Thoughts on Stereotypes, Sun-Gazing, and Other Spare Time Ramblings...

I am on a roll with these blogs (read: Jordan is very busy/gone a lot this week, and I have quite a bit of spare time on my hands!).

In the spirit of last blog, I found myself feeling close to empty by this weekend, and was really looking forward to our weekend routine and the activities that always rejuvenate my spirit and fill up my tank with positive energy for the week to come.  Saturdays at 10am is our Hot Yoga class in downtown Pensacola. Originally we went for the workout, which includes an hour and half of yoga in a room that is heated up to about 90-100 degress. Within 5 minutes of the class starting, you are literally coated in a layer of sweat and you are wondering how on earth you are going to manage to survive another hour and twenty five minutes without sweating out every ounce of water that is vitally essential in our bodies. While the class is a great and unique workout, what we didn't know we would be finding is the spirituality and oneness within ourselves during these 90 minutes. The instructor has a beautiful philosophy and way of leading the class, starting and ending with a meditation and chant, and guiding us to connect mind, body, and breath throughout each pose. The heat enhances flexibility and detoxification, and by the end of the class, when the french doors are opened and the breeze blows over us as we lay in Savasana (corpse pose, aka basically laying flat out on your back in complete and utter release and relaxation), you feel absolutely refreshed and exhilarated, both in body and spirit.

Sometime over the weekend, we try to tune in to Saddleback Church from their online campus, and watch one of the sermons that are offered. Rick Warren has a way of leading a worship that is so different from the traditional Catholic masses I grew up with. His way of speaking on a topic, while at the same time leading a bible study, makes living the Word throughout the week and keeping the Lord's presence in your everyday life so much more attainable. Supplementing the Christian service, Jordan and I greatly enjoy St. Ann's contemporary mass in Gulf Breeze on Sundays at 11am. The service follows the same format as a traditional Catholic mass, but the music is more contemporary and upbeat, and we find ourselves, along with the rest of the congregation, lost in the joy of the worship! Since we are already on Gulf Breeze, we usually take the bridge over to Pensacola Beach after mass to spend the rest of the day at the beach, basking in the beauty of the Lord's creation and living the day free from the distractions of modern technology.

Unfortunately this weekend was not our weekend. We overslept on Saturday, and missed Yoga, strike one. We overslept Sunday (because we caught a late showing of Lee Daniel's The Butler on Saturday night), and didn't allow ourselves enough time to get ready and make the 45 min drive to St. Anne's, strike two. And on top of that, we are in the midst of 48-hour long southern thunder storm, complete with power outages, house-rattling thunder, and flooding, courtesy of Erin in the Gulf of Mexico (although I should be thankful it's just rain and not a hurricane). This made tuning in to the Saddleback Church's services this morning impossible and so frustrating, as we had already missed both yoga and mass, and were desperately wanting to be able to tune in. Strike three. This led to lots of frustration, aggravation, and plain old grumpiness...

It's amazing how after incorporating hot yoga, Saddleback Church, and St. Ann's contemporary mass on Sundays, into our life, I really miss and need their presence. I guess once you realize how great you can feel, how lifted your spirit can be, you recognize their absence; although in reality we lived our  lives up until 4-5 months ago without any of them. It's as if we have reset the bar so to say, and therefore our baseline of fulfillment has changed as well, creating a void where once we didn't know anything was missing. I am already experiencing anxiety about the idea of losing these beautiful new supplements in our life, and am nervous about finding a comparable substitution that can reach us and lift our spirits at the level that each of these do, once we leave Pensacola. However, in the spirit of turning negative energy into positive energy, I am thankful for our crazy, strike-out of a weekend, which has made me even more appreciative of these newfound passions that have come into our life. I am also grateful to realize that again, we aren't just going through the motions of religion, this weekend has helped me to see that we truly have begun to experience our spirituality on a stronger level, as we finding ourselves needing it, and wanting more. We have awoken a passion inside ourselves for it, and that realization is awesome! 

In addition to evolving into yoga-going, meditation-loving, spiritual beings, Jordan has further delved into the world of hippie-dom (did I mention we turned our sunroom into a yoga/meditation space?). I am sure most of you already know about Jordan's obsession with healthy eating, and specifically the paleo diet. However, most of you may not know he has taken it to a whole other level recently. Along with the meat, fish, poultry, fruit & veggie, nut, and produce diet that we consume, Jordan has infused a substantial dose of ACV into our life. ACV=Apple Cider Vinegar. It has now become the cure all to cure all. It originally started from Jordan attempting to decalcify his pineal gland. The what?!?! Don't worry, I never knew it existed either! The pineal gland is located in our brains, and called the body's third eye. It even has a retina and a cornea believe it or not. It is supposedly calcified by the age of 3 because of all the floride in our waters. So in attempt to awaken our third eye, which according to various spiritual philosophies is responsible for mystical awakening, enlightment, creativity, and higher states of consciousness, we have started consuming apple cider vinegar and using flouride free touth paste and deoderant.  Jordan has also begun staring at the sun for a minute every day before sunset. Yep, seriously. I told him that perhaps he should save this health experiment until after his flight career for the sake of preserving his perfect vision? But he continues.  Not only have we started drinking it, Jordan has convinced me it cures ear infections and makes for cleaner healthier hair. He has in fact used it in his ears to prevent an oncoming ear infection. (However, I think many men tend to be babies when it comes to "being sick" and whether or not an ear infection was actually in the works is debatable).




Our yoga/meditation sunroom


Upon discussing my husbands recent digress into hippie insanity back in California with my family a few months back, Gayle or Larry had mentioned that Jordan sounded like something straight out of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but instead of Windex as the universal cure-all, it was ACV. Although I cant remember which half of the witty couple made the comment in order to give proper credit to, the analogy couldn't be more accurate. Did I mention Gunnar is no exception to the ACV movement in our household? We now use it to help with his recurring ear-infections and help with his allergies. And I actually do have to admit, ACV for the hair actually works pretty well, my hair has felt extremely light and clean, really stripped of build up from styling products, since incorporating it into my beauty routine.  Right up there with ACV, we have also come to appreciate the many uses of coconut oil as another cure all, for both us and Gunner.

When I speak about and share these odd habits we have developed over the last couple years, the stories are usually met with lots of laughter and amusement. However, to change directions a bit here, I find it really highlights the diversity of people that make up the Marine Corps. Unfortunately, there are many negative stereotypes that often times are associated with the words "military family" in the United States, and I don't know if anyone can really stereotype or sum up such a large group of people, from such a diversity of backgrounds, by one term.

