A Bloggin' Scogin...: Shiny New Wings

Well, he did it. He's done. And he's got some brand new wings to prove it. He's officially a pilot with the United States Air Force! This weekend was Aaron's graduation at Vance in Enid, Oklahoma. I flew out on Wednesday night--for once, my flights were on time and I arrived in one piece, not even the slightest bit frustrated with my American Airlines experience. Thursday morning was the breakfast and an awards ceremony, where Aaron received the Physical Fitness Award. Then onto a tour of a few things on base--namely, the simulators and then what is basically their Air Traffic Control office. The simulator was awesome--I even got motion sick, so it seemed to be pretty realistic (to someone who's never flown a plane at least...). I got to ATTEMPT an air refueling, but the Instructor Pilot ended up instructing me to crash into the tanker for a little fun. So I did. And then the simulator burst into flames (I told you it was realistic).

Okay. I kid. It didn't burst into flames. It didn't even shake. So disappointing...

Anyway, that night was family dinner- so Aaron and I grabbed a bite with his parents and grandmother at a cute little place in downtown Enid, where we arrived right before a HUGE Oklahoma-summer-storm blew through. Friday morning was the graduation and the pinning on of wings (which turned out to not be a pin after all--it was really a magnet...who knew?) and then lunch, followed by a huge nap and the graduation dinner, where he received the Leadership Award. I was so proud. Plus, it was fun to see Aaron all done up in his "outfit" as I like to call it, and then to be in a huge room with TONS of other folks in their own "outfits" as well.

After the insanity of those few days, Aaron's parents flew home Saturday morning and Aaron and I decided what we wanted to do more than anything: NOTHING. We grabbed breakfast at a hole in the wall in the middle of nowhere, rented 3 movies (Charlie Wilson's War, Into the Wild and For Your Consideration), watched movies all day, cooked dinner and that was that. All in all, a very fun weekend. He (hopes) to get his orders this week so we can figure out where we go and when and how it will all work out around our wedding... not to mention when the next time will be that we can see eachother. Fingers crossed, he'll be done training at Altus before our wedding so that we can get married during the transitional time between bases. Here's hoping...

Did I mention I got bumped from my flight on the way back? And didn't get back into Charlotte until 1 a.m., where my sweet friend Julie woke up in the middle of the night to pick me up and let me spend the night at her apartment? I got back to town this morning from Charlotte and went straight into work: needless to say, I'm exhausted. BUT, at least I got a flight voucher out of the ordeal... always a silver lining. Anyway, onto the pictures.

Notice those shiny new wings...

With his proud parents...