Wife of a Kiowa Pilot!

Wow...it's been a long time since I last wrote! I told you guys I'm really bad about this!! haha! So much has happened!! Let's begin with Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving we went to Chattanooga, TN to spend the holiday with my Uncle Joh, Aunt Tracie, and my cousins Calvin and Connor! This also happened to be the weekend of the Auburn/Alabama game and my aunt, uncle, and cousins are NOT Alabama fans...they are Tennessee fans so of course they were rooting for Auburn, well we got a nice little welcome surprise/sabotage in our room when we got there...

This was our bed.... all lovely decorated in AUBURN colors!

This was our bathroom!!! I was laughing so hard..they were really dedicated!
This was Jeff and I's retalliation! The boys woke up to this the next morning!!! haha! As you can tell...we had lots of fun, oh and by the way in case you didn't know Alabama beat Auburn...and Florida...and Texas...and won the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!! ROLL TIDE!!

Thanksgiving morning we went and ran the Grateful Gobbler 5k! We had a blast! Way to work off those calories that we were destined to consume later on in the day! :) Here is my wonderful family minus Connor!

Then, Christmas break finally came and we made the road trip back to Texas with Gabby in tow! Love her! It was a very long drive that we made through the night because we were trying to make it to Texas in time for my BROTHER'S WEDDING!!! Yep, that's right! My brother Philip got married! Philip and Autumn had a very nice backyard wedding at my Dad's new house and it was a blast! I'm so happy for him!!

Then, Christmas came! Yay! I love Christmas!! Jeff and I have the joy of 4 Christmases every year! Yeah, just like the movie! It's always pretty hectic for us but we are so blessed to have so much funny who love us and who we love! This was Jeff and I's first time back to Texas since we moved away in February, so we had a lot of people to see! Sorry, if we didn't get to see you! We tried our hardest to see everyone!

After Christmas break we had to return to Fort Rucker where Jeff started his BWS (Basic Warfighting Skills) training! This course is 4 weeks long and once you finish BWS you get to select your advanced aircraft! Well selection day came and my husband got OH-58 Kiowas!!! We are very excited! This is a very fun helicopter to fly! We also got to make a "dream sheet" of where we wanted to be stationed next and our choices were... 1. Hawaii, 2. Fort Campbell, KY (outside of Nashville), and 3. Fort Lewis, WA (outside of Seattle)! So, please be praying that we get one of our top 3 choices!! Hawaii would be a lot of fun and hey you'd have a free place to come stay!! :) Here is what Jeff will be flying!!

Yes those are big guns and missles!!! :)
Also, in January my mom got married!!!!!!!! Lots of weddings going on in my family! My mom and Mark eloped to Vegas and then they had a wedding reception back in Fort Worth! I am so happy for her and Mark! This wedding has been a long time coming and I'm glad they were finally able to tie the knot! Here is our new family! (Well, most of them!)January also brought us a new gift!! My niece was born!!! Philip and Autumn had a beautiful baby girl name Ashlyn Grace McCarthy! She is absolutley precious and looks just like her Daddy!!!

Ashlyn Grace McCarthy
January 24, 2010, 3:55am

6lbs. 3oz and 19 1/2 inches

Ashlyn and her daddy! Ashlyn looks JUST LIKE Philip's baby pictures!! She is so cute!

So, see a lot has definitely happened!! As for me, I'm still working and Jeff is currently on hold till his Kiowa class starts...which doesn't start till June 28th!!! That is a looonggg hold! We are expecting to be leaving Fort Rucker by November!

Well, that's all I've got for now! Sorry this was so long! Love ya! :)

RUCKER LIFE

Hello all,

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post! Jeff has been back from SERE for quite some time now! haha...oops! He returned from SERE badly bruised and 15lbs lighter but at least he made it through! He said it was the most horrible thing he has ever gone through (worse than deployment) but the best training he will ever receive!

A week after he got back from SERE, Jeff started Primary, which is when you learn the basics of flying a helicopter! He was very excited about flying for the first time! About a month or so ago he had his "family day" where I got to come out and watch him fly all day! It was really awesome! It makes this whole flight school thing feel more real when you get to actually see your husband fly!! (Which is HOT, I might add ;) ) Family day was fun and I enjoyed getting to see him fly and do autorotations and run on landings... haha I know some lingo! ;) He had his check ride for primary about a week and a half ago and PASSED! Yay!

