Jordan, the "Baller"

We have settled in to our new, normal routine here in Milton, Florida, and besides making trips to New Orleans, enjoying the lively town and community of Pensacola, and  becoming beach bums on the beautiful white sand beaches, Jordan is actually not on an extended paid vacation, contrary to what it may seem. I can assure you, he is in fact working and studying extremely hard in advanced flight school, and is nose deep in his books right now as I type. Jordan is in the first phase of advanced helicopter training now, and has classed up with HT-8, the Eightballers. The motto of HT-8 is "the finest helicopters in the world train here," so is it any wonder these students go by the slang term "baller" over their radio communications? And despite this slang nickname, which implies all kinds of swaggering egotism, this squadron does have quite a bit to brag about. HT-8 is the oldest naval helicopter training squadron established. Furthermore, not only can they claim that the best helicopter pilots in the world are trained here, but some of the most famous astronauts in the world have also studied basic introductory helicopter courses here as well,  in order to better understand the principles of vertical flight and hovering for their Lunar Modular training.



After the initial few weeks of ground school and testing, Jordan and his fellow students progressed next to simulator training, aka the sims, where they were tested on EPs (emergency procedures), as well as start up and shut down procedures. Similarly to his time in Primary flight school when he had to memorize hundreds of pages of EPs, Jordan began carrying his trusty little yellow notebook of EPs with him everywhere he went, and the incoherent mumbling began once again. Whether he is cooking, showering, eating, or driving, Jordan is constantly reciting EPs to himself in attempt to commit them perfectly verbatim to memory. It may sound like a coherent list to him, but to me it sounds like pure mumbling gibberish. And as much as I like to tease him for this incoherent student-pilot language and the OCD-like behavioral tendencies that he has adopted, I have become accustomed to this training lifestyle and it hardly phases me anymore. All joking aside, his studying consumes every moment of his life most days. However, I know that this effort and work ethic is not only important to him for reasons to do well and achieve top grades, but more so, these EPs are just that, Emergency Procedures. If anything happens to go wrong in the ancient training helicopter that they fly, this mumbling gibberish will save his life when he knows how to handle any emergency situation under pressure so that he comes out unharmed, or in Jordan's words, so that he doesn't become a Jordan Kabob or smoking hole in the earth! Thanks for those images Jordan! Yes, there is an instructor pilot in the helicopter alongside the student; however, what happens when there is birdstrike, and the bird crashes through the windshield right into the instructors helmet, tar and feathering him in its blood and knocking him out cold, and the student is then solely in charge of piloting the helicopter back to base-regardless of how far along he is in his training syllabus. Yes, this really did happen. Luckily, it did not happen to Jordan, but to another helicopter student at NAS Whiting Field. Oh and in case you were worried, the instructor was fine when he came to...the bird was not so lucky.

The infamous yellow notebook-this one is actually smaller than the one he had to memorize for Primary, so it should be cake! ;)

Jordan passed these two initial introductory phases of advanced (ground school and the first phase of sims), and all that hard work, studying, and mumbling has paid off, because Jordan finally started flying a week ago, Friday. Jordan is "partnenered up" with another Marine (who ironically enough went to Officer Candidate School with him in both 2006 and 2008, what are the odds!), and the two of them have the same instructor. I have used quotation marks for partnered up, because the two don't fly together, but more so progress at the same rate, doing the same flights back to back each day and briefing together, with the same pilot instructor throughout their time in advanced. (Sidenote for those flying folks out there who are interested in  more detail: the briefs consist of an hour and half of presenting flight plans to the instructor and being quizzed on flight safety procedures and aircraft systems. You can imagine these excruciating long briefs are extremely in-depth and intense). However, upon Jordan's first day flying, I wasn't aware of this two-student situation, and that sometimes Jordan would brief in the morning and then have to sit around and wait for the second flight with the instructor, while his partner took the first flight after their brief. So having left the house at 5:45am, and it now being nearly 2pm, I was starting to get worried. Luckily one of my friends was over at the house, and our conversation helped to pass the time. (Another interesting fact/ side note: this friend is actually Jordan's college roommate's, and also the other swordsman for our wedding/Steven Holter, wife, that I have known since 2009! Did you get all that? Anyway, so fun to have another old familiar face here so far away from home!) Well Jordan finally arrived home, and I was anxiously waiting Jordan's initial response to his first day flying in a helicopter, which I knew would be so different from any of his experiences flying a fixed wing.

