Another Wedding Post

Today I spent some time putting all our wedding photos on our new computer. It was so much fun reliving the day through all the pictures. I loved our photographer (Erica Hampton) and she did a great job capturing the essence of the day.


Picture by Erica Hampton

It's gone!

Before:




My hair is gone. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It varies day to day, mood to mood, good hair day to bad hair day.

After:

New Dress! (Sort of...)

Tonight while Jon played a lovely game of poker with some friends, I decided to be (more) productive. I have had a dress for 4 (ish) years now, and I have not worn it yet. Part of the problem is it was 2-3 sizes too big. And then there was the fact that it was ugly. But it had potential, soo... I have transformed it into my dress for Jon's commissioning ceremony in May!

Before (please excuse the t-shirt underneath. I didn't want to get in trouble for indecent exposure on my blog):



And After:

Greetings From Acer.

Well, we have a new computer. We're back!

A Pretty Expensive Weekend...

So, I am still writing on the computer at work, so no pictures of our lovely life in CO (and it really is lovely... 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky today!). Which brings me to the post title. It has been a pretty, scratch that, very expensive weekend at the Recor Household.

Saturday, Jon and I had all sorts of errands to run before we were supposed to grill with our friends for dinner. The first stop was to get an oil change. Someone (me) had lost our free oil change coupon, so we were already a little bummed we were going to have to spend money on this. Well, about 10 minutes after we got there, they discretely came to get one of us to tell us we need new tires. Yep. Brand new tires. Oh, and our whole day was spent at the auto shop. So much for grilling and finishing our errands that day!

As I have mentioned a few times, our computer is not really up for doing any work lately. It's old, but I was so hoping it would last us until Jon was on active duty. So much for that! All day Sunday was spent going from store to store, Office This to Office That, pricing computers.

It sure is a good thing we like to save our money. Although, even though we have the money to spend, it sure doesn't make it any easier to do so.

I think I'll go outside and enjoy some of this beautiful weather now. Remind myself that money is a very small part of the grand scheme of things.

Computer with a cold.

So our home computer seems to have caught the cold I had last week. It is having a little bit of trouble doing much of anything, let alone turning on. Tonight I will be saving everything I need off the hard drive and we're going to take it in to get wiped clean this weekend. I guess that's what happens when you're laptop is old. So, until I'm able to use our computer, I will be posting at work, which also means less pictures.

I figured today would be a good day to explain how Jon's pilot training/Air Force career works, since many people are interested in this, and not many people understand how it works (I'm not even sure if I know... so take all this with a grain of salt... well maybe take it with a piece of grilled chicken, because I guess I have a good idea of what I'm talking about).

In May, Jon will be graduating from Colorado State and commissioning into the United States Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant. We'll go to an important commissioning ceremony, get all dressed up, he'll "pin on" and then we will cool our heels for a while. Because pilot training is a bit backed up right now, we are about 99% sure we will be waiting a few months before we go to Vance AFB in Oklahoma. We still do not know when we will be going, but in years prior, pilot candidates have been reporting for duty around November of the year they commission. We'll let you know when we find out when we leave... but until then we get to hang out in good ol' Fort Collins, CO, which I don't think either of us can complain about.

Once he reports for duty at Vance AFB, he will probably be doing a little more sitting around. He'll get to go in to work everyday, but the training most likely won't start for a few weeks/months. When he finally gets to start his training, he will be going to Alabama for 6 weeks for kind of an "Officer Information Session" when he'll learn everything about being an officer in the USAF (wait, isn't that what he has been doing here at CSU?). After that, he'll come back to Vance to play with me and Duke, and then head up to Colorado for another 6-week training geared toward pilots.

After that (finally), he will start his pilot training. It'll be 12-hour days in the classroom at first, then 12-hour days in simulators and computer labs, and then finally he'll get into a plane and start flying. About a year and a half/two years after we get to Vance, he will "track" an airframe. This basically means, he chooses if he wants to track fighter/bomber planes, cargo planes, or helicopters (I think there is one more option, but I can't be bothered to look it up right now... haha.). I say he gets to choose, but he only gets to choose if he does well at undergraduate pilot training. Otherwise, it will be decided for him. So let's all hope he does well and gets to pick fighter/bomber! (That's his first choice, and mine too, since we will most likely get to stay in Oklahoma for the next part of training.)

So once he "tracks" he will either stay put at Vance, or move to another training base for about 6 months of more intense, more specialized flight training. After those six-ish months are over, he is put into a class rank, and the (available) planes are chosen starting with the first in the class all the way down to the last. Hopefully he gets a fun, safe, exciting plane with great base options. In a perfect world.

After that, he has a ten year commitment. And then we will decide if we want to stay in (our thought right now) or if we want to leave the Air Force and find something else. Are you confused yet? Me too.

Hope this helps explain a little about whats going on in the Air Force part of our lives for the next few years!

My latest craft

So this little girl started out as a present for a baby I know, but I decided to keep her and make a new one. I thought this doll made a good practice doll. Jon keeps calling her Mildred, so I guess her name is Millie.

I have been very into crafting, making art, and redoing furniture lately. I am always excited when it warms up and dries up our driveway so I can get outside to work on furniture. Right not I'm trying to finish re-finishing our dining room table. After that is done, I have a dresser and two nightstands (that cost us a total of $30. Yep.) that I want to redo. Plus all sorts of little arts and crafts I have on my list. I'll post pictures as I finish them all.

Also! I just made a pair of capri's out of a pair of jeans I didn't like, hemmed up a skirt, and took in two shirts! I feel so productive!

Its cold, but only in my chest.

So, I am sick. Josephene (little girl I watch) has an ear infection. Christopher (her older brother) has chronic pneumonia. I have a cold. And maybe an ear infection too. It couldn't have come at a worse time either, well unless it came around July 3 last year. We have friends in town from Iowa, Matt and Katie, and their dog Manny. Duke and Manny have been wrestling and patrolling the backyard nonstop since they all got here on Saturday. Jon and Matt have been playing a lot of video games. Katie and I have been watching a lot of movies. Calvin has been hiding beneath our bed. I feel bad that I'm not up for more than that. At least Duke is exhausted by 7pm, which means mom gets to cuddle with her puppy.

The Palladinos are the two on the left in this picture.