Em & M's Crazy Life

Preggo Pictures

2010-02-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

Just a sampling of pictures that my awesome friend Jess took for us. We were going to go get professionals done, but clearly she's pretty professional!! We're still working on touch ups so there will be more to come! Thanks Jess!!

38 1/2 Weeks

2010-02-14T07:52:00.000-08:00

I had Matt take some pics before our Valentine's dinner. Belly is itching like crazy again so I think she's going through another growth spurt. I hope she didn't inherit her father's large birth weight!! Only time will tell...

36 1/2 Weeks

2010-01-31T17:18:00.000-08:00

Funny how you never really realize at the beginning how big you'll actually get. She's growing like a little weed (which is fine by me) and I'm slowing waaaay down. I think it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy these last few weeks of babyless life. So excited for her to finally get here!!! (Can you tell I've resorted to wearing Matt's shirts???)

Abigail's Room

2010-01-31T17:01:00.000-08:00

I'm finally finished with Abigail's room! Everything turned out really well and I can't wait to bring her home. We unfortunately had to leave the guest bed in her room because we couldn't fit it in the office. We weren't able to fit the crib and the guest bed in her room so for now we're leaving the pack n play up for her to use for sleeping. Our plan is to bring it into our room while she's still very small and eating seveal times a night. That way while Mom and Dad (Lund and Spellerberg), Julie and Jamie and any other visitors (you're all welcome!!) are here they will have a place to sleep!

Matt Get's the T-38!

2010-01-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy up to this point. And we're so glad to be staying in Enid so Matt can fly the T-38. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support! Good luck in T-38's, Matt!

34 weeks

2010-01-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

Big ol belly! I can't believe she has 6 more weeks to grow in there...I'm gonna pop!

30 weeks!

2009-12-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

This little girl is growing like crazy! We're so happy and excited that she'll soon be a part of our lives. I can't wait to meet her!

Spice plays frisbee

2009-12-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Spice has recently taken to playing fetch with the frisbee. It's her favorite thing to do these days. She's getting better and better everyday!

Houston Baby Shower

2009-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

A couple of Matt's good girl friends from Houston were so kind to throw me a shower!! We headed down south Friday night around 6pm, spent the night near Dallas and headed into Houston Saturday morning. The shower was that afternoon and it was a blast! I don't know how these girls did it, but everything was soooo cute and pink! I love it! We shared the day with family and great friends. Everyone was very generous and needless to say I now have LOTS of fun baby items to arrange and rearrange over and over in the house. I'm loving every second of it. Nesting is fun! Thanks for an awesome weekend everyone!

Amanda got the baby a giant stuffed dog. I just keep thinking this will probably be that one stuffed animal she'll want to drag around everywhere. How cute would that be?? I can see her now dragging it around by the ear. So fun!!

The ladies!

Isn't this the cutest table ever?!?!

Me and Auntie Manders:)

23.5 weeks

2009-11-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent belly pic. Notice my belly button starting to stick out a little bit. It's awesome when people point it out through my shirt:) Enjoy!

Pumpkin

2009-10-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the beautiful pumpkin I carved last weekend while Matt was flying cross country. Hopefully you can tell what it is...Matt had a little trouble:) Happy Halloween everyone!

Preggo does Pump?

2009-10-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

After many requests here are some pics of the belly. When Mom was visiting she took pictures in my class and it was only when I saw these that I really noticed I am starting to show! I'm carrying really low too! These were around 20 weeks.

Grandkids

2009-10-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist posting this when I saw it. I just can't believe what a beautiful family we have. We are so blessed. Heads up Mom and Dad, I'm about to add one more little one to your flock of grandkids!! What fun!

It's a.....???

2009-10-07T13:12:00.001-07:00

T-6 Solo

2009-09-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Matt was finally able to solo today after a week of weather cancels!

Major Malloy handing the aircraft over to Matt.

It was really fun watching all the hand signals. I guess it's pretty important to communicate with the Crew Cheif.

Off he goes!! (Insert AF theme song:)

Whew, he made it...not that I had any doubts.

I swear and you have to believe me, my belly is not that big! The wind was blowing out of control and it just pushed my shirt in an awkward position...I swear!

So there's a tradition where the guys have to dunk him in a tank of water before he can get back to the flight room. Well, Matt didn't want to get wet so he put up quite a fight. Very comical.

And there he goes, boots and all!

It was awesome to see how far Matt has come in such a short amount of time. You can imagine how proud I was when Major Malloy said he loves flying with Matt because he's an aggressive and eager student who studies hard, knows his stuff and makes flying fun for the IP. He had all kinds of good things to say about Matt and was certain he'd do great on his solo. After hearing so many awesome things (that I already knew of course) I couldn't help but beam ear to ear:D

Congrats on a job well done, Matt, and I know you'll continue to do great things on land and in the sky. I'm so proud of you!

2 Tummies

2009-09-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here are two pics of my belly! Honestly not much change.

Ten weeks.

Sixteen weeks. My poor attempt at timed photography.

Baby Lund

2009-08-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

The first two on this are from 4 weeks ago (7 weeks) and the last one is from today (11 weeks). I enlarged it below.

This is the sonogram picture I had taken today. Matt was able to come (probably the first and last time he'll make the Dr. appointment) so they did a sonogram just for him. It was spectacular. The little guy was moving and kicking around! I couldn't believe how much bigger he was from 4 weeks ago. We're talking from little bean to human being. It's insane. And the heart beat was strong too. I could see his feet and hands and we got a little profile picture on this one too. You could tell he's kinda stuck down in that crevice for now. He would kick and buck his body almost like he was trying to get outta there. And he even kicked at the sonogram lady where she was poking into his space! Soooooo cool!!! Enjoy!

Recent Pup Pics

2009-08-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Swagger and Spice are growing up fast! They're about 7 months now and both have been fixed. I'm really glad all that is over!! Whew. Anyway, we are really starting to see the difference in Spice (female) and Swagger (male) as they grow up.

Swagger is becoming quite the dog! He's surpassing Spice in size more and more everyday. He's getting huge! His attention span and intelligence never cease to amaze me. He's very bright and very protective of us. He socializes with other people and dogs all the time, but is constantly cautious and aware of the things around him. We have to tell people to ignore him so he and sniff and "ok" the situation before they go right at him and try to pet him. He listens intently and wants nothing more than to please us. You can just see it in his eyes when you're training him. He more attentive than I ever thought a dog could be! Sometimes I swear he speaks English. He's a great dog to have with us and we're so proud to call him our own!

Little Spice is doing well also. Her personality couldn't be anymore different than Swaggers though. She is what I would call more of a Lab temperment. She has really latched on to me as her "buddy". She follows me everywhere I go in the house. Even if it's just to go from the couch to the kitchen for a drink! She's very happy and bright all the time and also wants to please us. She's intelligent, but just a little less attentive then Swagger although she does listen well (just easily distracted by butterflies, bunnies and such sometimes). Spice has excelled being around people and children. She loves EVERYONE and unlike Swagger is not cautious of new people or dogs at all! She's certainly the "Spice of our life" and her vigor for everything keeps us laughing 24/7. The contrast of personalities is great because we certainly get the best of both worlds from our dogs. We're having a blast raising both and learning so much from this experience. We frequently comment on how boring life would be without them. They're our best buddies out here in Enid, America (as the locals call it) and we wouldn't trade them for the world. Hope you all get to meet them someday!!

