Good Times With A Good Friend

My sweet friend decided to head down this way to visit me this weekend! It was so nice to have her here and show her around good ole Del Rio, which took about 10 whole minutes. None the less, we spent the day doing girlie stuff like watching chick flicks, something I don't get to do often while hanging out with the hubs and his friends, and just catching up. With the lack of good dining in the area we decided to stay in and cook a delicious meal, chicken pot pie, and then share a glass of wine while watching, you guessed it, more chick flicks. She was so sweet and didn't complain once about the lack of entertainment I had to offer and we enjoyed picking up right where we left off ;) We then went to Chinto's this morning for their famous super breakfast tacos (seriously, if you are ever in Del Rio, for whatever reason that may be, you have to try them) which were an all around crowd pleaser. It was sad to see her go, but I'm so looking forward to moving a little closer to her in a few short months!

In other news I decided to try out a new, healthier, dinner option the other night. When we were planning our wedding and met with the caterer, one of my favorite items on the menu was a strawberry pecan spinach salad. Sadly, we weren't able to serve this to our guest for obvious reasons, but I remembered how delicious it was and decided I would try a recreation of sorts! When I was in San Antonio the other day and visited on of my favorite places, Trader Joe's, I picked up some insanely awesome fresh strawberry and thought this was as good a time as any to try it out! Apparently it's a pretty traditional southern dish and super easy to make! I also added some oven baked chicken to it that I had marinated in balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper. Nothing fancy, but still delicious! Enjoy!

Spinach Salad With Strawberries and Pecans

Ingredients:

8 ounces of spinach 

1 1/2 cups of cleaned and sliced strawberries

1/2 cup of pecan halves, lightly toasted

2-3 oz. of goat or blue cheese crumbled (I used feta)

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. each of onion and garlic powder

Toss spinach, strawberries, cheese,  and pecans. Combine all other dressing ingredients until well blended. Drizzle lightly over salad mixture. 

*Serves 4-6

Kitten had her lady parts removed this past week.
She was obviously thrilled about the
car ride home...driving to Florida is going
to be SO much fun...not.

Bowling! Love this girl.

Love, 

The Etheridges

Weekend At The Ranch

This past weekend was eventful around our house! On Friday night one of my best and dearest friends  had her assignment night, or Drop night as you've heard me refer to it before. Her and her husband found out that they will be joining us in Florida as their first assignment as well! I could not be more excited or feel more blessed that the Lord placed us together again as we continue on to the next stage in our husbands careers. It was so much fun to relive the excitement of drop night with her and remember all the wonderful (and awful) emotions that go along with it!

On Saturday we headed out to a local ranch here in Del Rio, called Trash Rack Ranch, with some new friends. Earlier in the week we were propositioned with a stay there for a very discounted price , so obviously we were in! The ranch is owned and operated by the sweetest couple who host hunters from all over the country who come to hunt exotic game on their 100+ acre properties. Although we didn't hunt while we were out there they were amazing hosts and cooked us some awesome food and drove us around their property after we were able to see the animals feed off the feeder before dusk hit. George, the owner, made us some killer steaks for dinner and then we spent the rest of the night hanging out around the campfire making smores and playing board games. We were invited by some classmates of 13-14, who are about 7 months behind the hubs in their UPT training here at Laughlin, so it was fun to make new friends and enjoy the gorgeous desert scenery.  It was a total blast and I am so glad that we chose to take the plunge and try something new.

Some of the animals that live on the property...
including "Hooker" the pet goat
featured in the forefront of the photo.

Del Rio can be beautiful, you just have to
know where to look ;)

The awesome steaks George made for us! 

Hanging out by the bonfire

Such a fun night

Love,

The Etheridges

Derby Days

This past Saturday we decided to partake in one of the newest forms of entertainment here in Del Rio, the Women's Roller Derby Tournament. Yes, you read that right, we went to an actual meet between two women's roller derby teams and watched them compete at the Del Rio civic center. It was actually a ton of fun, and not surprisingly a BYOB event if that gives you any inclination as to the classiness of it ;) It was fun to have something to look forward to this weekend as a last "hoorah" for some of our friends that are heading out of Laughlin this coming week! It was certainly a once in a life time experience, and we weren't about to miss out on something this interesting!

I thought the Del Rio ladies had
a pretty creative team name!

Other than our exciting evening out on the town on Saturday we have been enjoying some quality time together before things start getting hectic. Over the next few months we will be moving twice, going through some intense training, and life will all around be much more chaotic than it has been since we moved here over a year and a half ago! By the time we officially PCS away from Laughlin we will have been here for almost 2 years, which is insane to me! It's crazy how time flies. 

As far as Valentines Day went we stayed in and cooked a meal together, which we do every year! We always make one of our favorite meals and enjoy a quite night in. We personally enjoy that more than fighting the crowds and trying to eat out somewhere in town. My sweet husband bought me the customary bouquet of flowers and a beautiful framed poem with the other half of his wings that we broke on graduation day! 

A few more photos from our weekend ;) I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday! 

Kitten loves chewing on glasses...

The most delicious spread from Trader Joe's!
It's fantastic on waffles and pancakes in place
of butter! 

Love,

The Etheridges

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