valentine's day Preparing for the Unknown...

Thank you all for the kind words and well wishes as the Jetplanes prepare for the great unknown ahead of us. We still have some time before he leaves, and I'm trying to treasure every moment that we have together.

I'm not going to turn the next few weeks into a time where I continually blog about how nervous, upset, pissed off, confused, angry or whatever emotion I am feeling about this upcoming deployment but I'm going to be honest about this stage.

The past week or so I've read countless blogs where bloggers list their resolutions for 2011. As I look ahead into 2011, it all seems so unknown to me. 2011 will be quite a year for the Jetplanes. So much is going to happen or we hope may happen in the next year.

We will experience our 1st deployment.

We will both turn 31.

We will celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary.

We will deal with being seperated for atleast 6 months.

We will learn to live and be able to thrive without each other every day.

We hope to be lucky enough to get pregnant.

We hope my mother remains cancer free.

We hope (and pray) Mr. Jetplane returns from war.

We hope to finish renovating our home in Idaho.

We hope to learn to live and be able to thrive without each other every day.

The next year will be tough, no doubt about that. But I can look to and aspire to be like the many wonderfully couragous military wives out there in the blogosphere. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and prayers with you all during this time. I'm not looking for sympathy so please don't think that's what I'm after.

But this is my blog and there will be days when my blogging might be pretty depressing or days when it is non-existent. But there will also be days when it will be happy and carefree.

But (wow I've used but 3x in a round..whatever), this is real life and this is my husband preparing to go to WAR. WAR...WAR...is not something you really think about every day even if you are married to someone in the military. WAR is something very real that my best friend will be experiencing every day. WAR is something that I will think about every day while he is away.

WOW this is happening....I know I sound like someone that must have been in denial...well that's probably because I feel like I have been in denial. I'll fully admit that one. Its easy to be in denial when your husband has been in training for years and you are now looking ahead to your 1st deployment.

valentine's day My Life in Bullets...

Well hello there...how is every one's holiday season going thus far? Ours is crazy for sure! So crazy, that I've obviously not been blogging regularly in quite some time. So in order to bring you up to speed in a relatively quick time frame...here we go...

1. The Jetplanes have been hard at work renovating/updating our humble abode. I hope to share pictures soon.

2. We purchased new appliances for the kitchen and I love them, especially the awesome ice cubes the refrigerator makes...its the lil things in life, right?

3. We have been snowboarding...well clarification... Mr has been snowboarding and I have been attending lessons.

4. The Jetplanes spent most of last week in Florida for my end of year meetings and holiday party. We got to have a lovely dinner with fellow blogger, and our husbands finally got to meet.

5. We are headed back to Illinois for the holiday and while I'm excited to see family, after the recent travel mishaps I've experienced, I'm not thrilled to be getting on a plane.

6. And in even better news, I'm happy to report our friend that was in the car accident has made great progress in the past 2 weeks. Due to the progress, he wasn't moved back east and is still in the area. He is tracking people and able to provide non-verbal responses to questions...He is even giving his wife kisses...yes I know amazing right?

Well there is a snapshot of the past couple of weeks in 6 bullet points, sadly I guess my life isn't that exciting.... So I'll leave you with a lil laugh. Here are a couple of outtakes from my holiday party... My department performed a skit at the holiday party and this used in it :) Enjoy!

Yes I know my husband looks totally creepy in that picture...

valentine's day Did you ever imagine you'd be a military wife?

If I had a nickel for every time I get asked this question....

Well the simple, short answer to that question is NO. To be completely and brutally honest its not something I ever thought nor wanted to be. Mr. Jetplane and I met before he was in the Air Force. When we met he was thinking about trying to get into Officer Training School (OTS). You want a lil more honesty... when he told me he had started the process I thought to myself, "This relationship probably isn't going anywhere so I have nothing to worry about"...yeah I know.

Mr. Jetplane didn't go into the Air Force with the idea of flying jets. He has a background in finance and he had envisioned doing something in the military associated with that. But when he took his 'tests' he scored high in math and science, which isn't hard to believe since he started college as an engineering major. (FYI - he switched to finance because he liked to party and engineering classes were at 8am and at the other side of campus TRUE STORY).

