Our 3rd PCS in 3 Years

Mid-December, when sweet baby Josephine was just two weeks old, we gathered what we'd need for two weeks and moved out of our home in Texas and into the TLF at Sheppard Air Force Base. We needed to get all of our belonging packed up and moved out so we could clean the house for our new tenants.

This is the first time we did not do a DITY move. In fact, we had people do almost everything for us, aside from Dan finishing up his home renovations - which turned out awesome, by the way, but that's a post for another day!

We had the movers pack and load up the truck, and we even hired someone to deep clean the house and another to clean the carpets - all things we've typically done ourselves. That just wasn't feasible with a toddler AND a newborn, though. Overall, our experience with the military moving us went much smoother that we imagined, but we still like that extra payout from DITY moves.

Half way through our TLF stay, the water heater leaked all over the laundry room, and we were forced to move into one of the MUCH older units across base. Lame. But it worked out okay... it was just a huge hassle to pack up all of our things (you have a LOT of stuff when you have two young kids, so I'm not exaggerating the hassle here), especially when we had plans to meet some people for dinner at a specific time. Yikes. That is a day I don't want to re-live.

Finally, we made it out of Texas, though, and started our trek to Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. Thank goodness for our camper because we were able to sleep in it each night instead of moving all of our stuff to a different hotel room each night. It was also nice for discretely nursing Josephine along the way. We could stop anywhere, and I'd just get in there with her and not have to worry about using one of our covers (that we actually LOVE, by the way, but we were still learning our breastfeeding relationship at this point - remember, she was VERY young still!)

On day one, we made it to Louisiana and spent the night. On day two, we drove through the rest of Louisiana and all of Mississippi and stayed in Alabama. We made it into Florida on the third day, had lunch with some friends along the way, and then made it to our home! It was late, and our stuff wouldn't be delivered until the next morning, so we actually parked our camper at the Fam Camp at Tyndall and stayed in it for one last night.

The next morning, our household goods arrived! (Quick - I know! It helps that it wasn't peak PCS season... and it also meant that we skipped our New Orleans adventure we had planned because they called and said it'd be there on Monday morning, and if we weren't there, it'd go into storage... that meant we'd be waiting for our bed (and more importantly, Annabelle's bed!), and it would have another opportunity to get lost or damaged... so we said okay and hightailed it to Florida, skipping our time in New Orleans.)

I really like our new home. We're just renting for the time being since B Course is only a nine month training. If we end up staying at Tyndall after he graduates, we'll want to buy somewhere in this area... but this house is totally great for what we need right now! And it's in the closest neighborhood to base (which is still a 15 minute commute for Dan each day... the city is weird).

I can't say that we're in love with Panama City... it's very different from what we assumed... BUT we're going to give it a fighting chance before we make that decision since the weather has been SO COLD (worse than it's been in 28 years, in fact, according to the news), and we haven't had time to go do anything fun... so we'll blame the "blegh" feeling on that for now and hope we end up enjoying it more once it warms up!

Now we wait to find out if we will be staying at Tyndall for Dan's follow-on flying assignment or if we'll be moving again this fall. We will put in our request in a couple months and find out hopefully sometime in May or June. He graduates in August and goes to SERE after that, so we'd be moving in October or so if we do!

2017: A Year in Review

2017 was a year we knew would be exciting... but we didn't bet on SO MUCH excitement!

We were able to travel a few times - to San Antonio for Dan's centrifuge training, to Dallas / Ft. Worth for a long weekend, and to Kansas City, MO for a week and a half! We didn't take any huge trips, but that's okay. Sometimes, less is more.

We celebrated eight years together as a couple and Dan flying (and completing) the T-38 at pilot training. We shockingly found out we were pregnant with Baby Cookie 2.0 (a total surprise!) and celebrated our third wedding anniversary.

The biggest event of the summer was drop night - finally finding out that Dan will be flying to F-22 Raptor for the world's greatest Air Force! He graduated from pilot training later than month, and Annabelle took swim lessons and went to her first movie in a theater (to see Trolls) - fun times!

Shortly after, we found out Baby Cookie 2.0 was another girl - yay! We celebrated Annabelle's second birthday in September, Dan's start and finish of IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals), had maternity photos taken in early November, and welcomed tiny Josephine in late November!

And our last major event for the year? Moving across the country! The Air Force sent us to Tyndall AFB in Panama City, FL, where we'll be for about 10 months.

I hope everyone else had a great 2017 as well. Cheers to 2018!

Catching WAY Up

Where does time go? It seems elusive these days... or at least free time for blogging. I do miss writing. A lot. And I miss all the connections with blog friends, especially all you milso blog friends! 

But my life has been crazy, hectic, and chaotic lately... if we're friends on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you likely already knew that. 

The last time I posted was in July... nearly four months ago. Oops. I'm not kidding when I say life has been crazy... but so many things have happened since I last posted! 

• I turned 30 and visited KCMO to celebrate.
  
