Peanut is a horse with a cowboy on her back!! LOL!! I thought it was funny when we were at the pet store.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!!!
Just thought I would share a few pics of the costume my chihuahua Peanut and I picked out before we left the states. The other two dogs won't wear clothes so they don't have costumes. Although they are chasing poor Peanut around trying to figure out what is on her back.
Peanut is a horse with a cowboy on her back!! LOL!! I thought it was funny when we were at the pet store.
Peanut is a horse with a cowboy on her back!! LOL!! I thought it was funny when we were at the pet store.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
We went shopping
About a week ago my wonderful hubby took me shopping and I got this beautiful water color painting from a local artist. Its a 2 of 5 of a limited edition reproduction. She had many originals there but we loved this one of St. Mark's Basillica. I hope to find her again because her work is absolutely beautiful and I would love to add more to my collection of stuff from Italy.
So today we go shopping and I have been wanting the hand painted masks from Venice and we came across a lady who handmakes them all. They were all so beautiful and I fell in love with many of them. I could have taken them all home and been happy but I limited myself to just two. A set one for a man and one for a woman. I got them in this dark blue and gold. I'm thinking that these would make wonderful gifts for Christmas, but I'm not sure who would really love one.
I had one wall in my hallway that I didn't know what to put on it and I decided to make it my Italy wall. I'm going to hang all my beautiful treasures that I find on it. Below I will post pics of my newest treasures.
This is like the mask the men would wear. The come in so many beautiful colors and designs.
This is like a mask the women would wear. Now there are a ton of masks that women would wear. There were so many to chose from. I loved the ones with feathers and thats why I chose this one.
Here is a picture of the painting. We just love it and we hung the masks around it. Isn't it so pretty?!?!
So today we go shopping and I have been wanting the hand painted masks from Venice and we came across a lady who handmakes them all. They were all so beautiful and I fell in love with many of them. I could have taken them all home and been happy but I limited myself to just two. A set one for a man and one for a woman. I got them in this dark blue and gold. I'm thinking that these would make wonderful gifts for Christmas, but I'm not sure who would really love one.
I had one wall in my hallway that I didn't know what to put on it and I decided to make it my Italy wall. I'm going to hang all my beautiful treasures that I find on it. Below I will post pics of my newest treasures.
This is like the mask the men would wear. The come in so many beautiful colors and designs.
This is like a mask the women would wear. Now there are a ton of masks that women would wear. There were so many to chose from. I loved the ones with feathers and thats why I chose this one.
Here is a picture of the painting. We just love it and we hung the masks around it. Isn't it so pretty?!?!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Our Drive Through the Mountains
Today my hubby decided to take me out and show me around. We drove up to the mountains and he showed me the local river. It was an amazing drive and was absolutely beautiful.
The first place we stopped was a damn in the mountains. We're not really sure what this was but its interesting.
The road over the damn and a tunnel that leads into the mountains. We went through about four tunnels on our drive (but not this one).
Jerry on top of the damn trying to read Italian. I think it said not to drove rocks off the edge.
This is where the river is. All the mountains surround it are so pretty.
Usually there is more water but since winter is coming and it isn't raining as much the water isn't as high as the summer.
Another pic of just the mountains and the river. We brought our three dogs with us so that they could sniff around, but we wouldn't let them play in the water it was too cold.
The first pic of me and my baby doll in Italy.
For some reason the water here turns this really pretty teal color. I just wanted to show everyone how pretty the water is here.
A view of a mountain and one of the many little towns that we passed through.
We were loved all the different peaks that we saw while driving through taking in the sights.
Jerry loved the way this mountain looked so I had to take pictures of it.
These little roadside alters are everywhere along the roadsides and some look a little bit bigger like the could be chapels.
Just an awesome view of one of the little towns on the mountain side. I thought these were so cute when you see them so far off. You can actually see some from the front yard of our home. Its so cool!!!
The first place we stopped was a damn in the mountains. We're not really sure what this was but its interesting.
The road over the damn and a tunnel that leads into the mountains. We went through about four tunnels on our drive (but not this one).
Jerry on top of the damn trying to read Italian. I think it said not to drove rocks off the edge.
This is where the river is. All the mountains surround it are so pretty.
Usually there is more water but since winter is coming and it isn't raining as much the water isn't as high as the summer.
Another pic of just the mountains and the river. We brought our three dogs with us so that they could sniff around, but we wouldn't let them play in the water it was too cold.
The first pic of me and my baby doll in Italy.
For some reason the water here turns this really pretty teal color. I just wanted to show everyone how pretty the water is here.
A view of a mountain and one of the many little towns that we passed through.
We were loved all the different peaks that we saw while driving through taking in the sights.
Jerry loved the way this mountain looked so I had to take pictures of it.
These little roadside alters are everywhere along the roadsides and some look a little bit bigger like the could be chapels.
