Back to the Beach!

So last monday Dereck and I packed up a rental SUV to the brim with our stuff and I was sent down to Corpus Christi Texas to move into our new condo. Dereck had his checkride to finish up in Little Rock and then he'd start the drive down too. My mom had a ticket booked for a few months to come visit me in Texas so I had to make sure I was down there to meet her! The drive went very well, and thanks to the "On Broadway" channel on Sirius sattelite radio, the trip went really well. I stayed in Dallas one night with my old friend Michaela, which was fantastic, since it had been over 6 years since I saw her! It was great to catch up and it put a little fun into my roadtrip.

On tuesday I got into Corpus Christi and it was a beautiful day. The loaded up SUV and the 3 flights of stairs to get into our new place was a bit of a challenge but I got everything upstairs by myself! I'm still impressed a week later! The picture shows our place, wayyyy up on the 3rd floor.

My mom came on Wednesday and we had a great visit. We got to go for many nice walks on the beach, being that our condo is only about 2 blocks away from the seashore! Nothing can match going shopping with my mom, since we always seem to find cute things and get great deals. We enjoyed a lot of good food and just had a great time together. Dereck was finally able to move down on Saturday so he even got to spend some time with Mom as well. It was a good time! We were sad to drop her off on Monday, but hopefully we'll be in Minnesota soon so visit again.

So far we are really happy to be back in Corpus Christi. As annoying as it has been to try to find a new place to live for a few months and load up cars and drive for 12 hours and everything else that comes with moving, if we have to be sent someplace for the winter months it might as well be Corpus. Its so pretty here and we love the beach. The dog has so much fun bounding through the surf chasing birds.

Hopefully we'll know something soon about when we can book tickets for Christmas... I can't wait to get back and see my family and spend some time in the north!

Fairwell October, Hello November!!

We had a fun time saying fairwell to October here in Little Rock. Intially we were hoping to be moving down to Corpus during Halloween weekend, but after the cloudy and stormy weather all last week, Dereck couldn't get all his flights in so we got to prepare for Halloween night! We carved a Jack-o-latern and set it out to entice some trick-or-treaters. We bought our big bag of candy and sat and waited.... and waited....and waited... between 5:30pm and 8:30pm we had only one trick-or-treater! We were bummed that more didn't come, but at least we made the little Power Rangers night by giving him a giant handfull of candy :-)

After we shut off the porch light, we got ready to go out for Halloween. Our costumes this year were from the movie Shaun of the Dead. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, its a dark brittish comedy about killing Zombies. Not everybody knew who we were, but for those who are familiar with the movie, they said we did a great job with our costumes! I posted pictures of Dereck and I all dressed up, a well as pictures from the movie so you can see how we measured up!

We met up with our friends and went downtown to a Halloween party, and then to a piano bar. Our friends won the costume contest at the bar dressed as the Sesame Street characters. There were a lot of fun costumes everywhere and it seemed like everybody got dressed up! It was a great Halloween!

I was also pretty busy this week starting and finishing up some more sewing projects. I finished this purse a while ago but finally got around to taking pictures of it. I took apart an old purse I had that had some stains on it and followed the cuts and seams to make this new purse out of scraps of fabric. I think it turned out really well!

I also started working on some aprons my mother asked me to make for her to give as gifts. I know that neither recipient will be on my blog so I'm safe posting pictures! I only got one done so far, the other is about 75% finished. This one is going to a lady who used to be a music teacher so I went with some cute music note fabric and found this great purple floral that matched really well!

I'll post pictures of the other apron when it's finished. I just have to attach the straps and wasteband to it. I wish I could post some pictures of the other holiday projects I've been working on (since they are some of my favorites!) but I'll have to wait til after my recipients open them up!

I hope to get a few more things finished before we pack up and head out of Little Rock. The forecast this week is clear and sunny so hopefully Dereck will be able to get his flights in so we can leave this weekend/early next week. I'll keep everybody posted :-)

Jane

More busy October!

