Beware, this post is going to be picture heavy. Also, please remember all but two of these are SOOC (straight out of camera), shot with my P&S or iPhone and some not by me…LOL!

I suppose since my body (and Bryan’s snoring) won’t let me sleep, I *should* be productive and actually get this blog post out. Being that is it 0445 and I have been up since 0316, I can’t promise that it will be understandable, just done…LOL!

As of my last PCS related update, you know that we moved into TLF on July 19th. That final week in Florida went really smoothly. The movers did a great job, we got the house cleaned/keys handed over and Bryan’s final base outprocessing went off without a hitch. At that point though, I was a little leery…nothing in the AF ever goes that smoothly for that long :).

On July 25th, we said goodbye to Florida and began our 6 day, seemingly never-ending journey. Many have asked why we drug it out so long, but there was really no choice. With Bryan and I each driving a vehicle, there was no chance for me to rest/sleep and the CLL fatigue starts setting in and we’d rather be safe than sorry. So, 6 days it was. That night we stopped in Jackson, MS. I don’t have any pictures from that day though, I think I was too excited to finally be on the road and better yet, on our way to being on the flip-side of this PCS. Knowing about a PCS for 9 months is rather annoying, there is truly something to be said for short notice orders.

July 26th, our journey took us from Jackson, MS to Dallas, TX with a potty break at the Louisiana state line and a side trip to the Libbey Glass Factory in Shreveport, LA (I used to go there as a child and wanted to take Jacey). This day was by far the worst. No offense to any Louisiana lovers out there, but driving through that state is torture, only 2nd to driving I-10 from Beaumont to El Paso in Texas. Boring with a capital B.

(Jacey the the Louisiana state line)

(us three at the hotel in Jackson)

July 27th, our journey took us from Dallas, TX to Lubbock, TX with a stop in Abilene, TX on the way. Not only did we want to show Jacey where she was born, but we also couldn’t pass up lunch at my all time favorite restaurant, Abuelos. We ate there so much when I was pregnant with Jacey, she should have came out wrapped in a tortilla. It was fun to take a walk down memory lane and see Bryan’s old planes and where our old house on base used to be.

(Jacey at Dyess, where she was born)

(where our old house on Dyess used to be)

(Bryan’s old plane, the B-1)

(lunch at Abuelos, pure heaven…one spinach and one avocado enchilada)

(wind farms between Abilene and Lubbock)

July 28th, our journey took us from Lubbock, TX to Albuquerque, NM. We made a stop for lunch  along the historic Route 66 and then went and rode the tramway up to Sandia Peak once we got settled into our hotel. Oh, and let’s not forget our fabulous dinner at Tucanos…yum. I had never been to a Brazilian grill before but was thrilled when we found one here in Vegas the other day, since driving to Albuquerque for dinner is not an option :).

(Jacey on Route 66, getting her kicks:)

(the ride up to the top of Sandia Peak)

(Albuquerque at night from the top of Sandia Peak)

(us three at the top of Sandia Peak)

(the highest I have ever been, minus airplanes)

July 29th, our trek took us from Albuquerque, NM to Flagstaff, AZ. This stretch of road was beautiful although the July 30th stretch barely beat it out as the best. We stopped at Meteor Crater to explore a bit and were going to stop at the Petrified Forest until we looked at how much time that would take. By day 5, we were all just ready to be done. Flagstaff by the way, is absolutely gorgeous and will definitely be some place we’ll take a long weekend away to in the future.

(Jacey in front of Meteor Crater)

(Meteor Crater)

(Meteor Crater…I thought the clouds where awesome)

(somewhere between Albuquerque and Flagstaff)

July 30th, the final day of our trek from Flagstaff, AZ to fabulous Las Vegas, NV. We were all so ready to be done, we didn’t really do/see a lot. We did make a landmark first visit to an In-N-Out Burger where they knocked McDonald’s out of the line up as favorite fast food restaurant for Jacey (which if anyone knows Jacey immense love for McDonald’s (yuck), you’ll know how big that truly is). We also stopped at Hoover Dam, so Jacey could see it but decided to do the tours and such on another day since we are only 45 minutes away (plus is was hot…109 degrees and nothing but concrete). It is a good thing, since we sat in traffic for an hour just to get over the dam. If they ever get the dam bypass finished, it will be so much better.

