a bubble for the soul

With the chilly weather and broken treadmills in our complex's workout room, I've been less inclined to workout than usual. We all know excuses are easy to come by when it comes to working out, but I've noticed the difference in my ability to sleep well at night. Work has also been more stressful, too. A lot of people turn to cookies, candy, or ice cream.

I decided to go to Bikram Yoga instead. Bikram Yoga is a type of yoga where they heat the room to 105 or 110 degrees with a humidity level of about 40-50%. I know it sounds terrible and painful, but it's actually quite wonderful. It's a series of 26 poses over the span of 90 minutes. After a while, you get used to the heat and begin to focus on your self, your body, and your soul. As I'm laying there today, about 45 minutes into it, I realized the yoga room is like this magical bubble of bliss. It cleanses the body and the mind. At the same time, I realized I hadn't thought or worried about work at all. And at that time, I made a commitment to myself- to continue my yoga practice on a more regular basis.

On my way home, I'm in this great state of mind getting geared up for the rest of the day. I get home and get ready to hop in the shower and as I go to put the toilet seat down to set my towel on it, I see something dark in the toilet. Upon a closer look I see beady little eyes staring at me and I SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS! A mouse had drown in our toilet!!!!!!!!!!! Quite possibly the creepiest thing I've ever seen. I quick text Stefan about it, throw on some clothes, and run to the building office to ask maintenance to come and get it out. (Against Stefan's advice, I didn't want to flush it in case it would clog). Stefan gets home a little later, sees the mouse, and is glad I decided not to flush as he said "I didn't know how big it was- WOAH!" Maintenance showed up and discarded our little friend. Stefan and I are still baffled as to how it got in- or how it fell in the toilet bowl for that matter. We live in a brand new complex on the second floor! So, tomorrow I'm going to be scrounging around cleaning everything and searching for possible entrances (other than the doors).

After the cleaning, I'm going to head to another yoga session. Maybe I'll be able to keep my blissful mindset a little longer than I did today.

As we say at the end of our yoga sessions- Namaste, which means the light in me, honors the light in you.

Namaste.

Fun with radar!

The past couple weeks of Nav school have been classroom training on using radar for navigation. It is completely different from the way we have been navigating so far and is definitely an art form. The radar shows a "picture" of the ground from right below the plane up to 240 miles ahead. The picture is really just different shades of green and black spots. Black areas are either water or shadows behind hills or mountains, and everything else is shades of green. Cities show up as bright spots, since they are full of metal and concrete that reflect the radio waves much better than trees, dirt, and grass. There are about seven different knobs that each tune the radar picture a different way, and it must be configured in different ways in order to see certain things; like cities, terrain, or land/water contrast. That is why it is described as an art. So we navigate by studying our route of flight and noting the range and bearings between our route and recognizable terrain features and cities. For example, I would measure off the chart how many miles I should be away from a lake when I pass it, then make sure I am on course to pass at that distance. Tomorrow is my first flight using solely the radar, so we'll see how it goes!!

visitors and some Badger table tennis

This weekend two of my college roommates came to visit. Beth from Milwaukee and Aliza from Santa Barbara. As the temperatures dipped below 0 in Wisconsin, Beth made her way to sunny San Antonio on Thursday. That night I whipped up some baked mac & cheese with broccoli as we got ready to go to a local Playhouse, where it was their Annual Playwright Festival. We experienced seven unique 10 minute shows and then headed to the Riverwalk. Stefan and I had never really explored the Riverwalk at night- it was gorgeous, but a little chilly out with the temperature being only 55 degrees. We tried to find some ice cream, but everyone had closed for the night, so we headed back home to relax and enjoy some chocolate instead. When we got home, we planned out our weekend with a Top10 San Antonio book Stefan's mom gave us.

The next morning I had to wake up early and drive Stefan to work so that he could go on the Friday morning run. After I got back, I did a little bit of work and made some coffee. Beth and I caught up over coffee and then realized it was almost noon and we had lots to see. First, we headed to the McNay Art Museum- a gorgeous estate with Picasso's and Georgia O'Keefe's and much more. The art work, the building, and especially the courtyard were really enjoyable. The special exhibit though was ridiculous. Canvas painted each a different color. Beth and I clearly don't have the eye for that kind of art. After spending a couple hours there, we walked around the property, snapped some pictures, and headed downtown to grab a quick bite to eat. We ate at a little place recommended by our Top10 book and then headed towards LaVillita- a Historic village full of local shops and vendors. The buildings and the appearance of the village were both fantastic, but the shops were not! From Bonsai trees, to Jewelry shops, to local artist shops- none of it was our taste. We then headed towards the Rivercenter Mall, where we figured we could find some items more to our liking. Boy, were we right! We found a bunch of items- Beth especially! We had had enough shopping and headed home to get ready for dinner and Al's arrival. When we got home we chopped up some peppers, onions, and chicken for fajitas and Stefan and I made our famous guacamole. Then, Beth and I headed to the airport to pick up Al.

