February/March

I have slacked these past two months, no posts and no pictures! Therefore, this will be just a very brief all encompassing overview of the past two months....

Last we left off, Bill was transitioning over to the Yankee Helicopter and spending most of the work week out in Camp Pendleton while I held down the fort and my own job here in Yuma. This progressed well into the month of February and is still in the works. This process has taken a little longer than anticipated due to some unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, but he should get a chance to finish up his final check rides over the next few weeks since a new WTI class started as of March 11th 2012. Hard to believe, but half of the Spring class is complete and they are already moving into the last few weeks of the flight phase. Class completion will be April 29th or 30th, which will hopefully give Bill a chance to breathe since his schedule has been go-go-go since the New Year.

As mentioned above, we did experience some unfortunate events earlier in the year. The Huey shop lost a fantastic pilot, friend, and just an overall good person in the recent helicopter crash that happened in late February over the Chocolate Mountains. This was a tremendous and devastating loss to the Yuma Community, Marine Corp, his family, and to all that knew him. Although it may sound cliche, I feel that this tragic experience has definitely been a wake up call to myself and Bill in that life is short and can be taken from anyone in an instant. This has definitely made Bill and I re-examine our own values and determine what we would like to accomplish sooner rather than later in our own lifetimes. We will forever remember Nate and will continue to keep his wife and children in our prayers.

I also underwent some minor medical procedures, which included getting my wisdom teeth out. I sure wish I had listened to my parents 10 years ago when it was recommended then. It sure wasn't too fun getting them out as an adult! The good thing is that it allowed me to indulge in large amounts of ice cream without feeling guilty about it:)

As for my training, I had been training for a 1/2 marathon in Lake Havasu, but my training plan was significantly disrupted by the above events. However, things are finally settling out around here and I look forward to running more consistently here in the future (I feel like I have been saying that a lot lately). It is REALLY hard to stick to a schedule....I am not very good at it, but I am working on it!

As we move into the last weeks of WTI, Bill and I are very much looking forward to some downtime and visiting our families. I will actually get to travel to NY over the Easter Weekend to spend Easter with my family. Unfortunately, because of WTI, Bill will be unable to accompany me, but I feel that I need to go as my brother has just returned home from Japan with his wife and son and will deploy at the end of the April. However, Bill and I look forward to traveling together to visit Bill's family sometime in May. 

Though the past two months held some tough stuff, we are optimistic that the year will continue to look up as we move into April! Happy Spring!