Aleks and Amy

Dining Room makeover...

2011-11-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

These past couple weeks I've been busy during "nap time" painting our dining room and making this cool faux capiz shell chandelier. I got the idea from this DIY blog. To sum it up, I cut out hundreds of circles from ironed together sheets of wax paper, sewed them together, and strung them over an upside down hanging planter basket. Then I attached it to the existing fixture. I wish I could say it was a quick and easy fix, but it took me a REALLY long time. So long that I'm a little embarrased i got so wrapped up in a craft project. :) Probably wont be the last time.

Planking

2011-11-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Rex is so close to crawling, its so cute watching him try. The best part is when he ends up in a plank position and just holds it for a second! Getting a head start on those 6-pack abs!

The last 3 months in pictures...

2011-11-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

My little brother (not so little- the tallest in the picture!), Alan, got home from his 2 year mission in Mendoza, Argentina!

After a long hike on my parents beautiful property in Colorado.

Getting lots of love from Granna!

Rex beside a picture of Aleks at his Grandma and Granpa Layne's home in Nashville

First tooth when he was 5 months, 1.5 weeks old (2nd came in a week later)

The Pantheon at Nashville with the Laynes!

Trunk-or-Treat with his Church buddies!

2011-10-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

I just have to brag about my husband for a second...
This man is a stud. He spends most of his waking hours preping for and then piloting the MC-12 in 6-7 hr, intense night missions that help save so many lives of troops on the ground and save an unknown number of people from known terrorist insurgents. Everytime I talk to him and hear about his recent missions I am in awe of the impact he has everyday on so many lives. He is a modern day superhero. This job could stand alone in proving my point.

But on top of that he wakes up early to work on two online courses for his MBA, which takes him twice as long as it should because the internet connection is slow. He often brings his textbooks with him on the plane to read during the flight out and back from the mission location.

Plus, he somehow finds time to stick to his "Body for Wife" program and gets over to the gym nearly everyday. So in summary, he fights bad guys, is really smart, and looks good doing it!

And when his day is done and his body is probably just screaming at him to go to sleep, he pulls out his laptop, calls me on Skype, and listens to my day with Rex with a big smile on his face.

Who could ask for a better man? Rex has an amazing father and I have an amazing husband. I hope we will both always appreciate what he does for us and for our country.

We ARE Christians!!!

2011-10-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

“We ought to be able to say a Christian in office is better than a non-Christian in office."
Robert Jeffress, speaking of Perry vs Romney

Really?!! Did you REALLY just say that?!?

With Mitt Romney running for president for 2012, I find myself once again frustrated with how our faith is portrayed. Like Mitt Romney, I am a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (mormon). Did everyone catch that? "JESUS CHRIST". Besides the fact that is part of our church's official name, how can anyone say we are not Christian? If you know anything about our faith, it is that Christ is the cornerstone of our faith and through the study of his life, the model for how we ought to live our lives. Just go to one of our Sunday services and tell me we do not worship and follow Christ! I would like to give people like this Robert Jeffress the benefit of the doubt but there really is just no excuse for ignorance in this case. What started all this was him calling the church a cult. What? Again, I just really have no idea how people arrive at these contrived and completely false statements. And while I usually love FoxNews, I am equally appalled that there is no rebuttal to Jeffress' statement reported in the article.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/08/romneys-mormon-faith-is-thrust-into-campaign-spotlight/#content

Best food EVER!

2011-10-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

One of my best friend's parents are in town vacationing and they are good friends of the head chef and owner of this AMAZING restaurant, Fat Hen. I met them there for dinner last night and it was possibly the best food i have ever had! This chef is a genius- its a unique combination of French cooking with a Southern twist using only local produce around Charleston. I've been trying to plan a really nice date for when Aleks gets home, and this will definitely be part of the plan!

http://www.thefathen.com/

A few of Rex's favorite things...

2011-10-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Rex's 5 month(ish) photos

2011-10-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is trying to get started in photography and asked to "practice" on Rex. Ugh, YES PLEASE! He was trying to chew on her fluffy blankets the whole time, but occasiannly he'd actually look at her and get a good picture!

Sunday Best

2011-08-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

3 Months Old!

2011-07-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, Rex was 3 months old yesterday! Here's a little bit about our big boy:

Weighs about 14 lbs 4 oz
About 25 in long
Usually wakes up only once/night
Holds his head up really well on his belly and is starting to actually enjoy tummy time
Rolls over from belly to back frequently
Almost can roll over from back to belly
Smiles alot!
Squeals and giggles when his legs, belly or cheeks get tickled!
Loves to try to stand
Likes watching me cook while sitting in his Bimpo
Loves watching and talking to himself in the mirror.
Hates when I try to cuddle him to sleep for naps. :(
Loves bath time
Chews on anything he can grab

He seems to be changing so fast, sometimes I wish he would never grow up but then I get excited to see what he'll learn to do next! What I've found pretty interesting, though, is how much our house has seemed to change. I feel like since he has joined our family, I can feel the Spirit in our home more frequently and he brings this special happiness and peace with him. He really has this gift for making me happy when he shoots me one of his cheesy grins! We love you, Rex!

Terri Family Reunion

2011-07-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

Rex and I had a blast at the Terri Family Reunion (my mother-in-law's family) in London, Canada. We packed alot into 5 days- going to the "beach" on Lake Huron, karaoke/talent show night, 85th Bday party for Vanaemame (Grandma in Estonian) Terri, exploring historic sites of London, and a lot of enjoying the A/C and chatting (they had record highs while we where there!). Here are a few pictures and videos!

This was hilarious!! The only thing better was their syncronized swimming routine in the hotel pool! :)

Spouse Appreciation Day (A.K.A Make-Us-Jealous-of-Our-Husbands Day!)

