State Fair

The last week or so Justin has been pretty busy with work, but he only had a back-up alert this weekend so he had the whole time off. Saturday morning we went to the local farmer's market in downtown Great Falls. It's there every Saturday morning but this week was the first time we've made it over there. It was pretty neat, lots of fresh fruit and produce, stands with homemade jam and bread, tents with arts and crafts. It was bigger than I thought it would be given the size of the city. We walked around and Justin, of course, had to get a coffee. There was music and people everywhere. It looked like that was the place to be on a Saturday morning.

Later that day I was vacuuming and had a slight mishap. The vacuum was already upstairs so instead of carrying it downstairs, vacuuming up the stairs and then carrying it back down again, I decided to just vacuum down the stairs. It was going fine until about halfway down, when the vacuum fell and I caught it with my forearm. For about 15 seconds it felt like my arm had been broken in half. Then when I was almost done, the vacuum fell again, only this time I caught it with my forehead. There was a cut and welt near my temple. It was quite painful, but luckily, nothing too serious. I've learned my lesson and instead of being lazy next time, I'll just make the extra trips up and down the stairs.

Saturday night we went over to Nick and Fiona's house for a little housewarming party. They finally moved in a few houses down the street. One of the other guys from Justin's class got married a few weeks ago and his wife is up here now too. So there are four of us couples living on base. It's really great being able to see everyone so easily and to just walk 20 steps down the street to go hang out.

On Sunday, Justin and I met up with Nick, Fiona, and Nick's dad at the state fair. It was pretty fun, completely different than the atmosphere I'm used to. Once we got there, the boys decided they needed some food. Nick ordered fries and this is what he got:

The wall of french fries were tasty, as was the funnel cake. I love fair food, but sadly wasn't hungry enough to fully indulge in it. After the food extravaganza, we went and watched a couple of horse races. I've never seen one in person, so it was pretty cool to watch. People were betting on horses and talking about the different types of tickets you can bet on. We all picked horses, just for fun in our seats, and of course, my horse came in last. Not just last, waaaaaay last. He wasn't even close to the other three at the finish line. I felt kinda bad for him.

Aside from horses, there was also a pig race. I've never heard of pig racing but I think piglets are really cute so I made sure we saw the pig races. The lady announcing the pig races was super loud and super annoying, but the pigs were really cute.

The pig race people were from Kansas and also brought other animals for a petting zoo. There was a baby zebra and a kangaroo. Where on earth do people from Kansas get a zebra and a kangaroo. It was really sad to see the kangaroo in there. He looked depressed. Not that I can really tell what the animal is feeling, but still, it was sad. Animals like that shouldn't be in petting zoos. Oh well. Not much I can do about it.

Seeing all the farm animals at the fair made me wish I had grown up on a farm. It would be really neat to have pigs and sheep and goats and rabbits and chickens. But then I remember how much I like being able to get to the grocery store in 5 minutes or less and realized that the farm life is not for me. I'm a city girl through and through. Maybe after four years here in Montana, things will be different, but for now, I like civilization.

Take A Hike

The last few days, Justin has been off, so we've been able to do some fun things. On Thursday we went down the Helena, the state capitol. It's about an hour and a half from Great Falls and it's a beautiful drive down there. Well, pretty much everywhere outside a 30 mile radius of Great Falls is gorgeous. We ate lunch at a place called the Staggering Ox. They had really good sandwiches that come in interestingly shaped bread. They hollow out a tube of bread and stuff the inside full of yummy goodness.

After lunch we went to the Cathedral of Saint Helena. The church is really cool, architecturally. It's almost 100 years old. The inside of the church has stained glass windows from floor to ceiling, with the New Testament on one side and the Old Testament on the other. The style of the church made me want to go to Europe even more. We might have to plan a trip.


We also went to the Original Governor's Mansion and the state capitol building. We were wandering around the capitol and we bumped into a guided tour so we tagged along. The tour guide took us into the state Senate and House chambers. I was surprised to learn that the Montana state legislature only meets for 91 days every two years. That gives you an idea of just how unpopulated Montana is. They have had to call emergency sessions to get stuff done outside of the biannual meetings they usually hold, however. It was all very interesting to me, the political science nerd, and to Justin too. Of course, it made us realize that as soon as we're stationed somewhere in the eastern half of the United States, we must make a trip to D.C. to see real governmental buildings.

There was construction going on outside which sorta ruined my picture, but you get the general idea. The flags are flown at half mast to honor a soldier from Montana who was killed in Afghanistan last week. I'm surprised anyone even heard about it considering every single time I turned on a news channel, all that was being talked about was Michael Jackson. Anywho, after we finished wandering around here, we went to a few bookstores and walked through downtown and looked at the shops.

