What's in the Future...Blog Update

Since this thing called USAFA (United States Air Force Academy) is finished, I am hoping to blog more over the summer before pilot training starts at Columbus AFB, MS.

I've had an extremely busy, but phenomenal week, that I'm still trying to figure out how to put into words. I would like to get a recap of my graduation experience up on the blog within the next few days, so keep a look out for that. I might take things day by day, since most of the days were filled with all sorts of stuff.

Next up, though, is the trip across the United States from Colorado to Virginia. That will give me time to blog, but I'd also like to keep everyone updated on that trip. This is the first time I've ever really driven across the country because when I graduated from the USAFA Prep School, I only drove through part of the states before getting out of the car in Indiana and flying to Greece and England for 2 weeks!

My parents are driving with me and we plan to stop at the St. Louis Arch in St. Louis, Missouri and Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. But along the way I will be blogging about all of our adventures. Plus, I know you all cannot wait to see how much crap I still have and will be moving in my car from CO to VA and then from VA to MS!

I am so excited to blog more and I cannot wait to share pictures and experiences from my journey! Yay!

Lindsey :)

Counting Down the Days

I've been a really horrible blogger over the past semester. So, here are pictures from my last semester at USAFA while I've been counting down the days until graduation. 

A beautiful snowy morning at USAFA! I loved waking up and opening my curtains to this view!

 Walking back from a visit to the Visitor's Center!

 Meeting Brig Gen (Ret) Dan Cherry at NCLS. Amazing guy to get to talk to, especially when you want to become a Thunderbird and he was the Commander of the Thunderbirds! 

A training day at USAFA...at least I got some gorgeous shots of my school! 

Headed to Copper Mountain for some skiing with friends and I decided to use this famous Olympic skiier hairstyle...any guesses?? 

Panoramic at one of the highest points at Copper Mountain! It's days like these that remind me how much I love the mountains and Colorado! 

Bases! I'm going back home to the 14th (Zeamer!!) Flying Training Wing at Columbus AFB, MS! Yay! 

Celebrating 100 days til graduation! 

Yay 14'ers! 

My last ever Mitch's Mountain...cake, vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream, chocolate ice cream, topped with whipped cream and a cherry! Oh and a gigantic piece of Mitchell Hall chocolate! 

 Me and my best friends at the 100's Night Dinner. Dan is going to grad school in Ohio, then ENNJPT at Sheppard AFB, TX; Kaylon is headed to Canon AFB, NM for Force Support; I'm going back home to MS for pilot training; Aaron is going to Laughlin AFB, TX for pilot training! We'll be all over! 

 One of my best friends...we've been through the last 5 years together! And she is getting married soon too! 

Coming back from 100's Weekend! Celebrating 100 days until graduation! 

I got my very own Downton Abbey, tea and all! Thanks freshmen! 

 A telephone booth too that fit me perfectly! 

And a wall of tea...yes, all those tea bags! I still have them and hope to use them to make sweet tea during graduation week for the family! My room smelt amazing when I got back too!

LAST SAMI EVER! And this time with the gold sash and tassel! So exciting! 

Celebratory last SAMI picture in the bathroom!

We celebrated my friend Dan's 25th birthday with a beer tasting surprise party hence the beer cupcakes. He had no idea, by the way, which was great! Oh and I don't like beer, but these cupcakes were excellent. My favorite were the orange ones aka Blue Moon cupcakes.

Captured this gem on my way to dinner at Mitchell Hall. I love these mountains and it's this kind of stuff that I feel like I will miss a lot! 

So, there's a quick snapshot of my last semester here. More to come on special events like the Run to the Rock, my fountain jump, and other celebrations! Until then, we'll keep counting the days! Only 8 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes, and 50 seconds until graduation begins! :) YAHOO! 

It's March Already...

Wow! I can't believe it's March tomorrow! Time has gone by quickly. I have exactly 3 months until I graduate college...I'll be finished with undergrad. I won't lie. I am a wee bit nervous and a little scared. Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled, excited, and can't wait to start my incredible summer and the rest of my life, but there are so many emotions involved in everything. 

