Back in Florida

The reason we are back...

Nolan will be learning to fly this now... a Sea Ranger Helicopter!
It's the last part of training before he learns to fly the Osprey!

Where we used to live...
UHAUL packing Saturday...
House cleaning and Christmas Cantata Sunday...

Drive 14 hours straight to get to Florida Monday!

After about 6 hours of sleep on Tuesday morning at George's (Nolan's partner for learning to fly the C-12 back in Corpus, who moved to Florida the week before us...) we unloaded the UHAUL at our new (to us) base house on Tuesday!

While the maintenance men defrosted our freezer (it was draining into our refrigerator) we put up our Christmas lights on day two - in the cold!

The end product of the Christmas lights...
Notice the perimeter of the yard in lights... we hope to hit the after Christmas sales (although they seem to be going on before Christmas too) and get a few things to put inside there for next year!

Close up of the front door...

Sandi by the tree
(eyeing the treat I am holding)
Because she knows "stay" a lot better, this was a pretty easy picture to get, aside from her being deathly afraid of touching the train!

Our tree!

My attempt to decorate... ;-)

A close up of the stocking holders I purchased this year...
Now to finding some nice stockings ;-)

Sandi's 1st visit to Santa
(the base was offering pet pictures with Santa for a $5 donation to the Humane Society)
Notice her tongue... she is ready for the treat they are showing her!

The fence project I planned to help Nolan with...
He and Sandi were done by the time I got up and outside around 8am!
Unfortunately our house doesn't have a fence, but we did have 3 of the 4 sides we needed to make an enclosed area for Sandi, so Nolan built the 4th side in no time!

And finally....

I cut my hair!
(about 3 inches, so it is taking a little time to get used to, but I think overall I like it!)

Come back soon for pictures of the inside of our house!

Email if you would like our new home address!
paigedean@gmail.com

Florida, Here We Come!

Well, it seems it is that time again!
Time to MOVE!

Nolan has flown most everyday so he has finished his flight training on the TC-12 and is ready to move on to the next phase of training! Helicopters!

After spending Thanksgiving with my family here in Texas we plan on moving (ourselves this time) back to Florida on December 8th... arriving in Florida on the 9th... We have a "renovated" base house awaiting our arrival, so that it exciting!

While we are excited to move on to Nolan's next stage of flight training, I am sad to leave a job that I truely enjoy! My last day officially was Nov 25th, however I will be volunteering in our classroom (Dec 1 - 5) to help make the transition for my replacement (if they get on the ball and get one! ahhhhhhhh) and our students, as smooth as possible... :-)

Being a full-time 2nd grade classroom special education paraprofessional has been a wonderful learning experience. With a class of 17 students, 7 of which having special needs, there has yet to be a dull moment. Every day is a new day, and what worked yesterday doesn't always work quite as well (or even at all for some) the next! :-)

The wonderful ladies I work with... (L to R)
Mrs. Louth (spec ed teacher) Mrs. Hoff (2nd grade inclusion teacher)
Mrs. Meador (2nd grade teacher next door to us) and me :-)
At the pumpkin patch field trip!

Being a certified teacher and taking a job that only requires a few college hours and "experience working with children" there was a bit of adjusting to be done... and it was a learning experience in many respects...I'll leave it at that for now... ;-)

On a teacher note -
I passed the Texas Special Education Teacher Test! I scored 280 out of 300! I was elated to have passed as the test cost $120 AND the fact that I was depending a lot of my knowledge learned from my Master's and what I had experienced in the classroom.


Our 24 hour round-trip to College Station for Midnight Yell and the Corps of Cadets March-In

A few pictures from Halloween night!

Sandi was a "Devil Dog"





Doesn't she just look thrilled?

Our pumpkins!
(I cheated and used a stencil from the internet)

If you line up your pumpkins along your neighbor's (Nolan's flight partner - George) garage door (so he can't park his car in the garage... as a joke) they make a totem pole of your pumpkins in your front yard! Hilarious! :-)

Mom and I at the King Ranch
(Mom and Tim came to visit :-) Halloween weekend...
Nolan was running a 101 - 103 fever for 5 days! Poor guy was at home when these were taken)

Tim and I at the King Ranch

Happy Birthday Nolan!