I recently read a book called Home Front, by Kristin Hannah. The book is about a female helicopter pilot, who must leave behind her family and a struggling marriage to deploy to Afghanistan.  While deployed, her helicopter is shot down and she is severely injured, resulting in the loss of one of her legs. As if the book could be even more depressing and heart-wrenching, she returns home and attempts to relearn how to do normal activities and re-integrate herself back in to her family, as well as having to confront all the resentments and confusion that follows within all the relationships of her family- husband and wife, parent and child. It is far from the most uplifting book to say the least, and I actually don't recommend it to anyone at all. Honestly, I am not sure what made me buy the book in the first place, as I had a constant stream of tears running down my face the entire time I was reading it. Oh yes -now I remember! It was in the bargain priced section at Barnes and Nobles and I was looking for a quick, cheap, summer read! Ha, ha! ANYWAY, the point of all of this was simply, the book mentions the word "military family" often, and the stereotypes that are associated with it. It especially struck a nerve, and got me thinking when the husband's character refused to associate his own family with that, in his mind, derogatory term...

It's funny thinking back, and reflecting on how close I was to the military growing up-from Miramar, to Camp Pendleton, and even El Toro, we were literally surrounded by military bases on all sides. And despite the close proximity, I can honestly attest to the fact that I really didn't have any of these stereotypes or preconceived notions of the military or military families before Jordan joined. I remember driving down The 5 freeway often as a child to San Diego. We would see tanks on the freeway and helicopters hovering overhead. Often times my dad would point out the training being conducted on the right, beach-side of the freeway and the camouflaged mesh tents which he explained were made to look like hills to the enemy above. However, besides these quick observations of my immediate surroundings in those moments, and perhaps a few questions during those times, I never gave much thought to the military or the life of military families. I guess such is the narrow perception of a child's world.

My uncle Larry (my other uncle Larry) was active duty in the Navy while I was growing up as well. I remember hearing about how Nancy and him had lived in Pensacola, and how that had seemed so exotic and far way at the time-who knew I would one day live there myself, twice! I remember knowing as a child that their family had moved a few times, that Larry was gone on a ship for a while, and I have a memory of welcoming his ship back to port in San Diego. But randomly, my most vivid memory, was a present Larry gave me, it was a hot-pink shirt with a gecko on it from Guam? or perhaps it was Hawaii? I may not remember where it was from, but I remember the gecko and that it was pink! Again, the small, limited observations and self-consumed memories of a child!

Perhaps, despite being surrounded by the military growing up, the reason I never thought much about the military or military families, was we were blessed enough to grow up during a relative peace time. During my years of conscious global awareness, the world was at a relative calm between Desert storm, which I was really too young to comprehend, and then 9/11. It's ironic that a mere week before 9/11, I sat in my junior history class the first day, listening to Mr. Young saying that we were such a blessed generation to have grown up and experienced such a global calmness, and that it is harder for our generation to grasp the tragedy of what is written in our history books of wars past, because we can not personally relate to the loss or understand the ripple effect of ramifications that these conflicts create in society and the economy. His challenge as a teacher of history, as was his first day speech every year, was to get our generation to see history as more than words in the textbook and pictures on a page, to really understand and feel history.  Less than a week later I would be sitting cross-legged on the light blue carpet (ha ha, remember that!) of my bedroom floor in front of the mirror getting ready for school and listening to K-earth 101 as I did everyday, when a newsflash would come on between songs about a plane hitting one of the twin towers. I mentioned it to my mom as I had breakfast before heading off to school, all of us still unaware of the magnitude of what was to unfold that day. Later that day, I sat in that same sophomore history class with Mr. Young, watching the news as the twin towers fell, our generation no longer the sheltered, blessed generation, free from the travesties of what war held. When I returned home from school, my dad spoke to me. He told me that this day is something that you will remember the rest of your life. You will remember exactly where you were and what you were doing because it is something that will change the course of yours and everyone's future, much like Pearl Harbor was for generations past. My dad called my soccer coach that day, and told him I wouldn't be attending practice, and out of respect for everyone, their families, and the country, he humbly suggested that practice should be cancelled and we should all be spending time with our families and remembering what matters most in life. Not sure if practice was cancelled for everyone or not, but like my dad said, 12 years later, I still remember that day, where I was and how I was feeling, like it was yesterday.  However, little did I know that that event, and that day, truly was a fork in the road for my own future, because it influenced the direction of my future husband's life decisions.

Although even after 9/11, I  don't know if I really thought much more in depth about the military or military families other than becoming a consciously patriotic American who supported our troops. We all started wearing yellow ribbons pinned to our backpacks. The war caused controversy at school with the yellow ribbons, and certain religion teachers believing this suggested supporting the war and therefore violence, and we were only allowed to wear yellow WITH white ribbons in support of the troops but with the intention of peace, or we would risk getting a detention. However even though I was aware of world events and now 16 years old, I never consciously thought past my immediate reality of high school. I never had stereotypes of people in the military or military families, and was unaware that so many existed. Again maybe that is exactly the point I will eventually get around to trying to make amongst all this rambling: that while the military dictates much of one's lifestyle, it does not dictate who one is as a person. Perhaps, seeing the world from a simple child's perspective is really the way we should see people and the world around us...

Unfortunately, the adult world we live in, isn't so kind, simple and honest as the one lived in from a child's mind. There are a plethora of unfair judgments and stereotypes in our adult world, and military families unfortunately receive quite a few harsh and unfavorable ones : white trash, kids with no other options in their lives, uneducated, lower-class, unemployed wives who just sit at home and have babies, etc. We have all heard them and there is no denying they exist. Through my personal experience thus far, I find these stereotypes so infuriating, but more so, such an injustice to the beautiful, unique, and diverse people that make up this community.  There are 50 states in this nation, and as Jordan and I have begun to discover, each state (as well as the numerous cities, and every single niche within those cities) has it's own culture, it's own community, and it's own spirit. We have become friends with couples from: Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Philadelphia, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, and on and on. Those were just the first 9 couples that popped into my head in that moment. There is no way that the term "military family," as singled out in the book I mentioned above (way above, after all this rambling),  can be used as a singular adjective, which is furthermore linked to so many connotations, stereotypes and associations, to describe and fully explain and capture so many people and beautiful personalities,  from so many different walks of life.

