The Air Force Ball

Saturday night was the Air Force Ball here at Whiteman.  It is the 70th anniversary of the Air Force. Crazy to think that when Joe joined the AF hadn't even turned 50!  It is a fun evening to get dressed up and go on a date with my handsome man.  This was the second year in a row they had the ball in a hangar on the flight line with a B-2 parked right outside. Not a bad backdrop for our evening.

The weather was pretty toasty but a breeze and the shade kept it bearable. 

Our key note speaker was a veteran of the Vietnam war.  He was the 6th soldier to be captured by the Viet Kong when his plane was shot down.  He spent 8 years in the "Hanoi Hilton".  His story was unbelievable and hard to listen to at times.  For 8 years he was tortured daily.  He NEVER got to go outside.  He was only with 3 other prisoners for 4 days otherwise he was in solitary confinement.  With those few days with the 2 other guys he taught them a tap code so they would be able to communicate.  They were severely punished when the Vietnamese realized what they were doing. They kept doing it. By coughing, sweeping in whatever way they could make noise to communicate with one another.  He testified of turning to God and praying with all his might.  He testified he knew there was a supreme being because all of their prayers were answered "not in our time, but in His."  He said he would not trade his experience for anything.  He learned how resilient he was and built his relationship with Heavenly Father.  It was inspiring and humbling to hear his story.  We had the privelege of meeting him after the program potion of the ball was over. His name is Col. Harris.  His sweet wife was with him and she was a delight.  

When her husband was shot down she came back to the states from Okinawa pregnant and with her two young sons. The Air Force told her they would put her husbands checks into a savings account so he could

have that when he got home. She told them that she and her husband had made arrangements that she would receive his checks if he were captured. They told her the Secretary of the Air Force had decreed this new plan and she could not have the money.  She told them to get him on the phone. When they told her she couldn't just call the Secretary of the Air Force she said "oh yes I can.  You get him on the phone right now." They did as she told them and the checks were then dispersed into an account for her to use right away.  What a fiesty lady.  I loved hearing that story. 

Here are some more pictures of us: 

At home before we left 

Me and my friend Nicole.  I adore her. 

My handsome. Last event with his Senior stripes on.  That Chief stripe goes on on a few weeks!  

After dragging Joe out to take pictures more than once due to lighting changes.  We were headed back in the last time when I asked if he would dance with me in front of the plane.  Who gets to dance in front of a B-2? He is the best hubby ever.  Instead of saying No way crazy lady.  He said "Sure!" I love that he is such a good sport.  No one else was dancing we may look a little crazy but true love is going along with your wife's silly ideas and then getting one of the best pictures ever:

I love that photo.  He makes me laugh every day and I am so grateful that he is mine.  One last pic close up.  Sure love that handsome guy. 

The Air Force has blessed our lives so much.  I am so grateful to be a part of a global military family.  

Friday fun

Today was a laid back day until about 4 there wasn't to much going on.  Picked Haylee up at 3:30 from the first Science Olympiad meeting of the year (that girl LOVES Science!) then headed to a squadron picnic. I am still a key spouse for Joe's old squadron.  I feel out of place there now and think it is probably time for me to move on from that gig.  It is still super hot so that wasn't fab but Haylee had fun playing with all the dogs people brought and rolling around in a hampster ball. 

I pushed her all over.  It was a workout!  

When we got home Haylee sat Joe and I down to discuss internships at NASA.  She has been researching them on the internet and wants to apply to intern next summer.  She registered on the site and was very serious about filling out her "government form" That girl is a smarty.  Instead of going to the football game she stayed home to watch all the tutorials about applying and do some more research.  She is a nerd but a super cute one.  Love her. Also, this is her current GPA

Joe and I headed to the game.  Chad and Amy's daughter Rebecca was nominated for homecoming queen and I offered to be the picture taker.  :) it was so fun.  And she WON!  That made it even more fun!  She is a fantastic girl who is smart and so, so kind she definitely deserves the queen title. After all that excitement the game was tied with about 40 seconds left.  We had the ball and scored a touchdown!!  Woo hoo!  It was a fun night.  Joe ditched me after halftime but I stayed and Amy brought me home.  I was so glad I stayed!  