July 4th and Retirement Party VA

2009-08-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

Just a small sampling of the pics from my trip up to VA. It was an awesome time and I got to see all the fam and a lot of friends! Miss you all and hope to get up there again for Thanksgiving!

More T-6 and ejection seat

2009-06-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Strapping in.

Going through the check list.

Ejection seat...head back, chin in, feet out and launch!

Eject and Egress

2009-06-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

We got to go watch the guys do a bunch of stuff in the T-6 cockpits today. They were practicing ejecting and getting out of the aircraft in case of an emergency.

The G suit is the strappy thing over his flight suit and apparently it's very uncomfortable.

It's great to finally be involved in training. Yay for finally starting UPT! Way to go Matt!

Nighty night?

2009-06-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Swagger asleep in our room....

I'm not even going to try and figure out how this is comfortable.

Pubs

2009-06-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Matt picked up his publications or pubs yesterday and had to use a suitcase to bring it all home. It's all the "homework" or studying material he'll use for the next 6 months. I think Dad will appreciate this...

Doggies through our bedroom window. Chillin.

Spice and Food

2009-06-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

So this is how we found Spice sleeping one day. She'll literally lay like that for hours. When you walk in the room she just casually looks up at you like, "hey, what's up? I'm chillin out, no biggie." Also note the duck to her left. We bought it on a whim and she made it her "binki or blankie" She'll sit with it in her paws and just put her mouth around it's butt. No chewing or playing with it. She just likes to hold it in her mouth. Too cute!

Some awesome kabobs we made on the grill. Yum!

Swagger meets Helmet

2009-06-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

Spice Plays with Neighbor Lab Puppy

2009-06-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Spice looks so big compared to this 9 wk black lab puppy!!

Swagger and "Down"

2009-05-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is what Swagger does eveytime you ask him to go down. He's so enthusiastic! He was having some trouble listening (camera shy?), but his best one is at the end so feel free to fast forward.

Current Photos, up to 4 months and 40 lbs!

2009-05-10T12:11:00.001-07:00

Notice Swagger's coloring now, VERY dark with the exception of his "birth mark", as we call it, on the back of his neck. So strange.

Oh so noble!

"You lookin at me?"

Matt's Homecoming April 15th

2009-05-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

The dogs were really happy to see Matt. They definitely didn't forget him and were excited when he walked in the door. It was as if he'd never left! They got all dressed up for Daddy's homecoming. Swagger wore a bandana and Spice put a green bow on her tail (she moved to quickly to get a good picture of it:( Needless to say we're all happy he's home and happy we can funtion as a family again!

Awating his arrival.

Yay, he's back!

Ever on the look out.

Easter Wheat Pie

2009-05-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the help, Mom, it turned out awesome!

April Puppies

2009-05-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

These next few are from early April right around 3 months old. My good friend Michelle came over to let the dogs out one morning and decided to have a photo op. She got some great pics! Notice Swagger's colors. In these pics he's still very light colored. Watch in the next few posts how his colors change. One of these days I'll make a collage and call it, "The Colors of My German Shepherd Puppy!"

This is a common scene in my backyard:)

Been a While

2009-05-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Sorry for the delay, but things seem to have picked up around here. With Spring on it's way we've been hanging out outside a lot. We've been working on the yard and house to continue making it feel more like home. The dogs are huge. Almost 40 lbs now and as good as ever. They're definitely growing up and it's making life around the house a lot easier. I suppose I'll just pick up where I left off.

After the great March snow storm our backyard was a complete mess. It flooded like crazy and I let the dogs play in it one afternoon and paid for it big time. Since then we've been working on the drainage problem so we don't have to deal with muddy dogs every time they need to go out. In these next pictures the dogs are still around 25 lbs and only just about to turn 3 months.

Lake Lund. Yes this happens everytime it rains!

Spice in the tub.

Swagger or Yoda as I like to call him when his ears go out to the side like that:)

Photos for Matt

2009-03-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

So this was me trying to get a few photos of me and the dogs for Matt. They've gained almost 5 lbs since he left and are starting to get the long and lean look of a German Shepherd Dog. It was interesting with the camera on timer. I had a treat in my hand and was trying to make them sit and focus on the treat in front of them, but all they wanted to do was chase my hand around. Haha! What fun:)

Fun in the Snow

2009-03-28T07:57:00.001-07:00

I guess you could say this was their 1st experience in the snow, but really it was sleet and ice. They seemed to like it though. Something about it made them really hyper.

Our Random March Snow Storm

2009-03-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

The dogs really love playing in the snow. They bounce around so much it's hard to get a good still photo, but I managed a few. Spice gets really hyper and bounces around trying to pounce on the snow and Swagger was ever so cautious until he knew everything was OK. I've been noticing that about him more and more. He has to check things out thoroughly before he relaxes and has fun.

More funny dog pics

2009-03-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

Mr. Crooked Ear

Bat doooogggg!

Focus and Down

2009-03-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

The dogs know a bunch of commands now! They pick up on things very quickly and are egar to learn even at 9 weeks old. They aren't perfect every time, but they try their best to please us. And as always they are the cutest!

We're growing up!

2009-03-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Everyday these little guys get bigger and bigger. Spice's ears and feet continue to grow much faster then the rest of her body. And Swagger's ears finally decided to stand up again although one is still crooked. We don't mind though, it gives him character! Spice is getting very tall, long and lean like a pretty little lady and Swagger puts on a pound of muscle everyday. You can really tell the difference when you play with each separately. Spice is very gentle and inquisitive and Swagger really just wants to play tug with everything. And he can put up a very good fight!

House

2009-03-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

The house is coming along quite nicely. We've made a few changes and are enjoying decorating slowly, but surely!

7 1/2 Weeks

2009-03-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I know it's been a while since I've posted! Things have been moving quickly around the Lund house. Work has been picking up for me and the dogs are growing quickly and becoming quite a handful. These are a few pics from a couple weeks ago when we took them out to the field to run around.

Matt leaves for IFS in Colorado tomorrow morning so I'm a little stressed out about taking care of the dogs alone. I know eventually we'll get into a rhythm and everything will go smoothly, but the first few days will be a little bumpy. They're just so used to having Matt home all day everyday that I'm afriad they'll be upset when I'm gone for a few hours in the morning and evening 3 days of the week. It's really only 4 hours at a time and I have some people lined up to help me let them out, but I just worry...kinda like a Mom I guess. I have plans to take one with me mid morning and run him/her out by where I work. That way when I get home at least I'll have one tuckered out.