2011-07-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Charleston AFB Ops group put on a "Spouse Appreciation Day" which included a C-17 flight and BBQ lunch. This was one of the coolest things I've ever done! We got to wear our husband's flight suits (I had to roll up the sleeves and legs ALOT!) and we even got our own name patches. During the flight they opened up the back and we could see all of Charleston. It was amazing to see how powerful this plane is! I'm definitely a little jealous of Aleks's job now.

Our "flight attendant" which we though was kinda funny.

The photographer sat on the back door taking picture of the C-17 flying in formation behind us. Don't worry, his tether didnt reach past the edge!

A short clip when we flew over the Ravenal Bridge in Charleston.

Rex videos

2011-07-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Poor kid, I just push him to his limit! :)

He definitly didnt inherit those fast-twitch muscles from me! Looks more like a 100 M sprinter than a cross-country runner, Aleks will be happy! :)

Random pics

2011-07-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have to give him credit, holding your head up like this for more than a few seconds is tough!

Sporting his puppy bath robe, he wasn't as excited about it as I was!

After a hard days work at the pool. I LOVE this little boy!!!

The adventures of Rex and Amy...

2011-07-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

So everyone seems to ask me "Are you lonely sitting at home all day with nothing to do?" or something like that and I kinda laugh because thats not at all what happens! Rex and I have been out exploring our new home town of Charleston and there is soooo much to do! In fact, sometimes I feel a little guilty when I Skype with Aleks and tell him about all the fun we are having while he is gone. (Sorry Aleks!) We'll just have to go back and do it all over again when he gets back, which will be even better. Here are a couple shots of our latest excursions...

South Carolina Aquarium (downtown Charleston)

This sea turtle kept checking us out at the glass

I have a feeling this picture is foretelling of Rex's reaction to anything remotely "educational" I try to do with him as he grows up!

Trip to Austin for Corbin's Wedding

Hanging out with Gr'nna in Austin!

Eating some good Texas BBQ in Austin with old high school friends!

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
This was seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

Yep, bored to sleep once again!

Ok, so I guess I had a lot of fun. Now that I look at all my pictures Rex is either asleep or yawning! To wrap up the summer we still have two trips planned- one to Canada for the Terri Family Reunion (Aleks's mom's family) and then to Colorado to be with my family when Alan gets back from his mission in August. I can't wait to see my little (or not so little!) brother after 2 years!!!

Seashells by the seashore...

2011-06-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I should have cut the bottom of the board off before doing the painting (there are two holes in it from a previous project). Oh well, I'll just have to be careful! :)

Rex's First Plane Ride

2011-06-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

I went to Austin this past weekend with Rex to my friend, Corbin's wedding. It was so fun to see her and my other friends from high school! I was really nervous about him flying and his ears hurting, but if they did, he slept through it! Unfortunately he never got his own seat since the flights were completely booked, but he enjoyed a few minutes getting to stretch his legs before everyone else boarded!

Sullivan's Island painting

2011-06-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ready to start another one! :)

Rex Rolling Over!

2011-06-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

Rex's first time rolling over (please just put this on mute, my "baby talk" will really get anoying after a couple seconds! :)

Awesome Day

2011-06-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

Got up this morning around 6 and me and Rex headed to the beach for an early morning jog on the hard sand. Then I set up my easel and painted for a couple hours as he slept. What an awesome morning!

The walkway out to Sullivan's Island. These houses on the coast are amazing, I'm jealous!

The setting for my painting (which is not done yet)... A guy walked up to me and asked if I'd be back later that week to sell it! This might be my new Saturday job! :)

And of course getting to play with this cutey and watch him sleep is the icing on the cake!

I have no idea what this face means, but it he's being doing it alot and it makes me laugh every time!

I dare you not to smile when you look at this picture...

2011-06-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I couldn't help smiling too! He loves his bath time and was so smiley during and after!

Bittersweet week

2011-06-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

First the good news ...we still have the most adorable baby in the world! :) That and we made it back to Charleston and were able to spend some time with Aleks' parents and brother Jon who came to visit. We spent most of the time enjoying the beach, including surfing. As an early b-day present to Aleks we bought a couple surfboards and although the waves wern't great, it was still a blast! Rex is officially a beach bum, he seemed to enjoy the nice warm breeze as much as we did!

Rex is 4 weeks and 4 days old today, and weighs around 10 lb 3 oz.

The ocean sounds and breeze put him right to sleep!

Aleks trying to imitate Rex's fascination with lights!

After a hard days work! :)

Second, the not so good news- Aleks has officially started his 6+ month deployment to Afghanistan. We often included service members in our evening prayers together, but now that means so much more! It was so hard to see him go, even more sad to watch him have to kiss his baby boy goodbye. Please, to all who read this, keep him in your prayers that he will return safe to us will be comforted while seperated from his home and family! Thank goodness for technology that lets me talk to him and even see him regularly! Now I'm just crossing my fingers that he makes it home for Christmas.

I'm also grateful to Aleks for enabling me to not have to work so I can stay home with Rex. He is such a sweet boy and its amazing to watch him take in every new thing and you can just see in his eyes he is learning something new. He is getting even better at those adorable smiles and occasionally throws in a little "coo" just to get me laughing. I can't imagine our family without him!

Three Weeks Old

2011-05-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Rex loved his first bath which was kinda getto and in the the sink with him laid on top of a folded up towel!

Its hard to resit kissing those adorable cheeks while he sleeps!

Every now and then he breaks into a smile- Aleks taught him that trick!

Rex's Blessing

2011-05-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Aleks was able to bless Rex during church this past Sunday (May 8th, Mother's Day). It was a beautiful blessing made even sweeter by so many of our family in attendance! We love you Rex!