Just an awesome view of one of the little towns on the mountain side. I thought these were so cute when you see them so far off. You can actually see some from the front yard of our home. Its so cool!!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
My Totally Too Long Flight
I left for Italy October 15 from San Diego, CA. I flew coast to coast that day, so we (being me and my dog Peanut) ended up in Washington, D.C. by the end of the flight where we had about a two and half hour lay over. Not to mention the flight felt like it took forever!!
From D.C. we switched over to the Austrian Airline and we flew over to Vienna, Austria. It was a very long flight about 8 hours, but the flight itself was very pleasant. It was an over night flight. I sat in economy (it was all I could afford), but I was thankful that the seat next to me wasn't sold. Each seat had our own little tv monitor with a remote control and had several t.v. shows and movies to watch in about four different languages with a set of head phones to listen to it. The flight attendants were all really nice and helpful they served us drinks all the time and lots of tea and coffee. We were served dinner and it was pretty good (much better than I thought airplane food would be) and we were even served breakfast. I tried to sleep but its hard to get comfortable in those seats!!
We landed in Vienna, Austria and this was my first experience with a foreign airport and I was so scared. I have never been overseas before now so the whole experience was super scary especially doing it all on my own. I get off the jet in austrian and everything in their airport is so different from ours. I have a hard time finding my next terminal because all the signs are so different. The arrows pointing you in the right direction aren't very helpful at all and you have to go through like two other check points before you even get to the next terminal. So I end up at a passport check point almost in tears because no one speaks english and I don't know where I'm suppose to be. The lady there speaks english and isn't nice at all. I ask her if this is the direction to terminal b and she totally snaps at me and finally says yes. I give her my passport and I totally get it stamped!! My first stamp in my passport!! So I try to follow those signs and find myself at a place that totally looks like a mall!! So the whole time I'm wandering around this place I finally figure out the arrows mean to go down and then I find myself at another metal dector and I go through it to finally find myself at terminal b. I was so happy to finally be there but I was still very upset over the whole experience. Not to mention I totally had to use the restroom and I couldn't figure out where it was the whole time I was there. So I finally get on my flight on this little prop plane and head to Venice, Italy.
It was a small little plane and thankfully it wasn't a full flight so no one sat next to me. I still had to go to the restroom but I hate those little bathrooms and I didn't want to leave peanut alone because she was already freaked out so I waited until we landed (it was only about an hour flight). I get to Venice, Italy and thankfully there bathrooms are much easier to find. They say toilets and have pictures to show what they are! I then went to baggage claim and was again almost in tears because I didn't see my hubby!! I couldn't figure out where he was and why I hadn't seen him yet. I finally figure out that you can't go to the baggage claim without a boarding pass so I calm down. I get my luggage and go out the exit and I was so happy to finally see a familiar face!! I started to cry again about my whole experience and getting lost and my hubby just hugs me tells me it will be ok.
Its still very weird and scary. Definitely a culture shock. I never really understood what people meant by that until now. I know it will take awhile for me to get use to it over here. I look around and see everything that is so different. Even the commissary and what they sell is different and I just can help but want to cry.....
From D.C. we switched over to the Austrian Airline and we flew over to Vienna, Austria. It was a very long flight about 8 hours, but the flight itself was very pleasant. It was an over night flight. I sat in economy (it was all I could afford), but I was thankful that the seat next to me wasn't sold. Each seat had our own little tv monitor with a remote control and had several t.v. shows and movies to watch in about four different languages with a set of head phones to listen to it. The flight attendants were all really nice and helpful they served us drinks all the time and lots of tea and coffee. We were served dinner and it was pretty good (much better than I thought airplane food would be) and we were even served breakfast. I tried to sleep but its hard to get comfortable in those seats!!
We landed in Vienna, Austria and this was my first experience with a foreign airport and I was so scared. I have never been overseas before now so the whole experience was super scary especially doing it all on my own. I get off the jet in austrian and everything in their airport is so different from ours. I have a hard time finding my next terminal because all the signs are so different. The arrows pointing you in the right direction aren't very helpful at all and you have to go through like two other check points before you even get to the next terminal. So I end up at a passport check point almost in tears because no one speaks english and I don't know where I'm suppose to be. The lady there speaks english and isn't nice at all. I ask her if this is the direction to terminal b and she totally snaps at me and finally says yes. I give her my passport and I totally get it stamped!! My first stamp in my passport!! So I try to follow those signs and find myself at a place that totally looks like a mall!! So the whole time I'm wandering around this place I finally figure out the arrows mean to go down and then I find myself at another metal dector and I go through it to finally find myself at terminal b. I was so happy to finally be there but I was still very upset over the whole experience. Not to mention I totally had to use the restroom and I couldn't figure out where it was the whole time I was there. So I finally get on my flight on this little prop plane and head to Venice, Italy.
