OK, Christmas, we're ready!

Our house finally has it final lights on (icicle lights were on hold due to staple gun issues), our tree is up, presents are wrapped, and all the halls are decked!

Next up, short trip to NYC to see some of the family and friends we still have up in that area including the Rockettes!  We leave tomorrow night and my fancy schmancy camera will be in tow!  :-)

Almost ready for Christmas!

At last, the hubby and I picked up our Christmas tree yesterday (after a looong week back from thanksgiving break) and got it all trimmed up!

Work Release Program Pays Off

Mr Speedbird here,

Sorry this ones a bit late :-( While deployed I got the chance to go off base and explore some of Dubai. I went to two malls there: the Dubai mall, and the Mall of the Emirates. We first stopped at the Rainforest Cafe in the Dubai mall because after the over hour long bus ride we were famished and I was up to my usual shenanigans ;-)

Afterward we got to an interesting fountain that spanned four floors inside the mall.

Lastly, with souveniers in hand for myself and the Mrs. (I got her what she always requests, a shot glass to add to the collection, and myself a toy remote control helicopter) I ran across a sign I couldn't pass up without taking a picture of.

Outside the Dubizzle mall, is the tallest building in the world at 828 Meters (160+ stories) . To put it into perspective for you, the Empire State Building is 381 meters (102 stories). It was impossible from where I was standing to actually get the whole thing into one picture. So here she is in all her glory, I give you the Burj Khalifa.

Thanksgiving Highlight Reel

So, we did it!  The husband and I survived our very first family Thanksgiving day feast!  Our first visitors, my father and brother, arrived separately on the Tuesday before.  My father arrived in San Francisco, and my brother in Sacramento... landing an hour apart from each other (it is a 35 min drive to SAC and a 1hr drive to SFO)!  Nonetheless, thank goodness for his and her vehicles and we split up to pick them up.  5 more people, hubby's aunt, uncle, brother, and 2 cousins (one of whom was 6),  all arrived the next morning. 

That afternoon we decided to take the whole clan, all 9 of us to the flightline and introduce them to our respective airplanes.

We then went out to eat and crammed everyone into a place in our home.  That night 3 more people came, hubby's cousin, her boyfriend, and her 6 year old daughter.

That night I had trouble sleeping.  I was so worried about cooking the 13lb turkey we purchased and organizing cooking everything else!

The morning of turkey day we started it off with some banana nut pancakes and then started COOK FEST 2010.   We took the "thawed out" $7 Safeway bargain turkey out of the refrigerator only to find that it was not quite as thawed as we'd hoped.   Long story short, after about 2 hours of waiting for the turkey to thaw and for hubby's aunt to bring us the celery, onion, and carrots I forgot for the stuffing, we finally seasoned, stuffed, and shoved the turkey in the oven. 

For appetizers/lunch I prepared some deviled eggs and sweet potato fries as well as a round of sourdough to dip into our 1 year old garlic and rosemary olive oil.   The trimmings to the turkey included a maple, pineapple, and cherry glazed ham, stuffing, my mac and cheese casserole, hubby's green bean casserole, dad's sweet potato pudding, auntie's fruit salad, my mashed potatoes/yams, sweet corn, and dinner rolls.  YUM!  Lastly, dessert consisted of my pumpkin spice cookie cakes, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and vanilla ice cream.

Our lovely main dinner table.  BTW, this was brand new, purchased via a seller on Craigslist!

By this time it was about 5:30pm and everyone was staaaaarving.  We didn't have much time for a full group picture.

Gorgeous!

The next day we took everyone on a very hectic trip to San Francisco - needing two vehicles.  Ugh.  Nonetheless, we got some gorgeous pictures out of it.

Cousin and boyfriend :)

Aunt and Uncle :)

Father and I :)

Brother in law

And one of my favorites of the day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, as we sure did.  

Welcome home Mister!

So you may already know, Mr. Speedbird has finally made it home safely from his second deployment!  I was lucky enough to make it onto the flightline to welcome him personally.  :-)  Words cannot describe how unbelievably happy I was to see him walk down those long stairs and into my arms!!!!

During the final weekend the hubster was deployed, without his knowing, I went on a day trip to Napa with some friends from the squadron and their wives.  It was on this trip that I finally chose a winery to join and get all of the benefits.  The Kuleto Estate winery sits atop a lovely hill in the heart of Napa Valley with views and a setting to die for.  Sitting outside at one of its many viewpoints transports you to a central Italian villa. I fell in love with the view, and the wine, and the VIEW!  Unfortunately I didn't have my big time new fancy camera with me, but now that I'm a member, I will be taking more pictures and practicing the art!

I planned a trip to Napa the Saturday after he arrived, but the rainy season has hit the Bay area hard and we were rained in.  Hopefully soon we will visit the gorgeous grounds!

Until next time.

My last two missions

Ok, So I've been slacking again.  But I return bearing gifts.  Here are some photos that I've taken from my last two trips on my fancy new camera.

Some of my favorites from two missions ago...

Getting ready to depart Ramstein AB, Germany.

Departing out of Bagram AB, Afghanistan tooking at a sunrise over the 'Stans.

Our crew mission complete at McGuire AFB, New Jersey.  Pretty sweet, huh.

Favorites from my latest mission - Spain, Italy, Bahrain, Norfolk VA, Las Vegas NV

The big Irish pub at Rota had Duff beer!!!  Now, for those of you that don't know, I'm one of the biggest Simpsons fans there is.  So I freaked and took a picture.  I didn't drink it, but I heard it wasn't bad!