Rex William Layne

2011-05-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to finally announce the birth of our son, Rex William Layne. He was born on Saturday, April 30 at 10 PM, weighing 7 lb 9 oz, 20 in long and with some big bright eyes ready to see his ecstatic parents! I know we are biased, but I think he is the cutest baby ever- he has a cute little button nose and barely-there blond fuzz for hair. Here is a quick summary of his birthday...

First, a little background info. We are in Mississippi right now for Aleks's training. Since Aleks will be deploying soon and he wanted to apply for an MBA program before he left, he needed to take the GMAT here. We had to schedule his test for Saturday morning at the MSU campus about 1.5 hrs away from where we live in Meridian. Well, at 4 am Saturday morning, just two hours before we needed to start driving up to MSU, I started having contractions- not terribly strong, but definitely regular. I decided to go on as normal and I drove up with Aleks, hospital bag packed in the back just in case. All during his 4 hr test I was just praying they'd not get any closer together, and thankfully they didnt. After a successful test, Aleks drove us back to Meridian and we decided to go into the hospital at about 3:30 pm and found out I was 6 cm dilated. At about 9 pm I was 8 so they broke my water and that really got things going! Less than an hour later Rex was born and i can't even explain the happines Aleks and I felt! It was the most incredible experience and I'm so happy Aleks was here so we could share it together.

Aleks and I still can't stop staring at Rex, he is so precious and its like looking at a little piece of heaven! Aleks is trying to soak up every minute with his new son that he can- he will likely be deploying from here in jsut a matter of weeks!

Our mobile life...

2011-03-29T08:35:00.001-07:00

These last few weeks have been crazy!!! I think I've been in 8 different states in just a few weeks if you count all our drivng and everything! Our family has been such a huge help getting us moved from Enid to Charleston- my mom even helped me make the drive since Aleks was already gone for training. Right now we are in Meridian, Mississippi where Aleks has started his MC-12 training and we expect to be here till he deploys sometime in the beginning of May. We are still just crossing our fingers that our baby boy comes before that (his dues date is May 1st!). I had an ultrasound yesterday with my new doc here and i predict this little guy is going to be huge! I can already see those chubby cheeks coming in!

We got here last week after moving into our new place in Charleston, SC. It is soooo pretty there and we love our house and the base and all the fun things to do and see in the area. We only had a couple weeks there and a bulk of that was spent unpacking but we did manage to do some sight seeing and relaxing with Aleks' parents and little brother. Aleks' favorite part? Definitely the golf course on base, with the 15th hole in our backyard!

Aleks' dad and mom were able to help me get the crib set up in the baby's room! I cant wait to use it when I go back to Charleston!

Just as we were getting settled, we started packing again to come to Mississippi! We've been in a hotel for the past week but look forward to moving into a furnished apt tomorrow. Now I'm just counting down the final weeks till our baby boy is born!! Ahh, I can't wait!! :)

Crib Update

2011-02-19T17:13:00.000-08:00

The crib is almost done! I feel like I've been saying that forever now, but this time its for real! I got it all fit together for the first time today and now I just have a ton of sanding and then staining left. I'm so excited to be able to put our little baby boy in this in 2 1/2 months!! :) I hope he likes it!

Getting bigger everyday!

2011-02-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

A pic of me about two weeks ago (26 weeks pregnant)! I cant believe I still have nearly 3 months to go!!!

Crib Project

2010-12-08T19:46:00.001-08:00

Shortly after we found out i was pregnant, I decided to make use of our amazing woodworking shop on base and build a crib! I checked out a few plans online, checked all the regulations on dimensions, and then started sketching out some plans. Sadly that was like 3 months ago and I've still got a lot of work left on it but its been really fun to work on it a few hours every weekend. Here are some pictures of my slow-but-steady progress...

Bringing home the first load of oak to start making the posts.

Planing and gluing to make the posts, and rails.

Making the tenion joints to fit into the mortise on the side posts.

Aleks saving the day (and my aching hands!) and finishing out the mortises on the posts.

The "headboard" and "footboard" minus the slats...

New Things to come..

2010-12-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

To start all this I need to go back a few weeks ...

As I mentioned in the previous post, Aleks's "Assignment night" was Nov 5, two weeks before he technically graduated. He and I had filled out a "Dream Sheet", ranking all the available assignments in our order of preference. I had never seen Aleks as nervous as he was in the minutes before they called his name! But all his and my worrying was pointless when they gave him the assignment he had listed first: flying the MC-12 (a reconnaissance/ surveillance plane) for a 6 month tour in Afghanistan and then moving on to the C-17 (huge cargo plane) in Charleston, SC!! We were both shocked and so excited, to be able to have the MC-12 tour is an amazing opportunity for his career. And then to be able to live in Charleston, we couldn't be happier!! My parents came out to witness the whole event and then came back two weeks later for the official graduation ceremony, along with Aleks's parents, his younger brother Jon, and my Aunt Angela and cousin Glen. It was so nice to have all the support and celebrate this huge accomplishment for Aleks. This past year has been extremely demanding on him and he has put in so many hours. Its great to be able to look back and see how his hard work has paid off!

As happy as that has made us, what makes us even more excited is that we will be welcoming a little baby boy into our family in about 4.5 more months! Thats right, I'm pregnant! We are so thrilled and can't wait for this little guy to be born!! So far everything has gone normally and besides a few weeks of feeling a little crummy I am loving it. This past Wednesday I went in for the ultrasound to screen for abnormalities and determine the sex. He looks healthy and is arleady moving around a lot! Unfortunatly Aleks had left days earlier for a three-week Survival Training course in Washington and couldn't be there. My mom, who came to fill in for him for a few days, was able to come with me. It was amazing to see him and I'm already in love! His due date is April 29. And for those who follow my older sister Lori's blog you'll notice thats only one day before their third is due!! Crazy timing!!

