Air Show

The Beagle at our most recent 95th Wives Coffee.


Rob's parents came into town this weekend for a visit! It also happened to be the weekend of the Tyndall Air Show! With the 95th being not only the coolest squadron, but also the closest to the flight line, it was host to the pilots and other air show participants. Therefore, we got to tour the squadron, see the life support area, and even play in the F-15 simulators! Not to mention, enjoy a rocking party Saturday night with pilots from Germany, Canada, and all over the US, present, and retired! Really neat to get to talk to lots of different people!


Here's some pics from the squadron.



In Life Support

Rob and Andy in the bar after successfully completing installation of new flatscreen TV and surround sound that even plays outside. Thank you tax dollars.

It's a very manly squadron bar.

Rob in front of the F-15. He looks so sexy.

This one I thought was really cool. It's called a Sea Dragon and it's the same kind of helicopter that was on the movie Transformers - cool, huh? It looks very angry.

The Air Force Heritage Flight with the P-51, the F-4, the F-15, and the F-22. Very cool.

We had a great time with the Moores! It rained most of Friday and Saturday so we were forced to stay at home and relax (rough, I know). But Sunday was a beautiful day and we spent it at the Air Show enjoying great planes showing off. Makes me more proud Rob is in the Air Force.

Florida Rocks our Socks Off

Even after a season in Florida, I still go to the beach and say to myself, "I can't believe I LIVE here!" It's so beautiful!!

Here's some of our latest trip-to-the-beach pics.

Oh yeah! The 95th wives, mischievous imps we are, stole the Beagle from the other F-15 squadron wives at the crud tournament. We proceeded to take a bunch of pictures with her around town and at the beach and composed a ransom note for her. Can you believe it, this is my husband's job!? ... well, you know... one of the many facets of his options...

It was a great night for a bonfire at the beach.

Some of our friends had some amazing fireworks and we had a regular 4th of July show!

Don't worry, the Beagle was returned safe and sound to the other squadron wives!

Oh Crud

How I love to play crud! It's the most fun game ever!

The tournament Friday was so exciting! We were so nervous too!

Above are our two crud teams! We are so ready! My team had the student wives and the DO wife. We did really well - we got third!! What's awesome about this team as well is that we all learned to play just a month or two ago!! How's that for awesome?

Above is us warming up. You can only shoot from the short ends of the pool table, trying to hit the colored ball with the white one. You want to get the colored ball in a hole to get a strike on the other team. Or you want the ball to stop while the other team is playing offense - they get a strike then too.

Rallying the troops!

This is the serving setup. We are in blue. Kris is blocking the server's view of the colored ball hopefully making it more difficult to hit. When (or if) the server hits the ball, Kris grabs the white ball and tries to hit the colored ball again (maybe into a pocket to get the other team a strike!) If the player with the white ball can't hit the colored one before it stops, that player gets a strike. Three strikes and you're out.

As soon as Kris hits the colored ball, she is done with her turn and the next member of our team rushes in to block the other team trying to hit the ball and then grabs the white ball to play offense if the other team succeeds.

It's a completely impossible game to understand simply upon a verbal explanation. I know I was totally confused until I played it. Just play it and you'll understand! Maybe.

The lineup as we wait for our turn to jump in!

The board at the end of one of our games. Katy turned on her crud awesomeness that night and won this game for us!

Our teams at the end of the tournament, regardless of our tournament standing, definitely having a great time!

March Madness

We have had a pretty busy month! From our house being scheduled for demolition, to learning we only had to move once (I still rejoice with spirit fingers about that), finishing a great study of Esther, playing in the crud tournament, traveling to Texas, and the Moores coming to visit!

Here's some updates:

Rob and I visiting Wewahitcka again for the honey.

Azalea bushes in full bloom are everywhere!

Recent Trip:

I LOVE flying standby! I mean, talk about marrying into the right family - condo in Cancun, cheap standby flights, horses in the country... plus, they're totally awesome!

I began my standby journey early (as all such journeys are begun) waking up at 3:10am to check in for my flight. I left my house at 4:10am to drive to the airport in Ft. Walton Beach, near Eglin, to arrive an hour early for my 7:10am flight. My parents were amazed at my early morning capability.

I dropped into the USO in the Dallas airport - which is the most amazing place in world, by the way! If you're a military member or spouse, GO THERE! The people are so happy and friendly and the food and everything is free! Plus, it makes me proud to see all the men and women serving the country. I want to volunteer at a USO one day!

