Copy Cat Goodness

      Here's a delicious copycat recipe that I found the other day from a fellow blogger, "The Recipe Critic",  via Pintrest. The hubs and I both agreed it was pretty sensational and it will be making a regular appearance on our weekly menus. I've never had this dish from Chili's, where the original recipe is from, but if it's anything near as good as this copycat it's got to be stellar! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did :) I also served it with a side of asparagus since I had some left over in the fridge and it went very nicely with it once it was seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper and put in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350! The best part is...it tastes even better heated up the next day. Doesn't that just make any recipe 10x better?

Chili's Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, boneless skinless
4 teaspoons cajun seasoning
4 tablespoons butter or 4 tablespoons margarine
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces penne pasta, cooked and drained
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, fresh shredded, to taste

1.  Rinse the chicken in water and put in a Tupperware container or large resealable bag. Add the cajun seasoning and shake to coat thoroughly.

2. In a large skillet, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Add the chicken and turn when needed. Make sure to check with a knife to make sure it is no longer pink.

3.  When the chicken is almost done, in a saucepan combine the heavy cream, 2 Tbs butter, lemon pepper, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.  When the cream mixture begins to bubble, add the pasta and remove from heat stirring well.  

4.  Once chicken is cooked, cut thin strips on cutting board.  

5.  Spoon the pasta onto a plate and top chicken, diced tomatoes and parmesan.  Sprinkle with more cajun seasoning if desired!  Best when served with a side of texas garlic toast.

     In other news, not much has been going on in The Etheridge household. The hubs has been in limbo as he transitions out of UPT and starts his first phase of many trainings. I'm still plugging away at the coffee shop, where I will stay until we head out of Del Rio in the late spring! I will tell you that this whole "not having school" thing is pretty awesome. It's nice not to have to wake up every morning and worry about what assignments I have to get done that day or fret about getting everything out of the way during the week so I can spend time with my sweet husband and friends on the weekend. 

Our days around here pretty much consist of researching things about our next home in Florida (aka the nearest and best dog-parks, cinemas, and vacation spots) and spending some much needed down time together between and after our working hours. We also got our welcome packet, pictured below, from Tyndall! It seems that I'm still having a hard time grasping that it's really happening and that it's our next assignment, but getting this in the mail made it seem slightly more real ;) 

Not a day goes by that these two don't crack us up!

Sleepy kitten

Our welcome packet, which
was accompanied by two sweet pins ;) 

Love,

The Etheridges

End Of Another Chapter

This past week officially marked the end of UPT for the Etheridge family. The hubs and his fellow classmates received their wings and officially became pilots in the U.S. Air Force. Pretty neat huh? ;) We were also blessed enough to have family fly all the way in from Georgia to help us celebrate and attend all the fun events the base had planned for the class of 13-04.

This past week was filled with a lot of different emotions for us both as we celebrated the end of a very busy, stressful, and exciting year, while also saying farewell to some of the amazing people we have been blessed to of met because of our time here at Laughlin. After Friday night everyone will begin to go their separate ways as they head off to different forms of training and eventually on to their particular aircraft.

Amidst all of the fun events this past weekend I was able to reflect on our year of UPT, as a married couple. As we were out on the flight line taking photos with fellow classmates and their significant others, I realized how many special and truly precious friendships we have cultivated over this past year and a half. We met some truly amazing people whom we will never forget and created relationships we will hold on to for the rest of our lives.

If there is one truly special part of being at Laughlin it's that you are forced to gain and foster such close relationships in order to maintain some sort of social life. With not much entertainment available in the town your sole source of "weekend fun" comes from hanging out with those that you already spend a ton of time with during the week in the flight room. By luck, we were placed in a class with some particularly awesome people, whom we spent many a weekend hanging out with and passing the time in Del Rio. I am certain that God placed each and every one of these people in our lives for a reason and I know that I am going to miss each of them dearly.

I am so proud of the hubs and our friends that got their wings on Friday! It will be hard to close another chapter and say farewell to our Laughlin family who we've come to love dearly, but I know God has some amazing things in store for us as we move on to our next adventure!

After retreat

Getting those wings ;)

Breaking of the wings

Love this girl. She's been by rock throughout
this adventure!

The other two lovely spouses
of 13-04! I'm going to miss
these ladies!

Fellow T-38ers

Before the banquet

"The Weekend Crew"

I also found this photo from when the hubs commissioned and I was pinning on his shoulder boards. Apparently I am not gifted at "pinning" anything on his uniform. It's always quite the task for me...

