Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Last weekend we went to visit one of my old roommates' and their family. They live in Lawton, OK-which is SW of Oklahoma City. they just had their 2nd kiddo! Jude Wade : ) It was so great to catch up, since I haven't seen them in nearly a year.

We were even going to stop and see the famed "chickasha" lights...but on the way home, the 3 mile line seemed a bit much, so we observed the beauty from the highway.

Monday I spent the day laying on the couch and chilling out...not by choice. I caught a 24 hour flu : ( It was miserable. However, my darling husband took exceptional care of me, and nursed me back to health. He tucked me in, and I slept like a baby, all better to work by Tuesday. Thankfully, the new secretary at the office was able to fill in for me on Monday, so no work was lost : )

Last night we traveled to where Chris' family reside in Leoti, KS. I can't believe that CHRISTMAS is here ALREADY! We stopped through Wichita to see my younger brother, Paul, who is traveling across the big blue pond for a short intercession over the holiday break. I could only stay for a short while, but I'm glad I was able to see him and the family for a short time before we headed out west.

My older brother, Carl, even called and gave us a weather update right as we were leaving Stillwater, OK. Weatherman Carl said that it was Misting and Foggy in the Wichita area. This was good, as Chris and I were not expecting that weather! After we left Wichita, we were in that fog for over an hour. Just as I was thinking we would have that fog all the way to Leoti, the fog suddenly broke, and we hit the boundary layer, the wind changed, and it was CLEAR! Weather is so amazing. And, as fascinating as fog is, I was glad to be out of it.

Shortly after we braved the fog, we received a call from Chris' parents-giving us an update on the Leoti weather. The snow was falling softly and making a nice dusting there. A short while later, we were heading through light snow. The roads were really not bad, or at least that's what Chris kept telling me : ). Soon the snow thickened, and the way the headlights reflected the light with the snowflakes made me feel like we were in a Star Wars movie, traveling at lightspeed rate! I kept looking out the window, expecting to see the Death Star, but no luck : (.

We passed through Dodge City, and I texted my brother in law that we were going to wave to his grandpa as we passed through. However, I received a text joking not to wake up Grandpa John, as he needed his sleep : ) Thanks Erik! We only took him out for a midnight snack...jk!

We braved the snow for an hour or two, and Chris was doing an excellent job piloting us on the path to Leoti. Although, I can laugh at him saying, "oh, I can see...I'm just following the yellow line..." shortly followed by, "where did the yellow line go?!" (tidings of comfort and joy...right?!)Although, most of the highways into town did have rumble strips on both the center line and the right side of the road, to ensure not going off the road or into the opposing traffic.

Despite the excitement with weather, we had a good trip and were glad to get a good night's sleep when we arrived.

We look forward to enjoying a great weekend in the humble town of Leoti, KS.

Russian Space Tourism

Chris always keeps me up to date! Check THIS out!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081219/sc_afp/usspacetourism

I first heard of that Russian tourism stuff through Women in Aviation International-at the annual conference several years ago...and have been keeping tabs on them occasionally. BUT....I am still waiting for the right opportunity to come along for me to work for them...or them work for me...hmm...!

Other than that exciting news, Chris and I are going to visit a friend ours for a day. They just had their 2nd bundle of joy! They live only a few hours from us here in OK, so we are excited to visit them.

Last night Delton came over for dinner and to watch movies with Chris. It was a really fun time-well, they had fun and laughed, and I was working avidly on a sewing project for Christmas. All in all, it was a good time, and we enjoyed just hanging out.

I also got to talk with my younger brother earlier today. He's going to be traveling over the holiday, so I won't get to see him much : ( but it was nice to talk with him today too.

~Robin

Dale Carnegie "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

For those of you who have not read this book, I HIGHLY recommend it. My parents read it a long time ago, and suggested to us kids to read it as well. As I'm not an avid reader, I finally came to listen to it-the audiobook-when I was in the KC area...and then decided to listen to it again recently. Several weeks ago I had a very unpleasant situation that I feel could have been handled differently, had I used the principles in this book. The whole situation could have had a MUCH happier outcome on both parts.

Below is a link to see the general bullet points of this book, according to Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People


Long story short, there are SEVERAL different tactics that could have been handled WAY better, but I had forgotten these principles, and I soon learned the final out come to the situation: the money was refunded, even though it probably should not have been. Despite this, I was re-thinking the whole situation in my head. I'm the front line gal, and felt I did handle the situation very professionally, yet not necessarily according to the principles in the book, hence the reason I think if a future situation comes up like this one, I would change a few things.

My first contact with this individual, I listened to the individual's side of the story, got the facts, took a message, and told her I would make sure to get back with her. At that point, I knew she was upset about the whole situation, and whether she was right or wrong-in her head, she was right-and unless I could change that one thought, there was not a way anything positive was going to be done. Now-after discussing the dates she stayed with the housekeeper, I did find out I was extremely wrong in over-charging for dates this young lady stayed.

This is where Carnegie's book comes into play. What I SHOULD have done is called her back and apologized for the inconvenience. Stated that it is great that she brought this situation to my/our attention. Again, appologize for the inconvenience it has caused her and talk about how her determination has and will do well for her in her career and as a student. (according to this book-leave out the fact that we don't give refunds-and that of the "4" nights she was to stay, we had record that she stayed 2-whether she did or not-according to her, she did not. BUT-leave all of that out-start with good, then let them calm down and negotiate further from there)

Then, once she had received my apologies, she (according to the book) would be more empathetic and be more willing to apologize as well. At that point, it would be time to state that as a great student, we want to make sure that she is satisfied with our services and that we normally don't give refunds. However, would be happy to reduce her stay to what our cleaning records stated, and the best we could do was reduce the stay by 1/2. NOW-in reality- I did tell her that we would reduce the cost-but I did not apologize (or maybe I did, but not nearly as much as I should have done, as listed above). Additionally, I was as friendly as I could have been, but by that point-and what really happened, she was all fired up and ready to torch the building.

So, after much dismay, she went to not only my boss (who did get her to calm down, but she was still on the defense), but his boss and on up the chain. I admire her determination, but for a mere $20, is it really worth it? According to Carnegie's book, she wanted to feel important, and listened to. Neither of which I accomplished very well. I also could have gotten her to say "yes" as in the "Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking" #5 bullet under that section. This section is very interesting, as if a person says "no," they are on the defensive and more likely to be even MORE disagreeable. However, if a person says "yes" they are more likely to see what you want them to see, whether they agree with it or not.

Very fascinating.

Anyway, Put that book on your Christmas list. I really do think that in the future, if I apply these principles, I will have a much higher success rate, and MANY less situations where unhappy people want to eat me for dinner.


~Robin

Commercial Spaceflight?!

Chris sent me this link...Need I say more?!

http://www.rocketshiptours.com/

Mouse One...Mouse TWO...

Well, with the cold weather comes the wonderful warmth of little mice come inside...I just wish I knew exactly how many of them are in my house! Last fall, I lived in a house and my roommates and I caught 7. This year, Chris and I are up to 2...and it's ONLY Dec. 3!

Today has actually been a rather mild day at the office. I got a call from mom today and we are making Christmas Cookies this Saturday. Chris is even going to offer to help a little...but I think he really wants to eat the cookie dough : ) Any help, of course, is welcome though.

It's REALLY windy and cold today : ( So we're not going to fly...but that means groundschool. I remember as a student how much I loved (not!) groundschooling. It's amazing how important that is though. Well, I suppose in the end it's up to the student and the more you study, the less torture of groundschool you receive. I just wish there were a little snow globe of sunshine and calm winds on this cold, windy day.