(somewhere right outside of Flagstaff)

(somewhere between Flagstaff and Vegas)

(In-N-Out first-timers)

(Hoover Dam)

(Hoover Dam)

July 31st, our 11th anniversary. While technically, we arrived in Vegas on the 30th, due to some issues we didn’t actually get to see any of Vegas, so I am adding the 31st to this post. We started the morning off house hunting, no easing into Vegas life here…LOL! We followed that up with an anniversary lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and then that night, we headed down to the strip for a true Vegas experience. Bryan has wanted to see The Blue Man Group for years, so that was his anniversary present. The show was fabulous and it was neat getting to see the awe in both Jacey and Bryan’s eyes at the grandeur of the strip. Before heading back to the room though, we did the true Vegas touristy thing, got a picture by the historic welcome sign. That was nuts, but fun. I guess we are officially Las Vegans now (yes, as weird as that name is, I looked it up).

(us on our 11th anniversary)

(Jacey at the Venetian after the show)

(official Las Vegans)

Other than the rain (and we are talking tropical storm bands through Mississippi and then monsoons through New Mexico…just regular rain the rest of the way), we had a very uneventful trip which is good. I wish I could say the same about our attempt to settle into TLF. We had made reservations months ago, so there was no issue there. First, we drive in circles trying to find the TLF buildings (their versions of maps are, let just say, not the least bit accurate). Once we finally find the building and go in, we are hit with not only the most intense fish/wet dog/dead body/something smell but also the tiniest TLF I have ever seen. The TLF’s here are smaller than the hotel rooms we stayed in along the way. While it wasn’t going to be fun, we could have dealt with that because, let’s face it…long-term TLF is WAY cheaper than a hotel offbase but the smell…OMG. There was no way on earth we could deal with that, so we head back up to the front desk, get a non-availability slip and ended up in the Cannery. We go back to TLF on August 9th and are assured it will not be the same room…we shall see.

Thursday after work, I flew out to New Mexico to spend the weekend with Bryan. By that point, we hadn’t seen each other in 54 days and while we have done longer, if we don’t have to, why torture ourselves. I stayed until Sunday and really didn’t want to come home. I seriously contemplated staying until this Thursday, only coming home in time to pick Jacey up from the airport on Friday. I am the responsible one though and came back so I could finish out my last 2 weeks at work. Being an adult is no fun sometimes ;). Sigh.

I’ve only been home 2 days and I miss Bryan already. I hate being apart from him for any length of time longer than a work day.

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with my husband. There I said it.

Anyway, we had a great time doing nothing super special (not to mention Alamogordo, NM isn’t exactly a hopping metropolis), just enjoying each other. Here is a glimpse at the weekend through my lens (these were taken with my Canon S90 and iPhone, I didn’t lug my big camera on the flight).

Click to see bigger versions.

…to see Bryan! I’m going to see Bryan!

Originally, it was not in the plans for me to go see Bryan during this TDY. In between the PCS, me finishing up at work, school, etc compiled with the fact that Bryan wasn’t supposed to have a rental car, we briefly mentioned it and then dropped it. Well, things changed.

Bryan ended up with a rental car all to himself, so he can drive to El Paso to pick me up. Jacey leaves on Friday for 2 weeks in Texas, leaving me all by my lonesome. As for the rest, it will all be here when I get back, so I took the plunge and bought tickets. I fly out after work on Thursday, the 17th and come home Sunday, the 20th. It is a quick trip but worth it, since we haven’t seen each other in 45-ish days (on top of the back to back TDY’s he has had since October) and it will probably be the last couple time we get for a long while since we won’t have anyone to keep Jacey once we move to Vegas.

