Our Cross Country Move Video

We have worked hours and hours on putting together our move movie, and we are SO excited to show it to everyone! I realize that it is 2 months late - but better late than never, right? We took over a thousand pictures so sorting through them and picking out our favorites was so hard! Although the pictures are gorgeous - it just doesn't do it justice.

There was one video of Bradley that I thought was funny that I put in there so he had to put an embarrassing one of me in there. Actually, there are 2 of me - how convenient. "Yay...IHOP for breakfast! - GAG ME!

We have so many pictures that I am going to put on Facebook soon with captions of what all the pictures actually are. But this should give you a little glimpse into our wonderful move!

The trip was truly flawless. I honestly couldn't imagine it going any smoother than it did. We definitely had a hand of protection on us the whole time.

If you click on the YouTube link at the bottom of the video and change the quality to 720P, it will look and sound the best. :-)

Back to the beginning...

So here's how it all went down...

January 16 - Bradley called me and said that all of the Oceana, VA spots were taken (which is where we were told the whole time that we were going next). At this point, the only other places that you can go for jets is Lemoore, CA (to fly the F-18) or Whidbey Island, WA (to fly the E/A-18 Growler). Since Bradley originally wanted F-18's, we were put down for Lemoore, CA. We were disappointed that we were going to Lemoore because it was the absolute last place we ever wanted to go. We talked about it that night and prayed really hard about it. We both felt like Lemoore just wasn't the place that we should be. There was a guy in Bradley's class that had gotten Whidbey Island that really wanted Lemoore, so Bradley told him our feelings and offered to switch with him. He was of course ecstatic so all they had to do was get it approved.

January 17 - I got 'the call' at work from Bradley that the switch was approved and we were officially headed to Washington. The amount of emotions that were running through our bodies were unreal. We were relieved that we weren't going to Lemoore, excited that we finally 'knew', nervous to move cross country, scared to death to move out of the south and absolutely broken hearted that it was time to leave Pensacola. With the switch, also came another huge surprise (and another emotion to add to the list!). Bradley's winging was scheduled for February so given the time frame of everything, we were told that our report date to our new duty station would be the beginning of March. I was going to work until mid to late February, we were going to be here when our best friends had their baby - everything was going to work out. You know the quote, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"? Well, the same goes for the Navy. Except they actually told us our plans...and then they changed. Oh well! Anyways, so when we switched, Bradley's winging date had to be moved up in order for Bradley's squadron to meet their quota of how many people they were sending to WA. So on January 17, we found out that Bradley was winging in 11 days and I had to put in a 1 week notice at work.

January 27 - Bradley's winging ceremony (that I wrote about in the last post). Our family had a 10 day notice that we wanted them to come to Florida. Luckily pretty much everyone was able to come which we were very happy about it - but boy, was it a whirlwind! The call to my mom was hilarious.
       "Hey! So....we're moving to WA.....in 3 weeks....and Bradley's winging is now next weekend."
Crazy. Absolutely the exact opposite of anything we thought. Haha!

February  6 - Bradley finally received his orders and had to be on the road within 4 days in order to make it to Whidbey in time to check in.

February 7 - Our move evaluator came to survey our stuff.

February 8 - My dad flew in!

February 9 - The packers came.

February 10 - The moving truck arrived and loaded all of our stuff. We were off of our 7 day adventure of moving across this beautiful country!

February 16 - We arrive - after driving 10 hour days - to our new home!

February 18 - My dad left.

February 19 - Bradley left for 2 weeks of training in San Diego, CA (SERE for all the Navy wives!) :-) Absolutely the WORST 2 weeks of our lives.

February 24 - Our stuff arrived! All 83 boxes!

March 3 - Bradley made it back home and we started our new life here in Anacortes, WA!

March 5 - Bradley started the FRS. 


I really don't want anyone to think that I sound whiney or bratty about moving. Yes, it was a HUGE shock to us, but we are so blessed to end up where we did. Neither of us can imagine living anywhere but here - which just proves that we truly are where we are supposed to be and that God had bigger plans for us than we could see. We always knew that this was an option for us and although Bradley always wanted to be in the Growler, we were afraid to say that moving to WA would be neat because moving across the country is a big change. We are so thankful that Bradley has an awesome job that he loves and we are SO excited about living somewhere new and different! I'm sure my fellow Navy wives will agree that no matter where you get stationed - whether it's your first or last choice - the emotions/stress/worry/anxiety/fear, etc. are all the same. :-)

We made a video of our move and we are SO excited about it! We've had it finished for a little over a week and we have watched it so many times already! I'll be posting that in the next few days! :-)

Bradley's Winging

You know how when you get really, really, really busy and you think to yourself, "something's gotta give!". Yeah....so that has been us over the past 3 months and unfortunately that thing that had to 'give' was keeping up with our blog. As most of you know, we have now moved cross country after a very unexpected report date (and unexpected duty station!) and we're finally starting to get settled into our new normal! I promise I will update a TON on all our new adventures (because it is awesome out here!) but before I do that, there is a very, very, VERY special event that took place while we were still in Florida that I do not want anything to overshadow - Bradley's winging!

