Goodbye, Ohio!

Today, we are driving away from our house in Ohio. It was our very first duty station as a married couple. Once Dan graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2014, we got married and moved to Dayton, Ohio so he could get his Master's degree from AFIT, the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Last night, he received that Master of Science in Applied Physics degree (more on that coming soon), and we completed our time at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Thank goodness. We were not so much a fan of this town, but we also know it could be worse. There's nothing AWFUL about Dayton... there's just nothing exceptional about it either. In all fairness, we probably would have felt that way about any base after coming from gorgeous Colorado Springs.

Although we are not upset to be leaving Ohio behind for more exciting things (ie: pilot training and all the fun and craziness that comes along with it in Texas), we did make some special memories in Ohio...

We lived in our first house as a married couple. Sure, we rented it, but we worked hard to put it together to look and feel like a home, and I will definitely miss the layout of that house. It's also the home we welcomed Annabelle into, and while she will have many homes growing up, this one will always remain special because of the middle of the night feedings, sweet newborn cuddles, and many first milestones that took place in this very house. I'm happy to be leaving, but I'm also overwhelmed with sadness about leaving that part of Annabelle's life behind - she'll never remember it, so I'm happy that I at least captured her nursery in photos for her to have when she's older.

We went to many baseball games, went flying, and even made our own table for our patio! We're excited to move that one with us to Texas for all of the cookouts we see in our future.

We welcomed Smudge, Dan's childhood dog, into our home, and the kitties moved to their third state! Gilligan and Stormy are such well-seasoned travelers. 

Dan started his first Air Force job as an officer, going to school at AFIT. Those butterbars look so good on him. I turned my Etsy shop into something larger than I ever expected and shipped out a TON of orders for the holiday season. We took a family picture with all of our pets for our first married Christmas, and we celebrated our first year of marriage! 

In Ohio, we found out we were expecting, found out the baby is a GIRL, went through my entire pregnancy, and welcomed sweet Annabelle Kathryn. Life wasn't so bad in Ohio, after all. ;-) 

We bought our new car (the Dadmobile), spent our first Christmas with a baby, watched Dan defend his thesis (and graduate!), and took Annabelle to the polls to teach her the American way. 

While we're hoping never to be stationed in Ohio again (and as a pilot, Dan shouldn't be assigned there - but you know the military...), we will definitely miss some small aspects of it. And our small handful of great friends there. We will definitely miss them.

Now onto the adventures of pilot training! 

Do you ever feel sentimental when leaving a base, even if you didn't particularly care for it?

AFIT Thesis Defense: Complete!

After working for 18 months at AFIT (the Air Force Institute of Technology) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Lieutenant Lovemuffin successfully defended his thesis a couple weeks ago!

I was so happy that I got to watch him defend. It was really neat seeing all of that stud's hard work pay off. And also, since I had to edit that darn thing, I felt like I deserved to go! Luckily, no one had a problem with it. One of his best friends was in town too, so she came with me.

*Also worthy of pointing out: So she wouldn't disrupt her daddy's presentation, I left Annabelle with someone who isn't my mom for the first time ever... it only took me five months! Haha! Thanks again, Megan! We will miss you when we move.

Dan's thesis is for his Master's in Physics degree... so he researched, wrote, and presented about Millimeter Wave Radar Propagation. Over your head too? Just mine?? Moving on...

I am so incredibly proud of all the hard work my handsome husband has put in over the last year and a half to make this happen! We knew all along that this assignment was just a small piece of our journey, and while Ohio hasn't been the most fun, we are SO glad he has his Master's degree (almost) finished with! He is still in a weather class for a couple more weeks, and graduation is on the 24th! 

We took a family photo once we got home so Annabelle could be in a picture as well!

Do you like physics?

Do you have a Master's degree or want one?

Hectic Holiday Season

Whoa, has it been a busy holiday season or what?!

My husband has been busy with his grad school classes. He is taking his finals this week, so he's been holed up in his office procrastinating studying for his finals.

I've been working so hard in my Etsy shop. Just a month ago, I was bragging about reaching 300 sales... and now I'm at over 460 sales. Yes, it's been a CRAZY month of custom orders, buying a new printer so I can make my prints at home, and lots and lots of magnets. It's well worth it, though - I've made a substantial chunk of change, and we're planning on using it when we hopefully make it back to Europe this spring.

We've also hosted our family for Thanksgiving, babysat the cutest little boy from good friends, taken way too many pictures of cats, enjoyed donuts at the cutest little shop, made six dozen cookies for the Wright-Patterson Cookie Drive, served in the youth group at our church each week, almost completed (this week!) our 12 week course at church to become members, saw the Nutcracker, attended the AFIT Holiday Ball, and drank copious amounts of coffee.

It's been hectic but fun.

It's been a busy month and a half, but it's been fun as well! 

• What have you been up to this holiday season?
• Do you prefer to be busy all the time or to have free time?