Yadi & Vino: First Snow Experience

Yadi and Vino are both around one and a half years old.  And in that time, they haven't ever experienced snow.  We live in an area of Pensacola that never gets snow and last year when we were home for the holidays, it was in the 50's.

But this year we got lucky!!!  On Friday evening, it began snowing.  It wasn't much, maybe 3-4 inches, but it was just enough for them to play in!

We took Yadi and Vino outside and they absolutely LOVED it!!!  Yadi's favorite was catching the snow balls Nick made.  We let Vino off leash and she was just BOLTING around the neighborhood.  She was just a flash of red.  That girl is freaking fast as shit!  She could put any greyhound to shame!  We eventually had to catch her because we were afraid she would be hit by a car or go off exploring in the woods.  (She's never run away, but she'd explore for a few hours before coming home.)  The hard part is catching her.  Vino is much more likely to hang around us if Yadi isn't around.  But with Yadi outside, it was a game.  She would come running and just before she was close enough to grab her collar, she'd fake us out and go running.  This is her "come and get me sister!" move.  When she does this in our yard back in Florida, Yadi will immediately begin to chase her and they play tag.  We were finally able to get her to us and unfortunately she had to be a on leash.  But we used one of my parents expandable leashes so she had a lot of room to run around.

Rogue and Zoey (Leah and Kyle {my sister and her boyfriend's}) dogs' came out and joined in the fun.  All the dogs had a blast.

...that is, until we went inside and realized Yadi's yelp in the midst of playing was because she had hurt her paw =/


After this, Vino was terrified of going outside.  She was not hitting the bells to go outside and THREE times she peed in the house!  When we realized she suddenly stopped hitting the bells, we would just force her to go out every few hours.  She would hide and when we put the leash on her, and we'd have to drag her and sometimes carry her 60 pound butt outside!!!  (This is the girl who is OBSESSED with outside and is one with the earth.)  Once she was outside, she kept her tail tucked, immediately found a place to do her thing (she normally sniffs around and explores for quite a while before popping a squat), and then runs back to the door to go inside.
She started this the morning after Yadi's injury (which was the first time she went out after it.)  Could Vino have really made the connection that Yadi got hurt out there in the snow and she doesn't want to go out???  There is NOTHING we can think of that would have scared her from 9pm Friday to 9am Saturday morning.  She had a BLAST in the snow on Friday night and didn't want to come in.  Then the next morning, she was terrified of it.  But are dogs really smart enough to make that connection of "outside/snow" and "Yadi got hurt" ??????  I mean, I know Vino is a freaking genius dog, but is that really possible???  She still isn't over this outside fear.

Anyway, enough talk.  All people really care about are pictures anyway ;)

If you like to see all of them, {click here}

Beach Christmas Photo Session

Some of you might have noticed I've added a few awesome Christmas photos to my Facebook and Instagram.

A friend knew we wanted some photos taken but didn't have a camera other than our iPhones and although she'd only ever taken photos of lanscapes, she offered to take some of us.  Since she was new to this and I obviously am, we decided to scour the beloved Pinterest for some ideas.  I found lots of Christmas photo ideas, some using props, and printed them out.  Then I set to work gathering and making all the props.

Nick and I wanted to take Christmas photos on the beach.  We thought it would be a super cute idea considering we live in Florida.  The majority of the people we would send holiday cards to (and who read this blog) live in our hometown of St. Louis, Missouri (or surrounding areas).  Needless to say, the beach is very far from the life we used to live or the life they're all living.  Not to mention, for them, December means cold temperatures and possibly snow and ice.  For us, December means temperatures consistently in the 70's.
We also thought it'd be neat because this crazy Navy life will send us all over the country (and possibly even the world) throughout the next 10+ years and this would be a nice way to document the "Christmas Season" this year.  I'd love to take simple Christmas photos each year, in every place we live, that can sort of represent that area.  So we felt the beach was perfect.  Not to mention, you cannot beat the sand as white and soft as powdered sugar and the breath-taking blue/green water we have here.  It just makes absolute perfect sense for it to be the backdrop for our Christmas photos.