Of course, there are uniquely unifying experiences because of the demands of the military that have and will unite all of us diverse personalities: numerous moves, time apart, giving birth to children alone, children growing up with long lapses in time where one parent is apart, one spouse trying to build a career through multiple moves, children changing schools, the threat of harm to loved one deployed. So in that way, yes, there are some situations we all experience because of the lifestyle that goes along with one partner's career in the military,  that those who fall under the umbrella "military family" do have in common; however, I despise the stereotypes that permeate our society as to the type of people that are in the military. I think Jordan and I as a family, especially with our hippie nature and California upbringing, for example defy many of those stereotypes, and furthermore, we are uniquely different from so many of our other amazing military friends- which is exactly what makes our life and this experience just so beautiful, interesting and fun to live!

Instead of dwelling on the negative stereotypes and providing arguments against or giving examples of just how wrong they are, I would rather explain the positive, laughter-filled evening I spent with my girlfriends one recent evening which perfectly illustrates the beauty of the various individuals that make up our Marine Corps family. Tuesday night has become our unofficial girls' night over the past two months.  We tend to have a somewhat revolving door of attendees based on who is in town or free to attend, which makes each night it's own unique dynamic. Our routine involves meeting up in downtown Pensacola at the Atlas Oyster Bar for Tuesday night's half-price sushi dinner. We so much enjoy sitting out on the deck overlooking the harbor listening to live music and savoring the delicious, fresh seafood. We then migrate over to Pensacola Beach, where we enjoy the second part of our night at Bands on the Beach, where we are treated to a second round of live music. Each week, a different band performs in an outdoor amphitheater at the beach. With happy, full bellies, we sit out on blankets and enjoy the evening! We especially love to people watch all those confident beautiful souls, who without a care or second thought in the world, get up to fully embrace the moment and dance their hearts away to the beat of whatever is playing. The last time we attended it was country night, and there was this one older lady who must have mustered all of her energy to get up on her feet to dance to every single last word of "Sweet Home Alabama," all while she hand-motioned a snapping of a whip over her head,  the entire song.  Picturing her now has plastered a giant smile back on my face. How can you not love the South in moments like these?

Our night was filled with wonderful conversation and lots of laughs. The source of many of these laughs, as is most times, was the pure innocent entertainment and joy each of us finds in the uniqueness of one another's character and the different personalities and contributions we each bring to the table based on our own individual cultures growing up. Our smaller group this night in particular consisted of 4 girls, two from Texas, one from Georgia, and then of course me from Southern California. Many times we start off our night venting about how much we have looked forward to and needed a girls night. We especially bond over how the boys are so busy with flying, napping, and studying, that we in turn feel like prisoners in solitary confinement with no social contact! That night our conversation turned to playfully vent about the other activities which take up our husband's few precious moments of downtime they have each day. My Georgia girlfriend was talking about how her husband spends hours on Truck and Photography online forums, scouring for information and tips on his latest hobbies. One of my girlfriends from Texas, who's boyfriend is from South Dakota, was talking about her boyfriend's OBSESSION with reloading. He spends hour upon hour, in to the late hours of the night and early morning until he falls asleep in his desk chair, making his own bullets. I then proceeded to tell them all about Jordan's Apple Cider Vinegar theories, the Pineal Gland, and Sun Gazing. To each, their own! But perhaps my husband's hobbies may be a little bit stranger than the rest, evidenced by the shock and side-eyed glances I received upon sharing, ha ha ha.

It has become so interesting and so rewarding to meet people outside of California. For the most part growing up, we are only exposed to people who we have stuff in common with -where we have lived, what sports we have played, what schools we have attended. Therefore, it follows that out of these shared commonalities we would furthermore have similar tastes in most other things: food, activities, music, politics, religion, etc. A lot of who we are and what we are interested in is a a result of the culture we have lived in and experiences we have had. Therefore, when your friendships develop from this shared culture and experiences, you are going to have a lot naturally in common. Moving around the country, becoming a part of this beautifully diverse military family, has opened up a different type of friendship, ones that are always entertaining and interesting, as we constantly are learning and growing from the differences each person brings to the table with their various backgrounds, viewpoints, experiences, and cultures. It is so interesting, and conversations are so much more dynamic, when people are so different, but also so confident and proud of their differences. We find so much joy in our time together, as there is never a second of boredom or monotony, because there is always so much to be learned and so much innocent entertainment and laughter shared from the differences we share. I guess this is a bit reminiscent of what I shared back in the post: New Acronyms, Fried Okra, and Salmon.... However, even after becoming accustomed to inherent differences that military friendships have to offer from those that I experienced growing up,  I still find myself absolutely in love and amazed by what these unique friendships have to offer. I truly treasure each person we have met on this journey for exactly who they are, and am so grateful to have grown personally from knowing them.

With the upcoming second round of selection coming up, this above point has us thinking, are we really ready to stop growing, to stop exploring, to stop learning, by going back to our comfort zone and what we know. Don't get me wrong, I have greatly missed being close with my family, all the life events that I was not around to share, but more so the everyday moments that you lose when you live so far away. Going back home after time away would give us a newfound appreciation for what we have, and remind us to savor each and every opportunity that brings our family together. However, the possibility has me a bit nervous about losing the adventure that has become so much a treasured part of our life as well. I guess at the end of the day, whatever duty station Jordan is assigned to will have its pros and cons, and for that reason, we haven't invested all of our hope in one basket, so that we can be grateful for what is given to him, and see the positive and excitement in what will lay ahead in this next assignment.

On that note, there probably has been a bit of confusion about where we will be moving next, partly because I have been confused myself at times, and may have given false information (or hope!). Sorry!  I will lay out the details of the second round of selection that Jordan will be facing when he wings, probably around the end of next month. There are three specific helicopters that Jordan will be selecting from, and referencing from the descriptions on Marines.com, here is what they are and their  specific functions:

(note: these are listed in alphabetical order, and not in order of Jordan's preference, that like last time, will be kept a secret)


1. AH-1 (W & Z) Cobras- There are two versions of the Cobra that the Marine Corps currently uses, the Whiskey, and the newer model, the Zulu. The cobra is the Marine Corps primary attack helicopter. According to the description by Marines.com, "no aircraft defines the role of close air support better than the Marine AH-1 Super Cobra/Viper. Whether it's providing cover for advancing ground forces or escorting assault support helicopters en route to a landing zone, the AH-1 is called on when Marines need firepower from the air."

2. CH53E Super Stallion- the biggest of the three helicopters, it is used primarily for heavy lift transport. It can "carry a 26,000-pound Light Armored Vehicle, 16 tons of cargo 50 miles and back, or enough combat-loaded Marines to lead an assault or humanitarian operation; but perhaps what's most amazing about the largest military helicopter in the U.S. is what it achieves despite its size. Though powerful enough to lift every aircraft in the Marine inventory except the C-130, the CH-53E Super Stallion is compact enough to deploy on amphibious assault ships, and has the armament, speed and agility to qualify as much more than a heavy lifter."

