June 2012

June has been a pretty low key month, which made way for some true relaxation.  Bill was able to step away from work quite a bit and with me not working we were able to spend the most time together we ever have (or so it felt like). We enjoyed just being home with one another. However, it was almost weird to see him so much, but in a good way of course:) As of now, Bill will have additional time off next month as well, which we also plan on taking advantage of. We will do a little bit of traveling before the pace of the rest of the year picks up with Bill being assigned the Division Head of the Huey Shop and Baby Wallace on the way!

Anyway, in our time home together this past month, Bill and I took the opportunity to get to know our new pup, Boortz, a little better as well as work with him on all that "puppy stuff". Overall, he has come a really long way and I think he finally feels like "part of the pack". He follows me around EVERYWHERE during the day, but its been nice having the company and I just can't resist his little face!

In other progression, we have him almost potty trained -- he still has an accident here and there, but I think he has done really well (Thank Goodness for tiles floors!!) We have also been able to teach him some basic commands such as "sit, down, shake, speak, and up".  However, We really need to teach him some of the more important commands soon such as "stay, leave it, drop it, and heel", but I think that will happen when we take him to obedience school! In the meantime, we have been taking him to some local "puppy parties" to help him get socialized with other people and dogs.

Unfortunately, Arizona is ranked number one in the nation for the Parvo Virus (which is the number one killer of puppies under a year old) and it is not recommended that you take your dog outside or on walks until about 16 weeks of age. This little piece of information we did not know until right before we brought him home, so it has been interesting trying to entertain a puppy indoors and around our tiny patch of grass that we call our yard!! Fortunately, he is almost complete with his vaccines and will be on his way soon! Thank goodness for those puppy parties -- they have been a big help and it has been fun to watch his development at these parties since his first night. The first night we took him, he was very timid and tried to find anyone that would pick him up and help him escape from all the chaos, but as we have continued to take him he has gained a bit more confidence in addition to size!!

Here are some of our favorite "Boortz" moments....


Boortz loves spending time with Dad!!

Boortz riding shotgun with Mom on his way to his Vet appointment......

                                        

Boortz cooling off from the Arizona heat in his new kiddie pool....

Boortz playing in the courtyard......

Boortz all bathed and groomed....He cleans up nicely doesn't he?!

We have really enjoyed having Boortz around and become part of the family.  He just adds so much and we look forward to taking him on some of our planned adventures in July and many more!!

In addition to Boortz, Baby Wallace (yeah, don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the baby with all the puppy love going on!!) seems to be doing well. We are rounding out the 17th week and everything seems to be progressing nicely so far (we really look forward to finding out the sex of the baby on July 9th!!). I feel fortunate that I have had a mild first trimester compared to some. However, I didn't go without some of the classic symptoms here and there, which included quite a bit of fatigue for me. As we get further into the second trimester, I am glad to report that I am finally feeling more like myself these days and have picked back up on my working out regiment, which has included some running, spinning,  a little bit of swimming, and some of the fitness classes on base. It feels really good to finally get back into it and I am going to try to hold on as long as I can since I feel as though I lost a lot of time this Spring with the various interruptions that we encountered, so it is great to know my motivation and energy are finally returning to a normal and consistent level!! It probably helps with it being Olympic season and all too, watching the games always gets me motivated!

Anyway, that is all I have time for right now, but I look forward to the next update:)

                   

The Wallace Expansion!

It is hard to know where to begin! Bill and I had a very eventful past month with lots of adventure and positive changes, so I will start with our most exciting news....

In case you haven't already heard, Bill and I are expecting our first child December 3rd 2012! We have just recently made the official announcement to all friends and family and are extremely grateful for all of the well wishes and support we have received! We are super excited for this new chapter in our lives and look forward to this transition as we go from a couple to a family. However, I would be lying if I said we weren't just a little scared as well ;) At this time, we have no preference for gender other than just a happy/healthy baby, but I do think it would be kind of fun to see Bill with a girl considering he grew up with all brothers! I guess, I could say the same about myself as well! We will just have to wait until July 9th (The big ultrasound appointment) to find out!!

Here is our first ultrasound at 9 weeks:

Baby Wallace

My fancy announcement ( I thought this was kind of creative if I do say so myself!! Thanks Amber for capturing the moment!!) :

Surf City, NC

As we await the arrival of Baby Wallace, Bill and I have decided that we are going to practice our parenting skills by obtaining a puppy. Haha, just kidding. We had actually been planning on getting a puppy for quite some time and since I have just recently resigned from my job, we felt that this was the perfect time as we would be able to spend the time required to make and train a good puppy. With that being said, we have gotten a Golden Doodle, which is a mix between a Golden Retriever and Poodle. We saw one of these on the beach a couple of years ago and ever since have been waiting for the right time to get one. Therefore, we introduce to you; Mr. Boortz Wallace also known as "Bo" for short. Bill picked out this name after one of his favorite radio talk show hosts Neal Boortz. 