Now, he is in the instrument stage of flight school, which is where you learn how to fly using only your instruments without being able to see anything out the window (like if you are flying in the clouds)! He just had his first instruments test on Tuesday and made an A! Yay! He has a couple more weeks in instruments, they are only flying in the simulators right now but I think they'll be in the helicopter next week...

Then he will move on to the next stage which is basic war fighting skills! After that we will find out which aircraft he will be, which we are hoping for Blackhawk! So, please keep him in your prayers that he gets that! If he gets Blackhawk, we will have a 2-3 month holding period before he starts the Blackhawk course, and if he gets Apache it is an 8-9 month holding period! (yikes!) that would not be fun! I really don't want to be here that much longer. If things go according to plan and he gets Blackhawks then we will be out of here hopefully by September 2010!!

Our top base pics are: OCONUS: Germany and Hawaii, CONUS: Fort Lewis-Washington (30 mins from Seattle), Savannah-Georgia, Fort Carson-Colorado, Fort Campbell-Kentucky(it's only 45 mins from Nashville), Fort Hood-Texas (really don't want this one!!) I am very excited about where we might end up next year!! I love living in new places! Germany would be amazing because I would LOVE to travel around Europe! But, we shall see!! :)

On my end, I'm doing well, I'm working at place called Aureus International and I enjoy my job! I got lucky, there isn't much job opportunity around here! I usually only get to hang out with Jeff on the weekends because he has to study so much but I don't mind because it gives me time to hang out with my girlfriends! I'm the type who needs her girl time! haha I have some really awesome friends here!

This past Friday we had some friends over and did some pumpkin carving and played games! It was a good time! I will try and post some pictures, but I'm really bad about that! haha

Our friends, the Redleys, just had twin baby boys! They came 7 weeks early and are still in the hospital but are doing really well and breathing on their own, but please keep this family in your prayers! We are hoping they get to come home soon!

Other friends of ours, the Brooks, are expecting their first child this week! A sweet baby girl named Alta James, If Brenna doesn't have her by 5pm today, they are inducing her tomorrow!! I can't wait to meet baby Alta! So, please keep this family in your prayers as well!

Babies babies all around I tell ya!!! The first McCarthy grandchild will be here in January!! My brother Philip and his girlfriend Autumn are expecting a baby girl named Ashlyn, she is due January 31st!! I'm very excited about being an Aunt! I'm technically already an Aunt-in-law to my neice Jordan :-) (Jeff's side)! haha

Jeff and I will be celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary next week on Nov. 8th!! Yay! I can't believe it has already been a year!! Crazy how fast time flies by!!! We are going away for the weekend, not sure where to yet, either up to Birmingham, to Atlanta, or down to Destin, FL!I'm looking forward to a weekend getaway!! :)

Last note, Jeff and I will not be home for Thanksgiving, we are going up to Chattanooga, TN to spend Thanksgiving with my Uncle John and Aunt Tracie, which we are really looking forward to! We're going to run a 5k Thanksgiving morning called the Grateful Gobbler! haha It should be a good time!! We will however, be home for CHRISTMAS!!! Yay! We'll be in town from Dec. 20- Jan 2!! So, if you want to see us...get in line!! ;) haha

Till next time!!!.................

SERE School

Hello All!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! I'm really bad about keeping up with this! I think part of my problem is that I want to post pictures with the posts but haven't had time to put the pics on my computer yet!

So, Jeff and I have been living in Alabama for 6 months now! Wow! I can't believe we have already been here half a year! It feels like we just got here! Time is flying by!

In June, I finally got a job! Yay! It is very difficult to find a job here because we live in such a small community and there is a TON of competition... but thankfully God has blessed me with an awesome job! I work for a company called Aureus International, we make flight suits! If you fly a helicopter, you can buy one of our suits! lol I'm a business administrator and love learning more and more about the company and our products every day! The people I work with are amazing and down to earth and I fit in perfectly! I couldn't have hoped for better!

