Shutterfly.com

On Tuesday night, I decided we would send Christmas cards - using the photo we took (and I posted) - so I went to Shutterfly.com and placed my order....

In the process of ordering, the website stated that with 2 day shipping the cards would arrive on December 22nd, the day we are flying out to Seattle.... so I put my mother in law's address, since we would be there later that day...

On Wednesday morning, I received a confirmation email from Shutterfly that stated the cards would arrive on Friday the 18th....
Of course my reaction was WHAT? No! They can't go to Seattle on the 18th, we won't be there AND if I could get the cards done over the weekend that would be even better!!! Soooo, I promptly emailed customer service letting them know that if they were going to arrive before the 21st of December that I needed them to be shipped to our home address, not the Seattle one...

Within hours, they had emailed me back stating that they would change the address of the order and better yet, they would send them NEXT DAY! Holy cow - what a great organization! (Hence, the reason for my post! ;-) )

The best part is they fulfilled their promise... the cards arrived on the 17th!

Thank you Shutterfly.com for having such great customer service! We will be using your site in the future and I am encouraging others to do the same! :)

2009 Christmas Card Photo!

For the past 3 Christmases (sp?) that we have been married I have always thought... next year we should/will take a family photo and send out Christmas cards to our family and friends...

This year I am one step closer, but we are not there yet! We took a 'family photo', but I doubt I will get them printed and sent out before Christmas, sooooo to all of our family and friends...

Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!

With love,
Nolan, Paige and Sandi

Here is to hoping next year, Christmas number 5 (as a married couple), we take the picture, get them printed and mailed out before Christmas! ;-) haha

Pictures!

Who doesn't love a post full of pictures!? :-)

Thanksgiving at the O'Rourke's! :)

Nolan's phone took a 3 foot tumble onto a fork and plate...
So... on Black Friday we did our part to stimulate the economy by buying Nolan a DROID cell phone AND we stopped in at Ashley Furniture for kicks and found a couch and love seat that we liked, so at 25% off, we paid cash and bought it! It should come in a week or so!
HERE is a picture of the couch...

Putting up Christmas lights!
(It's a family affair) ;-)

Ta Da!
(as Madi Bulter would say! ;-) miss you guys)

From down the street a bit...
It is hard to tell but the mail box is red and white lights (a candy cane)

Our neighbors joked it is hard to compete when you live next door to Tim Allen at Christmastime! :) haha

This year's impulse buy at Lowe's! Fun times!
(Gotta love the 10% military discount!)
An MV-22 Osprey is on Santa's list... for now the helicopter will have to do! ;-)
(the blades really spin!)

Last year's after Christmas sale purchase!
(not to mention the majority of the lights we have up this year)

Sandi and our tree!
She is still not a fan of the train....

Our Cozy Fireplace :-)
Home Sweet Home

Come back for a picture of my new do! ;-) I am still figuring out how to make it do what I think I want it to! haha

14 more school days until Christmas break begins - so excited!!! :-)

"Hold your plans loosely!" :-)

Well, believe it or not, Nolan was recently told that he will not be going to the squadron he had been told he would be assigned to (since August)...

So.... we are now pretty sure that he won't be deploying this summer.... it is looking more like the Spring of 2011 and he won't be going to Afghanistan, he will be on a MEU (out on a ship) for 7 months!

We are definitely thankful this Thanksgiving for this news!
(We shall see if these plans change again (we should have a better idea come February))

We are headed to the O'Rourke's for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow...
Magic Cookie Bars, Green Bean Casserole, Sausage Links, and extra rolls will be our contributions to the feast! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

over 3 months later... a post!

I must be the world's worst blogger.... Oh well...

Love this guy! :-)
Nolan and his aircraft... the Osprey

Wow...
Has it really been well over 3 months since my last post???.... sorry...

Well, for those who are still around....

We moved in on July 28 and life has been full-speed ahead!

The school year started on August 25th.... I have survived the 1st 9 weeks, which is definitely a good thing.. for a while there I wasn't too sure I'd make it to the end of the year.... I think I can make it now...
Long story short, the job has turned out to be much different than I was expecting/hoping, but I am managing the best I can... It is 100 times better than Bellview in Florida, so for that I am grateful!