Soaring Over Refugio Texas!

Video

Thanks to Neil for making the video!! :-)


Pictures of us soon!
(We forgot the camera, but our neighbor let us take some pictures with his!)

First Came Dolly....

Then Came Ike!?

We shall see how this one unfolds... ;-)

Pictures...Nolan's "Office"

And one for Uncle Simon... proof that his tax dollars are hard at work! ;-)

Two weeks ago tomorrow...

I interviewed.... and today I got the phone call that offered me a 2nd grade inclusion (special education) paraprofessional job!

I am going tomorrow to meet the teacher I will be working with, Ms./Mrs.? Hoff!! :-)

Looks like I will be cutting back my hours at Sylvan...

Wish me luck for my first day on Monday!

There is still good in America...

Yesterday was my 26th birthday, so after I got home from work and Nolan was done studying we went out to dinner!
The Aggie who hired me at Sylvan recommended a local place called Mamma Mia's in downtown Corpus.. so off we went...

The food was pretty good, the company (Nolan) was awesome and to top it all off... my $75 birthday dinner (yes, it was quite pricey) was FREE! Crazy right?!

So here is the story!
We finished our meal, waited for the check and took out our cash (we are on the Dave Ramsey plan ;-) paying cash for everything) to pay for our meals... the waiter comes by and takes BACK our check... without taking the money... We look at each other confused... hoping the bill doesn't go up, since we didn't have much more cash! (the place only takes cash)...

As we wait and wait, we can't figure out what is taking him so long... finally he comes by and says our meal has been taken care of... We are dumbfounded...

What?

What does THAT mean?

We know no one here in Corpus.... aside from a few military couples/families who were definitely NOT in the restaurant...

My ONLY guess is that the couple across the way from us; I did happen to make eye contact and smile with the girl (who was with a much older man)... The timing would work, since the guy got up shortly before our check disappeared and he sat back down as we were trying to figure out what was happening to the total of our check... AND my only guess is that someone would pay for our meal because of Nolan's military hair cut to say thanks... (I have heard of people paying for military members checks to say thanks) but I could totally be wrong!

None the less, we really don't know!! Nolan tipped the waiter and asked for him to tell whoever paid for our meal, thank you, and we left in amazement....

A "pay it forward" moment I suppose... we look forward to paying it forward ourselves.... likely not a $75 meal (as of yet) but soon, when someone/a couple least expects it! :-)

We are going to write a thank you note and send it to the restaurant, hoping the mystery person is a frequent customer and they will know just who to give it to!! ;-)

Oh and Nolan made me a tiramisu birthday cake FROM SCRATCH! YUM! It was/is so tasty! (see picture above)

Dog Sitting Fun!

A friend of mine, Amy, who I met at a small bible study here in Corpus Christi that I attend on Monday mornings with a great group of (mostly Marine) military wives, was heading out of town for 10 days to meet with her husband (who has been in NC for C-130 training for a few months) to go house hunting out in California...

Knowing only that she had two dogs, who were likely not traveling with her and her son, Jackson, I offered to dog sit while she was gone....



After offering, to go from 1 dog to 3, I was a little nervous, but when I discovered that one was a Mastiff, to be quite honest, I became VERY unsure that I was going to be good at dog sitting such a large dog, along with 2 others!

Let me just say that this has been one of the best ideas I have had here lately! :-) They are staying here at our house with Sandi and things couldn't be better!

Chesty and Chopper (the mastiff) are simply awesome! I quickly fell in love with them after just a few days! I will definitely be sad to see them go back home on Sunday/Monday!

They are such good boys - they make Sandi seem as if we haven't trained her to do ANYTHING! She can be such a goofball, but I know she is enjoying every minute of her two new friend's company!

The first night was rather interesting, as Chesty, the smaller of the two, and I played a 3 hour game, between the hours of 2 and 5 am, of who can build the best barricade/who can get out of said barricade in the shortest amount of time... Let's just say Chesty is the smarter of the two of us! haha The second night I created a better barricade AND all of the dogs got a nice run/play out in the field by our house - yay for tired puppies! ;-)





P.S.


