Spouses Night Out & Fun in Bury St Edmunds

Spouses Night Out & Fun in Bury St Edmunds

Military Spouses Appreciation Day was May 10th this year. In honor of this day Maureen Robinson, the 48th Fighter Wing base commander's wife, set up the Spouses Night Out on Saturday, May 18th. 

The tickets were sold on a tier structure based on your spouses rank. With Tyler being in the lowest tier of the officer ranks (CGO: Company Grade Officer- this is 2Lt, 1Lt & Captains) my cost was $10. The event was held in Hanger 7 on RAF Lakenheath at 6pm. The theme of the night was "fiesta" and they were serving Mexican appetizers (chips & salsa, guacamole, 7 layer dip) and a fully loaded taco bar. For drinks to purchase they had margaritas (regular & strawberry) for $3, Coronas for $2, Red Bulls for $2, and sodas and water for $1. 

They had a paparazzi area where we walked the red carpet while the group commanders clapped and screamed for us like we were celebrities, a photo booth with fun props, a speedfriending (like speed dating but for making friends) tent, and a DJ/karaoke area. The speaker for the evening was a kind hearted lady from a show here in England called "songs of praise". She was really sweet, silly, and witty and I enjoyed listening to her speak.

Here's some funny photos we took:

This one is all the 493rd Reaperettes that attended the Spouses Night Out:

This one has a couple other girls in it that aren't in our squadron.

Ahhh I love these girls :)

This is Kenya...she's one of my co-workers at the Youth Center. 

 Chelsea and Katie :) Katie is due ANY day now!

Jen and I had fun with the props. She was my other half at the party. Upon arrival, we were handed a small piece of paper with a word on it and we had to find the other half that matched. I was superman and she was lois lane :)

Katie doesn't know the sex of her baby so we thought this would be a cute idea for a baby announcement!

We ended up singing Margaritaville for karaoke that night!

Meanwhile, since the girls were at this event, some of the boys went out in the village of Bury St Edmunds nearby. When I was done at the event, I hitched a ride with some of the other wives to Bury to meet up with Tyler and to drive him and his car home. I found him at McDonalds (surprise, surprise). We ended up going to one of the local restaurants/bars with some of the other people in the squadron and then ended the night at a bar & dance club called "Flex". We had a lot of fun dancing the night away together with good friends :)

Out on the dance floor with Matt, Chris, and Jen

Chris tried to photobomb all our pics!

Yup, that's Chris' hand photobombing our pic :)

All in all, a great weekend! 

WGASF: World's Greatest Air Superiority Fighter: F-15C EAGLE!!!

American Fighter Pilot

Tyler in the B-Course: Klamath Falls, Oregon 2012

So I started a new job last Monday (May 2, 2013) at the Youth Center down the street from our house. Part of my job is to walk the kiddos to the elementary school in the morning and drop them off at their class. Well this morning on our walk to the elementary school, I heard the loud roar of the F-15C engines on the runway which got me all amped up! I knew Tyler was flying in the morning "go" and that he'd be #4 to take off. 

A lot of professional photographers get the guys' schedules out here so they can photograph the F-15s in action. Here are some pics from some of the photographers from the last few weeks or so. They are amazing! It's so cool to know that these guys are our friends & family here in England :)

493rd FS Grim Reapers over Wales:  April/May 2013

As an enemy I'd hate to see this coming!

Reapers over Wales: April/May 2013

Look at the small English home in the background!

Beautiful contract with the rocky mountain in the background

As I watched the Eagles take off and soar, when #4 went rocketing overhead, I got this intense feeling of pride - I even got butterflies in my stomach! It was breathtaking to see them take off, not that this day was any different than ever other day, but there was something about the takeoff today that really resonated with me. Knowing that my husband, best friend, soul mate,Tyler, Ty, Slasher, was the one in the cockpit, really sent chills of excitement and adrenaline through me! 

Eagle!

She soars through the air!

Wales is where the boys do their low altitude flying so they are fairly close to the ground

It got me thinking about how amped up I was when I got to ride along in the SOF (supervisor of flying) truck in Klamath Falls, Oregon during Tyler's night flying. I took some great photos that night and even some videos of him and his classmates taking off with full AB (after burner).

Here's a video I made in April of Tyler's flight and the photos I took. I know it's cheesy but you have to remember I was dating an American Fighter Pilot...are you kidding me...this stuff WAS and still IS a.m.a..z.i.n.g!!!

I still can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with this man :) 

Tying the Knot

Going to the Chapel and We're Gunna Get Married!... well they are, I'm just going to help them celebrate! Yes, my brother and his fiance are tying the knot!!!

Last week I checked our post office box and I had a very special package from my brother's fiance, Keisha. She had sent it several week ago only to find it returned to her door because she didn't mail it with enough postage (yikes!). I've been chomping at the bit to to get this package in the mail!

So here it is...I open it up to find several things.

1. An ADORABLE photo of my 4 year old nephew, Tyler, whom I MISS dearly

2. A really trendy and fashionable necklace

3. Some cute paper cutouts that I can use for some crafty things

4. and LAST but not LEAST, 4 card stock papers bound together by yarn

Is he not the cutest thing!?

So here's paper #1. This is Keisha's cute, creative, and sassy way of asking me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding to my brother, Paul, in September 2013. Isn't this too fun!? I especially love the "wing girl" at the end since I'm in an Air Force family and all :)

The wedding will be near their home in Estacada, Oregon which is in the Portland metro area. It'll be beautiful since it's an outdoor wedding in the late summer/early fall. Explanation of what their special day will look like and when it is:

Here's an explanation of what my role will be in the wedding party:

Information on what to wear for the BIG day! I've already been looking at dresses but I haven't found the perfect one yet. I need something extra special to honor her and my brother.

I've been waiting for their wedding day for so long I can't imagine how they must feel! It's going to be a lot of fun and a good time with family & friends. It's even more special for me because I'll get to fly home from England to see all my family in one place again...I get to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Here's Keisha and I on my special day: She did the honor of being one of my bridesmaids!

Buddy Gets A Bath

Buddy's Bath Time!

So, Tyler and I have noticed that Buddy has been getting a little stinky. I guess if I didn't shower in several months I may smell a little too, ya think?! Well this morning the sunshine was showing its beautiful face so we decided it was time to do the deed. 

By the time we actually got around to giving him a bath it was getting cloudy and cold out. We had to bathe him out in the backyard with the hose so I knew he'd be cold :( The water was FREEZING! He normally doesn't mind a bath but let me tell you, I think if I was him, I would've bit me :)

Poor baby!

Scrub a dub dub

He was a trooper but we inched our way closer and closer to the door as the bath progressed :/

We used PETHEAD shampoo haha!

At the end I had Tyler bring out a bucket of warm water to dump on Buddy. It was my way of asking for forgiveness for giving him a freezing cold bath outside while it was windy! He stood there the whole time for the warm water...I have to say, it was quite nice :)

He's ready to shake off!

His favorite part of the bath is shaking off at the end...of course... Well Tyler and I both LOVE the way he shakes the front of his body before he shakes his butt off. I even get him to do it on command!

Here's a video of him shaking off! Too cute!

And the end result! TADA!

 What a handsome boy! Happy Mothers Day!