So it was off to Pensacola Beach late one mid-December afternoon.  The temperature was 72 degrees, slightly overcast and wind blowing (which was super annoying with my long hair, but I didn't want to put it up in a ponytail because I look atrocious with it up.  So crazy wind blown hair it was!!!)  The weather, minus the wind, was just perfect.  It wasn't cold but it wasn't hot.  The water was a decent temperature so we didn't mind standing in it and getting our jeans wet.  It made for the perfect pictures!  We even got some adorable sunset silhouette photos!!!

You might notice a third wheel in some photos.  Julius randomly showed up at our house that morning so he tagged along and insisted on photo-bombing some photos.  {He's lucky we love him so much!}  We allowed him in a few of the photos, as the creeper or in one, as our little elf.  Of course, he had to wear the most ridiculous socks that were so far from matching his outfit.  But, that's Julius.

We had a lot of fun taking the photos and Gabriela did an amazing job for never having shot people before!!!  Thank you Gabriela!!

Here are some highlights but if you'd like to see all of them, click HERE to view them.

 

 

 

 

Told you they were awesome!  We are in love with them!  So much so that we decided to actually really quickly whip together a Christmas card for our close family and friends =)

Once again, thanks Gabriela!!!!!!!!!  You're the best!!!

Virtual Christmas Card

We've been receiving Christmas cards in the mail for about two weeks now.
With each envelope I open, I feel guilty that we didn't do Christmas cards.
We even had Christmas photos taken but didn't make cards to mail out.
We plan to print a few at Walgreens but those are just to give to our families and our closest friends.

I'll be honest, it was just laziness on my part.  Leading up to the Christmas season, I had planned to do what my family has done all 28 years of my life...send a Christmas card with one of those "The Past Year..." letters.  But now it's December 17th, and there is no letter written, no cards purchased  Therefore, no Christmas cards and letters for our extended family and friends.
(Plus, we've become so frugal so I think "I could spend that $45 on cards and $30 on stamps, on my medical debt, which would be more responsible.")

But almost all of my most beloved family and friends follow this blog.  So my thinking is you all don't really need an update letter, right?  (Or that's just my way of justifying my laziness.)  I just told myself, I'll do a virtual "Christmas Card" via my blog.

So here I sit to write my virtual "This Past Year...."   But in all honesty, I don't even know what to say!! The past year has been....mundane.  Good mundane, but mundane none the less.  There has not been anything super exciting going on.  We've really been enjoying our time here in Florida, with friends, and with each other, but nothing "!!!!!!" worthy has happened.
So, here's the mundane review of our lives the past year:
-  Nick began Primary training in April and has been doing that since then.  He is very close to finishing (within a week or two when we get back) and then will select what type of community he'll be joining (maritime, tailhook, or rotary).
-  I have been doing the boring housewife thing (I'm not made to sit at home..I'm made to work and be busy).  I've watched way too many hours of HGTV and Ellen.  I've read lots of books.  I've applied to too many jobs (still same response of "sorry we only hire local graduates), and I've researched nursing programs in ALL the places we could possibly move to.
-  We spend our weekday's doing normal married couple things.  Nick works all day, comes home and studies all night.  We cook together, enjoy dinner together (other than the past month where he's been too busy to even eat).  We cuddle on the couch and watch television or movies.
-  We spend weekends hanging out with friends, going on date nights, doggie play dates at the parks or each other's houses, or just relaxing at home.
-  My health is the same.  Which is great that it hasn't become worse but also sucks that I'm not getting better comfort or relief.  But at least I'm used to it and I'm thankful things are not getting worse.

And that's about it.  Nothing too super exciting.  But don't be fooled.  Nothing exciting does not mean we aren't enjoying ourselves.  We are incredibly happy and VERY much so enjoying married life and loving living in the warm Sunshine State.

