I Am in Love

...with my new vacuum!

We've needed a new vacuum for awhile. After I cleaned out the old one and it still wasn't picking up the cat hair, we went out to the store and got a new one.


Here it is, almost put together.




Of course, the kitties were interested in what was going on and Fatty decided the plastic was his new bed/play toy.




And here it is all ready to go!




The quality of this vacuum compared to our old one is astounding. I didn't really know there could be that much cat hair invisible on the carpet. I think I could have made blankets for all the homeless people in Montana with the amount of hair this thing picked up.

Promotion Day

Yesterday Justin officially became a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Air Force! Even though this is an automatic promotion (he didn't get arrested or court martial-ed in the last two years, yay) I'm still very proud of him. He's no longer at the bottom of the officer barrel.

This morning before he went out on alert, he had his "ceremony" which consisted of taking the oath of office and pinning on new rank. Since he was in his flight suit, I didn't get to actually pin on new rank (the rank is sewn onto the shoulders). Instead, they just tape the old rank on top of the new rank and pull it off. It's rather amusing and informal, but that's preferable to getting dressed up and making Justin wear his service dress.

Justin and James (the other guy being promoted) with Colonel Ard.


Taking the oath of office.



Pulling off his old rank, both trying not to laugh too much.



I made Justin a cake last night. Check out my amazing decorating skills. I really have no talent for frosting cakes or writing in icing.




On a side note: It felt like spring was actually here last week. But it has since rained for 4 days and it's only 40 degrees outside. I had to wear a winter coat this morning. I hope it warms up before Justin's family visits, otherwise they are going to be in for a rude awakening.

The Big Bang Theory

our whole universe was in a hot dense state
then nearly 14 billion years ago expansion started, wait
the earth began to cool
the autotrophs began to drool
neanderthals developed tools
be built a wall, we built the pyramids
math, science, history
unraveling the mystery
that all started with a big bang
- barenaked ladies

This is entirely random, but The Big Bang Theory is one of the greatest shows on television. Over the last week, we have watched all three seasons, more than once. If you have any sort of intellectual interest, I highly recommend this show. It's HILARIOUS.

Happy Birthday

Saturday was Justin's 24th birthday! He was on alert and came back in the morning. While he was gone I made a sign and put it over his computer, knowing he would definitely notice it.



I also ordered him a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. He started to cut it before I got a picture with him in it.



So here's the birthday boy with his cake, and a knife slicing it open.

Cats and Bats

Last night I went out to check the mail at 9:30 or so. It wasn't very cold out so I decided to sit on the back patio and let the cats wander around the backyard for a few minutes. I turned on the light by the back door and sat in my chair. I noticed something moving around the light so I looked over and saw that the top of the light fixture was flipped open. I guess the wind blew it up or something. There was something moving inside the fixture. At first I thought it was a moth but I quickly noticed it was too big to be a moth, or even a few moths. I looked closer and saw that it was a bat! The poor thing was trying to climb up the side to get out, but he couldn't make it up the slick sides of the plastic fixture. I told Justin about it and he said he'd come out when he finished his game. I tried to take a picture to show Justin but by the time I got my camera, the little guy had laid down from what I assume was exhaustion.


While I waited for Justin, I took some picture of the cats playing in the dark yard. Here's Swirly, afraid to venture off the concrete as usual.

And as usual, Fatty likes to hang out by the fence. Every time I tried to get close to him to take a picture he would dart across the yard because he thought I was going to take him back inside. I finally had to just zoom in on him from far away.


Just what we need, more dandelions.


Her favorite thing to do it roll around on the concrete. I don't know why, but she always rubs her face on the ground and rolls around.


Finally, Justin's game finished and he came outside to help me with the bat situation. Justin decided to take the sides off the light fixture and hope the bat would just leave on its own.


Once the sides were off, the little guy perked up and started to move.


Being a bat, the little guy tried to hang upside down from the light fixture. Too bad he couldn't really hold onto it and he fell onto the patio. He was okay though and started moving right away.


The little guy crawled up onto the step that leads into the house. Once there, Justin tried to usher him into a box so he could take the bat out to one of the trees. The bat, however, was not gonna budge. Its one foot was holding onto the wood and when Justin tried to push it into the box it started hissing and bared its teeth. We decided to leave the box out there in case it wanted shelter. Justin looked this morning and the bat was gone. Hopefully the little guy made it safely somewhere.


We assume it was a baby because it was no larger than a chicken egg. He was really cute and I'm glad we at least gave him a chance to survive.


On a completely unrelated note: The other day we got cards from random people. I guess it was one of those "thank the troops" things.


It's nice to know that in this day and age, with a very unpopular war going on, people actually do care about the troops and support them, even if they don't agree with the war.

