We Have A House

We got word today that there is an open house on base that we can move into. We accepted and will start moving in on Friday 7 December (a little over a week). It's a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath. Tow story duplex with a 2 car garage. A link to the floor plan is below. We already know the address so if you would like it let us know and we'll get it to you. We'll get pictures on here once we're moved in.

http://www.columbusfamilyhousing.com/files_columbus/floor_plans14.pdf

Together

We got word today that Zed will be moving up to Columbus this weekend! It's about a month earlier than we expected, but we are really excited. We put in our paperwork to get a base on house as well so we'll hopefully find out about when we would be moving by next week, possibly this week.

Zed has his physical fitness test tomorrow morning (sit ups, push ups, run) and then will work the rest of the day. He'll continue to outprocess and work on Thursday and Friday and then this weekend we'll start moving him out. On Monday he'll show up to Columbus AFB and inprocess. That includes a lot of running around base, filling out tons of paperwork, and packing up the apartment so we're ready to move once we get a house.

We'll keep you all updated on when we get a house.

6 month pics

HE PASSED!!!

On Saturday Zed had his solo flight. It took a little longer than usual due to his Instructor Pilot (IP) wanting to see a few skills first, but he passed without problem.

Yesterday he had a pre-check ride. He did really well on it and spent the remainder of the day studying for his check ride and General Knowledge test. He had both of these today. 

He's currently working on out processing so I haven't gotten much info on either I just know he passed. I'll try to get more information out of him and get pictures to put up. 

Zed will be spending Thanksgiving with the Bringhursts, family friends that we spent a lot of weekends with when at the Academy.

I am safely at my parent's house in Maryland and will be spending the rest of the week with them. 

We hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving. 

All by Himself

Zed had his solo flight today. It was 30min of him, the airplane, and no one else. He has two more flights and then graduation. Once he gets me pictures I'll be sure to put them up.

Be looking for a post on the 21st about his final flights.

Veteran's Day Weekend

Zed and I both had the 3 day weekend off so I flew out to Colorado and we spent it together. After a crazy sequence of events on my flight out, I was lucky to only arrive an hour late. I was greeted with my lungs yearning for oxygen, freezing rain, and my amazing husband with a bouquet of lilies. After 3 weeks apart it was really nice to see each other. 

I was able to see where Zed has been eating, working, and sleeping. Imagine a warehouse, turned into a holiday inn. The first floor is broken into conference rooms (flight rooms), a gym, and a cafeteria. There is also an office (where they pick up mail) and a reception desk that guests check in to. On the upper levels are dorm sized rooms complete with 2 twin beds, a full bathroom, two desks, a refrigerator, microwave, and TV. There are also laundry rooms spaced throughout. I didn't get any pictures, but hopefully when he finishes up I'll be able to post them for you all to see. 

I was able to get into a practice cockpit of DA-20 (what Zed is flying). He was very particular about sitting on the right side (where he sits while flying) and laughed at me when I had trouble getting back out...it was the big belly. 

He is doing very well in training overall. It seems he flys a lot better when there isn't an instructor telling him what he's messed up. He catches himself if he's given a moment to breathe. He is strongest at the preflight stuff and parking. His biggest challenge is radio calls. 

At this point Zed has completed 9 flights. He had a double turn (two flights in one day) today. If there are no cancellations due to weather and if he doesn't fail a ride he will graduate on Saturday. He is hoping he'll have one day off and graduate on Monday, but he is flying on Saturday. 

His solo flight should be Thursday if everything goes to plan. He'll be up flying above Colorado for 30min by himself...pray for him. 

The rest of the weekend we spent with the Bringhurst's. We tried out my birthday present (S&W Shield 9mm) from Zed. We used frozen pumpkins as targets. We also ate at Crave, one of our favorite restaurants there and studied a lot for Zed's rides this week. 