It's been a little more work since we decided to keep them separate for most of the time until they are a little older and have bonded with us as opposed to each other. That's probably why I'm a little stressed out. But we've seen major positive differences in the dogs since we split them up. It's easier when there's two people juggling the two puppies, but like I said I'm sure we'll get in a routine and everything will go smoothly after the first few days. It's also helped that we've been able to give them more play time together recently. Anyway, enjoy the next few posts. Video's are proving a little easier to catch the puppies in since they rarely sit still (at least for Swagger, Spice likes her photo op time). I hope you notice how big they've gotten even in the last few weeks. I see changes everyday and it's amazing how fast they're growing! Enjoy!

Swagger

Our friends Michelle and Dan (they live down the street) have a 1 year old huskie, Toby. He's HUGE!! But he's also a blast to play with and is so good with the puppies. Michelle and I like to walk the dogs together. They're learning great things from Toby!

The Swag needed a bath the other night and we couldn't resist a tubby picture.

Princess Spice:)

This is from a while ago. If you listen in the background you can hear how windy it is (it's always that way) and toward the end you can hear some planes fly overhead. Sometimes the dogs will sit outside in the backyard and just watch the planes fly by. True USAF puppies:)

Swagger Chases Tennis Ball

2009-02-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

Swagger and Spice at Home

2009-02-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

We are thoroughly enjoying our new puppies! They have truely brought life into the Lund house. Suddenly I have no problem getting up at 5am!!

SO CUTE! Spice's (Right) ears are starting to stand up a little and it's so cute when she's listening to something cuz her ears just look so much bigger then her head. Precious!

Playing with our puppies

2009-02-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

This was shortly after we finally got them home Tuesday night. We fed them and took them outside to go potty so they were full of food and ready to play! The dark one in Spice (our little lady) and the lighter one is Swagger (our little man). We're so proud to have such beautiful puppies!

Puppies!!

2009-02-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

So here's the liter we looked at last weekend on our way back from Alabama! The dogs are so sweet! We'll be picking our puppy up on Tuesday and we're super excited!! More pics to follow when we get him/her home:)

Oh my gosh I'm in love!

How could you not love that face?!?!?!? Watch out, Matt, I have a new love in my life!

So noble:)

This little guy loved us.

I smell trouble already:)

Momma (Cash) and puppies.

This is Baron, the Daddy. This picture doesn't do the poor guy justice. His head alone is probably as big as...I dunno, it's huge. He's definitely over 100 pounds of pure muscle! Can't wait to see if our little guy has any of his/her Daddy in the genes!

Hank Williams Sr. Grave Site

2009-02-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

On one of my last days in Montgomery I was able to find the cemetery where Hank Williams Sr and his wife are buried. It turned out to be an awesome day so I decided to stroll through since parts of the cemetery were so old and interesting.

This is the oldest part of Oakwood cemetery. I loved the way each family had a gated part where all members were buried.

The place was huge and it would have taken me days to walk through the whole thing, but I couldn't help but admire it's beauty. Call me crazy, but there was something very interesting and capturing about this specific cemetery. Maybe all the history?

As I walked down the hill to the newer part where Hank is buried I realized how vast this place really was. It would have been VERY spooky had it not been 75 and sunny that day. As I searched for Hank, "Midnight in Montgomery" by AJ was playing over and over in my mind. This cemetery was about as eerie as that song. I now know why AJ wrote it the way he did.

Walking up to the second oldest part. Big ol hill.

Looking back after I reached the top.

Hank and Audrey Williams.

Just thought this was neat.

Some Royal Air Force men who died here in America during WWII.

This had hundreds of names carved in it of fallen Civil War soldiers.

Trip to VA

2009-02-02T07:07:00.001-08:00

I'm back in Alabama safe and sound after driving up to VA to visit with family. What a great opportunity! I was glad to be able to visit and help out where I could.

First, I went to Anna's house and helped watch Ella while she was with Ben. Ella is adorable and always on the move! It makes photo ops a little tricky, but I got a few decent ones. Thanks for lettin me crash at your place, Anna, I had a blast visiting with you! I was also able to spend a couple hours with Kara and Frank. It just so happens that Frank is "stationed" (TDY?) in Manassas, VA 1.5 miles from where Anna lives. A huge blessing to be able to see 2 of my best friends in the world! What a pleasant surprise.

From there I headed to Winchester for a movie night (planned without knowing I would be in town I might add). As always Jen and Lloyd's hospitality was awesome and I even got to see Fr. Matthew. What a blessing! It was great to see the kids again and see how much they've grown. You're gone for 3 months and they grow several inches!!! Yikes!

After move night I drove to Colonial Beach, VA to see Mom, Dad and Grandma. Their house is as beautiful as always and it was a treat to get them all to myself. We talked and laughed and I even got 2 great home cooked meals from my Mommy:) I miss her cooking! They let me play the new drum set for the Wii and i loved it! Mom followed me on the bike when I went for a run and Dad showed me all his plans for the train set. He's really got a nice layout planned! I only wish I could be around to help build it. Grandma is still chuggin along as good as ever. It was a treat to spend time with her.

After CB it was off to Julie's house in Mechanicsville, MD (just across the river. I had a great visit with Jamie and Julie (Jamie was just off a shift so he was home the whole time!). The kids are growing so fast and little Thomas is too cute for his own good:) (See pics for evidence) As luck would have it, we had a snow/ice storm while I was there and Julie got to keep me for an extra night. We always have a great time together singing to her guitar playing, chatting, laughing at the silliest things, eating great food, playing in the snow and playing Mario Kart on the Wii. She was able to show me a bunch of delicious, quick and easy recipes that I've already tried here and love! Thanks Jules. She also made me 8 CD's for the ride home. It was AWESOME to have so much good music to listen to. THANK YOU!!!!!!

Thomas loves Wall-E.

He loved his first sled ride!

Jamie is forever surfing.

Jenni and Joseph got to come home from school early and play in the snow too!

Look out Joseph!

It was a little too cold for grandma, but she watched from the window.

After Julie's I made my way back through Winchester for just a drop in to say goodbye (Jen was really sick so I thought I should let her sleep:( It was a really awesome trip and I'm so glad I got to see so many people I love. Thanks for all the hospitality and fun times! Love to you all!!!

Icarus

2009-01-19T15:54:00.001-08:00

One of the things Matt's been doing at ASBC is playing a game called Icarus. Let me start by saying it's a little to o complicated to explain completely so I'll just give the broad explanation. It's a dodge ball like game designed to teach the inner workings of war in the air. In other words, you try to beat the other team using the same tactics to beat an enemy at war. For example, the ball is your ordinance (weapon, bomb, gun, etc.) It's interesting and definitely an Air Force type game, but it makes air power war tactics a little more tangible. Plus it breaks up the day:)

Matt's team on the bench waiting to play...it was soooo cold!

Matt and a couple buddies after a small victory (they disabled a base).

Matt is the first yellow guy in line, #48, leading the attack!

Heads up...I would NOT want to be those red guys.

Off they go.

Waiting to begin the "war" (Matt with the red ball).