Even better, Bryan will most likely be home within 2 weeks from when I get back instead of the middle of July.

Yay!

54 more days until we PCS. It seems so close yet so far. Sigh. I am truly ready to just finally be on the other side of this journey. Everyone keeps telling me that I should be grateful that we had this much notice but I beg to differ. 9 months from the retraining approval to the PCS is just a bit *too* much. I feel like life has been in such upheaval that I may never know what normal is again.

Anyway, enough complaining. I really am looking forward to the move even if it doesn’t appear that way at the moment.

Sunday, Bryan and I tackled finalizing the road trip stops/plans. We previously had a penciled plan but just couldn’t make it work out. Originally, we wanted to make a stop in Oklahoma City to see some friends we were stationed with in the UK but mileage wise it just wasn’t happening. We are trying to keep each travel day somewhere around 350 miles except the last day, since we want to get to Vegas earlier in the day, so we can make the trek out to Bryan’s actual base, Creech AFB.

So, below is what we decided on…

July 25 – Niceville, FL —> Clinton (Jackson), MS (314 miles)
July 26 – Clinton, MS —> Duncanville (Dallas), TX (399 miles)
July 27 – Duncanville, TX —> Lubbock, TX (344 miles)
July 28 – Lubbock, TX —> Albuquerque, NM (331 miles)
July 29 – Albuquerque, NM —> Flagstaff, AZ (323 miles)
July 30 – Flagstaff, AZ —> Las Vegas, NV (259 miles)

1969 miles total – click to see our route on Google Maps

I wanted to avoid Texas, since we were both born there and have seen most parts of it many times but there just aren’t that many routes between Florida and Nevada. I did absolutely refuse to take I-10 anymore than we absolutely had to though, I’ve made that trek, a few too many times. I am excited about this route, because it will take us through Abilene, TX and we’ll get to show Jacey where she was born and where we lived (we also get to stop for lunch at our fav place, Abuelos). She was only 8 months old when we moved from there and we’ve never been back.

Of course, after finalizing the route, then came hotel reservations. 2 hours later, we had all those made. This is why I do not like road trips. Give me a plane to my destination and a week-long hotel stay and I am a happy camper. Well, not literally since I don’t do the whole camping thing either :). But alas, they are done. They all have pools for Jacey to expend some energy and workout rooms for me to expend some stress/tension. Win. Win.

So, if anyone is anywhere along this route and would like to say hi, please let me know. I am sure a little distraction from friends will be very much welcomed!

Well, we are in the single digits now. Yes, I know we were *technically* there 2 days ago, but I have been too tired to sit down and attempt a coherent blog post. Only 7 more days, till we fly to San Antonio to spend a week with Bryan and see his UAS BSOC graduation where he gets his wings. Oh, sorry, it is RPV BSOC now. Sigh. You know the military, the ONLY constant is change.

We fly in Thursday evening and graduation is Friday. Then Saturday morning, we’ll meet my Mom halfway and she will have Jacey till Monday evening. Can you say alone time after a month apart ;). We are going to hit The Melting Pot on Saturday for an early V-Day dinner (I didn’t like the V-Day menu and that is all they are serving on the 14th), mariachi mass on Sunday at Mission San José, the rodeo and Trace Adkins on Tuesday and then we’ll celebrate Bryan’s birthday on Wednesday (it is on the 20th but we won’t be there). Oh, and don’t forget REAL Mexican food…yum! We fly back home on Thursday, the 18th and while J goes back to school that Friday, I don’t go back to work till Monday, the 22nd. Woohoo! Can you tell Jacey is excited too?!

Bryan is doing well in his 1U0X1 training. He has made a 97.5, 95 and 92.5 on his tests so far and only has one more on the 12th. Poor guy is so ready to be done though and he still has one more class to go after this one, plus 3 months of FTU once we move. They definitely never said retraining was fast…LOL! He is excited though, because they went last week and got sized for their flight suits (they get to start wearing them as soon as they graduate this first class) and yesterday, he got his name badge in.