Boortz

He loves to play!

He also loves to sleep on his back!! (WEIRD)

Prior to getting Boortz,  as mentioned above, I did resign from my job at the beginning of May. It was a very difficult decision as I really enjoyed my position as a Rehabilitation Counselor with the State of Arizona. However, Bill and I decided that at this time in our lives, it would be best if I stopped working. This will allow a lot more flexibility in both of our lives as Bill often travels. Not to mention, this will allow us to have some quality time together before Baby Wallace arrives and for me to take good care of Boortz. With that being said, shortly after I resigned, Bill had assigned fleet support in NC and a work conference up in Washington DC, which I got to accompany him to, which was nice for a change!

During the time that Bill was doing his portion of fleet support up in Jacksonville, I took this time to revisit my old stomping grounds. I can't tell you how great it felt to be back in NC (I sure have missed that place!!), back at the beach, and in the company of good friends! My friend, Amber, graciously hosted me for three days and during this time we hit up her community pool, downtown Wilmington, the beach, and did plenty of walking!! It was great to visit with Amber and it makes me grateful to have a friend that I can pick up with right where we left off no matter how far away I am or how long I have been gone! Thanks again for having me!!:) Here are some of my favorite photos from our visit!! 

Pool Day!!!

Downtown Wilmington for some Front Street Brewery

Amber, Theresa, and I at the beach! 

Following my visit with Amber and Bill's completion of his work duties, Bill and I drove up to Washington, DC for what was called the OAG Conference. Basically, this conference was held to commemorate 100 years of Marine Aviation. There were several active duty military and retirees attending this event. During the week, this conference was like any other with Bill attending classes during the day. Fortunately, another Huey pilot that was attending from MAWTS brought his girlfriend, Kari, so she and I got to explore DC together.

We visited the White House:

Kari and I

The Lincoln Memorial:

The Korean War Memorial:

And many many others!!!....

Even though the guys were busy during the day with their classes, they were given some time off to explore the city with Kari and I as well. Also, there were special events held in the evening such as the Sunset Parade. This event was held at the Marine Corps Memorial and was a beautiful performance as they had the band and Silent Drill Team participate. 

Sunset Parade Performance

Bill and I

Another event that was held in addition to the classes was the Gala. The Gala was again held to commemorate 100 years of Aviation in the Marine Corps. This was a pretty fancy event and a lot of important people were there so-to-speak. In addition, the ceremony included all of the Marine Corps Traditions, a concert by the band, reflection of the past 100 years of aviation, guest speakers, and an awards ceremony. It was neat to be part of such a profound event!

Though it was great to be back on the East Coast for a short while, I was excited to get back to Arizona as my cousin, Kari, and her boyfriend, Aaron, were planning on making a visit out to Yuma to see us! They came over Memorial Day weekend and we sure did pack a lot into their visit! For instance, we took them to tour the Yuma Territorial Prison (you can't come to Yuma and NOT see it, come on now!). We also spent a lot of time pool side as the weather was perfect (it was actually under 100 degrees for the most part). Last but not least, we also did quite a bit of hiking! We took them out to Picacho Peak State Park, which overlooks the Colorado River and we also took a day trip and flew up to Sedona where we hiked the Devil's Bridge Trail and grabbed some lunch. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures from the pool or Picacho State Park Hike, but here are some of my favorite photos from the Devil's Bridge Hike:

Aaron, Kari, Bill, and Myself

On top of Devil's Bridge

Bill and I standing in/on a vortex?? haha. 

We really enjoyed Kari and Aaron's visit and look forward to another visit with them whether it's us traveling to NY or them coming back out to AZ! Either way, we look forward to future visits with family and hope that they had just as good of a time as we did!!

As we wrapped up the month of May, we both feel grateful for the opportunities and blessings we have been given and pray that everything continues to go smoothly as we progress toward December!! We have a busy couple of months ahead of us that will keep us occupied for sure, but will continue to keep everyone updated on our progress!!

April 2012

Both Bill and I had a lot of different events going on over the past month. While Bill was wrapped up with work, I decided that it was a good time to get away from Yuma for a little while and go visit some family back in NY over the Easter holiday. 

