Time flies-- and so does Eric!

Phase 2 has officially begun! If the weather cooperates, Eric will be making his inaugural flight in the T-6 tomorrow!! YAY! Don't worry, there will be oh-so-many pictures and videos posted asap.

We've been very busy over the last 10 days--I can't even believe it's already been that long since the last time I wrote! Since then I've been in a first grade classroom substituting for an extremely disorganized teacher. And it's more than accurate to say that disorganization and I do not get along even a little bit. I thought special ed was hard, but turns out I'd do that any day over a rambunctious group of 1st graders. I think I did a pretty good job though, because the teacher in the classroom next door was impressed that I was able to get what she called "the feistiest group in the school" to somewhat behave (emphasis on the "somewhat") and asked if I would sub for her this week! Since then, I've also picked up a two-day job in the high school in a couple of weeks and I'm really excited to see how I like the older kids. Regardless, I'm very grateful the opportunity to work with kids, use my degree, and most of all keep busy.

A few friends... we're silly....

 ....but so are they!

Eric and I also got a surprise in the mail the other day--a Macy's reward card from our wedding registry! I told him it was a sign; my girlfriends were going shopping in San Antonio the following Saturday and it was clearly imperative that I joined them. :) So Eric and the guys spent the day on the boat out on Lake Amistad while we spent a day in something the civilized world calls a "mall". It was so nice to indulge in a little retail therapy, and even better to have a girls day out! We're so thankful for the great friends we've made here so far.

Memo's Mexican Restaurant for lunch!

My bestest friend :)

This past week my mom and grandma came to visit for a couple days and got to meet our friends, tour the base, and get a taste of our life here. They LOVED it--I think! :) We had SO much fun going to all of the cute shops and restaurants in town, and it was more than amazing to spend quality time with them, if even for just a few days.  Turns out there's plenty to do in Del Rio, and we encourage you ALL to come check it out :).

Yesterday we also had the opportunity to go to MWS day (Major Weapons Systems--another name for the planes). (The very small person in front of the C-17 shown above is Eric. It's a HUGE plane!) The purpose of this day is to better educate all of the UPT students on the different airframes they could possibly fly. Since they make a "dream sheet" of which planes they'd like to possibly spend their career in, it's good for them to really know what the mission and lifestyle of each aircraft is. So picture a couple hundred young guys in green, fire-retardant pajamas climbing and drooling all over giant, expensive, potentially dangerous "toys" like a bunch of preschoolers in a play yard, and you've got MWS day!

A C-130(left) and C-17(right)

Eric standing on an F-15E

Me in the cockpit of the C-17. Psh, I could totally fly this thing!

....As long as Eric would be my co-pilot!

An F-15E

I've asked Eric to stick his own version of an update in here pretty soon-so keep your eyes peeled! Hopefully he'll find some time this week for a little study break.

The Honda lives! (and other happy tales)

After an entire weekend of t.l.c., the Honda has been much more cooperative. As long as you don't park it on an uphill slope, drive really carefully, have patience when trying to start it, and keep well over a half-tank of gas in it at all times. yea...we're still working on it! But it did reliably get me to and from Del Rio Middle School two days in a row. That's right--I had a job for TWO DAYS! I substituted for middle school special ed and, well, I will just leave it at saying it was quite an experience. I had all but repressed my own middle school memories (don't we all?! gosh, what a rough couple of years!), and being in a special education classroom on top of it made the last two days extra interesting. God bless the patient, loving souls who do it on an everyday basis. Don't get me wrong, the kids were very sweet--but it's exhausting! And each day is SO very unpredictable in its events and challenges that come with taking care of special needs kids. Wonder what assignment I'll get next time!

AN ERIC UPDATE:
DISCLAIMER: Please excuse all of the parenthesis and quotation marks--should you get a chance to talk to Eric, hopefully these phrases, acronyms, and abbreviations will help you decode his new language. English has taken a backseat and he almost exclusively speaks this alphabet soup pilotese these days.