It was a small little plane and thankfully it wasn't a full flight so no one sat next to me. I still had to go to the restroom but I hate those little bathrooms and I didn't want to leave peanut alone because she was already freaked out so I waited until we landed (it was only about an hour flight). I get to Venice, Italy and thankfully there bathrooms are much easier to find. They say toilets and have pictures to show what they are! I then went to baggage claim and was again almost in tears because I didn't see my hubby!! I couldn't figure out where he was and why I hadn't seen him yet. I finally figure out that you can't go to the baggage claim without a boarding pass so I calm down. I get my luggage and go out the exit and I was so happy to finally see a familiar face!! I started to cry again about my whole experience and getting lost and my hubby just hugs me tells me it will be ok.
Its still very weird and scary. Definitely a culture shock. I never really understood what people meant by that until now. I know it will take awhile for me to get use to it over here. I look around and see everything that is so different. Even the commissary and what they sell is different and I just can help but want to cry.....
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
My Chihuahua
In order to get my dogs overseas with us we had to go through this whole process to get them there. They have to get bilingual health certificates and have to be USDA stamped. Its such a big hassle and I knew those from having to do all this with my two min pins.
So today I went to vet with Peanut to start the whole process since we leave next week for Italy. I made her vet appointment about two weeks ago after I had bought my plane ticket. I get there today and they're like are you sure you're at the right vet? Did you really make an appointment? I told them very politely that I wouldn't have made the mistake because it has to be a USDA certified vet that checks her out and I had called and specifically asked them that. Finally they find her appointment and they had her signed up for an artificial insemination!! Crazy right?!?!
We finally get in an exam room and wait there for like 40 minutes before we're seen and then they finally come in and I have to explain how the forms get filled out! We then proceed to sit there for about another 1 hour and half before the vet ever comes into the room and then over three hours later we are finally done and they don't even know if everything was done properly!!
Tomorrow I go the USDA office so that they can have the final look at the health certificates and hopefully everthing is right on them otherwise I get to spend the day with the vet figuring out what he needs to do to correct them.
I know most of you are thinking I'm absolutely nuts for doing all of this but I absolutely adore my dogs!!!
If you actually saw how much money we spent on this whole process you'd probably die!! OH well at least she will be with me!!
So today I went to vet with Peanut to start the whole process since we leave next week for Italy. I made her vet appointment about two weeks ago after I had bought my plane ticket. I get there today and they're like are you sure you're at the right vet? Did you really make an appointment? I told them very politely that I wouldn't have made the mistake because it has to be a USDA certified vet that checks her out and I had called and specifically asked them that. Finally they find her appointment and they had her signed up for an artificial insemination!! Crazy right?!?!
We finally get in an exam room and wait there for like 40 minutes before we're seen and then they finally come in and I have to explain how the forms get filled out! We then proceed to sit there for about another 1 hour and half before the vet ever comes into the room and then over three hours later we are finally done and they don't even know if everything was done properly!!
Tomorrow I go the USDA office so that they can have the final look at the health certificates and hopefully everthing is right on them otherwise I get to spend the day with the vet figuring out what he needs to do to correct them.
I know most of you are thinking I'm absolutely nuts for doing all of this but I absolutely adore my dogs!!!
If you actually saw how much money we spent on this whole process you'd probably die!! OH well at least she will be with me!!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
A little late but oh well
On September 19, 2008 I celebrated my 25th birthday!! I can't believe that I'm already that old!!! It doesn't feel like I've been out of high school for over 6 years now. It truly is amazing at how time just flies by, but it has been an amazing six years and at least for five of it I've been with the most amazing man ever.
So for this 25th birthday it was like an all weekend event with my family. It started off the day of which was a Friday and I want out for steak with my mom and Godfather Pete. It was super yummy and of course they totally embarassed me at the restuarant but I guess what's a birthday dinner without a little embarassment right?!?! Then afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble my favorite store ever and of course they bought me books!! I got two poetry books that are simply amazing to say the very least and that was how my day ended.
On Saturday I went out for another birthday dinner with Stevie Flores, Meghan (my sister), and Tommy (her bf). Now this was an interesting dinner!! We went out for Indian food. Flores well he'll try anything and me well I picked the place because I think Indian food is totally aweseome, but Meg and Tommy weren't so thrilled by the choice. They shared a dish. They ordered the chicken tikka masala (which I love) and they grinned through the whole meal and tried to force the food down. They were really good sports about the whole thing though and I was happy they at least tried LOL. While at this dinner I did get presents!! Flores bought me this beautiful charm bracelet from Brightons!! Its so pretty and of course I've gotten more charms for it since then. My sister and Tommy got me this amazing carry on bag from the Betsy Johnson collection!! I was so surprised by it and totally excited to have something from her collection (for those of you that don't know I'm a total purse and bag whore!! I just love them all and I don't know why LOL).
