karinsblog: April 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Great times in VA!

April 2009
So, I guess I can't really complain about being med down and hardly working when the temperature reaches 90 degrees in April!!! We had a beautiful weekend, and Brittany and I decided to make the most of it! We went to the beach on Friday evening, after both of us had had a trying day. They live only a couple of blocks from the beach, and on our way back to the house, we spotted a giant shark sitting on a lower dock in the marina and thought it would be fun! We also walked onto a man's boat and got the grand tour! Hopefully he's not too upset with us! :) Then we sat in their backyard in the sun, with Hall and their neighbors and talked and laughed...a lot! I also went to the beach Saturday and Sunday with Callie! I guess we skipped spring this year! This week, Brittany called me to see if I wanted to go strawberry picking! It sounded like the best idea EVER and they were SO ripe and juicy! After that, we went to get some greasy, greasy pizza and garlic knots, and I ordered a root beer float! My dad said it was the "all-American day," and it certainly was since we closed it out at the local AAA baseball game, the Norfolk Tides! VA Beach is ready for summer, and even though I'm looking forward to going back to work, I can't complain about these days! PLUS...Brittany got a job!!! I'm so proud and she is super relieved! Now I have to go out and buy a new friend for a month.... :)

Brookdale Farms Strawberry Pickin'!

UK in VA!

April 2009
Uncle Kenny came to see me!!! I was so excited when I got his message that he wanted to come down and visit with his new lady friend, Elizabeth (aka Bucky). We are really close for being uncle and niece, and it's so nice to have company while I'm still med down! We went to the best restaurants in the area, hung out at the beach with the dogs, took a tour of the base, and went fishing! On base, they actually took a tour of the simulator building and both got to fly the F-18!!! Fishing was his number one priority, and Hall and Brittany took us all out on his boat. There's only room for 3, so Brit and I took the kayaks and a few beers and floated! While we were out on the inlet, we saw a bald eagle! Hall had been trying to convince me for weeks that he's seen one, and I didn't believe him! But there it was, and we took a ton of pictures of it! It was a beautiful day, and I really think they had a great time! We also got to see all of his Alaska pictures, which were amazing. I can't wait to go up and visit him and Clay the first chance I get! The last night they were here, I took them to the cul-de-sac where my dad watched my first flight, and they LOVED the noise! We stood there until dark, and watched as jet after jet took off and landed right over our heads! It was a great visit and I miss him tons!

Callie at the Beach

April 2009
So, I'm finally getting around a lot better, (no crutches!) and Callie is benefiting from it! Since I only work on an "on call" basis at the squadron to write the schedule, we've been enjoying the warm weather and going to the beach...very regularly!!! Callie is SO funny to watch in the water; swimming is her favorite thing to do! When we lived in Pensacola right on the bay, it was very calm most of the time. Plus it was shallow, and she could just walk around and dig up crabs and shells all day long! Here at this beach on the Atlantic, the waves have been huge and she's slowly getting used to them! Sometimes she's a little scared, but after a while, she's jumping into giant rollers with no fear! She's so beautiful and people are always complimenting her! She's a sucker for attention, and it doesn't help that her coat gets perfect little crimps in it when it's wet! We have so much fetching with the ball, wrestling each other, and playing in the waves! This trip, we saw dolphins playing maybe only 50 yards out! I love watching them!

Chesapeake Bay / Bridge Tunnel Trip

March 2009
Being on crutches really, REALLY stinks! I'm used to being pretty busy and active, and being confined was tough! Luckily, I have Brittany here! It was a freezing cold day in March and she called to see what I felt like doing. We decided to go for a drive up to the Eastern Shore of Virginia by way of the Chesapeake Bay / Bridge Tunnel. This tunnel is one of the seven engineering wonders of the world and spans almost 18 miles long! It's so strange to drive along the bridge, and then descend into a tunnel and know you are underneath huge barges and ships! It was a gorgeous day, but SO cold...we were dressed like Eskimos! When we got to the other side, we saw that it was completely opposite from Virginia Beach. It was rural and there were beautiful ranch homes and farms, and markets, and little seafood restaurants! We first drove into a Wildlife Refuge and looked at all the birds, and drove to a secluded dock with a beautiful boat tied up. Then we drove on and on and on and found a seafood restaurant outside of a motel and ate some delicious crab legs and had hot drinks! It was a great, adventurous day and I was SO grateful to get out of the house!!!

Later that month, we decided to take Hall along for the trip and show him our new discovery! Although he didn't think it was quite as neat as we did the first time around, we had fun! Brittany packed BLT's and we had a picnic on the pier, where Hall did some (unsuccessful) fishing! The weather was a LOT better though, and again, I got to leave the house! :)

Knee Surgery

February 2009
Ouch! I tore my ACL and my meniscus in my right knee, and had to have surgery. The ACL injury dates back to college my doctor thinks, and apparently I've been working on the meniscus for a while! My dad came down on Feb 2 to take care of me through everything, and I don't know what I would've done without him! My surgery was on the 4th, and I had to spend the night at the hospital. Everything went well, but what was supposed to be a 2 hour surgery took almost 4 hours! There was a lot of damage in there and they used my hamstring as a graph. I didn't react well to any of the meds they gave me, and was sick through the whole night. But I got sweet phone calls from my whole family, plus there were flowers waiting for me at home from my Momma, Becky Sue, my class, and Kevin (my best friend here!) The recovery is slow, and I'm not expected to be able to fly for 4 months! Ugh.

While my dad was here, we went for a walk around Mt. Trashmore, a beautiful park about 2 miles from my apartment, and I walked about 1/4 of a mile on crutches! I was SO exhausted after that! We also drove to Pungo, a rural area outside of Virginia Beach and played with Callie off the docks there. We had wonderful weather, so we made the most of it!

After my dad left, Hall and Brittany were kind enough to open their home to me for a week. I couldn't get around real well yet, and I live on the 2nd floor of my apartment complex. Plus, taking care of Callie was just about impossible! I really appreciate them; they fed me and waited on me, and helped to take care of Callie! They are the greatest!!!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Key West Det

January 2009
I finally reached the fighter phase of training in VFA-106, and was SO happy to go to KEY WEST in January! The fighter phase consists of air-to-air combat training, or dogfighting, and not too similar to the movie Top Gun! All of our ordnance on this det was simulated, however. The weather was so beautiful compared to VA Beach and definitely compared to Michigan in January! We worked really hard, flew a lot, and then partied quite a bit out on the main street, Duval St. It is ALWAYS packed downtown, no matter the season, and all the restaurant and bar owners know the Navy and we get some good deals! I had a great time, and again learned a ton!

These are our aggressor jets, the F-5, which is SO tiny compared to the F-18 and really hard to find in the big blue sky!