Sometimes, I feel like it can't get here fast enough and sometimes I feel like life is running away with me. There's so much I have to do to finish my undergraduate degree, to get ready to graduate, and to get ready to move my life back to MS! It is quite daunting when I try to think about all of it at once. So, I don't. 

I want to embrace and enjoy every moment that I have left at the Academy and in Colorado Springs. I have taken them for granted in the past. Oh and I am really gonna miss my friends. I know I am gonna make new friends and I can't wait. There will definitely have to be reunions, though. For sure...and often! 

I am so excited when I think of all the new opportunities and awesome times that are in the future! I get to learn how to fly expensive, fast, and incredible airplanes over the next year and a half! That alone gets my heart pumping and blood flowing! I am so blessed!! I will be living the life! 

And this summer, I get to travel all over Europe!! I. AM. SO. THRILLED! So many new foods, sights, smells, cultures, and people to experience! 

Okay, I think that's good enough for now. Back to the open road of New Mexico as I am headed to Texas with my best friend for her first bridal leading up to her nuptials in June!! 😊 

What a Week!

So, this post is very late and yes, I am behind on blogging. Anyway, I wanted to write about the last week of January. It was awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better week. I had a lot of positives during the week and was on cloud nine. For the entirety of the week, the weather was cold and snowy. Most days when I woke up I could pull back my curtains and see snow everywhere. We got a 2-hour delay on the Friday of that week too! Here's one shot that I took on my way back from breakfast. I love all the white snow against the gorgeous blue sky. It was almost a perfect day! 

Even on my way to the gym, I was in awe of God's beautiful masterpiece. Days like these are some of the ones that I will miss. I love the snow and don't mind the cold, as long as they aren't accompanied by the wind. Thankfully, there wasn't much wind during this week. 

On of the great things about this week was all the firsties finally found out their bases! I was able to find out where I would be spending the next year and a half of my life. More importantly, I was anxious to find out whether or not I would be returning to Mississippi. I know, I know. It's funny to think that I would want to go back, but I really, really do. I DID NOT want to go to Del Rio, TX. First of all, no offense to Texans, but I am not really a huge fan of Texas. Secondly, Del Rio is literally as close to Mexico as you can get. It is WAY, WAY down there. And apparently, there is nothing in Del Rio and it is extremely boring. I mean, I know you don't want a lot of distractions, but still, I feel like you need some things to do. I wouldn't mind getting Vance AFB in Oklahoma It would be fun to be in a new place and I know some people who are there currently. Plus, I've heard good things about it. with all of that being said, I really, really, really wanted to go back to Mississippi. I dreamed of becoming a pilot while at Columbus AFB and had some cool experiences there growing up. And, when I was working on getting my private pilot's license, I shared the airspace and runways with some of the T-6s and T-38s that flew into Meridian. I thought it would be a really cool thing to go back home and fly what I grew up with and make a full circle.

Well, the moment came and let me tell you, it was much more nerve-racking than I thought it would be. We were all in our Squadron Activities Room watching as our squadron patch moved around a map of the United States. Finally, there were clues on the screen like the year 1492 (Columbus sailed the ocean blue), a picture of Christopher Columbus, and his ship. We all guessed Columbus AFB of course. Then I just had to wait. After what seemed like a million years, my picture popped up on the screen! I GOT COLUMBUS AFB! WOOHOO! I was so relieved and so excited. The excitement lasted for like 3 or 4 days too. Especially when I started hearing about great people there. For example, my Navigators leader called and told me about a couple that was there. That made me excited. Another thing that made me really excited was I knew a lot of successful pilots that had went to pilot training at Columbus AFB. Most of all, I was very excited, relieved, and so happy because I felt like this is what God wants me to do. This is his plan for me. This plan kicks off in September when I head back to Pueblo, CO for the three week Initial Flight Screening program. I'll start there on September 17. Then, I will officially start Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training on November 21. Yes, that's right. I get to turn 24 and start fulfilling my pilot dream on the same day! I think this is kinda cool!