3.UH-1Y Venom Super Hueys- Probably the most popular helicopter option amongst Jordan's friends right now, the Huey provides a combination of functions, and for that reason these pilots tend to get the most flying time in today's military. "No single aircraft provides a better blend of all six Marine Aviation functions than the Marine UH-1. A case study in Offensive Air Support, Assault Support, Command and Control, and Aerial Reconnaissance, the Marine utility helicopter of choice is truly a microcosm of Marine Aviation. With low-flying AH-1s (Cobras) aimed in on the hostile street ahead and hovering UH-1s (Hueys) covering adjacent rooftops, combat Marines can engage under the watchful eye of close air support."

After selecting, pilots usually first go to SERE (survival, evasion, resist, escape) school (basically they learn how to escape and withstand torture techniques if shot down over enemy territory) for two weeks, and then on to the RAG (Replacement Air Group) where they train specifically on the helicopter they have selected. Cobras and Hueys have their RAG at Camp Pendleton, CA. CH53s have their RAG at New River, NC. So there is a 2/3 chance that our next stop, at least for 6-8 months for the RAG, will be Southern California and a 1/3 chance we will be in North Carolina. After the completion of this training, pilots finally report to their duty station. Each of the three helicopters can be assigned to any of the three duty stations: Hawaii, Camp Pendleton, or North Carolina. So around the end of September/beginning of October we will know: 1. the helicopter Jordan will be flying 2. where we will be moving for the 6-8 months of training for the RAG and 3. where we will be stationed for the following 3 years after the RAG.

While I am excited at the prospect of soon being able to "settle" and plan for my own future as an individual, we are also trying to savor these last two months of flight school. Rumor has it that flight school is the best time Marine Corps aviators will experience in their career, because supposedly it is the least stressful and least time consuming of their career-although I really can't fathom how that can even be possible!!!!!!

Wow, so it seems that with all my spare time these blogs have taken on a rambling ADD nature more introspective and reflective theme,  rather than a documentation of our experiences and Jordan's training as it has in the past. I really can't tell you in much detail about Jordan's training, as he is much too busy and exhausted to tell me much about it. And well, frankly when he does, it just sounds a whole lot like this:

Becoming a(n) (In)Dependent

In the military life, the active duty member (Jordan) is characterized as "the sponser", and his family members (me and our future children) are labeled as his "dependents."  Once we entered the active duty military lifestyle, I became dependent on Jordan for a lot of things in my life: where we would live, therefore where I could work, my health insurance coverage, as well as access to the general benefits and the amenities the military has to offer. And yes, while according to my government-issued ID, I may be his dependent, over the last few years I have found that the only way military spouses can mentally survive this lifestyle and it's unique challenges is by trying to become a strong independent.

Not only do spouses have to deal with time apart during deployments, I had no idea how much time apart we would spend apart during his training phase, from weeks in the field at TBS to many weekend cross-country flights in flight school. Even when Jordan is home, he is still gone, with 12 plus hour work days flying, only to come home to hours upon hours of solitary confinement, studying. Military spouses spend the majority of our time alone, and that's why becoming independent, finding our own interests, and keeping busy is so important. Although I have no problem filling my days with activities, friends, and household tasks,  I still find myself on a constant rollercoaster of emotions for another reason. Embracing the military lifestyle and finding my identity amongst the chaos and the life path it dictates, is still even now, a daily challenge.

It's a hard sensation to describe, especially when on paper it seems like life is so good. It is a sinking sensation that you wake up to each day, like you don't feel like you have a significant purpose to get out of bed for in your life anymore (however, I don't mean to worry you, when I read this back it sounded a little scary and could be interpreted in the wrong way). Each day just seems to pass like the last.  Hours, days, weeks, months go by, but you have nothing to show for the time elapsed, because you have stopped learning and growing as an individual. Life, and time,  just seems to just be passing you by. Instead of running alongside of life, gaining speed, passing milestones, you are stuck, and the world keeps spinning, and time keeps ticking. Some days are easier than others, some weeks and months easier than the last, but there are always days that are a little bit darker than the rest. It's an experience and set of emotions that I have found so many of my fellow military wives share and are constantly going through. We are all, always, on some point of this emotional spectrum, especially those whose husbands are also in flight school and who too, have not yet settled into a duty station.

Even though I do have a community who understands and shares my experience, I find myself comparing my hardship to theirs (although I know, and as Rick Warren pointed out in his sermon this week at Saddleback Church, comparing never comforts). I still find myself envious of those who have been in Florida for the past year and half, as only a small portion of pilots have had to move their families to Texas for the middle portion of their training. The majority of flight students spend their entire time training solely in Florida. In the past 2.5 years we have moved 4 times, and are gearing up for our 5th move in the next two months, therefore averaging about 6 months in each place.  Don't get me wrong, I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to see different parts of this country, meet new people, and experience different cultures, and I am so thankful for this blog which has captured all of our amazing adventures and good times along the way. However, trying to find myself and my career in the midst of all of this has been beyond overwhelming to say the least, and most days I find myself completely lost and overwhelmed about my own future as an individual and my own personal career.

Looking for jobs that will support and bolster my career and cultivate my own individual interests and personal goals has been an interesting experience. My time at Ethan Allen was a blessing; however, I realistically wouldn't have been hired for that position if there wasn't the possibility that we could have stayed in Texas for an additional year for training, which would have happened if Jordan had selected any of the other 3 flight platforms. Upon looking over a military spouses' resume, the first questions an employer asks, after clearly realizing the various locations of one's employment are from different states, are: "is your husband military?" "how long will you be living here?" When asked these questions by Ethan Allen, my response was that there was a 75% chance that I could be there for 2 years, which was technically only a slight exaggeration of the truth. I understand from a business perspective that it can be costly to have a high turnover rate of employees, and time-consuming to be training someone who will only be around for less than half a year. So on the flip-side, what do you do as a military spouse? Lie?  Or do you take positions that are okay with short-term employment? Although, even then, who really wants to hire someone who is going to be around for less than a year, and what kind of position could that possibly be for? Certainly not for a career-oriented, non-entry-level position!