Overall, we really liked Helena. It has much more culture and shopping than Great Falls does. Justin's crew partner said Great Falls is a cultural void, which I am now beginning to see. Our town doesn't even have a used bookstore. Oh well, Helena is a pretty nice drive so we can just head south when we feel the need to escape the cultural black hole.

Yesterday, we got the chair we ordered for our library! It only took a week to come in which was much sooner than the store predicted. The room looks much better now that there isn't a giant void in the one corner. The chair is firm, yet comfortable, which is perfect for reading.

We also got the kitties a little pot of pet grass. Every time the cats go outside they sit and chomp on the long grass strands that line the front walkway. So we decided to get them some pet grass so maybe they won't want to go outside so much. Supposedly, it's good for them to eat grass. It helps with their digestion or something. At first they seemed confused but they caught on pretty quickly.


Today, we went hiking in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. It took a while to get there because of the gravel road we had to drive down. People were camping and fishing back in the secluded area at the base of the mountains. We ended up hiking a trail that seemed to never end. We just kept going, thinking it would turn and loop back the way we came. But it never did, so we ended up turning around. My shoulders got sunburned, but other than that, it was a great afternoon.


We hiked through forest, up mountains, through grassland covered in wildflowers. It was really, really pretty and it wasn't too hot so the hike wasn't overly difficult.

Tomorrow, Justin has a back-up alert. Basically he has to be available in case the person on alert has an emergency or gets really sick or something. We'll have to stay in town just in case he gets called in to work. After hiking today, we might have to spend the day on the couch recovering!

Independence Day

Here are some highlights from our 4th of July celebrations. As usual, our group of friends is mostly Air Force guys and, of course, any excuse to blow stuff up is welcomed with open arms. Justin and I went over to Katie and Ben's for a barbeque and fireworks. Partway through the evening Justin left to go over to his commander's house. I stayed at Katie's to hang out with the girls. The guys had too much fun exploding things in the backyard, but it was a lot of fun to watch.
The fire that kept burning all night, thanks to fireworks wrappers that kept ending up in there.

One of the many explosions that took place in the backyard.

I tried to capture the fireworks, but without a tripod, everything just looks like colorful squiggles.

The sparklers were equally difficult to capture.

A group shot, after Justin left, minus Jarrett who took the pictures.

Movin' On Up

We've moved! Last week I packed up over 2000 pounds of our stuff and drove it over to our new house on base. I made nine trips with my CRV. The kitties, for some reason, decided that laying on top of the suitcases was a much more suitable napping place than anywhere else in the old house. They were quite disappointed when I moved the suitcases to put clothes in them.

The cats really enjoyed all the paper I took out of the old boxes that were in our garage. I think that was their favorite part about the whole thing. Even at the new house, anytime I threw paper on the floor, they were all over it. Every pile I made got thrown everywhere and pieces ended up two rooms over from where they started. But it kept the kitties entertained so it's all good.


I had to throw this picture in here because it's the first picture I've ever gotten of her where she doesn't look scary or evil or something. Usually she won't look at the camera or she moves around so much that all the pictures are blurry. But I finally got a good shot of her, after almost a year of trying.


Last Saturday, when Justin was on alert, it was Military Night at the Great Falls Voyagers baseball park. We got free tickets so a bunch of us went to the game. We had a bbq at Katie and Ben's house first and then headed to the game. It was weird going without Justin, but that is the life of a missileer. Fiona's husband was on alert too so at least I wasn't the only lone wife. This is the first picture I've gotten of us wives together. From the left: Katie, Katherine, Fiona, myself, Lindsay and baby Caleb.
Justin had Monday off, but that was the day we moved so he didn't really have the day off. This move onto base was the worst move we've had. Usually everything is fine. This time, the movers were AWFUL. It was two teenage boys and the driver guy. The boys just threw our stuff into boxes, no padding, no concern for putting heavier things on the bottom. They didn't put our mattresses in boxes so they all got dirty. The one guy's dirty hands touched all my dishes so I had to run everything through the dishwasher. It was not a fun day. But, thankfully, we don't have to move again for four years!

Justin went on alert again on Tuesday so I spent the day unpacking. I unpacked on Wednesday as well. Yesterday Justin was off again so we ran some errands and picked up some stuff for the new place. We finished unpacking, so now the house is mostly put together. All that's left is to hang stuff on the walls. Justin is on alert again today. He hasn't really had a day off in over a week, but after next Tuesday he has five or six days off, so hopefully he can relax and enjoy the new place.

Okay here come the pictures of our undecorated house.

Here is the kitchen dining area.

The family room is split into two areas. This is Justin's computer corner. He wanted to be down here so he could be on his computer and not feel like he was trapped in a cave or something.

