Art, hmmm, I do like it!

Since our new home is so much larger then what we are used to we have a lot of bare walls. We thought some art on those bare walls would help; I really wasn't sure, but now that it is on the walls it certainly does make a difference, a huge difference! So thank you E&S for helping to make our walls look soooo much better!

Lil Blue's European Adventure room
Family Room

Dining Room

They are all very unique and add a focal point to each room they are in!

LIFT OFF!

The weather was perfect for a launch! I so enjoyed hanging out with the Chaplain before the launch. Our small group actually stayed in the MCR (Mission Control Room) until about 4 minutes before the launch then we quickly made our way to the upper deck of the patio area for the outdoor viewing. It was really neat and great to get to watch it travel all the way across the sky! We then went back inside to watch the replays from the launch pad view cam...way cool, to see that!

Hangin' with the Chaplain on the patio!
LIFT OFF!

Up and Away

Traveling across the sky!

So very neat to see and since it was only my second one the "ahhh" factor is definitely still there! Totally, totally cool :)

Ahhhh....

It's been a long day, not a bad one mind you, just a long one in the fact that it was jammed pack and nonstop...long so to speak. So tonight when we finally got home and as I was getting dinner started I turned and my eye was immediately caught by the view right outside my kitchen window; it made me pause and just be thankful. Thankful for being able to have a long day, that I have the strength to get through any day; thankful that I am fortunate enough to live in a country that is free. I am humbled by the setting sun and know that my days are numbered and that I have been able to live another one and wonder if I have lived it worthy enough...I am a child of the King, but don't always live like it, I fall short, but He still loves me. The view was gorgeous, the picture does not do it justice, it was a masterpiece created by the mighty hand of God. It gave me that warm feeling that only a beautiful sight created by God himself can give and made me stop and smell the roses so to speak, to be grateful for the life I have been given. How blessed I am!

Have a great weekend, take time to be thankful for the views in your world!

It's Thursday!!!

So it's Thursday again and I am thinking, WOW, LilBlue has only been gone two days and it already seems like forever...

Thoughts for Thursday

• Found three new thrift shops today!!!
• Summer HAS arrived, translate: IT'S HOT here!
• I'm ready for some homegrown 'maters anytime now.
• I love walking on the beach pretty much anytime I choose to.
• I am thrilled to find a great selection of petite clothing at most stores!

Since MiB has a CivMil function to attend this evening that leaves me with some downtime. My bathtub has been calling me since I arrived and tonight I will answer that call :) I really need a good foot soak and some bubbles so me and my bathtub will be spending some quality time together tonight. The bathtub in this new house looks awesome...see?

:)

Off she goes...

LilBlue headed to MO today, on her own, flying for the first time by herself...she made it just fine, safe and sound. Tomorrow is the orientation and registration at the college. Her SIM will be there, what is a SIM you may ask? It is her Stand In Mom, which is my cousin, which we call mySherry. There are no worries with mySherry in the picture.

Of course she will return in a few weeks and then we will do the BIG send off, but we aren't going to think about that right now...

Over and out!

1-2-3 Blast Off!

The good news is the rocket launch was utterly awesome...the bad news is there are no pictures...the good news is there is another launch next week...there is no more bad news :)

I will try to get pictures at the next launch. It was our first launch and since it was off, on, off then back on again, they picked up the T count at -4:00 minutes and counting so we rushed to the outer viewing platform and by the time we got in place and had our binnoculars out, it was blasting off towards the moon before we could snap a picture. It was also very cloudy so the rocket was only viewable for a short amount of time, then it was in the clouds, we saw it again for a split second and then it was in the clouds again. Hopefully, next time I will be more prepared and ready to get a picture! While we did not feel it in our chest like they said we would the space shuttle we could feel the earth move and that was a unique feeling that was quite awesome. Looking forward to the next one and being a little more prepared.

Thursday Thoughts!

F L O R I D A

While I am thrilled to be here, it is a different pace then I anticipated and the community is much more mature then I was expecting as well; therefore I have made some observations that I will share!

• There are NOT orange trees everywhere!
• A lot of people here cannot see over the steering wheel.
• There are many people here that have very little or no hair.
• What hair they do still have is in various shades of gray/blue.
• I understand why our insurance premiums more then doubled.

Later today we are going to see the Atlas V rocket launch today! It will be exciting and I will post some pictures later from this adventure! And if you should be wondering, the 101 class at the church was really good and we think this will be the place for us. They are mission minded and definitely think outside the walls which is something we like and feel is important so now we will be looking at small groups to try out and find our niche!

Scrubbed...

The shuttle launch was scrubbed...who knew it would be scrubbed not once but TWICE. Anywho, the latest and greatest is that the new launch date will be on 11 July. I will keep you posted and if you are planning to be here we will have all three guests rooms open as LilBlue will be back in MO going through orientation for school this fall, getting her classes, going to the VCYF and visiting the Bud in NE.

