Thursday, September 25, 2008

Road Trip Pictures

During the first two hours of our trip, we drove up the state of Alabama where Mike's car got creamed with these nasty "love bugs"

Thought you'd like a close up of how many bugs were actually on his car. We had to pull over and totally wash down the car for over half an hour!

This was Mike's dog neighbor named Trooper! We were really sad to say bye to him : ( 

After two days of driving, we were on our third and final day and stopped at The Big Texan, a local tourist attraction in Amarillo, TX. 



Geez, looking at this picture, you would think Mike was a little person, am I right?


Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Saint Theresa's Prayer

My future mother-in-law sent me this prayer and it was so moving. I felt as if this prayer was speaking to me at this very moment and helping me to realize that God has a purpose and a plan for me. 


May today there be peace within. 
May you trust God that you are exactly where you 
are meant to be. 
 
May you not forget the infinite possibilities 
that are born of faith. 
 
May you use those gifts that you have received, 
and pass on the love that has been given to you. 
 
May you be confident knowing you are a child of 
God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom 
to sing, dance, praise and love. 
 
It is there for each and every one of us. 

We have arrived!

We are in BEAUTIFUL Albuquerque, NM and I just LOVE it! There are gorgeous mountains to the east and three volcanoes to the west. There are so many things to see and do here like hiking or skiing. We are located in "Mountain Time" where the altitude is high and the air is quite dry, a nice change from the sticky humidity of Alabama. 

Mike and I are checked in at the Kirtland Inn where we will be staying until we move to Japan. We are basically in a hotel room, although the room is much larger than standard size. We have a separate bedroom and living room and a decent sized bathroom. Two things that aren't so great is that there is no kitchen and you can't get internet service in your room, only down in the basement. Mike and I have been eating out quite a lot but I figured out a way to change that. You see, my absolute FAVORITE grocery store is only a ten minute drive from where we live. Last night, I made Mike go to Whole Foods with me so that he could experience all its goodness. Whole Foods always has out amazing free samples so Mike was just following me along and snacking on various goodies while I got a few things to last us for the week. Whole Foods is also great about making homemade meals that you can just microwave at a really low price so Mike and I will probably live off of that for the next four months! When we left the store, Mike was like, "I can see why you would like this store Bridget!" He's totally not into health stores but to know that he likes it means it is really as great as I think it is! Heck, I may even apply to work there since we're only here for four months. 

Speaking of work, I have applied for a few jobs on base and some off. Most of them are to be reading tutors part-time. I am also going to look into subbing with the public school system. I'd love to have my own classroom but I really can't since we're leaving in the middle of the school year. Mike started his first day of work yesterday and seems to really enjoy it. As with most Air Force pilots, Mike is still in training even though he graduated from flight school. He is training on the UH-1N which is what he'll be flying in Japan. He said his flight commander was super nice (which is a huge plus) and the schedule is nowhere near as hectic as he is normally accustomed to. This should be a nice change for him.

Mike is so funny though because he is not used to the west coast at all! We were at the mall and he was like "What's that funny looking food stand?" I looked over and said, "You don't know about Hot Dog on a Stick?" Now for those of you who don't know, Hot Dog on a Stick is food chain usually found in restaurants where employees wear ridiculous outfits and serve you...yes hot dogs on sticks! But not only that, you can get cheese on a stick...the list can go on! They also have fresh lemonade! 

Although I have had a wonderful time this past month hanging out with Mike, I have to go back to NJ and finalize all of our wedding plans. I have so much to do that it's too stressful to think about. Last night, I was freaking out to Mike saying "What if I'm sick on our wedding day? What if I have the flu? What if I have a cold?" Of course Mike rolled his eyes and told me that I need to worry about things when they are worth worrying about and not before. I totally know he's right. I just tend to think the worst case scenario, that way I am prepared in case it does happen! 

I will add photos on my next post of our road trip! 

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Movers are Here!

I'm camped out in the guest room while the movers are packing up all of Mike's stuff. If you guys have moved a lot, you know what I mean when I say that I feel awkward. I feel like I should be helping them move/pack things but you're really not supposed to do that. We've been giving them lots of drinks and we're getting them lunch so that should count for something...

Last night and super early this morning, Mike and I went through his whole house and had to decide which stuff would be shipped to Japan and which stuff would stay in storage until we get back in in 2012! There's a lot of crap that is going into storage that will either be thrown out or donated when we get back but we're in such a time crunch that we didn't want to deal with the additional headaches at this point. 

I found myself arguing with Mike over which stuff could be moved, stored, or thrown out. For example, Mike has this horrible pirate flag that hangs over his bed (or used to) and I immediately put it in the storage pile. It's not like I threw it away or anything, I was just hoping that he would grow out of his liking for it when we got back. Anyway, Mike asked why we couldn't bring the stupid flag and I was like "Are you kidding me? That flag is not going to hang in my house" Let me just give you an image of this flag. There is a picture of a skull drinking from a bottle and it says "Life is better when you've got a bottle of rum!" Mike doesn't even DRINK rum so why would he want that in our house? Then he said that he could hang the flag in his office. This just added more fuel to my fire. Eventually I won the argument as I always tend to do. But seriously, am I wrong for have the final say on what stays and what goes? If I let Mike pack everything, we would have all this crap in Japan and our house would look like a Bachelor pad. 

Monday, September 15, 2008

Change in plan...

Welp! Originally, I was supposed to get on a plane to fly back to NJ tomorrow. However, because the Air Force can be so darn unpredictable, Mike and I decided to change the plan bit. After Mike's assignment night, we found out that he needed to report to Kirtland Air Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 23rd.  That gives him NO time at all to move! I mean basically he had two weeks. And lets keep in mind that we have to think about the foreign move to Japan on top of everything else.

So now our plan is for Mike to outprocess this week and we'll hop in his truck and drive to New Mexico over two or three days. I'm actually excited about this part because we'll be able to make some fun memories, stop at some cool landmarks, and take LOTS of pictures along the way. Once we get in New Mexico, I'm going to hang out there for five days before I have to head back to NJ to really finish up the wedding plans. 

I still need to go in to get my second dress fitting and finalize who's coming. I also need to make place cards, finish the programs, pay off the vendors, oh gosh the list goes on and if I mention it all it will just stress me out even more so I'm going to stop. 

Friday, September 12, 2008

Flight School Complete!

Today Mike got his wings and to be honest, there was a few moments when we both thought this would not happen! It was a perfect ceremony with only four guys in his class. My favorite part was during the pinning. I was secretly instructed to punch him right on top of his "Blood Wings" and it made a really loud noise in the auditorium. Everyone thought it was really funny. Mike also gave me my own wings to wear around a necklace. I honestly feel like I earned them after all he put me through!

So now we're done and on to our next journey...New Mexico! Mike has to be down there next week! They didn't give him anytime to relax after helicopter training. He'll be there for a month then I will join him after the wedding! Once I get there, we'll be there until March and then move to our next assignment at Yokota Air Base in Japan! We'll be there for three years! When we found out that was where we were going, I was really shocked. We knew it was a possibility, but neither of us thought it would be so soon. So needless to say, I needed a few days to really saturate the news and rethink my plan for our future.

A lot of things need to get done before going to Japan. I mean, we have to put stuff in storage knowing that we won't have it for three years. We both have to sell our cars because there's this emissions rule in Japan and it would be too expensive to ship and fix them to Japanese standards. We have to live on base and I'm trying to find out some things about Yokota housing but I really can't find anything. It's gonna be an adjustment, that's for sure! I've already gotten my application started to be a DoDDs teacher and just need to submit a copy of Mike's orders once my name gets put on them.