I have discovered that I am not either of those people, the person that lies to get the position they want, which bolsters their career and goals, or the one that settles for an unfulfilling entry-level job that is below their education and experience level. This experience becomes increasingly more frustrating when not only do you not have what you want in this present moment for yourself, but furthermore, you don't have a solid plan for the future, or when you will even be able to make that plan, because you don't know where you will be 3 years from now, let alone  in 2- 6 months. It feels near impossible to even begin to plan, to be able to look into the future and know that once we reach this spot, this milestone, this location, this will be my plan and my career will finally be back on track. How does a "dependent" become an independent when one's life is so unpredictable?

Feeling so lost, so overwhelmed, and so directionless at times has left me empty, and disappointed in myself. There have been many times when Jordan has come home from a full-day of work to find me, still in my pajamas or, on good days, some form of work-out clothes, sitting amongst a messy house and half-done chores, with tears welling up in my eyes. There have been times when I have wondered if I was on the verge of  slipping into a depression. However, I am so thankful for my weekly girls nights to put things in perspective. When we sit around and get to talking, I realize that my fellow spouses have those same days, where tears just flow from nowhere just because their husband says hello and they realize the house is still a mess and not a lick of cleaning has been accomplished all day. Or those days where getting out of pajamas and into work-out clothes becomes an accomplishment for the day, and marathons of Law and Order:SVU or Sex and the City become a self-inflicted prison sentence to the couch for hours on end. Or most embarrassingly, when you all worry what your lives have come to, when days are counted by the increments of 29 mins and 59 seconds you have to wait to regain another "life" in the mindless iPhone game of Candy Crush Saga. Once we realize we in fact are not in need of a mental evaluation, or perhaps more accurately, that we are not alone in needing a mental evaluation, we allow ourselves to just laugh and laugh, as there really is no way to logically explain this phenomenon of the "flight school funnies." What's life without a healthy dose of crazy, anyway?

I know I have mentioned Rick Warren's sermon this past Sunday once already, and I may mention it a few more times before this post concludes, however  it really spoke to me this week. Rick Warren is doing a multiple week series on "Getting Through What You are Going Through" based on his personal struggle with the tragic death of his son and the steps of healing. Although his message was coming from an extremely different place of incredible pain and an extremely devastating and tragic personal story, his words spoke to me in a different way, in a way that I truly needed at this moment. He referenced Galations 6:2 "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." The Lord intends for us to share our sorrow, and He heals through community. I have realized that I am so blessed to have the incredible support system of these ladies, who share this sometimes hard-to-describe and relate-to experience.



Found this on pinterest, makes me laugh every time!

Despite being 2.5 years into our military life, I never felt overwhelmed or lost before. I have concluded that this may be attributed to the significance this year plays in my life in reference to various milestones. This year is my 10 year high school reunion, which also means 6 years from my college graduation,  and it has caused me to reflect back on these years and ask myself what do I have to show for them? What have I personally accomplished? This reflection has resulted in a sense of disappointment and, frankly, embarrassment I find in my own accomplishments (or lack there of), especially because I was blessed enough by the sacrifices of my parents to have had the opportunity to get my degree at an amazing (and very expensive) university. Right now it feels like the only thing I have to show for it is my diploma, which is sitting in a frame taking up space on a shelf, collecting dust, documenting years of dedication, hard work, and mocking me with a distant promise of great things to come. Sometimes I feel like I have been living the life of a 50's housewife while the rest of my peers in the civilian world have been thriving in the world of 2013. To add insult to injury, I turned 28 last week and that too hit me hard.  I just turned the age my mom was when she had me! My parents both had their careers established by this point, owned a home and were having a baby at my age, and I am still trying to figure out what I am supposed to be when I grow up!!!!! Even for those spouses who manage to morph their initial major and career of choice into something that is compatible with the ever-mobile lifestyle the military demands, they cannot deny that their career isn't exactly what they had envisioned before the military was in the picture. At the end of the day, a spouses' career will always come second and be dependent upon the city and state their husband's career will take them, and the duration of time it allows them to stay.

The majority of our blog has focused on the milestones of Jordan's career, our moving adventures and the exploration of the various states where we have lived; however, it wasn't a complete picture of OUR military experience, albeit it did document the very best parts of it. I debated about writing this blog and sharing this personal side of things, as I have only really shared it with my military family, who of course lives it first hand too, and with my mom on a few, but still limited occasions. However, although it is so personal, it's very real, and it is what a LOT of us spouses go through.  Jordan attributes it to the fact that I surround myself with like-minded individuals. That many of my friends, like me, are go-getters and hard-workers, girls that always prided themselves on doing well, going far, and measuring their accomplishments by the successes they achieved in school/college growing up. And perhaps that's true, but whether a spouse has their bachelor's, master's or simply a high school diploma, whether they are trying to find a career, or perhaps just their own personal identity, it is all the same. We are all living a life that, at the end of the day, is dependent upon and dominated by decisions that revolve around the progression of our husband's career, and it's something all spouses, on some level, experience. It can be hard to open up this side of our life and our experience, because not only do we feel somewhat overwhelmed and depressed at times, but we also feel alone in these emotions because there is a sense of guilt in feeling this way or venting about these emotions to others. How can you share or complain, when one knows she is so blessed in so many ways and feels so happy in so many parts of her life, and yet so sad and depressed at the same time? Especially when you know life could be so much worse, and is for so many people.

Whenever I start to get overwhelmed by this ever-present and increasingly nagging emotion, I know I just need to pull myself up by my bootstraps (or the laces of my running shoes), and attempt to change my perspective. I know in my heart that where I am right now, is right where I am supposed to be. That these 2.5 years of career limbo do not matter in the end, because I am supporting my husband (and as Jordan insists on adding in, the country in my own way), and this is where I need to be. Keeping a clean house (or at least attempting to), making sure flight suits and cami's are always clean, and ensuring my husband has nutritious paleo meals of extremely large quantities at his beck and call may be simple and mundane tasks, but it makes his life easier and leaves him to fully concentrate on being the best he can be in flight school, and therefore, the best pilot he can be for the Marine Corps.

In yoga, our instructor often reads from the book, "The Language of Letting Go" by Melody Beattie, and one passage recently really spoke to my heart, and I couldn't be more thankful enough for it's perfectly timed message about being "In-Between." The passage goes into more depth, but I have included the parts that speak most strongly to this situation:

"Sometimes to get from where we are to where we are going, we have to be willing to be in-between [...] to stand with our hands empty while we wait for God to fill them. [...] We may feel empty and lost for a time, we my feel all alone, wondering what is wrong with us for letting go of the proverbial bird in hand, when there is nothing in the bush [..] we may have many feelings going on when we're in-between: spurts of grief about what we have let go of or lost, and feelings of anxiety, fear, apprehension about what's ahead. These are normal feelings for the in-between place. We need to accept them, feel them, release them.

