Blueberries

It is blueberry season out here in Florida and I have been taking full advantage. So far I have been three times and my freezer is now stocked for a year! I certainly understand why blueberries cost so much in the store...major manual labor! The first little spot was out in Molino...a town smaller than Pace (if you can believe it)! It is about a twenty minute drive, but for $1.00 per pound you won't hear me complain. The blueberry plants were very close together and we were in much need of some OFF. The second place was between Milton and Jay...and across the street from a pecan farm...awesome!! Although these blueberries were $1.50 per pound...I could certainly justify the price different. The rows were spread out, maintained, and they have about twenty different varieties...who knew there were so many types of blueberries. Enough about blueberries. I will stop before I put everyone to sleep. I have posted some pictures below for your viewing enjoyment!

Part of our gang...before the fun began.

Me after we were done. It was a LITTLE toasty out there!!

I am here!

I am SO far behind...do I recap or forget about it and start from where I am now? I haven't decided yet, but I guess you will find out soon enough! Just wanted you to know that I am still here and will be blogging again soon!!

Army Wives

Tonight was the season 2 premier of my all-time summer show...Army Wives...on Taris' favorite network...Lifetime. I love Army Wives because it reminds me of all that I am missing from a normal deploy able squadron.

Anyway, on to tonight's episode. WOW!! I can't believe the premier! How ridiculous! It started with a recap of each of the characters that we met last year. I will spare you a full play by play, and just say this...the ending threw me for a loop! Poor Claudia Joy...she stopped at the Hump Bar to give a check to the owner for a surgery that she needed and ended up being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Her daughter, Amanda, went in to check on her mom in the bar and by the end of the show, she was dead. Very tragic. As my friend Kathleen says...it was the worst season premier she has ever seen! Whether it was or not, it does look like it will be a fantastic season.

Lt John Alley

I haven't written anything on the blog in a while. I have struggled this week on what would be appropriate and right considering the circumstances that have been this past week. This time last week, I received a call from a friend from our squadron that one of the pilot training students, Lt. John Alley, was missing. The police found his car on Saturday morning, but no sign of him. We spent Sunday hanging fliers and speaking with people about John and getting his information out. On Monday, we went to a Memorial Day Celebration in Milton and passed out fliers, and then headed to their church for another canvasing. While there and preparing to headed to our assigned locations, a call came in. John had been found. A 16 year old fishing along the Escambia Bay found his body in the water. It has been a difficult week for all of us in the squadron.

After helping the family with whatever was asked, I have come to know a little about them. I have met John's beautiful wife, Emily, who found out on Friday that they are having a boy and I have met both John and Emily's families. It makes my heart ache even more for them and this time that they are having to go through. They had a beautiful memorial service for him on Saturday morning. After the ceremony, we went out to see the missing man formation with T-34's. They are having the funeral and burial in the Salt Lake City area (where they are both from) this week. There are questions that may never be answered, but I pray that the family can find peace and comfort as time goes on.

Updates...one at a time

Looking at the last time I got on this thing...it has been 10 days! I am so far behind, I am not sure where to even begin. I am just going to update on one subject each day and pray that I haven't lost too many of you along the way...from lack of posting! I will start with my job. AT&T is a huge company. I loved the people I worked with, my boss, and the kind people that I talked with on the phone. What I didn't/couldn't get over was the two solid weeks that I couldn't keep down breakfast or lunch! I had such anxiety about the phone and my numbers, that I was on the best diet ever! My Jenny Craig people loved it...I, not so much! So, after talking with Gary (my coach), he told me to think about it, but that my numbers were pretty good. I kid you not that at lunch that day, I got a call from a staffing company (one of the three that I had sent my resume to while laid off) and they wanted me to come in for an interview. Without making this too drawn out...I left AT&T (with the status of rehirable...as a sales associate) and went to work as a Member Services Representative (teller) at a Credit Union. It is a great place...very small, but it is the banking industry and better to find a job when moving as often as we do! (Did I mention that there isn't a call center around any other base that we would be stationed at?) Anyway, update number one out of the way! Only ten-twenty more to go!

Pottery Time

I know that I keep promising pictures from the conference, an update on work, and everything. I promise I will get to it this weekend!

But for now, I wanted to tell you about how much fun I had at the pottery place. There is a little shop in this "metropolis" that we live in called Woodbine Ceramics. It is just a store to paint your own pottery. I had never done it and decided that I was in need of some me time. I had the best time! I went with Kathleen. We met at 3pm and were kicked out at 6pm. We have to go back and finish at a later time. Painting pottery is a very patient process...every color you paint has to be applied three times!

My mother-in-law is an art teacher for elementary kids, is teaching art on a cruise ship this summer, and lives for art. Her passion for it is amazing! The whole time I was painting, all I could think was how proud she would be that I was painting pottery.

These past couple of weeks have been very long and trying. (I will write about them later.) There is something about being crafty that puts me in a happy place. I needed the pottery store this week. I recommend this therapy to anyone...plus it is cheaper than a shopping spree and you won't grow out of the clothes or shoes!

I promise to post pictures of the pottery adventure this weekend along with all of my catch-up blogs.

PS--Did I mention that I am learning how to quilt this weekend?! Taris thinks that I need to find cheaper hobbies. (I certainly know that he is "grateful" for Nana's sewing machine mom!)

Still Here

In case you were all wondering...we are still here. Working a call center with AT&T can be quite draining. I have so much to catch up on. I shall surely do it slowly but surely. For now, I will say that we are alive and kicking. A light cliff hanger on topics to come...Extraordinary Women's Conference, Cindy's Birthday, Job Rambling...the list goes on. I will be updating tomorrow with pictures and such. Brace yourselves, these next few blogs could/will be lengthy! Enjoy your evening and until tomorrow...