We're Here!

I apologize that many of you have been waiting a few days to hear from us about our mass exodus to Oklahoma. As you all know, me, Robbie, Zaylee, Peyton, and the kitties all loaded up in Columbus, MS on Friday the 31^st and got on the road around 11:00 am on Saturday morning. Me and Zaylee rode in the new SUV along with the kitties caged in the back. Peyton rode with Robbie in the cab of the truck which held all our earthly belongings and had our car connected via hitch on the back. It was quite a caravan! Things went very smoothly Saturday morning – Zaylee fell asleep in the car shortly after we left, Peyton settled down for a nap, and traffic was minimal. We made it to Tennessee, about 7 miles from Memphis before we had to stop for a break. At the Flying J, Robbie took Peyton for a walk, we gassed up both vehicles, I fed Zaylee and checked on the kitties, and Robbie and I ate lunch at the little restaurant connected to the truck stop. Overall, it was the perfect place to get everything done that needed to get done. In about an hour’s time, we were on the road again ready to reach our destination – the Holiday Inn Express in Lonoke, AR. We didn’t quite make it there all the way before Peyton (and Robbie) had to stop for a potty break. After a short stop at a gas station off I-40, we hit the road again and pulled into the Holiday Inn at about 5:20 pm. We got checked in and unloaded (which was quite a feat with a baby, two cats, and a dog, all of which had a lot of pent-up energy from being in the car all day!). That night we had just enough time to eat pizza, go swimming in the indoor pool (SO cute seeing Zaylee in the pool for the first time!), give Zaylee a bath, and go to bed. One day down, one to go.

The next morning, we were all a little sluggish to get going, but after a nice continental breakfast, we began the challenge of reloading all our stuff (and animals) back into their respective vehicles. We were ready to go by 10:00 am. Around 10:45 we stopped to gas up the vehicles and feed Zaylee her mid-morning meal. I got some coffee to go and we were off, zooming toward the AR-OK border. Our next stop around 1:25 pm was at the Oklahoma Welcome Center about 16 miles into Oklahoma on I-40. Here, we took Peyton for a walk, ate leftover pizza from the night before for lunch, fed and changed Zaylee, checked on the kitties again, and enjoyed some fresh air. It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the low 60’s! After our nice break, we were determined to reach our final destination at Tinker AFB before having to stop again.

The drive from the border to the middle of OK was long and bumpy, but by 5:00 pm, the base was in site. Getting onto base with such a large caravan was another story. We had to go to one particular gate in order to get our U-haul through and that took at least another 20 minutes. By this time, Zaylee was crying to eat (she usually eats around 5 pm). They had to search our moving truck before allowing us onto base, and then we had quite a bit of trouble figuring out were we needed to go to find our TLF (temporary lodging facility). Finally, at around 5:40 pm, we were in our TLF – or should I say, our very small hotel room with a stove. Robbie and I were both under the impression that the TLF would be about the size of a 3-bedroom house on base because at Columbus AFB, that’s what they are. Boy, were we surprised when we walked in and saw that the entire place was smaller than our hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express the night before! Working out the logistics of where to move furniture, where to put Zaylee’s bed, where to put Peyton’s crate, and how to keep the kitties from disturbing sleeping people at night was quite a challenge, that at first, seemed too exhausting to deal with. It was a hard night, but by 11:15 pm, we were going to bed in our new, thankfully temporary, home.

Robbie and I are hoping to find a house within the next week, and with all the financing and paperwork, we should only have to stay here about a month. Moving from here to our new house – well, that will be another story entirely.

I did want to say before I finish this blog entry how very thankful I am for the people we had surrounding us with prayer the last few days. It made a real difference for us. And I also can’t say enough thanks to all our friends who helped us pack up, load the truck, entertain baby Zaylee, take care of Peyton, and clean our house for final inspection during our entire moving process, and the entire month of January while Robbie was gone for that matter. We truly couldn’t have done it without you all. We can only hope and pray that our time in OK will grant us many more wonderful friends like the ones we had back in Columbus. We love all so very much and will miss you!

P.S. Pictures are coming soon!

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.