Rebecca is in the red and black (her guard uniform) 

Last night I went to a paint class for the WSC social.  Here is my painting before:

During 

After 

It was a fun night!  

Tomorrow night is the Air Force Ball.  Looking forward to getting dressed up but not forward to it being 90 degrees again.  

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It is September the best month of the whole year!  Fall begins, it's my birthday month (thanks mom!) and the air starts to feel crisper.  Well maybe if you live somewhere with good fall weather.  I realize we are in the very early stages of fall and that it doesn't officially start until tomorrow buuuuttt... look at this weather from tonight 

Seriously!!  At almost 9:00pm it feels like it is 87 degrees outside with 82% humidity.  Ugh.  The humidity is killer.  I want to be able to open my windows and let in the fresh air.  That's the best part of fall.  Tomorrow the high is 90 degrees. NINETY people!  Y. U. C. K. 

Spent some time volunteering at the thrift store this morning.  It was just for a few hours and it was fun.  Came home ate lunch then headed to Overland Park to take Sierra to her pain doc to have her right shoulder checked out. He ordered an MRI so we will see. Haylee came with and it was nice to spend some time in the car together.  That kid is busy and I feel like I barely see her some days.  Stopped at Burlington on the way home to see if they had a dress for the ball this weekend.  My plan was to wear my ball gown from the Chief Induction in March but it is long sleeves and as we are having July weather it doesn't seem like the best idea.  I found a dress for 20 bucks but It was slinky fabric and showed that even though I have lost 13 pounds I have a ways to go.  I decided to leave it and see what works at home. I have several dresses in the lineup so I may change to something else besides the long sleeves.  It's hard when you have to wear floor length to these things.  I am thankful to have purchased dresses over the years and almost always buy them on sale.  I got a dress at the thrift shop two years ago for 5 bucks!  I might wear that one again. Friday will be figure out the dress day.  I did find a cute new top that I decided to buy 

It's cute. My hair looked so dull!  Fluorescent lighting is the worst.  I was ready to drive to a hair salon and have some highlights done right that minute!  I haven't colored my hair in years but that lighting made me question my life choices.

 Tonight the girls went to church stuff and Joe and I watched the finale of Americas Got Talent. That cute ventriloquist girl won the whole thing.  I was so glad! Her talent was unmatched!!  

Another day in the books. 

In control

For the moment I feel in control of my life so I need to document it!  I have cut way back on my volunteering, I currently don't have a church calling and I am working much less than I have the last year.  It is blissful to be able to keep up with my laundry, run errands for my family and prepare healthy meals instead of whatever I can think up at the last minute. I should add a caveat to the healthy meals which is I am eating healthy.  The family still sometimes get "regular" stuff that has too many calories for me.  I am back on My Fitness Pal which is a calorie counting app.  It works well for me when I can stick to it.  I lost about 30 pounds in 2012 but fell off the wagon lol.  I have been firmly back on the wagon for the last six weeks and am down 13 pounds.  Yay for me!  Every ounce feels like a victory!  😆. My mom called me today and asked what I am eating so I gave her a rundown and even sent pics!  

I drink milk every night before bed (for a lot of women it's wine for me it's milk!) since regular milk has too many calories I have started drinking almond milk.  Only 30 calories a cup!  Woo hoo!!  I am drinking tons of water and just feeling better all around.  I am determined to keep this life change going. 

Signing off for now.  Enjoying these in control days because I am sure life will get extra crazy soon enough!!  :) 

Simple Saturday

Sometimes I think our Saturday's will be laid back with just one or two things on the schedule but they don't usually stay that way.  Joe spent the day sheetrocking the new thrift shop location.  With an all volunteer crew moving that store has been rough.  Joe and Nicole's husband Michael worked all day -6:30-4:30! -to get the sheetrock finished.  I am so thankful for Joe and all he does for me. He is a great example of service and hard work.  

