Random Update

I have been volunteering at the Lowndes County humane society and Todd has actually too (on Saturdays). We kind of go when we can and take the dogs/puppies out for a walk...it doesn't take much time. There was one dog there by the name of Daisy that we really liked...she was a yellow lab, about a year old and one of the sweetest dogs we have ever met. When I first saw her she was so scared and would not even stand up when you put a leash on her...she was too afraid. So I would just pet her in her pen (she did not want to go anywhere!!). Gradually she got closer and closer to getting out of the pen. After a couple of weeks Todd and I got her to come out of the pen but all of the other dogs started barking and scared her and she didn't know what to do. Todd picked her up and outside we went. Ever since then she would go out on her own, now that she knew she was going outside to play. Anyway, long story short we were thinking about rescuing her. We were hesitant because she was a large dog to have at our house back in PA (as most of you know we don't have much of a yard) so we decided that if they were going to put her down we would adopt her because she was just too sweet of a dog to pass up. However we decided to wait to see if she would get adopted.

Down here, the humane society has all sorts of dogs-no pit bulls-and this one has what is called a homeward bound program. They put the dog's pictures on a website for all humane societies (or anyone) to see and a lot of them get adopted that way. (Animals have been adopted from all over the United States.) About two weeks ago we went in and she was adopted through that program...we were happy for her that she had a home, but we are going to miss her!

We still volunteer there but we decided to look around and see what kind of dog was for us. We have talked about the idea of getting a dog for years and now is probably the best time to get one....I have a friend that will let her out during the day, Todd's schedule varies so he will be here randomly, I can let her out at lunch if I need to, we are renting here (not that we will not treat this house like our own, but you know what I mean), etc. Due to not wanting to have to vacuum every day we wanted to get a dog that had some poodle in it and we wanted a medium size dog...so we started looking at cockapoos.

About two weeks ago we picked out a little puppy and we will be getting her this Thursday. She will be 8 weeks old and I think we are going to name her Bella (our little southern belle). She will grow to be around 20lbs. So, that is the latest news! We just wanted to let you guys know...we are pretty excited and will let you know when she gets here! Here are a few pictures of her.....

Track Select

I know, I am a little late with this posting! About two weeks ago Todd's squadron had what is called their track select. This is basically when the active duty guys find out what plane they will be training on next (and that in turn effects the plane they get assigned to at the end of pilot training). For example...some of Todd's classmates wanted to go on to be a fighter pilot so they were trying to get a T-38. The 4 options are T-38, T-1 (that is what Todd got), T-44, and Helo. All of the guard guys already knew what they were getting because they know what they will be flying at the end of pilot training. In Todd's case he will be flying a C-130. That night they revealed what track each person would be going on to and they kind of "roast" each person as they are up front. It was pretty funny!

Here are a few pictures from that day...

This is us beside the T-1 (the "new" plane he is training on)

Here is Todd checking it out! (He is like a kid in a candy store!)

Me in the simulator...I did a successful touch and go!!

Group shot!

Me and my hubby (This picture is kind of funny...we both have odd expressions on our face but it was the only one of just him and I from that night so it will have to do!)

So as of now Todd is learning about the T-1 and his sims will be starting real soon! He has had two test and got 100% on both (Good job babe!) We are about halfway done in this whole process...in one of their meeting they were told that 99% of people that make it this far, achieve their wings. Those are some good odds! Alright, talk to you soon! Byes!

Things NOT to say to a military spouse.

I stole this one from Elizabeth, I thought that it was cute!! (Thanks Elizabeth!) Some of my family and friends back home will enjoy this one...

Things NOT to say to a military spouse!!

1. 'Aren't you afraid that he'll be killed?'
(This one ranks in at number one on the 'duh' list. Of course we're afraid. We're terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds ---but thanks brilliant, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they're scared of dying.)

2. 'I don't know how you manage. I don't think I could do it.'
(This is intended to be a compliment. Though, its just a little annoying. Here's why: it's not like all of us military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day we'd get to be anxious single moms who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom and in the shower. We're not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, we just got asked to take on a challenging job. So we rose to the challenge and found the strength to make sacrifices.)

3. 'At least he's not in Iraq.'
(This is the number one most annoying comment for those whose husbands are in Afghanistan. What do they think is happening in Afghanistan? An international game of golf? Guys are fighting and dying over there.)

4. 'Do you think he'll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child/wedding/family reunion, etc?'
(Don't you watch the news? No! They don't get to come home for any of these things. Please don't ask again.)

5. 'What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he's gone?'
(Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there's a military wife out there who gets bored when her husband leaves, but I have yet to meet her. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people. That keeps us plenty busy. We do get lonely, but we don't get bored, and drinking massive amounts of wine always helps keep me busy.)

6. 'How much longer does he have until he can get out?'
(This one is annoying to many of us whether our husbands are deployed or not. Many of our husbands aren't counting down the days until they 'can' get out. Many of them keep signing back up again and again because they actually love what they do or they VOLUNTEER AGAIN and AGAIN to go back to Iraq b/c there is work that needs to be done.)

7. 'This deployment shouldn't be so bad, now that you're used to it.'
(Sure, we do learn coping skills and its true the more deployments you've gone through, the easier dealing with it becomes. And we figure out ways to make life go smoother while the guys are gone. But it never gets 'easy' and the bullets and bombs don't skip over our guys just because they've been there before. The worry never goes away.)

