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Monday, October 15, 2012

Congrats Mason on the LCHS Calendar! Congrats Becks on Being Homeowners! & Congrats Chris...on Turning 26!!

It's been a while since I've updated the blog! As you know, life has been busy since school started...and between football season and our other excuses for travel, life has been very hectic!

I have two big things I want to share with you all!

First of all...THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT because Mason was selected (based off your votes) for the Lee County Humane Society 2013 Calendar! He couldn't have done it without you! And I know all the sweet animals in the LCHS appreciate it, also.  I hope you will all consider continuing your support of the LCHS by purchasing a calendar when they come out.  Meanwhile...thank you so much, everyone!

Possibility for next years' calendar? Hehe


Our second big piece of news is that this morning, October 15, 2012, we finally CLOSED on our condo! We have been doing what seems like a lot of work to get furniture in the place and make it liveable for me during the week.  There is a long way to go as far as home improvements go, but for now, we are pretty happy with it! I hesitate to post pictures because the place really needs painting and it's not exactly decorated to my taste, yet.   But we really appreciate all of our family who donated furniture for it and it really is starting to feel like home-away-from home! Thank you!!

Let's see...the last time I updated the blog was at the end of September, after going to Auburn for the LSU game.  As some of you may know, our season has become increasingly disappointing since it started, and I have to keep reminding myself of my vow to be emotionally separated from all of it! We spent the weekend after that in Columbus, and I spent most of it catching up in the kitchen (i.e. trying all the recipes that I haven't gotten a chance to try this fall).  We went out to this huge pumpkin patch called...well...The Pumpkin Patch, and it was filled with photo ops and some of the funniest country-themes "amusements".  This place is in Caledonia, about 15 mins from base, and is definitely somewhere we hope to return to next fall!


Sadly, Chris did not want to get in the picture with me, so Mr. Scarecrow sat in...

Literally pumpkins of every shape, color, and size...see the HUGE ones in the back, by the flagpole?? Those belong on Charlie Brown!

Had to take a picture of the "bumper tractors"

These people are obviously entrepreneurs if they figured out that people would pay to jump around in a big trailer full of cotton


After we purchased the hay bales and pumpkins for my fall display, I decided to help myself to a couple of stalks of cotton...okay, it wasn't exactly for sale but I just wanted one stalk and one of the workers said she thought it would be fine...

Turns out pulling up cotton is harder than it looks! I really struggled while Chris laughed and took pictures...

Wasn't it worth it, though!

 
Two weeks ago, instead of returning to Auburn for the Arkansas game I went to Dothan for my good friend/sorority sister, Katherine, and her (now husband) Adam's wedding.   Katherine read a scripture from 1 Corinthians at my wedding, and I got to read the same scripture for hers! Meredith and my sister sang.  The whole wedding was so beautiful! It was at a vineyard in Dothan...who know they had vineyards in Dothan? Pretty cool! I took some pictures with my broken iPhone camera, so obviously they do not do it all justice, but I still wanted to share.  Once it got dark out, my camera wouldn't take any good pictures, so I don't have any with the bride! But her photographer got some, so I am looking forward to seeing those later.



Pretty montage of family wedding pictures! Adam's mom is from Columbus and his dad did his pilot training at Columbus, AFB as well.

Coolest guest book idea ever! Put your thumb print on the canvas and draw a line to the girls hand (like a balloon) and write your name by it.  I'm sure that will be such a neat keepsake!

First dance!! <3!

I love outdoor receptions.

It was officially getting too dark for my old broken lens to take good pictures, but here are Meredith and I in front of the vineyard.

I got to stay in Dothan with Hannah and her fiance,  Chase, and had an overall great time over the weekend! It was nice to have a bit of a "girls" weekend!

Haha, doesn't this look scrumptious? Fish taco, courtesy of Chef Chase Bradley.  I should have eaten just 1, but someone talked me into 2 (didn't take much convincing) and I nearly popped the zipper on the dress I wore to the wedding! Lesson learned! It was delicious, though!


That weekend, Chris went to Auburn without me.  His schedule with flying wouldn't allow him to come to Dothan for the rehearsal and it was too up-in-the-air to even RSVP to the wedding, so I went to that alone. Anyway, he rented a Uhaul and loaded up the furniture donated to us by our families to bring to Northport for the condo.  I met him at the condo Sunday night and he was able to spend the night with me there since he had Monday off.  He was also able to join me and some of the other students in my Ph.D. class for lunch.  I really wish he could be with me all week here.  But, as we were discussing this weekend, when it comes to spending time with your spouse (or, anyone you love), the key is quality, not quantity...and we make the most of our weekends!

Yes, we still own the Pathfinder...here it is on a rare adventure out of Columbus to pick up a Uhaul!