                                                                           MY SLIDE!!


After an amazing Thursday, I had a fabulous Friday! For about 6 months, I knew a show called Ballroom With a Twist was coming to Arnold Hall in January. I knew there would be stars from Dancing With the Stars in the show, but I wasn't sure who. Well, I started asking Mrs. Cooley, my show choir director, if I could go backstage after the show to meet the performers. Finally, after much persistence, she told me I could do something better. I got to eat with them on the staff tower at lunch! Once I found out it was Val Chmercovisky and Chelsie Hightower, I kind of started freaking out. I was so ecstatic! When Friday came, I slowly got the jitters as it got closer to lunch. Then, the time came. I made my way to the staff tower and there they were. I saw Val first and then everyone else!! I ended up sitting by Val and talking to him throughout lunch, asking questions about choreography, the show, and life. They all asked about going to school at the Academy and why we came. All the usual questions. Over the course of the lunch, I ended up being able to get an extra performance in for the cast of Ballroom With a Twist prior to their show!!! It was a successful lunch that ended with a hug and a kiss, yes a kiss on the head, from Val! I was happy to know that the show choir would be able to show our skills to the cast later that night! 

LUNCH DATES

My 15 minutes of fame on Val's Instagram! 

It was absolutely beautiful that day at USAFA with tons of snow!! Days like these are some of my favorite. I could watch the snow all day while drinking tea and hot chocolate, reading a book, or watching movies!! 

The evening ended with a successful performance at the pre-show and backstage for the cast of Ballroom With a Twist! There were smiles all around, applause, and phones out everywhere taking video and pictures of us. I got another hug from Val along with praises about my choreography! What more could I ask for?!? Well, during the show, I got to go up on stage and dance with Val! It was perfect! And while this might sound really cheesy, it was so great that when we danced, I felt like it was just the two of us. He whispered the steps in my ear and around we whirled! Step forward, step back, spin out, spin in, dip! My own dance with a Dancing With the Stars pro! My night was made! 

The week was splendid and ended with icing on the cake! 💃

Sharkbait! First go is Cancelled!

*****Disclaimer: I am behind, so this post is about my week that happened almost 2 weeks ago!****

So, for the first four weeks of flying, I have only had my dollar ride. Yes, that's right, you read correctly. Only 1 flight in 4 weeks! The title for this blog is what I've heard too often lately. The main reasons why I've heard "Sharkbait first go is cancelled" is because 1) it in incredibly windy and 2) it has looked like this for multiple days. 

Don't get me wrong, this is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. I love waking up in the morning and watching the snow fall from my bed. But, at the same time I haven't been able to fly. Here's another beautiful snowy picture on a cold walk to class. 

My first flight was fun and I learned something. My IP (instructor pilot) told me that as long as both those things happened, then it was a successful flight. Anyway, we took off and went to the North area an had some fun. My IP let me do a lot of the flying (not typical for a dollar ride) since I had flown before. Once we got to the area, though, he demoed several different stalls and maneuvers for me and then I got to do them. This airplane is not what I'm used to flying so it took a couple tries for me to get the hang of it. Soon, though, everything was swell. However, I did have a small issue whole on this flight. You see, when we got in the airplane it was like 28 degrees so I had my flight jacket on. Well, the heating works well in the T-53 and I got a little toasty. Add the sub for extr warmth, some bumps from the wind, and some up and down maneuvers in stalls and I was not feeling too well. I didn't exactly feel nauseous, but I wasn't alright either. I quickly told my IP, took my jacket off, and had all air vents pointed on me with cool air. This was such a weird and odd experience for me because I am not used to anything like this at all. AT ALL! I never got sick and started doing better, but after that my performance went down. My attitude and confidence were knocked down and I just didn't feel up for much else. I attempted to land the aircraft, but again, I wasn't my best so the IP took it from me. Once we were back on the ground, I felt completely fine. I attributed my weary and wily feelings to my lack of sleep the previous night and my lack of water, two things that I will definitely ensure are taken care of next time. My IP said that despite my minor incident, I did an excellent job. We debriefed everything and then it was back to school on the hill. Overall, the flight was fun and interesting. My IP was awesome and definitely kept me pumped as much as he could. He was encouraging throughout and continued to tell me not to let the sick thing affect me. Sometimes, he said, those things happen. I can't wait to jump back in again for a second time on hopefully a calmer and carefree day. 