His reaction? Hmmmm, well to be honest, I had a hard time reading what he was exactly feeling. And reading facial expressions and words-or rather the  lack there of,was all I could do, as he was pretty quiet and tight lipped. Getting a complete, strung together sentence out of him, let alone two words, was like pulling teeth, (painfully so, apparently without anesthesia.) In other words, it was darn near impossible. So the dramatic and over-analytical female mind in me took over: was he slightly disappointed after his time in primary, flying fixed wing and doing aerobatics, to now transitioning to an aircraft that didn't compare in speed? or maybe, on the other end, he wasn't quite ready to be totally be gung-ho about helicopters just yet, and possibly admit that he did in fact have a somewhat decent time?   Or perhaps he was just completely exhausted and thinking absolutely nothing at all...men can somehow do that I have heard. It completely boggles my ever-anxious, restless mind. However, as I incessantly poked and prodded (it's for the blog after all, for our family, FOR POSTERITY!), I did eventually extract a few pieces of information from his first experience in the helicopter. I also may or may not have overheard his conversation with his dad on the phone later that night, where it was as if miraculously Moses had parted the Red Sea, and all of this information fled forth freely through the walls of water. I discreetly turned down the volume to NCIS and scribbled down notes as fast as I could, so as not to miss this plethora of information being released from captivity! Well wouldn't you know it, but after all my relentless nagging and stealth undercover, note-taking work, I lost my notepad of notes...I know, I know! However, I don't need my notes to remember the best part of his first flight:  Jordan was able to hover, and "keep it in the box," on his very first flight. Initially, I wasn't quite sure what this specifically meant or what benchmark to compare this achievement too, especially considering Jordan is extremely superstitious, and getting him to acknowledge any sort of positive feedback from his instructors or above average achievements, would be like jinxing himself by "bragging," in his opinion. Although, I would hardly call it bragging. It is just a fact, right? He hovered in a controlled manner on his very first flight. That is not the norm for most students. Many students cannot do this for the first 2 to 4 of their flights. Those are just cold, hard, serious, non-negotiable facts. But facts are so boring, and I am just bubbling over with exuberance and would rather shout from the rooftops: HE IS A NATURAL, A CERTIFIABLE BAD-ASS, AND I AM A PROUD WIFEY! Now that would be bragging, but it's allowed from me, right? I mean it's in my job description as his wife and his head cheerleader. He may officially be embarrassed and annoyed by this blog post at this point, especially as he is only in the very beginning of his advanced training. But whatever, it's just my opinion afterall! And anyway, who's to say you can not be over-excited and proud of every single milestone and achievement along the way, no matter how small?  Well anyway, he is officially a "baller" in my opinion, and out of the three possible helicopter squadrons here at NAS Whiting Field, I think it was meant to be that he was placed in HT-8 Eightballers.

The TH-57B SeaRanger is what Jordan is training on now. The B model does not have auto-stabilization. All other helicopters in the fleet, including the TH-57C that Jordan will move on to flying next in a few more weeks, have computerized stabilization-which will make flying so much easier!

NAS Whiting Field- Fly Marines!

HT-8 squadron building, where "The Best Helicopter Pilots in the World are Trained"

HT-8 Eightballers

Guess I better change the subject before my excitement gets me in to too much more trouble, so on another note, I thought I would share some pictures of our new house here in Florida...

Here we are!

One of our favorite parts of the house is the two porch swings on either side of the front door.

Dining room, to the right when you walk in the front door

 Living room, to the left when you walk in the front door. This is my favorite place to read. Although I do have to fight Gunnar for my spot, he seems to think this is HIS couch!

