Long Overdue Update, Part 1

Wow, where to even begin?  These last 5 months have absolutely flown by and I have neglected to timely document the most important and significant accomplishment in Jordan's career, his winging! We had so many special visitors, and a number of ceremonious events, in celebration of the amazing, long-fought battle, and incomprehensible amount of hard work put in over the years, that would now culminate in a small, 1"x3", pair of golden wings.  Although seemingly simple, these small wings are exponentially larger in significance. They encompass an amazing journey and transformation over the last 7 years, nearly a full quarter of Jordan's life. And although they may be technically 14k gold, these wings are made up blood, sweat, and tears. Well, perhaps, not literal tears in Jordan's case (unless we count  the gas mask experience at TBS where spit, snot, and tears, streamed from every pore of each of the Lieutenants' faces after experiencing an extended duration in a gas chamber during their training against chemical warfare). Standing by and supporting Jordan since day one of this journey, I can honestly say on behalf of him, because we all know he is too humble to say it for himself, it has been an incredible and indescribable feat.

I can still remember the day he took his very first step on this path that would one day lead him to his present accomplishment and earning his golden wings.  Laying side by side, chins resting in our hands, propped up on our elbows, we scoured over the various brochures spread out across the light blue carpet of my bedroom floor (yep, all the way back in the blue carpet days). He had just returned from visiting the different recruiting offices earlier that day with his dad and we discussed at length that day which service he should join. I personally thought the Marines' had the sharpest and most distinguished looking uniforms-so that would be my choice of course, while he obviously chose it for a completely different set of reasons in the end. From that day forward, time and time again, and at every stage of his application process, commissioning, training and overall journey, Jordan had to dig deep within himself to push physically, emotionally, and mentally, further than he would have ever thought possible . After each seemingly impossible and overwhelmingly giant hurdle, watching a number of his fellow candidates (at OCS), then Lieutenants (at TBS), and then fellow student aviators wash out of the program,  an even bigger hurdle would be waiting to claim more dreams up ahead.

Through every hurdle, Jordan got closer and closer to the finish line, and finally in September of this year, Jordan's greatest dream thus far, was realized at the completion of flight school, selecting his aircraft, and earning those precious wings.  And boy, did he have a ecstatic and proud group of family that came out to support him in this accomplishment!

My family (minus Kyle because he wasn't able to escape work unfortunately) arrived the week before the winging ceremony. We greatly enjoyed showing them all of the amazing places that we had come to love, and talked so highly of, over the past two times living in the area. It was also a special treat for my family to finally get to see the Oxenhams (my mom's sisters' family) and their beautiful home after all these years. We had an absolute blast, and managed to cram a lot of sight-seeing into only a few short days before the winging festivities would begin.

The first day we met up with my Aunt Ninalyn and Uncle Randy and went to the flight museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola. We took a tour of all the old aircraft and military history displayed, and Jordan was able to point out a few of the aircraft he has trained on throughout his journey thus far. We spent a good two hours there, and only saw a small fraction of everything there was to see, but were thoroughly exhausted. Everyone except my dad of course, who probably could have spent his entire week's vacation reading every plaque and taking in every last detail of this awesome museum. This place definitely needs to be visited more than once to fully appreciate all the amazing history there is to be seen.

Dad in the cockpit of the Blue Angel

Troy checking out the ejection seat of a jet

Dad in Richard Nixon's restored presidential helicopter, "Marine One"

The next day we made a day-trip to two of our absolute favorite nearby towns: Seaside, FL and Destin, FL. Seaside is the town where "The Truman Show" was filmed, and many of the iconic landmarks from the movie are still present around this beautifully-quaint, one-stop-light town. If I could live anywhere in the world, it might just be this place. The place is the definition idyllic; playfully referred to as "Mayberry-by-the-Gulf." With it's colorful clapboard, historic Florida (and renowned and studied) architecture, each completed with the required white picket fences, the breathtaking beaches, and everything within walking and biking distance, what more could you ask for?

Welcome to Seaside, population: 1, 228 (including cats and dogs)

Seaside, FL

The house from "The Truman Show"

"And in case I don't see ya: good afternoon, good evening and good night!"

Each of the homes were colorfully painted, creatively named, and completed with the required white picket fence (although each white picket fence was also required to be unique from any other in the town)

Isn't this the cutest little post office ever? Seaside OFFICIAL post office and town center

The shops of Ruskin artist colony

The "Land Yacht" district of seaside: 6 vintage airstream food trucks

Mom and Dad at the beach in Seaside

Mom and me

Jordan and Troy enjoying the warm, clear, turquoise water

Odessa Pavilion by architect, Roger Ferri. 1 of the 8 landmark pavilions along the beach.

Mom and Dad enjoying the view of the beaches at Seaside from the Pavilion

Lunch at Great Southern 

Lunch at Great Southern, located in town center

Great Southern: where southern cuisine meets seafood, so amazing and grits to die for!

On the way back from Seaside, we stopped in Destin, which is a very popular vacation spot for people in the South. 

Destin, FL

Dinner at AJ's Oyster House, more delicious, fresh seafood!

Sunset over Destin's Crab Island

On day three, our plan was to head over to Gulf Islands National Seashore, which is a preserved and historic section of the Pensacola Beach Peninsula. Jordan and I have enjoyed exploring Fort Pickens in the past, and I knew my dad would love the multiple layers of history that the Fort encompasses. Additionally, the seclusion of the Fort, miles down this sea-level, two lane road surrounded only by expanses of white sand, and the ocean beyond on either side, is a sight in and of itself. Jordan and I have loved venturing out this way in the past to bask in  the quiet serenity and breathtaking natural beauty, mostly unpopulated by visitors.

