2014: My Year in Review

2014 has been incredible. So many things happened this year - I got to play with lion cubs, Dan found out he's going to pilot training at ENJJPT, we spent 100's Weekend in Estes Park, I trained for and ran my first full marathon, had a bridal shower and bachelorette party, attended Dan's graduation parade, commissioning, and graduation, got married, spent a month in Europe for our honeymoon, said goodbye to Colorado and moved to Ohio, road lots of roller coasters at Cedar Point, watched the Kansas City Royals go to the World Series for the first time in my life, started volunteering with 7th and 8th graders at our new church's youth group, expanded my Etsy shop and sold many items at a craft fair, hosted Thanksgiving for the first time, and traveled back to Kansas City for the holidays.

2014 is definitely a year that I will remember forever! So many memories were made... and I absolutely cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store! 

USAFA Grad Week: Commissioning

Welcome to the second installment of the craziest week of my life!

A few hours after the graduation parade and the department awards, the graduating cadets at the Air Force Academy were commissioned.

That means, they went from cadet rank to 2nd Lieutenant JUST LIKE THAT.

Each cadet got someone to commission them. Dan chose Joe, a good friend of ours. He is the same guy who gave Dan his original USAFA shoulder boards at Acceptance Day back in 2010, so he thought it was appropriate to ask him again.

I was lucky enough to be able to exchange BOTH of Dan's shoulder boards for him. As soon as the short ceremony was over, I got to remove his cadet rank and pin on his butter bars! It was an awesome feeling, one I had been waiting for for a very long time.

Our last picture where he is a cadet!

It was tougher than it looked to pin those darn things on...

It took me quite a while, but I finally got them on there!

My first photo with the brand new 2nd Lieutenant!

Our good friends Ellie and Joe! Joe is the one who commissioned Dan. 

Graduation Gifts for Friends

This week is graduation week at The US Air Force Academy! It's a week I've been waiting for for FIVE years!

Tomorrow is commissioning, where the cadets have their cadet rank taken of of their shoulders and pin on 2nd Lieutenant. Wednesday is the actual graduation day, complete with 5+ hours inside Falcon Stadium and a performance by the Thunderbirds!

It'll be an exciting week for sure, and there won't be much downtime. Because of that, we got together with Dan's (and mine now) closest cadet friends to all celebrate and spend time together one last time before they all head off to different bases this summer.

Since I have gotten to know them so well over the years, I wanted to give them something personal as a "YAY, CONGRATS; YOU MADE IT THROUGH USAFA" gift. After much deliberation, I decided on making them a collage with photos of all of them together. I made four identical collages, one for Dan, one for Aaron, one for Lindsey, and one for Kaylon! I am so proud of all of their hard work, and they will be amazing officers in the Air Force for years to come.

These four have been together since they were in the same squadron at the USAFA Prep School from 2009 to 2010. They have an amazing friendship, and I'm super sad that we won't be near ANY of them after this week. I will miss them for sure, but we'll definitely visit!

• Have you ever been blessed with AMAZING friends at a base?
• Any tips for staying in touch regularly?