Here is the Christmas card we sent out to all our family and friends.  Next year, we hope to be a little more on top of things and send them out to a lot more family, family friends, and friends.

{To see our Christmas Card Photos, click HERE}

From The Oberkrom's, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Flight School Update

So this has been a long time coming and I've completely slacked on this.  I don't know if I've done a flight school update other than when he finally started Primary.

Nick with the T-6B Texan II he's currently flying.

For those that need a refresher, Primary is the last of the three phases of flight school we came down here for.  Nick started back in April and while it should take about 6 months, there are a lot of factors that can slow the guys down.  Weather is a major one.  During the months of June, July, and August, it rained pretty much everyday.  This caused Nick to rarely get to fly.  He would go two weeks without ever getting in the cockpit.  Then after 14 days of not flying, he had to have a mandatory warm up, (meaning it did not count towards his flights for completion.)  It was just a mess.
The other hold up was tires and available planes.  Primary at NAS Whiting Field now flies the T-6B Texan II planes (they just phased the T-34 out).  The tires on these planes are much smaller and therefore they were going through them more quickly than they could replace.  So a lot of times they would be scheduled for flights, but there wouldn't be an operating plane available.

The beginning phase of Primary is called "Contacts" and that's, simply put, where the guys learn the basic of flying.  They are flying visually looking outside of the plane at the world and learning the basics like how to handle emergencies and how to land the plane (and in emergency situations).
Contacts took Nick approximately 15 weeks to get through, which was about 14 flights.  You might remember THIS post about his solo flight.  That was at the end of Contacts.

Following Contacts was "Aerobatics".  That is exactly what it sounds like.  He gets up in a plane and does all kinds of loops and rolls and "fun" aerobatic moves.  (I say "fun" because he liked it but I do not hink  it sounds fun at all.  It sounds downright scary and it's even scarier when it's your husband up there doing them!  I won't begin to tell you how nervous I was when it came time for his aerobatics solo!!!)  This only took about 4 weeks, but he was med-down for 3.5 weeks due to a really bad sinus and head cold (which might not seem like a big deal to most people, but for a pilot this is a huge deal.)

After Aerobatics, Nick started the "Instruments" phase.  This is simply where he learns to fly just by the  flight instruments in the cockpit.  They practice these flights by having him fly at night when it's pitch black outside and he can't really see or by sitting in the backseat of the plane, which provides limited visual.  Nick just completed this phase today.

This past weekend he did his cross country flights.  Technically, the guys don't really go across the country.  Common places they to fly are Chicago, Nashville, Savannah, Key West, etc.  These trips are usually 5 or 6 flights (roundtrip).  Originally Nick and his on-wing (his instructor all throughout Contacts who wanted to fly Nick's cross country with him) had discussed flying to St. Louis since it's Nick's hometown.  But they weren't able to because of cold weather.  The T-6B isn't properly equipped with anti-ice "things" and with it being pretty cold in St. Louis, it wasn't a good idea.  Not to mention they don't have much room in the plane for belongings, and therefore it'd be hard to pack coats and warmer/bulkier clothes.  So it was off to the Keys!  Nick and his on-wing partner, and a quite a few other guys and their IPs (Instructor Pilots) headed to the Keys!  They stopped twice on the way there, totaling two flights there (and three flights back, knocking out five flights).  They all went out Friday night, drinking and having a good time.  Saturday Nick was hung out (kid never drinks and then decides he can down some shots and 6+ drinks lol) and they spent most of their night flight planning for the next day.