Every time I see a KC-10 I think of the Mr.  So I couldn't resist myself here at the Sigonella NS ramp in Italy.

With the sunrise behind him in Italy.

We carry some very interesting cargo.

First sunset in Norfolk

F-22 Raptor in Vegas taxiing for departure.

Hope you enjoyed!  

P.S.:   Babe, you didn't look too bad yourself:

DANG!

Deployment Numero Dos

As the sun begins to set on my second deployment (emphasis on BEGINS as I still have 3 weeks left) I find myself thinking of the things that help me bear the time over here and away from life back home. I utilize the standard: movies, tv series, working out and playing video games a lot because there is nothing else to do. However, I also have a few personal things that help me pass the days. I try to study quite a bit while I am over here, be it my masters classes or professional development courses. I also find myself browsing the net and straying off on tangents. Next thing I know I have constructed a wish list for upgrades to my car that should keep my busy for quite a while once I return stateside.
This is where the "standard" ways of passing time develop into the more random and often more enjoyable moments that keep the mind occupied. I anxiously await the Thanksgiving gathering that will be less than a week after I get home. It is shaping up to be quite the shindig :-). I see our dog at home when my Mrs. shows me him on the webcam and I think about playing with him and spoiling him (even though Lady Speedbird does WAY more spoiling than I do lol). All these things being mentioned, I think one of the things that helps me get by out here the most is music. Though I have had less time to keep up with the newer stuff and it has been entirely too long since we have been to a concert, I am no less passionate about my tunes.
There are songs that define moments of your life. The first time you drove on your own and cranked the radio. The song your team played to get you psyched up for the big game. The songs that help you get through the toughest of times and remind you of the best of times. I had one such song warm my soul yesterday. A few of our friends here were celebrating their last night here before they went home and another friend brings out his guitar to assist with the entertainment. The first song he decided to play instantly sent me off to another time and place. It was "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. My beautiful wife happened to walk down the aisle on our wedding day to a string quartet version of this song. My mind wasted no time in going back to that amazing day and I thought about seeing her as she walked toward me to say before God and everyone there that she wanted to be with no one else but me for the rest of her life, and I with her. She was absolutely radiant.

More than ANYTHING else in this world she is what keeps me going. Knowing that she is with me no matter where I end up, no matter what happens and the simple fact that no matter what I come home to, I come home to her is what allows me to deal with everything that goes on over here. The moment that memory came flooding back to me was the single best time I have had since I left home, so I would like to share a portion of it. I leave you with a photo of my lovely wife and how wonderful she looked that night.
I love you Baby

Hey again :-) Mr Speedbird here with a few pictures from my current deployment (numero dos). This time around we are in a time slot where we often take off during the evening and spend most of our flights at night so our boom operator broke out the night vision for a few photo ops. First up an A-10 on the boom. These guys get it done down there and I have no problem stretching to make things work for them. Next up Big Sexy. Unfortunately things dont always go as planned so sometimes you end up with extra gas even though its time for you to go home. This is what happens then. The KC-10 has the capability to receive gas in flight as well as give it so when one of us has extra it gets passed down to the next crew to use while they are on their flight.

And lastly how I go about making it through the longer sorties lol. I try to be good and limit myself to one a flight but man do I love Mountain Dew (of course not as much as I love Lady Speedbird ;-) ).

Well, I must be going for now but until next time, live life to the fullest!

The Conqueror

Shortly after I had gotten my new camera, I went a little crazy taking pictures around the house, especially focusing on our dog (practice for future --human-- portrait photography).  Soon I will start playing with other features and getting more stylized pictures to get some real professional looking stuff.  Here's my starter photo shoot with our furrbaby, Aiden The Conqueror.

I think I still need to keep studying up, and maybe start focusing some of these posts on specific photography techniques or adjusting only one factor (i.e. shutter speed, lighting, aperture, exposure..)  

By the way, I will be heading out on yet another trip!  I havent finished packing but I am hoping to have enough space to bring my camera!  High quality work pictures to come (hopefully)!

In honor of our "1st" anniversary...

Contrary to the beliefs of many of our friends and family, the Mr. and I actually tied the knot 2 years ago, on the same date in Pensacola Beach, FL.  Since its been 2 years now from that original, small JOP (justice of the peace) wedding and 1 year since the "real" one, i deem it only fair to share some pictures from that very special, private, and perfect day.

Again, we meant to hurt no one when making the decision to keep the first wedding hush hush - we wanted to "real" wedding to not be jaded by this fact.  

Most pictures below taken by our engagement photographer, Jessica of Jessica Leigh Photography.  So here goes, August 22, 2008:

The Hampton Inn - Pensacola Beach.  Thanks to their generosity, we scored a free wedding space there.  We originally wanted to wed on the beach itself, but our engagement photos were taken right before the wedding and lasted past sunset, so we moved it inside. 

Mr. Speedbird's stepmom bought this gorgeous and simple bouquet last minute for me :-)

He got me the first time, too.

Thanks again to all those who have supported us this far.  Our life is very different from most traditional relationships (I mean, hey, I started writing this post in Spain, while the hubby is home in California), but this is why we love who we are and being together.  

I love you, Mr. Speedbird!

P.S.:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY POP! LOVE YOU TOO!