Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

Here's a couple pics of the new car. I didn't realize how small it was until I saw it by the truck. : )




New kitten...


For some reason they both like my purse, but the little one thought he needed to climb in and eat it. They're getting along much better now so we won't have to find a new home for Buckaroo.



Thanksgiving was pretty uneventful, I cooked for the two of us and we just hung out at home and got ready for some black Friday shopping. The sales didn't seem as great this year, but I got a few things off of my shopping list for a reduced price, so that was nice. I didn't want to take forever shopping, so I tried to stick to my gift list, but I always checked to see if the KitchenAid mixers were on sale. I have decided that I would love to have one and thought Black Friday could be my lucky day, but unfortunately those weren't ever part of the sale. However, I mentioned to Steven that I wanted to check that out and he started looking online and found some for much better prices on ebay. I'm looking forward to having it for making lots of holiday treats!

I put up our Christmas tree yesterday. I was afraid the cats were going to think it was a new toy just for them, but they've actually been really good! The kitten must have thought it tasted good because he kept trying to chew on it, but after keeping an eye on him with a squirt bottle, he has been fine. Tom just liked to be under the tree, I guess it's like a little cave for her, but she didn't try to climb it or eat it. I need to put up a few more things and do some more chores today, but I'm off to go lie down and rest since I don't feel well.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!

TGIF!

Whew! What a week!! It's been quite insane, but I'm going to make this brief since it's about time to head home.

-work has been crazy, but today I feel like I'm finally on top of things. Please remind me that it's not smart to be out of the office for 4.5 days in two weeks if I can help it.

-we got a kitten. He's so cute, little black boy with some areas of reddish /brown. Tom does not like him though, which is unfortunate. We're hoping they'll start to get along and they are better than at first, but we'll see. We figure we'll give them about a week and if she still doesn't like the new guy, we'll find him a new home. We won't send him back to where we got him though. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I hope we keep him because he is incredibly sweet and playful. If Tom learns to like him and they play well together, he'll be able to stay.

-We got our new car! It came on Wednesday evening, but we've been unable to drive it until now because we didn't have the license plates...I think we're taking it out to dinner tonight.

I can't think of anything else that's been going on lately, which is why I've been bad about posting! Sorry! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, but we really don't have any big plans. It's looking like I'll just be cooking for the two of us, unless we find some new military family members that are going to be around.

Time to head home - have a fabulous weekend!!

crazy week

This week has been a weird one.

I started off by going to orientation on Mon/ Tues for my new permanent position at work. It was nice to get out of the office, but now I feel totally behind. I won't really be able to catch up either because I will be leaving tomorrow at about 12:45 and won't be back until late Monday morning. That's good news though because my mom is coming to visit. :) I hope we can find some fun things to do around here and that the weather is nice! I know it's supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow, but Friday- Sunday should be pretty.

We also bought a car....sorta. We're in the process of getting the paperwork done. I hope it'll ship soon and be here sometime next week! Yippee!!

I'm trying to do L2 of the 20 day shred...and for anyone who cares - it's a killer. I was so grumpy today when I left work, so it was the first thing I did when I got home. I'm no longer grumpy - I don't have the energy to be!

That's all for now, hopefully we'll do something interesting while my mom is here so I have something to share next week!

I've been bad

and I apologize!

I've been working and working, and it's paid off because as of 3 Nov. I will no longer be a temporary employee! That means more benefits, paid holidays, better pay... yippee! I am enjoying the job and am doing a few things I've never done before, so that's fun. I'm not sure if this is the only place that uses it, or if it's called something else, but I've become the primary travel coordinator and will be using a program called SAP - no clue what it stands for, but it's the way all travel is requested/ approved/ paid for. I have also been assigned to be an assistant to the executive associate director. I figure if we do still go to North Carolina in February/ March, this will at the very least be a good experience and resume builder, so I'm going to make the most of my time here.

We're also looking for a new car. It's been fun and crazy and stressful, and luckily I think we're nearing the end! Poor Steven misses his motorcycle (can't blame him, it's fun) so he has been drooling over the M3 and C63 AMG. Those are great cars, but not the practical type I thought we originally set out to find. I must admit, I love the C63 - it sounded awesome when started up, but it's a gas guzzler. I really don't care for the BMWs...call me crazy. Also, the only M3s we could find were MANUALS and I have NO idea how to drive one! We test drove a few different cars after Steven did lots of researching, and it looks like the top pick of the moment is the C350. It doesn't have the 400+ hp, but maybe we'll be able to afford a motorcycle for Steven later.....we shall see!!!

