I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

Jeff left for his first deployment today...here he is flying out to meet up with the USS Truman. Turn down the volume cause it gets loud. He's the second Hornet.

Moving...again...

Well, the Navy is sending us to Virginia and probably pretty quickly. Jeff is going to be in VFA-37 the Ragin' Bulls and will deploy on the USS Truman. It wasn't our first choice, but I know I'll be ok. I'm not too excited about the cross country drive though! We will most likely go through Houston to see family and probably not do as much sight seeing this time around. I'll keep everyone posted as soon as we know when we are leaving.

CQ and Patching

Jeff CQ'd on Saturday March 20th and so his patching is today, the 24th! We will be finding out what squadron he will do his first fleet tour with and where we will be stationed for the next 3 years! I'll update tomorrow with the news!

It's official - I'm training for a 1/2 marathon!

I have fallen in love with running - can you believe it? I know I can't! I'm not a natural runner and I'm not fast, but I get a lot of satisfaction from running. It's such a mental challenge for me because anyone can run - your body is built to. When I started running last year around this same time, I could barely run a 1/2 mile before I wanted to quit. If you've never ran much in your life, it's such a mental burden that you have to overcome. Your body can do it, even if you aren't in the best of shape - but knowing you can do it and pushing yourself is half (or even more) of the battle! Last year I challenged myself to run a 5k. This year I challenged myself to run a 10k and now that I've done that it seems only natural to double the distance again. The next challenge this year is a 1/2 marathon in June. I still plan on running a few more 5ks and 10ks around the area when I can find them. I am so lucky to have a friend in Lemoore to join me in my challenge too! After our 10k, Leslie has agreed to do a 1/2 with me and Amy is going to train for it too while she is in Redding. So it's official, 1/2 marathon training starts today!

Carrier Quals in the F/A-18C

I can't believe it's been 9 months since we moved here and Jeff started his training in the Hornet! He is in the last phase of training which as always is carrier qualifications. It's a bit different in the Hornet though because not only do they have to get so many day traps, they also have to do night traps. They have been bouncing everyday to prepare and the Friday before they left for the boat, it was family day where family is allowed to go out the the LSO shack right next to the runway and watch, take pictures, and even talk to them on the radio. It was so exciting to see Jeff bounce in the T-45 and even more exciting to see him in the Hornet! They are so much louder too! When he gets back we should find out what fleet squadron we are going to and where that will mean we will be living for the next 3 years!

Here are some pics and a video. Sorry that some of them are blurry - they just go by too fast for my camera! Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

WARNING: TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME WHEN WATCHING THE VIDEO!

San Francisco birthday and first 10k

When I was looking up a 10k to run in January, I had to find one that was some time in March and was on a weekend that Jen and Kaylee could fly down from WA. Well I found one that was on my birthday weekend in San Fran which was just about perfect! Jen could spend my birthday with me and run in our first 10k together. Leslie and Amy also decided to run in the 10k and Leslie even convinced her brother and fiance that live in San Fran to run too. Emily and Courtney also came for the much needed girls weekend. We had so much fun at the Marine Club hotel in downtown SF. They have a free breakfast and free happy hour from 4-6 so we couldn't have asked for more (and the military discount didn't hurt either - only $89 a night!).We shopped in downtown and dressed up for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (still can't believe Amy had never been). Surprisingly the "birthday" desert was very sub-par for the Cheesecake Factory - I never thought I'd say that I tasted bad chocolate - but it was bad! 

 

Anyway, we were so exhausted from traveling all day we hit the sack so we could get up early to enjoy our breakfast and then walk around SF more. We walked through Chinatown, tasted some yummy muscat grape gummy candy and did some window shopping. Then we tried to cool off at the pool but that was a bust - it was only a lap pool, but I got a really cute shot of Kaylee in her bathing suit!

After happy hour at the hotel, we went to a pretty good Mexican restaurant near the hotel and then ate the yummy angel food cake Amy made from scratch for my birthday! We then got a good night sleep so we could wake up with plenty of time to get to the 10k registration near Ghirardelli Square. The race day was perfect - no rain in sight and just enough sun and clouds in the sky. The run took us 3.1 miles out from the square down Embarcadero Street along the Wharf and the piers and even under the Bay Bridge and then we turned around to go back toward the start for the remaining 3.1 miles. It was gorgeous running along the water and having Jen run next to me was great motivation to keep going and pushing me, even though she could have blasted through 6.2 miles in well under an hour. I reached both my goals - first was to run the whole 10k - second was to run it under 1hr 10min- I finished in 1hr 9min 29sec. Oh and I have to mention the awesome shirt Jen made me for my birthday and first 10k (there is a pic below)! It was a great weekend with good friends :)

Celebrating my birthday early with Jeff

So while Jeff was on det in Key West, they found out that they were going to go to El Centro a week after they were back. I guess it's not all bad though because I get to celebrate my birthday 2 times this year! I'm celebrating on my birthday in San Fran with the girls and Jeff decided to celebrate my birthday a little early with me on Sunday Feb 28th. First he woke up me up for breakfast in bed - pancakes and turkey bacon! Then we made our way to the foothills of the Sierra Mountains to Wonder Valley Ranch in Selma, CA. The ranch was so pretty! They use the ranch to host weddings and have a bed and breakfast. We went on a 2 hour trail ride with our horses, Katie and Velvet. Two of the riders came with us and so did an extra horse named Chili! The horses and cattle roam free in the community - it was very interesting! We were told that Chili normally comes with the other horses that we were riding on so I guess she didn't want to be left out! It was so cute and I wish I could have gotten a picture!

So after we left and got our legs back we stopped for lunch at Chipotle and made our way back home. We were so exhausted we actually took a 3 hour nap before getting ready for dinner. We dressed up and headed to Ruth Chris. I haven't been to Ruth's in years and have been wanting to go since we got here. They have the best steaks - the filet is a must! The bread and sides were good too and I got to pick out my birthday dessert on the house - creme brulee! Jeff even sang me Happy Birthday, it was too cute. It was a great day and I'm glad I got to spend some time with Jeff before he leaves today to go to El Centro to bounce for the boat. Can't wait to go to San Fran with the girls and get to see Jen and Kaylee! Oh and run my first 10k!