Being in-between isn't fun, but it's necessary. It will not last forever. It may feel like we're standing still, but we're not. We're standing at the in-between place. It's how we get from here to there. It is not the destination. We are moving forward, even when we're in-between. "

Each of the daily meditations in the book end with a positive affirmation and I have found myself reaching for this affirmation often on those hard days when I feel myself slipping back into that place of negative energy and disappointment, "Today, I will accept where I am as the ideal place for me to be. If I am in-between, I will strive for the faith that this place is not without purpose, that it is moving me toward something good."


 Jordan and I have found ourselves living a more zen/hippie life, at least I am sure that's what it looks like from the outside, but for us it is more of a "spiritual awakening," I guess you would say. I have always had religion in my life, but lately Jordan and I have really felt and lived spirituality in our daily lives, and not just for an hour on Sunday. It is so interesting how certain things in your life come together at the same time to complement each other and build something beautiful out of seemingly disparate influences. Some may call this coincidence, but Jordan and I both believe it's something stronger. I had a teacher in high school, who we all affectionately called "Doc," who would say, there are no coincidences in life, only God-incidences. Jordan chooses to use the word "frequencies" from his recent interest in Abraham Hicks and the Law of Attraction. Basically, in his interpretation, certain people and things come in to your life at a certain time because you are exhibiting the same vibrational frequency and are therefore attracting them to your life. Did I lose you yet? I may not totally be on board with actual vibrations being sent out into the atmosphere, but I like the idea of being on the same frequency. Perhaps, in the most basic way, that if you are feeling a certain way or have a particular mindset, you will be open to, and see similar and complementary things around you, more so than if it wasn't in the fore-front of your mind. So call it what you want, coincidence, vibrational frequencies, or divine intervention, but Jordan and my's "spiritual awakening" came to us through a variety of influences:

1. Jordan's interest and study of the Abraham Hick's Law of Attraction
2. My newfound love of Yoga, and the meditations and readings of Melody Beattie that I was introduced to through my Yoga instructor
3. My parent's discovery and love for Saddleback Church, which has now become something Jordan and I watch from an online Campus every weekend as well
4. St. Ann's Catholic Church on Gulf Breeze, which is a 45 minute drive for us, but has a contemporary Catholic Mass on Sundays at 11am that inspires us and reaches us like no traditional Catholic service ever has
5. Jordan and my newfound interest in the teachings of Buddhism and those of Ghandi, as a byproduct of our ever-growing interest in yoga
6. Various books such as The Little Book of Contenment and The Power of Now

Some of these may seem contradictory: Buddhism, Catholicism, Law of Attraction? Don't worry dad, I am not going to turn into a Buddhist. However, from all of these things, what has come together for us is the daily appreciation of life. It sounds so simple right? But in a world dominated by technology and constantly connected by smartphones, learning to be fully present in every single moment is a challenge. We are trying to find the focus and the beauty of every single moment and of our surroundings, and in every situation, both good and bad, we are finding gratitude for it. We try to start each day with 15 minutes of journaling, an exercise based on another book by Melody Beattie, Making Miracles in 40 Days, of what we are thankful for. It is so AWEsome when you discover that the more gratitude you have in your life, the more God seems to give you to be grateful for. Starting our days like this opens our eyes to seeing all the blessings in our surroundings and experiences, like little beautiful surprises planted along our day to smile at and bring us joy.  It may sounds so elementary writing down what you are thankful for, and maybe some of you are thinking okay, they have really lost it now, but for some reason this little task seems to unlock and create even more blessings to be grateful for throughout the day, perhaps simply because we are seeing everything through positive-colored glasses.


So in this light, I say thank you. Some days I may have to repeat it a few times until I really mean it. But I thank God, life, and the universe, for everyone and everything that enters into my day . I thank this process for allowing me to turn negative energy into positive energy, especially on the most challenging of days, and the idea of gratitude in general, which truly unlocks more beauty and blessings in daily life.

I will wrap this up with one last reference to Rick Warren's sermon last week and Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die ... a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." We are all going to experience the rollercoaster of emotions that come with life, and my fellow wives and I will always be facing the unpredictability and unique challenges of the military lifestyle again and again. However, we know that there can't be highs without lows, or peaks without valleys, and it is in the valleys that we grow the most spiritually, and therefore, we can find a way to be grateful for even these experiences!

I didn't intend to ramble for so long on this blog, and I did not share this side of our experience for sympathy or accolades for my sacrifice, or anything of that sort, but instead to create a fuller picture of our life and the military experience many of us wives share. I am not alone in this experience, and I am so thankful for my fellow spouses who I am blessed to count as some of my closest friends, who too are trying everyday with me, to learn to go His way, and not necessarily our way, and what we had envisioned previously for our career, school plans etc. The best thing we as "dependents" can do for our husbands is to be strong independents in our faith, who know and take pride in our value, even when we find ourselves in these "in-between" places. I am incredibly grateful that there are other military spouses out there that are so spiritual, so positive, and open, as we all support each other in learning to love and trust what the Lord has laid out for us in this shared military experience!


Hope you all have a wonderful week!  God bless , GOOD VIBRATIONS, and ...

Floridays: Blue Skies and Ultra Violet Rays

I feel like I need another one of those two-part updates, because a blog is long overdue. When I allow too much time go by, I become so overwhelmed by catching up and documenting every single moment, so as not to lose these precious memories to the black abyss of the ever-expanding and ever-aging mind, that I just can't figure out a way to fluidly document my thoughts and our numerous experiences into an interesting and coherent blog post. So instead, I just quit. This allows more time to go by, until once again I feel as if I have mustered the energy and the creativity to step up to the task of finishing the draft, only to realize its has become exponentially harder than when I last left off. Thus, the cycle repeats itself once again. So after months of starting and stopping these drafts, I have just decided to skip over this bump in the road that is holding me up, so I can move along to my present mindset. So I am cheating, and  am going to do a mostly photo-recap of the last three months of Floridays, which like the Jimmy Buffett tune, has consisted of lots of "blue skies and ultra-violet rays."


