Care Packages

Currently my husband is in tech school studying Munitions Systems aka AMMO! The first week he was there, he just had to attend a whole bunch of briefings. This past week was his first week of classes. So now instead of sending him letters, I get to send him care packages! I've already sent him 2 so far. The first one I sent him had one of his favorite movies in it, popcorn, and candy - so it was "movie night" themed. That one was kind of boring, but I was too excited to send out his first care package to even care. The second one, I went all out. I decorated the inside of the box, got creative with the contents and everything! He received that one today and he loves it! I'm already working on his next one. I think the care packages are more for my entertainment than they are for him, lol. They keep me busy and allow me to get creative. I'm sure he could care less if they are all decorated, as long as they contain FOOD! lol

The cutesy food labels I got from The Dating Divas - I found a lot of cute ideas on there! I also put magazines in the box and throughout the pages in the magazines I had put sticky notes with cute little sayings on them. Let me know if you have any awesome ideas for care packages!

Graduation Parade

Friday morning wasn’t as early as the past 2 had been; we left the hotel at 6:45AM to get to the base by 7AM. We parked behind the retreat pad where all the buses were lined up. You have to get on a bus and ride it over to the parade grounds. We didn’t have to wait in line or anything; it was a quick and easy bus ride over. Once we got to the parade grounds, we found a seat and just waited for the ceremony to begin. There’s a lot of “hurry up and wait” throughout the entire weekend. The airmen are so far away during the ceremony that it doesn’t really matter where you sit. There are no good or bad seats from my prospective. Toward the end of the ceremony, the entire airman do a parade march, where they come closer to the stands you’re sitting in parade by them. That was pretty cool. They ended the ceremony by taking their oath of enlistment and stating the Airmen’s Creed. After that it was time for another tap out hug! This time I let Chad’s parents tap him out but I still got my hug after them!

We rode the bus back to the area where our cars were parked and then we went to the Mini Mall and BX. Chad thought we could go see his dorm room at 11AM, so we showed up at his squadron about 10:50. Well turns out, the open dorms ended at 11AM, so we had to quickly go check it out. I wish I would have had more time to just observe the place that he spent the past 8 weeks in but I still got to see where he slept and his locker, so that was pretty cool. After Chad was dismissed, we were able to take him off base. As we were driving off base, my Mom said she felt like she was sneaking a prisoner out since he hadn’t been allowed off base before that point!

Chad got to have a town pass on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so that was super nice! We got to see a little bit of San Antonio and also just relax in the hotel room. I know Chad liked his town liberty because he didn’t feel like he was being constantly watched so he could be a little bit more at ease, which made me feel better. It was an amazing weekend that I will never forget. It was sad to have to leave Texas and go back to Michigan knowing that he wasn’t going to be coming home with me. He had to leave Monday morning at 3:45AM to head to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX to start Tech School!

Airman's Run

After 8 weeks, graduation week was finally here! I was so excited! My Mom and I had a 5:30AM flight on Wednesday so we left the house at 3:30AM, so it was an early morning! We flew to Detroit and then got on a plane to San Antonio. We had great flights there, no problems at all! After picking up our rental car, we went and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Best Western Ingram Park. After reading reviews and seeing the price of this hotel, I booked it right away.  I have no regrets staying in this hotel and would recommend it to anyone attending graduation in the future! After checking in to our hotel and eating lunch we decided to go scope out the base. That was the first time I had ever been on a military base. It was cool! All the trainees were scattered around the base, so we kept looking to see if we could see Chad. No such luck. Since we got up so early that morning, I didn’t have any problems falling asleep that night even though I was so excited to see my husband the next morning! I think my body went to sleep but I’m not sure if my mind ever did.