Eric, well there's no change with him--he's maintaining his status as a UPT (undergraduate pilot training) superstar thus far. At least in my book :). He's working hard and staying very focused, and it is paying off for him. So far he's had several tests and flown a few simulators. From what I gather, simulators require a lot of thought about a lot of different things at once--much like flying, so it's been tricky--but he's doing well and continuing to improve and get comfortable. This week the "sims" have been on emergency recovery. They'll be flying along and the instructor yells out an emergency that is occurring in their plane which they have to simulate resolving. Next week he'll have his "dollar ride". It's a tradition that pilots-in-training pay the instructor pilots (IPs) $1 for their very first ride in the plane (they don't actually pay though, the name just stuck.) From then on he'll be "on the flight line" every day! (Translation: academics, or "phase 1" is over and he's on to "phase 2", which is about 5 months of flying the T-6 Texan II airplane.) This is when he will also begin his 12 hour days and starting "formal release". Formal release is when the UPT students are required to stay in the flight room, whether they are flying or not, until their flight commander says that they can leave. This way they are forced to study with their classmates in an environment that is conducive to getting work done. We hope this is the case, but...boys will be boys ;) .Most of the time this ends up being 12 hours--the maximum amount of time they are allowed to be on duty before the Air Force's mandatory 12 hour "crew rest" for pilots. Of this twelve hours, it is expected that 8 of them be uninterrupted sleep. Bottomline: things are about to get crazzzy busy! :) Wives come in handy here, because we can come into the flight room as long as we come bearing gifts--the edible kind. This is common practice around here and it gives us a chance to actually see our husbands during waking hours. We're pretty sure the single guys like it more though--free homemade food! Every class has two "flights" or groups of students. Once they finish phase 1, they are officially divided into flights and their home base becomes their specific flight room. Eric's class is divided into the Irish and the Longhorns--he's Irish. The guys are also busy designing their flight patches which they where on their shoulders once told they can do so. I can't wait to see what their flight room looks like and what patch they finally decide on!

The same day that Eric is "hitting the flight line" my mom and grandma are coming to visit! Eric will obviously be super busy, so we'll get lots of girl time in. I plan on showing them around our little town and introducing them to our new friends. We're hoping there will also be a drop night so that they can experience what this whole process culminates in--and drops are just a lot of fun.

I think that's all I have for now...I'll see if I can't get Eric to write his own update sometime this weekend-we'll see :)

Planes, Trains, and (dead) automobiles

Yes, you read that title right. The precious Honda, like most 18 year-olds, has decided that it will rebel and start only when it feels like starting in a "you're not the boss of me"-like fashion. Eric is determined to find the cause and spent several hours under the hood the other night--in a thunderstorm. Ahh, the things you'll do for your only vehicle. He's gotten it to start a few times, but it's unreliable and we're not really comfortable with me driving all the way to Walmart (read: the Mecca of Del Rio) only to be stranded in the parking lot with the sometimes questionable individuals who are making their weekly trip for overcrowded superstore bliss from Chihuahua or Cohuila. Sooo, he has decided to catch rides with classmates and put off the problem-solving until the weekend so that it doesn't get in the way of studying. (which, by the way, did you know I married a genius? yea...he's been showing those tests who's boss. :)  ) He has a test tomorrow on some tougher material--aerodynamics--so I'll be making him some dinner and heading out with girlfriends for a little while tonight to give him plenty of uninterrupted study time. Not only am I suuuuper proud of how well Eric is doing, but the celebrating as a result of his awesome test scores is also pretty fun :) . Last Friday I came home from having coffee with a friend to find notes all over the house telling me to get cleaned up because we were going out. He took me to a nice wine place called Casa de Vino and then to dinner downtown at The Herald. The next night we ordered pizza, got in our pjs early, and borrowed some movies from a friend. Not sure which date was better, haha.

As far as the jobs go, I signed up to be a substitute teacher for the San Felipe-Del Rio school district. Hopefully I will start that soon, and maybe that will lead to other opportunities. We are praying that a great opportunity comes soon--we'd like to get a second car as soon as it is possible/reasonable. Especially since I'll probably need it to get to whatever job I find!

I've also decided to not read people's status messages on Facebook lately, since EVERYONE in Michigan is talking about fall colors and cool air and apple cider...the only thing fall-like in Del Rio is that it's October. It's still hot, it's still crazy sunny, and did I mention it's hot? We've had a couple pretty good storms, but other than that the weather is still what we yankees would call summer. I actually bought an "apple orchard" candle, so at least our house smells like a Michigan fall :) I have to say though, I'm not too disappointed about missing out on the snow--I'll still be wearing flip flops in December!