So with those two new things to look forward to, we are now scrambling to figure out when we are moving and when Aleks's 6 month deployment starts! Obviously we are praying that its after our baby boy comes or that they will let Aleks come home for a week or so for the delivery. I just barely told my boss all this and I still left it pretty open ended as to when my last day will be, which gratefully he is very understanding of. But so far here is our crazy schedule...

Nov 29- Dec 18: Aleks at Survival training at Fairchild AFB, Washington
Jan 6-9: Aleks at Emergency Parachute Training at Fairchild AFB
Jan 9-14: Aleks at Water Survival Training, Pensacola, FL
Jan 18: Our tenative report date for Charleston, SC (we are trying to get this moved back at least a week!)
1st week of February-2nd week of March: Probably when Aleks goes to MC-12 training in Georgia and Mississippi.
???: When he leaves for his 6 month tour flying the MC-12 in Afghanistan
April 29: Baby Layne due! :)

Lots of stuff to still figure out, but we are really happy and grateful to Heavenly Father for the rich blessings he has given us! I know Aleks's career in the Air Force won't always be easy, but I trust that God is directing our path and will provide the comfort we both need when we are apart. And to be given the gift of bringing a child into this world and being parents, nothing could be more exciting and humbling! I'm especially grateful Aleks and I have two amazing sets of parents we can emulate, not to mention our siblings who are all great parents to our nieces and nephews.

Almost Done...

2010-09-24T16:08:00.001-07:00

So Aleks has three flights left till his last check ride!!! AND he officially graduates November 19! The "drop night," when he finds out what plane he'll be assigned to, is two weeks before that. Thats in like, 6 weeks!!!

This year has flown by so fast, and now that he's almost done, we are both just itching to see where we'll end up next! I think I kinda like the not knowing part, it makes it feel more exciting and adventurous. PLus, we can't wait for the day when Aleks can come home from work and actually relax for more than 5 minutes! Well, that may not last too long, but it will still be a nice break for him!

Girls Camp

2010-09-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

Where do I start... Well, I was one of our YW leaders at Girls Camp this year and I'll just say camp is much more fun as a leader than how I remember it as a camper (it helped that i still look like a camper but can claim my "authority" when needed!) All the girls had a blast, and it was especially fun getting to have our whole ward (minus the older girls who were Junior leaders) in one cabin. it made for some crazy nights, especially the last one when we went and did pranks and took the new girls out for some snipe hunting! They had a lot of fun activities going on, from rafting, canoeing, and of course just the random games and skits. I taught them how to play "Little Sally Walker" and i think they played that for an hour straight! it was a big hit, even the priesthood leaders got in on it and busted a move or two! Too bad i don't have pics of that...

You know camp was a sucess when the girls can't stay awake on the ride back, sleep for 14 hr straight once home, and they are falling asleep during your lesson the next day during church! :)

Aleks B-day

2010-09-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

For Aleks 25th birthday we didn't have lots of time to celebrate but I got some free tickets through work to go to an arena football game in Tulsa. I'd been to an arena game once before a long time ago but Aleks had never been. We got to sit really close so it made it even more exciting! Aleks loved it.

The Conran visit!

2010-09-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Even though this was back in May, I have to put these pictures up b/c my nephews are the cutest little boys ever!! We moved into a renovated house on base and Lori and Matt plus Taylor and Brayden came down for a visit to help us move. Having them help was amazing and it went way quicker than I could have imagined! We got some time to play in the sprinkler after the hard work!

Yep, still here...

2010-09-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

So this is a lame excuse but I couldn't find our camera charger and without it I couldn't get any of our pictures off! I finally sucked it up and bought a new charger so here goes a long stream of catch-up posts...

First Cake Job!

2010-04-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

My first real cake job! A lady at church asked me to make it for her husband's promotion tomorrow.

And yes, it is almost 2 am!! Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator!

By the way, I think I have spelled "congratulations" with a "d", not "t", all my life. Luckily I double checked the spelling before I wrote it on the cake! :)

2010-03-12T19:47:00.001-08:00

Seedlings for my garden,... think they might need more sun?! :) Streeeeetcchhh!!!

Oklahoma Is Beautiful!

2010-03-12T19:11:00.001-08:00

I dont care what other people say, I think Oklahoma is beautiful! There is something about farmland that is so peaceful while still being breathtaking to me. I Love It!

Mustache March

2010-03-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

Its "mustache march" and Im already tired of getting poked in the upper lip anytime I get a kiss! Yep, another Air Force tradition apparently and there is some story behind it but not cool enough to get me into it. Plus my husband looks like a pedaphile, along with about half of the other guys here on base. Aleks actually isnt so bad, poor guy just has a baby face and it doesn't grow that fast!! This was about 1.5 weeks in. Oh I'm ready for April.

The 10 hr (+) Cake

2010-03-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

Our ward had our Young Women's New Beginnings and while we were planning it, someone mentioned making sure we had enough money in our budget for a cake. You see, they were all smart and realized it would take way too much time to make a huge cake for 80+ people and make it fit our "2010 Olympics" theme. Me on the other hand, naive and not even the owner of a cake decorating/ piping set, volunteered to make it, promising 3-D Olympic rings and Young Womens torch.

I probably didnt need to spend so much time doing it but I got so into it I spent practically a whole Saturday making this thing! I made a vanilla cake with raspberry filling and butter cream then fondant icing. It was my first time making fondant and i couldn't believe how easy it was! Here's the recipe: http://candy.about.com/od/fondantcandyrecipes/r/mm_fondant.htm. Its a little weird cause you use marshmallows but it tasted really good. I also tried my hand at pastillage, another sugar Playdo-for-grown-ups and used that for the torch- worked out OK but cracked a bit, but since it dries so hard, you can "paint" it with diluted food coloring. So here was the finished product:
The nice thing about the fondant was that it just seals in the cake so when we ate it 3 days later, it was so moist! I think next time I'll coerce one of the girls into helping me as a personal progress project or something!!!

