The past two months in Alabama have been one heck of a rollercoaster ride and who knows what lay around the next twist or when the next loop-de-loop will come.

Erik's Update: After eight weeks of being sick, visiting three states and multiple doctors, he is finally got back to flight status!! We have capped off this mysterious episode with a trip to Fort Gordon, Georgia (near Augusta). There we saw an infectious disease doctor who ran a few more tests (we are still awaiting these results) but overall this doctor was not too concerned. He is optimistic that these test results will come back negative. Overall, the doctors think this illness either just ran its course or the antibiotics he is now on did the job.

As far as Erik's helicopter training, he is unfortunately being washed back two classes. He was in 10-05 but will now be in 10-07. 10-07 does not start until tomorrow and after two and a half weeks of academics they will then start flying. Erik's schedule will vary depending on the day, he will attend a few academic classes again as refreshers and get a few helicopter rides just to get back in the groove again. Once the class gets to its eighth ride, then Erik will pick up with them and continue on his merry way of helicopter training! We are sad that we had to washback two classes but we are optimistic in what will come.

Spouse Flight Day: Last Friday, the 23rd Flight Training Squadron, held a Spouse Flight Day. Coming into pilot training back in January, Erik was always bouncing back and forth between the Fighters and Helicopters and ultimately chose Helicopters and was blessed enough to get them. We discussed what type of aircraft he would fly and the lifestyle we would lead but in the end I just went with the flow and let Erik do his thing. After we got helicopters, moved down here, and he started his training I was feeling kind of down. We moved away from our families, we moved away from all of the friends we had made in Del Rio, we moved on with his Air Force career to an unfamiliar place, and I did not have a job. As time passed, I kept comparing things to Texas and although I still do, I can now come out of my shell a little. The sun is starting to shine!! Del Rio will always have a special place in our hearts; but, more wives are starting to move into the area and we are meeting more and more people. The 23rd is a very small community so it was hard to meet people at the beginning but fortunately two couples moved within walking distance of us here on base. With this being an Army base, you don't see many Air Force people but when we saw that two AF couples moved onto our street we trotted right over and introduced ourselves!! They are great people and are becoming fast friends. With all that being said, Spouse Flight Day last Friday was amazing!! I always loved Fighters but when we took off in the helicopter I completely understood why Erik choose helicopters! Our flight enabled us to see the inside of the helicopter, see what goes on between the crew, and showed off Southeast Alabama from the sky. I enjoyed every second of it and when we landed we heard over our headsets that the helicopter behind us needed us to move over about six feet....our pilot picks up our helicopter to a hover and scoots over to the left and then put it down.....sweet! After that we were able to sit in on a briefing with the Squadron Commander who told us what to expect after Rucker and explained that this is the best undergraduate flight training program. Once they are finished here they will have done everything from basic flying to NVG(Night Vision Goggles) formation sorties landing in super confined spaces. We also went to a NVG demonstration as well as participate in the simulator. Both were fascinating and enlightened us a little more as to what they are out there doing each flight. As of now, I have more flight time in a helicopter than Erik has in the past eight weeks, I have experienced the NVG's and the TH-1 Simulator neither of which Erik has seen. :) Soon enough, he will be back flying and we couldn't be more happier.

Although, the Southeast brings lots of rain, the clouds are parting in all areas of our lives. Our house is becoming a home...we finally found furniture that we like a few weeks ago and have received two of the pieces but are still waiting on two more pieces. Fall has arrived which means Talladega, The National Peanut Festival, parties, and the most exciting part, HOLIDAYS!! We are gearing up to host our first Thanksgiving out here in Alabama with both Erik's and my parents coming out and then we are looking forward to being in the great state of Texas for the Christmas holidays!

Here are a few pictures


Here we are at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta


Erik hitting the mushroom in our yard


Flying around in the Helicopter!


Us :)