Family Room: Double doors behind the sofa lead out into the sunroom. We have actually hung the giant clock on the brick wall, this is an old picture of the sunroom.

View from the family room looking to the kitchen and the front of the house

The Office

Our little JFK Jr. pup! This is Gunnar's second favorite spot in the house when one of us are on the computer.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

YOUR Guest bedroom! Hurry up and come visit!

More views of the backyard

I have a crazy, out of control, Abraham Darby English Rose Bush

The blooms are beautiful and smell amazing!

 So, are you ready to make a road trip to Florida yet??????

Another Year, Another Move: Part Two

Disclaimer: I ended up making up for lost time with two blog posts within 24 hours, so if you are reading this from the actual website, part two is what pops up first. But go over to the right hand side of the blog, and click on Another Year, Another Move: Part One before you continue with Part Two


So I decided that our Texas memories just weren't poetic enough to put into a literal Ode, so instead here is a list of fond memories we have from our time in Corpus Christi:

*Learning to Line Dance at Whiskey River: We would hear the commercials on the radio daily: "Come on down to Whiskey Riverrrrrr, where the well never runs dry. We have the largest oak dance floor in Corpus Christiiiii..." Anyway, you get the point. Well after hearing that commercial too many times to count, we had started to just tune it out. Meanwhile, Jordan and I decided that while in Texas, we should take some line dancing classes,  we had to put our new cowboy boots to use, and upon doing a Google search, wouldn't you know it but Whiskey River had free line dancing classes every Tuesday evening. So we finally made it "on down to Whiskey Riverrrrrr," and had such a great time together as we learned a Country Swing, a Country Cha-Cha, and the most fun line dance ever, to the song, "Copperhead Road." We would go back to Whiskey River a number of times with our friends after that first visit, and our favorite part of each night was when they ended the night with "Copperhead Road."  It's a foot-stompin' good time, literally. I think the stomping of the feet is what makes it so much fun! Line Dancing is a serious sport 'round those parts. Each song had it's own line dance or two-step, and it was so entertaining to just watch. I loved watching the couples doing the two-step, the really great ones would just twirl and twirl their partners all the way around the oval-shaped dance floor-not sure how they didn't get dizzy!

*Discovering the Texas fine art of...Breakfast Tacos: Yep, that's right, the way these South Texans do Breakfast Tacos should be considered a fine art! It's a beautiful combination of BBQ and Mexican that is just unmatched, and the ultimate of these artistic creations can be found at a little hole-in-the-wall, well actually a hole-in-a-gas-station, place on the military base known as Smokeshack BBQ. For $2.50 you can put any combination (or might as well just throw on a little of everything) in a taco, including: eggs, chorizo, salsa, beans, cheese, bacon, and jalapeno.  Well while Jordan and I both greatly enjoyed these breakfast tacos on a weekly basis, Jordan had a far greater obsession with their lunch menu, so much so that he succumbed to it, seriously, on a daily basis. May I remind you that we did live on base, so our house would have been an even closer option for his lunch break, but that BBQ was a vexing mistress. By the end of week 1, they knew Jordan by name, not sure if it was initially because of his constant presence, or more likely, because of the special paleo order he would put in. By week 3, they started calling his variation of their Big Kahuna Plate, the Jordan special, and it started spreading like wild-fire. Jordan had all of his friends ordering off the secret menu. If I ever made a trip to pick up lunch for the two of us myself, as soon as I would mention his order, they would say, "Oh, you must be Jordan's wife.." I am sure Jordan's fond memory of Smokeshack BBQ will be equally matched by their memory of that crazy Marine who said no to bread, no to beans and instead, yes to a double order of coleslaw!

*The unique wildlife: I will always remember the first time I saw a jack rabbit-that disturbingly evil version of the common bunny rabbit, and its widely publicized cuddly folklore caricature.  These jack rabbits, with their beady red eyes, and oversized ears were so shockingly disturbing upon first sight, I had to have Jordan pull over the car so we could take a picture of this creature!