San Francisco, California

While we were stationed at Vandenberg AFB, we took a trip up to San Francisco with another couple (Sydney and Jeff, who are now stationed at F.E. Warren AFB). San Francisco is truly one of the best cities in the United States. For me, it's a toss-up between San Fran and Chicago. Absolutely love both cities. Anyway, we drove up for a short weekend stay. Right before we went, I got a new camera as an early Christmas/birthday present. The whole trip was me playing with my camera and trying to figure out the settings. I think I took 400 pictures in the 2 days we were there. Here are some pictures from our arrival into the city. Home of the San Francisco Giants.



Apparently, North Beach is shaped like Italy. Who knew?



We found our street on the way to the hotel.



We saw a parade of segways from our hotel room. You can rent them and go on guided tours of the city.



While walking down to the pier, we came across the very rare and exotic chair tree.



The first tourist-y thing we did was take a boat out to Alcatraz. We opted for the night tour, which was a really good idea. It was much less crowded and the city lights look amazing at night. Here we are on the boat.


Alcatraz in the setting sun.


The sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge.


Welcome to the Rock.


The tours of Alcatraz are really great because you can get a headset and radio and listen to a narrator talk about the prison and the history. You can pause and fast forward and rewind and go at your own pace. The whole place is kind of creepy at night which adds to the experience. I would highly recommend the night tour, unless you're afraid of the dark or prisons.


Here we are outside with the city in the background.


The next morning we went to Pier 39 and walked around. It was raining but there weren't very many people on the pier which was nice. Here are Justin, Sydney and Jeff in front of the giant Christmas tree on the way to the pier.


Justin on the pier with his muffin.



Me, cold and wet, with the sea lions.



After the pier, went to Lombard Street (the most crooked street in America). Sydney and I got out and walked down the street and took pictures while Justin and Jeff drove around. Here's Justin after he drove down Lombard Street.



After that, we left the city and headed north. Here we are driving over the Golden Gate Bridge in the pouring rain.



Our final stop before heading home was Muir Woods. The park is a few miles north of the city and is home to some of the tallest trees in the world.


You really can't fathom just how tall the redwoods are until you're standing underneath one looking up at the sky.



The rings in the trunk indicate how old the tree is. Some of the trees in the park are older than most buildings in this country.



Here are some of the interesting mushrooms we saw.



One of the paths we walked through the park. Again, the rain kept people away so it was peaceful to be in nature without a bunch of other people wandering around ruining the quiet.



Justin inside a tree. The flash reflected off the rain, creating an interesting (or splotchy) picture.


San Francisco was a great trip. I'd go back to Vandenberg just to be in driving distance of this city. There is so much to do that we missed. Hopefully, we'll get the opportunity to go again.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and Justin's mom!! Also, to our grandmothers, aunts, friends...everyone who is a mother (to children or animals). We love you all and hope you had a wonderful day :)

Higher Learning

This week Justin started his online Master's classes. He is taking one class right now, just to see how much work it is. Fatty decided it was his job to help Justin study.


Look at me! I'm more interesting than your textbook!


Not to be outdone: Swirly baby helped me write this blog.


She's so precious.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday

Every year I try to think of something to get Justin for his birthday, something to surprise him. Inevitably, he decides he just has to have something right before his birthday and that turns into his birthday present. This year was no exception. His computer mouse started dying so he said he wants a new mouse. Specifically, he needs a gaming mouse with all sorts of buttons on it. Well, today we went and looked for a mouse after he got home from alert. He found one he liked, after reading reviews on his Droid for 25 minutes. So Happy Birthday to my husband, even though your birthday is over a week away.


Here's Justin with his new mouse. The game he's playing turned out to be the best deal: he found it for 5 dollars on the clearance rack at Target. Best part, he loves it. Finally, something other than World of Warcraft that holds his interest!

Two Years

Today is our wedding anniversary! We've been married for two years, although it feels like we've been married forever. This sounds really corny, but I honestly can't remember life without Justin. It feels like he's always been with me, even though it has only been the last five years.

After Justin got home from alert, we went out for a late lunch.

Today is also the two year anniversary of Justin commissioning as an officer in the United States Air Force. That's right. We got married the same day Justin commissioned. So today is doubly special for us.

For our anniversary, my grandparents sent us two pieces of pottery. They are made by a local (Phoenix, AZ) artist and my mother and grandmother have been collecting his pieces for years. My mother gave me my first piece of Rick Fitch pottery. It was a candy dish that she had two of. Unfortunately, shortly after we moved into our house here on base, one of the cats knocked it off the counter and it shattered. I was really upset when it happened. On our drive across the country, from Alabama to California, we stopped in Phoenix and my grandma took us to the artists' gallery and bought us our first piece of new pottery.

The square one (bottom right) was the first piece we got. The one next to it I bought last month when we were in Fountain Hills. The two flowery ones were the ones my grandparents sent for our anniversary :)