Thanksgiving and beyond

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were in KC working as we were from last spring and today it's almost Christmas! WOW!

For thanksgiving we went to Kansas City and stayed with my sister's in-laws. My parents came to town, and both brothers could even make it for the holiday. It was great to spend the time with so many wonderful people and great food! We also had a chance to catch up with a few of our friends there, which was great. It makes us realize how much we really do miss the good people, but being at grad school right now is where we need to be.

Chris has a presentation tonight...so I'm just hanging around...in fact, I haven't left work yet! I was doing some groundschool with a student and then thought I should catch up on some email...and here I am...amazing how time just fades away.

Go State

Found this today. I don't know if it is good or bad for the long haul, but it is really good for the short time.

Story

Go State

Our FIRST Thanksgiving of 2008

Last weekend we went to visit Chris' family for an early Thanksgiving dinner. One of Chris' Students was gracious enough to take us on the 3 hour flight home. We had a really great time seeing his sister, parents, and some extended family who were able to come to celebrate the early holiday with us. More than anything, it was great to get that feeling of "home" away from home, even if it was just a short visit, it was great to be with family.

Here's our departure view of Stillwater, OK:



And some scenery along the way (salt lakes? or something like that):



Chris working on his mom's computer...hope that he gets it back in one piece! (and he did...but there sure were a lot of pieces and parts....glad he was working on it, and not me!)



Hello Grandpa Willis! And Dixie, too:




Oh, and of course, an appetizer of ice cream. I think Terry called that "lunch" before the big dinner.



And we Chris took a bit of time to play with the cool trucks. Of course, they were meant to be for the little kids...but I suppose most kids toys say "3 and up" : - D




And, the icing on the cake:



All in a day's work.
By the time we got home, we were ready for dessert, but it was back in Leoti, KS!

Winding Down From The Week

This week seemed endless. On Thursday, I woke up, thinking it was Saturday and I hit my alarm off. Then, realizing it was ONLY Thursday, decided that was my clue to get up.

This week, I once again learned the value of treating people the way you want to be treated. I realize that everything cannot go perfect all of the time, but when things do go wrong, it is all about the way you handle things. For example: the other day at work, charges were billed that had been post poned ffrom earlier this semester. Some of the charges were correct, others had been mis-billed on accident. When I began receiving phone calls, I knew something about the billing had been messed up. So I began pulling invoices and trying not to pull my hair out, as most of these invoices were done before I was here. Realizing that there had been a mistake, I was happy to take care of this, and correct the problem. On the other hand, according to our records, some of the billing was done correctly, but the customer disagreed with the charges, as they did not stay as long as our records indicated. I can see their frustration of being charged for something that they did not do. However, all I had to go on was our records, and their word. This collaboration is not sound enough to go through an audit.

I did my best to listen the customer's side of the story as well as explain what I had to work with. However, they did not want to hear what I had to say, as THEY were right and I was WRONG and they wanted to talk with a supervisor. So, God Bless my supervisor/friend for handling the situation, as he did a remarkable job when I passed over the upset customer.

It amazes me how no matter what the situation is, that if you explode on the phone, things do not usually go as positively as one might hope. Well, the customer did just that. After an explosion of an entry, my supervisor told them they would have to calm down in order for them to be helped, as my supervisor would not help them while they were upset and angry. Eventually, the customer calmed down, and some progress was made, a temporary compromise met for now.

It amazes me how people can just bull-doze you over, thinking that no matter what they say to you, you will help them. REALITY CHECK: Usually, this does not work. I find that if you treat people kindly and say-hey, I've noticed I have been billed X amount, and I think I should have been billed Y amount, do you mind looking into this for me?-- Usually goes over better than the following:
You screwed up and I REFUSE to accept these charges so fix it!

Amazing, isn't it. So, when the next situation arose the following day, I was mentally putting grease paint on and my bullet proof vest, when the person who came into my office upset about a situation, said very politely-this is the situation, I don't believe it was handled properly, and I would like to talk with someone about it. I realize you can only do so much, but I would really like to talk with a supervisor if I could.

I was floored, yet impressed. I am usually all about helping people anyway, but the fact that this second person was exteremly polite about the situation, made me want to help them that much more. So, America-next time a situation comes up-whether at work, or your cell phone breaks, or the person behind you didn't stop-treat them positively with the utmost respect, and handle the situation professionally. Remember, you NEVER know when or where you might meet these people again...but I can garauntee you-If i ever meet person # 1, I would love to see them in my shoes the next time a situation like that comes up. I don't think they would like the way they handled themselves either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a brighter note, I'm almost completely finished with the schoolwork for one of my classes this semester, and Chris is chipping away at his papers too. I think, if all goes well, we can both be done with all the major work by Thanksgiving! That would be amazing!!!

Oh, and yesterday we received a card with pictures from my mom in the mail. I always love getting mail, especially notes and pictures! They had printed pix off from my mom's bday a couple of months ago. So I called her up to thank her for the nice note and pictures. She told me she and dad were having guests for dinner, which are friends of Chris and mine as well. She also said that the main course was chicken and there were brownies for dessert. I WANTED TO GO! So I jokingly invited ourselves along, knowing that we wouldn't really go. Mom said -SURE!- and we said farewell. So I began talking with Chris about the dinner party and good food we were missing out on in Wichita. He looked at me and said, "wanna go?!" I was like, um...yeah but no-I have homework, and stuff to do. But, his good looks and persistance won, as I really did want to go, but didn't think I would get any homework done.

So off to Wichita we went, and I worked on homework up there, while he would work on homework on the way home. We went to church, and made it home before mom and dad, utterly surprising them. We had such a wonderful time and really enjoyed the good food and company.On our way out of town last night, we stopped at Theresa's and surprised her as well. It was great to see the look on her face when we tapped on her door. She nearly fell over : ) but i'm Glad she let us in first, as it was cold outside! We visited with her a bit and hit the road.

So, when we arrived home last night, we curled up in bed for a blissful night's sleep. Of course, I awoke with a start at 8 am, but I suppose you better take any sleep you can, and when the body says it's recharged, it's time to get up and go. So, here I am. Hope you all have a wonderful day, and a fantastic week!
~Robin

Cowboy Football

So I love college football and this weekend Robin and I had the opportunity to go and watch our Oklahoma State Cowboys play Iowa State. We had a great time. The final score was 59-17. Here are the pics and videos.

Robin and I at the game


This happened a lot. In fact this play is the longest pass play for a touchdown in school history.


After each score Bullet came out to strut his stuff. During this time the people behind us would chant O-S-U reading the flags as they went around. When the guys with the flags changed directions and the would read "USO" left to right so the guys would chant U-S-O. It was pretty funny.


During the half time show the band played, and when it was time for the state song this what what they formed.

Over all we had a really good time watching our Cowboys win.

P.S. We still bled Purple, Go Cats

A Quiet Monday

This weekend my parents came down on Saturday to visit us (yes, down is the proper term, they came south from Kansas DOWN to Oklahoma...it seems the words up and down are often mis-used). Anyway-we had a good time. We showed them the airport, my office, and around campus. We even went to the "Stillwater local joint", Eskimo Joe's for lunch, as they had never been there before. We enjoyed watching the Wildcats catch up to Oklahoma University, only to be slautered in the second half....but it was nice to watch the kitty cats play good in the first half.