2010-03-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

So funny/sad story...

Everyone at the office today got an email about this guy at work having a heart attack last night. I dont know him that well so I asked one of his "buddies" how he was doing. His response:

"Well, we were all a little shocked- we didn't think he had a heart! ...But don't worry, he's too mean to die!"

Alrighty then, sorry I asked! :)

He came back later to make sure I knew he was teasing, I must have looked pretty uncomfortable!

I Love Enid YW!

2010-02-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

I love working with the Young Women's program here in Enid! These girls are seriously so talented, beautiful, and strong in the gospel. As a Miamaid teacher (14-15 yr olds) I am blown away every Sunday by their personal stories they share, they have been such a testimony-builder for me. I chaperoned their "mormon prom" dance a few weekends ago and it was awesome to see how outgoing and friendly they all are! Don't they just look like the coolest people in the world? I sure think so...

Aleks' SOLO!

2010-02-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

Aleks got to do his first solo in the T-6 a few weeks ago and I was able to go out on the flight line a watch! After seeing him study every waking hour it was so nice to see his hard work pay off- the flight went great and he loved it!

He went up with his IP first to get check out (or cussed out, depending on who you ask...)

His IP cleared him to go and punched (literally) his own name patch on Aleks, kind of symbolizing that he was taking responsibilty for the flight. I thought, well thats great, now he has to fly with one sore arm! Aleks was all smiles though!

So he taxied out, and made a few laps and touch-and-gos in the pattern all on his own! My little baby is growing up! :) haha!!

When he got back his whole class was waiting to escort him back...

..and then dump him in freezing water as part of the tradition, and I'm not exagerating the freezing part- 10 min earlier they went out to break up the ice and scoop it out!

I'm so proud of Aleks, he is doing well and has such a good attitude through it all. He has been so dedicated and driven to be the best he can and its been amazing to see how much he has progressed in such a short time! Just 9 more months to go, honey!!

Golfing

2010-02-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

I've learned alot of new things about the culture of the Air Force over the past yr and all their crazy traditions- from dunking new pilots in tanks of water to decorating dollar bills for a "dollar ride." I haven't been a fan of all of them (especially the ones that involve excesive alchohol consumpiton) but one that we decided to embrace is golf. I have to admit I think watching paint dry is more entertaining than watching golf but at Aleks' insistence that I try it, I realized it was actually really fun! Before I knew it Aleks had bought me a set of clubs and when it was warm and he hadn't started pilot trainng yet, we'd go to the 50cent-a-bucket driving range on base about every other day and play a game everyother weekend! We are both pretty bad (especially me) buit was fun trying to learn something new. My parents came down last yr for a few days and we took them to play a round at the local course. Here are some approximate stats for the game:

Number of lost balls: 15+ (not including the ones my dad "found" conveniently close to the fairway)
Average number of tee-offs per hole: 10 (And you thought it would be just one per person! )
Number of clubs thrown in anger: 3
Number of tips given to Mom to improve her swing: too many to count
Number of tips actually used by mom to improve her swing: 0
Number of hits that went uncounted: 0 according to my dad, too many to count according to the rest of us!

Well, although I prompty burned the scorecard when we got home we still had a lot of fun.

Catching Up...

2010-02-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here comes a flurry of "catch-up" posts b/c I realized as I finally uploaded all our pictures alot has happened I never even mentioned!

Haiti Earthquake Relief

2010-01-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

Our homepage is set on Fox News (Aleks' doing) so latley, each time I've gotten on the internet I've read about the growing death count and number of those left homeless, relatives and loved ones still buried under the debri, and the chaos and hopelessness they feel as a country. It is tragedies like these that really wake me up to how blessed I am, what a truly amazing country we live in, and how much it means to me that I have my husband and family safe.

Many organizations have advertised that the best way to help is make a donation but many do not send the full 100% of your contribution for relief efforts. Through The Church of Jesus Christ donations can be made and it all goes toward "immediately shipping humanitarian relief, including personal hygiene kits and supplies for newborns" in addition to food, tents, filtration bottles, and medical supplies. Here is the link: http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse

Alan Jackson Concert

2009-11-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

Aleks and I are big country music fans and both love Alan Jackson! I got some tickets for us to go to his concert last Friday and we had such a fun time. He was a great performer and as I told Aleks, the way he sings his songs makes you feel like he's preaching country gospel! :) He has this habit of pointing out to the audience and nodding his head that makes you believe every word out of his mouth, haha, i dont know what I'm saying... in any case, it felt good to pretend to be cowboys for a night.

Park-in-the-Dark!

2009-11-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

Becki, Aleks' oldest sister, and her two little girls, Mirabai and Neccessity came down for a short visit this Friday and it was great to see them. We havn't seen them in over two years so it was a big shock to see these girls grown up! They got here in the evening but they really wanted to go to the park still so we had a little"Park-in-the-Dark" adventure! They thought it was the coolest thing and the first thing out of Mirabai's mouth the next morning was, "hey remember how we went to the park in the dark!" followed by a long stream of giggles, so cute! As promised, here are some pics:

2009-10-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

So I never wrote about our vacation to San Diego, CA two weeks ago. Instead of giving all the details, heres a rundown of the highlights...
1. Acting like kids again in Disneyland

2. Me conquering my fear (and nausea) of the tea-cups...

3. Visiting Aleks' great uncle Allen Layne and my great-great Uncle John Jensen

4. Date Shakes at the Date farm in Aleks' mission

(and posing beside our free-upgrade-Mustang! Thanks random Hertz guy!)

5. Seeing Aleks' mission area and visiting people/areas he taught

(Famous Old Town Rootbeer in Temecula)

6. A few lazy hours on La Jolla Beach

7. Shamu show at Sea World

8. Aleks and I deciding we want to change our careers and be Shamu trainers! :)
9. Great seafood on the beach
10. San Diego temple- most incredibly beautiful temple, inside and out!