Mr. Jetplane joined the USAF a lil over 4 years ago. He is now a Captain and I have officially been a military wife for about 2 1/2 years, but we've been going through this together ( i.e. living together aka living in sin) the entire time. There is ALOT of schooling and being selected through various tracks in order to get where we are now, which is our 1st operational squadron.

I'm not gonna sugar coat anything here. Its tough stuff. If I didn't move down to Florida to be with him during his first year of flight school, we wouldn't be together now. We know a lot of couples that didn't make it out of flight school before breaking up and/or divorcing.

But you can make it...heck we made it. We learned a lot about each other, we learned that we have to be a team. We have to support each other and push each other along.

As a spouse or significant other of someone in the military you have to come to terms with the fact that the needs of the military will always supersede your needs. ALWAYS PEOPLE. It doesn't mean your husband doesn't love you...he doesn't have a choice.

You have to be strong and independent. You have to be willing to let some things slide and be able to go to bed not knowing exactly when your spouse is going to get home from work.

Now we're headed into unknown territory for us...the D WORD....DEPLOYMENT.

He was suppose to deploy before the end of the year but it got pushed back, which I was more than a lil thankful for. But now each day that goes by makes it one day closer till when my hubby leaves. I'm trying to prepare myself for it, that's a work in progress.

But to stay on the honesty train we've been riding, being a military wife its not necessarily all that different from being the wife of a lawyer, doctor, fireman, police officer, or even a business owner. Sure there are some big differences...one of which is my hubby goes to work in what he likes to call "glorified pj's" and his office is a fighter jet. But there are plenty of jobs that require long hours, tons of training, and a huge amount of patience from family and friends.

I still and probably always feel awkward when someone thanks me for the work that my husband does. It always makes me feel strange but it makes me feel proud at the same moment. Did I ever envision this being my life...well I think I already answered that....no. Am I honored to be married to my gorgeous fly boy...of course.

Sometimes people ask me for some sage advice about becoming a military wife, which I find humorous. What do I say to people...well... I think you need to develop 2 things a thicker skin and a good sense of humor...both will come in handy...oh and I find a stocked liquor cabinet handy...but hey that's just me.

valentine's day What I learned from Halloween 2010

Well yesterday was Halloween for those of you that live under a rock and weren't aware of this. Yesterday I learned a couple of things that I thought I would share with you.

1. Halloween isn't as much fun without Mr. Jetplane. He's in Vegas for work. Yes I know.

2. Lil boys still love being superheros. I'm worried the masks they are selling with the costumes make it hard for them to see. I had 3 lil boys trip on my porch.

3. Some kids are straight up RUDE. If they didn't say "Trick or Treat" I would kindly say, "Do I get a Trick or Treat?" I also gave a friendly shout, "You're Welcome!!" to a few when they walked away.

4. Just because your lil sweetie pie daughter wants to dress up like a tramp, doesn't mean you should let her.....ummm k.

5. I love when parents dress up with their kids, except when those parents decide to wear scary clown masks like they are from the movie "It". Seriously people...I still have nightmares from watching that movie when I was a kid.

6. If the lights are off that means don't come knock on my door. Its 9pm people, you and your 7 kids (most of which looked under 6 yrs old) do not need to be out running the streets at 9pm.

7. You don't need to ring my doorbell 3 times, I'm not deaf and hear it on the 1st ring.

8. If you can drive yourself, you're too old to be trick or treating.

Wow...did I just become a old bittie....

I hope everyone had a great Halloween.

Update: Its come to my attention that I may have offended hearing impaired people by my "I'm not deaf" comment. If so, I hope you would understand that was not my intention. I also understand lil ones like to ring the doorbell, its the "slightly bigger" kids that seemed to be the problem.

valentine's day Paula can't ruin this day...

Better late than never, right? Well as promised here's a follow up post from the Jetplanes' Mexican Adventure. Even though we had a hell of a time getting down there, it was worth all the trouble.

valentine's day Mr. Jetplane, as always, had a great time...As you can see by the picture he decided to join in with the band during the cocktail hour...oh yes I was ever the proud wife...

The first day we were welcomed by the Bride and Groom and had a fabulous Cocktail Meet and Greet. We had delicious food and drink, and broke it down at da club....

Let's just say...there was alot of fun being had by all. After a travel nightmare its good to let loose with several adult beverages...right?