Nolan had his first flight (as the pilot) in the Osprey at the end of October... he is really enjoying flying this/his aircraft! He is expected to be done "training" and go to his squadron (where he will be for a few years or so) by December/January....
About the time he gets to this new squadron he will spend 8 weeks on the West Coast doing pre-deployment work-up stuff.... They are expected to deploy to Afghanistan this summer....

We have become really involved with the base chapel... It is so nice to actually be in a place for a while, we have been bouncing around so much the past 3 years, we never really wanted to get too involved with a church....
Anyway... we began our involvement in September when we participated in the Fireproof Bible study... We then helped with the Fall Festival... and about a month ago we volunteered to teach the 3rd - 5th grade Sunday School class. We haven't had any takers, aside from one Sunday, so we have been joining the Adult class that the Chaplain leads, which we really enjoy. Also, the Chaplain is working on his PhD and has had a project that Nolan (and I - sometimes) have been giving input into... We have gotten to know quite a few of the other regulars and we look forward to continuing our involvement! :)

Our neighbors, here on base, are currently in the squadron that Nolan is going to in December/January, so we have been getting to know them (we girls, especially since our husbands will deploy together next year) They are great people - (Texans of course! ;-) ) we really enjoy our time with them - The Johnson's - Travis and Shana and their two daughters, Bre (2nd grade), JoyLynn (7 months) and baby #3 on the way! They are die-hard t.u. fans... (Thankfully they have great senses of humors! )

There is nothing more fun than dressing up your die-hard t.u. fans' baby in an A&M jumper while you are watching their kids for them... haha!
This is one of the 2 A&M jumpers we have... I think people are trying to tell us something! lol

Well, not too much other news.... so I will leave you with pictures! :)A little croquet at the O'Rourke's Pumpkin Palooza!

Fun times!

And some bocce ball... ?

Pumpkin Carving
(after the group visit to the pumpkin patch)

Nolan's handi-work...
Decorating the Safety Office at work!

Nolan's PC-ness Since it was a Harvest Festival, not a Halloween celebration! ;-)

Don't you love the Hazmat suit! :) Scary!


Halloween 2009
Napoleon Dynamite, Deb and our Devil Dog

Heidi and Tim the Tool Man Taylor...
AKA - Laura and Chris Driscoll (fellow Aggies)

The O'Rourkes



November 12, 2009
234th Marine Corps Birthday Ball
My awesome up-do made possible by Shana (our neighbor)...
She also did my make-up!

past C-12 Co-pilots... George and Nolan
now both fly Ospreys :)The highlight ending to the birthday ball...
Nolan was able to snag a coin from the guest speaker, a 3-Star General! :-)

(Be sure to ask HIM the whole story!)

Here is a close up!
Whoop!


Sandi in her new bed!
We have been thinking about buying a couch/loveseat set (to replace the couch that I first got when I moved to College Station to teach at Bryan ISD) so we are starting now, trying to train Sandi to stay in her bed and off the couch! Her shedding/hair is a 'hot mess', as my friend Nicole would say... it is everywhere, all the time! AH!

Sandi enjoys sun-bathing outside in the dirt in our backyard as well...

On my first personal day off from schooI this year I headed to the Exchange to get Nolan the newest X-Box game and Sandi has been really supportive of his efforts...
she actually seems to be watching what he is doing! haha

We look forward to seeing everyone for Christmas!
We will be in Seattle on the 22nd until the 26th of December and then head to Texas from the 27th to the 30th... Sandi will be staying with the Driscoll's (see above), so thankfully she won't be going to the kennel! Thank God for fellow Aggies! :-)

Home Sweet Home!

2094 Patrick Street

From across the street....
Front view...

From a little ways down the street... we have a HUGE lot! :)

This is our new base house! It was built in 1958 and very much has a 'grandma's house' feel to it... and we simply LOVE it! It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1555 sq ft home, with beautiful wood floors and lots of windows through out! I think my (Paige's) favorite part of the house is the screened in porch!

This is in front of where my truck is in the above picture...
so just in front of the car port...

Porch from the back of the house...

The 3 large windows are the living room area...
and the single window next to them is the dining area...
our bedroom is at the far left side of this picture...

more pictures... of the inside... soon!