• Dan started (and finished) IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals).
  
• Annabelle turned TWO, and we threw her a party.
  
• I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and put on "chill out rest".
  
• Family has visited... twice.
  
• We went to the pumpkin patch.
  
• We celebrated Halloween.

... and so much more! I am going to try to write out a few posts right now and get them scheduled to post soon while I have a bit of time since Annabelle is at the CDC for daycare most of this week!

It's been rough trying to stay inactive and calm in order to keep my blood pressure down... but I'll talk more about that in a post coming soon! 

And because every blog post needs a picture... here are Gilligan and Stormy lounging on Annabelle's bed! 

ENJJPT (Pilot Training) Graduation

A couple weeks after drop night (where Dan found out what jet he'll be flying for his career), Dan accomplished a huge dream! He graduated from Air Force Pilot Training and pinned on his shiny new wings! He is officially an Air Force pilot! I couldn't be more proud of him and all the hard work he has put in over the last many, many years to reach this goal.

His flight from class 17-06 (L Flight) is pictured below - he's right in the middle!

Dan also received an award at graduation that was a surprise to us all - the Officership Excellence Award from the Military Officers Association of America! He is a true leader and is always putting others before himself to help them when they need it. I am so proud of him for receiving this!

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-6 Solo Flight at ENJJPT

Just a couple weeks ago, I shared about Dan's T-6 Dollar Ride, where he flew with an IP (instructor pilot) for the first time at ENJJPT (Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training). Well, he's been flying nearly daily since then, and last week, they trusted him to take this $4+ million dollar plane up in the air all by himself!

Annabelle and I were so fortunate to be able to head to the airfield to watch the big event - major thanks to a friend who is a few classes ahead of Dan who escorted us out there and explained everything to me all morning.

I hope we are also able to watch his first solo flight in the T-38 when he transitions to that jet in January or February.

We arrived and headed inside to his flight room, and we had to wait to make sure winds were low enough for them to let Dan solo. He was already out with his IP flying, so I couldn't talk to him and was so nervous we wouldn't get to see him solo. (We had a really rough night the night before Annabelle couldn't sleep from her teething pain and late nap, so I was up with her for quite a bit of the night and ended up with significantly less sleep than normal... I would normally cancel all plans for the day and just chill around the house with her after a night like that, but we just couldn't miss this!)

When Dan's friend was sure he would be able to solo, he took us outside, and we took  the shuttle out to the flight line and found the plane Dan was flying in the hangar. He looked thrilled to get to go out on his own, and it was amazing seeing him in his element. It was neat seeing him taxi out all on his own, and Annabelle was the most adorable waving at his plane as he left the hangar. Heart. Melted.

Annabelle's shirt says, "Dad is my wingman" - she knows she's the real boss around here. And that's sweat on her, not pee. She was in the Ergo for a long time in the Texas heat and humidity, so homegirl was pretty hot. She did great overall, though, and she looked adorable as always in her Baby Banz ear protection. (Not an affiliate link - I just really love these, and they're perfect for stadiums, air shows, Space A flights, etc.) 

After he landed, we were able to take some pictures with him, and the one with us up on the wing and Dan still in the cockpit is probably my new favorite family photo. 

I was able to get a few more pictures of him with the plane and then with his IP (who recently finished IP training, so Dan was his very first solo student - how cool is that?!) 

And after all of that, Dan was tossed into the dunk tank by some of his classmates. The tradition is that you get chased down and tossed into the water after your initial solo in an aircraft, but if you're able to make it all the way back to the flight room undetected, everyone owes you beer. This moment was kind of anti-climactic because Dan WAS able to make it back to his flight room because SO MANY STUDENTS were soloing that morning, so no one was able to catch him... but I was disappointed, so I told everyone in the flight room that they needed to toss him in anyway because that's what kind of mean wife I am... and because I carried an extra pair of his heavy boots to him to change into when he forgot his that morning, and I'll be darned if that was for nothing while also juggling an almost one-year-old and all of her stuff as well. 

I'm SO glad he was thrown in the dunk tank because I got some pretty great action shots that he will love looking back on.

His class is called Shark-NATO... they all have different names, and they will have a patch for their flight suits that match the theme. It's cheesy, but it's sort of clever, and it's fun. That's why there are sharks in the dunk tank. There are students from Italy and Germany (as well as several others from the USA) in Dan's class, and it is SO cool to me.

Have you ever watched your spouse do something super cool?

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!

Taking Off on a New Journey: Pilot Training Has Begun!

Is my post title cheesy enough?! I sure hope so! Anyway, yesterday was my handsome husband's very first day of pilot training.

This is a huge accomplishment in and of itself because only so many people are picked for Air Force pilot training, let alone his program (ENJJPT), where they track to T-38s no matter what after T-6s, but he has worked SO hard for this.

