Easter Happenings and Other Grand Adventures

Easter Sunday was very relaxing around the Etheridge house a few weeks ago! We went to church at Del Rio Bible, where we have been regular attenders for the past few months and then went out to lunch with some friends. It was nice to spend time with the hubs and our little pup as our first Easter as a married couple....

Before heading to church! 

Little Winston!

It's actually looking rather
green around here for Texas!

As I promised to update everyone in my last blog, Mitchell passed his first check-ride with flying colors! He has also had his second check-ride, of four total in Phase II, within the past week that went great as well! He is doing fantastic in the T-6 and I can't believe that Phase II is already half way over! He tracks around June 28th, which is when everyone in his class will find out which type of plane they will be training in as they finish up the last 6 or so months of UPT. He will either track T-1's which is the heavy plane track, or he will go T-38's which is the fighter track. At this point we would both be happy with either track and are just praying that God will place us where we need to be. 

We also had our first visitor this past week and this weekend, my dad! It has been a great trip so far and it's been great having a family member come and spend some quality time with Mitchell and me. I will post again soon with more pictures from his trip! Here's a teaser for now...

Winston thought he was going to
scare the train coming in from Mexico ;)
He's pretty vicious!

Next weekend Mitchell and I will both be out of town on our own trips, so I'm sure even more pictures and adventures will be blogged about soon ;) Thanks for tuning in and I apologize for my lack of blogging lately, I'll try and get back in the swing of it!

Love,

The Etheridges

Chocolate Cupcakes...Need I Say More?

I was in a baking mood today...more specifically I had a huge craving for chocolate cupcakes! I'm trying this new thing where I make baked goods from scratch as often as possible instead of reaching for the oh so easy boxed items of yumminess at the grocery store. I think that older generations had it right when they were making everything from scratch (yes I know they didn't have boxed goods, but still). There is something so much more personal about homemade goodies that just warms my heart :) Anyways, as usual I ran to Pintrest for some inspiration and ran across this oh so heavenly recipe from 52 Kitchen Adventures! I could tell from the start that this one was going to be good. If the batter is amazing, you can bet the end results are going to be even better!

Amazing Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 C butter, room temperature

1 1/4 C sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 C flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 C milk (I used fat free and it was still yummy)

1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter until softened and smooth. Add sugar and beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each until well combined.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In a separate small bowl, combine milk and vanilla.

Add about 1/3 of dry ingredients to butter and sugar and mix until combined. Add about 1/2 of wet ingredients to mixture and mix until combined. Continue alternating dry and wet, mixing in between (finish with the remaining dry ingredients).

Fill cupcake tins about 1/2 full (don’t overfill – you only need 1/2) and bake for around 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Also don’t worry – these will come out flat, but that’s perfect for smoothing on a layer of frosting!

*On a side note, there is also a yummy looking ganache frosting recipe that goes along with these cupcakes. I didn't have the ingredients and didn't feel like running to the Commissary for the third, yes third time, in one day.

I hope everyone enjoys these goodies and the new blog design :)  

The Etheridges

Life As We Know It

Two weekends ago was MWS Day here at Laughlin (Major Weapons Systems Day)! I was really excited about getting our own private viewing for the Laughlin folks of some really cool planes here on base. I had never seen most of these planes so it was really neat to see some of the aircrafts that flew in for the weekend up close and personal...

In front of one the T-38's that
flew in from Sheppard AFB

T-38

The MASSIVE C-130

Inside the C-130

The B-1 (my personal favorite)

The A-10 (fighter jet)

Of course we also hit up the lake last weekend after checking out these cool planes! It was the first nice day of the year, so naturally we couldn't resist getting the boat out ;) It has been insanely hot here in Texas the past week including yesterday when it got up to a whopping 95 degrees. Luckily we were able to get out to the lake again yesterday with some friends and enjoy the heat on the water! 

Other than our fun filled weekends, life here in Del Rio is pretty much the same as usual. The hubs is still plugging away at his 12 hour days and I'm still taking care of school work. Mitchell has his big check-ride coming up this week, so any and all prayers for a great flight would be greatly appreciated!! I know he's going to rock it ;) In other news, I started a new job this past week. I will be working at the gym coffee shop. I'm really excited about working on base and getting to work with some of my favorite ladies as well! 

I hope everyone has had as wonderful a weekend as we did and I will update again soon! 

Some pretty Texas flowers outside
the gym on base!

The Etheridges

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!!

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

Dollar Days

Mitchell had his dollar ride yesterday (aka his very first flight in the T-6) and it went wonderfully! He had a total blast and his IP (instructor pilot) said he did a fantastic job! I could not be more proud of him :) Although the 12 hour days are exhausting, he's having a really great time flying and getting up the plane finally.

Before/After Mitchell's Dollar Ride

*Shout out to Harrison for the pictures ;)

Lazy Days

This past weekend was one of those weekends where we simply and honestly did absolutely nothing productive. And to be honest, it was wonderful! The weather here has been down right nasty so it was nice to stay home and enjoy each others company and hang out with our little furball. I did however try a new desert concoction I've been meaning to attempt for ages. This particular recipe has been floating around Pintrest for ages now and I had actually tried some at a Christmas party for my work. Here it is....

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries 

Ingredients:
-1 lb large strawberries
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

*I added about 4.5 tablespoons of powdered sugar to taste. 

I have a huge sweet tooth though ;)

I also ended up just using a knife to place the filling
in the strawberries. As you can see, the bag
idea didn't turn out perfectly!

As I mentioned earlier the weather here has been rather chilly and very Colorado-like if you ask me! I thought I moved to Texas to get as far away from cold weather as possible?! Apparently not. This morning we woke up to a dense frost on the ground and we even had snow flurries down here in good ole Del Rio.

The truck with the "frost" from last night.

On another note, Mitchell is about to finish up Phase I this week (woot woot) and begin Phase II where he will actually start flying. He is scheduled to hit the flight line on Wednesday and start flying the T-6. He and I are both very excited about him actually getting in the plane and starting this portion of UPT. Although I'm sure we won't LOVE the 12 hour days starting this week, I know it will be well worth the extra time apart.

In other news, Georgia (our cat) is still missing. We have finally come to the conclusion that she has found a nice little home filled with lots of children and other kitties to play with and keep her company :) Or at least that's just what we like to tell ourselves....Winston is not all that upset to be honest.

I am still plugging away at school with thankfully only 1.5 more weeks until my spring break, wooo hooo! I'm also still working at the store down town and taking that one day at a time. 

Winston decided to climb up to get his ball, got
"stuck" 3 feet off the ground , and then
preceded to take a nap....what a goober.

I hope everyone had just as a relaxing weekend as we did!

Love, 

The Etheridges