Oops...looks like I dropped the ball on keeping our blog updated! :/

The Spring semester was pretty crazy with 19 hours. Finished out with 5 A's and 2 B's. I worked my butt off...not even exaggerating a little bit. I have the Summer off from school and am working back in Lodging at the front desk until school starts back up August 27. This Fall semester will be my LAST semester as an undergraduate. I CAN'T believe it--although I do feel like I've been in college forever. Transferring schools only set me back graduating 1 semester so I really cant complain! I will have another heavy course load of 19 hours. My degree will be a Bachelors of Science in Health Science. Not really sure what I can do with the degree but it is what most of my credit hours went toward when my credits transferred over to BSU.

Now, I have a whole other delimma. Do I want to go back to school or try to just find a job. Because we live in Mountain Home, the job market is not very big. I have been talking with Ben and trying to figure out what my options are. I have really been considered going to a Vet Tech program. The one I am looking at is an Associates degree online but I would still have 'clinicals' like a nursing program would have. I've always loved animals and I feel like I would enjoy working with them daily. The other part of this is that I want to travel! We've only been in Mtn. Home for a little over a year but, until I discovered this 2 year state side onlyVet Tech program, we planned on trying to get orders overseas ASAP. Now what do I do? Follow my lifelong dreams of traveling the world or follow what my heart says would be the most rewarding career I could have? We could get orders mid-way through the program and I would have to quit or we could get orders 5 years from now and then I would be kicking my butt asking WHY I did not do the program. I am just not sure what to do. I am trying to figure it out before the summer is over so I can start making plans for after I graduate.

Today is Ben's LAST day as an A1C (Airman 1st Class). Tomorrow he will be a Senior Airman! Ben got BTZ (Below the Zone). It is quite an honor. He had a packet that went before a board that had all of his college stuff, events he volunteered at, and his performance at work and he was SELECTED. BTZ means an A1C is promoted to Sr. Airman 6 months earlier than he normally would. He is eligible to test for Staff Sergent next May.

If you didn't hear, we had an awful scare with our puppy dog, Cuddi, in April. She got really sick and we had no idea what was wrong with her. Come to find out, she had ingested a piece of plastic, a rubber band, a small piece of a plastic bag and some string. WHERE she got ALL of this we still do not know. She had a very invasive surgery. They had to cut her all the way down her belly and make 1 cut in her stomach and 2 in her intestines. She had about 28 staples and was drugged up pretty good for a few days. She is doing 100% better now and has gained back the weight she lost while she was sick. It was very difficult to see our little girl in so much pain and so sick.

That's it for now!

Winter Update!

Hey Everyone!1 :)

School is finally out! WHOO HOO! I ended up with 3 A's and 1 B. I'll take it! I have really enjoyed having some time off from school. It's been interesting adjusting to living an hour away from school and just a new school in general.

Ben's Mom, Ms. Cathy, came in for Thanksgiving and we had a blast! The day after Thanksgiving we went SKIING for the 1st time for all of us. I really thought it was going to be hard (since I've never been that athletic!) but it was actually fun and I did pretty well! By the end of the day Ben was hitting the more difficult slopes and getting some air off of the hills. Ms. Cathy did really good too!..After we she fell off the ski lift a few times :) Love you Ms. Cathy!! HAHA

We had a GREAT Christmas. Although we were unable to spend it with our families back home, we spent the the Christmas Season with great friends we have met here. On Christmas Eve the Fosters invited us over to dinner. After, we played so many games like scattegories and charades! We had a big Christmas dinner at the Gleese's house with lots of food and desserts! ;) Then we all played cards and stayed up really late.

Thank you to everyone one who sent us Christmas cards and/or gifts this Christmas! We loved seeing pictures of the family! We are SOOO grateful for all of the gifts we recieved! :)

I have been working at the hotel since school let out. I've been working really hard so that we can pay tuition and books in full for the Spring Semester. I will be taking 19 credit hours! What am I thinking??? Well, if I take 19 in Spring and 18 in the Fall...I can graduate FALL 2012!

Pretty much since I have been out of school and working at the hotel, Ben has had off of work and has been enjoying lots of down town and hanging around the house (and helping me with chores, of course!!)

Our friend, Jordan Morales proposed to his girlfriend when he went back home to Wisconsin about a week ago. She said YES! We are all very excited for them! Our good friends Bri and Alex went home to California for Christmas and New Years. We have missed them but are keeping their fish-esss alive and fed!