The new store is looking good and hopefully we can move the end of this month.  

Haylee went to a birthday party last night which was also a sleepover.  She had a great time.  Today was a stake youth activity.  It was sports day.  I was released a couple of weeks ago and it was weird to just drop Haylee off and pick her up at the end.  Weird but nice. :) I stayed home and ran errands, cleaned the house, and watched the BYU game.  Tough loss for the COUGS today. Joe and Haylee both went to bed early and Sierra is at work so here I sit just relaxing in the quiet. 

I did a Facebook thing that told me how much money I should be making every month.  Those things are dumb but definitely entertaining.  According to FB I should be making 18k a month!  Imagine my surprise! I decided I better text my boss right away and let him know.  Here is his response....

I was cracking up.  It's true, I mostly work when I feel like it which is awesome!  Guess my current hourly rate is pretty good considering.  Lol.  

Last week all these butterflies were visiting our purple flowers out front. It was pretty cool.  Haylee had fun watching them.  

Pretty good life around here.  ❤️

Testing

Testing to see if pictures work.  :) 

Yay!!!  

Today

If I try to type why it's been so long since I posted we won't get anywhere so fast forward one year to today.  I had lunch with a good friend (Michelle -thrift shop) who just moved to Texas.  Her husband is retireing!  It seems all our friends are retiring and yet here we are. Once Joe puts on Chief Nov. 1 we owe the AF 3 more years.  We will likely stay until 30 but who knows.  Anyway, it was nice to visit with her and Nicole who also met us there.  We had a good lunch and a nice chat. Then I went to work for a couple of hours.  Can I say I still LOVE my job!  The flexibility in the hours when I do office assisting is fab and I LOVE the days I work as a Dental Assistant.  I am thankful every day for the skills I have learned and to have my certification.  This afternoon I had signed up to give blood because a cute young woman who I adore had organized the drive.  I have never given blood before.  I know, I know I'm lame. I was feeling a little nervous but I have wanted to do it forever so I signed in and waited my turn. When they called me back they verified I was who I said I was and then poked my finger to check my iron levels.  A few weeks ago, HD and Kass had donated blood and Kass's iron was low so they had her take a pregnancy test which came back inconclusive, the tech who was assisting her misunderstood and ended up asking HD when his wife was due.  When he told the story he said "Mom!  I almost fell off the table!!!"  Ha ha ha it was hilarious.  Anywho, back to me she puts my little blood droplet in the checker thing and it comes up that my iron is an 11.7, too low to donate blood.  She tells me they can check the other hand but that another nurse has to do it. The new lady comes in and pokes my other finger and it came back low too!  No donations from Tara today.  Super lame.  I was all ready to go and then......rejected.  I have been back on MyFitnessPal the last five weeks and have been eating super healthy so I am not sure why my iron is down. Maybe it always has been!?  Who knows really. Anyway, I still got a sticker and a pin.  I will try to get my iron levels up and donate soon somwwhere else.  This is my scared but ready face.....
Ok just kidding I have no idea how to add pics from here.  I'll have to do figure that out later.
I came home for a few then headed back to the church for enrichment night.  We painted mini temples and learned a little about family history.  It was great.
Also, Haylee tried out for the school musical.  Auditions were Tuesday and Wednesday and call backs were today.  She was one of only 13 kids to get called back so I think that's a good sign.  She was worried she wouldn't have time due to her having sonmany honors classes but she is handling everything really well and she has had a blast just at auditions.  We find out tomorrow if she gets a part.  (Side note I think everyone will have a part in some way but we will find out if she has more of a speaking part or just part of the background chorus peeps) she is super funny and has great comedic timing so I think she may get an actual part.  We will see!
That's all for tonight folks!  Good to be back in the blogging world.