Whew. What a busy 2011 it has been so far. Hard to believe it is already March. Time flies.
I am currently in the midst of another busy day in a busy week, yet I find myself lounging leisurely in a comfy chair in a cozy corner of Starbucks. Don’t worry, I have my latte right here. Everything is a-okay. I think I have to confess that I snuck away from the reality of my day, if only for just a bit. I have so much to write about. Let’s just hope I can squeeze it all in here before I have class.
So, what have Alex and Emily been up to lately? Well, I think I’ll get right down to it…
F-16 pilot, Viper driver, flyer of the coolest aircraft in the USAF, Alex. They’re all one in the same. Two weeks ago, Alex found out at his assignment night that he is going to be a F-16 pilot! Yep, you read that right!! To be completely honest with you, we weren’t expecting this. And to be completely honest with you again, this is SO MUCH BETTER than what we were expecting! He was the only one in his class to get a fighter aircraft, and he is very lucky. No, wait. He’s not lucky…he earned it! He deserved it!
The very same day, I was offered a NSF INSPIRE Fellowship. This fellowship is an incredible opportunity that will allow me to be a student teacher in a local high school classroom while continuing my grad classes and research. I’m still doing research on anti-icing coatings for aircraft, but now I have the opportunity to bring it into high school classrooms! I will get to prepare and teach lessons to a math or science class and inspire students to discover math and science in a whole new light. I will also have the opportunity to study abroad for 3-4 weeks in England, Poland, the Bahamas, or Australia. And the killer stipend I will receive is definitely a plus. Goodbye, student loans!! I am so excited about this. I guess math and teaching (and chocolate) must be genetic, after all.
So, what does all this mean? This is a brand new adventure for us. And we couldn’t be any more excited.
Alex gets to hang around Columbus until August. He will have some training in Seattle, WA and Pensacola, FL for a few days this summer. Then in August, he will move to Kelly AFB in San Antonio, TX for F-16 training. He will finish at Kelly in May 2012 and then move on to his first real AF assignment. This means he could go to Aviano, Italy (oh my gosh!) or Spangdahlem, Germany (oh my gosh, again!) or Japan or South Korea or South Carolina or Utah for 3-4 years.
I am anticipating finishing my masters in April 2012. Mississippi State is located in Starkville, MS which is about 30 minutes from where we live in Columbus, MS. Sometime this spring, Alex and I are going to move to Starkville so that I can be closer to school, since he really doesn’t have much to do at Columbus AFB anymore. After Alex moves to San Antonio, it will be my humble abode until I finish grad school. We are so lucky that he will finish his training in Texas right after my graduation. We couldn’t have asked for a better timeline! Everything lines up perfectly.
What’s next? Well, Alex officially graduates tomorrow and gets his wings. Tomorrow he becomes a REAL Air Force pilot. Our families are on their way to Mississippi as I type. We are so blessed and fortunate to have such supportive families. I can’t wait to spend the weekend with them!
Next week just so happens to be my spring break (woo hoo!) and Alex has centrifuge training in San Antonio on Tuesday. He’ll have to withstand 9 G’s!! That’s 9 times the force of gravity. In case you were wondering, that is a LOT. After he’s finished with that we are going to head to Corpus Christi to catch up with a good friend who is in pilot training there, flying the T-44. Then we’re planning on heading to Port Aransas, TX to soak up some sun before returning to San Antonio for the weekend. One of my very good friends from Colorado is getting married and I am so excited to be her Maid of Honor!! Her fiancĂ© went to USAFA as well, and they are now stationed in Guam but in Texas for a few weeks for their wedding. I am so excited to see her and be a part of their big day! It’s going to be a very fun week, no doubt.
So, that’s life as we know it. And if you ask me, it’s pretty darn good.
Have a great day and y’all come back!
Alison says
Congrats to you….congrats to Alex…what an exciting time in your lives 🙂 Tell Mom and Dad hello when they get there and I can't wait to see pictures, etc.
Emily says
You will have to look for the pictures on Alex's facebook! We're headed to Texas tomorrow so we'll have lots of pictures to add when we get back. Since I'm not on facebook anymore, I'll have Alex post them all! I'll also add a few on here.