That evening, we enjoyed good ole western Kansas BEEF. YUM! I feel spoiled-last weekend Theresa was here and we had steak...and this weekend, steak with my parents. YUM~

Overall, it was a nice weekend. We topped it all off with LOTS of homework on Sunday. I worked for a solid 6ish hours on my star class, and Chris finished his auto-biography-the 50 page paper he's been working hard on for the past several weeks. I finished my auto bio this past week as well, but I was not under a deadline, as I don't have nearly as much to do as Chris does.

Today is Monday...I walked into the office to complete and utter silence. It was quiet, a little too quiet...So I'm waiting for the pandamonium to strike...

SO, wherever this Monday finds you-whether it's crazy or quiet, I hope you enjoy it.
~Robin

Funny

I think these are great.

Worst Best Man Ever @ Yahoo! Video

Truck Tips Other Truck @ Yahoo! Video

Who is Barbara Morgan?

AN ASTRONAUT! DUH!!!!

Monday Oklahoma State University invited Astronaut Barbara Morgan to speak at the university over the course of the day. Chris was able to get us tickets for the luncheon that was held (I was SO psyched!). I also went to her presentation this evening to the public about her experience as an Astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).

It was cool listening to her talk about her experiences. It sounded like we were listening to a good friend tell us about their amazing vacation they had gone on. Chris and I both enjoyed the luncheon presentation. He even said he could have listened to her talk longer! (too bad he went to class tonight-this school stuff is getting in the way of space stuff : )

After the lunch presentation, I got the opportunity to get her autograph and talk with her a little bit. As cliché as this sounds, I am amazed at how "down to earth" she is. I guess when I think about movie stars or astronauts, I think of them as these people who are above us "average" folk. I mean, they have all these experiences and things that are just amazing--and way beyond the realm of my simple life. In reality, they are really just normal people who do things, just like everyone else--the difference is, the things they do are things that I think are remarkable and amazing. I think that is what makes it so special to me.

More Info

Pizza Monday

Well, sometimes Mondays are good, sometimes they are bad, and other days they are just plain blah. Today was a blah Monday for me. It's not that anything particularly bad happened, it's just that nothing good happened either. I'm stuck right in between them...which I think I can attribute to me not wanting to do my homework. It's not that I have a lot of it-it's just hard to be motivated TO do it.

Well, for dinner tonight Chris made pizza so that we could have dinner on our first Monday date in several weeks. On Mondays he usually goes to Tulsa on the bus for his evening class. Tonight, however, he drove because they have a test and he will get done early. So, anyway-we had pizza : ) When I had kissed him farewell for class, and I was cleaning up from dinner, I was thinking back to a recent time when we had pizza for dinner. This was actually quite humerus, as I was on a "put things back where they came from" kick. Well, I sure put my foot in my mouth on that one. One day after having pizza, I opened up the cabinet where we store tupperware to find....the pizza. I had put the leftover pizza in tupperware, and the tupperware right back in the cabinet. Well, so much for putting things where they belong! So, as I was putting the leftover pizza away tonight, I was careful to make sure I put it in the refrigerator.

So, Cheers to a Blah Monday and Pizza put in the Fridge, not the cabinet : )
Happy Monday, even if it was a kinda-Blah-one : )

Erik and Karen's shower of flowers

Check this out! How beautiful! My wonderful hubby took this and it is just amazing!
~Robin

Here comes the Bride...(my sister!)

Yesterday was Erik and Karen's wedding! Yay! It was such a gorgeous day and beautiful ceremony. I was her matron of honor (doesn't that make me sound old?!) and Chris was my good looking date : ). So, our friend Al let us borrow his awesome car to cruise around in throughout the day. Here's a few pics:




And this is Chris looking good driving the vet!



And here's Karen and I posing for a quick photo. Isn't she gorgeous?!



The happy Bonar newlyweds:


And the Bride, showing off her fabulous dress:




Also, we had the snow breakfast this morning....so i will have to update you all on that one later, as I don't have all the dates in front of me. So, mark your calendars for the first snow! I'll post this week of our family's dates and when we think it will snow on Foster St. in Wichita, KS.

Until then, no snow until December : ) And congrats to my sis and her new hubby!
Love you all!
~Robin

Why I like to fly

If you want to know why Robin and I like to fly this is why right here. We went up to Wichita to on Wed night for her mom's birthday party and instead of driving we had a student of mine fly us up. It was a perfect IFR day. For non pilots, that means it was cloudy and raining on the ground. On the flight home my student took the following video. It speaks for it's self. I hope you enjoy.



The Sun Set even become better a little later.


A different view

Wichita Weekend

Last weekend we enjoyed a fantastic Labor Day. We went to Wichita Friday night and hung out with the fam and friends all weekend. I had time to work on a sewing project with mom, hang out with some friends over dinner Saturday night-and even cook one of Chris and my favorite meals-it was a blast. Sunday we went to see Grandpa Benny, who was in good spirits and bright eyed. That afternoon we went to see a friend/coworker of Chris' from Flight Safety and it was good to catch up with them too. One of our highlights for the weekend was getting to see a long time friend and phi delt-Kevin and also Jeff-who just moved to Arizona in the last year or so. Since we dont get to see either of them or their families very often, it was a great treat and also so incredibly wonderful to hang out with such good friends and company for an evening of fun.

Monday we left about mid-day and went to Ponca City, Oklahoma to see an "oil baron" museum. I was like--hmm...what's all that about? when we were driving home to Wichita-so we looked it up and found out it was like a 55-room house and a big historical part of the city-so we made time to see it on the way home. It is called the Marland Mansion or Estate. (see website below)

http://www.marlandmansion.com/

So, if you ever come to visit-we highly recommend it-its only like $7 to get in and really really pretty to visit. We took a guided tour-and it was quite enjoyable.

Well, we may have been the youngest people on the tour, but it was a good time nonetheless. : )

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH!

I never thought I'd be so happy for Friday! It has been a busy week. I had a busy day at "the office" (tee hee! i'm going to have to get used to that!), and I even got to do a check out flight yesterday in a Cessna 152. Man, I tell ya! That is an ITY BITY lil' airplane! For those of you who haven't seen one-it has only 2 seats, and it is quite "cozy".

Chris has been busy too. He had 2 check out flights today in the C127 and teh C172RG--aka a golf cart with wings, and a golf cart with wings and retractable wheels : ) for those non-pilots out there : ). Additionally, he has a good handful of students lined up! He has several CFI applicants, a commercial student, and I think an instrument student as well. I'm excited that he gets to hop right into the plane and start teaching next week, not to mention the time building.

I have a few students I'm trying to get a hold of. I will only be able to take on 1 this semester, but we'll see how things go.

We had class last night-yeah-WE. We are taking one class together on Thursday nights in Tulsa for our degree. I was a bit nervous about taking a class with Chris, as we both learn differently, and I take notes and pay attention--and he just listens and soaks up the material. However, I was pleasantly surprised after our first class that I think we will both get a lot out of it both individually and as a couple-so that is great!

Chris also just completed his first full week of being a professor. We will both be busy, but its good for us-especially since Chris will have to learn to work again! (I guess I shouldn't say that too loud : )

Over and Out...
oh...and go pokes...
hmm...i don't know if that will ever sound as good as GO WILDCATS! : )

Our First Day of Graduate School

Well, here it is, DAY 1 of class!

