Flying Pictures Cont.

I was sitting 'jump', meaning I was a passenger and not flying during this landing. At the bottom of this post is a video of this landing by Jeff Moon. Another picture from Jeff's landing, just from a different vantage point.
Columbus AFB from about 1500ft. We had just got done flying a low level and were coming back to land. Again, check out the video below.

The next three pictures are from one of the low levels that we fly. We usually fly these from 500' to 1500' depending on the bird condition. All over the US and especially where there are low levels, the Air Force has built small radar towers to detect bird movement. As you might have seen with the plane that landing in the Hudson (Go Sully!), birds are a constant threat that we pilots have to deal with. These radar towers are usually unreliable in my opinion, but it's the best technology we have at this time.





This is Jeff and our instructor or IP flying the low level.
A little hard to see, but there is a nuclear power plant that we're flying over.
My hometown, the great city of Bedford, IN from 10,000ft.
Near Bloomington, IN... I present you with Lake Monroe.

A close up view of downtown Indianapolis, IN. We took off from Indianapolis International that morning and as you can tell it was right before they tore down the RCA Dome. It was great to actually land and takeoff from an airport that I've used commercially before.
A panned out picture of Indianapolis.



























































































































































This is the video of the T-1 landing.


This is a video of a T-1 taking off that I took.

Flying Pictures!

.This is Amber flying in the T-6 simulator on her 'Red Carpet' day (when family members get to see what we do). It's kind of hard to see in these pictures, but the screen wraps around the sim 180 degrees.


This was near the end of my time in the T-6, it was very maneuverable and fun to fly.

This is a picture I took while on cross-country - meaning we would fly somewhere and stay the night.

The mighty T-6, this was my first flight.

Getting ready to fly the T-6 Texan solo - talk about a rush!

The Florida panhandle coast from the view of a F-15 fighter.

Just got out of the clouds... Pretty awesome in my opinion



Flying in formation through the clouds - I was more riding than flying because I hadn't gone through pilot training yet.

All the planes lined up ready to go - me and 3 other friends were really fortunate to get these rides at Tyndall AFB, FL.


I took this picture in Sept of '07 while flying in the back of the F-15D , it was on this flight that I filled up one of those airsick bags - yum...




I don't know why this blog does this, but this video is supposed to put this with the rest of the T-6 stuff. But anyway, this video was taken while I was starting up the engines on my first solo.

Welcome Home Robbie!

Robbie is home, and the entire household couldn't be more happy! I went and picked him up at the airport in Birmingham with another wife who was also picking up her husband from the same training. It was so great to see him! We got home around 10:30 pm. Zaylee was already asleep in her bed (we had our neighbors babysit while I was gone), so unfortunately Robbie had to wait until yesterday morning to see her smiling face. He did go in a peek on her - she looks like a little angel when she is sleeping so peacefully. He immediately said, "Oh my gosh! I can't believe how big she is!" Peyton immediately jumped for joy once he saw Robbie - and then proceeded to follow him around the house the entire rest of the night. The kitties even greeted him at one point or another.
It's so great to have him home, and just in time! The big move is 5 days away and we have a lot to do! I'll be back with more about that by the end of the week. Bye!

A Month of Adjustment

Just thought I'd log in another update on how we're all doing this month. This past weekend, my mom and dad came to help out with some big last-minute projects before the move. It was wonderful to see them and visit, and great to have their help! On Saturday, we patched up holes and painted over the beautiful purple walls in Zaylee's room. It was sad to see her room become so sterile once again. I loved her nursery and I plan to recreate it in our next home. Mom and I started packing in the kitchen, and Dad and I took apart the big corner desk in the office. Then Sunday after church, we had some help getting our fence apart from the guy who's buying it from us. That was a pretty labor-intensive task, but my dad took it like a champ and finished just before dark. So now, not only does Zaylee not have her familiar room, Peyton also has no backyard. In a way, it was a sad weekend of adjustment for them both.
But I suppose that's what this month is all about - adjustment and adaptation. I've also been a little out of my comfort zone being here with minimal food in the fridge (we're trying to get rid of it all before the move), no TV, and little interaction with the outside world. I keep reminding myself that in the end, this month of work will all be worth it.
And of course Robbie's had his share of adjustment this month as well. Whether it be adjusting to 4 ft of snow and sleeping under lean-to's in the wilderness, or going through mental combat in resistance training, or just getting used to being away from his little girl for a whole month, he's experienced many challenges, too.
But, we all seem to be making it through okay. I can't wait til we are all reunited again, have our house packed up, and we're pulling out ready to take on another new adventure in Oklahoma. God has always been here, guiding our steps, and may he continue to be with us each and every step of the way.