After we grabbed her, and ate dinner, we made some pitchers of margaritas. Stefan's friend Andrew, from the AF, came over too. We all drank some margaritas and played Catch Phrase and then some card games. Since all of us went to UW, except Andrew, we decided to wear our Badger gear out to the bars across the street. We made up a story that we were a Table Tennis team from Wisconsin and everyone at the bars loved it. We quickly made friends and headed to a different bar where we played some darts and then headed home.

The next morning, we slept late, got ready and went to Lunch at the Guenther House- one of our favorite places in San Antonio. The Guenther House is a historic flour mill that is still in operation. The old house next to it serves as a bakery and restaurant. After a yummy Lunch, we headed towards the San Antonio missions. (When Nate and Katie visited we rode our bikes through this 18-20 mile journey, but given that there wasn't actually a bike path per say, we opted to drive it this time). We explored the first two fully and even took a guided tour for a bit through the large one named San Jose. After seeing these we headed downtown to see the Alamo, which is actually one of the missions as well. Beth and Al were shocked at the lack of tumbleweeds around as they pictured it just as the movie Peewee Herman's Big Adventure depicts- in the middle of the desert. In fact, the Alamo is very much in the middle of downtown and could easily be missed, but you'll all have to visit to see! :)

After exploring the Alamo, we went down to the Riverwalk to explore. We sat at the Republic of Texas restaurant, enjoyed some margaritas and appetizers, as well as some good people watching! After that, we grabbed some Blue Bell Ice Cream- a staple in Texas- and went on a boat tour along the Riverwalk. Beth, Al, and I were sitting next to each other and Stefan was across from us a little further down. This older lady by him took it upon herself to start hitting on Stefan- I guess she couldn't resist that smile either! She proceeds to ask him all of the questions, realizes he's married, and at the end of the tour says that we should make sure that we have lots and lots of babies! Stefan was pretty proud of himself because, as he put it, he's "still got it"!

Next we headed home to relax and decompress from our busy day. We watched some episodes of Curb your Enthusiasm and Saturday Night Live and headed to bed to get ready for the next day. On Sunday, we had brunch at home and then explored the Air Force Base. After a quick tour and some grocery shopping, we headed north to the quaint little town called Gruene. We had fun listening to a local band- The Hudson's- and doing a little antique shopping. After that, we went to a vineyard in the Hill Country nearby. Dry Comal Creek produces only one kind of grape, but the mix many different grapes and wines from other vineyards to make delicious varieties of wine. We went on a tour of the property and then did a tasting. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. After the tasting we headed back home to make two delicious varieties of homemade pizzas (recipes to come later). We chowed down and then decked out in our best cowboy gear. We wanted to go to the Buckhorn Saloon, which is a crazy bar/restaurant that has antlers everywhere. Once we arrived, though, it was closed for the night. We decided to walk over to the Riverwalk and find somewhere else to enjoy a beer or two. Eventually we found a place, had a few drinks and headed home. We ended the night, headed home and went to sleep, as Beth was leaving early the next morning and Al and I were both traveling that afternoon.

The next morning we packed up Beth and I took her to the airport. We said farewell and she kissed the sunshine and 70 degree weather goodbye as she headed back to Milwaukee. I headed back home, did some work, packed up, cut Stefan's hair (which I'm much better at now, thank you!) and headed to a final lunch with Al and Stefan. After that Stefan dropped us both off at the airport as I am working in Chicago this week. It was a fantastic weekend before a monumental day in history! We had a wonderful weekend with some good weather and good friends. Hopefully we'll have many more visitors in the future!

a relaxing day after a cold week

Last week I was Training at our new Detroit office. Our office there is deifnitely a work in progress, but the feeling all over Detroit is fairly somber. This is the third class of people I have trained there, so I should be used to it by now. To discribe it a little better- the three major auto companies are located there and most of the sub-prime loan companies were based there. What this leaves is almost 10% unemployment and empty office buildings everywhere you turn. Many people ask why our company decided to open up an office there and the answer is simple. The space (in the office buildings) is cheap because the companies that folded need people to take over their leases. The people are cheap because there are extremely experienced sales people that are unemployed and don't want to leave. So our company took over a lease and offered employment to over 30 people in the last 3 months. We're growing slowly in order to maintain our culture and ensure the quality of our employees.

Although we are somewhat of a ray of light in a city full of clouds, our hiring is slower than orginally anticipated because of the current state of the economy. Going to Detroit really brings me to the gravity of the current economic state- sad and gray. (It's easy to forget about the economic woes living in San Antonio- a sunny city that is dominated by military employed people) I work hard while I'm there, extremely grateful to have a job that I thoroughly enjoy. Through the cold weather and the longer hours of work, I came down with some sort of flu by Friday night- and Saturday was miserable.

It's the first time I've gotten sick in a few years, so Stefan wasn't really sure how to react. He took great care of me with OJ, green tea, sprite, decongestant medications, chicken noodle soup, and lots and lots of Kleenex. After lots of rest and fluids, I was feeling much better by Sunday morning. On Sunday, we woke up and made some breakfast. (Borrowing the idea from my friend Gabby) I decided to post the recipe here:

1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt

1-2 tbsp. honey (to desired sweetness)

raspberries

Kashi Crunch- Honey Almond Flax

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Stefan made his famous Breakfast Sandwich for us, too!

