Military Ball

Once you join the Army family, one of the events you have to look forward to are Military Balls. They are one of the few opportunities you as an Army wife have to dress up and see your husband interact with his soldiers and leadership. It was so weird hearing guys call Jesse "Sir" several times in their conversations! There are traditions you follow throughout the evening to show respect to the command of the unit. This begins with the receiving line where the Squadron Commander and Command Sergeant Major greet you. Then, we got some professional pictures taken since we were all dressed up. Next, you can finally go into the dinner hall and sit at your assigned seat. This is when the program starts with a prayer and then the famous GROG - a mixture of different liquors representing different points in the history of the 1-75 Cav Squadron. Jesse added the Jagermeister which represented them pushing into Germany. You wait with anticipation to be able to go get your food because you are so hungry - finally it happens and you feel a ton better. After dinner, they give out awards and recognition to soldiers and then the Family Readiness Group (FRG) volunteers like I was. I was given some honorary spurs that were on a red ribbon. They also have all the guys give their spouse or girlfriends a garter that is a tradition in a Cavalry unit. By this time, it was getting late and the program finally ended. Some people stayed to dance and socialize, but by then we were both pooped (yep - old married couple) so we headed back home. All in all, we had a good time and it was fun getting dressed up. Enjoy the pics!

So about Spring coming...

NOT SO MUCH! Check out our yard Thursday night - for about 2 hours, it poured down snow and turned into freezing rain. How do you like this contradicting picture - a Spring daffodil with snow around it?! What stunk the most about this storm is that they closed all the schools in Clarksville EXCEPT for Austin Peay on Friday - COME ON! Tennessee tends to have this annoying weather pattern - 80 degrees one day and snowing the next. We are hoping this is the last snow until next Winter - I'm ready to do some gardening.

Spring is coming...

We have had some great weather recently, teasing us with hints of Spring. It actually hit 80 degrees yesterday! Green grass and plants are starting to grow and it makes me hopeful of warmer weather, despite the fact that it might snow here tomorrow (yeah, crazy right?!). I wanted to share my first sign of Spring in my yard - the people who lived in our house before us planted daffodils and now we get to enjoy them each Spring!

29 and holding...

Well, I have finally had the last birthday in my 20's - WOW! I haven't been quite sure how to feel about it, so I just decided to enjoy celebrating! On my actual birthday, I had a full day of work with an event that didn't end until almost 7pm. My co-workers surprised me with a new plant for my office and some balloons. I had really sweet birthday wishes all day long, especially on Facebook (gotta love new technology). My family called and sang me "Happy Birthday" at different times all day long, and I received some great e-cards. My wonderful hubby came to my event at work and then took me on a dinner date to Olive Garden - YUMMY! We made it back in time for "The Office" and he gave me my present - new cookware that I have been wanting for a while!! :) I had some great presents from my parents and some birthday cards from friends, so it was a great evening!

For those of you who don't know this fact about my family, my brother and I share the same birthday and we are 3 years apart in age. So, growing up, birthdays were always a big deal for the two of us. Jonathan and I try to see each other around our birthdays each year and this year, he and his wife Jennifer (who had a birthday last week), flew their plane down to an airport close to the base and spent Friday and Saturday with us. I took them around the base and to the 101st Airborne Museum after visiting Jesse at work. As soon as Jesse got of work, we went out for a good ol' Mexican dinner and returned home to eat our traditional Publix cake (YUMMY) and open presents. We spent Saturday visiting, and Jonathan took Jesse up in his plane and showed him a few tricks in the friendly skies! We had a great time having them here to celebrating our birthdays.

Here is a video of Jonathan and Jennifer taking off and heading back to Cincinnati from the airport.

N.A.C.A.

For work, I had to take some students down to Nashville's Opryland Resort & Convention Center to attend the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) National Conference. Unfortunately, it happened to fall on February 14th - 17th. Yep, I had to work on Saturday - Valentines Day - and Sunday. Thankfully, my boss gave me some comp time off earlier that week, but still...no fun working on the weekends.

The conference was not a painful one to attend - it actually was pretty fun. I had some professional development sessions mixed in, which most of them were very helpful on giving me pointers on how to improve my job, but most of the time was spent going to showcases where comedians, musicians, actors and dancers would perform with hopes of us booking them at our schools. I got to see some amazing comedians and a band or two that were actually pretty good. Most of the talent is more affordable for college budgets so we only saw a few bands that already had a name for themselves - our favorite being the Zak Brown Band. I really enjoyed many of the comedians, especially the ones that had clean routines and were still hilarious. The funniest ones were actually women, mainly from the NBC Diversity Tour (Michelle Buteau, Tracey Ashley, Erin Jackson, Kristin Key, etc).

Overall, it was very productive for me to attend, but about a day too long. It was a tiring schedule, like most conferences. Hopefully, I can implement some of the things I learned from this experience into my position and programming board back at APSU. Wish me luck!

A surprise valentine for me!

Yesterday, I had a long day of work. When I got home after 8pm, I walked in to find a surprise waiting for me on the dining room table - tulip plants and a valentine from my husband! It was such a sweet gift from him - I can plant them here at the house for the Spring! Apparently, the local Christian radio station here was telling men that women like to get flowers they can keep (which is SO true for me - very practical). Nicely done, Jesse! I am blessed to have you as my Valentine!

He Can See!!!!!!!!!!!!

My hubby, Jesse just got PRK (corrective eye surgery) done this morning on his eyes and he can see!!!! The next few days are going to be ROUGH for him as his eyes adjust and heal, but this has been a dream of his to get this surgery so we are thrilled! PLUS, he got it done for FREE (thanks, Army)!!! Please pray for Jesse's eyes to heal quickly and for him not to feel too much pain. He's pretty much stuck here in the house for the next few days so hopefully he will not go too stir crazy and get a lot of rest.