May:

Jordan and I are still loving the outdoor, active lifestyle of Pensacola. After being house-bound practically the entire summer last year due to the miserable and incapacitating heat, we greatly enjoy living life outside here in Florida. (Disclaimer for any visitors coming next month: it is still extremely hot and humid by California standards, but our tolerance has just increased exponentially after Texas, so Florida has been heaven-sent). So in the outdoor, active-living spirit, some of my girlfriends and I decided to partake in the "Happiest Run on the Planet," the 5k Color Run. A group of 6 of us decided to head to Orange Beach, Al to run a 3.2 miles race, where at every Kilometer, we were doused in color. The race culminated in a giant color party, with live music. The husbands were there at the finish line to cheer on their color-drenched partners...



Ashley and I decided to go all out, with tu-tus and crazy sunglasses, for the Color Run

Before (Clean) and After (Colorful)

My awesome flip glasses! When I ran through the color bombs, I simply closed my second set of shades. After the color bomb, I would flip them back up and be able to see clearly for the rest of the run!

 

The color party at the end of the race! There is a live band on the stage, hidden behind all of the color bombs!

 

After the run, we found a little beach-side café in Orange Beach where we enjoyed amazing seafood, and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day in the sun and sand!

Jordan and I made a trip to nearby Destin to celebrate Memorial day weekend. While I thought Pensacola was beautiful, Destin managed to even outshine Pensacola with its sugar sand beaches and emerald green waters. After a wonderful day in the sun, we were even treated to a full-fledge, 4th of July -style, fireworks show that evening. We enjoyed the view, side-by-side on the deck of the harbor, at the edge of the wooden dock, feet dangling over the water, listening to good ol' southern, patriotic country music.

Driving over the bridge to Destin, how beautiful are those waters!

 

Sharing a delicious margarita on the water in Destin, and taking in the sight of people with hydro-powered jet packs in the water! This is some futuristic stuff!!!!!

The boardwalk at Destin

 

 

 June:

The beginning of June marked the annual Pensacola tradition of the Fiesta of Five Flags, where the town celebrates the 5 different flags of the countries that have occupied Pensacola, and that fly over the city, with a week long celebration. All of our military friends are so jealous that we "are in" with the locals and were able to experience this Pensacola tradition first hand.


Due to Randy's connections, we were given VIP Gold Sponsor treatment, which included a ride on a boat from Pensacola Yacht Club to Hemingways on Pensacola Beach.

Jordan and I on the upper level of the yacht, Pensacola Beach is in the background

Randy and I on the pier at Pensacola Beach, where all the boats docked for the day!

Ninalyn and I at Hemingways on Pensacola Beach, where we were treated to the most amazing feast!




Jordan and I also celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on June 13th. It really seems like just yesterday, after the festivities had come to an end and the last sparkler had died out, Jordan and I sat side-by-side on the edge of the bathtub soaking our exhausted, dance-worn feet, with giant grins plastered across our faces, reflecting back on every single magical moment of our wedding day. People always ask, what was the one thing that went wrong on your wedding day? And I can honestly say, not one single thing. June 13th 2009 was the most perfect, most magical day of my entire life. Our theme that day was "in life, let love be your guide" and so far, over the past 4 years, love has guided us on some pretty amazing and beautiful adventures. And to continue the tradition of adventure, we traveled to Miami to celebrate our  4th anniversary!

Miami had Caribbean weather, it would be beautiful sunshine one minute, and torrential rain (as you can see coming in on the right ) the next minute!

The water was CRYSTAL CLEAR!



Exploring South Beach, Miami by bike





We absolutely LOVED the Miami Cuban Cuisine!!

You can't go to Miami without getting a Mojito! Although when you order a regular Mojito at a restaurant, be prepared to get a large glass like this and a check for $32!!!!!!!



Nespresso Boutique Coffee Bar in South Beach, where we enjoyed MORE coffee!





We took a sunset catamaran cruise while in Miami, even got to see celebrity homes on Star Island.

The morning we left, we decided to get up at 5am to see the sunrise on the beach.




 

Jordan decided he wanted a fresh coconut...So, man climbs tree...

Man gets Coconut

Man hammers coconut with a rock



 

Man inserts straw, and drinks coconut!

 

Cortaditos (Cuban coffees, think espressos x10) and Coconuts, breakfast of Champions!

 

Jordan in the hotel lobby before leaving for the aiport
 

Myself in the hotel lobby, not ready to head back to "real life!"

 

And although most days, Jordan finds his schedule jam-packed, I am so thankful for my military family, and the wonderful women I am blessed to share my life with.

 

My girlfriend Ashley and I attended a Painting with a Twist class, where we learn to paint a scene (our class being Pensacola beach),while enjoying an adult beverage of your choice!

 

 

 

Tuesday nights have become Girl's nights, as we have started a summer tradition of attending half-price sushi at "Atlas" @ the Fish House, followed by Bands on the Beach on Pensacola Beach, where each week a different band performs, and we spread out a blanket and enjoy the live music

 

Although Jordan's schedule consists of a consuming and never-ending cycle of: study, fly, nap, eat, study, fly, nap, eat... Every free moment he finds, we make the most of by visiting Pensacola Beach.

 



Yo Ho! It's a Pilot's Life for Me!

 

Beautiful Man O' War Jellyfish on Pensacola Beach

Enjoying the beautiful warm water together

July: 

July was filled with more sun and sand. We celebrated the 4th of July at Pensacola Beach (where else?) with Amy's family who was visiting for the week. We were treated to a beautiful fireworks display shot off over Gulf Breeze. We situated ourselves on a patchwork of blankets and towels on the bay side of Pensacola Beach, and took in the show, with the water of the bay beautifully reflecting the colors of the sky.

 

Although it was a pretty cloudy day, the sunset still managed to be beautiful

 

 



After the fireworks were finished, Jordan and I took in some live music at Flounders, in order to avoid the bumper to bumper traffic on the two-lane bridge back into town.

 

 

 My good friend and college roommate, Emily, made July extra special, with a trip out to visit us. We managed to pack so much in to the time she was here, from stand-up paddleboarding out to a private island, biking around Pensacola Beach, attending a "winging" party, taking in an air-show, and of course who can forget, floating down the treacherous Blackwater River. Emily and I expected the experience to be a relaxing 3-hour float down a beautiful river, we even packed a floating cooler with mimosas! Well goodness gracious, we might as well have been white water river-rafting. And white water river-rafting is not an experience I ever wanted to relive after being traumatized as a 10 year old in Colorado! Okay, I am exaggerating, there weren't exactly rapids, but there were other life-threatening elements ready to inflict serious bodily harm and mental aguish!