So far, the winter has not been that bad! It got REALLY COLD (low in 10's, high in 20/30's)  around late Nov/early Dec but today it got up to 50 degrees! We had one good snowfall a few weeks back. It was so awesome! Cuddi LOVED playing in the snow and eating it too!

My Dad and Brother will be coming into town Dec 31-Jan 2. I am sooo excited to get to see them!

Thats all the updates I have for now!

Happy New Year!
Adrienne Graham!

Update with Picture!!

OOPS---Pretty sure I really slacked off on my blog! What can I say? I am loving life!!

Lets see....
It is getting colder here! Lows around the 40's and highs in the 60's nonetheless, you pretty much need a jacket even when it warms up because of the wind. The trees are changing colors and when I left for school on Tuesday morning there was frost on the rooftops :) We have some pumpkins hanging out on the steps of the porch that are pretty cute! Unfortunately, Trick OR Treating will be held on Halloween night, which is a Monday, and I have night class so, I am not going to get to see cute kids and pass out candy. I guess on the bright side of that is we can save money on not buying candy. :-/

I have been learning to cook! I try new stuff all the time. Some things are successful...others....not so much! But I am learning and sometimes it is fun!

School has been going alright. I am just sick of all these Area 1 Classes I have to take like Philosophy, music, art...I just really don't like artsy type classes. I cant wait to move on to more of the classes that I actually like! I feel like a freshmen all over again! BSU is interesting. A good bit of the student population is nontraditional which is new to me. Everyone rides bikes and long boards everywhere. Most people have Ipods stuck in their ears. Ad BSU is a well known college because of the football team...not because of academics. You can believe that! Some of my professors could care less if I need help, am confused, or need a little guidance. Its insane.

Ben is doing well! He is just going to work/school and studying. He is hoping to take a few classes after he gets rated to earned his Associates degree. Cuddi just got over an eye infection, poor thing. She is 30lbs now and pretty spoiled.

We are excited for the holidays quickly approaching! We have some family coming in throughout November and December so that will be a treat for us! We are excited to show our families the base, our house, Boise, CUDDI! :)

Today we found out that we WON BSU vs USAF football game tickets for Saturday! There was a drawing at the commissary and I randomly put my name in and we won! We are very excited and I am trying to figure out if I should root for BSU or the Air Force....? Haha

School starts today!

Not sure if everyone knew about the wild/brush fires that were all around us, but here is what happened.
--Hearing on the news that there is a brush fire out here is a daily occurrence since it is so hot and sometimes lightening strikes it up. Naturally after get off of work at 8 am and working all night, I really didn't care what was going on as long as my bed was OK.
--I woke up, made Ben dinner :), and brought it to him at work. And I mentioned to him that there were some brush fires and he said that they had been talking about it at work and that we were fine. This was around 5 PM. I went home and went back to bed haha!
--Around 6 PM I heard the announcement system dial up and knew something was wrong! I ran outside to hear the announcement. It was the base telling everyone on/near/ at the flight line to evacuate immediately because the brush fire was ON BASE! Ben came home and they continued the annoucements to keep us updated. We were scared they were going to have to evacuate housing so I got all our documents and Cuddi's things together and we were set to go.
--I think the closest the fire got was 2.5 miles from any base buildings so, we were not evacuated. I think the main reason was the time of day and the change of direction of the wind. The fire at that time was no longer a threat to us. That night when I went to work, it was SOO smokey and hazy from the fire but after a day or so it went away and we haven't had anymore fires threatening the base.

Ben is still hanging in there at work! He took a test last week and passed but he said he can definitely tell that the work is getting more difficult for him. Keep him in your prayers for him to stay strong!
We had a date night the first week of August. We went to eat sushi and it was SO GOOD. It was the first time I actually enjoyed sushi since I am new to it but Ben ate all kinds of interesting things LOL. We went to a movie in downtown Boise. It was really cool, looked like something you would see in a movie. Our movie was almost over when the WHOLE blocks power went out! Everyone left but we were refunded our tickets and parking passes. Since neither of us had to work the next day, we just went to the other movie theater in Boise and watched another movie--for free! We had a great time and it was much needed time together :D

I start school today!! I am now getting a little nervous. I have 3 night classes and 2 classes on Boise so I will have to drive there 3 times a week instead of 2. Some friends of Ben and mine have been here for a little while and Bri is in nursing school at Boise State. So, Saturday we all met up on campus and Bri showed us around and where to park, where my classes are going to be, library, etc. I felt soo much better about starting school after that so shout out to Bri and KO---Thanks y'all!