I was so disappointed to not get on my planned flight from DFW to IAH in Houston! But that's part of the fun of flying standby - it's kind of like taking trains in Europe... "oops, I missed that train. where can I go instead?" I caught the next flight to Hobby Airport instead and Mom and I were very pleased to discover that Hobby is a really good airport - I think I shall fly there as my first choice now.

We then embarked upon a wonderful shopping adventure with a choir of retail angels singing the hallelujiah chorus as we first enjoyed Whole Foods and then spent the rest of our day at Anthropologie. *sigh* It was wonderful!

Really neat lamp at Anthropologie that I'm SO making!

Other highlights include dinner with Martin and girlfriend Caroline, hanging out with Dad, and more girl time with Mom!

The parents and I then drove to San Antonio on Wednesday for Dad's medical conference where I got to relive childhood memories of annual San Antonio medical conference stays in the Hyatt across from the Alamo and letting out onto the Riverwalk (the best place to stay in San Antonio!) We simply HAD to get some Mexican food! YUM! We walked the riverwalk - lovely! And we absolutely had to take pictures in front of the Alamo!! So fun!


Thursday, I embarked upon my return standby trip early (again), waking up at 1am, thinking I missed my alarm, waking up at 2am, thinking I missed it again, waking up at 3am to check in, waking up at 4am to get ready, and leaving at 4:30 to the airport. I got on all my planned flights this time and got back home after driving through some spring break traffic at 1:30pm. I was able to just greet Rob and send him out the door for his night flying days (where he goes to work around 1 and gets home around midnight). I then took a quick nap.

I woke up (there was far too much waking up on this day!) and met the girls for some crud practice, the big tournament being Friday and went to a self defense class following. Yes, it was a busy day!

The self defense class was great! If you ever get a chance to take one, do! It was more about preventing attacks than moves to do on people. It was nice in that it tried to create adrenaline in the class and have you work amid your adrenaline. The instructor said more than my body language, my eyes told him to go away - I told him those were my mean substitute teacher eyes :-) he he.

They've been doing controlled burns in the neighborhood and I thought it was so interesting! They have cans like pest control guys and spray a liquid-type fire on the ground that burns the underbrush. The forested area certainly looks a lot cleaner.


Speaking of the look of our neighborhood, there have been so many moving trucks!! We're so happy we only have to move once!



That's all in this post. Enjoy catching up with us!

Goodness

This week has been so good! Not only has it been GORGEOUS (74 and sunny) but it's just been good.

I was freaking out a little with the possible moves and vented to my lovely friend Rebecca via email and gained some serious perspective from her husband when he replied to her "poor McKay" with "Poor McKay? You mean, poor yoga on the beach McKay, you mean poor walks on the beach with her dog during the week McKay!?!" Oh. right. thanks. :-)

Bible study this week was also good. It was the last day of our study of Esther and I've learned so much!! I guess naive me thought that I would just go on with the lessons God has already taught me and His teaching me something new and growing me in new ways came as a serious and annoying surprise "but I don't want to learn more about trust, God!" Cute, McKay, cute.

And yes, it was just at the time that I'd given up my struggle and faced my whatever-it-may-be future with confidence in God's providence that we found out that we'd only have to move once. Thanks for constantly maturing me, God!

It has also been really good to start working out again. I do think it keeps me a little saner to expend some energy on yoga and cardio. ALSO, the fitness instructor is from Okinawa!! Isn't that cool? It's certainly neat to get a perspective on our future home from a native! It's also helped me prepare for the accent and try to understand the nuances of the language.


Another good thing this week: we've gotten some new wives as the new baby b-coursers have started! As you all know, I LOVE meeting new people and welcoming them to the group! These ladies are great too - which makes it even more fun! I'm so glad to be a part of this Eagle community.

Still playing, and now I'm kind of good at crud! I was the last one in for one of our games and actually had some good moves! It's such a fun game that my motivation to get good is so I can keep playing longer! SO fun! The tournament is Friday so get EXCITED! We're all looking forward to a great time!

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy came in the mail this week! Hooraay! The book club is reading it this time for something a little more lighthearted (I feel a little responsible for persuading them towards it) but I'm so excited to laugh! I love this book!

The commissary is good too. I left with some things not on the list this week, but so worth it! oreos, milk (for the oreos), dog bones, sun chips, and sushi. Love it.