It was a blast and a trip we'd been talking about forever and finally did. Needless to say, it made it hard to come back to work!

Need a laugh?

2009-10-02T10:40:00.001-07:00

If you need a good laugh, go play tennis with someone in the dark...better when that person is Aleks and he is super determined to hit it!

"I'm not as good as I once was, but Im as good once as I ever was..."

2009-09-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

(I think this is 2nd on my dad's list of favorite country song lines, right behind "She thinks my tractor's sexy"! haha, he makes me laugh...)

It pretty much sums up my 5K I ran this Saturday in Enid. Actually it was a ton a fun and although I thought I'd just run it for "fun" I realized that although I've let my endurance slip, my competitiveness always comes out! For only running a couple times a week I surprised myself and ran a respectable 20:22. Not quite BYU XC standard, but considering the tradeoff of getting to run less than 10 mi/week compared to 50, well, I'll take it! It put me first in women but two women were ahead of me and kept going to do the 10K! :( But wow, let me just say that was a long 3.2 miles! After it was done, I went home, took a shower, ate some cookies, and slept for an hour!>

Switching subjects... the painting for Aleks was supposed to be my "stay-busy-when-Aleks-is-gone" project but since I finished it early I started another one:

Its a pretty different style than I usually do but it was fun to do something a little abnormal and maybe a little weird. Fun to do, but its not my favorite.

Oh ya, and Aleks only has 1 week to go!!! Yay!

Hick-town, USA

2009-09-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

So I happened to walk down the "wedding deco" aisle in Walmart and saw these...

These alone made me laugh, but then I realized they are the only cake "toppers" they carry. Simple supply-and-demand! :)

Speaking of marraige...kindof...

Aleks had a great flight today with his new IP so thanks to all that have kept him in your prayers!

2009-09-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Update on Aleks' painting. I got a bit carried away tonight and worked on it for about 6 hrs! I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to call it done yet but its close...

2009-09-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

So ONEOK has their new hires do three night-shifts at the plant to help us learn the facility better. I did learn a lot but shift work is tough! I just finished my last one last night and I'm beat. The four operators I was with were awesome and hilarious! Nothing like hanging out with a bunch of old men over the weekend! :)

James and Boo (i dont know his real name, thats what they all call him!) He's the only OSU guy there, so we became good buds when BYU beat OU!

And the NOMEX I was issued still have the last guy's name on them... ALAN! I thought that was kinda cool.

Happy Anniversary to Us! :)

2009-08-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

Beware- this may be a long, mushy post...

It is our 2-yr anniversary today, not quite as cool as Lori and Matt's 4 yr they just celebrated but still happy! We celebrated before Aleks left by golfing and going to Tulsa, where we got engaged, and having a nice romantic dinner at Napolis, this little "hole-in-the-wall" with incredible italian food, some mean tiramasu, and an extremely talented spanish guitarist. It was seriously the perfect dinner! And our bill was suprisingly low which always makes it even better! I think we stole this idea from Lori and Matt, but we agreed to take turns planning anniversaries and being my turn, I wanted to go back to the place we got engaged and then where he officially proposed later. Ya, I know those are usually the same but for us it was more like we decided we were going to get married on this foot bridge in Tulsa and then later he did the official on one knee thing at a beautiful garden/musuem.

The time has really flown by! I remember talking on that bridge about our future and picturing what life would be like after we graduate and we were in the military. We both keep pinching ourselves because all the goals and dreams we had and weren't sure were achievable, well, we're there! Aleks is training to be a pilot, I've got a great job that is really close considering the area, and we are working every day to improve our marraige and strengthen our testimonies. Aleks is truly my best friend and amazing husband and provider and I can't imagine not having him by my side and supporting me. I think I've always been stubbornly independent and before being married, Im not sure I understood how much I'd come to rely on Aleks and love someone as much as I do now. I guess overall what I'm trying to say is that I'm so grateful for our life right now but Im also so excited to spend the rest of our lives and eternity together!

Painting! :)

2009-08-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

So lately Ive really gotten back into painting, especially since Aleks is out of town for training. Aleks keeps requesting a "beach" painting and its my goal to do a large one and get it done before he gets back (in about 3 weeks). Saturday I just did a smaller painting on a 1'x1' for practice...

We get some incredible sunrises here! (or maybe its just the first time I've gotten up and outside early enough to see them! :) When they are really good I try to take some pictures with my phone on the way to work. Its not really as green as this but oh well!

I started on Alek's painting Sunday, just kindof trying to get colors right and roughly blocking shapes out. Heres what I got so far:

I'm going to try to take pictures after each "session" of working on it so I can see the changes. Ill try to post some of those as I go. Sorry for the blurry pics

2009-07-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm counting down the days again, but this time Aleks will be home for good! Well, sort of...

He gets back from ASBC on Friday and then will be here at Vance with me till August 24th (?) when he goes to IFS in Pueblo where he'll actually get to start flying in the DA-20! That one is only 4 weeks, so not as bad. He can't wait to start, but I kind of wish it was just 7 days later so he could be here for our anniversary (2 years, yay!).

To add to my list of fun ways to keep me occupied in the evenings and weekends, I started back with my painting today. I love it! Its so relaxing and at the same time energizing to me. But not much has changed since Lori and I's old art class days in East Texas when we were young- I still get more paint on me than anything else! I finished an oil painting I'd started a long time ago and it felt good to actually complete it. With the risk of building this up, I'll have to post a pic later.

Random

2009-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

So I was going through some pics on my camera and realized I didnt even mention Aleks' early birthday present to me. Well, I did what I always said i wouldn't do and pretty much told him he had to get me this (after i bought the tickets)...