You see, he enlisted in the Army ten years ago (more on that in the next post!), eventually switched the Air Force Guard, and was accepted to the Air Force Academy Prep School in 2009... where he earned his appointment to the Air Force Academy... and graduated from there and commissioned in 2014.

He has gone from a high school boy enlisted in the Army to a leader in the Air Force as an officer. He promoted just over a week ago, and now all of his hoping, wishing, praying, and flat out HARD FREAKING WORK is coming to fruition.

He is FINALLY where he wanted to be all along.

He is FINALLY in pilot training.

Sure, the days (and weeks and months) are going to be long and like nothing we've experienced before... but this is the realization of a dream, and I couldn't be prouder of my husband. He has earned this, and he is going to do so well. He always does. He sets his mind on something, and he accomplishes it.

I am so excited to be his figurative co-pilot on this new and exciting journey!

PS - I had to share this picture of Annabelle since this onesie FINALLY fits... and it matches our whole pilot theme here. This is the onesie I gave Dan when I told him he was going to be a dad... way back on January 1st, 2015. She is nine months old and finally fits into it! And she's on her daddy's airplane blanket playing with her stuffed Air Force One and Spruce Goose planes.

The Falls in Wichita Falls, TX

Something we love doing when we move to new places is checking out what the new digs has to offer that's different from everywhere else!

I know Wichita Falls itself has the word 'falls' in the name, but all I knew about this place was that it had recently been through a pretty bad drought. I had no idea there was actually a waterfall here.

Sure, it's manmade... but it's really neat! It's not running all the time, but luckily, we caught it on a perfect evening! You can see the falls from the highway, so after we finished dinner at the Club on base one Friday evening, we headed down there for a family walk. We had a lot of fun and even walked up the path to the top!

I'm glad we found something cool we can take visitors to see! Fun fact: Niagara Falls actually donated this, and we just went there in January!

Do you have a place you take visitors?

Hello, Texas!

Well, we made it to Texas! We are moved in to our new home, and we love it!

We've been taking our time unpacking boxes, figuring out where we want things to go (isn't that always the worst when you have a new layout in your home and certain things just don't seem to fit anywhere?!), and getting settled in.

We've checked out some local stores and the base, and it seems like we're really going to enjoy our time here.

Lieutenant Lovemuffin doesn't start pilot training until June, so we have a couple months to relax before the full-blow CRAZY begins... and I'm okay with that.

I'll be going back through everyone's blog posts from the past week and a half and going on a commenting spree to play catch up... so I apologize in advance about that! ;-)

Do you enjoy moving in to a new home?

We're Homeowners!

Dan and I have been keeping some pretty big news a secret lately! It's not that we didn't want to share... the timing just didn't seem right quite yet. But now that we know we are closing in less than two weeks, we are finally sharing...

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

That's right! We are so tired of renting. We were going to live on base when we moved to Sheppard Air Force Base this spring because of Dan's pilot training schedule (crazy hours and whatnot), but they only allow two pets in base housing, and we have three.

That made us mad and started the thought process: what if we bought?! It seemed silly at first since it's another 18-24 month assignment, but we know that lots of military members come through that base, so we decided that if we could find a home to buy, we would do a little work to get it up to date, and then we can rent it out after we leave!

We wanted a four bed / two bath home so we can have guests over and have an office for Dan to study in. We ended up only finding three bed / two bath homes in our price range, but this house has a hidden gem: an office off the kitchen! It's not huge, but it'll be plenty of space for Dan to study for his flights. 

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking... and yes, we plan on painting all of the bedrooms! We actually plan on having them painted before we even get there. We have picked out paint for Annabelle's room (a neutral light gray - Polar Star, to be exact), and we're working on picking the color for the master bedroom and guest bedroom. 

Proof that it snows in Texas! I'm so glad! I really want Annabelle to experience snow next year. She loved it this winter in Ohio, but she was too young to really DO anything other than look at it... so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this picture come true next winter! 

Do you own a home?

A New Adventure (Thanks, Air Force)

Recently, I alluded to a change in our plans when I posted this post last week.

I wasn't trying to hold back information, but nothing was 100% official yet. Actually, it still isn't because it's the Air Force... what can I say?

As some of you will remember, I posted at the very end of January that Dan will be going to pilot training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, his top choice. Well, that is still true... but it has been pushed back a bit.

It's been pushed back 18 months, to be exact.

That's because Dan has been honored with a graduate school slot at AFIT, the Air Force Institute of Technology, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He will get his Master's degree in Applied Physics through the Engineering Physics program.

Nothing is set in stone yet, and I feel like we're in limbo. His report date is currently July 31st, so we will pack up and move there immediately after we return from our honeymoon this summer. If funding falls through for whatever reason, though, this will all be off.

As of now, however, we are confident that we are moving to Ohio in July rather than to Texas next March. Goodbye, Colorado... in a couple months!

• Does anyone have experience with AFIT?
• Has anyone ever been stationed at Wright-Pat?
• What do we need to know about Ohio?