So long, Mississippi... Its been good.

Well my time in Mississippi has officially come to an end. On Friday and Saturday we moved everything out of our house and on Sunday we left for our road trip, moving across the country. It's been one of the longest weeks ever and I'm so ready for a little R&R with my husband and family. Details on our roadtrip to come... Just thought I'd post a quick update from our hotel in Salt Lake :)

Bring on the wedding planning!

During my brief blogging absence this month, something HUGE happened... my sister got engaged!! I am so insanely happy for her and Stephen and the exciting new journey they are about to take. Their wedding will be next summer so buckle up, it's wedding planning time and I have been dubbed maid, eh, matron-of-honor!!! This is all just so exciting - Congrats Jaclyn and Stephen!

Boxes, Boxes, and More Boxes

Well we started packing yesterday for the big move on Sunday (I know, nothing like waiting until the last minute). Jake's parents were here to help us all day yesterday so thankfully we already have the guestroom, office, kitchen, bathrooms and all of the house decor packed! Only four days until we leave and there is still so much to be done. It's okay though... I'm the weirdo that loves packing, cleaning, and organizing, and because I am somewhat of a procrastinator I work great under pressure :) Plus I have a little helper...

What are the odds she will stay in this box all the way to California?...

10-13 SUPT Graduation

Friday was the day we've been waiting for... the day Jake got his wings and officially graduated pilot training! It was a busy and exciting day and something we will both remember forever. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event. It started out with a morning breakfast where the wing commander spoke to all of the family and friends of the graduates, then we all headed over to the auditorium for the graduation ceremony. After a few speakers shared their words of wisdom for the new pilots, the class awards were announced and then each pilot earned their wings. Jake did not think he would be getting any awards at the graduation, being that there are very few awards given out, but I have to say I was not at all surprised when Jake's name got called up - and not just for any award - for Distinguished Graduate! This is the highest award anyone can get out of UPT and it means that Jake graduated at the very top of his class! This award will follow him through his entire career and is something to be very proud of. Jake was also one of two who received the AETC Commanders Trophy. I was a very proud wife to say the least - I mean just finishing pilot training is a majorly HUGE life accomplishment but to see Jake get rewarded for all the extra effort he has put in over the last year really made me happy. After the ceremony, we enjoyed a nice lunch with his family and then went over to Jake's flightroom to check it out and go in a T-1 flight simulator. A wonderful beginning to the day!! Click on the photos below to view the larger size + caption...

In the evening we all got dressed up to go to the formal graduation banquet. It was the first time that Jake has ever worn his "mess dress" and holy moly did he look handsome!! The dinner was by far the BEST part of the day I thought. We had great food, we got to see a slideshow of this year's memories (which I have to mention that at least a third of the pictures were taken off of my blog or facebook haha), we were shown an awesome video collage from that morning's ceremony, and Jake was given two more awards!! He got the Flying Excellence award for having the highest checkride scores in his class and he also got the Military Training award. Did I mention I am so stinkin' proud of him?! Then after the awards, each of the married guys did a little tribute to their spouses for all the support and encouragement during UPT. One by one, each of the guys went up to their wives, presented them with a rose, and gave them a kiss (each time trying to "out-do" the guy before him). It was so funny! We also got an award certificate and earned our own little set of wings. We UPT spouses have been through a LOT too over this past year and it was a wonderful surprise to be recognized at the dinner. Jake and I got some professional pictures taken at the dinner so I'll definitely post them when we get them back but here are some from my camera...

The entire night was a huge success and was a great "last time" all together as UPT family 10-13. This past year was arguably the hardest year Jake and I have ever had, individually and together, but we will always look back on it with so many amazing memories. And while our life in the Air Force is just getting started, I can now officially say that this long "UPT chapter" is officially CLOSED!

Not enough hours in the day...

Since assignment night my life has been a big blur of excitement, happiness, stress and anticipation, and unfortunately with all this busyness, blogging was the first thing to go. I think (emphasis on think) things are finally on the downhill so I plan to get back in action with my blogging routine... Woo hoo!! I have two HUGE events to blog about that each deserve their own post this week (my sister getting engaged!! and Jake getting his wings!!!) but for tonight I will just give you a quick update on life since my last post.

As you all know, we are going back to California! Yes! And now we finally have "the plan" for how this whole move is going to happen. Jake has two different trainings he has to complete before we can move to Travis, Survival training in Washington and C-17 training in Oklahoma, and because of this we don't actually report to our new base until the beginning of March (boo...) Well I have no desire to stay here in Mississippi alone for the next six months so we have decided to pack up the house, put everything in storage, and drive the dogs and I back to the west coast to stay with my family while Jake is away at training. This option requires a lot of planning and extra work on our part but in the end its the way I know I will be happiest, not to mention we will be saving a lot of money this way :) So while Jake is gone I plan to travel around the west coast catching up with the friends and family I have missed so much while we've been stationed in Mississippi. The best part of it all is that I can take my work anywhere I go so I am not tied down to any location for any amount of time and I'm also not sacrificing my career or income.

With all that said, we are leaving here in just over a week and as I look around at my fully furnished, nowhere-near-packed house I can't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. There is so much to be done. It's ironic that I've been counting down the years, months, days... until we would be leaving this place but now that its here I kind of want it (need it) to just slow down for minute. But as I always say, change is a good thing and I really am so excited for what is to come :)

The great news is that although we are leaving the south in just a week, we still get to take two full weeks of vacation before Jake has to report to his first day of training. We're so looking forward to spending some time relaxing with Jake's family and friends in the Northwest and enjoying the wonderful end-of-summer, non-humid weather there. Life is good and exciting at the Pruitt household right now and, wow, I still have so much to tell you!! Be back with more tomorrow :)