There were all kinds of fallen trees, with dangerous wooden spears from the broken away limbs that tried to impale or blind us at every turn. The water ping-ponged us back and forth to either side of the river, right into these treacherous limbs, "beaver dams," and low hanging branches-which proved to also be littered with bird poop that transferred itself in to Emily's hair .Once we felt like we had the hang of navigating around these obstacles, we started to let down our guard, and unfortunately we did so too soon, as the river propelled us in to a monster of a dam. The current, along with our lack of ability to move through the road-block and our tied together tubes, knocked over our floating cooler (with the car keys inside!). I could see it all happening in slow-motion as I scrambled unsuccessfully (with an embarrassing lack of coordination and the combing forces of the slippery plastic tube and my wet skin fighting against me), to get myself out of the tube in time to stop it. Thankfully Emily's super vision spotted the bag with the car keys almost instantly, and they were saved (although we still had to get back to the car and see if they managed to stay dry enough to still work). In all the confusion of trying to get ourselves unstuck from the tangle of branches and debris, finding the car keys, and picking up all of our champagne remnants, we completely forgot that Emily's COACH sunglasses were also in the flipped cooler. By the time we realized it, it was too late. We made a sacrifice to the river gods that day, an expensive one at that! So you would think that after Emily's expensive sacrifice to the river gods, we would have been spared from any more excitement or bad luck for the rest of the trip, but we were not so lucky. The large stumps in the river provided violent and sudden bumps from below, the water turtles scared the beegeezus out of us when mostly submerged and only their snake-like heads popping above the water's surface mere inches from us, and how can I forget the giant soft-ball size spiders! 

After our cooler-tipping incident, Emily and I decided to untie our tubes, so that each one of us would be able to navigate the obstacles easier. Well Emily apparently was much better at it than I, as I found myself trapped in another 3-sided dam, with low hanging branches closing in from above. As I tried to grab one of the larger branches to pull myself around the blockage that was trapping me inside, I nearly grabbed this monster of a spider. I screamed so loud and so long, that I am sure people in Alabama heard me over their "roll tide roll" sea of chanting. Not only was I impossibly stuck, I now could foresee that at any minute that giant spider was going to drop down the 6 inches from that branch on to me. I was in full-panic-mode without any idea of how to get myself un-stuck. Emily was obviously of no help to me, because she could not stop hysterically laughing long enough to give me any sound advice, that and the current of the river kept pulling her further from me by the second, leaving me alone with my sure and impending death by monster soft-ball spider. We were so thankful (and exhausted) once we finally made it back to shore in one piece! Never again... Fortunately I did not bring my camera on the river, otherwise it too would probably be gone forever, so I don't have any pictures of that experience, but here are some others from Emily's time in Florida.

 

Riding bikes around Pensacola Beach brought back memories of living in SD together in college, where we would ride our beach cruisers everywhere.

The weather was quite threatening, but they still managed to have an airshow (although without the Blue Angels).



Dinner at the Fish House where we tasted the AMAZING Grits a Ya Ya. These grits were absolutely to die for!

Emily, Amy and I at the Winging Party at the Oar House in Pensacola. We were treated to buckets of refreshments and games of Ping-Pong and corn-hole before another torrential storm rolled in.

Emily was treated to a beautiful rainbow on her last evening in Pensacola, the pay-off for enduring the on and off rain all week!

 

So remember that river trip I swore off for the rest of my existence, well little did I know that Jordan's squadron was having their annual company picnic the next week, where we would again be floating the river! Well smarty pants me decided that the only reason that Emily lost her sunglasses that day was because they were in the cooler that flipped and as long as I kept mine securely on my person, I would be fine. False! A branch swept them off my face. The Blackwater river now has a pair of Ray-Bans to keep Emilys Coach sunglasses company. Oh well, serves these California yuppie girls right. We had a great time floating the river the second time with Jordan's co-workers and superiors. We tied up with a large group of people, and I made sure to secure myself in the middle rather than the outside, in order to avoid getting trapped by any of those pesky, spider-ridden dams! Once we reached the end of the float, we had a large picnic and lots of games of corn-hole. Not sure what it is about the military or the south, but these people love their corn-hole! (It's pretty much a bean bag toss! You know, like the type you played in preschool??? That's basically it folks!)

At the beginning of the float, before the sunglasses were once again sacrificed to the river gods.

 

There were water stations set up at a few of the various sand bars along the river. The guy in the hat holding up the sign is Jordan's commanding officer of his squadron, HT-8.

 



We even had dogs floating the river with us! Guess we should have brought Gunnar!



 

 

 



Our group seemed to keep growing at every sandbar, as more and more people tied up with us. I think at the end we had 3 dogs, 4 coolers, 2 footballs, 1 boom box and too many people to fit in the picture!

 

 

 

Unfortunately, life is not all fun and games, and for Jordan, there is much more work than play. But who wants to see pictures of that? So in short: Jordan is about 75% done with advanced flight school, and has completed both of his cross country flights. Despite the long-flying days where they log 8-12 hour/day, the cross-country flights have allowed him to spend the weekends bonding with instructors and fellow flight students while visiting and exploring two new fun cities (Austin, TX and Tampa, FL).  Okay, a few pictures...

Jordan's preparation for one of his cross-country flights



Jordan and his flying partner visited the stadium at UT. Jordan is giving the "gig-em" Aggies sign of Texas A&M, which is the rival of the UT Longhorns,  for our friend Branson, who is a Texas A&M Alum

 

Jordan and his partner explored Austin like a couple, side-by-side in the back  of rickshaw, with neon-lit wheels, driven by a crazy Jamaican guy. Austin's theme is "Stay Weird, Austin" and Jordan said it definitely lived up to its "weird" reputation.



Ybor City in Tampa, or Little Cuba where the guys went for Mojitos and Cigars

Some of the students and instructors in Ybor City

Yo Ho, It's a Pilot's Life..

 

At airport pit-stop in Gainsville, FL before flying over the Gator's Stadium of the University of Florida, aka The Swamp. They "caravanned" with another helicopter crew for this cross-country flight, and enjoyed spending the weekend in Tampa together.

Jordan is currently now in the instrument phase of advanced, where basically he is earning the qualifications for a civilian world commercial license. He is projected to "wing" in less than two months, on September 27th. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he finishes these last flights and moves on to another selection process, where his duty station and specific helicopter will be designated!

I can hardly believe how fast this second time here in Florida is flying by! Now that I am caught up on the last few months, I need to make a better effort at documenting our last weeks and experiences here, as I know they will be gone before we know it!
Hope this blog finds all of you back at home well! Please forgive all the spelling and grammatical errors that are probably littered throughout! I am so exhausted from trying to catch up that I confess I did not take the time to read it back over. Talk to you SOON!