This past weekend was career day, when many of the different planes that Chris could one day be flying once we leave Columbus come to the base and we can walk around and look at them, take pictures, and talk to the pilots about their lifestyle.  This is "mandatory", so unfortunately we were not able to use the Ole Miss tickets we had since it wound up being a morning game. We wound up losing the game miserably, so I suppose we didn't miss much.  Here are some pictures from career day:

The back of an F-22

Yucky picture of me with the F-22, hesitated to post it, but oh well!

C-130J (Chris is interested in flying this one)

B-1, which Chris basically described to be as a humongous fighter. This would be an option for Chris if he gets FAIP'd. See below: 
Four F-16 engines on the B-1

Friday night we went out to a party celebrating class 13-01's assignment night! It's so hard to believe we are in the 13's with the class assignments...Chris is in class 13-06, so that means just 5 more assignments to go! Eek! It will be here before we know it.  We spent the rest of our weekend trying to be at least somewhat active (went on a nice, long bike ride), and treating ourselves to what has become a rarity lately...a restaurant meal! I have been dying for some sushi lately, and for some reason, I was feeling a little burnt out in the kitchen this weekend (doesn't usually happen to me, but I have been fixing ALL of our meals lately)...Here is what we got! Delish!!



Last night, Chris and I both came to the condo to spend the night since we had closing this morning at 8am.  It feels so good to call ourselves first-time homeowners!

This week is going to be a fun one that I look forward to documenting in the blog! Tomorrow, Chris turns 26.  TWENTY-SIX, can you believe it!? I know, he's so old, haha! Upper-20's. I will be returning to Columbus to help him celebrate.  On Thursday, the Columbus Spouse Club (which I am social chair of) is having our Oktoberfest Beer Tasting and Bunco social.  Then, Chris and I head to Nashville for the Vanderbilt game! Fingers crossed that we will see Auburn's first SEC win of the season this weekend! My parents and some of our other friends will be meeting us there, so I'm sure it will be a great time.

As far as Chris' and my professional lives go, not too much to report that would interest anyone, we don't think.  I am getting into choosing the topic for my first-year paper, which I believe will pertain to government accounting.  Chris, unfortunately, has only flown about once a week for the past few weeks.  The most senior classes have been behind, so they have been trying to push those classes through, and Chris somehow or another has wound up with hardly any flights because of this (although others in his class have been more lucky).  It's hard to progress when you don't get much practice, but he just has to accept it and do his best.  Hopefully, they will catch up soon and he can start flying again regularly. Here is a picture he took lately on the T-1 flight line that is really cool:



Here are some more pictures to share with y'all:

I decorated for Halloween...


I'm pretty sure this pumpkin is older than me (my mom donated it to my decoration collection), but it makes a festive centerpiece! Haha


This is "fall", so I will leave it until Thanksgiving.

Kind of a mix between fall and Halloween, and the little gourd things are some of our take-homes from the Pumpkin Patch.


Just ignore the extremely off-center coffee table...I think I had just vacuumed.

I went on a special mission into town to find the perfect Halloween table runner and I found exactly what I was looking for at TJ Maxx! I wanted spider webs :)

Neither Chris nor Mason are big fans of my 3 foot tall light-up ghost.  I was very attached to this ghost as a child, so my mom gave it to me last year to take home.  Sorry, but BIG...BRIGHT...Holiday Themed??? This is a winner! And in the picture, with my messed up lens...it really does look like an orb.

I decided to try again with the light off.  Yes, the ghost is very 80's and it STAYS.

Hall table


My beloved Halloween tree!

My fall display, complete with the light up cat.  My cotton is a little droopy, but after going through all that trouble to get it, it STAYS, too!

Mason admires the light-up witches broom and pumpkin.
Last year, I went out of my way to make sure we did all the typical October stuff like making apple cider and caramel apples and carved Jack-O-Lanterns! I'm not sure if we will have the opportunity to do those things this year, but if we do, I will be sure to post pictures.  Maybe next year, I will have more time to plan those things!


A couple of weeks ago, I came home from Tuscaloosa on a Tuesday night to go to a spouse social.  I didn't have a chance to eat before I went, because I got back just in time, and I was really feeling too tired to go, but didn't want to miss out on a social opportunity since I'm not in Columbus on a daily basis anymore.  When I got back, Chris had made this dinner and had it sitting out on the coffee table (yes, that's where we eat 90% of the time, save the lecture, haha) along with two glasses of wine.  I have the best husband in the world!!!

1 comment:

  1. Love the 80's ghost! I am so so sad we didn't get a pic together on your camera! That day and night flew by! I wish it had been in slow motion! Can we re-live it? You are such the role-model wife! I need to take notes. I did buy a pumpkin and a value size bag of Halloween candy at Sam's which will be halfway gone by Halloween haha! Ill call u soon!

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