Winging!

We really are done here in Corpus Christi!! Jared received his wings on May 9th! He is now an official pilot of the United States Navy. The ceremony went well and Jared was so thrilled to FINALLY get his wings. The wings he will wear are his grandfathers' wings from when he was winged in 1954. Besides getting his wings, Jared was also recognized (along with many others) for being a top student and received a plaque for being on the Commodore's List with Distinction. That means... he is in the top 5% of the Navy. Congratulations to him and the many others that also received such high honors. So the ceremony ends and then the real party began later...The winging party afterwards was by far the best one ever! Besides the free flowing alcohol, there was a mechanical bull! Yep... you read correctly, a MECHANICAL BULL! What is Texas without a little bull riding?!

We have been having such a great time with our parents and Jared's grandfather. It has been such a treat to have them here with us to celebrate and to show them around what has been our home for 5 months. Jared took us on a tour around the squadron and showed up the T-44. I got to have a taste of the simultaor and pretend to fly a plane. We also took my parents to San Antonio and spent the day at the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Although time with guests has been limited (people actually have jobs and work?!?) we certainly made the most of it and had a great time.

So... now on to the most important stuff we have been waiting for. Oh but wait...a funny story first! The spouses receive a "Neglected Spouse Award" for being put through the emotional rollercoaster that is called flight school. I was called up to receive the award with Jared and the award was handed out by the Commodore. When I got up there the Commodore said, "So you guys headed off to Jacksonville?" I said, "Yes sir... we also really want Whidbey Island, Washington can you make that happen... and soon?" The Commodore (who is a very nice guy by the way) just laughed and smiled. After the picture, on the way back to sit down I said to Jared, "That was the right person to ask right?"

Now back to the most important stuff... After waiting for several days (a lot of people received their orders right away) we finally got our orders Saturday morning. Our orders state... Detach from Wing May '08. Check in to Wing June '08! WOO HOOO!! We will be out of here in time to drive up to Virginia for my new nephew to arrive. We are going to try and get everything organized and done so that we can head out of Corpus Christi no later than the beginning of next week. Jared is going to check in with the wing in Jax and then ask to take househunting leave so he can drive up to VA with me for a little bit. Jared and I are so excited to finally know when we are going to be out of here! He classes up in Jax with the rest of his classmates from here on July 30th.

Sorry this has been a long entry! We have just had so many important things happen in the last few days that I wanted to share with everyone! ~ Megan