The next day was the wedding and after all the drama from Hurricane Paula, it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day in Mexico. I had always envisioned Jill getting married on the beach. There is only 1 thing that you have to worry about when getting married on a beach resort... valentine's day Guys in speedos...Thankfully my drunk husband liked to take pictures of the randoms walking by and gawking at the wedding. I'd like to say this is the only one...but I can't :)

Here is the lovely bride walking down with her father.

The whole wedding party as they exchange vows...I may have cried. Look at that sky...seriously wasn't a hurricane supposed to hit? Maybe it did...in the form of our friend that ended up in the pool. This picture is of him fully clothed...thankfully we don't have pictures when he wasn't :)

Here are a few additional pictures from the photographer. valentine's day I think you can really see how truly happy they are. I love these pictures.

Here we are getting her together before the I do's.

valentine's day Here's the whole crew that attended the festivities. Screw you Paula!

And just for fun... valentine's day Congrats Jill and Billy....we love you. xoxo

valentine's day We're Back...

That bitch Paula and U.S. Airways ain't goin to keep me out Mexico for wedding...

I promise to fill you in on all the juicy details from the wedding weekend which included

1 drunk husband and 3 orders of room service club sandwiches that he passed out before he ate

1 jump into the pool during the reception (perhaps not fully clothed...this was not drunk husband)

1 fabulous couple who got married on a beach (with 2 beautiful dresses)

1 hell of a day before the trip trying to get down there after my flight was cancelled

But it was all worth it!!

p.s. due to trip, previous flu before trip, and laziness I fell off the fit train for Project Get Sexy...I ran today, it was NOT PRETTY!!! Mr told me that for every week you don't run you lose 2 weeks of training...well I've been bad for 2 weeks so you do the painful math there :(

valentine's day Need a Vacation from my Vacation

The Jetplanes headed back to Illinois on Thursday afternoon and got back on Monday afternoon. Let me tell you, while the trip was great...it went by way too fast and I am totally exhausted from it.

Sadly we had to put our 2 furbabies in the kennel, and let me tell you they are still tired lil boys, and probably still a lil pissed off at us. I hate putting them in a kennel, Milo hasn't been boarded in almost 4 years and last time Charlie was boarded he cried and didn't want to eat....yeah needless to say we were worried.

Thankfully, it looks like all went well, except the kennel owner kept calling Milo by the wrong name....he kept calling him Otis. Yeah...I know. But enough of me being the crazy dog mama that I am.

The trip was jammed packed with family, friends, and tons o' fun. I got to see my mama, Mr's grandma, our newest nephew, my grandpa, and tons of friends. We got to attend a fabulous wedding at a gorgeous venue, drank too much champagne and danced our booties off.

I seriously love attending weddings, especially those of my friends. I miss my friends so very much and its wonderful to get to see them at these important events. I love breaking it down on the dance floor with my friends and feel like we're taken right back to senior year of college...perhaps... dropping it like its hot on the dance floor.

You want to know what song takes me straight back to college days partying it up at the college parties, afterhours, beer breakfasts, etc....




Within the next year, all of my best girlfriends will be married ladies. Its so amazing to see us all growing and becoming wives and mothers. I love meeting and developing relationships with their husbands and babies.

Sadly my camera was D-E-A-D at the wedding...but I do have 1 picture. Thanks to my cell phone which was ALMOST dead.

Hope to steal some from others off of Facebook.

Side note - I was in desperate need of an eyebrow waxing so I got mine did at a Mastercuts near Mr's brother's house and he decided he'd get a haircut. Poor guy the woman brutalized his hair...he is still livid. Just because he's in the military people doesn't mean he gets a buzzcut...poor guy :(

valentine's day Residing in a Construction Zone

Casa de Jetplane is in various states of disrepair or repair depending on how you look at it. Its exciting but its annoying at the same time. We hope to be getting gloriously dark, hand-strapped hard woods throughout the main living areas installed next week. But before that could happen we had to pull up the 20+ yr old thick-as-hell carpet, carpet pad, tack strips, and countless staples. Don't even get me started on the stairs leading to the loft...

So needless to say, we've been walking on backer board for about 2 weeks and everyone is annoyed, including the dogs. So much so, that they have agreed to lay together in the living room, which rarely happens...

