Our New Home (We Made it to Virginia!)

Way back in April, we found out we would be moving to Langley AFB in Hampton, VA upon Dan's graduation from F-22 Raptor B Course in August. We were thrilled! It was our number one choice, and I will say, now that we've been here for a couple months, we are SO happy.

There's a lot to do here with and without kids, unlike our last base, and we have been having fun checking out many of the fun things to do. Annabelle is settled into a new preschool that came highly recommended, and Josephine is settling into her new routine as a one year old (more to come on that soon!).

We bought our house, and it's been fun putting effort into decorating it this time around since we know we will be here for three years instead of just one! It feels like an eternity, and I am so glad! We have been married for 4.5 years and have moved across the country FOUR times already! We moved from Colorado to Ohio... Ohio to Texas... Texas to Florida... and now Florida to Virginia! We are SO ready to stay put and lay down some real roots here.

First Day of F-22 Raptor B Course!

At the beginning of January, Dan FINALLY started B Course for the F-22 Raptor! This had been a long time coming, since he found out this is what he'd be flying last June at drop night! There are only two classes per year for the Raptor, though, and the last one started in July before he had completed IFF or Water Survival.

This is going to be a grueling nine months for him as he completes academics (now) and simulator training before finally flying the jet (probably in March) for the first time! Oh, and since it's a single seat jet, he'll be flying it completely solo for his very first (and every) flight! Ahh! I am going to be in panic mode that day, but hopefully I'll be able to go out and watch him take off!

Anyway, send good vibes for his training these next nine months and for my parenting ability for our two sweet girls since I'll be alone with them a lot of the time while he's busy training and studying!

(and in case you don't know what a Raptor looks like... here's one!)

ENJJPT Drop Night Recap AKA My Husband is a Stud!

We found out on Friday night what Lieutenant Lovemuffin will be flying for his Air Force career, and he was selected to fly the F-22 Raptor! Pretty badass. If you remember my last post about drop night looming over us, you'll recall that the F-22 was at the top of his list, so we are definitely pleased. (There's a video of the moment we found at at the very end of this post - check it out!)

We'll be moving to sunny Florida... Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, to be exact. We don't have dates yet, but we're assuming we'll head that way sometime this fall. He still has three weeks of UPT left, followed by another trip to the Centrifuge in San Antonio, a few months of IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals) here at Sheppard, and then SERE (survival training) up in Washington state all before we can head that way. We're hoping to get there and get settled before Baby Cookie #2 makes his or her appearance, but we'll see what happens.

Here's the video! This video is VERY dark (sorry!), but turn up the volume - it shows the moment Dan caught the inflatable shark and found out what plane he was assigned to! The person who jumps up to the left is me... hahaha! I shot out of my seat when he yelled, "RAPTOR!!!" Such an amazing, fun night last night for ENJJPT Class 17-06's Drop Night! A moment we will NEVER forget! (PS - their class is called SharkNATO, hence the inflatable sharks and Hawaiian themed shirts!)

Drop Night is Coming!

Drop night is QUICKLY approaching, and I just wanted to write about it and what it means to us.

First and foremost, it is set for Friday, June 2nd, 2017 at 7:00PM for Dan's class at ENJJPT.

What is drop night? I get asked this question ALL. THE. TIME. Drop night is when the student pilots from one class (my husband is at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) at Sheppard Air Force Base, but there are three other Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) bases too - Vance AFB, Laughlin AFB, and Columbus AFB) find out IN FRONT OF EVERYONE what plane they will be flying for their Air Force career.

Dan is specifically in class 17-06, but there is a drop night every six weeks here at Sheppard. The dates vary with the other three UPT bases, but drop nights happen at regular intervals.

How are the student pilots selected for their aircraft assignments? I also hear this one a lot. The student pilots are ranked within their flights and their classes (each class has two flights) based on several factors from their training, check rides, etc. throughout the year-long program. They also get to submit a "dream sheet", where they rank each and every aircraft the Air Force has to offer, starting with their top choice and going all the way to last place. Based on their ranking AND what they hope the fly, the people who choose just kind of go down the list.