*Of course Jordan will remember his flying days: the hours and hours of memorizing EPs (Emergency Procedures) and all the mumbling incoherently around the house for hours and hours on end as he tried to prep for his flights, and the sweet reward of all that studying when he was up in the air doing what he loved. I am sure he will look back most fondly on his formation and aerobatic flying, and all the fun he had. I of course will remember that huge grin on his face when he walked in the door saying, "gosh, that was so bad-ass!"

*Living on the Military Base: I can't remember the countless number of times I forgot my Military ID when I went to work, most times because I left it in my ipod case from my morning workout at the base gym, and I panicked about being let back on the military the in order to go home. Luckily I had become a regular, and most times it was a familiar face at the gate who allowed me on. I will also remember the Reveille at the day's beginning and end, the CNTRAs giant home, as well as the rest of the historic officer's homes on that same street that were sadly being demolished around the time we left. Who can forget that pesky thorny grass, certainly not Gunnar, and that HEAT, that miserable miserable heat that kept us indoors for our absolute favorite season in years past. Oh wait, this is supposed to be a list of the positive things we will remember about Texas? Whoops, sorry, I digressed!

*Our Sunday routine: Jordan and I would say that Sunday was our absolute favorite day while living in Texas. We greatly enjoyed getting up in the morning and going to church at St. Andrew's by the Sea, which was over the bridge on Padre Island. We loved the tranquil, laid-back atmosphere of the Church, which was outdoors. The style of music was equally as relaxed, although always traditional songs, it was always sung in accompany with a single guitar, and a set of bongo drums. They seemed to always play one of my favorite songs, and it was the greatest treat when, on a few occasions, they played both On Eagle's Wings,which reminded us of our high school days, and How Great Thou Art, my Grandma Pat's absolute favorite church song. It brought tears to my eyes without fail, every single time. Sitting outside with the cool ocean breezes, made you just want to close your eyes and take in the moment. Even now just thinking about those blessed Sundays and those songs has gotten me emotional as I type this. After church services were over, we would drive down the street to our favorite little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, La Palma, I assure it wasn't a gas station this time.

St. Andrew's by the Sea

*More Food: Besides those restaurants already mentioned, we greatly enjoyed a few nice dinners out at the Yardarm. The Yardarm was recommended by one of my co-workers and is a little gem. Situated on a bluff overlooking Corpus Christi bay is yellow beach shack, which had the absolute best seafood. The Blue Frog Bistro was a cute little cafe downtown that had delicious gourmet breakfast and lunch foods. It was also attached to an antique store, which was always fun to wander through . Oh and of course, Fajitaville! How could we possibly forget the catchy reggae tune of the second most frequent commercial on the radio "Cohhhhm to Faji-ta-ville, in Corp-us Chris-ti." Although the commercial sounded like it was sung by a Jamaican man, it was actually a three-story Mexican restaurant located on the northern beach of Corpus Christ bay. The bottom floor was completely open out onto the beach and had finger foods, appetizers and drink specials, including $2 mimosas on the weekends. They always had live music, and it was fun to just sit there and watch the kite surfers use the infamous Corpus winds to guide them through the surf. And speaking of that Corpus wind, who can forget the trees on base, they were all slanted at a 45 degree angle in one direction because the winds were so strong! It was quite comical.

Jordan and I enjoying dinner at the Yardarm

The side-ways blown trees on base...check out the ones on the golf course!