In other news, my graduation announcements came in the mail at home! They are SO pretty and I can't wait to see them all. This was also a "oh my goodness" moment because it makes things even more real each and every day! Now, I can't wait until I send these bad boys to all my supporters!! Here's a shot of them: 

                  Announcements!!! 

I am a nerd. Plain and simple. I'll leave you with this: while driving down the road, I stopped at a light and noticed my gas mileage read 2014! I know, I know. Of course, I had to take a photo though. So, here's my nerdy moment for the week 

Until later! 

Lindsey 

Waiting for Takeoff - First Full Week of School

Good Morning! Today is Thursday and I am very happy that the 3-day weekend is near! I have a lot of fun things planned, but I also hope that I can take this long weekend and put it to good use by getting ahead on some of my work. I love my major and I love my schedule this semester, but MAN, I have a lot of books to read. They all either are really great or have the potential to be great. And with that I will tell you all about my classes and my semester thus far.

My schedule is great; I mean I really cannot complain. My M-days are wonderful. I have Powered Flight and Film Studies. THAT IS IT! I am finished every day by 12:30-1:00! Here's a breakdown of these classes and what I am actually doing in them.

AM-420 (Powered Flight): This "class" (not sure if you can even call it that because in my opinion it is way more than a class and it is so much fun or it will be so much fun as soon as I get to fly) is all about learning how to fly a military aircraft. I have it M1-3, so I wake up at 5 a.m. to put on my wonderful flight suit, aka pjs, catch the bus, and come to the airfield. Once my class gets here, we have a briefing at 6:30 a.m. This briefing consists of the current weather, NOTAMS (Go Dad!), stand-up and emergency procedures, and general knowledge. Every day one of the AM-420 students stands up in front of the class and instructor pilots (IPs) and completes an emergency procedure. So, I pretty much have to stand up and go step-by-step through a procedure as if I were flying the airplane (on a solo flight) and something happened. Hopefully I do well and get "Thank You, you can take a seat" and not "Sit Down!" The first response means I've done well; the second response means it probably did not go well at all. Once that is completed, we have our individual  briefings with our IPs and then head out to the airplane to begin our adventure. The only problem thus far is it is lesson 5 and I haven't flown yet. The first 4 lessons everyone was grounded because of wind. If you know anything about Colorado and USAFA right now, we have been blasted with wind. I'll save that story for another day, though. The other reason why I haven't been able to fly is because I am waiting on my aeronautical orders (AO). This is just a medical form from the flight surgeon saying that I can fly. Needless to say, the flight surgeon and flight medicine here are lazy and my appointment is this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Hopefully, I will be cleared for takeoff and can set to the skies over Colorado on Tuesday!

                                                    The Cirrus T-53A that I will be learning to fly! 

                        

                    The view on the first morning of AM-420! 5 a.m. wake-up will be well worth it! 

Fine Arts 375, Film Studies: This class is just what the title says. We study films! My teacher, Dr. Vargish, is one of the coolest instructors in the English Department. He taught me for my William Faulkner class and is just like your really cool and awesome grandpa! Anyway, he chose the theme for the class to be Travesty. So, we will be studying films that have something to do with travesty. We will also try to answer the question of  "Is travesty a genre?" The films that we are watching are Belle de Jour, Blood Simple, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Snatch, Inglorious Basterds, In Bruges, and Seven Psychopaths. My book for this class, while expensive, is really cool. I am very excited about this class even though these films might not be films that I would pick up right away.