What does Dan hope to fly? This is probably the most frequent question I get from family and friends - ALL THE TIME! While he certainly has preferences (and I'll get to those), he has longed to be an Air Force pilot for so long that he will just be happy to get paid to fly anything! He's not one of those people (and oh do they exist!) who will be super upset and unable to function if he doesn't get one of his top choices. But, hey, Air Force Gods... it wouldn't hurt to give him one anyway! ;-) Dan's top three planes on his dream sheet are the F-35, F-22, and F-15E. We really struggled to place those in any kind of order, though, so if he gets ANY of those top three, it'll be like winning the jackpot! His next three are the F-16, A-10, and F-15C, which would still be cool but aren't AS desirable. Then, he skips down to the heavies - or cargo planes - C-130, C-17, C-21, C-5, etc. After the heavies come the bombers and finally FAIPing, which is what we absolutely do NOT want (staying here at Sheppard and him being an instructor pilot - he's already a 1st Lieutenant, prior enlisted, and pretty old for the average student pilot), so we're hoping to avoid this step, but each drop has at least one and sometimes two in the mix... so we know it's still a possibility.

No matte what the outcome, we are just excited to KNOW so we can start planning our next move! That's right - whatever plane he is assigned also tells us what specific base we will be moving to! We won't know EXACTLY when, but we'll have a pretty good idea, and the planner in me is just dying to start looking at houses, activities for Annabelle, an OB and hospital for Baby Cookie #2, etc. I NEED TO KNOW.

This journey really has been a long time coming. When I met Dan in 2008, he was already in the Air National Guard and pursuing a degree in Aviation. He had always dreamed of flying in the Air Force, but that didn't seem like a reality until he was accepted into the Air Force Academy shortly after we started dating in 2009 and went active duty. Basically, our entire relationship has been focused on this one long-term dream and goal. He has poured every little bit of himself into being the best cadet, then officer, then Master's student, and now student pilot that he could possibly be in order to achieve his dreams. No matter what aircraft he is assigned to, we know it will be the right fit for our family because you just don't work this hard for nothing. It's all coming to fruition NEXT WEEK, He will still have three more weeks of pilot training after drop night before graduation, but I can already tell those three weeks are going to be so amazing because we'll KNOW everything we need to know. No more guessing. No more fretting.

This studly husband of mine has worked his tail off for NO JOKE eight years to achieve the goal of becoming a pilot in the world's greatest Air Force. And here we are... about to watch an absolute DREAM COME TRUE. (I'm not proud or anything... ;-) )

Please pray, send good wishes, positive thoughts, crossed fingers, etc. our way next week, as I know we will both be an anxious, nervous wreck!

Dan's T-38 Solo Flight at ENJJPT

Last August (which feels like an eternity ago, to be honest), I blogged about Dan's solo flight in the T-6. He has now soloed in the T-38 and is well on his way to completely pilot training at ENJJPT (Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training) at Sheppard Air Force Base. He's such a stud, and I am SO proud of him. He is putting in a lot of hard work and long days, but it's all for the best for him and our family, and one day, when this is all over with, it will be worth it!

Unfortunately for his solo, no one was available to take Annabelle and me out to the flight line like we were able to for his T-6 solo. Everyone was busy flying at the same time that day, so it just didn't work out. But I made sure he snapped a photo afterward anyway!

The T-38 is a lot faster (and more fun, according to Dan) than the T-6. He has been having a blast flying it. Since his solo, he has also passed his first check ride! More to come, though!

Pilot training certainly isn't for the faint of heart. And I can definitely see why there are so few married student pilots and even fewer with children. Dan is gone ALL DAY five days a week. He gets to see Annabelle for about an hour a day ON GOOD DAYS. We're sacrificing so much time with him right now, and the single parenting gig isn't easy. BUT we try to make up for it on the weekends. Annie is SO excited when she gets to see him and play with him.

Drop night is quickly approaching, though, and that will bring an end to this crazy season... as least for a while. (B Course or whatever follow-on assignment he gets based on his assigned plane will be just as crazy, but we'll hopefully have a short break in between!)