Still no word on orders though. Everyone else in the class got them this past Monday, except 4 people and of course we have to be one of those 4. It’s really a no brainer, there is only one base option for us medically but it would be nice to have the *official* word. They plan to call the chief tomorrow and find out what the hold up is, since it is not normal for some to get them and not all. We shall see.

Anyway, I’d better head to bed. Even though I don’t have to work tomorrow, I do have to get up with Jacey and then go get my allergy shots, hit the gym (I really wanted to run outside but the rain won’t allow that) and the commissary for a few things to get us through the next few days till we fly out.

No, I didn’t really write this at 0530 in the morning. Technology is awesome, isn’t it?!

By the time you read this, J and I will be on the road to San Antonio. The long LONG road…LOL! We’ll be back Sunday night, so everyone have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Thirteen random thoughts on my mind in the present.

1. So, Thursday’s. I have had to alter my workouts, sine Jacey is now taking baton twirling on Thursday’s. I used to go up to the base gym as soon as I got off work, but now I am going to run either outside or in the CLC gym while she is in class. Killing two birds with one stone…eh :). I just did a short run yesterday, trying to eyeball a route. Time wise, I should be able to double it and still not be late picking her up…3 miles won’t be too shabby.

[iframe http://runkeeper.com/pub/act/wTIZIuWBDJQxkYWtQPbF/map 425 345]

2. My body is so not my friend right now. We bought Wii Active last weekend for me to use on the days I can’t make it to the gym and it is kicking my butt! I am currently doing the 30 day workout plan on moderate (there is 3 levels). Why is it that I can run for 45 minutes with no pain, but do 3 Wii Active workouts with a resistance band and my own body resistance and am dying?! Go figure.

3. Is the rain ever going to stop? Just a little over it here.

4. My truck is all nice and clean on the inside now. The rain really makes a mess of my black on black interior and a friend is riding with me tomorrow. Couldn’t let her see the mess, I’d be embarrassed. Guess I ended up with an hour long workout today anyway, even after deciding it would be a rest day :).

5. You know, my band is fickle. Oscar (the grouch) is definitely an appropriate name for it. I can eat almost anything, steak, chicken, etc except bread, rice and pasta. And bananas…go figure. I am not a huge fan of bananas but like one occasionally and get stuck every darn time.

6. A few days ago, I booked our camping weekend. Yes, you heard me right and no, I am not loosing my mind…I think. Anyone that truly knows me, is probably pretty doubtful at this point though :). We are going to Florida Caverns State Park from October 23rd-25th and staying in a tent. Bryan and Jacey have begged me for years and I finally gave in. I’ve been there before as a child, my uncle even got married there. Anyone local have any camping equipment we can borrow before I hit up Outdoor Rec?

7. For Thanksgiving this year, I think we are going to go work in the Waterfront Mission’s soup kitchen. I worked in one when I was around Jacey’s age and it is an experience that I have never forgotten. I think it will be a really good life lesson for Jacey, that even though they may not “have” the material things we do, they are people and important just the same. We drive through a few sections of trailers that are not very well kept up every day and she has been really noticing the “differences” here lately. I really want to do anything possible to keep her from being judgmental based on financial status.

8. Then, on Black Friday we are going to head to Tampa for the weekend while all the crazies are out shopping. We’ll hit up Busch Gardens one day and no clue what yet the next. Maybe the zoo or the aquarium?! I’d love to do a hot air balloon ride but they are CRAZY expensive for the 3 of us.

9. And Christmas. This year we are staying home. I am sure family won’t be too thrilled, but I’d just like a peaceful season instead of the rush, rush that happens when you travel. Yes, I am being selfish this year.

10. Bryan’s work is going to drive me to drinking…sigh. They are so short on people and those they do have are misfits. From week to week, his schedule is changing from days to swings which makes planning anything, including my necessary doctor’s appointments totally impossible. Is it time to retire yet?