Cuddi is getting so big! She is like 26/27 lbs now! I can't hardly pick her up, but she LOVES when I do! She has become very affectionate in the past 2 weeks. She wants to lay down beside us, put her head on our feet if we are cooking or standing, and she HAS to be included when Ben gives me a hug otherwise she will whine and bark until we pick her up and have a family hug! Haha! Her emotions and feelings are becoming very realistic and it is very evident when she is happy/sad/excited/feeling left out!!

Until next time!

Love,
Adrienne

Enjoying Summer!

Summer here is so awesome! I can actually stand to be outside for more than 5 minutes!

July has been mostly about work for both Ben and I. I have been doing training at work so I have been on days, swings (3:30 - 12:00 pm) and mids (11:30 pm to 8 am) off and on so my sleeping schedule is WAY off. Work is going pretty well though, I am enjoying the opportunities to meet all kinds of people PCS'ing (Permanent Change of Station) in or out of the base, retired military passing through, and lots of high ranking people (colonels, GENERALS!) Although, some guests can be a little on the edgy side and are a little high maintenance..its a bit of a challenge! I have pretty much got the hang of the job and how to do most things. There are just some situational things sometimes that I have to ask questions on.

School starts August 22! Its getting CLOSE! :( I was able to schedule for 13 credit hours. I would have liked to get more but I was not able to schedule until after the rest of the university, I am pretty lucky to have what I do. I will be taking philosopy 101, art 101, english 277, music 101, and Chem Lab. Boise requires a lot more and different freshmen levels classes than Nicholls did so I am having to go back and get some basic college requirments. I am lucky enough to be able to take 3 of the classes ON BASE! That way I will just have to travel to Boise Tuesday/Thursday mornings for music and Fridays for the chem lab.. I'm not really that nervous to start school there, I thought I would be.

Ben is doing just fine. He just passed Clearence Delivery! Basically, that means he passed the part of ATC where he gives the OK to pilots to take off. Probably the ONLY time he will EVER be able to tell an officer WHAT and WHEN to do something, haha. Ben has made some friends from work that he hangs out with sometimes on the weekends. This weekend there is a really big fundraiser on base called Operation Warmheart. Its constant 24/7 softball games. Ben volunteered to umpire all day today. He has been playing on a summer basketball team and has enjoyed it so far. I think they have only lost maybe 2 games. He sprained his ankle in one game but it wasnt that bad and was good to go a few days later.

Cuddi is growing so fast! I took her to the vet on Thursday. She gained 7 lb in 4 weeks! So now, she is 25lb. I can't even really pick her up anymore :( The vet said that she doesnt think Cuddi will get any bigger than 35 lb and mostly likely not close to 40lb. She is so smart! I have taught her how to sit, lay, duck (working on the cover part!), speak, shake hands, and jump. We are currently working on stay, quiet, and no bark. She is doing very well socializing with adults. So far, she does not jump on people when she meets them...which I am SO thankful for! However, we have not been so lucky when dealing with little kids. I think they move to fast for her and she gets scared. She growls and barks at them. We are working slowly with her around small children. She is getting better, but still not any where close to being where we want her to be. She is also teething so everytime I go to the freezer to get ice I HAVE to give her a piece.

Still no internet at the house. We had a bill that we were waiting to get paid off and we just paid it off yesterday. So, sometimes between now and when school starts we will have skype again and will be able to see all of our family and friends!

TTFN!

Adrienne

FINALLY!

We have not had internet for over a month therefore, I have not been able to sit down a write an update.

SO MUCH has happened since I've gotten here.

First, we got a PUPPY! Her name is Cuddi, and for those of you out there wondering if she was named after Kid Cudi or Lisa Cuddy from House MD, your right! :)  She is half border collie half lab and 4 months old. We got her when she was 3 months old from the Idaho Humane Society in Boise. She was living with her sibling pups with a volunteer foster family. The lady that was taking care of her really helped us out! Cuddi was already crate trained and was 90% potty trained, it was really nice not to have to do that initial training. I taught her how to sit and am in the process of teacher her to shake hands. She is a really dark brown color with a little light brown on her neck and she has white on her chin that looks like a little beard and a little on her toes!

We got a kitchen table, too! It has a marble top and a cherry colored wood legs and chairs. It's really easy to keep up and we dont have to worry about leaving cups on it or hot bowls or pans. And we also got a microfiber couch and loveseat! They are sage colored and really look good with the armour and wood floors in the living room.