And...my class was canceled! So....I got online to order my books, and anxiously await class next week. : ) Chris had to drive to Tulsa this evening for class. We didn't realize that Oklahoma State University had classes at Tulsa, Stillwater, and Oklahoma City...all 3 campuses...so Chris has to drive or take a bus to Tulsa 2 times a week-not the most convenient, but I think he'll enjoy the classes he's taking there, so it all works out.

I went to work as usual, and Chris went to teach his first college class!!! I am so excited for him! He has 35 students who are taking his Aviation Safety class for their undergraduate degree program in aviation. I think it's a great! He even put on his syllabus the old Salina classic "if your phone rings, you bring donunts!" : ) He said the class was less than happy to hear that...but then again...if there is food, there is usually a more lively class : )

I have a check out flight this Thursday with the Chief instructor, provided the weather holds up. It has been REALLY cloudy all week-well, even if it IS only monday! Last week had lots of rain and clouds, so i'm hoping for some sunshing to come in my office window for my flight thursday. I can't wait to get back up in an airplane. I miss my students up at OJC, but realize that it is a bit of a long flight for them to just hop on down to Oklahoma to go buzz around for fun : ( I miss them already! Well, when a door closes, a window opens, right?! i'm sure the folks down here know how to have just as much fun : )

Settling In to being an Okey

Well hello again!

We have successfully made the trip from Kansas City to Stillwater, Oklahoma. It was a long drive, but we are glad that the move is over. We may not be settled, but we are moved in nonetheless.

I began work Tuesday, 8am. It was nice to work in an office...weird for me though. When I graduated high school, i said i didn't want to get a degree that would land me an office job. Well, guess what?! I didn't...well, kinda. As the old fogey pilots all tell me, fly while you can, while you crave it, and need to..then one day you will settle and not NEED to fly like you did while you were young. We all hit it some day...and you will too.

Well, I think what they are referring to is called BURN OUT. I think we all hit this at one point or another. I was just beginning to reach the early phases of this in KC with instructing-waking up early, flying in the small airplane all day, and passing out at night. I think this change of pace came at exactly the right time. I am ready for that bit of slow down, that office job to change things up a bit. This way, at least i get to do what i do best-TALK!-and help people, 2 of my favorite qualities : ) and...in the evenings, I will get to do a bit of flight instructing to keep building up my time. Hopefully, by the time Chris and I both graduate, we will have both built up some good flight time and have the chance to do more of what we love-the "fun" flying. Going places for fun, and even business-but mainly just fun. Besides...who knows where we will be by then!

Well, on another note, Chris is teaching an Aviation Safety class this semester. I'm excited for him! He found out there are around 35 students in his class! WOW! I know! I am sure they will all have a good time though. I think he'll do GREAT (although i AM a bit biased : )

Mooooo-ving!

I wish we had a heard of cows to pack up our house...but we didn't. However, we do have a herd of people coming to help us move, and we are more than happy to have the help!

Today we got up and started packing. Last night we obtained boxes from a local store. I felt like a home-less person, looking for the best boxes to live in! Chris went down one aisle, I another-and we roped up as many boxes as we could. We each had a car full by the time we left. Today we filled nearly all of those boxes, and I think we'll go back for a few more...but I won't know for sure until Chris gets off the phone. He's talking with Delton about locations/places to live in Stillwater, OK. Delton is scoping out places for us, and keeping us out of the "bad" areas of town.

Things are happening so incredibly quickly! Last night we had dinner at our favorite diner--Vern and Bobby Ann's house! (That would be my sister's almost inlaws-aka....her inlaws-she gets married in like 1 month! eik!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

OK-so it's not a "diner", but they always are such good company and have such a wonderful meal. Chris and I are sad to be leaving the good home cooking and good company. : (

Oh, yesterday-it was such a good feeling-I QUIT!!!!!! well, officially anyway. I went in and told the guy who is in charge of the flight instructors-well, for lack of term-"chief flight instructor", anyway- (i was an independent contractor, but you get the idea!) ANYWHO- I went in and told him we had further opportunities and will be pursuing our Master's Degrees at Oklahoma State University, and we would be moving...and as of Sunday, I was quitting. SHOCK!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, they knew it was coming, but they didn't think it was ever actually going to come! So i think i caught him off guard...but guess what!? After Osh Kosh is real life, so WELCOME BACK TO REALITY! : ) I am, however, sad to be leaving my wonderful students. I will really miss them all. I have learned a LOT here in my short 4 months (wow! i have only been instructing there 4 months-it feels like way longer!) I have definitely grown as an individual, as well as an instructor. I have made some wonderful connections, as well as friends-and I will miss them all.

On another note, I got a JOB OFFER today in the KC area. It came this afternoon right as I was packing some boxes up. It was so weird! I can't remember the name of the company...but its job requirements were Commercial, Multi Engine!!! They wanted 4 (nights i think) days a week, cargo. Well, it sounded nice but since I'm already MOVING I had to turn him down. It was nice to make a 2 second decision without thinking about it really. We have had a LOT of decisions to make lately, and it was nice not to have to cloud my small head with one more thing to think about.

Well, until we meet again, have a lovely evening...I'm going box hunting again...wish me luck!

Chris and Robin are Moving!

Dear Friends,

Hello again! As many of you know, Chris lost his job at the beginning of July. Since then, we have both been working hard to look for whatever the next opportunity for us might be. This opportunity presented itself last week.

Chris and I will be moving to Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma State University for the Master’s Degree program. I will be working full time there (for Delton-for those of you who know him-i'll be working in an office : ), while attending classes-and Chris will be teaching a class on campus in the aviation program, while also attending classes. We will be getting our Master’s Degrees in Natural and Applied Science Aviation and Space. AKA-aviation/space master’s degree, which will put me one step closer to my ultimate goal of working with a space program, or even astronauts, and Chris closer to his goal of working for a university as a professor and possibly owning his own business someday.

Unfortunately, since school starts in 2 WEEKS! (eik!) I am sorry I cannot call each and every one of you, but there are a LOT of things that need to happen in the next couple of weeks, so I hope you understand why I have to email instead.

We are sad to leave KC so soon but looking forward to the opportunities which lie ahead. If you are interested, check out the degree at:

http://aviation2.okstate.edu/images/degreeplans/ms_aviation.pdf

PS-Even if we will be Okie's in a few weeks, I’ll always be a Wildcat at heart!!!!

The Root Canal

Sunday night we went on a flight with a student of mine and his wife. I flew first with his wife and did an intro--basic controls, and maneuvering-eventually I will teach her to land-in case something happens to her husband and she has to land the plane-as a safety back up. I think it's a great idea, especially since they will be flying a lot together.

After our short lesson, Chris hopped up front, and he and my student flew to Branson,MO for dinner. It was a fun flight down and back. The boys did all the "hard" work-watch the auto pilot, talk on the radios--while us ladies sat in the back and chit chatted about basic aviation stuff and just life in general. It was a lot of fun-and we really had a great time.

Monday my mom was in town for a class in relation to her business. She was able to have dinner with us last night, so that was nice. Chris slaved all day : ) wink wink : ) and we had a delicious roast and vegetables (crock pot meals are awesome!) It was great to have dinner with them both before Chris had to leave for softball. I really enjoyed catching up with my mom. I hadn't seen her since she got back from vacation and I'm glad we got that opportunity. Love you mom!

On Monday, i went back to the dentist, as I awoke early that morning with a pain in my mouth. I just had a filling last week, and they said to call and come in if i had any trouble with it. I was like-oh,ok-sure... GRR! So i had to go back in....and low and behold--i was issued the perscription of a root canal! BUMMER! So...I made the appt and got it all lined up to go in today.