Ok, Ashley, am I out of trouble now? ;)

Finally an update

Ok, I told some people that I would be better about updating, so I'm really going to try, starting today!

So far we're really happy here in Arkansas. Cabot is MUCH smaller than San Antonio, but it's been a fun change. Without all the city lights, we can actually see some stars at night, and we're away from any major roads, so it's sooo quiet. I've only met a couple of our neighbors, but they've been super nice.

Now, something I don't really care for would be the grocery stores. I miss HEB. If I can go to the Commissary, I'm ok, but when I can't, I refuse to go to Krogers and there's a Knights right around the corner. It's fine, but they don't have the selection that HEB always had, the prices seem high, and they have pickled eggs and pigs feet over by the icecream. YICK!!

Since it's roughly a 20 min drive to get to/from base, we have created a home gym. I think we probably went a bit overboard, but at least all of this stuff will be with us for a long time. Steven has been great about using all of the machines in the garage and I'm trying to figure out a time that works for me to workout as well. I've started a video called the 30 Day Shred and the first two days have kicked my butt! It's not easy, but it's a quick 20 minute workout, so it's hard to find an excuse as to why I can't do something for just 20 minutes. After I get more acclimated to it, I'm going to add back in the Couch 2 5K program. I am by no means a runner, but I'd like to run a 5K or at least attempt it. There's one in Little Rock at the beginning of December that I think I will sign up for. I also want to be about to do 100 pushups in a row, since I found a program online for that, and I plan to fit that in to my schedule as well.

We found out that our male kitten is a female. Her name is still going to be Tom (maybe Tommi? haha). She's still incredibly sweet and almost always entertaining. I never ever thought I would like having a cat, but I'm loving her!

The only other news I can think of at the moment is that I've gotten a job, and have been working for about 3 weeks. I'm working at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (www.achi.net), and currently hold a receptionist type position. It's not necessarily the ideal job I would have picked if I had more time (to find a job and be in the area), but it's been great. There's room to grow and after a week, I was given a $1/hr raise. Everyone here is really nice and the atmosphere is laid back, which I love. The work being done here on obesity and other health issues is interesting, and something I enjoy learning more about as well.

That's all for now and I will try my best to be better about updating!!

Some pictures

Our kitten...a little out of focus since he wouldn't be still :)

sunset view from my backyard

kitten in the grass that needs to be mowed

C-130 flying over

We've moved!

We've moved! We're finally in our new home, mostly unpacked and settling in. I think we're a bit spoiled with this house, but I'm not complaining! Steven started his first day of work today. I'm excited to see what he has to say when he gets home. From what others have told him, this training gig isn't too bad. :)

So far, I like Arkansas but we haven't done much because it's been so hot. I thought at least it'd be cooler or less humid here, but no such luck, although it felt great out this morning! The base is great - big commissary, nice gym, and activities center.

Not much else to report at the moment. All I'm doing is finishing up the unpacking and looking for a job.

Little Rock, Here we come!

We got our orders and they are the same as the RIPs. We'll be reporting to Little Rock NLT 8 August. We plan to be out of our current house on 30/31 July to give us some time to find a place and get somewhat settled before Steven has to report to work.

I'm hitting the job search harder now since we have a real date that I can give potential employers. I'm excited about this job change but also nervous that I'll have a hard time finding something worthwhile.

Not much else is new...work has been hell here lately. I'm not looking forward to Monday because I will be starting to train my replacement and my boss wants to talk to me about something that happened last week. (Basically I was asked to do something, needed some info in order to do it, so I asked for help, didn't get it, asked a couple more times and then the person not answering my questions called and talked to the other VP to get on me about being hard to work with.)

Thank God it's going to be a short work- week!

Steven got his WINGS!

Well, 13 June - Steven got his wings. He's now officially an aviator. :) It's exciting and I'm really proud of him. It's a lot of fun to see the friends we made during our time here at Randolph graduate together and move on to the next phase of training. Luckily a few of us will be headed to Little Rock AFB at the same time, so that's good for the guys and the wives as well!

We still don't have orders, but we have a better idea of when we're going to Little Rock. I think we'll be leaving San Antonio at the end of July which will be here too quickly because we've got a busy month ahead of us. It's crazy to think that Steven is going to water training all next week, then he'll be home for a couple of weeks before he's off to SERE training and then back for a few days and then we'll head out to Little Rock AFB! Of course, this is only if we get his orders and they are the same dates as the RIPs. Also, it looks like we will be doing TDY en route which we thought would not happen...and that's good news!