My T-days are a bit fuller, but not that bad. I have 4 classes. I begin at 9:30 a.m. and am finished by 2:30 p.m. Again, I feel like I can't really complain. I have British Literature II, Contemporary Literature, Creative Writing, and Music in History. Here's a little bit about these classes.

English 344, British Literature II: This class covers British Literature from the end of the 18th century to present day. Yes, that's right; that's about 230 years worth of literature! I am looking forward to "The Importance of Being Ernest" by Oscar Wilde probably because I love the film with Reese Witherspoon in it. This class has kind of gotten off to a bumpy start, though. My instructor loves poetry and all we've done for the first 5 lessons is talk ALL about poetry. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate poetry, but we haven't really followed the syllabus and I can never actually plan ahead for the class. I am hoping that the class gets better in a few lessons.

English 385, Contemporary Literature: I love this class! The books are all memoirs, which are a favorite of mine, and the teacher is great. He told us that he doesn't really care about grades (I mean, I still care about my grade), but that he really wants us to read and write because we want to and because we enjoy it! OH MY GOODNESS! There is actually a teacher out there that thinks that?!? I love to read and I love to read the majority of the things that I am assigned, but it is great to know that there are some teachers that still keep these things in mind. We started this class with "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls and it is great. Some of the story is very sad, but overall it is a fabulous book! The next memoir on our list is "All Over But the Shoutin'" by Rick Braggs. This will take us to the deep South (Yay!). I am starting that book this evening!

English 375, Creative Writing: This class is taught by the same instructor that teaches Contemporary Literature. Again, he wants us to write because we want to write. I am a bit nervous about this class because I have never really written a story before and I've heard that he has and will rip stories to pieces when we have to read them in class. He is very encouraging and motivating in this class, but also warns us against writing a bad story. Some of my ideas for my first story include a love story between two people named Kimberley and Stephen and a story about a first time cat owner. We'll see how these come out.

Fine Arts 358, Music in History: Ah, music! We begin this class in the Baroque period with Vivaldi and Bach and move forward to the present. We are mainly looking at how the music was created, how the music was affected by history and culture, and how to identify this music. This is another class that I love! The music is all very good and some of it I have heard before. For example, I had heard Vivaldi's Spring Movement 1, but didn't know that was the piece's name at the time. We also listened to the organ piece that is most common in horror films. I am sure you'd know it if you heard it. This class will be fun and an adventure through time!

Finally, I have an independent study class. This class is just me and an instructor of my choice. I created the syllabus and assignments for the course and it was finalized by the English Department. My class is on Jane Austen. I am not sure what the title would be, but I am focusing on all her novels and the impact that they have had on several generations. Plus, I decided to incorporate all of the film adaptations. Because there has been such an impact of her novels on all generations, there are several film adaptations. I am looking at continuity from the books and how directors interpreted her work to put them on the silver screen. I chose to go in chronological order, so I am currently on "Sense and Sensibility." I am part of the way through the book and will be watching the film this weekend to discuss in class next week. My class only meets once a week, so it is really all on me to make sure that I do the work that I'm supposed to do. It is very exciting and in the end I think it will be very rewarding.

Okay, I think I've written enough. This is my life thus far. For my last semester of undergraduate school, it is not too bad. For today, though, I am just waiting for takeoff.

Until next time!

Lindsey :)

                 Here's to working hard this last semester and getting to pilot training!

New Blog!!

This is my new blog! I used to have an old one, Blurbs of the Beast, but I can't access it anymore because I don't have access to my old email address. So, I am starting a new one. This is a short, but sweet post, just saying that I am starting one and hope to write in it regularly. I love my sister's blog, Life As I Know It, and I am inspired by her blog to write my own! 

I want to write about my life in general and document what I am doing, how I am feeling; all those things! Plus, I hope that through this blog I can develop my writing! Oh wow, I feel kind of nerdy for just saying that. I'll be back later to give another post that is more about me! 

Tootles! 

Me, about to be 23!