As we were leaving 2 F-16's came roaring through the base. No matter how many times I see these planes up close, I get so pumped every time! They're so loud and fast and awesome!

The Montgomery Zoo

2009-01-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I went to the zoo with a few other spouses from the ASBC class. It was a really nice day and we had a good time looking at all the exotic animals!

Some of the awesome ladies I've met in Montgomery: Kati, Elizabeth and Emmy. I'm having a blast hanging out with and getting to know the other spouses here. Unfortunately none of these ladies are stationed at Vance with me, but I know we'll meet up again somewhere along the road. I'm learning that in the Air Force you never know who will be at your next assignment!

Spider Monkey:)

Pink Flamingo anyone?

So you might think this guy is a Panther, but the sign said there's no such thing as a black Panther. He's a Jaguar. Regardless of what he is, he is really big. And just sat there all stoic, right up against the bars. Almost like he was at a photo shoot.

A Golden Eagle. This bird was enormous.

Dothan, AL

2009-01-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Matt and I visited his Grandmother in Dothan, AL. We had an awesome time with her (as always) and we even got to see her new house. It looks like it's going to be perfect for her! It's a cute one story with 2 bedrooms, a sunroom and a porch. The plot is beautiful and it's close to her church. Her next door neighbors (also the builder) are really wonderful people and she's become quite close with them. All in all, I think she's going to be very happy there!

View out the back window.

We love you Grandma, good luck with your new house! It's beautiful!

Big ol Plane

2009-01-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

A big plane (C-130 or C-17 I think) was flying VERY low over my building this afternoon so I tried to get a few pics through my window. It's hard to portray the true massiveness of this plane, but it's still neat to see the pictures.

On Base

2009-01-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

There are a bunch of neat things about Maxwell AFB. The best that it's much bigger than Vance so all the amenities are a lot better, commissary, BX, gym, base housing, etc. Another (especially for me) are the mapped out running routes all over base. They have signs that guide you on different mileage runs so you never have to worry about going some where you're not supposed to go! One of the runs takes you down by the Alabama River and it's so nice to run while immersed in nature. Below just some pictures of the birds I saw on my run and the aircraft I ran into on my way to the commissary last night.

These are the weirdest birds I've ever seen. They look like big chickens or turkeys close up, but I think they're some kind of duck. You ever seen them, Mom?

There were tons of these Herons! I count 6 in this picture alone, but they were perched all throughout these trees.

The sun was setting so it was hard to get a good picture (also might have something to do with me driving and taking pictures at the same time), but here's a C-130. It's a big cargo plane and it's really amazing to see it in the air.

There were tons of helicopters (not sure what kind) that flew in last night. They would come in 4 at a time in formation. I'm not sure how many there were in the end, but I'd be willing to bet it was somewhere above 25. Formation flying is the best!

You can see a bunch of the helicopters on the tarmac straight ahead.

Houston to Maxwell, Air Force Base

2009-01-09T13:10:00.001-08:00

On Jan. 3 we drove from Houston to Montgomery, AL. It's not too bad of a drive, but we hit some awful thunderstorms in Mississippi and they continued all the way up through Alabama. It took us almost 12 hours, but we made it safe and sound!

I'm a Texan

2009-01-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

While in Texas for the holidays I had the pleasure of going through the process of becoming an official Texan. We spent an entire day standing in long lines at the Courthouse and Texas DPS (their version of the DMV) so I could get a Texas license and Texas plates for the Mazda. I'm glad to say it's official now, although, I will admit I was a little sad to surrender my Virginia license:(

Christmas Morning Houston, TX

2009-01-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few pics from Christmas morning with the Lund family. We had an awesome time in Houston and we were so blessed to be able to spend the holidays with family. Both Matt and I realize in some of the years to come it may not even be possible to spend the holidays with any family other than the two of us. So anytime we can see family and friends we consider ourselves very blessed!

Dear ol Dad handing out gifts

Manders

I got Matt a mini golf bag. It's great for the driving range. He can throw a few clubs in there, slap the cover on, hop on his bike and head to the range. He could even use it to walk a par3 or nine hole course. Needless to say, he loves it!

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

We spent New Years in downtown Houston. A couple of Matt's friends from highschool, Mike Johnson, Charlee, and Mike Schoetz live in the city and we spent some time with them there. We had a great time chillin at Mike and Charlee's, at Schoetz's party and at the bar downtown. Matt and I did a lot of dancing at the bar and I even learned a few more line dances! Looks like 2009 is gonna be a good year!

Matt and Sarah who was up from San Antonio to spend the new year with everyone.

The boys, Michael Schoetz, Matt, Matt Schoetz, and Mike Johnson. Great biddies since high school!

Aw:)

Sarah, Charlee and Mike.

Matt and Kara, another friend from high school.

The ladies, Kara, Charlee, Sarah, Lindsay, me and Cassie.

Marie and Sarah.

Visit with Becca and Jason!

2009-01-06T07:45:00.001-08:00

While we were in Houston Becca and Jason happened to be passing through Dallas. We couldn't resist seeing them! They were gracious enough to meet us in Corsicana, a small town about 30 min south of the city. We ate lunch at Chili's and visited a bakery recommended by the greatest Texan of all, Fr. Z. We walked around the town, bought a few Texasy trinkets and chatted outside a small coffee shop. All in all a great trip and so incredibely nice to see Becca and Jason.

The group. Jason, me, Becca, Matt and Katie (Jason's friend from Dallas).

A favorite saying of mine, I just had to take a picture. It's great advice.

How refreshing to see one of the sisters! Whew!

Collin St Bakery, Yum!

Christmas Dinner

2009-01-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

This is one of many awesome dinners at the Lund's house. It's a swedish meal consisting of potato sausage (brought all the way from Chicago), stuffed cabbage, rice pudding, rutabaga mashed potatoes, and a potato based dough sutffed with salted pork and onion mixture (can't remember the technical name of that one). The dark colored drink is glug, a swedish drink made with grain alcohol, other alcohols and fruit. It's cured for weeks or months (I think) and served warm. Very delish!! Thanks for an awesome meal Mom and Dad Lund!

The fam!

Funny story about the potato sausage. Adam got it in Chicago and brought it with him to our place in Oklahoma. Upon arrival it immediately went into the freezer so it wouldn't go bad. Well sure enough we forgot it in there when we left. About 2 hours down the road we realized it. Knowing arriving in Houston without it would mean certain death we tried to figure out what to do. We called as many people as we knew at Vance, but it seemed everyone had already left for the holiday...accept for our awesome friend John! He was able to get in the house, package the sausage ice and all and fedex it to us in Houston! Thank you for saving the day, John!

Vance to Houston

2009-01-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

After Matt's trip to Chicago and long drive in the blizzard back to Vance with his brother Adam, we all made the drive from Vance to Houston. We stopped in Dallas for lunch with one of Adam's friends from college, Amy. She was super nice and it was awesome to get out of the car and have a good meal!