I'm going to Little Rock with Steven - it feels so great not being in limbo with that decision. We'll be there roughly 6 months and in that time I figure I can find a decent job to make up for leaving the one I have here. While I have enjoyed my job in San Antonio, a lot has changed and I'm ready to leave. It's sad that if I hadn't given them so much notice as to when we'll be leaving, I would have a raise and be doing the exact tasks that I have been wanting to do (HR/ FSO). Lesson learned - don't give people too much information no matter how nice you think they are....being nice here has gotten me absolutely nothing other than a giant headache!

I'll be doing all of the packing for our move to LR while Steven is at SERE training and I hope he doesn't come back too tired because I'll need his help loading up and cleaning out our place so we can head out. If there's anyone in SA willing to work for a free meal, let me know....we would love to have a few extra helping hands!

That's all for now. When we get orders, I'll update again!!

Should I stay or should I go?

As Steven's graduation date gets closer, we are getting more information with regards to the upcoming moves...or the TDY to Little Rock for training and then later the PCS to Pope...but still no orders.

We may be faced with a moving dilemma because it's not likely that we'll get en route TDY orders. Without those orders, we'll have to move ourselves to Little Rock and then back to San Antonio and then the AF will take care of the PCS to North Carolina. Because of this, we are thinking about me staying in San Antonio while Steven does his training in Little Rock. Before we decide on that, we will be sitting down to budget. If we're not going to be rolling in dough by being apart then I see no point! I would be fine working just about anywhere for those months, and I think I'd probably have to get a raise to make staying here work. I'd want to fly up to LR and hang out probably every other weekend or so. Also, would I go nuts living with my parents for that length of time? I'm not sure - still quite a few things that need to be figured out! Another big question - who gets to keep the TV? lol

All I know is that we'll be working on a budget to see where we'd stand if we both go to Little Rock, or if I stay here, and I'll just be hoping for an en route TDY so that the AF will take care of the move and I can look for a job up there. :)

I wish we had our orders SO badly! I'm too anxious about moving to keep waiting and not have a clue about when we're leaving. Also, everyone keeps asking when when when and I still don't think they believe me when I say that I have no clue. It'd be helpful for planning at work to know when we're leaving, but for now we just have to plan as though I'll be gone right after Steven graduates - which could happen. It wouldn't be bad to have someone trained and ready to rock and then have extra time though.

I just want to know when we're going! There are so many things up in the air since we don't have a date....fingers crossed these orders come soon so I don't go crazy!

Our first real move is coming up..

About a week ago, we found out (finally!!) where we will be going when Steven graduates from training. We were both anxious to find out where - now we just have to wait until he gets his orders to find out when. At least half of the battle is over though. We'll be going to Little Rock AFB for a few months and then to Pope AFB (North Carolina). I'm really excited even though it'll make things a bit hectic moving twice in about 5 months.

While we are excited about the news of where our new home will be, we're going to miss being in San Antonio. We got incredibly lucky to have our first base in my hometown. While we were here, we were able to hang out with family and made some great new friends as well. My wonderful friend Kara and I were hoping that our husbands would end up at the same base again at some point, but I don't know if that will happen. They're in California now and we'll be moving as far east as possible away from them. Of course moving away from friends and family is sad, but it's also exciting. I see being separated as a good excuse for someone to take a vacation!

Since all we know as far as a move date is that it could be as early as 6 weeks, I am trying to slowly do things to prepare so I don't have to take a ton of time off work while I have a job! Speaking of jobs, looking for a job will be interesting. I'll only have a few months and I'm hoping I'll be able to find something on base in Little Rock because we may have to get rid of my car. It's stressing me out because I don't want anything to happen on the drive up there. The check engine light came on the other day for a while and I went to get my oil changed and apparently there's a bad leak so they wouldn't do it. I'm going to try taking it somewhere else later and I hope they'll at least change it so we don't end up with additional problems because of loss of oil. Even though I really do love not having car payments and I like my granny car - it scares me to think that it may decide it's not driving me to Little Rock. I wouldn't mind getting a new car (maybe a RAV4?), but I wanted the timing of that purchase to be on our terms. I don't really want to buy a new car and put a ton of miles on it right away, and new vehicle taxes and fees are less in North Carolina than in Texas or Arkansas, so I hope we can hold out until we get there. One good thing about possibly getting rid of the car would be that Steven and I would be together for the drives unless we rent a U-Haul or something - but if we did that we wouldn't have to worry about either of us towing a car. So...not all bad either way.

I have been browsing online looking at houses and that's always exciting. I've also been trying to gather information on the areas and fun things to do so we can make the most of our time in our new homes.

Steven's out of town for the weekend - so I better get going! I have lots of chores to do while he's out of my way. ;)