Last night we began tackling the installation of the 1/4" plywood and I got to try to the air compressor staple gun that shoots 1" long staples. UMMMM....it was awesome and I loved it. So much more fun the job that Mr had, measures and cutting all the wood to fit...boo.

But as with any home improvement tasks, us Jetplanes prefer to stay hydrated with adult beverages. Guess who's is who?

Doesn't everyone drink lil cheap champagne and a Tall Boy of Coors Light while installing plywood...no just us? Oh well... We're saving ourselves over $2,000 by doing this ourselves, that deserves a drink, right?

Wish us luck, we're installing the kitchen, living room, and hallway tonight and this weekend....

valentine's day Project Get Sexy

We all are guilty at one time or another of letting ourselves go and gaining weight. It could because we get 'fat and happy' or 'sad and fat'. We could have just had a baby, switched medications, or developed an unhealthy obsession with Rocky Road ice cream....it happens to us all.



And when we gain this weight we start to feel it, not just feel it in our body but feel it in our soul. We start to feel bad about ourselves. We feel less like the woman we thought we were and less attractive. Well, at least I do.



I have gained some weight since we got married June 2008. Some will say that I haven't gained 'a lot of weight', but enough for me to notice and enough for it to hurt my self esteem. I'm only 5'2" so every lb is painful.



I want to lose some lbs and more importantly I want to look better in my clothes. I want to be toned. I want definition in my legs. I want to feel good in a sleeveless shirt. I want to feel like this picture again...

I felt good in this picture. It was a month after the wedding and I took them for Mr's birthday present. I had lost weight before the wedding and felt good about my body. I want to feel good about my body again.

So what am I gonna do about this?



I've started Couch to 5k and I am doing this plan. There are a couple C to 5k plans out there, or at least it appears to be the case. I chose this one, because let's face it....I loathe running and starting at running 2 minutes 1st workout, just ain't-a-happenin. This plan starts with the 1st 3 workouts - jogging 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds. I do my 3rd work out tomorrow morning.



Mr. Jetplane is doing this with me, not because he needs it but for moral support. After the 1st 'run', we got home I was exhausted and he went on a 7 mile run. Yeah this is the type of guy I'm dealing with.



Surprisingly I'm excited about this...and that is saying a lot for someone that regularly says the only time you'd see me running is if I was being chased... Yeah, a runner I am not. But I do seriously hope that this program can change my opinion on running and in turn help me get back into shape.

I will keep you all up to date with my progress. I will also be integrating some new and healthy recipes into our diet.

Project Get Sexy is in full effect...

Photo Credit - Oeil Photography

valentine's day Don't watch Mad Men...well you should start!

And lucky for you Season 4 starts on Sunday... Yeah Sunday as in the Day the Lord made for Eric Northman...but relax people God made DVRs so you can share in the delight of Don Draper, the Silver Fox Roger Sterling, sexy Viking Vamp Eric, and the hunky were Alcide...yes I excluded Bill because I hate Bill. (Read the books people you'd hate Bill too)

What you haven't watched the first 3 seasons and need to understand the pure awesomeness that is Mad Men...well you're in luck check out the link below.




Is anyone else concerned with how they are going to watch all the HBO shows, Mad Men, HGTV Design Star, and My Boys which is also coming on this Sunday (which is also another great show and set in Chicago). Ugh!!!!

Yes I'm addicted to television - SO WHAT!

valentine's day What up Idaho...

We are here... well we've been here since July 8th. Alot has happened since we last 'spoke'.

Mr. Jetplane began a Captain and turned the big 3-0.
We bought our 2nd house and we love it. It honestly feels like we live on a compound. It has a veggie garden and the sellers planted everything before they moved out.
We have already started a little demo and remodeling.

Oh and we already have our first house guests...and we don't even have all our belongings yet...truck comes tomorrow!

Heading to my 1st coffee tonight to meet all ladies in the squadron.

Hello Idaho the Jetplanes are here!!!!!

P.S. Thank you for all the Twitter love while we were traveling. I'm going to try to do a post about the trip later next week.

XOXO

valentine's day Peace Out Shady J

The Jetplanes are leaving North Carolina today...thank you NC, we've enjoyed our brief time here.