Dereck and I haven't calmed down much since the last posting. One of Dereck's close friends from the academy come to visit since he was moving across country and we were on the way. I was glad to meet him finally! He was unable to come to our wedding and I still hadn't met one of Dereck's close friends, so it was a fun surprise. We had a good time showing him the nightlife in downtown Little Rock and I know Dereck had a great time catching up with him.
This past weekend we helped our good friends Josh and Leslie move out of their apartment and sent Leslie on her way to North Carolina to move into their new house while Josh finishes up training here. Leslie and I have become good friends during our time here in Little Rock so it was sad to see her go! Marty also likes to play with their husky, Nanook, so we had to have one last goodbye dinner and doggy play session.

Dereck and I also got to go out to celebrate the engagement of our friends CJ and Emmalee while Emmalee was visiting Little Rock. We were very happy for them and I am happy to have been introduced to them both while here in Little Rock. Its been fun making new friends and thanks to email, facebook, and blogs its so easy to stay in contact with everybody nowadays. I hope the friendships I made here will continue to grow as we all go our seperate directions!

Yesterday was another BEAUTIFUL day here in Arkansas (we only have beautiful days on the weekend it seems...which is not good for Dereck finishing up his flights!). We decided to take advantage of the weather and head to Crater of Diamonds State Park to try our luck at diamond hunting! This is the only diamond field that is open to the public, and everybody is allowed to keep whatever they find. People have found diamonds that are worth thousands! Unfortunately all Dereck and I found were some neat stones of Jasper, Agate, and Calcite. It was still a lot of fun though. Its been a long time since I got to sit down and play in the dirt, and it was fun to have Marty there as well. He had fun sniffing around, testing out what rocks are yummy to eat (turns out none of them... haha), and just being outdoors.

This coming week I hope to get started on some more sewing projects. I finished two more projects but since I hope to give them as gifts I am not posting them here so they stay a surprise! I will say that I attempted some quilting and it turned out really well. I enjoyed it a lot! I took advantage of a huge fabric sale this weekend and stocked up on a lot of supplies to make more gifts for the upcoming holiday season.

Till Next time!

Pandas, Polar bears, and Racing pigs!

Dereck and I had a fun few days since he had a long weekend for Columbus day. We took off on Saturday morning to spend two days in Memphis. After a 2 hour drive, which seemed longer since we were passing so many semi-trucks (I've never seen so many trucks in such a small stretch of hiway!), we finally got to our first stop, The Memphis Zoo. The Zoo was in a really neat historic neighborhood so it was a fun drive to find it! It was a great zoo, lots of animals and it was really big. We went to the "northern experience" exhibit first to see the polar bears and the sea lion show. We then got to go to the new "Teton trek" exhibit that just opened up this month. It was so beautiful, if I was a grizzly bear I'd love to live there! After that we moved onto China where we got to see giant pandas. They were probably the first animals we saw that were passed out asleep! It was dissapointing not to see them awake but they were still cute. After seeing more animals we realized it was already 4:30 and we had spent 4 hours at the zoo and needed to get checked into the hotel.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Select in downtown Memphis. It was an old hotel but very updated. We really enjoyed our room, which had a view of the street and the historic Peobody Hotel that was across the street. I liked seeing all the horse drawn carraiges lined up! One even looked like Cinderella's. After checking in and getting ready for dinner at the hotel, we went to Texas de Brazil which is a Brazillian steakhouse. It was so amazing! We got an unlimited amount of premium meat served hot off skewers that are brought right to our table. I don't think I ever ate so much sirloin and filet minon in my life. We were so full but it was one of the best dinners I've ever had! After dinner we went to Beale Street, which is the popular night life neighborhood in downtown Memphis. The street was blocked off for a few city blocks so you could walk right in the street and go from bar to bar to store to bar and see what they had to offer. It was a cool night so almost all the bars had open windows/doors so you didn't have to go in to hear what type of music they had playing. We stopped in one for a drink and to listen to the music, but after a day of walking at the zoo and around Beale St we were tired to we decided to head back to the hotel to get rested for the next day of site seeing.

 

Sunday morning we woke up and were planning to go to Sun Studios to see where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and others have recorded, then go eat some local Memphis BBQ for lunch, check out the National Civil Rights Museum, which is in the hotel where MLK Jr got shot, then finish the day off by seeing Graceland before going back to Little Rock. However, our day got a bit shaken up when our friends called us and told us our dog Marty had gotten sick that morning. Considering his recent health scares this summer we thought it best to come home to make sure that our friends weren't stuck possibly taking him to the doggy ER while we were out having a good time. On our way out of town we stopped quickly at the Peabody across the street to watch the famous Peabody ducks do their morning march into the lobby fountain. It was crazy how many people came to see these ducks! After the ducks, we drove back to Little Rock. Luckily Marty turned out to be okay, and no vet visit was neccesary, but unfortunately we didn't get to finish our Memphis trip. Hopefully we will find the time to go back for a day-trip to finish up our tours.