I got a job, too! I am working at the Sagebrush Inn on base at the front desk. I really like it so far! I have nice supervisors and fun co workers. Its a cool job because we get to meet all the incoming, outgoing, and those passing through. Some have some crazy stories.

Ben and I have also made a lot of friends. We have some from California, Georgia, Oregon, Michigan, Tennessee...from all over! Shout out to yall if yall read this! :)

We went on a Wine Tour in June. That was really fun! Who knew Idaho producced WINE? We went to 5 wineries. I found out red wine is NOT FOR ME! We tasted one that was called "Menopause Merlot" YIKES! That stuff was STRONG! The wineries were so pretty, there were just constant rolling hills. The town, Nampa, Idaho, north of Boise, also produces a lot of other produce, too.

Saturday we went with some friends out to Strike Dam, about 20 min off base. It is really pretty out there but the water is kind of murky...there are even sturgeon out there! We took Cuddi and the neighbors brought their 4 month old lab/golden retrever mix (Cuddi's boyfriend). Cuddi LOVED the water! She just got in it and started just a swimming around! We would throw the ball for her and she would take off to get it. It was just too cute, esp. because we had never seen her swim before. That little dog has brought SO much laughter and love to our house. :D

The Direct TV guy came out on Friday. We were very excited it get TV and internet. However, Direct TV obviously doesnt have signal strength powerful enough to go through LEAVES so we were not able to get it! GRR.

We have a BBQ yesterday for the 4th of July (since I have to work today!) We had friends over and I got to meet to new people too! It was really fun and we are going to have to do that again!

Thats all I can think of right now, but I know that there will be more soon!

Until then,
Adrienne GRAHAM! :)

WE MADE IT!

We arrived in Mountain Home, on Saturday, May 14 around 10pm! We actually got here a day earlier than we planned. I will post pictures from the drive later.

We started out leaving Baton Rouge a little late...10 am! We stayed in Norman, OK the first night. It was OU's graduation, so we were really lucky on getting a hotel. Friday we also had a late start at 12 pm. On the way out, tornado sirens were going off and, of course, I was freaking out! I can do hurricanes...but don't put me around a tornado. Needless to say, the Taco Bell we had just gotten was not longer appetizing. :(

I got a good nap in so when it came time for me to drive I was very alert. We were suppose to stay in Limon, Colorado, but I was WIDE awake and ready to go! Little did I know...we were getting into some twisty and winding roads.  There were a few times that I had to slow WAY down to be able to see where the road was going because we would be going up and then we would reach the top and I couldn't see where to go, straight...right...left??? And one thing that I noticed is that they don't use reflectors on the roads in addition to the lines. They only use reflecting poles on either side of the road. Around Ft. Collins we started looking for hotels...none to be found. We got a toll road..none. We got off the toll road...none. Finally, we come upon a little town with some decent hotels. BOOKED! ALL of them! It was another college town and the schools graduation was the next day on Saturday. So, we ended up going to Cheyenne, WY.
The next morning we woke up and headed to Mountain Home. It had snowed in Wyoming and it was still all over the mountains, it was so pretty! Utah was by far the most beautiful state we went through! I have pictures that I will upload later. We made it to the AFB right after dark. After doing some navigating we pulled in the driveway to the house! It is so pretty, CLEAN, like new!
Sunday we went into Boise to check everything out. The drive to Boise is definitely a haul...not fun for sure! We went to Lowes and looked around a little, too.

I worked ALL DAY Monday unpacking and putting things away. Most of it was done by Monday night. Ben's work schedule has been a little crazy this week so no real daily routines have started.

The drive from Mountain Home to the AFB is about 10-15 min of absolute nothingness. There are some houses and some other buildings, but mostly flat land for as far as you can see. That stretch is really nothing to look at although, you can see mountains going to and from base. The town of Mountain Home is very small and cute. It has some nice downtown areas and some newer buildings. We do have a Wal*Mart though! We stopped at a Mountain Home tourist center and got all kinds of informational pamphlets and maps of the area. We were abruptly corrected on the correct pronunciation of Boise. It is NOT BOY-Z like how we say it in LA. It is BOY-C.....with no Z sound. The lady also corrected us and said that 'you all' is one word, not two...as if we were so uneducated that we didn't KNOW that. It's just how we talk...we don't say YOU BET after every sentence, they do, and I am not telling them how to talk! Stepping off my soap box.

There is a town fair this weekend, so Ben and I are thinking about going to check that out.