Nolan should start flying the C-12 this week (if the weather holds up!) YAY! He has been working diligently in the cockpit trainers, as well as studying nightly!

I have a job - yay!
I am working as a tutor for Sylvan Learning Center here in Corpus Christi AND this is a job I will hopefully be able to take back to Milton (they have a center there) and be able to pick up where I leave off here! ;-) Today was my first evening and overall I think it went well and look forward to working there... One of the directors of the center is an Aggie (she did the hiring) and so far, I know that 2 of my co-workers are also Aggies! WHOOP!
I am also in the substitute system for Flour Bluff ISD (I have an ID badge and parking pass! ;-) )and am working myself into the Corpus Christi ISD sub system; so hopefully these will provide job opportunities as well!

Coupon Codes...

So I just thought I would share a little money saving tip... that I am probably the LAST to know about! haha

Say you are buying something online from Barnes and Noble...

Go to Google and search for "Barnes and Noble coupon codes"

Check out a few of the websites that it brings up... find the coupon that best matches what you are purchasing - by item or total amount, etc

Take that code and enter it on the store's website and watch the savings begin!

Sometimes you can even use more than one code at a time!!! Buying baby shower gifts online I saved over $13! With the book I just bought from Barnes and Noble - I saved 15% on the book AND got free shipping for a total savings of about $14! (AND not to mention the book was almost $20 more to begin with if I bought it in the store! Another $20 saved!)

I love a good deal and an opportunity to save a few bucks! Good luck!

Oh and on the job(s) front...
I am not one to want to jinx myself, so I will post about that once I have more definitive information! ;-)

I have a job interview!

Well, just as I was hoping... I got a call back on the application that I submitted for the special education teacher aide position!

So, Friday at 3pm, please send me some good job interview vibes! I have never interviewed for an aide position, so I am not too sure of what to expect; I am going through my old course work to refresh my memory of all of the techniques/ideas I have learned/used!

I think this job will be an excellent opportunity for me to put in to practice what I have been learning over the past year and a half while working on my master's! :-) I sure hope I am meant to get this job! :-)

Ah... Toilets

Moving every 8 months for the past 2 years has had lots of perks, one of which is that we are slowly but surely creating our dream castle's features, one duty station at a time.

At this house we are realizing the value of having more than one toilet! Especially coming from the Milton house were we had, 3, yes 3 toilets for the 2 of us! Where I am going with this...

Well, Saturday morning I wake up to a running toilet and of course felt obligated to investigate... At first I assumed Nolan had just gone to the bathroom and it was still filling... No... come to find out that wasn't the case... somehow during the night the plastic end on the floater in the tank had broken!? You can see the green plastic screw in the picture, it was the yellow plastic that broke causing the running...


So of course, I turn the water off to the toilet, because there are very few things more annoying that a running toilet... since then we have been a one toilet house; a DOWN stairs one toilet house at that! haha This experience has brought us to the realization that a one toilet house, although it would work, won't be ideal! ;-)

Just because I have failed to mention them before some other features to have/not have:

From the Pensacola house, built in the 1900s and slightly updated:
12 inch tiles in the kitchen - very easy to clean!
LOTS of counter tops and cabinets
nice size laundry room with a toilet and shower
WOOD floors! :-)
Lots of windows
Wide molding around the doors and windows were cool
Screened porch!
(We LOVED this house, can't you tell!)

From the Milton house:
a dishwasher that works would be nice...
steep stairs are a no go
TWO sinks in the Master bath..
a garden tub as well!!! :-)

From the Corpus Christi house:
deep kitchen sink
TBD...

So... what would you say are your MUST haves/would not want to have in your dream house, based on your experiences?

Back to Work?

Maybe, we will have to see...

Although I had thought about/really wanted to be a cashier at the HEB Plus! outside the front gate, I have since changed my mind... although I could always change it back! haha

So, last Thursday (after being stuck inside b/c of Hurrican Dolly for DAYS!!!) I decided to take my application, resume and cover letter to the Flour Bluff School District office and apply to be a special education aide; as there are positions available, I am only 4 classes away from completing my Master's in Special Education! :-) AND I figured it might be more acceptable for an aide to leave halfway than for a full time teacher...