Bradley has wanted to be an aviator his entire life. While we were dating, he got his private pilot's license (where he can fly small Cessna civilian planes) but then chose to attend the Naval Academy and was selected to serve this country as a Naval Flight Officer (NFO).

Just for some background information: Once you complete all 4 (grueling) years at the academy and graduate with your 4-year degree, you are then commissioned as a Naval Officer into whatever service selection you are picked for. Depending on what your new job is, you have different requirements as far as further schooling, more training, deployments, etc. For Bradley, once he was commissioned, he reported to flight school. For an NFO, flight school is about 1 1/2 - 2 years long. During this time, you fly trainer jets (the T-6A Texan, T-39 Sabreliner and T-45 Goshawk), have simulator activities, go to many classes and have long, hard days. Since I witnessed first hand what it is like to have a husband go through this - it is challenging. Boy, those 5am flight sure do stink! Once you get at the end of your flights, you find out what plane you will be flying and where you will be stationed (this is the part where our world got a little rocked ;-) ). On your very last flight, you get your 'soft wings'. This is a big deal because you officially become a 'somebody'. They finally stop treating you like you know absolutely nothing and start treating you like you actually DID just spend 1 1/2 years actually learning something. :-) I kid, I kid. :-) Then it's finally time for the big day - Winging day, that is!

The instructors they flew with that day ripping off their old name patches and putting on their new ones - with wings!

Oh boy...the soaking begins!

The boys taught me how to spray the champagne before they landed. Unfortunately I sucked at it and ended up with just as much on me as was on Bradley.

Bradley's class!

Complete!

So excited! :-)

A winging ceremony is where a pilot or NFO student receives their 'wings of gold' signifying that they are finished with flight school and are ready to begin flying the fleet aircraft that they are selected for. There is still some training left once they are placed in their new aircraft squadron called the FRS (fleet replacement squadron) where they actually have to learn about the new aircraft that they will be flying in the fleet, but once you receive your wings, you are no longer flying in a trainer jet - only the real deal from here on out, folks! :-)

Before the ceremony.

In front of the T-45 - the last trainer jet Bradley flew.

Millie was SO excited for her Uncle Brah!

Pinning on his wings!

I had no idea I got a spouse award...I was in shock!

AND my own pair of wings?! I had no idea they did this but I wore them the whole day!

She loved rubbing his wings. It's like she knew all he had accomplished, too! All those nights she was at the house messing up his charts just as fast as he could put them away must have meant something to her. :-)

Outside the museum - where the ceremony took place.

Typical.

His stein!

Right in the bullseye! :-)

My cake I got for Bradley's little party we had at our favorite local restaurant.

At his party.

His picture that my brother and sister-in-law got him. He loves it!

Bradley's winging ceremony was incredible. As I sat there and watched all 10 of them receive their wings, I couldn't help but have huge tears in my eyes the whole time. I have seen first hand what these boys went through every single day to work towards this dream that they all have had for so very long. I know Bradley had days where he felt like receiving those wings was just a mirage off in the distance and it was going to take forever to get to them - but walking up to him that day with those wings in my hand and having the honor of pinning those on him was a dream come true for me, too.

I wake up every single day completely in awe of my husband. Not because I think he's better than anyone else, but because I am completely humbled by his dedication and sacrifice for this country. I couldn't do it. There is no way I could make it one day in the military (the first time someone told me an order, I would go redneck). But Bradley does it, so very selflessly.

The whole day Bradley and I just kept looking at each other and smiling, but different than we usually do. It was one of those unspoken ways of communication where nothing needed to be said - just the looks on our faces showed how thankful and happy we were to share those moments together.

That day was a very, very special day.

“‘Difficulties’ is the name given to things

which it is our business to overcome.”

Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, Class of

1901, addresses the graduating class of

the U.S.Naval Academy, 19 June 1942