Love, 

The Etheridges

13-04 Drop Night

For those you that haven't heard the wonderful news yet, we found out on Friday night that the hubs was assigned F22's to Tyndall AFB in Florida for his first flying assignment!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited and joyful we are! This was his #1 choice, followed closely by F-15E's and then F-16's. I can tell you this, we were not expecting this at all. We thought this was a long shot, and would never actually be assigned this dream jet. I can also tell you that this is a HUGE honor. To drop a fighter in the first place is a big deal, and I mean a very big deal which is extremely selective, but to be assigned the F22 is a major honor. I'm not one to brag, but as I feel this is my blog and my viewers can choose to read or not read it I can do so a little every now and then. I could not possibly be more proud of my amazing husband right now. He worked his butt of this past year and his efforts have paid off ten fold.

I remember when we first started dating and he didn't tell me until after we had been together for two months, when I was obviously already head over heels in love with him at the young age of 16, that he wanted to be a pilot. Not only did that idea freak me out, I mean i'd never even considered being a part of the military much less married to a pilot, but the thing I was most weary of was how "dangerous" I thought being a pilot was. Then he preceded to tell me that he didn't just want to be any pilot, but a fighter pilot, an F22 pilot specifically. Like any young girl my mind immediately ran to the movie "Top Gun" and I visualized Tom Cruise riding around on a motorcycle with way too tight pants being a philandering maniac (don't get me wrong, I've come to LOVE that movie and am not hating on it one bit). From the young age of 15 he knew exactly what he wanted to do, something I've always admired in him.

And it's been a long journey to get closer to this dream. I remember the day he received his acceptance letter in the mail to the Air Force Academy. I remember the day he started basic training in Jack's Valley. I remember the day he graduated four looooong and hard years later. I remember the day he commissioned. I remember the day he started pilot training, and then tracked T-38's. Looking back, it has been a long, tough, stressful, and challenging road over the past 8 years for us both to get to where we are. However, it has been worth every second and I wouldn't trade it for anything. We have met some incredible mentors at USAFA and here at Laughlin, we have made and lost close friends, we have grown as a couple, and I can't say that I would want to be anywhere but where I am right now. 

God has blessed us in ways I couldn't even have imagined and I can truly say that I feel very thankful in this moment. He gives and takes away, as I have seen from getting this assignment and losing my sweet sweet mother, all within the past two years. He challenges us in our faith and to trust in him on a daily basis. I can't tell you how much his peace enveloped me over the past few weeks and has shown me that his plan far surpasses what we want for our lives.

Ok, I'm done with all the mushy gushy stuff, so below are some photos from Drop Night as well as a video of the hubs drop! Enjoy ;) I will admit that Friday was probably one of the worst and best days of my life. I thought I was going to explode with anticipation in the last few hours leading up to drop, but obviously it was worth it!  

Yes, this is a bag full of 12 Chick-fil-a sandwiches..
and yes I was ordered asked kindly to pick them up
when I went to San Antonio on Thursday
to pick up some fellow 13-04 girlfriends.
I looked like a huge fatty carrying this thing out
and asking for 11 packs of sauce. The things I do
for those boys!

I love each of these ladies dearly, and could
not have made it through this past year without
them. They are such a true blessing!

Another photo with another member of our
amazing bible study who came to
support us on our big night!! 

Mitchell's hero shot slide!

My initial reaction, disbelief. 

I was a little excited ;)

Now we start another journey as we head off to our next assignment. Just because the hubs was dropped this jet, that doesn't mean he is guaranteed to fly it. It means he has been given the opportunity to fly it. We still have to get through three different types of training courses which include a few flights in the F-16 before we head to Florida. He has to get through all of this training before he is really considered an F22 pilot. Needless to say there is still a long road ahead of us but this is certainly a step in the right direction ;)

*Shout out to my amazing friends Layne, Jenna, and Lindsay for taking photos and video for me! You guys rock!

Love,

The Etheridges

Blind Faith

Well, we made it! Tonight is drop night, or the night that we will be finding out our next assignment for  those of you that don't know what drop is! Tonight we will be see where we will be going, or if we will be staying here in Del Rio, and what the hubs job will be for the next few years!