*My time at Ethan Allen: I absolutely adored my co-workers, and especially my fellow designers at Ethan Allen. From collaborating and sharing ideas and recommendations on projects, to just sitting around chatting (which, if I am honest, is what we spent most of our time doing), the four of us designers had the best time together. Age did not matter, although we were 1-2 generations apart. My co-worker Audrey was close to my age, and dating (now engaged!) to one of Jordan's pilot friends, but Suzette was a generation older; however although 50, I am convinced that there is a 20-year-old trapped inside her body. She had more energy and enthusiasm than all of us combined! And then there was Mavis, sweet Mavis. Mavis is about 75 and swears she is going to retire every year, but never does. She has been working at Ethan Allen for over 30 years and has garnered multiple corporate awards for her work. But most importantly, she is an absolute HOOT! I don't know if there is any way to properly do her and her personality justice, but she kept us laughing all week long. I especially loved when she would come in late to work, open the front door to the store just ever so slightly and wave frantically for Audrey and I to come out to the car, where she proceeded to show us the reason why she was late to work: Chicos. The backseat was full of bags and bags from Chicos, and with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth, she stealthily and over-cautiously would slowly pull out each item one by one so we could ooo and awww about them. When recounting stories to the others who had missed them first hand on their days off, the stories would more than likely start or end with "Ohhhh Mavisssss..." Her husband is a retired Navy Pilot, and Audrey and I would always talk to her about their old military days. This story might be a bit inappropriate, so here is your warning now, but it just perfectly captures her quirkiness, and our fun times at "work."  Audrey and I were talking about the movie An Officer and A Gentleman and how funny it is that there really, truly are women out there that actively seek out, and try to trap military men as a ticket out of whatever small town they are from. In Corpus, it was always women in their late 30's and 40s who you saw trying to flirt with these young 20-something pilots. Now these women were not old by any means, but they were always a good 10-20 years older than the student pilots...so, I guess in the civilian world we would call these cougars? ;)  Anyway, I have heard that these women are unofficially known as "tag-chasers" as in chasing someone with military dog tags. Well sweet little soft-spoken Mavis overheard our conversation, and in all shocked, seriousness she asked, Tag chasers? I will just have to call Bill (her husband) right now. I have never heard of such a thing... tag chasers? In my day we just called them... WHORES!

Sorry I warned you, very inappropriate, but I don't think I have ever laughed so hard. To know Mavis, is to love Mavis.  She then proceeded to call Bill and recount the same story, word by word, Bill have you ever heard of such a thing? I told them what we used to call them back in our day...Yes Bill, I did use that word. I really grew to love these women in such a short time. Mavis even had a going away dinner at her house for me before we left. Jordan and Chris (Audrey's boyfriend, now fiance) enjoyed talking to Bill about his old military flying days, and us ladies tried so hard to talk about anything other than EA, but failed miserably. Although I probably will never run in to Suzette or Mavis again, I am thankful for the lifelong friend I found Audrey. I am so excited that her and Chris will be getting married in August, and have my fingers crossed that Jordan and Chris get stationed together again, somewhere down the line.

Jordan and Chris at our going away party, talking to Bill about the military

Well it seems that that about sums it up for our time in Texas, and it appears that we did walk away with a few memorable experiences. Additionally, we have greatly enjoyed seeing and experiencing all the different cultures and niches within our country. It has given us a very well-rounded perspective of all different types of people, as well as their lifestyles, priorities, and values, that make up this great nation. Anyway, now that that is finally over and done with and out of the way, onto our love affair with Florida, which is so much more fun to write about!

As I have previously mentioned our time in Florida so far has been fabulous. We have a lot of friends here from before, including our favorite besties, Amy and Branson, as well as my aunt Ninalynn and her family here. Furthermore, there are a lot of Marines that completed Primary training in Corpus that have moved here to Florida as well for training on helicopters and ospreys. Milton  does not seem so bad this time around, and it helps when you have such a close community of friends that all end up living within a 5 mile radius. Needless to say we continue to have Marines showing up unannounced at out place on their way to or from work, especially more so now that Jordan has his own cross-fit-style gym constructed in our garage.

Jordan's cross-fit style gym. He had a local welder build this cage for him from his drawings. How does that saying go,  boys don't grow out of toys, they just get more expensive?

Upon first arriving back to Florida, our first official plans consisted of meeting up with our good friends Amy and Branson Reed, who we have known since Virginia. Branson is almost completed with advanced schooling here in Pensacola for Naval Flight Officer training, and should be winging in July. We were so excited to see these two, and that our time in Florida would overlap with their remaining months here. They were equally as giddy to see us too. Look at the grins on all of our faces!!!!!