8. 'My husband had to go to Europe for business once for three weeks. I totally know what you're going through.'
(This one is similar to number two. Do not equate your husband's three week trip to London/Omaha/Tokyo/etc. with a 6-15 month or more deployment to a war zone. Aside from the obvious time difference, nobody shot at your husband or tried to blow him up with an I.E.D., your husband could call home pretty much any time he wanted to, he flew comfortably on a commercial plane, slept between crisp white sheets and ate well, paying for everything with an expense account. There is no comparison. We do not feel bonded to you in the slightest because of this comment and, if anything, we probably resent you a bit for it. Comparing a 12 month combat deployment to a few weeks business trip is like comparing a shitty ford taurus with mercedes convertible.)

9. 'Wow you must miss him?'
(This one also gets another big 'duh'. Of course we miss our men. There are some wives who do not and they're now divorced.)

10. 'Where is he exactly? Where is that?'
(I don't expect non-military folks to be able to find Anbar Province on a map, but they should know by now that it's in Iraq. Likewise, know that Kabul and Kandahar are in Afghanistan. Know that Muqtada al Sadr is the insurgent leader of the Mahdi Army in Iraq and that Sadr City is his home area. Know that Iran is a major threat to our country and that it is located between Afghanistan and Iraq. Our country has been at war in Afghanistan for seven years and at war in Iraq for five years. These basic facts are not secrets, they're on the news every night and in the papers every day ---and on maps everywhere.)

11. 'Well, he signed up for it, so it's his own fault whatever happens over there.'
(Yes, ignorant, he did sign up. Each and every day he protects your right to make stupid comments like that. He didn't sign up and ask to be hit by anything, he signed up to protect his country. Oh, and by the way, he asked me to tell you that 'You're welcome.' He's still fighting for your freedom.)

12. 'Don't you miss sex! I couldn't do it!'
(hmmm, no i don't miss sex. i'm a robot. seriously...military spouses learn quickly t hat our relationships must be founded on something greater than sex. We learn to appreciate the important things, like simply hearing their voices, seeing their faces, being able to have dinner together every night. And the hard truth is, most relationships probably couldn't withstand 12 months of sex deprivation.)

13. 'Well in my opinion.....'
(Stop right there. Yo, I didn't ask for you your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a bar when I'm out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the President, esp. while we're trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappy office microwaves.)

last but not least....

14. 'OH, that's horrible...I'm so sorry!'
(He's doing his job and he's a badass. Don't be sorry. Be appreciative and please take a moment out of your comfortable American lives to realize that our soldiers/marines/airmen/coasties/sailors fight the wars abroad so those wars stay abroad.)

If you want to say anything, say thank you. After all, we are sexually deprived for your freedom....

The New House

Here is the outside (it is connected to another house)...ours is a one story theirs is a two story.

The kitchen

Dinning Room

Living Room (It was part of the deal that they would paint for us this time...so I did not have to do it again!)

Screened in porch

Well, there it is...a good portion of the house anyway. Todd and I hung up all of the pictures this past Sunday so we could make it nice and pretty for the photos! (I must say I missed having carpet throughout the house...that is definitely a perk!) All in all the move was not fun but we like it in this house...the part we miss the most is being walking distance away from all of our friends in Capitol Village! (we can still walk there but its a little farther of a distance to travel!)

Moving Day (again!)

There has been a lot going on since our last posting! Last week we packed up our entire house and moved our stuff a couple miles down the road to a different house. We now live in Magnolia Village. Todd and I were both dreading the move but we have to admit that the house over here is much nicer! We moved a lot of our boxes into our garage (yes-this one has a one car garage) on Tuesday and Wednesday and then we got a U-Haul truck on Thursday for all of the big stuff. Luckily our buddy Norris came over and gave Todd a hand with the big stuff...he was a huge help!!

Todd actually injured himself in the process...I was coming home from picking up a few odds and ends and I saw him step off the U-Haul truck (he was higher on the ramp than he thought) and his sandal got caught and down he went. It all happened so fast, I felt so helpless...I just jumped out of my car and yelled to him to see if he was ok. It appears he twisted his ankle. As the day progressed it got stiff and the next day it was sore, but now it's fine! He was really lucky because it looked a lot worse than it really was. We got everything moved and a lot of it put away too!!

I definitely will post pictures of our house as soon as everything is in its place. I have to admit that our new house it nice although I could live without the bugs. It seems that in Capitol Village (where we were) we saw more spiders than cockroaches. We did spray over there too and the spiders were mostly all dead when we found them, which was good...we sprayed over here but it doesn't seem to faze the cockroaches. (All though now that I think about it we haven't seen any inside for awhile...maybe it is working!) We have seen quite a few bugs over here and they were far from dead...I am not sure if I am getting better with this whole "bug" thing because I am used to seeing them more often or if it is because Todd takes care of the big ones! And when I say "take care" of it, I mean he sprays them with Raid. (ha ha...just kidding! He only did that once...that one was pretty big- I don't think he even wanted to kill it, but he did!) I just have to say, they definitely grow them bigger in the south!!

We have a good system...my role is the bug spotter,that consists of seeing a bug and making sure it doesn't go anywhere until the bug killer (Todd) gets there. (and I think he takes his good 'ol time on purpose!!) Either way I don't have to kill the big ones (at least not yet...but if I do, I am sure I will blog about it!!) Now don't get me wrong, I can handle bugs...I have killed lots of bugs in my days...however I am talking about the big ones. The ones that when you step on them they make a popping sound! I will post a picture for all of you that are laughing at me right now...you wait!! (And they aren't just long, they are fat suckers too!!)

Anyway, I digress...we are all moved in and will hopefully be putting the finishing touches on the house this weekend...Yeah!! Stay tuned!