In Houston

2009-01-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

We've been in Houston since the 23rd and are having a blast spending time with Matt's family and friends. We always have such a good time when we visit Houston and we're so blessed to have been able to spend Christmas with his family. I have pictures of Christmas and New Years, but I have to upload them once I get them off the camera. Stay tuned!

Our first Enid Snow

2008-12-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's been snowing and icing here all week! This first storm was very interesting. It snowed sideways. The mazda is under the carport. Completely under, yet it's covered in snow. For a second I though gravity decided to switch things up. Seriously, the snow was going left to right the whole time. It was blowing so hard it got under the door that is under the carport! Did I mention that door was shut?
Somehow my Texan at heart was still able to grill that night. I think he made all Texans everywhere proud:)

Work Bench

2008-12-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ta daaaaaaaaa. Matt and I made a work bench for him to use in the little storage shed. There's an awesome place on base where you can work with wood. There's every kind of saw imaginable and they provide all the tools you could ever need. You only have to supply the wood and go to town! There were some pretty amazing pieces of work in there. People make huge entertainment systems, bookshelves, cribs, chests of drawers, etc. All kinds of things! And there's even a place to stain everything when you're done. It's awesome and Matt did a really good job on the workbench!

Orange Bowl Bound!

2008-12-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

Get out your oranges, Ladies and Gents, we're headed to the Orange Bowl!!! Woohooo! GOOOOOO HOKIES!!

Our First Christmas Tree

2008-12-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

We got our first Christmas tree last week and it was so exciting! We love our little tree. He may not be perfect, but now it smells nice in the house and it feels like Christmas!

In the nude:)

We couldn't find a star so a little bow will have to do.

Or my head...hee hee hee!

Hugs!

Fun times with our tree.

We're like a little family. I'm gonna have a really hard time sending him outside after Christmas!

The Week of Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad Lund and Amanda came up to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. It was SO nice to have family in our home. We are so blessed they could come. We had a blast all weekend.

They arrived Wednesday afternoon so we showed them around the base. Half way through grocery shopping at the commissary the power went out. Thinking, "no biggie" we walked home only to find people on the street and cop cars all over. No one knew what was going on and the power was still out. We went out to eat and on the way back as we approached the base noticed the power was still not on! Frustrated, we asked the guard who informed us a squirrel jumped into a transformer and fried himself and the power. (Wow, what are the chances?) We ended up spending the whole night in the dark. Luckily, the power came back on in the middle of the night so we could cook the next day! We were definitely thankful for electricity on Thanksgiving!

Not yet!

Father passing along crucial turkey carving info to son.

And yes I made everyone write on a leaf, it turned out really nice!

Aw, our first Thanksgiving!

So apparently sweet potato killing jeans can be passed along from mother to daughter. OK, 1) The marshmallows are pink because and only because that's all they had at the commissary. 2) I made the potatoes a couples days before so there'd be less to do on Thanksgiving, so after I heated them up the marshmallows just melted on the hot pan instead of "browning" like they're supposed to. Then when I tried to brown them they ended up getting huge instead of crispy and they spilled over. Kinda like when you put a marshmallow in the microwave (very fun BTW). 3) Lesson learned, just make the potatoes on Thanksgiving:) The smell was making me have flash backs of when Mom set the oven on fire with the sweet potatoes a couple Thanksgivings ago...

It was their 26th anniversary too! Congrats!

The fam.

I am so addicted to guitar hero, I love it! It's the best game ever! Maybe except for DDR:)

Thanks Matt!

We finally got Dad to play!

The boys had a squadron basketball game last week.

Matt and Micah

Matt and Micah again.

Hmmmmmm...

We put the VT flag up so everyone will know who we root for!
GO HOKIES!!

This is for Julie mostly, I know she's interested in the wildlife. Matt found this little guy in the garden last week. I had no idea we had scorpion!

Oklahoma City

2008-11-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

Flatness.

The Skyline. Oklahoma City is neat because there aren't too many high rise buildings. It reminded me of DC a lot in that respect. It's a big city, but most of the buildings were low and there was a lot of suburb.

So far for the fiberglass statues we have, Blacksburg = Hokie Birds, Winchester = Apples, Dothan = Peanuts and Oklahoma City = Buffalo. I'm sure we'll end up with quite a list.

We were in a part of the city called Bricktown. A very nice experience. This is a picture of the AAA Baseball Park. Matt actually had a tournament here in High School. He recognized a lot of this part of the city and was telling us about what he and his Dad did that trip.

This guy just looked like he needed help.

This is a local Brewery where we ate dinner.

The Boys.

I sense a little rivalry. The Thunder were playing the Rockets (from Houston) that night, so yes, we were the odd crowd rooting for the "wrong" team.

Nose bleeders!

Eventually we moved to better seats.

Military Wife

2008-11-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

The guys come over and play XBOX 360...I watch.

So I had my first duty as a military wife last Tuesday night. Matt informed me that evening that he needed to wear his BDU's (the camo uniform) the next day and didn't have his rank sewn on. So guess who comes to the rescue??? Me! Above some pics of me handiwork...pretty good if I do say so myself.

Verizon Wireless

2008-11-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

FYI the cell service here is not the best with Verizon. We don't get any Digital service, but I can still receive and send calls. I have a hard time checking messages too. I have a few on my phone now that I can't check so I you've called in the last week I apologize for not getting back to you. We looked into changing providers, but it will be way more expensive since we'd have to buy new phones. Most of the people we know are on Verizon so we'd have to up our minutes as well to be able to talk to family and friends. We've decided to stick with Verizon for now and if it gets completely unbearable then we'll switch. So please bear with our phone situation, when in doubt...email!

Life in Oklahoma

2008-11-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

Things have been interesting here. Where should I start? How about we talk about the Brown Recluse Spiders? Julie you will love this story, props to you for telling me to shake my shoes out! When we first got here the word on the street was to watch out for the Brown Recluses because they are everywhere and they will hide in your clothes and bite you. I took the info in, but kinda brushed it off because we had them in Virginia (or so I was told) and I'd never had a run in with them. I go about my business at home as usual, cleaning, folding laundry, putting shoes on like a normal person, etc.

On Wednesday Matt had his medical briefing. During the Community Health portion they decide to scare the crap out of all the guys by showing them pictures of the spiders and bite wounds. They are very gross!

Needless to say it worked to scare Matt. I again was still a little skeptical, but decided to take a little more precaution since Matt and the guys were pretty freaked out. The next morning I went about my business as normal, but decided I should shake my shoes out before putting them on. Well sure enough there was a giant spider in them!!!!!! Ew! I was so freaked out! I was livid! How am I supposed to live a normal life if I have to shake out my sheets before I get in bed every night? If I have to check under all the pillows before I sit on my own couch? How will I do laundry? Ugh! Gross! I can deal with a spider crawling across the floor, but hiding in my clothes? Ahhhhhhhhh!!!
Needless to say I am a believer now. There are tons of icky spiders here. I immediately had someone come over and spray the house so I could at least function again.
I started asking people everywhere I go if they've ever been bitten. EVERYONE has a story. The lady at the barber shop, "Oh yea I have a giant scar on my leg where I got bit. I was in my bed!" The exterminator, "Yea I've been bitten 3 times!" An instructor pilot I met, "Yup I got bit on my leg!" Everyone has a story, I just hope I make it out of here without a bite story.