We were meeting Branson and Amy at Flounder's and arrived a little early, so we sat outside on the back deck and took in the sand volleyball game while drinking the famous Flounder's "diesel fuel." Although it was only February, it already felt like summer!

Reunited and it feels so good!

It's a running joke that we have a white-trash (aka above ground pool) so Branson and Amy surprised us with a white-trash gift basket, complete with pool toys and PBR.

Soon after arriving back in Pensacola (it may have only been one week-not sure if our furniture had even arrived yet) we decided to hit the road and make another road trip to New Orleans for the weekend for Amy's Birthday. We showed up at their house with Mardi Gras inspired "flair!" Now we didn't go during actual Mardi Gras, thank goodness, but the weeks leading up to it were still full of festivities, luckily it seemed they were on the tamer side.

Amy and I loved the parades and catching the beads, and no you did NOT have to do anything inappropriate to get the beads! Just thought I should clarify. By the middle of a trip we had gotten so many "regular" beads that we were on a mission to up our game and get the ultimate GIANT BEADS. The four of us even ran down the sidewalk alongside the moving floats hoping they would throw them. Well we didn't get the giant beads, but we did end up with two footballs, some plastic cups, and beanie babies. Haha!

There were a number of parades each day, we even saw the magnificent Budweiser Clydesdale horses and the Marine Corps Band.

The super bowl was the following weekend, so they were already setting up. ESPN was everywhere, and we were a little star-struck and tried to get as close as possible to the filming, even climbing fences to peer over!

At a quaint restaurant named Lukes for lunch, where we enjoyed classic New Orleans fare and atmosphere. It definitely recalled the french influences of New Orleans' past.

We were OBSESSED with the beignets at Cafe du Monde...we lost count of how many we eat ate! Actually no we didn't, but I am not sharing that number, haha.

The Creole Queen, a classic New Orleans riverboat that crosses the Mississippi for daily tours.

We even, in true New Orleans fashion, all had our palms read, so much fun!

A week after returning from our trip in New Orleans, we all got together again for the Super Bowl at the Reeds. Can you tell Amy works for an event planner? Everything was perfection!

Jordan celebrated his 28th birthday, and his mom came out for a visit.

One of the many places we took Liisa on her trip to Florida was McGuires Irish Pub. The green drink is their famous Irish Wake.

McGuires is a local landmark, restaurant and pub, where every day is St. Patrick's day! It is known for it's on-site brewery and traditions, like kissing a stuffed moosehead and stapling autographed dollar-bill "tips" to the ceiling. There are rumored to be over 1,000,000 dollar bills tacked to the ceiling of this location alone.

McGuires also holds an annual 5k, the majority of the proceeds go towards The Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund. This year, the 36th annual 2013 run included over 16,000 participants, the most on record. Last year when we were in Florida, we had only watched this festive annual tradition from the sidelines, so this year we were bound and determined to be part of it. It was so much fun, and 3.2 miles have never flown by so quickly. There are prizes for top finishers and top team finishers, and there is also a prize for the closest time to one's predicted time. You write down the time in which you think you will finish the 5k, down to the second, and the person closest wins. It is a bit hard to predict, because with 15k runners, you can imagine it is a bit hard to run. The first quarter mile was a walk-shuffle-run mess. However, Amy hit her stop watch when we crossed the start line, and then when we finished, and somehow we finished within a second of my predicted time, according to her watch. For once in my life I thought I actually had a chance of winning something. Come to find out officially, my race time was off my predicted time by 2.29 seconds. Not bad, huh? However, wouldn't you know it, I came in 7th...IN MY AGE GROUP! Apparently only being off by more than one second puts you out of the runnings completely! The top predicted winner finished with in .27 of a second of her predicted time!  All in all we had a fun time, and the costumes people wore, were quite entertaining...including Jordan's...