So-I got all checked into the endodontics office for my hour long torture session. Yay. : ( However, the people were really nice, but as i have posted before-i'm not crazy about people putting their fingers in my mouth...if only i did not have such weak teeth! Anyway-I asked about why people need root canals-or how they occur-and I learned that when people are younger (like myself) if you have a cavity, and get it filled-it is possible that where the roots are in your teeth in relation to the cavity-sometimes the root can get irritated or inflamed... hence the reason my tooth was irritated. They told me that as you age, the roots recede. I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO BE OLD SO BAD IN MY LIFE!!!!!! : ) (but i suppose the next step of getting older is dentures if you lose all your teeth...so I think I'll pass on that!)

The assistant to the doctor got me all ready, took some pictures of my teeth, and prepped me for the doc. They numbed me up and my mouth felt like rubber. I hate being numb! As soon as I was completely numb where they were going to work on me-they put some stuff around my tooth and in my mouth so as not to gag me as they worked their magic on my tooth.

Soon the drilling started, the filing, and the swooshing of the water as they rinsed their work. It always makes me nervous having drilling done in my mouth-it was like a chorus of construction workers drilling on my tooth.

THEN-it always makes me kinda wonder if they know what they are doing when you hear the sound of surprise in their voice-oh-there's another one! I was thinking-another what?! monster? tooth? nerve? Pirate?! ARR matey! Then the doc said they were almost done as they spotted a 4th nerve they had to take care of .

As they finished up their last find in my tooth with that 4th nerve, I heard them call for the explorer-or some tool like that, followed by the Red, Yellow, Orange...and whatever other colors he was coloring on my tooth. It made me wonder if he was coloring my teeth before he was done. However, i was pleasantly surprised to see my tooth, still white when he was all done.

Overall, I have de-numbed and there is a slight tinge of irritation from them prodding on my tooth this morning. However, i am thrilled to not have to wake up in the middle of the night with a throbbing tooth! God bless the teeth doctors!

Monday Again

Well, so it's Monday again. I know that day comes every week, but i wish it had the same ring as FRIDAY!!!!

It has been a busy last week. Chris' church had their assembly-where they all get together and do church stuff-like a church conference for 3-4 days last week. So we saw the whole gang-it was nice to see everyone. We even got to finish the week off by a nice lunch with Chris' parents--as I was working that week and didn't get to go to all the stuff and see them all week-so it was nice to catch up over lunch before they left town.

Chris and I pitched our tent on Friday. We were going to go "real" camping, but we didn't want to drive out to a state park, adn also decided that if we camped in our backyard, we could cook dinner, have a real bathroom, and hang out until it cooled off outside. So yes, we did a bit of pansy camping this time,but it was still fun. We didn't get to make smores, or breakfast over a campfire, but it was fun to put the tent up and listen to the bugs lull us to sleep. Well, at least me to sleep-i don't think chris slept very well-he said he was hot all night. That's too bad b/c i slept like a baby! I guess i spend quite a bit more time out in the heat than he does....so maybe that's part of it.

On Saturday morning, we went to worlds of fun and rode the roller coaster : The Patriot. It was a pretty good ride. I have to tell you-i loved it in the first row...and chris love the back row....it's one of those rides where your feet dangle over the side and there is a chest harness that comes over your head so you don't fall off...so i liked being able to see what was coming up and feeling like we were on the verge of falling off, whereas chris liked the ricochet effect of sitting in the back and nearly blacking out. To each their own.

Then we went to Oceans of fun for a bit of cooling off. I haven't really spent much time there, but it was fun to go to the water park. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I would have thought for a Saturday. We went on a few slides, and enjoyed soaking up some sun and chilling out. It was nice just to spend time together and hang out.

Today, my mom is in town for some business stuff, and we're having her over for dinner tonight!!! I'm excited to see her and hear about her worldly travels. I can't wait!

SO i guess this monday does have a happy ending!

Thinking of Mom

My sis sent me this today-just a cheerful column of saving $.

Love you Mom!

http://www.kansas.com/298/story/469342.html

Update: Both the Good and the Bad

Well, over the past two weeks, it has been an interesting ride.

On July 1st, Chris came home from work laid off. Two days later, his dad was on the way to the hospital in an ambulance with a stomach ulcer, and the following day was the 4th of July. Happy Holidays! Doesn't it always seem like the holidays bring busy times?! So, no, Chris does not have a job yet...but several prospects-so we'll keep you posted. Oh, and Yes, Terry is doing fine. He was in the hospital for a couple of days and then they released him back to work that Sunday, the 6th. Although...they told him to take it easy.

For me, I have been working hard, flying lots, and even have had Chris fill in for me on several flights just to keep up. I think being laid off was probably good for now-this has given him the flexibility to take some "fun flights" with students of mine...just to remember what it is to have fun...and not make every flight a bus trip with executives.

Also, this weekend we were supposed to go to Tarkio, MO for a fly out. BUT due to the weather, we did not go. So instead, we went over to a student of mine's hangar...and just had some soda, ate some bagels, etc and talked about life and airplanes. It was almost like having a BBQ...but we didn't cook out!

This was probably all for the best-as I was worn out from the past 2 weeks...and Chris and I haven't really had any down time, especially since I have been working late and pass out when I get home. So it has been great to have a couple of days of just chilling--just what we needed. Although-I did get a few calls today asking if I would go fly, and I guiltlessly said-nope-I am not going up today-I have plans (of chilling out and not working-but I didn't tell them that!)

Although, it's a good thing I didn't fly today because there was a blood drive at church this morning until 2pm. So, since Chris and I rarely get the opportunity that we are BOTH not flying, we decided to make it a date to go visit the vampires! We got there and did the usual check in procedures. Although, I did not pass the pre-test! : ( Usually, if I don't pass, it's due to low Iron count...however-I passed that by like 1.5 points! Go ME! BUT---get this---I had low blood pressure....I'm no pro...but I had about 86 or 88/60...whatever that means....and I had to have a 90/60 to be able to give blood today : ( Oh well...maybe another day...it's not the first time they have told me to come back...I am just sad because I know they need blood, yet they keep turning my good blood away : (

On the other hand, Chris was able to donate-but it had been a couple of years since the last time he gave...so he took it easy and rested up this afternoon.

To top the day off, we went out to a nice dinner at Piropo's here in KC. It is a fancy restaurant, but we received a gift certificate to there for a wedding gift, so we thought we'd give it a try. The food was excellent (in my humble opinion-although Chris said his usual-it was ok) But-Chris did say that the "plating" was very nice! We have been watching the "Next Food Network Star" on TV lately-and food presentation has been part of the running joke between us when we make dinner.

Overall, even though it has been awhile since I have updated the world...we have been doing good. We are glad to have hurtles come across our path to strengthen us and give us the opportunity to grow. And, as I always say-everything happens for a reason.

Until Next Time, Cheerio.
~R

Air Race Classic 2008

Well Hello Gang!

Today is Monday, June 30, 2008. The Annual Women's Air Race Classic is now complete. The past 2 years, I had competed in the race-but was unable to this year. : ( It was a race that is always approx. 2200 miles long and is a tradition carried on from the women of Amelia Earhart's time.

A student of mine forwarded me an article, which brought a smile to my face, yet made me go numb with excitement:

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/06/26/news/local/1033628.txt

Also, the race website is:
http://www.airraceclassic.org/.

