It HAS begun!

Matt officially started flight school last week. He has taken several courses leading up to it, but this is where the long hours begin. So far he's studied more than I can ever remember him studying for any of our classes in college! He didn't really need to do much for those classes, because he tested well by understanding the main ideas / applications. Here, there are a lot of concepts/ limits/ emergency procedures that they are required to have memorized verbatim. He'll start in the simulators next week and be in the air within the next two or so. I think he's getting excited :)

What does that mean for me? Earlier mornings, more work here at home with the business, and lots of brief quiz sessions with Matt at night. It's kind of fun actually. We've been implementing some good processes with the business since being down here. It's to a point that we need a systematic way of going about things (inventory, accounting, purchasing, payments, etc.) to stay organized.

As always, my days stay eventful taking care of the pups. One of Kadea's favorite things to do is what we call the "roomba dance." She'll hop on top of the iRobot Rooma (seen in the background below) and tap / do a move like in the movie Happy Feet until the Roomba turns on, at which point Chaz goes completely ballistic because he things the vacuum is going to kill him. She LOVES doing this, and repeats the dance until we physically get rid of the Roomba...


She is such a trouble maker. I caught her in the act this time!We added a 3rd dog to the mix for a day. I found Willow wandering around post when I was on a bike ride. I told myself before I left that I should have brought my cell phone, but didn't. So, I hopped off my bike, coaxed her to me, and was glad to see that she had a tag. I rang on the nearest doorbell for a phone, but the1-800# on the tag had outdated information. I jogged home with the dog (she was struggling more than I was, so we walked the rest of the way). Long story short, Matt and I did everything we could think of to get a hold of the owners (we knew their names). After no success, we eventually had to drop her off at the stray/adoption facility on post. Fortunately, her owners picked her up the same day. Unfortunately, I've found out that she's wandered off again since then... that darn nomadic Husky nature!


Another big thing -- my mom joined the Vita-Mix family, so now she can do the experimenting and give me all her best recipes! :) One of my favorite post-work-out smoothies is pictured below.

It has all sorts of goodies in it, and sometimes turns out better than others, depending on the ratios:

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Grapes
• 100% Cranberry Juice
  
• Vanilla Yogurt
• Flaxseeds
• Ice Cubes
  
• Stevia
  

On another completely different note, if you haven't already, take a look at Ashley's new website. It's awesome -- she's such a natural and I'm proud of her! She's great with people and it's obvious that she loves photography.

www.ashleyschragephotography.com/