Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Flying Solo

Mitchell was able to solo the T-6 this week, something we both have been looking forward too for a long while now! For those of you that don't know what this means, he was able to fly the plane he has been training in for the past few weeks on his own without an IP (instructor pilot). It's a pretty big deal and I was so glad that I got to go see it happen! It was a VERY windy day which reminded me very much of our time spent in Colorado, but despite the bad weather Mitchell did fantastic! He was only up in the air for about 15 minutes due to the winds, but he didn't crash and the plane came back in one piece meaning he did well and passed ;) It was a very exciting event and here are some photos I took while out on the flight line yesterday...

Right before he soloed!



About to taxi


Right after take off!

Some of the other T-6's

All done!

The tank

Needless to say..he didn't make it back to the flight room ;)

If you don't know about the tank, it's an UPT tradition. After you solo, if members of your flight can catch you on your way back to the flight room from the plane they throw you into the tank of let's say "less than sanitary" water. If you do make it back to the flight room however, everyone in the flight has to buy you beer. In all actuality very few people are lucky enough to make it back to the flight room without being caught :)

I hope everyone enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed being there and getting to experience Mitchell flying solo! I will post again soon with another crafty thing the hubs is making once it's done! 

Love,

The Etheridges   

So proud of the hubs!!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Carolina Style Weekend

This past weekend was rather eventful around the Etheridge house for once! Mitchell purchased a smoker last weekend and had been itching all week to use it once he had some free time. So, on Saturday he so graciously smoked us a rack of ribs and a pork shoulder. Let me just say, it was some of the best BBQ I've ever had! He also made a homemade Carolina inspired BBQ sauce and that was phenomenal as well. I think it's safe to say we will be smoking meat A LOT in near future. Our next task is to try some beef brisket and get a little Texas style BBQ going on ;) We also have enough pork to last use the next year probably...

Putting the rub on the shoulder before
 heading to the smoker!
Yup, that's 10 lbs of pork right there...

On the smoker!

Literally the best ribs I've ever had!

Mitchell also made a picnic table this weekend for our late Valentines Day present to one another! He had been really wanting to build something new so we thought this would be a perfect addition to our backyard with summer and warmer weather coming up. All in all it wasn't that expensive and we decided to paint it a rather pretty yellow to compliment the chairs and pots we already had! 

Before being painted 
The painted table in the backyard! 

Winston was a lot of help ;)
All in all it was a very busy but fun weekend. I've really learned to love the weekends even more now that Mitchell has started his 12 hour day work weeks. It's nice to unwind after a hectic week and really spend some time with one another. UPT is still going really well for the hubs and he is loving flying! He should be soloing (aka flying by himself) within the next week or so, so that's a milestone we are both excited about!

For those of you wondering about my exciting life here in Del Rio there isn't really anything too new to report. I start school back tomorrow (ick) after a very nice week long spring break! I've been busy spending time with some of my favorite ladies here at Laughlin and am also in an amazing bible study once a week! I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people here while we are in Del Rio and I can't wait to see what else God has in store for both Mitchell and I :)

I hope everyone has had a perfectly wonderful weekend! 

Love,
The Etheridges