Back in Provo we got tickets to the Lipizzaner Stallions performance at UVU. It was really awesome for me, probably mostly b/c Im just happy any time im around horses but these are like the ballerina dancers of horses and it was amazing what they could do! Aleks probably would have rather watched a football game, but i think he enjoyed it too. Heres some pics:

This horse could hold this position for a few seconds, Incredible!!!

Alright, thanks for bearing with my horse craziness for a bit...

Aleks is coming home in less than 2 days now and I am counting down the seconds! I cant wait to see him and be able to enjoy the 4th of July together! We're hoping to get a good OK experience in- going down to a red muddy river and go fishing- and a good AF experience- golf, what else. Aleks is set on converting me to golf but im pretty sure its not going to happen. But maybe I'll sling a preppy looking sweater over my shoulders just for him...

Until then, one more day in the cubicle and then its hello 4-day weekend! Speaking of my beautiful workspace, heres a pic.

Thanks to mom and dad for the embarrassingly beautiful flowers! They became quite the joke as one of my coworkers tried to get away with changing out the card for one of his own from "Your fellow engineers" and after reading i promptly began writing a thank you email to all of them. The secretaries and a lady in accounting have promised to help me plot my revenge but i'm still taking suggestions :)

O-o-o-o-oklahoma where the wind [blows very hard!] down the plains...

2009-06-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm here! I guess to be more accurate, I've been here for a week now and I'm starting to feel pretty settled in. Its annoying and occasionally really lonely without Aleks here but I'm learning to keep myself really busy. My typical day goes about like this:
6:20- Wake-up, scarf down a bowl of Mini-Wheats, and get ready for work
7:20- Meet the two interns (living in Enid) to carpool to Medford
8-12 - Try to make myself look busy by spreading lots of site drawings and important-looking papers on the desk in my cubicle and checking my email about a hundred times
12-1 Eat lunch in the break room where we mostly talk about the latest storm that blew in or if the flare at the plant looks like its burning brighter that day than the day before... good stuff
1-5 Do about the same thing I did from 8-12
6 Get home from work and eat a quick snack
6-7 Go to the gym and after embarrassing myself by lifting for about a half hour, I finally realize my place and head over to do some cardio on the bike or treadmill
8-10 "Dinner and a Movie"... literally (our cable isnt hooked up yet and its the only way to satisfy my TV cravings!)
11 My favorite part of the day,... sleep! :)
Luckily I did get on a "bigger" project latter this week so I actually starting feeling productive. I was kindof dreading the weekend for a while cause I didnt know what to do but I found out that I could plant a small garden in our backyard! It took me about all day to get all the stuff and do it but I'm so excited about it and I hope it wont burn up here! I even planted a few small flowers in the front. This really sweet lady in my ward even invited me over to get some starter plants from her! Here are some pics:

After soaking everything, I realized I probably should have put some more soil in. Hopefully the dirt underneath isn't too bad! Thanks for the good tips Lori, I'll try to make you proud! :)

"The Office"... well, not quite

2009-06-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

During one of my online training courses, I came across this "test" for Office Safety:

Who knew there were so many steps to picking something up!!!

Oh, and one more thing...

2009-05-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

We got a second car! We've been looking for a while now on local, Denver, and Oklahoma listings and finally found a good match for what we were looking for up in Bountiful. We're itching to drive it but we still have to get the plates and insurance stuff worked out! Here's a pic of our new baby! :)

2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee

"Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder..."

2009-05-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

Thats the beginning of the Air Force Song and its a pretty good description of how we're feeling! Aleks and I both recently graduated from BYU and Aleks just barely commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenent in the Air Force. It was so nice to have so many family in town for the occasions! Thanks to all who were able to make it and also to those who couldn't- we appreciate everyones love and support in helping us achieve our goals and be prepared for the "real world"! Aleks will be starting his first training program (ASBC) June 4th and starting pilot training in Vance (OK) in November. I'll be heading down there as soon as I'm done with track to start my job with ONEOK, a natural gas company only 25 min away from the base, as a Process Engineer. Anyways, here are some pictures from our "graduation/commissioning weekend"!

A special thanks to Dave and Heidi for our new Bocce Ball set! It entertained us all for hours! (above)

Dining Out 2009

2009-05-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry about these next few "catch-up" posts, but so much has gone on in the past few weeks. We had "Dining Out"- a sort of military ball the Air Force ROTC puts on- a few weeks back and Aleks grandparents were able to join us there! Aleks got "grogged" multiple times. The "Grog" is a nasty mix of food/liquids that someone mixes up, pours into a toilet bowl (clean, of course, but still gross) and then cadets can call-out fellow cadets for "infractions of the mess" such as not keeping your cup full ("charged" as they say) or other petty ettiquete mistakes. It was funny b/c Aleks had never been grogged till this year so when he went to drink, he purposely drank ten cups of it. I was mad though cause his breath smelled terrible!!! Well anyways, here are a few pics from the event.

The first is this year, the second is from our first Dining Out together (Fall 2007). Do we look any older?

One of Aleks' many cups of Grog! gross.

Sorry its so blurry! The lighting in there was terrible!

2008-11-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

sorry its sideways...

the joy of haircuts

2008-11-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

Theres something about getting my hair cut that makes me soooo happy! I've been looking forward to this day all week since I scheduled an appointment and Im not even sure how Im getting it cut! I think the next time i have a bad day, i'll just go get a trim or something!! :)

2008-10-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long drought of updates- we've been pretty busy lately!

Aleks and I are both Seniors and we can't believe we're almost done!!! School has been a little hectic expecially after a summer of doing nothing! :) Aleks really has a lot on his plate with the ROTC and he seems to be constantly on the phone or typing up a memo or email! I'm in the middle of cross country season and I actually go to Oregon this weekend for a meet! Well, there was the bell (yes, I'm writting this in class,...oops) and I've got practice now. I'll hopefully get better at this!!