Home Front Update

Well, progress is slowly starting to appear amidst the packing paper, boxes, and tape scattered throughout the house. Zaylee, Peyton, Bebe, Honey, and I have done amazingly well the last couple of weeks. Though there are still days when I'm so tired by the end of the day I could practically fall asleep in the shower, and days when Peyton is getting his nose into everything and is on my last nerve, we have managed to all stay healthy and sane. I've packed up 6 of the 8 rooms in our house and 2 closets. I've also made reservations for our travels at the end of the month, contacted our utility companies, found a realtor, and gotten a pre-approval for a mortgage loan. At this point, moving doesn't seem so scary anymore. I think we're going to make it. ^_^ That's not to say that everything is almost done. There is still much work to do, and thankfully I'll have some help doing it this weekend. My reinforcements (a.k.a. my parents) are coming in on Friday (weather permitting). I can't wait! It's a little lonely around here with Robbie gone, and this week we can't even talk by phone since he's out in the mountains. So, it will be nice to have someone other than Zaylee to chat with (although her "goo's and ahh's" are pretty adorable). Just wanted to keep everyone updated. It's time for me to go to bed. Hooray! My favorite time of the day! ^_^

A Walk Down Memory Lane

One of the cool things about packing up your house and moving somewhere else is that in the process, you often happen upon things that have been buried and forgotten about for a long, long time. Old diaries, photo albums, love notes, small tokens of friendship... Sometimes it's hard to stay on task when these little interesting things are uncovered. I also decided to put in me and Robbie's wedding video last night while I was eating dinner and Zaylee was playing on the floor. Remember, I don't have cable anymore and since our DVD player is on the fritz, I chose this VHS from our measly collection of video tapes. I popped it in and was teleported back almost 4 years to one of the happiest days of my life. I love watching our wedding tape. The people in it have already changed so much, and some special people are no longer with us. Robbie and I were so young and excited, not to mention we both were lookin' pretty good that day. A lot of my friends from college and high school were there, and those in the wedding party even left us pieces of advice and well wishes. Probably the neatest thing about watching the wedding all over again was hearing what the officiant, my uncle Pat, had to say to us and thinking all over again how right he was when he talked to us about marriage. We've had a lot of new, exciting, and challenging experiences in the last 3 years and 8 months. But it feels good to look back and know we've overcome them together and are still going strong.
I miss you Robbie, and I love you more every day. And I miss you, family and friends, who were there to share that important day with us, and who shared so many other special memories with us in the past.

On the Home Front

Yay! I'm so excited that Robbie decided to catch everyone up on our crazy happenings the last few months. Obviously, you can see we've been busy and I have had no time for posting blogs. So sorry. But I figure most of the people who read this blog would have seen us over the holidays anyway, so hopefully you didn't feel too out of touch. Robbie has now inspired me to start afresh and keep this blog going since he took care of the daunting task of explaining the last two months for us. So yes, Robbie is in Spokane...and I am home in Mississippi with baby Zaylee, Peyton, Bebe, Honey, and a house full of stuff needing to be packed up for the big move. Though I hope to continue posting every once in a while, they will be short because I have A LOT to do around here while Robbie's gone for training. So far, things have been going pretty well. My typical day starts around 8 am with Zaylee waking up and being fed. I then say hi to our kitties who are banging at the hallway door and let little Pey out of his crate to "go potty." I then proceed to eat breakfast while Zaylee sits in her Bumbo seat and talks to me. Zaylee usually stays awake about 1-2 hours after feeding time and then goes down for a nap, which is where she is now. This first interval of freedom is usually when I start working at my online job or packing up a few boxes. Or...post a blog. ^_^ The rest of the day is a cycle of eat, play, and sleep for Zaylee while I try to work in as much productive packing as possible. Hair and makeup are not so much of a priority these days. Neither is cleaning the house - why clean when I'm busy making a mess everyday anyway?? ^_^ By the end of the day I am usually so tired that all I want to do is play with Zaylee on the floor and watch like 3 hours of TV. Unfortunately, my cable is being cut TODAY. WHaaaaaaaaaaa! We thought it would be best if we went ahead and took care of that so we wouldn't have to pay for another month of service. I guess I'll survive. LOL - here I am complaining about not have cable the next few weeks and Robbie's going to be freezing his butt off in 6 ft of snow in the mountains of Washington. I guess I really have no reason to complain.
So that's basically what's going on in my life this month - take care of baby, take care of pets, pack up the house, work, keep my sanity. Please pray for all of us - animals included!

The last couple of months have been crazy...

So I know from talking to a few of our blog fans that you're severely disappointed in the lack of blog postings for the past couple months - well, I'm sorry, it's been a little hectic...

Starting way back in November about the time that Amber posted her last entry, I was revving up for my Assignment Night (November 21st) by flying just about everyday - I know, how exciting. But it was, I've waited for this night for a very long time. Flying has fascinated me for most of life and now my one of my dreams is being realized - how cool is that? Assignment night comes and I'm selected to fly the E-3 Sentry or AWACS out of Oklahoma City (there's a picture of it at the bottom of this post). Not my first choice, but not bad one by any means. It's mission is to act as an airborne air traffic control and direct fighter and bomber aircraft to areas of need/concern. When I tell people this most of them assume that b/c of it's mission or purpose it is a dangerous plane to plane. Yes, it is an aircraft that the enemy would love to shoot down, but it always has some sort of escort, is never really close to the front lines, and it could see an enemy aircraft long before it would ever see it. Pretty cool, huh? I've also heard great things about OKC.