Since many people have asked what drop night is, I'll give a quick run-down. Basically, all of the student pilots in one class (about 25) will receive their assignments (aka what plane they'll be flying for their Air Force careers, along with their first base) in a public setting on base on a Friday night. Drop nights happen every six weeks at Sheppard, and they're SO much fun. One at a time, the student pilots take turns standing up in front of everyone and learning their entire future right along with the hundred of people filling the room. It's exhilarating, nerve-racking, and crazy all at once. There's free beer involved and lots of screaming! It's a really fun tradition... but just know that my own husband is the one in the hot seat, I'm going to be one big ball of nerves. He has just under 11 weeks to go until it's his drop night! Only one more takes place before his. AAHHHH!

Dan's T-6 Dollar Ride at ENJJPT

After yesterday's more serious post, I wanted to share something fun today!

Dan officially started his ENJJPT pilot training in June, and a couple weeks ago, he had his Dollar Ride - aka his first flight in the T-6 with an IP (instructor pilot). (He will also have a Dollar Ride in the T-38 in January or February, so stay tuned for that post in the future!)

He has flown many times since then, and it's amazing what that change means. He comes home in a much better mood and has SO much to talk about - compared to when he was in graduate school and doing the initial academic phase of pilot training.

Soon, Dan will solo in this aircraft, and he can't wait! This is a dream that's been a long time in the making, and I am so proud of him for sticking through it all. I am hoping to have the opportunity to go watch him when he does his first solo flight, so expect some fun photos sometime soon!

A Pilot's Daughter {sort of} Reviews 'Daddy Flies' Book

Okay, so I only said SORT OF in the title of this post because Annabelle is only (almost) three months old, so she can't even express her own opinions yet, let alone review a book.

However, I can, and 'Daddy Flies' by Brye Stevens is excellent! The author is a military spouse whose husband is a pilot, and the book tells the story of young Katie, who learns that her daddy flies and is trying to figure out how.

I received a complimentary copy of the book 'Daddy Flies' by Brye Steeves in exchange for a review. All thoughts are my own. The adorable airplane bib is from SEWandCompany on Etsy.

*My husband (and Annabelle's daddy), Lieutenant Lovemuffin, has been flying for 11 years now - and he FINALLY heads to Air Force pilot training this coming spring after putting it on hold to pursue his Master's degree in Physics.*

'Daddy Flies' rhymes, which makes it fun for me to read to Annabelle, and she will surely get a kick out of that as she gets a bit older.

The book shows lots of adorable pictures of the dad in the book in his flight suit, and I am so glad that as Annabelle gets older, she will have a special book to read when trying to figure out what her dad is doing all the time in that silly green onesie!

We give this book 5 stars - it's cute, fun, and will be totally applicable to our life in a couple years, and I just know it will come in handy in explaining Daddy's job to Annabelle.

Annabelle was SUPER excited to add 'Daddy Flies' to her growing collection of books about airplanes / flying - just look at that sweet smile! Little does she know that she gets to go on her FIRST FLIGHT this month! I think her daddy is most excited... I just hope for his sake that Annabelle enjoys flying more than I do!

Be sure to follow 'Daddy Flies' on Facebook - and get your copy of the adorable book on Amazon!


    

The Hundred Dollar Hamburger

I've mentioned several times on this blog that flying is not my favorite activity in the world. It's terrifying to me. I'm just not a fan of it. My husband, on the other hand, is an aviation enthusiast. He loves the sky. He's been flying for ten years now - longer than he's been able to drive!

When we started dating, he told me that he couldn't date a girl who didn't like flying. I sucked it up and pretended, and he flew me to dinner from Missouri to Kansas for our second date. It was scary, but it was also amazing.

Now, he's heading to pilot training with the Air Force as soon as he gets his Master's degree. While he's still in school, though, he doesn't have much time or money to fly. While at the Air Force Academy, he competed on the flying team, which meant he was flying about five days a week. He misses it here in Ohio, so he got all checked out to fly out of a local airport.