We'll definitely miss all the great people we're leaving behind. The fighter community is really small and we look forward to seeing you all soon again.

We're off on to start this new adventure and are pretty excited about it.... wish us luck :)

valentine's day Into the great wide open...

Today is the last work day before the move. The packers/movers were suppose to be here today...Haha...but that appears to not be happening until tomorrow...gotta love Military moves.

So I'll be hitting the road mid day tomorrow to head to Illinois and Mr. will get on the road when the movers finish packing up the truck. Its not ideal, nor what we want, but its the best solution. We'll be staying in Illinois for a few days, so he'll meet me at my parents house.

I remind myself over and over again that very soon I'll be calling this place home...

I'll be able to see the mountains every day...to me that's alittle surreal. I'm a Midwest girl, it took me a while to get used to seeing the water everyday when we lived in Pcola.

See you all on the flipside...I hope to be able to blog alittle over the next 2 weeks, but no promises.

XOXO

valentine's day Pug Friday - Peace out NC

Today is our last Friday in North Carolina. To be totally honest with you, my life is so crazy right now that I didn't know it was Friday until 10 minutes ago. And to make matters even worse...I wish it was still Thursday or better yet Wednesday, yeah I know I've lost it. This week has moved way too fast for me.


So for today's Pug Friday is my new Twitter picture. If you don't have a Twitter, well its probably better than way. I'm totally addicted to it and spend all damn day on it, so you've been warned.


Anyway....I digress. The packers are going to come today or Monday, yes that is what TMO said. For you non-mil, that the office that runs and oversees all the moving...don't ask me with TMO stands for, I don't know and I don't care. All I want to know is they won't lose our paperwork anymore, computers should be working 5 days a week, and stop giving us lame ass excuses. In our last move, we had an agent come out and access our 'stuff' to determine if we were a 1 day or 2 day pack, then move. Well obviously that's not what is happening here :)


I hope they show up on Monday and can pack everything in 1 day. Honestly, they should be able to, but you never know what type of crew you are going to get in here. Here's to an easy pack/move....


Well I gotta get back to work, I'm taking 2 weeks off for this move so I have a TON of work to do...shoot me now...


Happy Pug Friday!!!

valentine's day In just 8 short days...

The Jetplanes will be hitting the road and leaving North Carolina in our rear view mirror. We're moving to Idaho people...

We're heading to Illinois the first day and spending a couple of days with both my family and his, then heading out to the wild west...

So please forgive me for my current and potentially continued status of MIA, as one could expect its pretty crazy over here right now.

valentine's day The END but just the BEGINNING!

Friday was a BIG day for us, Mr. Jetplane graduated from flight school. It was the culmination of years of hard work...really hard, stressful work. I have said it before, and I'll say it again...I am so proud of this man that I lovingly call my husband.

If you would have told me 6 years ago when we met that I would be a military wife I would have laughed in your face. But here I am the wife of a guy that freaking flies in fighter jets....yeah I know, crazy stuff, right?

Its not like I need reminding but when I am at a military event I get overly emotional. Sitting in a room full of high ranking military personnel, listening to 'war stories', and receiving sage advice for our futures.... I can't help it, I CRY!

I cried during the prayer before eating....I cried as a retired general spoke about what we can expect....I cried when Mr was awaiting to graduate...I almost cried when they gave all the wives bouquets of flowers as a thank you.

Its a scary world out there folks and my hubby is going to Afghanistan, he's going to be flying in hostile air space and protecting the lives of the folks fighting on the ground. This ISN'T a movie, this is real life...this is going to be my life. Everything got "real" real last night...yes I'll admit that I might have been living in denial, but its kinda easy to do when you've been in training for almost 4 years.

But as this big, heavy door is closing, we're walking into a whole new world. We're heading to Idaho. We're heading to our 1st operational squadron. We're heading to our 1st deployment. We're heading into this new chapter of our lives excited and obviously a little nervous. But I know we can do it... But now onto more important things....Pictures!

Here is my hunky husband awaiting his graduation certificate. Sorry the lighting was horrible, luckily they had a photographer there.

He is receiving his certificate from the Squadron Commander. Here is the whole class....don't they look happy?