Now, Nick only has the "Formation" phase..  That is where he will fly with another plane in formation flying.  Just as you see jets, such as The Blue Angels, flying in formations.  Formation flight is typically something only military aviators do and is one of the things that sets them apart from their civilian counterparts.  It seems really bad ass but also so scary to know they are flying so incredibly close to one another.  Forms should really only take about a week but it's likely he won't start until after the new year.  (The reason is the guys are only flying Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, next week and it's unlikely he'd fly three double days.  It's much easier to make him wait because as I mentioned before, after 14 days of no flights, they have to fly a mandatory warm-up flight.  But if those 14 days are in between phases, such as Instruments and Formations, they won't need to give him the warm-up.)

This means Nick could be selecting his platform in the second or third week in January!  EEK!

He's still enjoying flying but he's really stressed out.  Every day he has two events, which means lots and lots of prep.  He spends hours doing jet logs.  I have no idea what they are but I know they take a long time, and even longer when you have two flights to prepare for in one day.
He is just so busy.  His flights are usually in the afternoon into evening.  He wakes up early, prepares for his flights (doing whatever he has to do), then goes into work, flies (which causes him to come home so completely exhausted), showers, then goes straight to the office to start preparing for the next day's flights.  Some days he completely skips dinner to keep working.  Then he goes to bed around 1am to get up and do it all over again.  I feel so badly for him.  He has such LONG days and he's so stressed out.
I look forward to when these days are done.  It will be nice to have my husband home when he's home.  If that makes sense.  Even though he's home a good portion of the day, he's not home.  I can't talk to him or enjoy time with him.  And if you know me, it's INCREDIBLY hard to have someone in my house (someone whom is my best friend and I love very much) and have me not be able to talk to him!!!!!  I'm thankful I'm able to sleep next to him each night, but it's a HUGE tease having a husband home, that's not REALLY home.  But we don't have too much longer of it! Thank goodness!!!  (Not to mention it will be nice when he's finished and my office can be organized and stay clean and I don't need to pop Xanax anymore!)

So next is Forms, then SELECTION!!!

Platform selection is where Nick will choose the type of aircraft he will be flying.  This will also dictate if we stay here or if we move.  The choices are Rotary (helicopters), Maritime (P-3/8), or Jets.   All throughout Nick's time in Primary, he's pretty much been between Helos and P-3s.  Until two weeks ago when he attended a brief about P-3s.  He found out the Maritime community also now has a Triton, which is a UAV.  This plane is operated by a pilot from the ground.  The lifestyle is awesome in that he NEVER deploys and it's pretty much a Monday through Friday job.  It's almost like a normal non-military job!!!  But Nick doesn't want that.  He wants to be IN a cockpit and flying.  Because of this, he does not even want to put Maritime as a option for fear of being forced to go the Triton route.
So helos then, right?  Wrong!  In the last two weeks, Nick has also seriously been considering jets.  It's out of nowhere.  Yes, he loves jets.  Yes, he thinks it'd be bad ass to fly them.  But it's always been his last choice for a few reasons.  The main two being he does not want the lifestyle of jets nor does he want to complete the main missions of the jets.  Which are two huge reasons.
So now he's really confused and stressed out.  It's a HUGE decision.  This decision will dictate what Nick will be doing for the rest of his career.  It also really decides what our life as a family will look like and where we will and could be stationed.  It's just a lot to think about it.  I will 100% support whatever decision he makes.  I just want him to choose whatever platform will make him happiest.  If he's not happy at work, he won't be happy at home.

I'm just ready for this time to be here so we can start planning and have a more clear vision of our future.  So I know when I'll finally be able to go to nursing school.  So I'll know if we'll be moving in January or not!!!!

Belated Birthday Celebration(s) with Nicholas

Nick was not able to be home in St. Louis with me for my birthday.
Therefore he wanted to "celebrate" when we got back to Florida.  The crappy thing was he didn't have a single free day.   Or even a free evening.  Just two to three hours each day.  So the things he had planned kept getting pushed back or cancelled.