In other news I will be going to my first rocket launch tomorrow afternoon. I understand I will be close enough to "feel it in my chest" which sounds pretty exciting and scary all in one, I will let you know about that afterwards and post some pictures as well. We will be viewing the launch from on top of the MOC. I wish I could tell you what that stood for but then I would have to kill you so I can't :) Actually, I do not even know what it stands for but I am planning to find out tomorrow, then I will fill you in; but I do know I am not allowed to have any food or drink while I in this facility so it must be one of those sanitized environments!

I think we are going to enjoy the pool this afternoon and then we have a 101 class at the church we have been going to this evening so we can learn all about it and see if we still want to sign on. The last couple churches we have gone to have had these classes and while I understand it, it is such a change from the old days of going to a new church for awhile, checking out the Sunday School classes to see if you like it enough to walk the aisle to "move your letter". I think I am what some would consider old school :)

Cape Canaveral Tour

Today I got to tour the Cape...it was pretty cool, okay, it was a lot cool. I have pictures but cannot upload them because I was in top secret areas...okay, not really, well, maybe I was, I don't know!

Anyway, the tour was outstanding and Mr D. was a great guide! Here are a few photos from the many we took!

Yeah, well, this here base I am at is the base that "the Jeannie" was at and her master often was at the Cape.

Many things here are NASA even though the range is run by the USAF, we have a great relationship with those space types at NASA and it all works well. Afterall, we are space types as well, we just don't launch the manned spacecraft, but you can thank the USAF everytime you use your GPS cause that is one of the things we do keep your satellites in place to make that thing work!

Our tour guide, was a wealth of info, I especially enjoyed learning about the partnership with the primates and how intelligent they were and how much they furthered our endeavors in the space arena. That was really amazing!

I really think lighthouses are awesome and until today I never knew that the USAF owns a lighthouse. Pretty nifty, I am hoping to be able to go in it before we leave...it is under renovation but hopefully it will be open before our time is up here.

It is off to bed for me...we have a launch in the morning (you may have heard about it, it's that big one called the Space Shuttle :) It will be o dark thirty before I know it and since we are actually going to the Cape for the launch I want to be ready, have I mentioned that the perks with this job the MiB has here are pretty fantabulous!!!!! Well they are :)

Thursday Thoughts!

Thoughts for today...

• I like the pool; no sand!
• Homemade guac rocks!!
• My house is VERY big...
• Ugh, gas is creeping up again.
• It rains more in FL than I would have thought.

My newest Bestie!

Since I move a lot I am hesitant to use the term BFF...I like the thought it conjures up, however, I think it can be so excluding and as one who is often the "new girl" I shy away from using such terminology. Today I am making an exception and introducing you to my newest BF. I think we are going to get along famously.

:o)

Thursday Thoughts!

Oh my, what a week, getting up to speed in Florida is interesting, I had a hurricane briefing yesterday...first time for everything and this was a first for me, I have lived in areas of blizzards (we had three while in CO), tornados (can you say OK), and tropical storms (Azores, VA) but the possibility of a hurricane has me a bit edgy. The whole evacutaion thing has me slightly concerned, I mean you have to wait for official word to go, then find a place to go and go with EVERYONE else. Pray that you choose to go the right way, cause the hurricane's path may change. And consider that I will do this alone as my MiB would be here riding out the storm. Did I mention we live out on one of the barrier islands? Yeah, it is great, close to the beach and all, but also where the hurricane comes!

Oh well, I will be putting together my hurricane kit and evacuation bag as soon as I get the closet finished. Most everything else is adequately organized and put away, the kitchen it still not really flowing for me but each time I cook in it I move things to help that. The other main rooms are as good as they are going to get, we simply do not have the furniture to fill a home this big and I am not going to go buy it since who knows how big our next place will be. The closets are still in need of help, but I am tackling the master bedroom one and then leaving the others for a later date, I would also like to get the garage more put away, we will hopefully work on that this weekend.

Beach trips have been plentiful and yesterday lil Blue and I body surfed, which was pretty fantabulous, the water was perfect, rolling with soft waves and we had a blast! Minus the bird that tried to steal our box of Triscuits. I tell you it was a persistent thing, first time it WAS our fault for leaving the box open on the blanket, but then the little bugger tried to pull the closed box out of our bag; it was a good thing I had stuck my cell phone down in the side of the box or he would have flown off with them. Course I guess if he had been bigger I would have been hosed as he flew off with my cell phone in the cracker box! The third time I buried them in the bottom of our bag and covered them with a towel, my cover up and lil Blue's clothes; he still tried to get at them. Finally, we folded up the blanket and laid it over the bag and put the beach umbrella over that and he left them alone. I am sure we were a sight as we tried to run out of the water to shoo him away!

Thoughts:

• Only three more radiation treatments!!
• Be careful with your crackers on the beach!
• I enjoy the beach but NOT the sand in my car.
• I am glad lil Blue is here, she's a great beach bum.
• There are golfer's from sun up to sun down in my backyard!