11. Anyone out there have any opinions on the whole H1N1 vaccine? I am really not too keen on getting it, I feel it has been rushed but don’t really think I will have much of a choice for myself or Jacey. Bryan being military HAS to get it and with me being immunocompromised, I am scheduled in the first group. I know I can say no, but it scares me regardless. If I did not have cancer, I would definitely say no for both Jacey and I but….I mean, I never even got a regular flu shot till last year, my first flu season with cancer. Thankfully, neither J nor I have ever had the flu (last year was her first shot too).

12. Tomorrow is our Relay For Life Early Bird Bash (training) out in Navarre. Laura (the event chair…my “boss”:) is riding with me and I am sure we will have lots of fun. We are so much alike, it is scary at times.

13. Did you know they make drumsticks with no nuts? In mint, vanilla and vanilla fudge at that…SCORE! I am going to go have one right now…

The weather finally cooperated and we got to go on our 10th anniversary flight. This has been a lifelong dream of Bryan’s and it gave me lots of joy to see that joy exude from him!

So, miscellaneous Monday is not more, Monday is just a really bad day for me to try and sit down and blog. So, we are going to try Tuesday’s Tidbits instead…LOL!

• Relay for Life was this past weekend and a huge success. The Niceville and Valparaiso communities raised more than $116,000 and we had 188 survivors present. I walked a lot less than last year, only 14 laps, but performing committee duties took a good portion of my time. I’m not sure how many laps Bryan got in, but Jacey did 23 and was bummed she didn’t get to do more. We had planned to stay all night this year, but the pull of our house only being 1.5 miles away from the track proved to be too much. We went home for a few hours but ended up being onsite 13 of the 18 hours. Now we get a few months break until the committee meetings and 2010 planning starts up again. Bryan even wants to be involved in the steering committee for 2010.

• I read this verse earlier in the week and I really wish I could live by it. Wouldn’t life be so much simpler with that fram of mind?!
  • “I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little.” Philippians 4:12 (MSG)

• So, I *think* we finally got summer sorted out (to an extent anyway). Looks like we will be in Texas for a week in June, with Jacey staying an additional 3 weeks between 2 sets of grandparents. I’m really not looking forward to the drive, but I am looking forward to a bit of a break, some real Mexican food AND a Texas cheesesteak from Texadelphia. YUM!!

• May must be “make parents broke” month. Jacey’s keeps coming home with field trip forms left and right this month. So far on the schedule is seeing Disney Earth and her gifted class is going to the Gulf Coast Exploreum in Mobile. The one in Mobile, Bryan and I are both chaperoning…pray for our sanity!

• Bryan is all packed up and ready to head out tomorrow to Savannah for a TDY. Lucky duck, one place I have always wanted to go (yes, so I can go see the Tybee Island Lighthouse and eat at Lady & Sons). It is a short one but I was still going to try to head over for a long weekend but just can’t get it to work out with all of Jacey’s end of the year testing and such…sigh. Next place on the agenda is Holloman AFB, New Mexico again later in the year and that is NOT a place I care to visit…LOL!

• You need to go check this guy out, Wayne Hall. He played at Relay For Life and was awesome. I could have sat there and listened to him for hours. It’s only him and his guitar, but that is all he needs.

• Tonight my flickr account is urgently urging me to renew my pro membership, my membership expires in 5 days…gasp! LOL! I just don’t know if it is worth it anymore though. I have had a pro account for 3 or 4 years now, but just really don;t use flickr much anymore. I use my web space, my blog and facebook primarily…we shall see.

• Can you believe, I have had a webpage for 12 years now?! Wow! If you’d like to see where it all started (and thank goodness, it didn’t stay that way) take a peek. My original webpage  was  http://www.angelfire.com/la/firstlady/.

• Last week, I was on a cooking kick (and unfortunately the scale shows it). I used to cook all the time, but since going back to work I am usually too tired to REALLY do anything creative in the kitchen. Still not sure what got into me last week. I made low(er) fat caramel pie and cherry dark chocolate oatmeal cookies. Both were fabulous, but I was fairly good…LOL! I had one serving of each and then sent the rest to my rental husband and with Bryan to work.