I mean look at this map of Brown Recluse habitat. It's all Oklahoma! Help! Matt and I couldn't sleep that night after the spider attack. Our minds were just playing with us all night, every little brush of the covers, every movement you think it's a spider and end up slapping and scratching all over. I'm getting the creeps just talking about it now! I gotta go shake out my clothes!

Stand-By

2008-11-13T08:43:00.001-08:00

So you'll never guess where I am right now...
Apparently they do drills all the time on base and you have to stay where ever you are or limit movement outside. We're stuck in the family readiness building. We've been here for about 40min. We're on "Stand By" whateve that means. I mean what if I was at home and just decided to go for a run and didn't know there was a drill going on? Would they tackle me and take me to jail? All I know is I can't leave the building. And I'm starving. Welcome to the military!
Yay, we can go! Later!

St. Francis Xavier

2008-11-10T06:47:00.001-08:00

This is our church in town. It's just as beautiful inside as it is outside!

State Signs

2008-11-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

Here are a bunch of the state signs we saw in no particular order (I think maybe backward order). I always try to get all of them, but I never seem to be able to. I think I'm missing Alabama and Oklahoma due to lack of light and a lot of them aren't the greatest pics, but you get the point.

Tennessee!

Arkansas!

Mississippi!

This is just a road in the middle of Mississippi. There was so much of nothing most places we drove!

Georgia! Shortly after we crossed into Georgia we stopped for gas in Athens near University of Georgia. Matt went into the store to get some coffee and this is what some old guy said to him, "You lookin' fer sumpin' to jump start yer pace maker?"
That was one of the best lines of the trip!

South Carolina!

North Carolina!

When we finally got to Enid we had some trouble finding the road that went south to Vance AFB. When we got directions, we were told to just turn on x road and it would take us straight into the Base. Well that's what we did, except we drove straight up to an important looking gate. It was pitch black and the wind was howling. After about 1 minute of scratching our heads trying to figure out where we were supposed to go, 2 cop cars and the Military Police pull up to the gate inside the base! They spared no time getting to us! We explained our situation and they kindly (yelling because of the wind) told us where we were supposed to go. We somehow managed to turn our tank around (took about 5 minutes with the Mazda in tow) and headed to the main gate. Mind you it's about midnight, we'd been driving for 16 hours, Matt has an afro and a beard and I'm in desperate need of a shower! We stop for the security guys to check our Id's. The man is scrutinizing them and tells us to hold on and goes back to his little hut. He comes out about a minute later and hands me my ID. He looks at Matt, looks at the ID, looks at Matt again and says in a southern accent, "Sir, this doesn't look anythang like you!" Haha! We started rolling because in Matt's ID he's in uniform and clean shaven with a military haircut. What a mess! We just wanted to get to lodging and get some sleep! Needless to say they finally let us in after we assured them he just needed a haircut. We ended up making another wrong turn towards the flight line and the police stopped us again! The were very nice and understanding though, and they escorted us to lodging.
We'd finally made it! What a great way to start our journey in the Air Force. Exhausted, we showered and passed out til reveille at 0700...

Our little house...

2008-11-07T17:01:00.001-08:00

As we're pulling up...our driveway is on the right.

This is the family room, my back is to the kitchen.

Slightly to the left of the previous picture

Just turned around from the previous picture.

Our bedroom! I love the bed we have! It's soooooo comfy, I seriously haven't slept this good in a VERY LONG TIME! Probably also has something to do with it being a Queen and I can't feel every little movement Matt makes throughout the night. Nothing like a good night sleep in your own house!

The "Man Room", Matt is extremely pumped about this room. It's turning out great too!

More to come as we get things further put away. I made a lot of progress today and things are really coming along. Love to all, miss you!

We Made It!!

2008-11-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

We're here at lovely Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma! I can't believe we made it in one piece. Only with the help of family, friends and God did we make it here without a glitch. We successfully moved ourselves and the only thing left is to see if they pay us back or not! Yikes, they better!
Anyway things went really well. Above is the pic of Grandma and Matt at the Peanut Festival.

This is the monstrosity we were lugging around. I was so afraid for the little Mazda, but she weathered the storm with barely a scuff!

Somewhere in the middle of America...

And after 25 hours of driving somehow we ended up back in Winchester! I wish!

I just couldn't resist, it's been so long since we've seen prices like that!

Mid Travels

2008-11-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Blog Readers!
We're in Dothan, AL spending time with Matt's Grandmother. We arrived late last night after 13.5 hours of driving. We spent the day with Grandma and even went to the Peanut Festival and ate boiled peanuts! Apparently Dothan is the peanut capitol of the world. You know how Blacksburg has fiberglass Hokie Birds all over the place? And Winchester has fiberglass apples? Well Dothan has fiberglass peanuts! And they're doing all kids of fun things like waving, playing golf or reading a book. Very amusing. Everyone here is really nice though. We decided to leave the towed Mazda in park and see if the back wheels roll...they do...so I think instead of running the battery out again on the way up to Oklahoma we're gonna leave her in park and hope it's ok! I'll keep you posted, hope we make it to Oklahoma in one piece!!

End of NJ Trip

2008-10-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

So this is how we drove back from New Jersey. Amazingly enough all the furniture stayed where we tied it and Mark was nice enough to help Matt unload everything. Thank again Michelle and Rick!

Our Little Place in Winchester

2008-10-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

The Lynch family has graciously opened their lovely home to us for the last 4 months. We've had a blast living in their beautifully finished basement. We can't thank them enough! We will miss them dearly! Some pics of the place and our first self prepared meal as a married couple.

You can see Matt's truck behind the house!

The Honeymoon

2008-10-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Montego Bay, Jamaica 5/25/2008 - 6/1/2008
We drove all the way to a hotel at BWI Airport, spent the night and flew out at 545am the next morning. Totally worth it! We had soooo much fun and the resort was amazing! We met 2 great couples there and played beach volleyball everyday for about 3-4 hours.

From the back door.

Our little place.

Every morning we would sit on the patio and drink coffee. It was such anamazing feeling since the ocean was right there. I can still remember the smells and sounds of the morning. What a way to wake up!

Still pastey from the winter:)

The breakfast bar was fabulous. Such exoctic fruits, I was in heaven!

These guys we hysterical.

We took a trip to Negril with a few couples we met. The Sandals in Negril was definitely not as good as ours AND we schooled the "volleyball team" there. We saw tons of the land and culture. The people there are so happy all the time, I loved it. We went to some cliff and the boys did a little diving and we watched the professionals do some crazy tricks from 80ft!

We'd come back to the room at night to things like this! How romantic!!

The food was AMAZING! We're talking gourmet Food Network type food. The kind where you only get a tiny piece in the middle of a giant plate, but it was soooooo good!!!

Wedding Pictures Finally!

