Christmas Visitors

Merry Christmas!!! Tim and I had a wonderful holiday with his Mom and Todd. They took the long drive down from Ohio to spend Christmas with us and while Missippi doesn't have much to offer in the way of entertainment, we had a wonderful time enetertaining each other. We learned that Momma Shedd is a magnificent bowler, a whiz at Trivial Pursuit and can beat anyone at the board game of life. When not doing that or watching "A Christmas Story" we petted Renegade (the family dog who also made the drive). Renegade is pictured here:

As the Shedds were pulling out of the driveway we discovered another visitor....the cutest puppy you have ever seen!! It turns out the poor little thing was abandoned in the neighborhood. After hanging signs all over the neighborhood we spent a couple of hours falling in love with her and then I took her to an animal hospital close by. It turns out she is a pit bull and, given that and the fact that Tim and I are still working 12 hours a day it just seemed like keeping him wasn't a very good option. The nice lady at the animal hospital fell in love with her too so she took her and promised to find her a good home. She sure was a sweet visitor though. Here she is for you to fall in love with too:

Like a Drug......

It's like a drug...once you start with this home improvement stuff you can't stop. Tim and I ripped apart the cabinets above the stove and installed a new venting microwave. I really like the microwave and I LOVE the counter space that is opened up since it is not sitting on the countertop. If you ignore the fourth of july-like display of sparks when I sawed through the 220V cord going to the stove it was a successful project.
BEFORE:


AFTER:

Season of Lights (sort of)

As the sun sets earlier and earlier some of the lighting projects Tim and I have had on the back burner took on new importance. I finally found cute lamps for our room:


Tim bought the perfect chandelier for our dining room (I absolutely love the glass balls!!!!!!)



And we finally got recessed lights put in the kitchen so we can actually SEE in our dark cave kitchen. LET THERE BE LIGHT....

(yes, Tim is actually cooking here....YYYIIIPPPPEEEEE!!!!!)

Fall Planting and Decorating

We've now been home for a couple of weekends so I have gotten some long standing projects done and started with some fall decorating. I've discovered fun creating "centerpieces" and have included pictures of my acorn centerpiece and an indian corn centerpiece I created for the dining room table. Also, we finally fixed an ugly corner of the yard with new edging stones, some fun fall planings and a bird bath. I love this time of year!!!!

Another OHIO STATE Game

Ah the smell of fall in the air and the jubilent cries of "OH--IO" "OH--IO". Must be football season :-). Tim and I recently went back to Ohio for another football game with his brother and a buddy (Thank you Momma Shedd!!) This time it was a home game in Columbus, OH and trut to form the Buckeyes won....and much fun was had by all!!

OHIO STATE

Tim and I drove this past weekend to Purdue University to watch The Ohio State Buckeyes play the Boilermakers. Ohio State won (of course) but most importnatly we got to see Todd (Tim's brother) and fun was had by all.....

Catch Up

It's been a long time since we've updated....Summer just continued to chug along and holy cow....it's fall (and football season)!! This summer Tim and I went on several TDYs. Tim went to DC to do a flyby over Arlington Cemetary.



Then we had the opportunity to go to San Antonio together for the AETC Symposium. It was nice to be back in San Antonio together.



This is Tim's mentor who he affectionately calls "The Wolf" because he was the commander of the "Wolf Pack"--the wing stationed at Kunsan, Korea when Tim was there...look at all of those stars on his shoulders!!

And finally, this past weekend Tima nd I drove up to Chicago....Friends of ours were getting married and we used that as an excuse to go play in the city. Tim had never been to Chicago and I remember loving it from my 6 months of living there so we went to explore it together. It surpassed all expectations...We got to go to the Shedd Aquarium (of course :-), shopped the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, and even took in a Cubs Game at Good 'Ol Wrigley Field after a pep rally at the Cubby Bear!! It was a perfect get away!!!

Home Improvement

Tim and I have been working hard around the house and have even hired a painter to help us out. We also (finally) got some new furniture for the dining room--something we have been looking for for over a year. Please remember the computer does distort the colors a bit......the paint job really was beautiful!!!

Upstairs before:



After:




Dining Room Before:


New Paint Job:



Finally:

Hard Work Pays Off

Tim and I have been working very hard on the front of our house the past 3 weeks or so. We pulled out about 400 square feet of very very imbedded jasmine ground cover. (I've hated the stuff since we moved in) and we've (finally) taken care of the grass a little and we put in nice 2 inch blinds which seem to make a big difference to the appearance of the house. I've posted a few before and after pictures....enjoy. I wish all of this could have been completed for those of you who visited but it just simply took us too long I guess :-)

Wonderful Family Visit

A huge THANK YOU to all of the family who came for a get together at our house. Tim and I were so happy to have you all visit us and we throughly enjoyed the family time. Spending time with all of you was really the best thing I could have asked for!! Unfortunately Tim and I were not good with the camera but we did get this one picture.....enjoy!!!!

Flying High (together)

Just thought this was a fun picture I'd share. Last week the T-1 offered a "spouse flight" where the spouses of the IPs were allowed to fly in a T-1 and see what all of the fuss was about. Tim took them up on the offer and we flew in the same formation together (the AF will not allow spouses to fly in the same aircaft at the same time). As always it's fun to get to share this stuff together. Enjoy the picture :-)

MASTER TIM

Well he did it....Tim finished his Msters in Emergency Disaster Management today. His grades won't be final for a few weeks but he did it :-) I'm very proud of him...he finished a masters in 9 months working and flying full time!! I am happy for him that his hard work is over and I am happy for me that I now have my husband back for the weekends!!

Other news. I've started a major project in the front yard...pulling up all of the ugly jasmine (about 400 square feet of it) and I plan on replanting something pretty and putting in a small stone boarder to keep the growth off the front walk. So far I've not gotten far but I am so sore!! I'll post pictures as they become available.

Other news. Tim and I got our new phone numbers....local mississippi numbers. The phones are not here yet so we don't know who has what # but the numbers are:

662-549-0606
662-549-0506

More to follow :-)

AHH Spring

We've been busy this week with work and all so not too much news but we are enjoying the spring. You can say what you want about Mississippi but the springs here are gorgeous!! I've posted a picture of our new deck for those who have not seen it and a picture of one of my new favoirte activities.....growing things to eat :-). So far just peppers but maybe more next year :-)

Biggest news for us I guess is that we both started weight watchers last week and this week was our first weigh-in. Tim and I shed 32 sticks of butter between us!! OKOK Tim carried the lions share with a whopping 5 pounds!! But it was a good start to what should be a 90 day effort.