One day in September, he took me up for the ever-famous "hundred dollar hamburger" - which really just means that he flew us to another city for lunch. It's supposed to mean that the hamburger at lunch costs a hundred dollars because of how much you pay to get there... but we actually had Mexican food in West Virginia, and I'm sure it was more than a hundred dollars in flight time and fuel. Either way, it's fun to say that we went for a hundred dollar hamburger.

The flight was bumpy when we got into West Virginia near the mountains. I was scared, but the views were stunning. I took many pictures that day to capture my fear AND the great views we had... enjoy!

• Do you like flying?
• Have you ever flown in a small plane?

USAFA Graduation: Gift for My Graduate

Last week, I blogged all about USAFA Graduation Week! You can check out my posts about the graduation parade, the commissioning ceremony, and the actual graduation by clicking on the links.

Many of you know that my husband has been flying airplanes since well before we met. In fact, he's been flying since around the same time he started driving (even before).

He received a pilot slot to go to Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training (read all about that here), so he will head there after getting his Master's degree.

I knew that for his graduation from the Air Force Academy, I wanted to make him something special... something that he'll cherish forever. I decided that I wanted it to be about flying, since that's his passion. But what? Then I got an amazing idea - to use aviation sectional charts! I had seen them in the flying team's squadron bar used as a table top and thought that looked really cool. I knew I couldn't do anything like that, but then I realized he had learned how to fly at three different airports so far and would be going to a fourth one for Air Force pilot training... and the idea of making a framed depiction of that came about.

Once I found the PERFECT frame (that looks just like an old window-pane), I knew I was set! I spent some time working on it while Dan was out of town at a flying competition, and I LOVE the way it turned out. He really likes it too (I could tell when he received it!), and it is now hanging in our new home.

The picture of it isn't so clear since I took it with my phone, but I am really happy with the graduation gift I made for Dan!

Exciting Air Force News!!!

As many of you know, my fiancé is graduating from the United States Air Force Academy on May 28th, 2014.

We have been in suspense for a while now, waiting for his AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code... or job title), especially since the government shutdown happened in October when the Firsties (seniors) were originally supposed to find out.

Well, they had their AFSC Drop Night tonight, and it's a darn good thing his butt looks so cute in a flight suit because...

DAN IS GOING TO BE AN AIR FORCE PILOT! 

We will find out in early 2014 if we will move to Texas, Oklahoma, or Mississippi for his pilot training, and we will head there after his graduation/our wedding. 

I am SO proud of him. He has worked his butt off for the past four and a half years, and all of that hard work is finally paying off! God is good. 

Air Force Academy Senior Year Excitement

I haven't written an update about Dan's life at the Air Force Academy in a while, and since he's a Firstie now (First Class Cadet -- otherwise known as a senior in college), life is getting pretty exciting!

Yesterday, Dan attended the official AFSC Briefing, where he learned about all of his job options. He, of course, is hoping to be a pilot, so he didn't need to know too much!

As of today, Dan can begin entering his top jobs, beginning with pilot! He will enter five other jobs, but each year, the top half of the cadet wing (or more!) receive pilot slots when they request them. Dan is in right about the top 10% of his class, so as long as he is medically cleared (so far, so good!), he should receive his job of choice.

He will find out his AFSC (job) sometime in October. I cannot wait for that moment; it will be SO GREAT to know for sure what he will be doing for the Air Force during his career.

This guy seriously looks dang good in a flight suit, so send him some positive vibes to get his job of choice!

Now that I've shown off my man enough (but seriously -- flight suit green must be his color!), I'll share the four possible base options for UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training)... this is all assuming he gets a pilot slot. UPT will last about a year and a half, and since Dan has his private pilot's license, he will not need to attend IFS (Initial Flight Screening), which would otherwise take up about a month to a month and a half beforehand.

The four base options are: 

1. Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas
2. Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma
3. Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas
4. Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi

Dan won't find out his base until sometime in December, and we will move there after our wedding and honeymoon next summer. The end of July is when his 60 Days will be over (the 60 days post-graduation are completely free for him with NO military commitments whatsoever -- can you say EXCITING?!?!?!), so that is an approximate time we will be moving to our first base together! If he doesn't receive a pilot slot, however, there are plenty of other base options for us... but things are looking up!