Ready for the 2013 McGuires 5k

Yes, my husband did wear, "Proud to Be Irish" women's walmart undies over his sport shorts...and the green Elvis side burn sunglasses that I bought him. He could have done without the walmart undies, but it provided for some laughs, I guess! The back of our shirts say " iRun for the Party" because there is a giant Irish Party back at the finish at McGuires Irish Pub, complete with Irish Music and Irish Wakes.

Marines presented the Colors, and the Bagpipers in kilts started off the race!

This was the starting line, can you believe how many people have filled the street! Interesting fact: From the second the first person crossed the starting line to the time when the last person would go on to cross was 15 minutes. The first place finisher would go on to cross the finish line mere minutes later!

Some of the other crazy costumes!

Can you spot Jordan? Hint: Look for the sunglasses and green sideburns.

 
Free Irish Wakes, the McGuire's specialty drink, waited for us at the finish line


After finishing with the Reeds

One of my favorite memories thus far since being back to Florida has been ziplining. I have always wanted to go ziplining, and on every one of our vacations to the Caribbean I have begged Jordan to go, but he has chickened out convinced me to try other activities on those vacations. Well I found a groupon for ziplining in Milton, and I FINALLY, three years later talked him in to going. I convinced him that it would be safer here than in another country, and so with that logic and the groupon sale, we finally decided to go.  

Getting ready to head out on our ziplining adventure!

It's a long way down from these wobbly platforms!





Jordan, Branson and Amy on the practice ropes.


The view from the platform of "the big one"....AH!

Me on the way down from the "big one" going BACKWARDS!

It may not even seem feasible, but we have managed to pack even more memories into these last 3 months than that which I have already documented. We have greatly enjoyed spending time with the Oxenhams, from the Bunco nights I have attended with Ninalynn and her girlfriends, to the lovely Easter dinner we shared at Ninalynn and Randy's house last weekend. Jordan and I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the Oxenham family, especially Nanny. She is the sharpest 94 year-old you ever will meet, and has such a whit about her that she keeps everyone smiling and laughing. I especially like her because she has become fond of calling me Kate, as in Princess Kate Middleton. I think any girl could get used to that! ;) I wish I had a picture of her and Jordan sitting on the couch with Harley, one of Randy and Ninalynn's dogs. The dog was sitting upright on the couch underneath Jordan's arm and licking Nanny's hand for a good thirty minutes, the three of them were adorable!

Watching Randy's Blue Angel video on Easter, we feel so blessed to have family nearby!

We have also enjoyed many of the activities within the community of Pensacola: from attending the Ice Flyer's hockey games (the local minor league team), to the Mardis Gras parades on Palafox, and most recently the Jazz festival held in Seville Square, which is located in the historic district of downtown. The historic district is home to over 450 years of history, and is officially known to be America's first settlement. Pensacola has been called the City of Five Flags, which you will see flown in various parts of the city, because of the five different governments who at some point occupied the area, including: Spain, France, Great Britian, the Confederate States of America and finally the United States of America. The square is lined with beautifully restored and preserved 19th century homes, with various architectural influences: from French Creole to Victorian, and Norman Gothic. These buildings house museums, re-enactments of living history as well as many functioning business and restaurants. We even recently attended a hot-yoga class in one of the homes in the historic district, which we greatly enjoyed. Namaste. Many people come to Florida for the beautiful white sand beaches, but there is such a plethora of history here too, which we have loved discovering. Most recently we explored Fort Barrancas, which sits upon a bluff overlooking Pensacola bay. It is one of four of the forts, which also includes Fort Pickens that we visited last year, which protected Pensacola Bay and the Navy Yard it housed.

Fort Barrancas overlooking Pensacola Bay

It's a real life drawbridge! I was so excited about this!

In addition to seeking out adventure, friends, family, and history,  Jordan and I have simply enjoyed the beautiful Florida weather. We are out in our "white-trash" backyard as much as possible, from BBQing and eating outdoors to spending every chance we can get in our pool-even while studying. I for one am just trying to savor every moment of these high 70 degree weather days, because I know the unbearable heat and humidity are just right around the corner.

I guess our theme song would be an appropriate caption to this picture and closing to this post: Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, It's a Pilot's Life for me!