2008-08-17T03:57:00.000-07:00

Just a few from Rome and Paris!! Sorry, they are taking forever to load and I dont have the patience to do more right now!

2008-07-31T00:24:00.001-07:00

I dont have much time to update, but we are in Helsinki now at the Helsinki Temple Hotel (where members can stay when they travel a long way to get here). >It was only 7 € a night but we had to sleep in seperate rooms with groups of finnish women (amy) and Russian an Finnish men(aleks)- Estonians were there last week. We are leaving on a ferry in a few hours for Tallinn, Estonia. So far its been an awesome trip and we are finally getting the hang of using public transportation to get everywhere! Here are some pictures from Stockholm and Helsinki!

Dirtbiking and 4-wheeling in Colorado

2008-07-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

After spending most of the day being lazy and watching Soaps (Im not sure why, I really do hate them!) I begged Aleks to hook up the trailor to my dads truck to go dirtbiking and 4-wheeling at Slaughter house. Convinced he would hurt himself on the dirtbike, Aleks started out on the 4wheeler. But after a few minutes of eating my dust, his masculine side came out and he needed more power and pulled me off the trail to switch. He had so much fun! Considering it was his first time and the only instructions I gave him was to push the throttle, he caught on fast and in no time was leaving me behind. Anyways, it was a great day that we'll definitely have to repeat...minus the soaps! :)

Puerto Rico (Paradise!)

2008-07-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Aleks and I just got back from an amazing trip to visit his family in Puerto Rico. We hadn't seen them since Christmas so it was great to be there again! We got to go to the beach nearly everyday and even went to Old San Juan again to see the 1400's fort there. On the last day we drove back into the jungle and discovered this amazing waterfall that you can jump off a cliff into the "bottomless" pool. Thank you Layne Family for being so accomodating and making our trip amazing once again! Hope to see yall soon!

2008-07-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

So I saw a hawk the other day when we were driving and Aleks felt the need to impersonate it... enjoy! :)

"Permanent Vacation"

2008-07-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Like I always tell my parents, living in Colorado is like a permanent vacation! Aleks and I have been staying with them for a bit this summer as we travel around! Here's some pictures of our hiking/camping trips!

Talks, screaming children, and a lazy Sunday afternoon

2008-05-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

Aleks and I gave a talk on "Building Unity in Marriage" today in church , but we did it sorta differently than normal. Our bishop suggested we get up at the same time and do a longer talk together so thats what we did. It was both of our first times to give talks since we've been married so this was a fun way to do it. I think it went pretty good although my legs were shaking the whole time! Good thing theres a podium in the way!

After that we headed off to nursury where there were a couple new kids since our ward changed boundaries. I usually love it but for some reason today we had a bunch of cry-babies (literally) and I got exhausted just trying to make them all happy. I dont know if yall have seen the show with the parents with 8 kids but I don't know how they do it! I hope when Aleks and I have kids they'll came one at a time!

Nursury has really made me come to admire my sister for taking care of almost-2-yr-old Taylor and newborn Braydon! They couldn't be cuter!!

Aleks' F16 Ride

2008-05-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

Aleks got to go down to Luke AFB in Arizona and do two rides in an F-16. The pilot even let him take control for a while and he did double barrel rolls and all these crazy manuevers! I was jealous! :)

The New Air Force Pilot

2008-03-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

So about a week ago Aleks found out he got a pilot slot! Their detachment has a tradition where during one of their meetings, the cadre throw the flight suits out to whoever got a slot and I was able to come and watch.

Aleks and I are so excited and relieved to know that the plans we've been making are now actually falling into place. Theres still a little uncertainty as he still has to go throught the year of pilot training that determines what he'll actually be flying (fighter, bomber, cargo, etc) but at least this first step is done!

And as if things couldn;t get any better, Aleks was also appointed to be the new Wing Commander of his entire detachment! This is a huge honor and oppurtunity for leadership experience. Colonel Jacobs, the detachment commander, announced it last night at Dining Out (a one-a-semester formal dinner and dance) and it was amazing to see the respect all the other cadets have for Aleks when they came up to him afterwards. He starts the position next fall semseter, and although it is a lot of work and responsibilty, he is really excited!

2008-02-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

I think I've got competition...

Aleks tried-out for the BYU football team and did amazing but unfortunately didn't make the team. The reciever coach told him he noticed Aleks never dropped a pass and ran great routes but they just didn't have any reciever spots open right now. Of course we were a little bummed but after puting into perspective with the fact that any injury could end his Air Force career, he and I feel it might be a blessing in disguise...

Our Christmas break

2008-01-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

So I know this is really late, but better late than never, right?

Aleks and I finished off last semester and headed to Puerto Rico for a week with his family. We had an incredible time- on Christmas day we were out snorkeling off a beautiful white sand beach! We did everything from surfing, hiking in a rainforest, soaking up rays on the beach, and exploring Old San Juan and it's 15th century fort. One of the coolest excursions was going to one of only 4 bioluminescent bays in the world! Late one night we kayaked through a forest of mangroves to get to this bay that literally glows when you touch the water\(something to do with the micro organisms in the water). Once we got to the bay we dove in to see our whole bodies glowing with this almost eerie blue-green light. Even the fish in the water glowed! Anyways, it was really amazing!

After a wonderful week in Puerto Rico we left for Cancun for a belated honeymoon. We stayed in an incredible resort thanks to my grandparents and enjoyed just relaxing and being pampered, and drinking as many virgin daquiris as we could handle! We also got to take two trips, one to ChitzenItza and the other to Tulem, two Mayan ruins near Cancun. It was amazing to see the actual places where the Lamanites had probably been and see the symbols that seem to represent Christ's coming to the Americas.

We have a blog!

2007-12-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

...and i have no idea what to do now.