Thanksgiving is the week after assignment night which was good and bad. Good because our families were able to meet our little Zaylee for the first time, it was the first time I've been home since January, and there was plenty of good food - we to 3 different Thanksgivings. It was bad because trying to drive 9hrs with a 2mo old baby takes forever with all the stops - I think it took around 12ish hours to get home. Talk about painful. For Christmas Amber made the drive to IN with Zaylee by herself, I called her when she was almost there and she sounded on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

After Thanksgiving it was back to flying my butt off. I had 2wks to get 4 flights in but mother nature decided to play havoc on our flight schedule - we had 3 or 4 days where nobody could fly. It got soo bad (how bad did it get?), that we had 3 people have their final checkrides the day before graduation - Talk about pressure to pass their rides. To put it into perspective, class 09-02 (the class before mine) finished all their rides with a week to spare before graduation, which is the norm. Graduation comes on Dec 13th, everybody gets their Wings (pictured below), and everyone is gay and merry.

The day after graduation, Amber and I along with my mom and sister drove to Tuscaloosa, AL and bought a Toyota Highlander (also pictured below). I guess you could say we needed to upgrade to a bigger vehicle with that little baby around - and we would need it for all the baby presents we were giving at Christmas time. Which, by the way, is kind of funny the number of presents she is given since right now the most interesting thing to her is her fingers, the tv, and her mommy.

The Monday (Dec 15th) after graduation, we all get our orders. Some people in my class get dates like January 29th for combat survival, Feb 2nd for water survival, JUNE 30th for combat survival, etc... Did I make out so lucky? In simple terms, no. My dates were Dec 18th for water survival, Jan 5th for combat survival, and Feb 2nd to report to my next base. OH MY GOSH - I nearly freaked out. I only had two days to get my life in order before I leave for water survival and then I was to be in a wedding that Saturday - Dec 20. Talk about the Air Force pushing me up against a wall, I was the only one in my class with start dates this early. I spent the next two days working 8 or 9hrs straight just trying to get my orders, plane tickets, uniform items, etc.... And for all you who don't know, the Air Force has decreed it almost impossible for anyone to get paperwork done in an expeditious manner. I probably put more miles on my car those 2 days driving back and forth between buildings then I had the previous 2 weeks. During that mess I was able to to get overnight plane tickets from Spokane, WA (where water and combat survival training is) to Indianapolis, IN. - so I was still able to make it to the wedding, that was a big load off my shoulders.

At water survival they train us how to survive in the water after a plane has crashed in the ocean. This included several hours in the classroom learning about edible/inedible fish, rafts, radios, evasion, water procurement methods, first aid, etc... After the classroom we got into the pool and practiced everything we learned. It was pretty cool and fun: we practiced getting into/securing rafts, moving as group while floating in the water (just picture a bunch of people wearing life preserves hooked together by wrapping their legs around the person in front of them in one big line-yeah, it was funny), and water rescue by helicopter (also fun, they had a huge lift that could hoist each one of us up 20ft to a platform). The last day - the course only lasted 2 days - we went through 2 "realistic" scenarios where they had us perform everything we learned/practiced the day before. For each scenario they blacked out the pool by turning off the lights; used fog machines, strobe lights, and fire hoses to disorient you; and used a big crane to submerge a fake cockpit attached to it to simulate a plane crashing. Pretty awesome if you ask me. They really went out of their way to make it seem real.

So on Dec 19th I fly out of Spokane and arrive at Indianapolis the morning of the 20th. Amber picks me up and we drive to Connersville, IN for the wedding - our friends Nick Sochinski and Allison Haselwander were getting married. Great friends=good times.

On the 21st we drove back to Amber's parents' house and we spent the next week going to 5 different Christmas' - we ended up needing every last inch of space in our new car to pack it up, which was comparable to putting a jigsaw together.

Dec 28th was a great day. For Christmas this year Amber got me 2 tickets to see the Titans vs. Colts game up in Indy - Talk about AWESOME! It was a good game (Colts dominated) and a great date!

On the 29th we left to go back to Mississippi - again packing our new SUV was an adventure in and of itself. We had originally planned to stay in IN until the Jan 4th, but now that I was flying out of Columbus, MS on Jan 3rd, we decided we needed to get back early so I could take care of more paper work before the base shut down for New Years. Once back I got all my business taken care of and we got to help one of my classmates move - he was driving his family (2 baby boys and a dog) all the way to Utah, so he was leaving on New Years' Day.

I flew out of Columbus yesterday (Jan 3rd) and here I am in Spokane, WA where they have around 60in of snow (not even joking) and I'm going to be spending a little over a week hiking/camping/surviving it in - awesome. Well everyone, I'll let Amber update you on everything else - I'm pretty tired of typing.

God Bless