Russ is Selected for Promotion to Major!

Yesterday while we were still in the DC area Russ received a phone call with the good news that he was selected for promotion to major.  So we came back a day early from our house hunting so he could be at the promotion party hosted by him along with the other captains from the Air Expeditionary Force Center.

 

 

From left to right are:  Donna Watson, Leticia Marsh, George Galloway, Donald Brink and Russ.  Tammy Hinkston, another AEFC selectee, was not able to attend the party.

 

Congratulations, RB!  You'll always be #1 out of 3.1 billion to me!

Selling our Newport News Home

This house was the third home I've owned, but the first time I was selling a home when I owned a digital camera.  As such, I took a bunch of pictures for several reasons.  The main reason was I had so many happy memories in this home.  I had wonderful neighbors who really looked out for me.  Plus, even though my home had all the top features "ADT Home Security" offered (mainly due to the previous owner having worked for ADT), I never needed to activate the system.  Naturally, the best memories were created in this home once Russ and I became a couple.
Secondly, being in the military, it's not uncommon for my friends and family to not get a chance to visit before I'm moving again.  This house was a prime example.  I bought the house in December 2003 and now a year and a half later am already selling my home due to another military relocation.  So posting all these pictures was a good opportunity for my friends and family to get a chance to see where I lived.

Our home was in the Kiln Creek community of Newport News VA. 

 

It had a beautiful back yard with lots of trees.  (Even my mother, a tree lover, would have approved of the number of trees we had on this lot.)

 

The breakfast dining area had a great view of the back yard.  That's the table where Russ proposed to me on the Scrabble board while I'd been in the kitchen fixing the brownies.

 

The kitchen had plenty of room for my dishes and cookware.

I could watch a show on TV or the news while fixing dinner.

The formal living room was great for unexpected visitors since my kitchen or family room wasn't always in "showroom" condition. 

 

We didn't have a formal dining room set, but I've never understood why builders put carpeting in a dining area.  Even careful adults spill occasionally (as evidenced by the choice of wedding gift Russ' best friend and Chad and his wife Sandi gave us -- a carpet cleaner).  For homes with children, there just must never be any meals served in the formal dining room.

 

I wasn't thrilled with a 2-story home since I'm not the most graceful person on stairs.  (And yes, even as an adult I managed to trip and knock my head on these stairs.  At least they were carpeted so I didn't need a trip to the emergency room for stitches.)

 

The master bedroom was at the top of the stairs.

 

No, I didn't keep a microwave in the bedroom for popcorn or other midnight munchies.  Russ doesn't call me an ice queen for having a cold heart.  He's amazed at how cold my fingers and toes get during the winter and cooler months.  So I'd heat up some foot and hand warmers before going to bed so I wouldn't shock him with my cold extremities.

This photo was taken from the loft area, which Russ used as a home office.  I don't know why the coffee table looks like it's floating, but all the photos from the loft had the same result.  It was very convenient to have the loft open towards the kitchen since Russ and I had different ideas about relaxing.  I liked cooking (most especially baking) while he'd do "flight-related stuff" in his office.

 

The other two bedrooms and bathrooms were standard for homes of this size.  We loved this house and were sad to be leaving it after such a short time.

 

The good news was that the first people who looked at it the first day it was on the market (today) made an offer.  It's now under contract and we can go house hunting in the DC area, where we'll be moving in July.

Angel Flights

Once Russ became an aircraft owner, he sought ways he could help others while flying.  One of the programs he started volunteering for was the Angel Flight program.  Under this program, he'd fly people from more rural areas to cities where they could receive medical treatments not available in their home towns.
The base newspaper is always looking for stories to submit on base members helping out the local community.  So we went to the Patrick Henry Airport by our home where he keeps his plane in the general aviation section and took a few photos to submit to the base paper.  We ended up using the close up below.

2005 Azalea Festival

Obviously our first date to the 2004 Azalea Festival at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens went really well.  So to commemorate the success of our first date, we went back to the 2005 Azalea Festival.  Although we really enjoy the effect of the "outreach" photos Russ takes by extending out his left arm, sometimes people around us feel compelled to offer to take our photo.  So we ended up with a photo where you can actually see our "first date" outfits.  (Yes, we are geeky enough to have worn the same outfits we wore last year!)

 

 

The tower in the background has some great memories for us.  We won't elaborate.

 

And this photo was taken in the same location as the photo that started this whole blog.

 

Although I'd had a photo similar from last year, I hadn't included this one.  But my ever-confident Russ wasn't worried about falling in the river either time.

 



Once again, we had another great time at the Azalea Festival.

Yard Work

 

Our next door neighbors, Don and Helma Coote, are a retired couple and have a lovely yard.  Don was never shy about coming over and telling us "yard improvement" tips.  For example, with our crepe myrtle tree out front, he let Russ know it was really time to prune it back before it started blooming.  (When it was just me last year, Don wasn't as vocal about yard improvements.)

So Russ hauled out the ladder and the tree pruning shears and went to work, big time!

 

 

Yes, all these branches came from our one crepe myrtle tree.  Thanks for all the hard work, Russ!  (And thanks Don for pointing this out to Russ.)

San Antonio Tourists

We had a really busy Monday morning.  We started off with a visit to the Air Force Personnel Center to review our official military records.  Each AF member is authorized permissive travel (meaning the individual incurs the expense for the travel) to make a personal review of his/her records.  After getting the "official business" portion of our visit taken care of, we decided to play tourists.

When we'd gone to the wedding, I noticed the new temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was near when Jenn and Brian were married.  Plus, there was an open house to the public.  As Russ had never been in an LDS temple, we made a stop there.  No pictures were allowed inside the temple, and for some reason, we didn't take any outdoor pictures either.  It was very lovely and peaceful inside.

What visit to San Antonio is complete without a trip to the River Walk?  We ate at a Mexican restaurant outdoors and were visited by some duck who thought the tortilla chips were pretty tasty.

 

 

After eating at the River Walk, we went to visit the remains of a former San Antonio mission.  This particular mission was run by friars and offered protection to local Native American tribes, mainly the Coahuiltecans.  In return for the protection, many of these Native Americans changed from a nomadic lifestyle to a farming community.  Obviously, the average person was much shorter a few hundred years ago.

 

To protect occupants from the hot weather and invaders, the walls were built extremely thick of rocks and adobe.  The hole below was used by canon or rifles.

This was part of a mill house using a water wheel for power to help grind the corn. 

 

After visiting the old mission, we stopped by Lackland Air Force Base and took a tour of the basic training graduation grounds.  It was a great visit to San Antonio!

San Antonio -- Sea World

After the wedding we took the opportunity to enjoy a few more activities around the San Antonio area.  As Sea World was offering free admission passes to military members, this was an obvious choice of how to spend our time.

 

Even though I don't really like handling raw fish, I overcame my aversion as the sea lions, whose bark reminds me a lot of dogs, were so cute in their begging for fish.



 

We also bought some fish at the "feed the dolphins" exhibit.  We both were able to feed and pet a dolphin.

 

And of course no visit is complete without feeding the ducks!

 

Since feeding the ducks reminded Russ of the day he decided to propose to me (because of the joy I found in simple pleasures, like feeding turtles and ducks at Noland Trail in Newport News, Va), he had to come over and give me a hug.

 

 

If only I could find the picture we'd bought at the "splash mountain" type of water ride, I'd add that as well.  We had a great time at Sea World and appreciate Anhauser Busch corporation honoring military members and their families.