Thursday morning was another early morning, but it was all worth it. I believe we left the hotel at 5:45AM, but had to turn around and go back since I left the banner at the hotel. Woops! Thankfully we scoped out the base the day before, so we knew exactly where we were going. I decided that I was going to go the 7AM visitor briefing while my Mom stood out by the road to save a spot for us for the Airman’s Run. I found the visitors briefing to be quite boring and not of use to me. It would be good to attend for someone who has not done their research but because of AF WingMoms, I knew everything that they had to say. By the time I got out of that, it was about 7:45AM and people were just starting to line up for the Airman’s run, there was still a ton of room. My Mom and I met up with some of the people that we had been talking to online for the past 8 weeks that were in our FLT group. So that was really cool! Promptly at 8AM, the Airmen’s run began. You could see them coming from a distance, it was the coolest thing. Basically during the Airmen’s run, they run past you and then they turn around down the road and come back and run past you again and that’s it. It’s the first time you see your Airman in 8 weeks though, so it’s amazing!

After the Ariman’s run, we had to go to the retreat pad and wait over an hour for the Coin Ceremony to begin. The weather was perfect, not too sunny and a nice breeze so it was really nice. After waiting and waiting, finally the Coin Ceremony began. It was a really cool experience. After they got their coins, they were dismissed. This was my favorite part, the “tap out”. The Airman have to stand at attention until someone comes and “taps them out”, which in my case was a giant hug! Most amazing thing ever! After that, he was free to go with us anywhere on base. We ate at Godfather’s pizza for lunch, which was really nice & relaxing. After that we drove around checking out the base. We stopped at a couple museums, the BX, and the commisary. It was a nice day! The worst part was having to drop him back off at the end of the day! 

Next post: Graduation Parade!

Phone Calls & Letters

Side Note: I’m writing all these blog posts today because since the day Chad left I wanted to start writing a blog but just never found the motivation to do it. Today, I decided that it was time to start. So I’m playing catch up! I wish I would of started sooner so all of basic training could have been documented.

So for 8.5 weeks, I lived off of phone calls and letters from Chad. They are what kept me going. I wrote Chad a letter every single day. I knew that’s what kept him going too. About 2 weeks after Chad left, I got my first letter. I remember that day. 3 envelopes from Chad had came for me in the mail that day. My Mom texted me while I was at work, “you got 3 letters from Chad!”. I was so excited that I rushed home from work! It was kind of disappointing that in 1 of the envelopes was just information about Lackland and graduation weekend, another 1 had the form I needed to apply for my DoD card, but the 3^rd was an actual letter! YAY! I was so happy. I was lucky enough to receive a phone call every single week. It usually came on Saturday or Sunday, but never at the same time. I always had anxiety all weekend long waiting for him to call. If I sat my phone down somewhere and forgot to carry it in to the next room, I’d freak out! I never did miss one of his phone calls. He always got to talk for about 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes, I lived for every week.

There are several things that people do to prepare for their Airman’s graduation. 1 of those things is make custom t-shirts. My Mom, Mother-in-law, and I decided to get PINK shirts made since Chad knows that my favorite color is pink. We wore the shirts during the Airman’s Run (which is when the Airman run by, kind of like a parade), so we knew Chad would easily be able to spot us! Another thing people do is make a banner for their Airman to hold during the Airman’s Run. So I spent a couple days creating that. These are all things that kept me busy while he was away. I think it’s kind of cool! My friend’s husband is in the Army and she said they don’t do anything like this for the soldiers who are graduating.

Overall, basic training for me really wasn’t that bad. Yeah, it sucked not hearing from my husband everyday or knowing what was going on. But it really made us stronger as a couple and as people. It’s a good learning experience. I had my weak moments but I also had my strong ones. The best part of basic training was graduation weekend. All the stress, tears, and unhappiness over those 8 weeks all pays off once you see him graduate!

This is just the beginning

I think Basic Military Training (BMT) is as much for the service members as it is for the spouses and families back home. It teaches you a lot of things, not only about the military but about yourself. Chad left for BMT on February 14, 2012. It was a very hard emotional day. Chad had to stay in a hotel the night before he shipped out and go to MEPS early to do some processing. I went to MEPS in the morning to see him take his oath. After that, we headed to the airport to wait around for hours before his plane took off. Tip for anyone that may have to go through this in the future, get a gate pass from the airline! It will allow you to wait at the gate with your military member until they have to board the plane! I don't think very many families knew about this because we were 1 of 2 families that waited with our Airman. There was all this anticipation building up to the moment that he had to leave. It was hard to hear that his plane was going to start boarding, it was hard having to give him that last hug, it was hard leaving him not knowing when I would hear from him next. It's hard.