The first night, we had about an hour or two to spend together.  So Nick wanted to take me out to dinner.  I am always craving a giant juicy super cheesy burger so I suggested we head to Red Robin because I had a free birthday burger!!!  Nick wasn't going to argue with that because he's a sucker for their bottomless fries.  And mmmmm was my burger delicious.  Then it was home for Nick to continue prepping for his next day's flight =(

The next night, again, Nick didn't couldn't dedicate his entire night after work to me, but he had a few hours to spare.  So off we went to the movies because he knew I had been anxiously been awaiting the last Twilight movie ever since the last one was in theaters.  (Yes, I'm one of those girls that love it.  And I'm not ashamed!)  Nick doesn't hate the movies.  In fact, he loves them.  But he wouldn't ever openly admit that ;)  I loved the movie and had a great time out with my love and I'm so thankful he finally took me to see it!  (Although now I'm super sad the series is done!)
(Sorry, didn't take photos.  I know, I know...photos make all blog posts better!)

Nick came home one evening, again a little later than expected, and things hadn't gone as planned and his day went later than he thought it would.  He came home a little annoyed.  He had wanted to take me to the beach to watch the sunset, followed by dinner.  Unfortunately, he got home just before the sun was setting so that wasn't able to happen =(  But he still took me out to dinner again.  And because he knows I loooove pizza, we went to one of our favorites, Mellow Mushroom!!!  It is so so so good!!!  I am such a sucker for their amazing wheat crust!!!  Then afterwards we did some Christmas shopping.

We always get the Mighty Meaty.  It's soooo good!

Lastly, Nick told me one night that we were going somewhere the next morning at 9:30am.  He needed to be home by 1pm to change and get to work and he'd be there until late that night.  I had no idea what we were doing.  I semi-hate these "surprise" dates because Nick isn't too good about telling me what to wear.  He gets annoyed when I ask questions but I need to know:  Do I dress in athletic clothes, dressy, or just casual?  Should my hair be up or down?  Should I put on makeup?  Can I wear heels or would flip flops or flats or sneakers be better?  If we're inside, I'll be cold and want a jacket.  If we're outside and in the sun, I should wear a tank top because it's supposed to be 80 degrees.  Should I bring my small clutch or is my normal large purse fine?  He just doesn't understand lol.
Anyway, that morning I woke up and got ready.  Casual with flats, flip flops, or sneakers I'm told.  We'll be outside. Whatever purse I want.  Okay, good!  That's start! lol

We started driving waaaay down towards the Pensacola base and I had no idea where we were going.  When we finally pulled in, I realized where we were!!!!!!  We heard about this miniature golf place that is all Navy/Aviation/Military themed and I've been wanting to go for soooooo long.  I've been nagging Nick and asking him over and over if we can go.  His response was always an annoyed "some day."  I gave up on asking him.  It had seriously been months since I last asked.  So I was so shocked and so happy!!!  I know it sounds silly but I'm a small child.  ANYTHING a child would find fun, odds are I do too.  My ideal dates are the zoo, mini golf, go carts, a carnival, etc.  And if the fun child-like activity is outside, I'm in heaven.  Like I said, it sounds silly but I much more prefer fun, laid-back, casual dates!
The course was not kept up since it's off season but it was still super fun.  Normally I do really well and either beat Nick or come pretty close to his score.  Not this time.  I sucked it up hardcore!!!  Either way, I had a great time and was really happy we had FINALLY gone here!!!!

These three holes spelled out USN

Aircraft Carrier

Aircraft Carrier again

Pentagon

Washington Monument

Army

Little helos all over the course

Anchor

USMC Obstacle Course

Sherman Field (where these guys land a lot)

Sherman Field (where these guys land a lot)

USS Alabama

We had NO idea what this was....anyone know?  We don't see anything lol

Submarine...Nick's prior community

Leaving the golf course

I was sad the sunset thing didn't work out but we realized we needed to give up on that plan.  Some other day maybe.  His schedule is just too busy and he's never home in the evenings now.  Either way, I had a great time with all these various "belated" birthday celebrations!!!