That site shows the whole route for this year. Wish I had been there, but I was there in heart, thinking about the ladies as they went. Also, I had my own XC's to complete...in the last 2 weeks, I have been to Ohio and back, Texas and back...and not to mention Chris' travels: I think he's going to at least 3-4 different states today! Sheesh! (show off : )

WEll, the journey is fun, the scenery is great, and we have both been having a good time traveling. Although-I have to admit...if I'm going to fly...I'd rather be up front! God bless those airline pilots who jump seat across the US.

We are OK

Hello Again!

Today marks yet another day in aviation history. I have gotten a few phone calls inquiring about both Chris and my safety today. Thank you to all who are thinking of us today.

For those of you who don't read aviation news regularly, below are 2 websites that briefly highlight the unfortunate events:

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=B8D69F0C-6C5F-4F8B-BF5E-84A8D901C5B0&gsa=true

**Basic sum up: multi engine aircraft crashed on way to lawrence from the KC downtown airport. 2 aboard, no survivors

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=923afa2e-dcc8-4ffb-90ae-d9443615256c

**Basic sum up: single engine aircraft crashed just after take off from the OJC airport, where I work. 1 aboard, survived

The eerie thing about the 2nd incident is that I was at the airport about the time this was happening. I was on the ground, getting ready to leave when I heard sirons-around 3:15-3:30pm. My though was "hmm...that's awefully early for an evening traffic jam/accident" and I promptly dismissed the thought, as everything looked normal at the airport. When I got home, I heard otherwise.

I guess these just make me realize just how precious time is. I can't count the amount of times that I have told my students to be safe, keep a safe airspeed(aka flight speed for you non pilots!), watch the angle of bank...or even my most famous question/game: What are you going to do WHEN your engine fails? aka-the "pick a field game."

I am thankful for the training and good advice I have received over the years from friends and experienced pilots. Experience is just something that you can't buy-but have to learn. Sometimes my students joke with me when we get back and say, "well, we escaped the grips of death yet again...we made it safely home." I chuckle, thinking-yeah-what else did you expect?! I love living and can't imagine not making it home.

I guarantee you, the next time I give my students a practice engine failure, I will be saying a prayer for all pilots out there, hoping that when it happens, they will be prepared and use the safety skills they have gained through their training.

God Speed, and safe flying to all.

Fireworks in June

Today was a gorgeous day. Not only were there clear blue skies-but it was nice and cool, compared to the muggy weather and storms that have been rolling through lately.

I got off work early and made it home early enough to take a short run and have a nice dinner with Chris and our friend. Chris grilled hamburgers : ) YUM! I got to chill and do some catching up today, so that was nice too.

This evening, Chris and the company were just winding down from a day at Worlds of Fun, and I decided to lay on our hammock and enjoy the cool evening. I read for awhile, but then something caught my eye. I gazed across the lawn and saw a neon flicker. Fireflies. I closed my book and looked at the scene. Fresh cut lawn and crisp, green grass, and the sweet smell of the honeysuckle refreshed the air. Fireflies lit off like fireworks and the bugs seemed to play an evening chorus. It was just beautiful. It is nice to take in those little things sometimes. Just to sit back and have a moment where you are thankful for what you have and also what is around you. I miss being outdoors and listening to the evening birds coo and beetles play their funny tune to the sound of the cricket's violin chorus.

Thank God for a beautiful day and great friends to enjoy it with.

Serene Sunday

Hello all!

Today is a day of rest. And what a beautiful day it is! Yesterday I went to Salina for a friend's wedding. It was lovely-and I have pictures to post-so stand by until I can upload them!

Our friend is in town, and it is nice to hang out with them as well. We went to the KC art museum on Friday and hung out. IT's SO great to catch up and take a couple of days off!

I checked our fantastic garden. WOW! they sure are growing! the cucumber plants are getting some flower-type things on them--so I think we're getting closer to yummy cucumbers! (Warning-i'm by no means a plant person-so i really dont' know what i'm talking about half the time. I figure if they grow-it's a good thing right?!) We are getting some corn stalks too (is that the right word?) I'm so excited!

OH-and we went over to my sister's fiance's parents house-which to me is a lot of words-but basically they are her-almost inlaws if that makes sense. Anywho-we went there for dinner thursday evening. It was wonderful to have a home cooked meal we didn't have to make and also hang out with good company. We all had a wonderful time. THANKS!!!!!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Friday the 13th!

Wow! Just had to post this! How many times do you really get a Friday the 13th a year?

Chris and I have both been busy over the last week or so. I have gotten the opportunity to fly with some old AF veterans, who I'm sure could teach me a thing or two about flying, but never the less we had a good time *(not to mention he was polish!!! yay! even from the Chicago area-we had a good conversation: )

Chris texted me a picture of the Mall of America. How is it that he gets to go to the shopping metropolis?! I'm thinking that this is a little backwards right!? Well, he had s fun trip and only has 1.4 hours left on his SOE (Supervised Operating Experience). AKA like training wheels to your driver's license-so once he has his SOE off, he won't have another one!!! So hopefully he'll get that off by the end of the weekend, as he has a trip coming up : ) yay! He'll be a big kid w/o training wheels!

Happy Bday Karen!

It has been a quick week-again!

Today is my sister's Bday...but not much of a relaxing day for her-she has a wedding she's shooting today-so make sure you check out her blog/heartland photo's for some sneak peaks!!!

Today was fun. I had a photo flight this morning with an aerial photographer. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously windy...but lucky me-he was a pilot too...so he didn't mind the bumps.

This afternoon, we went to visit my friends, Kim and Satish. Kim is an old friend of mine from Wichita-who is kinda like a big sis to me. I haven't seen her for probably 3 years, and she and Satish hadn't met Chris yet, and we hadn't met their 2 daughters. We dropped in this afternoon for a belated birthday celebration for Satish, and also to see the family and friends. We had a really nice time. They are at a point in their lives where they and most of their friends have a kiddo or two, so we watched the kids play in the yard on a slipper-slide and the adults (yes, we are included too!) chatted until dinner time. They had catered food in, which was absolutely delicious and we enjoyed the time we got to spend in good company with intelligent people.

Intelligent people...hmm-you might ask...odd comment?! No. Last night we went down to the downtown area-the crossroads district (I think) for the 1st Friday arts festival. Every 1st Friday of the month, lots of art galleries in that area open up and have free admittance and snacks/etc. to go look at and walk through between 7-9pm. We met up with our friends Kirk and Nichole for dinner and to walk around. Well...let's just say we saw some INTERESTING people...and to put it lightly, we got "cultured". There was quite a variety of individuals there, and we didn't have to go far to see both ends of the spectrum. Regardless of the interesting people, we had a good time.

Over the past week, Chris has been in Wichita for some training. Most people dread the 3-day intense training...but not Chris. When a co-worker asked him how his training was Chris said, "It was like coming home." His co-worker said-"you're sick."!!!!!!

But, in retrospect, Chris did that training for a year and a half, and knew a good majority of the staff, so one can understand how going back to an old job to see your friends is kinda like coming home. On another note, his sister's car broke down the last night that he was in town, so it's good he was there to help her with that and get it into the shop to get fixed (because he didn't have the tools to do it himself-he was disappointed)

Me-over the last week, I have had the opportunity to fly on a couple of what I like to call "pick up trips". These I define as I happened to be in the right place at the right time...and so I get to tag along and do a bit of corporate flying. I have had a good time, and learned a LOT-both the good, and the bad-and trying to avoid the ugly! Hopefully one of these days, being in the right place might provide a job opportunity!