I had a doctor's appointment today. The baby is growing well and kicking like crazy. Her heart beat ranges between 140 and 150. I enter the third trimester this week. We took pictures of my growing belly, but since they're on Zed's camera, you'll have to wait until we're back together and I can get them. 

We also put in for on base housing today. They're 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, have a two car garage and more than enough room for people to come and visit. We will hopefully hear when we're able to start moving in within the next few weeks, keep your fingers crossed. 

I think we're all caught up now. Zed has a crazy week of flying, I have a crazy week of work and Thanksgiving is next week. I will be spending the holiday with my family in Maryland and Zed will be spending it in Colorado with the Bringhursts. 

Happy holidays everyone and remember the meaning of this upcoming holiday. 

Zed Update

I was able to talk to him last night and this morning. After today's flight he will have 7 flights under his belt which is over half way. He hasn't failed a flight yet and the only thing he's struggling with is radio calls.

He is currently up in the air above Pueblo, CO. Today's flight is all about stalling the aircraft and recovering successfully one of his least favorite maneuvers.

I fly out to Colorado early tomorrow morning and my weekend will be filled with spending time with my amazing husband and helping him get a handle on these radio calls.

If any of you are interested in sending Zed a motivational e-mail or letter, let me know and I'll get you his address. The more well wishes and support we can send him, the better he'll do.

Lots of Updates

Zed: He has a whole week of flying. He's got his phone turned off so he can focus, but in talking to friends who are there with him he is keeping up and doing well. So far so good. By this time he has 3-4 of his 12 flights done. If the weather continues to cooperate with them he should be finished with IFS a day or two before Thanksgiving. That means he'll spend the holiday with his sponsors (family friends) and then drive home.

Sam: I turned 22 this past weekend. I spent it with my first sponsor family. They had a little party for me (burgers and cheesecake...my favorite!) and my parents had sent some gifts for me to open. I also finished up my class. I got a 100% on the practical (computer based) portion and 100% on the written portion. I have two days of work this week and then on Saturday I'll be flying to Colorado for the long weekend (Veteran's Day so it's a 3 day weekend). I'm super excited to see Zed. I'll get as much information as I can out of him about IFS so I can catch you all up.

Baby Davies: She is doing well. She likes to kick her momma in the bladder, but I've gotten used to it. She's at the 26 week point so she's getting big weighing over a pound and measuring over a foot. She still has no name and we probably won't decide on one until the day she's born. We are registered at Target and Babies R Us for anyone who is interested.

The World: Yesterday was election day. Not everyone was happy with the results, but they are what they are. Zed and I are responsible for defending those things which were chosen. All part of the job.

Look for an update either this weekend or Tuesday from the weekend. I hope everyone is doing well and no one has lost total faith in this country.

Quick Update

Zed's flight for today got canceled. He was going to be at two flights while some would still have none so they gave his spot to someone else. His next flight will be 9:30 AM on Monday.

Today he focused on studying, working out, and catching up on some much needed sleep. This weekend he will be doing much of the same.

Today I drove to Niceville, FL where one of my sponsor families from the Academy now lives. I'll be spending the weekend with them and heading back to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS on Sunday to finish up class next week.

Have a great weekend!

He's a flier...yup, yup, yup

So today was the big day for Zed. In the morning he had a test that he had to pass to continue on with training. He passed with room to spare.

His first flight took place 1230 mountain time. With it being his first time flying a plane the instructor was impressed at how natural it came to him. Zed said there were times that it was overwhelming, but tonight he studied for 4hrs and feels ready to go back up again. The flight lasted about an hour and twenty minutes and he was able to watch his instructor do things and also accomplish things on his own. There were times when the instructor had to ask Zed to level out the plane because he (the instructor) was getting air sick. Zed thankfully had no problems with that.

His next flight is at 1200 mountain time tomorrow. It will be the same flight he took today, he'll just be doing all/the majority of the flying this time.

Though not officially a pilot yet, he is one step closer to sewing the wings on his uniform.