On Monday we decided to go to the Arkansas State Fair since Dereck had the day off. We had low expectations, since we are used to the Minnesota stair fair, which is constantly rated as one of the top in the country. Those low expectations were met! Though it was a fun day full of corn dogs and people watching, we missed seeing all the exhibits that they would've had at the MN fair and had to settle with one exhibit about farming, and a few goats to see. No more animals where even in the barns,which was a bit of a dissapointment. The highlight of the day were the pig races though.We had a great time cheering for our pigs, who had names like "Hamma Montanna" and "Jeff Pigworthy" and stuff. I even won $2 while betting between Dereck and our friend Russ. We also really enjoyed the petting zoo where I got to feed a baby camel, some goats, and even an antelope. Another neat show was the Tigers of India show which demonstrated some neat Tiger training as well as showed their natural hunting movements. You could tell the tigers were well taken care of so it was a fun to watch.

Missing Minnesota...

After watching last night's exciting win in the NFL against the Packers, and currently watching a top of the 9th, tied at 4-4 game with the Twins and the Tigers, I am officially a bit homesick! I want to see everybody walking around with there jerseys and hats and see the state pride at how well our teams are doing. It was strange to be cheering for Brett Farve as a Viking, but considering how we are doing this season so far, I think I might be able to get used to it! :-) And I'm hoping the Twins can pull this one out too, then we'll have some great playoff games to watch I'm sure. Hopefully when Dereck and I are home in December we'll have a sunday watching football with the family. My mom booked her ticket to come visit me in Corpus while Dereck is away at survival training, so I think that added to my homesickness. I miss spending time with her and I'm so excited for her to visit me in about 6 weeks!

Dereck has been attempting to fly this week, but has been canceled twice becuase of the rainy weather. We had our softball game this evening be canceled as well due to the wet fields. September was a wet month here in Arkansas so hopefully October starts to dry up soon so Dereck can get his flights in and I can start enjoying the cooler temps. Tomorrow's forecast is sunny and a high of 69 degrees so hopefully the weathermen are correct.

Other than some lazy days not much else has been going on. I'm attempting to make a few more gifts and have enjoyed working with fleece so far, as I'm working on a sweatshirt. It could come in handy if the temps keep dropping into the low 60s. My friend Leslie's birthday was today so I made her a cake, which turned out pretty well.

Still 4-4 and the top of the 9th (Twins fielding, 1 out...) so I'm gonna get back to watching the game!

Welcoming fall!

So its offically October and its so great to be into fall weather again! Tanktops and shorts are being worn less frequently and the jeans and hoodies are starting to come out. I love being able to have the windows open in the apartment to let that fresh brisk air inside. I wonder if we'll be around here long enough to see the leaves start to change color on the big tree outside our living room. Dereck seems to think that we will, since though he's had three or four flights now, and only 3 of the 9 exersizes he needs to complete in training actually have been completed.. I hope he can get 2 exersizes done today then we'll be half way done with them and have a better chance of getting out of Arkansas when our lease is up. Otherwise it could be a bit of a pain, but I guess we'll just have to see.

The cooler weather is making me want to go pick up some fall colored fabric and even some fleece! I'd love to learn how to make a fleece pullover eventually, even if I just start with some scarves or something to get used to working with the fabric. The craft store near my place is having a pattern sale so it might be a good time to try out working with patterns. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

Project Central!

So I finally took some pictures of some of the sewing projects I have been working on. Its been a lot of fun and I'm surprised how quickly I am improving. The first picture is of the first tote bag I made. I loved the fabric and was surprised how easily it came together. Its technically reversible but I've been keeping the brown on the outside since I love that pattern. I made another tote but forgot to take a picture of it. It was for my cousin's birthday and she said she really liked it! I added a ribbon in the center to tie and closed and an inside pocket as well to make it even more usable. The third tote I made was a trick-or-treat bag for my friend's baby girl 1st birthday (its on Halloween!). I played around with doing an appliqued "M" for her name, Morgana. I think it turned out well! I might make some more for the other kids in my life!