Oh, lastly-our little garden is growing!!! It took only a couple of weeks to see little green sprouts...and now we are seeing more leaves, etc on the vegetables...so keep your fingers crossed! The Missouri rain has definitely been helping.

Cheerio!

Birthday

So today is my birthday. Thank you to the many birthday wishes I received from my family and friends!!!!



Chris, my mom, a friend Shirley, and I all went out to dinner this evening. It was nice to catch up and celebrate.

Shirley and mom have a big test coming up in the next couple of weeks, so they are up here for some training for the big test day. Good Luck!!! Study hard! (although...this pic looks like they are having fun : )



Yesterday a friend and Phi Delt brother of Chris' got married. We were excited to take the day off to celebrate with them. We saw some friends we hadn't seen in awhile, so it was nice to see friendly faces and hear what everyone has been up to.

Here is the beautiful bride, Kirsten, now a Honeyman!!! She is getting ready to toss the flowers!


Here's a pic of Nick. He and Chris have worked together and been friends for several years. Nick wasn't able to make it to our wedding, so it was great for the two of them to catch up yesterday. It's amazing how quickly time flies! It has probably been a year since we've seen Nick!



Here are Darrin and Abby. Both are friends of ours and Darrin, also a Phi Delt.



Oh, look...do you know us?! Chris wore his new suit....it ACTUALLY fits him! And, he did look quite hansdsome...(and if I don't offend anyone, even the gay guys said he looked good....so you KNOW he looked good. lol. love ya'll!!!)



It's been a good week. Both Chris and I have been traveling and getting more experience...not all good, but it's experience to say the least. Chris is getting some re-current training over the next couple of days...so he'll be studying hard and seeing the old gang at Flight Safety. As for me, I'm hoping that the weather is good and I can get some quality flying time in while he's away...if not, I guess that means I can catch up on our messy house...but who wants to do that!?

Honored Passenger

Yesterday I had the opportunity the meet and then they the last remaining WW1 Vet of the United States. We flew to WV where he lives picked him up and then flew him back to KC. The National WW1 museum is here in town and they are having a big celebration on Monday. It was really neat to talk to someone who has been around for so long and seen so many things. Also the airport we went to is an ANG base. Here are a few pics of their cool airplanes.





Here is more information:

INFORMATION ON FRANK WOODRUFF BUCKLES
Frank Woodruff Buckles was born in Harrison County, Missouri in 1901. He served in the United States Army from 1917–1919 as an ambulance driver. Mr. Buckles attained the rank of Corporal.
He enlisted on August 14, 1917 in Oklahoma City as an underage but enthusiastic recruit. He trained in Kansas at Ft. Riley and in December 1917, he and 102 men of the 1st Ft. Riley Casual Detachment sailed to Europe. The men traveled from Hoboken, New Jersey to Europe on the HMS “Carpathia”, the vessel famous for rescuing the survivors of the “Titanic” on April 15, 1912.
Mr. Buckles drove a motorcycle sidecar, cars and ambulances in England and France. After the Armistice, he was with a POW Escort Company returning prisoners back to Germany. He returned to the United States on the USS “Bogahontis” and was discharged at Camp Pike, Arkansas on November 12, 1919. Mr. Buckles eventually went to work for the White Star steamship line and was in Manila on business in December 1941 when the Japanese attacked. He spent over three years as a prisoner at the city's University of Santo Tomas.

Mr. Buckles currently lives near Charles Town, West Virginia. For more information on Mr. Buckles and other World War I veterans, visit the Library of Congress
Veterans History Project online at www.loc.gov/vets.

Rainy Day---YAAY!

I awoke this morning to the sound of rumbling. No, that was not a large airplane flying overhead....it was the sound of thunder. Normally women complain about the rain because it will mess up their hair, right?! Not today, my friends! That rumbling---is the victorious sound of a day off!

I almost don't know what to do with myself today. It seems the past couple of weeks have been busy and there's a lot to catch up on. So, whatever you all are doing on this lovely day, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

(oh, and nope...that rumbling doesn't mean Chris stays home...he left for a flight early this morning) : ( Silly pilot jobs! Our joke is that when the weather is good, I fly, and when it's not, Chris flies. A little backwards-eh?!

Airplane Bone Yard

PS: this is Robin...i'm having technical difficulty signing in to my account...so i'm logged in under chris tonight!

Any who...

Today Chris flew with a student of mine to help prep them for their check ride. I, on the other hand, played hookie at the airport. While we were on our way there this morning, I got a call from a gentleman who has an airplane out at the airport and offered for me to tag along for a short afternoon hop over to Ottawa, KS. DUH! of course I want to go!

So we went down there and chatted with a few friends of his about some light business...looking at a few airplane parts...etc. It was my first time to what I call an airplane graveyard...aka bone yard. WOW. I never wanted to get in an accident or anything...but after today, it REALLY emphasizes to me why that is. There were about 2,000 smashed (or of remaining fuselages) there. They sell parts of airplanes there.

I was trying to imagine all the hard work and time that went into each beloved airplane....the engineering, the electronics...and now they are just a bunch of tin cans rusting away in the sun. wow. I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Have you ever watched Star Wars...that episode where they go to the junk yard for cars to find something to race in....? And the junk dealer sells them that old junky car that they end up winning in? (did I get that all right?!) Anywho...that's how I felt when we were driving around all the old planes in the junk yard...only I wasn't looking to buy one to race in...maybe another day young jedi! jk.

cheerio,
Robin

Our First Garden

So, my thumbs aren't exactly green, but I have 2 of them...so Chris and I decided to grow a garden. Note I said we decided to grow a garden....whether it grows or not is another story! Here are a few pix of the beginnings of it:





And, once again, below is my latest hair do:



what do ya think?!

Mother's Day and K-State Salina's Graduation

Today is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to ALL mothers! At church this morning, there was a mother who spoke about what it means to be a mom. It was special because she was a mother of 2 of her own, and 4 foster/adopted children. I thought that was pretty inspiring. She talked about how her mother was nurturing and also a little about her life as a mother, taking care of her own children. This all made me think about my mother and family. How blessed I am to have such a wonderful mom and family to grow up in. Additionally, I thought of Chris' mom, and all that she does to keep the town of Leoti running (: ). Thanks Moms-we love you!

Yesterday Chris and I were in Salina for graduation. It was great seeing everyone again. We went to a BBQ and saw friends of mine and their family. We also had time to drop by and see a couple of Chris Phi Delt Brothers. It was really great to spend time with the gang again.

Lastly, when we got home last night, I was online just catching up on a few things before crawled into bed. The Yahoo News brought up a clip of Bush's Daughter getting married. I have to wonder...his son-in-law must be one heck of a guy...I mean seriously-can you imagine your father in law being president?! No pressure, dude! Chis promised me that he wouldn't be president...b/c I told him I didn't want to be the first lady...but then again...what an honor that would be. I can't imagine always having the Secret Service, etc. following you around, etc. And, not to mention....what if I just wanted to order out...you know-a pizza or something....what's the man to do?! lol. Well, Mr. President, congrats on the new family.

Thank You Cards

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a career day presentation to some middle school kids near where I work. (I know! Me--have a career?! I thought they just paid me to play in airplanes all day!~)

On Tuesday of this past week, a teacher from that school came to drop off some thank you cards for me at work. The envelope was addressed to "Mrs. Laws" (tee hee. still getting used to the "MRS") I thanked her and opened the envelope to read nice cards, mainly addressed to Mrs. Laws. There were a couple that caught my eye. One, in particular, my personal favorite said:

Cover:Thank you! Mrs. Law!
Inside:
You really ispired me to fly (too bad I can't spell)! I can't wait until I can.
~Jack

Well Jack, Thank you for putting a smile on my face. I have to admit, sometimes I can't spell either....and those who know Chris---well, let's just say he can spell my name correctly. (Love ya darlin!) But what rule book says that spelling is a requirement, right?!