Jeff left for SERE on July 13th and comes back this Sunday! Yay! 21 days without my husband or even speaking to my husband has been very interesting! It has definitely been a test of my strength and I believe I am passing with flying colors! SERE which stands for Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape, is a 21 day field training for soldiers who have a high risk position. It teaches them the techniques and the knowledge of how to react in a hostage situation if their helicopter were to ever go down in enemy territory. It is a very difficult and hard 3 weeks for the guys where they are broken to the core mentally, emotionally, and physically! Even though it may be tough and they be beaten up a bit when they return, I am very grateful that they receive this type of training! I will feel much better when my husband deploys knowing that he is prepared if this type of situation were ever to occur! With that said, it has been very easy for me to cope with him being gone, because I know it is for the better good and I know that God is watching over him and me as well, and keeping both of us safe while we are apart!

I am so proud of my husband and what he is doing for our country! There is nothing more attractive than a man who serves his country! I am so lucky to be an Army Wife and I consider it the ultimate privilege to be able to love a soldier the way that he loves this country and me tooo!! ;) Being apart from me has also taught me a lot, it has given me more patience, and it's definitely given me more appreciation for him and for who he is and how he loves me! I CAN NOT WAIT TILL HE COMES HOME!!! I can't wait to wrap my arms around him and kiss him and I probably won't want to let go for a really long time! lol I know 21 days is only a blink of eye in comparison to a lifetime or even a deployment, but at least during deployments you get to talk to him! Not always, but a lot! Oh, and Bear is missing his daddy greatly and I'm sure he will probably pee all over himself in excitement when he sees him again! lol

Ending note, I would not have been able to get through this time if it wasn't for the amazing friends God has put into my life here at Fort Rucker! We are so blessed with soo many friends and it's awesome to have others with you who are going through the same thing! Most importantly, we've got God on our side, to keep us company to love us no matter what and I know He would never give me something that He knew I could not handle!

I hope all are doing well! I will be sure to blog about his return and let you all know how he/we are doing! (It might be a couple of days, because I plan on taking him hostage, if you know what I mean!! haha ;) )

Till next time....

Life In Alabama!

Hello all! 

I have finally gotten around to updating this thing! Sorry it has been so long! I told you I might not be good at keeping up with it! Let's try this again! haha 

Jeff and I have been living in Alabama for about 3 months now! It seems like we have been here for so much longer! In the 3 months that we have been here Jeff has only had class for about 3 weeks....haha which means we have had A LOT of together time! It's kinda ridic! lol But I'm not going to complain, I know once he starts his primary flying, I'll never see him!  So, till then we are enjoying our time together! 

Jeff was suppose to leave for SERE (survive, evade, resist, and escape) today, which is a survival training all pilots most go through to train them on what to do if they ever become POW's during combat. It's basically a 21 day course in the wilderness where they starve, get beaten up, and don't get to talk to their wives for 21 days!! Ugggh!! It's gonna suck! lol BUT, anyways... his SERE school got postponed AGAIN! So,  now he won't be going till July 12th! Which means we have the whole summer together! 

We went to Panama City for the weekend last week with a bunch of friends and it was a ton of fun! We stayed at Tyndall Air Force Base in a 4 bedroom house for dirt cheap! Then we all chipped in and rented a pontoon boat and cruised in the bay and hung out at the beach! It was awesome! We love going to the beach and having it so close to home! We have become quite the beach bums! haha It's great!

Since, Jeff doesn't go to SERE till July, we decided that I won't get a job till after he gets back from SERE because I'M COMING HOME for the month of July! YAY!!!!!!! I'm so excited! I can't wait!  I am however, going to be workin the Bama Jam Music Festival here in June! I'm going to be working the beer stand! haha But, that means I get into the 3 day concert for free! The line up includes: Taylor Swift, Pat Green, Brooks and Dunn, Kid Rock, Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Gary Allan, Los Lonely Boys, Charlie Daniels, Jason Aldean, and many many more! It's going to be awesome! 

That's pretty much all that has been going on here!  A lot of my friends are popping up pregnant here, which is crazy! They say it is in the water here in Fort Rucker! Let's hope that it doesn't happen to us just yet! lol We would like to wait awhile! One of my friends just had an adorable little boy named Holden, and another good friend just found out she is pregnant with TWINS! Which is super crazy! We are enjoying life here and love all our new friends! I promise I'll try to keep everyone updated for often! Till next time.... Here are some pics!

Bear in the moving van on our way to Bama! 

Summer, Me, Jen,  and Krystle! 

Some of my new awesome friends!

