :) Heres a picture of our new house and one of me and my sis on our way out here.

Anyways, Jake starts pilot training here in Mississippi tomorrow and is very excited about it. We had the opportunity to have his entire class (29 guys+ 10 wives) over for a get together last night and had a great time. We feel so thankful that he has such a fun class for us to do things with over the next year. I had a great time with the wives too! We sat and talked for hours. Another great thing is that a good majority of our class lives on our same street in our new neighborhood. We can literally just walk a few houses down to see eachother.

I know I really have to enjoy this time I have now because August 10th I go back to work and foresee no vacations for a long time. Thanks for everyone who took the time to read this long post. Once I get back to back to my regular routine, my regular blogging will come back into play, I am sure of it!