But don't worry folks it just wasn't all pomp and circumstance...there was free booze.... Here I am with a fellow wife and Crud team member. That's our trophy and picture behind us!

And with a lot of free booze and a big, blue, beautiful limo driven by a DD...you get pictures like this one...Congrats to all the guys and their families... We'll see you all again in Idaho, England, or back in the Shady J.... Once an Eagle!

valentine's day Proud Day

Sorry folks, there is no Pug Friday today but there is something way better....Its Mr. Jetplane's graduation day.

Mr. Jetplane finally graduates from flight school. We've been through pvt pilot classes, Primary, Advanced, IFF, EWO, and now the B-Course.

I am so unbelievably proud of this man. Its been a tough road. There have been plenty days, weeks, and to be honest, probably a whole month, he hated everything that had to do with flying. The past couple of years have been hard not just for him but for US.

But I've been happy and proud to stand by his side through all of this.

Congrats babe, I love you!

valentine's day The Ridiculousness of my Marriage

Is that we get into full on arguments about the dumbest things. I mean REAL dumb sh!t. We'll argue about whether the actor in a movie was in another movie or television show. We'll argue about whether or not we have chicken nuggets in the freezer. We're argue about where we we're going to eat dinner.

You see these aren't life or death issues here... well to be honest we got into a HUGE fight right after Hurricane Katrina and we were driving to a wedding in St Louis from Indianapolis. Let's just say that I didn't speak to him for almost the entire drive. But other than that, we agree on most 'big things' and create WW3 on seriously stupid crap.

So what's our LATEST fight.... This sh!t....I thought for sure we'd be on the same side of this issue, but sadly we are not. I'm uber pissed off that Will Smith has a big enough head to think that he and his young son can remake a CLASSIC. I find it appalling and will not give them ANY of my $. Mr. thinks they might be able to remake it and it be good. Oh and he insists on seeing it...insists!

I find that incredibly hard to believe...Jackie Chan people....Jackie Chan is no Mr. Miyagi and Jaden Smith is no Daniel Son.

I mean this is a classic don't mess with a classic.... FYI - this song played on our pre-wedding video shown at the rehearsal dinner for Mr. Jetplane's section of pictures. That's how much this man loves some Karate Kid...

valentine's day 2 Years Ago Today....

I became a wife... valentine's day 2 years ago today I became the wife of Mr. Jetplane. I'm not going to lie to you all and say that these past 2 years have been easy peasy, because they haven't been. We've had plenty of struggles like any young couple do, and plenty of hiccups along the road thanks to Uncle Sam and the great USAF. But I love this man.

valentine's day This man is cheesy, handsome, lil cocky, and a deep down a softie (don't tell him I said that). This week he graduates from the B-Course, his final section of flight school, and I don't think I could be any prouder of him.

valentine's day So thank you Mr. Jetplane for making me...the crazy, messy, neurotic basketcase that I am, your wife on that fine June afternoon 2 years ago.

valentine's day I love you....always.

valentine's day Status of the Jetplanes Real Estate Empire...

If you read this blog, you will know that the Jetplanes are moving to Idaho and we put an offer in that was accepted on a house. We had the standard inspection done on Tuesday and there were only minimal issues, the house was built in the late 80s, so we anticipated some small details.

The house has a wooden shingled roof, a roof that we had never seen before, so we had a roof inspector come out and do an inspection. It was only $50. A general inspector will not provide you a detailed roof inspection, so we chose to pay for an additional inspection. Well it turns out this inspector actually did an inspection on this roof for the home owners last year and replaced several of the shingles. He gives the roof a 5 years or more (with maintenance) rating. Well, that is not good enough for us.

So needless to say, we've submitted another amended offer on the house last night. This might be a deal breaker if we can't come to some compromise. We've been up front and honest with our agent telling her we have concerns about the roof. I think our agent thinks we're crazy or delusional or something. It feels like she thinks we're too demanding or expecting too much. That's fine, but we're not buying a house that will need a new roof in 5 years, that my friend just ain't happening...unless you show us some money...

Oh and THANK YOU all so much for the birthday wishes, I really appreciate it. And on a total side note...guess who got carded while ordering a drink at dinner last night...this lady!!!

UPDATE: The seller has agreed to put on a whole new roof. Ask and you shall receive... we are SHOCKED and so HAPPY!!!