We live about 5 minutes from this office and before I could get in the door, they were calling me!
"My Aggie friend in the office" they told me said they should call... (The story behind that is the A&M purse that my friend, Angela, had made for me for my 25th birthday, caught the eye of a few of the ladies in the office - Way to go Angela!)
Anyway, they were calling because they were confused... Had I meant to fill out an application to be an aide?... being that I was completely certified to teach! It was at that point that I shared our short stint in Corpus and the woman seemed to understand and appreciate my honesty. (It is pretty much in stone - although life happens - that we will be heading back to Florida no later than the middle of January 2009) This employee then proceeded to tell me that the middle schools were still in need of teachers and that she was going to pass my resume on to the principals...

So, I am thinking in about 2 weeks, if they have not filled positions, they will give me a call; time will tell!

I put myself out there and am letting God tell me where I go from there! :-)

Hurricane Dolly!

We have survived our first hurricane - even if it was a very mild one! ;-)

The wind was constant, gusts up to 30 mph?, and the rain would come and go as the bands passed over us...

In the video you can hear the wind, and our neighbor (across the street) yelling out to me something about getting wet (yes I was soon drinched), as well as the fact that their tree fell over right before I started the camera!

Oh and the most annoying part about the past 3 days of Dolly was the exhaust fan vent door? on the roof, flapping in all of the wind, in our bathroom upstairs... Talk about a constant racket! Nolan got the idea to turn it on and that seemed to help! :-)

Lots of Catching Up!

Home Sweet Home...
base housing
for now ;-)

(only the left side of this picture is our house...)

I am so far behind, I'm not sure where to begin!?
It's almost like that friend you have failed to call back and then it seems like it has been ENTIRELY too long to call them back now... what to do?!

I either pick up where we left Florida for Texas or skip over all of that and start where we are now, having spent a month in Texas! Decisions, decisions...



I suppose I will catch everyone up to where we are now, by briefly sharing what we have being doing to pass the past month; which seems to have FLOWN by!

Here is a quick run-down

June 10 - After a full day of cleaning the house, to prepare to leave in a few days, we had dinner at the Melting Pot in Pensacola! YUM!

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary!

- Friday, June 13 - Left Milton, Florida for Texas... arrived around 10:30 and spent the weekend with my dad, brother and his family, at my dad's house in West Columbia

Nolan, Jayci (our niece) and Sandi swimming in my dad's pool!

- Monday, June 16 - Drove to Corpus Christi and made our first stop the base housing office
Decided base housing was the way to go and was told our house (on Boomer) would be ready on the 18th... Found a place to park the truck for the night (LOADED with stuff) at the Ross' (who also came from flight training in Florida)... Also found a Days Inn that allowed dogs (Boo for the Navy Lodge for not accepting dogs over 50 lbs - ohh well)

- Tuesday, June 17 - The moving company who had all of our worldly possessions call to say we have a matter of hours to decide if we want our stuff delivered THAT day, or if we wanted to wait until the next truck went around delivering house hold goods... We shared this with base housing who stated our house (on Wise Owl) would be ready by 130pm... Yes, they changed our house without telling us, but to be able to get in a day early, we didn't even bat an eye about it! ;-) Cleaning carpet man left at 130 and the movers started unloading most everything into the garage or downstairs shortly after.... Into the garage because the carpets were wet upstairs... Before the night was over we moved our upstairs furniture upstairs on our own ;-) Overall the move, having the movers come get our stuff and delivery to our new duty station, wasn't too bad. It was rather hard for me to not have control over how things were being packed and/or moved, but most everything survived, for the most part. The washer/dryer had a rough trip, which I feared they would, but I am grateful that the Tempurpedic bed made the trip unscathed... Our bed frame also took quite a beating, one computer desk had a wheel ripped off, as well as our bowls (they were on the bottom of the kitchen stuff and only 2 survived) The military has 100% replacement value coverage, but I hear they do all they can to "fix" whatever was messed up before paying to you buy a new one... we are still working on the move claim, so I will see how that works out...