What a great week!

I have a teaching job for next year and we have a house to move into (1 month sooner than expected)! :-) WHOOP!

We move into our base house next Tuesday, July 28!

Pictures and more info to come!

Jacksonville, NC

Well, we are here!

It has been quite an emotional roller coaster for the past week, but things are starting to become a little less crazy! :-)

We checked out of our base house in Florida a day early, Thursday, and got on the road with Nolan behind the wheel of our 26 ft UHAUL of stuff! We arrived in Jacksonville on Friday about 1pm and were originally hoping that Nolan would be able to check into his new squadron and get the stamped paperwork over to the housing office, so as to get on the housing list, but there just wasn't going to be enough time, so we unloaded our UHAUL - with Josh's help - into 2 storage units...

Why storage?
Well, the housing office had us convinced that we would be able to move into a base house on 23 July... just 13 days after our arrival, but of course someone else checked in on Friday morning, so they got the house! So, as of Monday morning, we became number 1 on the housing list and were assigned a house that will be ready on 25 August... 46 days after arriving in Jacksonville....

About the storage...
One is climate controlled that Josh still had, since putting all of his stuff in storage last year, right before he deployed, so we filled that one up and also rented a non-climate controlled one across town for the rest of our stuff! I'm sure Nolan would agree; I was a mess! There is something insanely crazy about putting ALL of your worldly possessions into a storage unit, lowering the door, placing a padlock on it and driving away...
Up until yesterday, it was nearly impossible to find anything in the storage units... We went through the climate controlled one yesterday, so I am feeling a bit better about it all...
We are praying it will only be another 3 weeks! (A couple we knew in P-cola, came to Jacksonville in April and they were told 6 weeks, although it was only a 4 week wait.. so we can only hope we have the same experience.

Where are we staying for our (up to) 46 day wait?
Well, first of all, we are hoping the house will be ready a week or two early, but for the next 3 - 5 weeks, we are staying with Nicole, a friend that I made while we were in Quantico, VA, when Nolan was at TBS (The Basic School). Her husband is deployed and she has a dog, Diego, a Boxer, so all in all it is working for us.

How is Paige's job search going?
I had an elementary special education teaching position interview on the 30th of June and was told today that I was not chosen for the position. There seem to be so many people applying for a single position... the unemployment rate here was 8.5% in May.... The principal, was very interested, so he said he will pass my name onto the middle school behind his campus... so maybe I will hear something from them...
Wednesday, I had an interview for a middle school math position, although it turned out to be a 3 math and 1 science 7th grade teaching position... BUT realistically it felt like the principal was looking for a coach, not a teacher.. so I do not feel like it went well AT all! Yesterday's interview... was for a 6th /7th grade inclusion teacher position... The principal basically told me he need someone with lots of prior experience as his test scores for his special education students are low and he needs someone to come in and bring them up! Not that I can't try my darnedest to do just that, but he told me there are many other candidates who have lots of prior experience, so I am pretty much out of the running...
I did however drop in on a school that had called me about teaching 8th grade math, when we were still living in Florida, and my visit resulted in an interview on Monday for an Exceptional Children teaching position! YAY! I am hoping this one will be THE one! :)

Regardless, I will be dropping in on the last handful of schools that still have EC jobs posted online and see about getting interviews!

Random info...
Nolan was to be headed to SERE school (part of the reason we decided to make the blog private) in New Brunswick, Maine, but we found out today, that he isn't going just yet!

Josh, Nolan's best man in our wedding and friend since 4th grade, is stationed here with his wife, Jill, so it is really great for them to be back in the same place! It has been close to 3 yrs (when they were going to TBS in 2006)!

Until we have more news....

On the move...

We will be on our way to Jacksonville, NC on Friday morning after we check out with base housing!

Please pray that there will be a base house for us in J-ville! We should know for sure on Friday afternoon! ;-)


AND

I have 2 job interviews next week, Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll be sure to let ya know how those go! :-)

Winging!

The reader board as you came on base!

Painted concrete...

Winging Banner!

Many thanks to my mom for helping me get going on this project and Nolan for helping me measure and make sure that the letters were straight!

First attempt at hanging it!