Whenever I go home, it always seems that there is a ton going on! This time around, my brother, Shod, had finally come home from Japan. He had been stationed in Yokuska for the past three years and is finally in the process of making a duty change -- to Hawaii, which must be nice!! He should definitely be expecting some visitors sometime in the future! He will also be deploying for the next several months prior to actually settling in to Hawaii, so it was nice that he was able to make some time to visit NY during this process and spend some time with all of us. He was also able to bring his family along for the ride, which meant that I got to spend some time with my little nephew! 

As I mentioned before, there always seems to be a ton going on whenever I make it home as my mom sure does a good job of planning things and keeping us all busy! (It is rare when all of us siblings are home at the same time) One of the highlights from my trip included an Easter Egg Hunt for all of the kids in the neighborhood. This was too cute to watch, here are some of the photos from this event:

Silas scoping out the field

He thought that you were supposed to throw the eggs....

The Neighborhood

Getting the hang of it

He figured out there was chocolate in those eggs!!

This led to stealing other's eggs......

Making friends and sharing.....

Following the Easter Egg hunt, we have a very lively and fun group of neighbors, so we spent the rest of the night eating pizza and playing dice. I actually won one of these rounds, which never happens!

Also during the time that I was home, my parents hosted a Welcome Home party for Shod, his wife, Irish, and their son, Silas. This was special because this was Irish's and Silas' first time to the United States so we got to introduce them to the rest of our extended family. This event also allowed for me to catch up with family members and some old friends from high school that I haven't seen in years. My parents had this catered by one of the local restaurants in town and there seemed to be an excellent turnout!

My Aunt Tracy, Kari, Me, and Stef

Kari and I --Looking forward to Kari's visit to AZ next month!

My brothers and I with our Aunt Colleen!

He loved the balloons...

The following day happened to be Easter, so we spent more time with family as we hosted Easter Dinner at our home. Easter day happened to be beautiful in upstate NY this year, which allowed us to spend some time outside. However, it never fails when all of us cousins get together, we always have to get a good game of something in! This year it happened to be Apples to Apples...love that game!

We are getting too big for our living room these days...

The Cousins

After a couple days full of Easter egg hunts, welcome home parties, and the actually holiday itself, my time at home went by rather quickly. On my last day home, we took Silas to the playground where I got to spend just a little bit more time with him before having to say good-bye:)

Helping him go down the smaller slide after I prematurely
sent him down the big slide moments before. He recovered well. haha.

Loving the big kid swing!

"Zip-lining"

Silas being funny

Shod, Silas, and Irish

I really enjoyed my time home and which makes me wish I lived closer! Living out West has been a fantastic experience, but it sure doesn't allow for many visits home during the year. I look forward to the next trip out whenever that may be!! 

During the time that I was in NY, Bill was hard at work back in Yuma. Again, he has been in the midst of the Spring WTI course and was involved in some planned missions. I try to keep everything straight as to what he tells me he is doing, but I am sure I get it all mixed up! However, from what I understand, they had planned practice missions with the Canadian military where they practiced "assaulting a village" at one point. There is a com cam that takes some photos during some of these exercises and Bill made some of them! 

Bill is in the back with his head down.

Bill is the guy pointing...

Loading up the Huey

I am happy to announce that this is the last weekend of WTI!! I felt that this class went by rather quickly, but I am relieved that Bill will have his two day weekends back starting next weekend! He has had to work almost every day with the exception of Sundays since WTI started weeks ago. I won't know what to do with him when he's around for more than a day!! ;)

Despite our opposite schedules this past month, we did get a chance to fit in my late birthday surprise. My birthday was actually last month, but Bill had planned something special that ended up getting cancelled on my actual birthday due to high winds. However, we made up for it this month and Bill took me on a hot air balloon ride. I have to admit this is the most unique birthday gift I have ever received and we both enjoyed the experience! It was definitely a different perspective as the ride was super quite and calm. It was amazing how much you could hear while up in the air. The balloon had just about every dog in Yuma going nuts beneath us as the balloon operator explained that the noise from the fire bothered them. We floated over the city of Yuma, over the MCAS base, and landed in a field. They ended the ride with the traditional champagne and balloonist's prayer:

May the winds welcome you with softness.  

May the sun bless you with its warm hands.

May you fly so high and so well that God joins you in laughter,

and sets you gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth.

Here are some photos from our balloon ride:

Setting up

A little dark, but we were inside the balloon.

In the air

Up, Up, and Away.....

Shadow on the trees....

As always, this month went by in a flash and we continue to move forward in the year looking forward to more adventure and visits with friends and family!