Daily Routines

Since we have been settled for a few weeks now, we are starting to fall into a daily routine, and I wanted to give an update on what we've been doing! I also wanted to keep ya'll informed about Alex's upcoming schedule. (I still feel like using ya'll is not proper for a born and raised Oregonian, but I'm warming up to it!)
Monday-Friday Alex gets up at 5:00 am to do PT, comes home and showers and we eat breakfast and have our coffee before he has to leave. Some days he is able to come home for lunch, but we still just have one car so Alex has been car pooling with his friends from WOCS, Dave Reynolds. Alex is usually done around 5:00 pm, comes home, studies and then we eat dinner, and are usually able to watch an episode of "Prison Break" together.
This particular week we had friends over for dinner 3 nights, which was a lot of fun for me since I love cooking and company!  I made taco soup one night with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for desert, lemon and garlic roast chicken, bacon parmesan roasted red potatoes and fresh green beans (with apple dumplings for desert) the second night and then the third night I went all out since there were 7 of us and we had shrimp crostini for appetizers, eggplant parmesan, garlic cheese bread, salad and "better than sex cake" for desert.

This weekend was spent car shopping (which has been unsuccessful) and we also experienced our first real live "tornado warning" and Southern storm! We went to Church, and in the middle of the service we were all ushered into the hallways because the sirens were going off alerting everyone to find shelter. It poured and poured with big bolts of thunder and lightning! Very exciting.  This was also our second week at this particular church and we both have really enjoyed it so far.
With Alex gone most of the day, I fill my days with cooking, laundry, reading, cleaning, grocery shopping and basic errands. I also had the chance this week to hang out at the pool with other wives, and had a nice skype-coffee date with Ginny from back home, which was great! Two books I have been reading that I recommend are "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer, which I am reading with Ginny and is absolutely great! I also started "From Black heels to Tractor wheels" by Ree Drummond, one of my favorite chefs to get recipes from, it's her story of how she met and fell in love with her husband, her style of writing is hilarious:) I am looking forward to getting involved in volunteering and Bible studies while we're here in Alabama:)
Alex is about half way through BOLC, which stands for Basic Officer Leadership Course, which goes from May 24-July 19. This is the easiest part of Flight School where it is basically classroom learning, and is almost like a 9-5 job. Advice I have gotten from other wives is to enjoy this time, because many of the wives refer to themselves as "widows" during the rest of Flight School. After BOLC is SERE school,(stands for Survive, Evade, Resist and Escape) where Alex will be gone for 3 week, no phone, no communication, etc. We do not have exact dates for this, nor is he allowed to talk about what "training" is like, I have only been told by his instructors is that he will come home bruised, and he will be beat :( but they are not allowed to break bones (comforting, huh?!) but by the end of this training, he will be better prepared if he is captured and tortured in real life. After SERE, Alex will begin the fun part of flight school, where he will actually beginning to train to fly helicopters!
We both love and miss our families very much! Can't wait for visitors!
This recipe might seem a little weird, but it is melt in your mouth good! It is probably the most unhealthy desert out there, but it is worth it every once in a while!


Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples
• 2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• 1 can

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.
Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Um. Yum.