T-6 Dollar Flight

Tom did get to have his first flight in the T-6 today.  He was so excited.  He called Bill to talk flying.  I got to see his Facebook post but could tell he was excited.

"Today at the office, I climbed to 15,000 ft.  Pulled 4Gs in a turn.  Did a spin, barrel roll, aileron roll, split-s, immelmann, cloverleaf, cuban eight, lazy eight and a few stalls.  Pulled another 4G turn at 800 ft. above the ground and a high performace climb out before coming back to Earth.  Did I mention my office is an Air Force airplane?  Needless to say, I love my job!"

Ready for Takeoff

Tom's Combat Systems Officer class started out on the flight line this week.  They posted this fun class picture on Facebook this week with a theme of "Clear the Desks".  I assumed it was a play on words in relation to "clear the decks".  However, Tom set me straight to let me know that the photo was actually meant to be a gift for an instructor.  They were going to make it into a mouse pad for him.  And that "clear the desks" is what the instructor said when it was time to take their exams.  The pose was also with this instructor in mind.  He had his hands inside the collar of his flight suit with his thumbs up all the time as he was instructing.  So it was all meant to have fun with this instructor for his gift.  At any rate, they are done with the academic portion of the course and ready to fly T-6's.

He was so excited to start flying.  He was scheduled to have his dollar flight on Wednesday but it was canceled both Wednesday and today for bad weather.  So he is hoping to get that first flight tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed for him.  Such an exciting time in his life.

Super Bowl Sunday

Bill and Cindy had been talking about getting together so we decided to have her and Jim come over for a Super Bowl party at our house.  I have never really thrown a Super Bowl party before.  So it was kind of fun planning the menu.  And I had to get a little creative to accommodate Cindy's gluten intolerance but she was so appreciative that I went out of my way to make sure she could eat some cornbread and cookies.  She asked to take some cookies home with her because she hadn't had any in so long.

I, of course, supported my own team even though they weren't in the Super Bowl by wearing my Packer gear and using my Packer chip and dip set.  Normally I would have been very interested in watching the game but hosting the party actually made that a little bit difficult.  So I didn't get to see very much of the game or the commercials.  But I got to visit with Cindy which I hadn't been able to do in quite awhile so it was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening.

Chris had an interesting spin to his Super Bowl Sunday.  He doesn't like football at all.  He recently got a new debit card and it has the 49ers on it.  He was so upset because they automatically gave him a card with a football team on it and he doesn't even like football--much less that they assume he like the 49ers even if he did.  He kept posting on Facebook that he needed to rout for the Niners because they were on his debit card and that he didn't want to face all the "sorry your team didn't win" comments when he used his card.  So at the end of the game, he said--"Better stock up on cash."  Too funny that guy!

A Fun Day

 

Even though Tom isn't around anymore to go to wrestling matches with me, I can't seem to stay away--at least not totally.  I went to a dual match with Hudson's Bay a couple of weeks ago and since I was an airplane widow for most of the day, I decided to go to the district championships.  It was fun to see Jake Thomas and Brady Stoddard--teammates of Tom's years ago--sharing their expertise with the current Thunder wrestlers as coaches.

And Coach Chipman is still the head coach and it is still entertaining to watch him get excited during matches.

It is heartwarming to see the "little" wrestlers that Tom taught when he was in high school and has kept in touch with by helping out with practices when he was home for Christmas break while in college.  Kenji Yamishita has had an awesome year winning multiple championships and Brandon Profitt was another little guy Tom worked with that isn't so little anymore and is also an exceptional wrestler.

I only stayed long enough to watch through the semi-finals so I didn't watch the rest of the consolation rounds or the finals but the Thunder won the district championship and have many wrestlers going to the regional tournament next weekend.  They had an awesome day. Tom would have loved to be here to see them with me, I'm sure.

Part of the reason I left early was because Bill and I had made plans to go out to the Columbia Gorge to shoot some video when he was finished with the plane and I took a few pictures of course.  It was a beautiful day to go although a little chilly.

All in all a very good day.

Changes in Florida

Tom's girlfriend, Maddy, moved to Florida about a week ago.  I'm not sure it is a good idea but I'm hoping things work out okay now that she has decided to move there.  Last Monday was spent looking for an apartment and her dog, Ariel, seemed to enjoy looking out the window of Tom's car as they drove around Pensacola.  I loved the photo so decided to scrap it.  She spent the last week getting things taken care of for her to start working as a teacher in a pre-school--taking CPR courses, getting a TB test, getting fingerprinted, etc.  Her car arrived yesterday and her household goods today so she is busily moving her things into her new apartment.  So she should soon be ready to start her job now that everything seems to be in place.

Urbana 12

After Christmas, Christopher left to go to an Intervarsity Christian Fellowship conference in St. Louis.  It was a missions conference that was pitched to him at his church as an opportunity for involvement.  Three other college students from his church and a chaperone went.  There were 16,000 students in attendance.  There was worship, Bible study, seminars and opportunities to learn about mission work.  The conference ended New Years Eve with communion and worship.  Most all of their time was spent at the conference but they did take some time out go up the Gateway Arch.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all!  Bill and I spent a quiet evening home--just the two of us.  We enjoyed some pizza, sparkling wine and cheesecake for our dinner.  We went to bed early and were awoken to our neighbors shooting off fireworks to announce that it was 2013.

In looking back over the year, we had a lot to celebrate--Beverly, Chris and me reaching our milestone birthdays this year, Christopher's phenomenal success in college, Tom graduating and entering the Air Force, reunions with family members and old classmates and friends.  Our one sad moment was losing Ranger this year. 

I was also challenged by a fellow blogger to come up with my favorite layouts for the year.  Having done over 100 pages this year and each of them having a special place in my heart for one reason or another, it was a little hard to pick.  But here are my top 15 for the year.  Tom having such a big year has weighed heavily in his favor for numbers obviously but it doesn't take away from the wonderful year that Christopher had as well.  So here they are.

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse of my favorite layouts from the past year and here is wishing you a very Happy New Year!