Displayed on our garage!

Nolan and George with their winging banners!
(Nolan and George were co-pilots during C-12 training in Corpus... George also lived across the street from us in Corpus - many great memories!)

Us with the winging banner in its second hanging spot after the winging!

Wednesday

Soft Patch Ceremony

Case with all of the soft patches Nolan's!
Nolan and Capt. Duesing

Ordinarily, the soft patch ceremony is done with one's on-wing (Nolan's was Lt. Buell - see below) but Nolan chose Capt. Duesing to do his, as it was Capt. Duesing (who used to work in the Marine office that Nolan was stashed in while waiting to start flight school, but is now in Nolan's squadron - HT - 18) who helped Nolan change from NFO (Naval Flight Officer - a back seater) to a SNA (Student Naval Aviator - a front seater/pilot)

While at TBS (in Virginia) Nolan earned a NFO spot, but when we arrived in Pensacola in March of 2007 for NFO school, the Marines had filled the number of NFO spots they needed for that fiscal year, so Nolan was given the option to fill one of the pilot spots that Capt Duesing still had open!
After much thought and seeking wise counsel Nolan decided to go for it! Whoop!


Capt. Duesing winding up for a 'punch' to make sure the Velcro-ed patch doesn't come off!

Scotch = 'beverage of choice' thank you gift

Lt. Buell and Nolan
Lt. Buell was Nolan's on-wing for helo training..
meaning he completed his first 10 flights with Lt. Buell.. a fellow Aggie!

Ryan and Kevin getting their soft patches (Also Osprey guys - like Nolan)
George and Chapman getting their soft patches (also Osprey guys)

Nolan's winging gift from Mom, Tim, Grandfather Hanna and Dorothy! A framed lithograph of each of the aircraft Nolan has learned to fly so far, (T-34, C-12, TH-57) as well a large Osprey (MV-22), which he will learn to fly next!

Soft patches in the case, in the student ready room (where we waited for Nolan the night of his last flight) I think the reflection of the room itself (squadron seals painted on the walls and the whiteboard) is cool!

Thursday

TH-57C Simulator
720 - 740 am




Nolan's mom and I both got about 10 minutes of flight time and we only crashed a handful of times! haha It was very cool!
As Nolan and I studied EPs (emergency procedures) almost nightly (as we walked Sandi around our base housing neighborhood) throughout his training, it was really cool to match up many of the items in the EPs with the handles and gauges in the cockpit!

Blessing of the Wings

Winging Ceremony

(will get a few pictures of the actual pinning of the wings from my friend Laura and add them here)



Nolan's cover and soft patch in the entry way of the auditorium where the ceremony took place...


Nolan in the class picture!

All of the Marine Aviators!

Chris and Laura Driscoll with us..
They are fellow Aggies we met up with while in Corpus Christi, Texas;
Chris is completing helo training and will wing in about a month!

Nolan and his Osprey mug with his aviator number!
30,045


Group photo!
Tim, Mom, Me, Nolan, Caroline, Dorothy, Grandfather


Gift from Nolan's mom
Grandpa Fewing's retirement clock!

Count down Nolan had going on the huge white board in our office!
March 19th - June 26th
Total time in Helo training
(shortened from the usual helo syllabus, as Nolan is an Osprey guy)


Grandfather and me with my FSU Master of Science diploma!
(unlike Texas A&M, I did not leave the stage with my diploma in hand... it took well over 6 weeks for it to arrive, but I am glad it came before we moved!)
Notice the boxes.. are move is in full swing!


And because when it rains it pours...

Since we aren't in Jacksonville, NC yet... I was lucky to have been able to do a phone interview for an elementary exceptional children teaching position the Tuesday before the winging extravaganza began! I think it went well, considering I was just walking in the door when the principal called. I will learn more after the 15th of July, as the principal was going on vacation until then...
I have had a few other schools that are interested in me for middle school math teaching positions, however the fact that I am still in Florida seems to be a bit of a stumbling block!
All in time! :-)

We hope to be departing from Milton, Florida for Jacksonville, North Carolina by Friday, July 10th!

We should get a better idea on Monday/Tuesday, July 6th/7th, about when we will have orders and such.. we will keep you posted!