• Well, the rain around here appears to have finally stopped for a bit. I am used to afternoon showers in the summer, when the sun is still shining. This though, was absolutely dreary and miserable. Today was gorgeous, I truly wished I could have moved my desk outside. It is getting chilly with a cold front coming through, but so long as it stays dry, I won’t complain :).

• Saturday, we headed to Lafayette, Louisiana to meet my mom and get Jacey back. Jacey was there for spring break and boy, it sure was quiet around here. Bryan and I would just often look at each other like we were a bit lost…LOL! The break was good though for all of us and now it is back to “real” life.

• Friday night, Bryan took me to see Fast & Furious. Yes, I am a racing, fast cars, Vin Diesel junkie. I didn’t really care for F&F 2 or 3 because there was no Vin. The movie was excellent and you could definitely tell it was a hit, the theater was PACKED.

• Has anyone played Guitar Hero Metallica yet? It came out last month and I have been eye-balling it. We were going to rent it but Blockbuster didn’t have it and we haven’t gone back. The Aerosmith version didn’t get very good reviews, so I’d like to hear reviews/play the Metallica version before dropping $50 on it.

• I am so stoked, I won one of my recent Nike+ challenges…even after taking a little over a week off for my gall bladder removal. Usually these challenges are just for bragging rights, but this one was for a Vera Bradley tote…woohoo!

• Last week, I had a kidney ct scan to follow up on my *assumed* kidney stone. I still don’t have the results back from that ct scan, but I definitely now know it was a stone…oy. When Bryan passed his back in January, it looked like a spec of pepper. I was amazed that something so small could hurt so bad. Well, mine was probably about 10-15 times the size of his…no wonder why I was writhing on the floor for 4 hours in pain.

• I have always wanted to learn how to bead, but never had the time nor knew where to begin. Well, we are required to wear our name tags at work now and I hate the clip on style. A few of the ladies that I work with have beaded lanyards  that I love, so my friend Belinda helped me pick out the beads and taught me how to do it. I can deifnitely see the attraction and think that beading could very easily become a new addiction for me.

• Did anyone watch the ACM’s last night? I was so thrilled to see Carrie win Entertainer of the Year. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kenny Chesney but I just really wanted to see someone else get a chance. Did anyone else think Toby Keith looked horrible? He looked all swollen and almost like he was grimacing at every move. What about Trace’s song with the West Point Glee Club?! Absolutely outstanding!

• So, my husband is the bestest! We have been *talking* about different vehicles for a while now. While my trailblazer was only 3.5 years old, it was beginning to show wear and had several nit picky little problems that the defunct Chevy dealership here would not admit existed. I didn’t truly think we would get me a new one till closer to my 30th birthday in October though. Monday, we drove past the Ford dealership and I pointed out an Escape that I thought looked nice. What does he do, but pull in. We breezed through the lot, looking at the Escapes, Edges and Mustangs. It was pouring down rain, so we didn’t really stop but continued on to dinner. All through dinner, we were talking about the pro’s and cons, being upside down on the trailblazer and other things. He was really for getting a new one and me, the CFO was not too sure. The next two days though, I really thought hard about it and on Wednesday decided to apply for a loan. Got the preapproval and started internet shopping. Found 2 Escapes that I wanted to test drive, so we made an appointment to do it Thursday afternoon. I still had it in my head that it wasn’t going to be feasilble, blah, blah, blah. Instead, we both fell in love with it and Bryan said do it. So, I am now the proud owner of a 2009 Ford Escape XLT. It has the one thing I have ALWAYS wanted on a vehicle, a moonroof and many other things I never knew I wanted…LOL! I always said I wasn’t going to take the new car hit again, but the deal they cut us just couldn’t be passed up. And who would have thunk it, my insurance on the new SUV is less than the insurance on my old SUV?!