Getting the internet going in our new house was a fiasco I hope to never go through again... LONG story short our neighbors down the street are Aggies and stopped by to say hi, so thankfully I was able to use their internet for my SIX assignments that were due for my master's program the Sunday after we moved in on Tuesday...

Spent a week in our "new to us" base house... :-)

- Tuesday - June 24 - Traveled to Marlin to drop Sandi off with my mom, "Gram", for a week "on the ranch", while we traveled to Seattle and Las Vegas...

Sandi and Nuggett

June 25 - June 28 - Seattle, Washington
We hit the ground running and didn't slow down until we got back to the airport on Sunday morning! We had a wonderful time going, doing and seeing everyone that we possibly could! We spent lots of time in Yelm, where Mike and Emily (Nolan's sister) live, with them, as well as Nolan's mom, Caroline. We even met up with Amy, who I taught with at Jane Long Middle School during the 05-06 school year! Her husband had just left for his second deployment, he is an Air Force Pilot, so it worked out quite well! We had a BBQ cookout and even went horseback riding! Fun times!

Some of Nolan's cousins from his dad's side
Cousin David, Cousin Mari, Us, Emily (Nolan's sister) her husband, Mike, and Cousin Jeff

Jane Long Midlle Mini Re-Union
with Amy in Yelm, Washington
Who knew!? :-)

Me, Nolan and Caroline (Nolan's mom)

(thank you Cousin Jennifer for taking these last two)

Cousins from Nolan's mom's side
Espen, Lindsay, Jennifer, Ben, Nolan, Me

June 29 - July 3 - Las Vegas, Nevada
I have wanted to go to Vegas for about 5 years now, since I was 21, but it just had never happened... so we made it happen and made it our 2nd wedding anniversary trip! ;-) (since we were furiously cleaning our Milton house on June 10th)
My dad helped us out greatly by putting us up in the Paris Hotel on the Las Vegas strip... Ironically, we visited Paris, France on our honeymoon, but I was mostly less than happy while visiting, as it was quite a challenge for me not being able to speak the language and dealing with the chaotic environment (where I had no control over anything! it is somewhat of my weakness ;-) Thankfully Nolan did well with the language thanks to a book! ) BUT our time at the Paris hotel in Vegas was much different, so that was good - yay for easy communication this time in "Paris"...
The first night there we visited the Bellagio Hotel for the Buffett and enjoyed it so much we went back! We tried lots of new foods and everything was wonderful!


ALL, yes all, of the desserts they had... we shared and very much enjoyed! ;-)

We saw a show each night: Blue Man Group, Stomp Out Loud, and Jubilee
Stomp! was by far my favorite - WHAT a show! I would definitely be willing to see it again!

Funny story behind this picture:

We failed to read this little notice inside the door of the mini-bar of our hotel room and managed to run up a few hundred dollars before I realized that I had bought everything I had taken out "to look at!" Thankfully the front desk believed that I was that ignorant and took off all of the charges! Note to self - don't "check out" what's in the mini-bar, nor should you use it for left-overs....

Yay for a castle!

New York Sky Line

MGM

Of course a bit of gambling was involved as well...

We used $100, which of course went up and down quickly, but we walked away in the end only losing $50 - Way to go Nolan! by playing BlackJack

July 4th
Happy Independence Day!
Mexican Food in Marlin with my mom and Tim!

Fireworks are a MUST when celebrating with Nolan...
here he is using a piece of fuse to fuse these sparklers together!
Make for a great finale!

We decided to watch from the porch...
Sandi wasn't too sure about the fire crackers, but eventually calmed down.

And Most Recently....

What happens when you hear a thud, but don't investigate it....
It seems I didn't get the lid on the BRAND new bottle of detergent and when the washer spun the detergent went flying everywhere! literally!
Fun times cleaning that up!

Fruit tarts Nolan made... YUM!
Nolan is quite the chef!

Seeing as how I am enjoying not working at the moment I REALLY hope to post more often - so please keep checking back! Better yet, come visit! ;-)