Flees.net

The TLDR or "short, short version" about what we did

We did a 7 day Caribbean cruise with DJ's sister, Lori, her husband, James, and their kids, Oliver and Lucy. We flew from Newport News to Houston and sailed from Galveston. We had stops in Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman Island; and Falmouth, Jamaica. We did some cool shore excursions at each stop (Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza at Cozumel, an island tour of Grand Cayman, and a waterfall climb and cave exploration in Jamaica) and

We moved to our new house six days ago and man, that was some super hard work. I was more exhausted than I've been in quite some time. The only times I can remember it being worse was after our half marathons and after my Spartan Race. I tried to workout two days later and could barely do any of the moves. It was just silly.

The house is coming together nicely, though. It is older, but we like its quirks, and the backyard is simply amazing. This house will force us to be more social

Here I thought that we were going to move to a different city for sure as a result of my promotion, but not so fast! The Air Force made a surprise move and told us we'd be staying right where we are. However, in another surprise move, our landlords have told us to get out because they are selling the house we are renting. So we're not moving, but we are moving! We were thinking about it anyway, but this made that choice for us. There are pros and cons to all of this of course. We were in some w

After months of waiting, I found out a week ago that I am indeed being promoted to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant (SMSgt). This is a big deal in the Air Force because only 2% of the Enlisted force is allowed to be at that rank at any one time. It is probably the hardest rank to make. The promotion rate was only 11% across the Air Force, and only 10% in my career field. I am super stoked about this, even if it does mean we are probably going to move as a result, to either the Washington DC ar

We're probably around 11-12 days until I find out if I am getting promoted and having my life turned upside down again in a few short months. That is the big downside of Air Force promotions - you have to wait so long to find out about them. That long build up increases the emotional stakes and makes the joy that much more intense if you make it, but also the crushing disappointment is more acute when you don't.

Three days ago was my 21 year anniversary with the Air Force. If I don'

Another year has come and gone. 2017 was an interesting year - it alternated between frustrating and challenging and pretty sweet. It had some tough times and some great times. Overall, though, it was way better than 2016! 2016 was our toughest year ever. This was kind of a rebound year. It got us back on track. It should be viewed as the springboard that will help make 2018 be the best year yet! We are so blessed and we have some big events ahead of us this year.

I find out about

The Timeline page is active! It still needs to be updated with many of the events in our lives, but it is a start and I really like how the page turned out. The next public available item I'll be working on is TV show tracker. Not that I think anyone cares that much what we are watching - it is more for our reference, but why not let people see it, right?

First, time for a little bit of history. I've been an avid gamer for many years and I was about to retell the first few decades of this story until I realized I had already wrote a blog around 12 years ago telling my video game story up until that point. Much has changed since then. I got a Wii and a PS3. Both got hit by a lightning storm and I got them replaced, though I was able to repair the PS3, so I had two of them. I went to Kore

It seems that lately the only we know about our future is that we don't know much about our future. Everything seems to hinge on whether I get promoted next year, which I will find out about in early March. Based on my last evaluation, the promotion seems like nearly a sure thing, but you never know. I take my test on Dec 1st, then I get to just wait 3 months to find out. If I make the promotion, it is almost certain that Kelley and I will move, and more than likely to the DC/Baltimore area. Thi

I will update this blog as warranted. Last update was 25 Dec 2017.

After a long road of fits and starts, I finally underwent PRK (photorefractive keratectomy), a procedure to fix my vision. I have had bad eyesight since grade school, got glasses in 2nd or 3rd grade but never wore them except when I had to see the chalkboard, and got contacts between 6th and 7th grade. The Air Force first started offering vision correction in the mid-2000s, so I started the process around 2006 or 2