Rachel and I at the Lessard wedding in Hville!

My new awesome neighbor! I heart her! :)

Officer's Wife!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a week or so! It has been crazy busy in the life of the Johnsons! As of February 4, 2009, Jeff is an officer in the United States Army! Yay!! I am now an officer's wife! haha! I am so proud of him! Now that he has graduated WOC school he will be starting his flight school in about 2 months hopefully! We are not sure exactly how long this bubble will be but hopefully not too long! We are still in Alabama, this past week we have been house hunting and scouting out all that good ol Enterprise and Dothan have to offer (which is not a lot!!)! LOL! Friday we drove down to Destin and walked along the beautiful white sandy beach! I am going to freakin love living so close to the beach! It is only 1.5-2 hrs away! While we were down there we shopped around in this really nice outdoor mall and then went and saw "He's Just Not Into You." It was good, I liked it a lot! :) 

Oh, on another note! We found a house! Yay! It's a red brick town home that is only about a year old! It has 2 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths! It's 1,600 sq. ft! Comes with a washer and dryer and has all stainless steal appliances with gorgeous dark cabinets! Our master bath has a jacuzzi tub and we have a balcony off of our bedroom with french doors! I am sooo excited I can't wait to move in! Oh and another plus, our friends Jeff and Cinthya Jensen got a townhouse there too!! So, we are going to be neighbors! It should be some fun times! The Johnsons and the Jensens! lol We think it's funny!  (Ours is on the far right!) 

Jeff and I head back to Fort Worth tomorrow! Finally! I miss our dog Bear so much! I hope he doesn't think we abandoned him! haha! We are going to spend the next week packing everything up and shopping for the last few furniture items that we need (i.e. tv for the bedroom, entertainment center for the living room, rug for living room, etc.)! Then we are loading up the moving truck on Feb. 16th and we'll be on the road to our new home in Alabama on Feb. 17th! Move in day in Feb. 19th and I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Anyways....that's all I've got for now! See ya! :)

Roll Tide!

My sister Lauren and I drove to Tuscaloosa yesterday! We didn't get here till midnight which really sucked but what can you do about it. Being back here brings back so many memories! It is crazy to see how much everything can change when you have been gone! It is weird being here and not knowing anyone anymore. All my friends have graduated and moved away!  So, I  have been hanging with my sister's friends this weekend which luckily they are all really nice! lol! 

I have been sick the whole time which really sucks! I don't know what's wrong with me! My only symptom is nauseousness...I have felt really nauseated for the past 48 hours and it won't go away. Nothing else is wrong with me but that. Before you start speculating... no I am not pregnant! I know that for a fact! lol

On another note, I get to see Jeff tomorrow! Yay! I can not wait to see him! We haven't seen each other in a month! We are going to look at places to live tomorrow so I 'm pretty excited about that! I just hope I'm feeling better tomorrow.  I hope we find a place that we just love! At this point I am just so ready to be with Jeff and have our own place that I don't even care (to a point! haha). 

Anyways, once all these people here leave and head out to the bars I am hitting the hay! I have to get up really early to drive to Fort Rucker! So, I wish they would leave already! haha... 

Till next time........... 

House Hunting

So for the last several weeks I have been house hunting like crazy! I can not tell you how many websites I have been browsing through trying to find the perfect place for Jeff and I to live and start our new life together! We will be in Enterprise, AL for only 2 years while Jeff goes through flight school! Since we are only going to be there for 2 years we decided that we should just rent and once Jeff graduates from WOCS we only get 10 days to find a place, which is why I have been constantly looking for weeks! I think I pretty much have it narrowed down to several different places. Now it's just deciding whether or not to go with a house or a town house (which requires no lawn care! lol) I don't care either way. I just want something that is nice and has a big kitchen! What I'm looking forward to most is decorating! I love to decorate and I'm really excited because this is our first home together, just the two of us! :) 

Before Jeff left we went and bought new furniture! I'm really excited about it! We bought a new couch, love seat, ottoman, 4 poster canopy bed, 2 night stands, dresser with mirror, and tall chest w/ drawers! Oh and we bought new mattresses and a new flat screen TV! So we are all set to setup house in our new home!! I can't wait to finally unpack all my stuff that has been in storage and setup our new furniture! You just gotta love fresh new starts!!!!