I've been working on some different aprons as well. My kitchen is red and white so the first apron I made I tried to find some fabric to match. Its reversible and I love how the two patterns fit together.



I then made a different type that has ruffled fabric on it, which was really fun to make! I bought some candles from the farmers market that match the color and will send it to my friend as a gift for her birthday. I think she'll really like it!






I even pieced one together with some scraps to keep practicing. I thought it turned out pretty well and I got to work on my first apron pocket as well. I think between the three aprons I have made I've got a pretty good idea of what to make next!


My mother asked me if I would be able to make a drawstring backpack for her. I thought it sounded like a fun project and I am so glad she asked me to do it! I think it turned out wonderful and I am excited to make one for myself too! I already had a few requests from friends to make them too. So who knows, maybe my crazy idea of trying to sell things in the future isn't so crazy after all...

The tail end of September

The last few days have been a lot of fun. I was able to go back to Florida to visit some friends, celebrate a birthday, meet my friend's baby for the 1st time, and spend some time at Disney's Epcot as well. (The picture on the right is all the ladies who came to celebrate my friend Kerri's birthday at Epcot, Kerri is in the center with her darling baby girl, Morganna)

It was a wonderful trip and was definitely worth it! It is so great to see how my friends' lives have changed in the last 1.5 years since I had been in Florida. New houses, new babies, new romances. I'm so happy I was able to get back before we head overseas.

Also, I am in much better spirits about our move being pushed back to January. We have found a condo to rent on Padre Island in Corpus Christi so I get to spend my November and December strolling on the beach everyday! I don't know many people who would complain about that! Its such a load off my shoulders to know that we have some place to live (and its a really nice place too). Our friends rented the condo previously and had a great experience with the landlord, and so far we have too. He's been very flexible and understanding about our unique situation (not many people would be willing to rent out a condo for only 2 months) so we are quite grateful. Now I'm also beginning to realize that our time here in Little Rock is really coming to a close! We only have one more month here until most of our friends part ways. I tend to make the most of it! We have softball games 2+ times a week, and we still want to make a weekend trip to Memphis to see Graceland and spend a night on the town on Beale street. I think October is going to be a great month.

Delayed move

So my husband and I found out today that we have to wait another month and a half before moving over to Japan, and he'll be gone for 3 weeks of that time! So it looks like I'll have a few more weeks here in the good ol' USA... and have plenty of down time to work on some projects! So far I've learned to make a table runner, a tote bag, a reversible apron, and another style of apron that has a bunch of cute ruffles on it. I'm hoping to get some good practice by making a lot of Christmas presents this year and I think it could possibly turn into something more long term. I've discovered a website called Etsy that sells all homemade items, which could be one avenue that wouldn't cost me much at all to start up. I could also see about selling items at local venues, like farmers markets or craft fairs, but for three years I'll be in Japan and I'm not sure what options will be available to me there. And who knows, maybe I'll end up finding a fantastic job that I adore and I won't have time to make projects beyond ones I do for myself, my home, or my friends & family. I guess time will tell! But since I know for sure that I won't be settling down for almost 4 months, time is on my side for a while.

<3 not so plain jane

Lets get this thing started!

So here it is, my very first blog on Proud to be a Plane Jane! I have really enjoyed reading some other blogs I found online while searching for projects and thought that it might be fun to try it out myself. Maybe people will be interested in my new projects? Maybe people will want to here about some of my adventures while moving overseas and surviving my husband's deployments? If not, at least it gives me an outlet to share some things and hopefully will be a fun time as well.

After spending 4 hard years and too much money, I successfully received my B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, only to find myself working for two years post graduation without being inspired to keep working in the corporate world. I currently am on my "summer vacation" as I am choosing to call it. I got married in May and moved with my husband to a military base while he is in training. It is a temporary location since we will be moving overseas to Japan this fall/winter so I've been able to take this time to make our house more of a home, explore new hobbies, and do some volunteering. I hope to explore new career opportunities in Japan while continuing to pursue my new hobbies and love of volunteer work.

So here's to a new adventure in blogging, I hope you enjoy it as well.

~Not so plain Jane.