The rest of the family room is the lounging, tv watching area. The video game stuff is still piled in the corner for Justin to deal with when he gets a chance. I don't do video games, so it's his job to figure out where he wants to put stuff.


This is my fabulous, giant laundry room! This might be my favorite part of the new house.

The kitchen is pretty nice too. We finally have counter space to have appliances out, with room to spare for cooking.

The formal living room/dining room has been turned into a library. The cat bed in the corner is where a chair is going. We bought one yesterday and it should be here in 2-4 weeks. Then the room will be a little less empty.

Here is the view from the top of the stairs. We already have 3 book shelves full and more books on the way from Amazon. We will probably need another book shelf before the end of the summer. Justin and I are both really happy that we had the space to make a library area.


And here's the master bedroom. Our furniture we bought a few months ago actually fits in this room. And there's enough closet space for both of us. AND there's an attached master bath. It's really great.



Once we get stuff hung on the walls, the house will feel more like ours and more like home. Even so, this place is the nicest place we've lived as a couple.

Tomorrow night, Great Falls is having fireworks for the 4th.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

We Have Keys

Today we got the keys to our new house on base! There is only one word to describe this house: amazing. I can't believe we're going to be living in a house this big and new. I'll post some pictures of it once we get our stuff moved in. We took two car loads of boxes over today and I'll continue to move stuff in over the weekend while Justin is on alert. The movers are coming on Monday to pick up the rest of our stuff and furniture. So by next week, we should be all settled in. We met the neighbors who live in the house attached to ours. Their last name is Jones as well. And there's another Jones who lives down the street. Go figure.

Packing Up Again

So this past week has been pretty busy. Justin had his trainer rides every evening this week. All he has left is his evaluation and one more certification and he should be on-line and ready to go. His first alert is scheduled for next Saturday. He's really looking forward to getting out into the field and actually doing something as opposed to training. I met his crew partner on Thursday at the 10th MS change of command ceremony. The guy seems cool and is supposedly good at his job so that's a relief.

We found out we are getting the keys to our on-base house on Thursday! I spent the whole week packing up boxes and sorting through a lot of our stuff. The rental house is hard to walk through now thanks to the stacks of card board boxes lining the halls. You never truly realize just how much stuff you have until it's time to pack up and move. We decided to make a little money and move some stuff ourselves. Since I don't have anything else to do, I figured I could make trips back and forth and move a lot of boxes myself. I'm never comfortable with random people going through and packing up my stuff. But after packing some stuff myself, I realize that having the Air Force pay people to move us is a much better option. I'm starting to get really anxious waiting for moving day. I want to move now! But it's only a few days away. Then I'll be able to walk to the commissary if I have a craving for something we don't have. Plus, the new fitness center is super close. I keep telling myself that once we move on base, I'll go to the gym every day. I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not. My friend Lindsay is running a half marathon in August. I'd love to run it with her but I don't know if one month is enough time to get in shape for it. I think I might try though. It's only 13 miles. About 9.5 miles longer than I've run in a really long time.

Last night there was a really huge rainbow visible over the houses across the street. It was a complete arch but I could not back up far enough to get a picture of the whole thing. There was a second one on the outside of this one but it was really faint and I don't think the pictures captured it.One of my babies always sleeps in really weird places. Here she is curled up in the random shoe pile that accumulates by the front door. She always likes to sleep on hard surfaces and on the edge of things. She was sleeping on the end table the other day and when she rolled over, she fell right off the side of it. It's not the first time something like this has happened. It was quite funny to watch. The cats have been restless the last week or so. I think they can sense that we are moving again, especially with all the boxes everywhere now. They will love the new house. Lots of space and stairs to run up and down. I bet they can't wait.

Welcome to Our Life

Greetings from Great Falls, Montana.

I created this blog as a way for family and friends to stay up to date on what is happening in our lives. Since we don't get to see you all or talk to you all regularly, you can check this blog to see what is new up here in Big Sky country.

Yesterday Justin went on his training alert. He left early in the morning and came home today around 3pm. Pretty soon this will be his regular routine, leaving for approximately 36 hours to man the launch facilities for the ICBMs located here in Montana.

The weather here has greatly improved since we arrived. It's been mostly sunny and warm. A few times the temperature has dipped into the 30s. We even had snow last week. Nothing substantial, but still. Snow in June is not something either of us is accustomed to.

For the 5th time in a year, we are packing up and moving. We were offered a house on base and plan to move in the last week in June. The house is almost 3000 square feet, has 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths and is only a year old. We are really excited to get into the new house and plant some roots. After this move, we'll be stationary for the next four years. Two other couples that we are friends with will be living on the same street, John and Lindsay Madsen and Nick and Fiona Edwards. We can't wait to be living on base again and in such close proximity to friends.

Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned for updates on our crazy Air Force life.