Notes and Bullets...and exclamation points.

There's lots going on in our household these days...

• Sarah has perfected the art of opening doors/turning door handles...Oh My!
• I hate the month of March here in Texas; too windy and my allergies are killing me. Darn you, cedar pollen!!! (I was so sick this past weekend. I thought I was going to get bronchitis, but I put up a fight and won!).
  
• We have about 6 weeks left to go and I hope we sell the house SOON!
• Keeping the house in "model condition" all the time is soooo not fun, but the feedback from realtors/prospective buyers is great....I just wish that someone would make an offer so that I can cut back on all the cleaning and straightening.
  
• The kids and I went to the lake yesterday after school. Spring, I think, is officially here. The weather is nice and each of us needed to get some sun on our pasty white skin. I broke out the shorts and flip-flops; soaking up the Vitamin D felt nice...real nice.
• Phillip has started another phase of his MTP Course. He's in class all day (instead of almost half a day) and is taking in lots of information.....his brain is fried by the time I talk to him in the evenings.
• Gabe gets his report card this afternoon....drum roll, please.
  
• Little Miss Sarah LOVES shoes and was in paradise yesterday when she saw that I got her a few new pairs (hey, I was at Target and couldn't help myself...she's "set" for the summer, I think).
• We miss Phillip and can't wait to have him home. Life is always more complete when he's around.
  
• Gabe continues to amaze and inspire me on a daily basis. He's almost 8 years old, and is really good company. He's maturing rapidly these days (Where is my "little" boy?). And I had to go shopping yesterday because he's hit a major growth spurt since Christmas! I look at him and see my brother's body (as I remember him as an adolescent, and since I didn't know Phillip as a young boy), sturdy, a bit stocky, and strong.
  
• I realize that, since we have about 6 weeks left in this area, I need to get my booty in gear; I need to make lists of things that need to be done before the move, during the move, and after the move. Since we haven't re-located in over 5 years, I'm kinda nervous. There's lots to be done!
• We're going back to Lafayette this weekend to celebrate Easter. It will be the last time for a long while that we are in that area. I'm sad about that.
  

When it comes to taking pictures...

...I'm like a Japanese tourist. I love taking pictures.

And I mean no offense whatsoever to tourists of any race, ethnicity, etc. (I think the ones from Japan are kinda cute).

Here's Gabe making the "sour lemon" face at Gulf World Marine in Panama City Beach.

Here's a picture of the kids having fun in an RV that we were checking out, but interested in because it's not a "pull behind".

And here's a picture of the inside one that I really liked (but it didn't have separate bunks for the kids to sleep in).

And here's a picture of Sarah, being the perfect little __________.

A Comparison...

Above, you will find videos of Sarah taken at 5 months old and, last week, at 25 months old. What a difference 20 months can make! Time flies...

I had been spending time in Louisiana, so you'll hear my accent. Yup, I sound like a little Cajun Momma in the first video.

More pics from Sandestin (March 14, 2010)

Here are some more pictures from March 14, 2010 taken at Baytowne Wharf.

I have many pictures taken, over a long period of time, like the one above. I think that one day, I'll publish a coffee table book called "Walking". I'll sell it for $49.95 a book and...

Pictures from our trip to Sandestin, Florida (March 14, 2010)

We enjoyed our day at the beach, though the wind was quite chilly.

We've determined that if we ever get stationed at Fort Rucker again, we'll be spending lots more time at Sandestin, than in Panama City Beach (which, in our opinion, is a bit rundown), and it's really not that much further of a drive.

Just in time for Easter...

Gabe lost another tooth while visiting Dad. Just in time for Easter; he can now join the other bunnies as they hop down the bunny trail.

(He was quite excited that Alabama Tooth Fairies give $5 bills and shouted with glee "I need to lose more teeth out here!")

How did YOU sleep last night?

Like this?

Sarah was so exhausted after a long day of exploring while we were at Fort Rucker.

I wish I could sleep like this. Completely OUT with not a worry in the world.

A Trip Back in Time...Life Changes.

The kids and I are here at Fort Rucker, Alabama right now and have been here since Saturday night. I must admit, though it's great to be able to spend time with Phillip for our Spring Break, it's really weird being here.

The last time we were here, it was back in 2001; right after September 11th. We'd only been married for two years, and had found out that we were expecting a baby the Friday before the day that changed America. We were young, and like all new marriages, we were struggling to keep our heads above water. We didn't know quite what to expect in this new military way of life, and we were a bit scared. At least, I was. But we had faith, and we were following a dream. And everything always works out in the end.

It's been AWESOME so far, and besides deployments, I wouldn't change a thing. But I don't deal easily with change, and the time that we spent here was all about that. So much was packed into the two years that we spent at Fort Rucker.

It seems like forever ago that we lived here. We are on a much different level in our lives now. And so much has happened since we left this area; both with US and the area in general.

So far this week, I've recognized some of the old and taken in some of the new. We've explored Sandestin, Florida and joke that we've found the place that we'll spend the rest of our lives (Baytowne Wharf). On Monday, we found ourselves in nearby Dothan, looking through travel trailer after travel trailer, dreaming of buying one to take with us on the trip up to Alaska. Yesterday, we went up to Montgomery to tour the Rosa Parks museum and had a fantastic Italian meal at a place called Saza (the entire day was planned by Gabe, we paid for it). Phillip just got off of school for the day, and so I'm not quite sure what today will hold for us, but I'm sure we'll have fun doing it.

We've come a long way from what we were to what we are now. We have so much more experience under our belts when it comes to living as an Active Duty family. For example, I'm not longer afraid of deployments; I just dread them, because I now know what to expect. I feel like an Old Timer being here; I see the young couples just starting out, and the young flight students and I think "WOW, that was us not very long ago!".

And, Ha Ha, we now have the monetary means to go and explore much of what we didn't back then.

See ya later....

Janet