View from the car on road leading out to Fort Pickens, you are literally at sea-level

Nothing but sand-dunes and ocean for miles

On a previous trip, Fort Pickens is in the background

Where is everyone?! Are we trespassing?!

Enjoying the peace and serenity of our own private beach

Fort Pickens

Dad and Troy exploring one of the tunnels  of the Mine Chambers. There was a a whole network of tunnels throughout the fort, that would dead-end into small, narrow chambers. These tunnels were packed full of  gunpowder, and could be used as a defense mechanism to blow out walls of the fort as a last resort for protection. 

Dad and Troy standing on an outer wall above the dry moat. A dry moat forced enemies to scale and descend over an outer wall into a large open expanse, making them open and vulnerable to gunfire from inside the fort

If you are interested in more of the history of Fort Pickens, see my blog post Fond Memories of the Sunshine State , from when Jordan and I first explored the Fort.

There was quite the storm brewing over Pensacola Bay when we explored the fort. We witnessed a number of lightening bolts all within a 5 minute period hit down between us and the mainland, only a few miles distance. The park ranger told us that lightening is able to travel several miles, and advised everyone to take cover. Knowing that this storm was just beginning, and darkness would soon be setting in, we made a mad dash out to the cars, to avoid the next lightening strike!

We had intended to spend the second part of our day at the main beach area of Pensacola Beach with my Aunt Ninalyn, but this storm was ruining our beach-day plans. Storms in Florida are no-joke, and while we needed to get off the flood-prone, tiny sandbar of a peninsula that led out to Fort Pickens, we didn't want to drive further than we had to in this weather. So we met up with Ninalyn (and Jordan who was unable to attend the Fort tour with us because of a "work function," see below) at this brand new restaurant we have been wanting to try on Pensacola Beach: Red Fish, Blue Fish. By brand new, I mean it just opened that day! We are so glad we tried this place when we did, because we loved it so much, we made it a priority to visit a few more times before we moved. It was such a neat atmosphere, with a mix of eclectically painted wooden dining tables and groupings of adirondack chairs,  comfy outdoor sectionals, hammocks and games such as sand-volleyball, corn-hole and croquet. It perfectly captures the bright and colorful, yet casual and laid back energy, lifestyle and everything we have come to love about Pensacola. No Pensacola hotspot is complete without the live music, the fun games incorporated into the restaurant/bar settings, and of course the picturesque, beach front setting.

The reason Jordan was not able to tour the Fort with us, and met up with us and Ninalyn at Red Fish, Blue Fish: The OFFICIAL HT-8 Squadron photo! Every graduating group of aviators takes a photo to hang in the squadron. Over the years, the photos have become less formal, and more fun. Well these boys took it to a new level. Knowing that their Commanding Officer, also the one in charge of their selection later that week, was out of town for a cross country flight, they decided to "white trash photobomb" his house for their graduating class photo! A dryer, a blow up pool, christmas lights, beer and cut offs...they have this look down almost too well, don't you think? These are the ones entering the fleet and fighting for our country, makes you feel real safe and confident in our future security as a nation doesn't it? Can you spot Jordan???

Red Fish, Blue Fish

As you can see from the picture above, the storm was quite threatening, and was starting to turn towards the direction of our route home. Unfortunately, we had to cut out visit short; however, I was a excited that my family was going to experience a raging, powerful, crazy yet oh-so-typical-Florida thunderstorm, which we have spoken so often of. And boy, were they treated to quite the light show! Giant lightening bolts barreled down towards the ocean on either side of us as we drove over the bridge back home. My mom even managed, after numerous attempts, to capture a few of these bolts on camera!

Thankfully, as is the norm, the storm only lasted through the evening, and the Florida sunshine returned the next day so we could do more sight-seeing. And believe me, we needed a fun, distracting activity for this day. This was the day Jordan would be finding out which helicopter he would be selected for and therefore flying for the rest of his career in the Marine Corps, as well as our duty station and "permanent" home for the next 3-4 years! 

Selection day is beyond overwhelming! To say Jordan and I were anxious is an understatement.  I can't even think of a word to properly capture the extreme nerves, tentative excitement, hopes, dreams, blood, sweat, tears (mostly mine this time), and prayers that have gone in to this one day over the last year, if not the last 7 years. This decision,  is seemingly inconsequential, impersonal and somewhat insignificant to those in the power that make the selections, as it is just a bi-monthly task and routine part of their job. However for us, and more importantly Jordan, this decision would determine the course of Jordan's career and our future! Rather than sit at home, checking the clock, analyzing what the minutes and hours passing could possibly mean or what events had  or had not already occurred, and nervously eyeing my phone and awaiting any word or  sign of what direction the selection process had gone (not to say I still didn't do any of this), my family and I went to the Pensacola Lighthouse in an attempt to distract ourselves from the gravity of what was occurring that day, and pass the time until Jordan returned with the news.

Originally built in 1825, the lighthouse is still used by the US Coast Guard as a navigational aid today

177 stairs to the top...

  

And the best views of Pensacola Bay!

Well  after killing time enjoying another beautiful day sightseeing in Pensacola, the time had finally come to head back to Milton, and face whatever future Jordan now knew lay ahead. After dropping off my family, I went to pick up my inebriated husband, as I could only imagine the reason for the drinking: was it in extreme celebration or sheer agony and despair...