2008-10-22T08:07:00.001-07:00

Just a smattering of photos from prewedding, ceremony and reception. It would take all day to upload all the photos so hope this gives a good picture of what the day was like.

The weather was PERFECT! A few beautiful puffy clouds in the sky, 75 degrees and sunny. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

Totally thought I was gonna start crying here!

Leave it to me to make the picture cheesey.

My lovely sisters:)

You can only imagine how much fun Matt had doing this picture.

Yea, my Mom made that cake!!

Love my Daddy!

Body Pump Pics

2008-10-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

I was snooping around the computer and found these pics! I'm REALLY gonna miss Body Pump and RPM while we're at Vance. Hopefully next base will have a close gym with the Les Mills programs. I'm gonna go through withdrawal, but there's just no way I could drive 2 hours just to teach one class...

Busy Busy!

2008-10-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's getting close now. We're even starting to pack! This weekend we're going to Aunt Michelle and Uncle Rick's in NJ. They've generously offered to give us their entertainment center. We are SO blessed to have so many generous people in our lives. I keep thinking when we get to Vance and have all our things in place, each time I look at each piece of furniture I'll think of a different person. It'll be a comforting feeling, kinda like we're bringing a piece of each person where ever we go!
Next week is my last week of work and then I'll be spending my time packing. I'll still be doing fitness classes, but I'll have a lot more time since I won't be at work all day. Getting nervous, but still very excited. Hopefully everything goes smooth!

Ryan Christopher

2008-10-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Jen, Lloyd, Andrew, Matthew and Nathan who welcomed 4th son and little brother Ryan Christopher into the world September 15th. Everything went as smooth as possible and he's as cute as can be!

What a beautiful family!

Proud Auntie and Uncle!

Jerry's Airplane

2008-10-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Some pics from our airplane ride with Jerry Updyde. He's been kind enough to let Matt fly with him a few times!

Sometimes I think I'm the one that should be going to flight school...I love flying!

Jen and Lloyd's house is the one with the red car out front. The kids and Lloyd drew a huge VT out front too.

Rock Harbor Golf Course is a couple blocks from where we're staying and Matt is on the range almost every night!

The Lynch's house is dead center. Huge house surrounded with trees and a huge backyard. If you look really close you can see Matt's truck in the rear driveway behind the house.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church also only a couple blocks from our place.

We had a blast that day and got some really great pics. Thanks Jerry!!

Been a while....

2008-10-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

OK so, it's been forever since I've updated this thing. It's gonna be probably another month or so until I start doing pictures again, but I figured I could write something now and then anyway. As you all know I'm pretty bad at this kind of stuff, but I'm trying to get better since we're going to be allllll over the place.

So we're married, loving life and living with an awesome family in Winchester, Va. We move to Vance AFB, OK in exactly a month! How time flies! We just got word today that we officially have a house on base. I have to admit I was a bit worried that we would be stuck in temporary housing forever!

http://www.baseops.net/militarypilot/housing/vanceafb/
http://vance.pinnaclefamilyhousing.com/incoming/images/floor_plans/3BR_CGO.pdf

Those are links to the type of house we'll be living in.
Seeing the pics made everything so much more real. It's starting to really sink in that we're heading out on this journey. We really have no idea what lies ahead for us. It's gonna be awesome though. I'm really looking forward to seeing new places and meeting tons of new people. So many opportunities will arise from our little adventure around the world. And these last few months have only made me more sure that there's no one in the world I'd rather be doing this with than Matt. We've just had a blast the last four months (or the first 4 months) of our marriage. It's the best ever!

Some More Bridal Shower Pics

2008-03-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few more from the bridal shower...the one's you've all been waiting for!

Oh it's hideous!

Everyone just thinks this is soooooo funny...

I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!

The Bridal Shower

2008-03-16T06:17:00.001-07:00

So I know it's been a while, but things have been crazy! I wanted to quickly post these on my lunch break in case the business lasts a lot longer. Lots more to post, but these should get me by until I can actually sit down and write something. Enjoy!

The beautiful cake my Mom made!!!

Gotta love bridal shower games

Kara couldn't make it...but she was there in spirit!

So Anna just couldn't resist embarrassing me!

Use your imagination as to what's inside. Everytime the darn trashcan would open there was a little surprise that would pop up with the lid. It was sooooo embarrassing! Leave it to the big sis!

News!

2008-03-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so here's the latest (I would advise against taking this seriously as I'm sure it will change again) Columbus, Mississippi is out. Vance AFB, Oklahoma is in. Tornado country here we come. Supposedly we don't report until November of this year. From Vance we will attend ASBC in Maxwell for 6 weeks and Matt will go to Pueblo, CO for 6 or so weeks. Those will both be in early 2009. Pilot training will start Julyish of 2009 and we'll just stay at Vance for that. SO moral of the story is we'll be in OK for a long time and we'll be homeless from graduation till we report to Vance. We're thinking when they set this in stone we'll go ahead and make plans for that random 5 month where we just have to find a way to make ends meet.
As far as my reaction, I'm excited to finally know something, but I'm a little bummed about the 5 months. It's a little annoying and thinking of working for Enterprise for an extra 5 months makes me sick. I'm sure we'll find something else for me, but we'll just have to take it day by day and see what happens. I'm just struggling with the fact that the Air Force can leave their officers stranded for that long and just expect them to "make it work".
Anyway, I'll get over it and it's not the worst thing that could have happened. Just makes me realize we are really at the beck and call of the Air Force and we have 12 years ahead of it. Gonna be crazy!

Another Day

2008-03-12T06:28:00.001-07:00

I got to sleep in this morning. That was awesome! No news still on the assignment situation, but I really wish they would tell us. I keep trying to plan work and wedding things and I can't make any solid plans. Oh well, I'm sure we'll know soon.
So here's something interesting. Last night I updated my resume on career builder just for fun. Just to keep it current cuz I get daily emails on job openings anyway. Well this morning I got a call from a recruiter. I guess those job websites are pretty effective! I'm probably going to take my info off the site though cuz there's really no point to me starting a new job now if you know what I mean. Just thought it was crazy how fast they responded.
Hope to have the shower pics up soon. Keep an eye out for them!

I give up...

2008-03-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

So no info again. I can't believe this. So unprofessional. And they totally promised us in the email that this was really it. They were going to finally tell us where we're going. Oy. I'm mad, but not really emotional. I mean you can't be with this kind of stuff. It is what it is and no matter how much I complain or wonder what in the hell they are doing, it will not change the fact that they haven't told us squat. So I'm just not wasting my time and energy on it. I guess I need to get used to this lack of info. I'll be sure to post the moment we find out anything.
On a lighter note I looked at last years ASBC class and stole some info from them and made a word doc. with (hopefully) a list of all the stuff we need to bring. It's crazy, it ranges from a driver's license to immunization records! Marriage licenses, 15 copies of orders, birth certificates, proof of blood type, etc! I'm surprised they don't make you offer your first born up to them. Good thing we don't have kids yet! But there's all this cool stuff they have set up for the spouses to do while we're there. We get to play games and do team building stuff and play mind games. There's one called project X and it looks really really cool. It reminds me of the stuff you did at the adventure bound program. And we get to play our spouses in fickerball...I have no idea what that is, but it's a game with a ball and you throw it so I'm in! Sounds like fun and I'll have nothing better to do then join everyone in the activities. Plus it'll be an awesome way to just put myself out there and makes some friends. Lord knows I'm going to need friends throughout this whole thing!
Will keep everyone posted...keep your fingers crossed we get something soon!