Then, other good things this week: I got my oil changed, washed my car, drove with the top down, got a little sun, made cookies, made scones, drank tea, borrowed some movies from the library for free, washed clothes, experimented and made fried green tomatoes, chilled out at the farmers market sharing recipes for veggies, clipped coupons, and ate goldfish crackers. mmm.

Moving

WE ONLY HAVE TO MOVE ONCE!! I shouted while doing "superstar" as I hung up the phone from talking to housing. The meeting they had on Monday DID in fact push back the move out day to May 1 - so that means we have to move in late April into TLF (temporary lodging facility in military speak). All the details have yet to be worked out, but the fact that we only have to move once and that move is an overseas packing move (better packing) makes both Rob and I very happy.

A Few More Green Tips

I was looking up reusable grocery bags today (anyone have a favorite?) and thought it would be nice to share some more green tips.

Organic Coconut Oil

Organic coconut oil (available at the grocery store near the cooking oil) is a great moisturizer, as recommended by my good friend, Joy. It's also a great massage oil. Just wipe off any excess that doesn't absorb.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I've recently been trying olive oil to remove eye makeup when my Arbonne ran out. It works very well to remove makeup, but I'm not sure if I like it in my eyes.

Baggies

Washing and reusing your plastic ziplock bags is also nice for your pocketbook. I can't remember the last time I bought plastic bags! Just wash with dish soap and flip the rim to set it out to dry (don't invest in those "plastic bag dryers" - please! they're a gimmick.) Admittedly, I do throw away baggies that have had really tough dirt in them, like bacon or something, but you get the idea.

Wash Cold

So all those websites say "wash your clothes in cold water to save energy." Yeah, right! I live with a guy... a guy who gets clothes dirtier and smellier than I've ever thought clothes could get (I'm not saying Rob is especially dirty, just that I've never lived with a guy before Rob... so in essence I'm only saying that guys are dirty). But I tried it (really just to prove the websites wrong) and it worked! Wow. Cool.

Green Cleaner

Another plug for my vinegar cleaner! I used it in the squadron bar (a VERY dirty place) and it cleaned UP! (ha ha) What's more, it was gentle enough to not strip the finish off, unlike some places where it's very apparent the finish has been stripped by a harsher cleaner. In tougher non-delicate spots, I sprinkled baking soda, sprayed with vinegar solution, and scrubbed with my cotton washcloth and elbow grease!

Shampoo

I've been trying a few different shampoos, spurred on my this curly-haired website and the idea that curly hair needs moisture to be curly and not frizzy and that sulfates in shampoos dry out my hair. Now, I "wash" my hair with conditioner most days and a no-sulfate shampoo on dirty days (about once a week only). Both of these products are available at my commissary and I'm hoping future commissaries. It's nice because it is even lower maintenance - I air dry and hardly ever use styling products. Admittedly, the transition period between regular shampoos and my current regime was really ugly, but I like the results.

So, what's your favorite green thing? And what reusable bags are your favorites?

The News

Well, I passed my mental health exam, despite being in the middle of one very crazy PCS (that's military code for moving). Thanks!

People have been asking about our housing situation and as of today, we actually know less than nothing. I went to the housing office today to make sure there's not something I ought to be doing and they said there's a meeting happening today because they found that so many of us on these streets are PCSing soon (no kidding! this is where the students live who're here for only 8 months, but you know). So, they're maybe going to push back the demolition date. We'll keep you posted. I'd kinda got a little excited about living in a brand new house though - even if it is only for a month.

This weekend, we went *dah dah dah DAH* SAILING!! Yes, the maiden voyage of the SS Awesome. Rob and I really like our boat! It sails really well and is just a good boat. We're very pleased. We're hoping to sail more before we leave the lovely Gulf Coast - hopefully in slightly warmer weather! It was chilly wading in the water to put the boat up as the sun set and the temperature dropped!

Also, I am playing crud! It's SO fun! I'm not sure all who plays it, but it's mainly in military circles. It is played on a crud table (but for us on pool tables, because of the lack of crud tables) with a white ball and a colored ball. Very basically, the offensive player uses the white ball to hit the colored one trying to get the colored one in a hole, to stop, or to be difficult for the next player to hit. The girls' tournament is March 20 and the 95th (Rob's squadron) team is playing a bunch of other teams from other areas of the base. Cheer for the Boneheads (us)! YAY!

At the scrimmage night on Thursday - Patty leans in to tap the colored ball while the other team tries to block.