Then we headed down to the Riverwalk where the MudFestival was going on. This is the annual weekend that they drain the Riverwalk, clean it, and refill it. When we got there though, nothing was going on, so we walked around a bit and headed home because Stefan had a lot of studying and preparing to do for his Checkride. I decided to let him study in peace and go see a girly movie on my own. I wanted to see Bride Wars anyways and there was no way I would even ask him to go with. So, I walked across the street to the theater and really enjoyed it.

A quote from the movie dedicated to my girlfriends...

"Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what; maybe you’ll find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding, but there is also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you, sometimes better than you know yourself, is the same person who's been standing beside you all along."

and sometimes, a girl gets extremely lucky and finds that man, has that dream wedding, and has many loved ones with her on that journey...

New Year's Eve

Rachel and I spent New Year's Eve in Madison, which as you can see from the pictures, was awesome. The party was held at my old roommate's house, Eric, Jeremy, and Sara. We spent the entire night at their house then went down to the Blue Moon bar for a drink. It was really nice seeing all of our old friends and being back in Madtown.

We're back in Texas and loving the weather. I'm back at work doing flights, sims, and we're starting a new phase of academics. The new phase is learning all the technical aspects of radar and incorporating it into navigation. Today I had my final flight, the 'checkride', for our current phase and passed!! I had to study and prep quite a bit this weekend, but it was worth it. Since I passed, I actually have the next two days designated as 'self study' days, which means I don't have to come into work! So this will be a short week and then Rachel's friends Beth and Al are visiting and we cannot wait to see them and show them the city.

Photos from the Holiday Season!

Home for many, many Christmases

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Stefan and I had a long vacation in Wisconsin for the Holidays. It was quite the fiasco for us (and our luggage) to make it up to the Winter Wonderland of Wisconsin, but eventually it all came together.

To give you a little background, I tried to leave San Antonio the morning of December 19th, while Milwaukee was getting massive amounts of snow. As I'm sitting on the plane waiting to fly from San Antonio to Dallas, I get a call from American Airlines saying my flight from Dallas to Milwaukee is cancelled and I wouldn't be able to get on a flight to Milwaukee for two more days! The lady advised me to get off of the plane before it took off, so I frantically ran off the plane yelling "I NEED TO GET OFF THIS PLANE!" I was able to get off of the plane, but my luggage didn't. I was told it wouldn't be a problem and it would probably make it to Milwaukee before I would. Because I had to stay an extra night in San Antonio, I got to go to Stefan's Air Force Holiday Formal with him. Although all of my primping items were stuck in my suitcase, we were able to throw something together! We had a lot of fun, but went to sleep early because I had to make my second attempt to get home the next morning.

The next day, everything went smoothly and I arrived back in Milwaukee safely...without my luggage. In fact, they had no idea where my luggage even was. After three days of wearing my friend Emily's jeans and my sister-in-law's shirts, I finally got my luggage back. The night I got it back was extra special because I got to spend it with my three little cousins. We decorated gingerbread houses and had a sleepover- I think I had even more fun than they did! The next morning we woke up and decorated the Christmas tree and then I headed home.

I got to spend the day with Caitie and I tried Wii Fit for the first time- I'm hooked, I need to get one for sure. (Stefan's worried that if we get one, I'll become a full time Yogi and forget all about my real work! :) Stefan arrived that night, and as luck would have it, the airline lost his luggage, too! He had planned ahead, though, so it wasn't a big deal because his luggage showed up the next day.

On Christmas Eve we made the trip up to Stefan's dad's house in Eau Claire. We went to church, ate dinner, opened presents, and had a huge bonfire! It was fantastic. Mary even had the Christmas Carols printed off so we could sing. The next morning came too soon, and we had to head back to Milwaukee for the Fronk family Christmas. We spent that night and the next day with my family. The night of the 26th we went to Oconomowoc to celebrate Stefan's friend's Birthday. We had a great time seeing our friends, me miss them a lot down here.

The next day we headed back up to Eau Claire to hang out with Stefan's dad and Mary, the Steffen family, the Idso grandparents and then finally with Jessica, John, and Carol. It was a great stay in Eau Claire, but it was too quick. After all of the Christmases, we went back to Milwaukee, relaxed with my family, and then got ready to ring in the New Year in Madison.

Once in Madison, we began celebrating immediately. We had a blast and it made us miss Madison even before we left! We got to see my friend Molly's first house- it was super cute and I'm so proud of her for being a homeowner already! We headed home that night, had a great dinner with my parents, played our new game, Blockus, and visited with our friend Beth.

On our last day, I went Bridesmaid dress shopping with my cousin Erica, and we successfully found and ordered some super cute dresses. While we were doing that, Stefan was out buying a new suitcase so that we could get all of our new goodies back home with us. We were ready to go home, have some alone time, and relax for the weekend. On Saturday it was 80 degrees and sunny, the prefect weather to welcome us back!

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful Holiday back in Wisconsin. We had a blast and we can't wait to see all of you again! We will be posting some pictures of our Wisco adventures in a little bit! Much Love and Happy New Years!