Waiting in the Airport before he shipped out!



I was told that I would get a call within the first 72 hours. This call is suppose to be a scripted call where Chad would just have enough time to read off his address and hang up. I was nervous for this call to come because I knew it was going to be hard to not be able to talk to him and I wanted to make sure I got his address correct. His recruiter gave me an address template to fill in the blanks, since their address are very long. I literally carried this piece of paper, a pen, and my phone around with me for 3 days straight. I was coaching Cheerleading at a time and I remember on that Saturday, we had a competiton and I was SO nervous he was going to call while my team was out on the floor. I would of freaked. That never did happen. I actually never got the call within the first 72 hours! I tried to remember, no news is good news, but it was so hard! I worry. I worry a lot. I didn't get my first phone call until Sunday (he left on a Tuesday). It wasn't the scripted call; I actually got to talk to him for a full 15 minutes! His flight didn't get the scripted address call, they were told that they don't do that anymore. Which is a lie. After that Sunday, I was on cloud 9. I could finally relax, I was happy to know things were ok. I was happy to have his address! I had been writing him a letter a day since the day he left and didn't have his address to send them to him. I think he got about 15 letters the first time that he got mail!



If you know someone that is leaving soon for the Air Force, get their family connected to AF WingMoms on facebook. It is AMAZING! That facebook page got me through the 8.5 weeks of basic training. They create discussion groups for the different flights. Once you know your Airman's address, you know their flight, so you can join the specific group. You get to meet other family members who have an Airman at basic training in the same flight as yours! I met some really amazing people in that group and we still talk even though our Airman have graduated basic. AF WingMoms also has a TON of information about basic training and the graduation weekend events. Like I said, it's amazing! I feel bad for people that don't know about it and have to go through the journey alone!

Life Turning Moments

Lately, I've been feeling like I have a crazy life. A year ago, I never imagined my life to be the way it is today. I feel like I need to document it so I can look back on it years from now and remember how I felt during these life changing moments.

After I graduated college, I didn't really know what to do. For the past 21 years, my life had been planned out for me. I always knew what my next step in life was going to be. Leaving middle school, I knew I'd be going to the high school. Graduating from high school, there was no other option for me in my mind than to go to college. I graduated from Michigan State Unviersity in May 2011 with a bachelors in Psychology and after that I had no idea where my life was headed. Most people would probably know their next step in life... use that degree to get a job, duh! Problem is, I don't even know what I want to do. I like psychology, I like helping people but what exactly was my niche going to be? I didn't have a clue... I still don't. Anyways, I applied for a million jobs that would utilize my degree in some way but never heard back from them. A lot of places wanted people with experience... well being fresh out of college, I had little experience besides the internship I had done the previous summer. I ended up landing a position at the same place that I worked at throughout college. This was a relief for me because at least I knew I would have an income! It was around this same time that my fiance, Chad, started exploring options for his future. He attended a technical college after high school and got certifications to work in a Body Shop. He found himself at a dead end job and knew he needed to make some changes. Long story short, he decided to join the Air Force.

I had very very mixed feelings about Chad wanting to join the Air Force. We had been together for the past 7 years at that point, pretty much inseperable. We had no official wedding plans in the future, but I knew we had to get married before he enlisted. It was about time anyways, we had been engaged for 2 years! We decided to do a destination cruise wedding on the beach in Key West, FL. It was the most perfect wedding ever and I would do it all over again if I could! We got married on January 6, 2012.

Chad left for Basic Military Training on February 14, 2012. That's one Valentine's Day that I will never forget! So this started our whole new life. If someone told me I was going to be a Military wife when I was 16 years old, I would of told them they were CRAZY! I never imagined my life to be like this, but it is and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I continue to embrace that as more life changing moments happen.