In a previous post I had bared my soul a little and given you all a glimpse into my struggle with understanding and being at peace with this situation. I mean, doesn't this whole thing sound just a little scary, even to those of you that aren't a part of the pilot world? Standing up there in front of a large group of of people to find out the destiny of your career? Yikes! Anyways, for a few weeks back in November I found myself scared to death and beyond stressed about this entire situation. However, over the past month God has placed an AMAZING amount of peace on my heart. He has filled be with hope and happiness, and truly shown me that he will always provide and loves us each so deeply. Not only am I not stressed about tonight, but I am genuinely beyond excited and hopeful, no matter what the outcome. I have come to truly hold on to the truth that no matter what our future holds God has a hand in it and his plans for our lives will far surpass what we feel is "meant to be".

I would also like to thank each and every family member, friend, and even stranger that has given both Mitchell and I support, love, prayer, and kind words over the past few weeks. Even those that do not fully comprehend the situation have offered their sincerest thoughts and prayers to help us through this exciting and anxious time. We could not have gotten through this without each and every one of you, and you know who you are ;) We are so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people!

With that I will end this post, but don't worry, I will repost this weekend once we find out tonight what's next for the Etheridge family! Stay tuned!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose" - Romans 8:28

Holiday Catch Up

We were blessed enough to be able to head home this past week to spend the holiday season with our families in Georgia, and as usual the time with our loved ones went by way too fast. We don't have any clue where we will be next year around this time or when we will be able to head home next, so we both tried to enjoy this time away as much as possible with our families. Between the mass amounts of delicious food consumed and the insane amounts of shopping (both of which we are very deprived of back in Del Rio) it wouldn't be a lie to say we will be enjoying our few days of rest back in Texas before the hubs heads back to work next week.

Christmas break wouldn't be complete
without Christmas Vacation and a fire
at the in-laws, our yearly tradition!

Loved spending time with this sweet cousin
on Christmas  and
 the hubs side of the family.

This year we drew names between the grandkids...he
obviously got pranked and thought
he was getting this "lovely" sweater as his gift ;)

Our customary daily trip to Chick-fil-a
for breakfast! We may or may
not have eaten here for 5 days in a row for breakfast...

We got to meet sweet Trey this trip home,
grandaddy's dog!

My husband thought it was funny to
pick on me after I fell asleep during
one of many Christmas movies... 

AND we got a new car...surprise!

We had a wonderful trip home and can't wait to get back as soon as we can, however we do have a few exciting things coming up here in Texas that we are happy to be back for! In a few short weeks we will be finding out our next assignment (woo hoo) and the hubs will be graduating! Our families will be heading in as well, which is what I am most excited about! Now that I am done with school (that's right,  I graduated a few weeks ago, FINALLY) I'll still be working at the cafe, until we find out what our plans are for the next few years. The hubs heads back to work after new years and things will get back to normal around here. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I'll be checking back in soon with updates on all these exciting events coming up in the near future :)

Love,

The Etheridges 

Photo Day

I was finally able to go out to the T-38 (the plane the hubs has been flying the past couple of months during phase III) and get some photos! As some of you know I had a rather eventful attempt at trying to get photos when he soloed (flew the T-38 for the first time by himself, without an instructor) so after many other failed attempts to get out there and get the customary spouse photo with the plane I was finally able to this morning. The boys had to have their "hero shots" made, which are the photos that will appear on their slides on drop night and their graduation pamphlets, etc., so I headed out there with them bright and early this morning at 8 am to sneak a few of my own! Of course it had to be the one week in Del Rio where it was below 45 degrees, but I think they still turned out just fine :)

Attempting to be serious...

'Tis The Season

This week was actually pretty eventful in many ways in the Etheridge household! Not only did the hubs finish up his LAST check ride of UPT but I also finished up my LAST week of classes for my undergrad! The hubs has less than 5 flights total left before he finds out our next assignment. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome that feels for both of us! This year of training has been challenging, stressful, and exhausting so it's an incredible feeling to be SO close to the end.

On another note we also attended the student squadron Christmas party last night, which was a total blast! The club was decorated beautifully which got us in the holiday spirit and we also got to participate in some dancing at the end of the night which is always fun. It's was so great to have an occasion to get together with some of the amazing people that we have met while here at Laughlin and just let loose and have some fun.

One of the other wonderful spouses
in 13-04! 

Earlier this week we also got to see an F-16 that came to visit Laughlin. One of the hub's classmates has a family member that is an F-16 pilot, and he was very kind in letting us come out to the plane after he landed and gave us a tour! I've never seen any type of fighter up close and personal, so this was a really unique and fun experience for me. Probably my favorite part though was seeing all the UPT students congregate around the plane and drool over how "cool" it is ;) It's amazing to see how much these men and women love flying and the pretty awesome planes they could potentially fly one day.

Love,

The Etheridges