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Today I picked up Paul from the international airport. He has just completed his 1st year of college. I'm proud of him! He is getting ready for an internship in the Chicago area, starting around the 1st of June.

Tomorrow is Salina's Graduation, so Chris and I are heading back to S-town for that. I'm excited b/c I get to see Karen and Erik too! Double bonus!

Cheerio!

Weather and a New Car

Over the past couple of weeks, it seems like our lives rotate like the weather-one day it's sunny and both of us are flying-and the next day it's thunderstorms and we're hanging out at the house--well, actually-usually Chris still has to fly-and I work on my quilt at home.

Chris has been across the country last week-for both work and fun. He and his dad went to Illinois last weekend for some church stuff, and I think they all had a good time. They got to see Larry and some other church friends-and I know they always enjoy that time together. It was nice to see the in-LAWS...tee hee...get it...lol. Laws...in-laws...lol. That cracks me up every time. ahem...but yes, it was nice seeing Carol and Terry.

Last night a tornado came through the KC area. It hit just north of where we live. We are very VERY fortunate. The weather moved in around 7-8 pm and was on and off all night. We both woke up around 1:30 or 2am and heard the storm passing, but little did we know that there was a tornado just a few miles north of us. Thank the Lord that we are safe. I don't know the extent of the damage up north, but we hope that everyone is doing ok, so please say some prayers for those affected by the tornado.

Work is picking up for me as the weather gets better-so if I keep up at the rate I'm going, I might actually pass Chris up in flight time in the next year....well...probably not-but it's a nice thought : )

OH....of course, the most exciting news today:
We bought a new car-well, not brand new, but slightly used. (Just under 4,000 miles!!! yay for us!) We are super excited b/c it gets great mileage and then we can sell our other car-the nissan.

It is depicted below:

Baseball Game and Friends Visiting

Last week, Jeremy and his girlfriend Ashley came to visit us. We were glad to have them in town for a day, as well as get to go watch some baseball. Go Royals! (Jeremy and Ashley, of course were rooting for the Yankees)We watched 2 games-one on Weds then on Thurs. Each team won a game. We posed for a photo:




Below are our friends, Andy and Mary with their lil bundle of joy: Andy Jr. aka Little Andy.




And of COURSE CHRIS had to hold the baby. (He joked that they couldn't come over unless the brought little Andy! lol.)

Picture with Chris and baby Andy:



Oh, and about 1 second after we took this photo, lil Andy started crying-I think I scared him with the flash! oops! : )

Close, but no cigar

Last night I received a phone call from a student who asked me if we could fly to San Antonio for the KU game today. So I checked on the airplane requested, but it was already being used : ( so we weren't going to be able to go. This morning Chris got a call from work, saying that he was on a trip to San Antonio! How cool would that have been for us to both fly there, and hang out in the pilot lounge, watch the game, and then fly back. Well, not nearly as cool as getting to go to the game, but ya get the point.

So, I called the student back this morning to see if he still had the tickets-but he had sold them : ( And the airplane we were going to take came back early-so we could have gone! I guess it was just not meant to be--BUT it would have been awesome!

Maybe some day it will work out that we both get to fly the same place-but just not today. So tonight I'll be watching the game at home. Although, I'm not jealous that he won't get home until like 2am. Ya win some and ya lose some.

Have a great day!

Our First Visit to a Casino

This evening, we decided to go and try our hand at some slot machines-and see what the buzz is all about for those casino's. I have to admit that I was a bit taken back when we first walked in. There were so many lights and so much smoke, I felt like I needed to call tower and get a clearance to come in for a landing amidst the clouds of fog.

Despite the atmosphere and lots of people, we weaseled our way across the floor. I think Chris won a few times at the 1 cent machines-I even won a whole $1!!! woo-hoo! I wouldn't call us pro's, but it was a fun time and we enjoyed getting out on the town.

Before we left, I wanted to try a turn at roulettes. I ran the roulette table at the K-State Salina 2007 poker night a year ago and had a blast, but had never played myself. So, we scoped out the tables. We found one for $10 a play-but I didn't think that my luck was THAT good. So then Chris spotted one for $2.50 a play. I thought that might be a good place for me to start. It was an electronic hub of computer-type machines huddled around a big wheel. We could input our bets on our own screens under a 30 second timer, then the wheel would spin and we would see if we had won anything. I was slow to catch on to exactly what was happening with the timer and how they did the betting-but Chris helped me and we won a whoppin $8! But that pretty much evened us out for the evening.

I enjoyed the roulette table the most, but I think Chris could have cared less either way. Overall, it was a fun way to spend a Friday evening. Watch out Vegas! Oh, wait...just kidding!

Phi Delt Event Tonight

The Picture Above I meant to post on Easter Sunday-but I forgot until today that I was going to post it...so here it is! Don't we look nice?


Also, this evening, Chris is going to a Phi Delta Theta event here in the KC area. He got all dressed up and I think he looks sharp. So, like a good wife : ) I had to take a picture of the hansom chap!



I just had to show off his pin and shnazzy tie!



So I'm chillin at home this evening and enjoying hanging out.

It's Wednesday ALREADY?!?

This week seems to have passed without me even blinking! Where did it go?!

Monday Chris flew to Chicago for work and I sat at home on a rainy, stormy day. The difference with Chris and my flying is that, pretty much, no matter what the weather is, he goes. If it's a rainy, thunderstormy day-I don't...and I get to sleep in! However, I did have to teach a class that evening, so I didn't get the day off completely.

At the airport I work at, OJC (Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, KS), we just began a Commercial Ground School course 2 times a week. I got to kick it all off this past Monday evening by teaching "Basic Aerodynamics." Ok-so don't think I'm THAT ingenious...I presented a power point and went over basic flight principles, as well as other factors that the students will have to know in real life and for the written exam as a commercial pilot. I have to admit, I think it went pretty well-I'm a BIG KID!-well, kinda... : ) That is the only lesson I have to teach right now, so I'm off for awhile, as the instructors are taking turns teaching different subjects. Chris, as busy as he is hanging out at the house, even jumped and said he was interested in teaching a week. He's going to cover some airport operations and airspace. This is good for him because it gives him a chance to get out of the house and also have something to do while he is at home : )

Also, he had a dentist appointment today. I don't think I have ever seen anyone so excited about going to the dentist...but maybe that is because every time I go...I get bad news...oh-you have 1,5678943467 cavities...ok, maybe that is a bit excessive...; ) But after going through dental work since like 5th grade-and ironically having a dental assistant as a room mate my freshman year in college, I'm never too keen to jump at the opportunity to go visit anyone who wants to put their fingers in my mouth or drill on my teeth. (not to say I don't like dentists...just as long as they aren't numbing my mouth and putting sharp object down my throat) They are great people, but I have had to see them WAY too much in the past several years.

However, Chris came home with a smile, and blindingly white teeth (he hadn't been able to go for a long time) The humerous part to me is that they said the plaque build up, etc is mainly from things that can stain your teeth like tea, soda, and coffee, etc. I thought-Like HE needs coffee...right! tee hee.

Well, I hope you all have had a fantastic week!!!