Spring Break

2008-03-09T13:57:00.001-07:00

Just a quick run down of the week, more details and pics to follow.

So I had an awesome week! Matt and Becca were home for spring break and I kinda took my own spring break as well. I was able to take Wed. - Fri. off from work to hang out with everyone and it was AWESOME! Matt and I were able to accomplish some things for the wedding and it was nice to finally do wedding stuff together. We visited Andrew's AFB and got to chat with AK for a little bit on Wed. and continued on to Julie's and spent the evening with the Scarlata crew (always a blast). Matt's mom flew in on Thurs. morning and we went out to Front Royal where we looked at the site for the rehearsal dinner. Jen, and the kids and both moms got to see the place too and it's going to be perfect. It's very historic and beautiful to boot. We spent some time with Jen and fam and Fr. Z after that and headed down to the river that night. Spent Friday at the river getting ready for the bridal shower on Saturday and got to hang out with Moms, Dad, Grandma and Becca (Tallie too). Just relaxed and had a good time, nice to sit around doing nothing for once! Saturday was the shower and that was a blast! So many fun people and laughs and good times. Again pics to follow when I get more time to download them. Sooooo many surprises including some embarrassing moments for me, thank you Anna:) Thanks to all for such a great time and such great generosity to the Matt and Emily fund! Also, the word is tomorrow we find out our assignment. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted! We drove home early this morning and dropped Matt's Mom off at the airport (she's home safe now) and watched the VT vs Clemson game (ewwww). Matt's on his way down to VT ready for the final stretch before the big days (graduation and the wedding!) I miss him already!!! I get so spoiled when we get to spend so much quality time together. It just makes me that much more excited to get married. There's no doubt in my mind we're going to have a blast being married. Nothing beats being with your best bud all the time!

90 Days

2008-02-24T17:18:00.000-08:00

How sweet is this pic?? We're totally doing that!

90 left and time feels like it's standing still. Good weekend though. Had the house to myself and the quiet time was nice. I got to go out with a bunch of friends from work Friday night for a fun night of cosmic bowling and found out that bowling is the biggest waste of money in the world. Who new 2 games of bowling would be $15? I suppose it wasn't all a loss, I had a blast with my buddies and other then the smokiness it was very fun. I just suppose I'd rather have all that fun at someones house or maybe at a bar where it doesn't cost $15 to just stand there...OK I know I'm being a whiner, but I feel cranky. Thinking about a long work week isn't helping either.

On the bright side Kara and Ann came over Saturday night and we ate a lot of baked Kale:) It's so delicious and a great way to clean the system out if you know what I mean...

It was super awesome to see Kara and spend some time with her. I miss living with her! Body Pump Sunday morning was interesting. The sound system wasn't working so on the request of the participants I did the whole class in silence just counting out the moves. It was sooooooo boring! But they said I did a great job considering the situation. And eventually I figured out that I'm really the dumby cuz I accidentally brought the DVD version of the releases rather then the CD versions. Needless to say I still feel like an idiot. And the ironic part is I brought 2 Cd's with me and BOTH were the DVD version! What are the odds of that?? 50/50 I guess.

So work tomorrow. Early morning, I have to be in at 630am. That probably has a lot to do with me being cranky. I feel better now though, I guess writing is proving to be therapeutic after all.

Grrrrr!

2008-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Still nothing from the Air Force. Not even a "just kidding here's the next time we're not going to tell you". This is very frustrating! I wish they would not give us a date, then I wouldn't get my hopes up. I guess I better get used to it though. We're gonna get strung along like this on more then one occasion I'm sure.
Nothing else going on really. Worked this morning, bleh. I'm excited for next week though cuz Matt comes home for spring break. Still not sure when he's coming either the 29th or the 5th. Just depends on whether he stays at VT for the last bball home game of the season. Of course I want him home the 29th, but completely understand him staying and would probably do the same thing;)

2008-02-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Soooo, big surprise...no go on the report date. They only said the new deadline is 2/22 so hopefully we'll "know" by this Friday. After coming to grips with that I headed down to VTto visit Matt.
We ended up taking a lot of the pictures for the table names at the reception. It's looking like they're going to look really good. Instead of just doing one picture I think we're gonna do a collage since we have so many for each site and then on the other side of the table card we'll explain all the fun times we had at each place. It was a super pretty day Saturday and the pictures turned out great. Thanks for the help Becca!
So for now I'm home sick from work. I went back to the doctor for the 3rd time and she finally referred me to the ENT-ears, nose and throat doctor. I'm on that crazy medication that made Mom's knees swell (very excited about that) and the doc told me I'm not allowed to run/workout for at least a week:( But I stayed home from work today in hopes that maybe some good ol fashioned R&R will do the trick. If not my only hope for a healthy wedding day rests in the hands of the ENT!

2008-02-13T15:20:00.001-08:00

Yes, the idea would be that I write in this thing from time to time...however I am waiting for the news tomorrow on where Matt and I will be! I know it's not definitely going to happen tomorrow, but the fact is there's a chance. It would be so awesome to know now though since that would help Matt and I plan for after the wedding and honeymoon (or should I say hopefully we can go on the honeymoon!).
I was looking for cake toppers today at lunch and let me say there's some very creative ones out there. My personal favorite (one that Matt found) is the king of the mountain cake topper. The bride is on the top of the cake cheering and the groom is still climbing on the side. Perfect for Matt and I since we're so competitive...but we should probably keep the focus on unity and becoming one for now:) leave the competing for when things get boring...juuust kidding...but not really;) yea so they have all kinds, naughty ones, ones where the bride is dragging the groom, one where she's fishing for him, one where they're both on the cell phone (soooo tacky!). I'm sure we'll find a good one:)
I'll keep posting based on what happens tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!!

104 to go

2008-02-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

So we have a lot of stuff done! It's getting really exciting and I can't wait for the big day. Matt is supposed to find out our report dates on Valentines Day for (hopefully) after the wedding. That would be the best Vday gift EVER! It's a crucial step in knowing where and when we'll be gone and we will keep everyone posted as that unfolds. Still working and wishing I had more time to spend on wedding prep. Thinking about taking some time off just for that (since I only get 1 wedding!)

Oooo I made a Blog!

2007-11-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

Who would have thunk it. I'm making a blog...we'll see how long this lasts. I'm thinking it could be theraputic though. With the writing n stuff. Let me say now there's no making fun of or judging me based on grammar or spelling.
My goal in all of this is to make it a little easier for people to track me as I embark on this adventure with Matt. Hopefully it works.