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!

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?

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?

We Found Out Where We're Going -- Our First PCS!

Last night, Dan received his FIRST BASE assignment... it's where we will head after his graduation / our wedding this summer!

He has officially been chosen to complete Euro Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas!!!

I have literally NEVER even stepped foot in Texas before... not even for a layover at an airport. It's going to be an entirely new world for me, but thankfully, it's on the Northern side of Texas, so that's still considered the Midwest, right? ;) 

Wichita Falls is the bright green star! I'm so excited that we'll be close to Dallas and Oklahoma City. That will be so much fun! 

While we're there (for a little over a year), Dan will be training in the T-38, which is a fighter trainer. It does not guarantee that he will drop fighters at the end of pilot training, but it helps, and it will be an amazing experience for him. He had the opportunity to fly in one this past semester for one of his classes when they traveled to Edwards AFB in California, and he fell in love with it. 

Has anyone reading this been stationed at Sheppard before? We are SO thrilled that we got our number one choice because I know that certainly doesn't happen often in the military. 

• Where is the best place you've ever lived?
• Where is the worst place you've ever lived?
• Do you ENJOY moving, or do you hate it?