Then Sunday comes and I have final birthday dinner at a restuarant called Claim Jumpers. This night was a gift from the most wonderful man on earth my hubby. He picked up the entire check since he couldn't be with me and my family to celebrate my birthday. This night my mom, Pete, Meg, Tommy, and my moms Godson Marcus were all there and we had a super fun time!! We ate, drank and laughed the whole night.
But the best part of my whole Sunday is that I got to spend the entire day just me and my sister. It was the first time we had done that in like four years!!! We went out for breakfast, to a farmers market, to the mall, and made appointments to get pierced (which we did the following weekend. I post pics later). So over all it was an amazing birthday weekend!!
My sister and I having dinner at Claim Jumpers.
Tommy, Meghan, and Me of course!!
My mom and Pete.
My mom and her Godson Marcus he is getting so big!!
So for this 25th birthday it was like an all weekend event with my family. It started off the day of which was a Friday and I want out for steak with my mom and Godfather Pete. It was super yummy and of course they totally embarassed me at the restuarant but I guess what's a birthday dinner without a little embarassment right?!?! Then afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble my favorite store ever and of course they bought me books!! I got two poetry books that are simply amazing to say the very least and that was how my day ended.
On Saturday I went out for another birthday dinner with Stevie Flores, Meghan (my sister), and Tommy (her bf). Now this was an interesting dinner!! We went out for Indian food. Flores well he'll try anything and me well I picked the place because I think Indian food is totally aweseome, but Meg and Tommy weren't so thrilled by the choice. They shared a dish. They ordered the chicken tikka masala (which I love) and they grinned through the whole meal and tried to force the food down. They were really good sports about the whole thing though and I was happy they at least tried LOL. While at this dinner I did get presents!! Flores bought me this beautiful charm bracelet from Brightons!! Its so pretty and of course I've gotten more charms for it since then. My sister and Tommy got me this amazing carry on bag from the Betsy Johnson collection!! I was so surprised by it and totally excited to have something from her collection (for those of you that don't know I'm a total purse and bag whore!! I just love them all and I don't know why LOL).
Then Sunday comes and I have final birthday dinner at a restuarant called Claim Jumpers. This night was a gift from the most wonderful man on earth my hubby. He picked up the entire check since he couldn't be with me and my family to celebrate my birthday. This night my mom, Pete, Meg, Tommy, and my moms Godson Marcus were all there and we had a super fun time!! We ate, drank and laughed the whole night.
But the best part of my whole Sunday is that I got to spend the entire day just me and my sister. It was the first time we had done that in like four years!!! We went out for breakfast, to a farmers market, to the mall, and made appointments to get pierced (which we did the following weekend. I post pics later). So over all it was an amazing birthday weekend!!
My sister and I having dinner at Claim Jumpers.
Tommy, Meghan, and Me of course!!
My mom and Pete.
My mom and her Godson Marcus he is getting so big!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Our Home In Italy
When I think of Italy I think of all the rowe houses and how close the living quarters are. I'm happy to say that we were able to find a cute little single house with out any immediate neighbors. It has a chain link fence all the way around the house and our dogs absolutely love the running room (its a nice change from living in an apartment and them always having to be on a leash).
We have two cherry trees and grapevines in our yard which is so cool!! I love the whole grapevines growing along our fence while we live in Italy. Behind our home we have a war memorial and in the front the cutest round church. I'm not sure how I'm going to like the bells so hopefully they'll grow on me because they are very loud.
The best thing about our little home is the view from our front porch it is absolutely amazing. The mountains and how green and well just everything is just so well perfect. Its an amazing little house and offers so much to the Italian experience but yet gives the breathing room that we need.
There are unique qualities in living in an Italian home as well. For one there are no closets, no kitchen appliances or cabinets (if there are its because they put there to make them more American for us military folks), we also have a bidet in our bathroom (I couldn't help but laugh when I saw it) and the thing I love is that all the floors are tile. The houses are adorable though.
Below I have added pics of our home without furniture. We have all of our stuff but I have yet to see how the hubby arranged it all in the home and once I see it and put my final touch on it all I'll post more pics of the after!
This is the front of our home (we have a one car garage).
The war memorial behind our home.
The church in the front of our home.
Our bidet LOL!!
The cherry trees in our yard.
Isn't the view beautiful?
We have two cherry trees and grapevines in our yard which is so cool!! I love the whole grapevines growing along our fence while we live in Italy. Behind our home we have a war memorial and in the front the cutest round church. I'm not sure how I'm going to like the bells so hopefully they'll grow on me because they are very loud.
The best thing about our little home is the view from our front porch it is absolutely amazing. The mountains and how green and well just everything is just so well perfect. Its an amazing little house and offers so much to the Italian experience but yet gives the breathing room that we need.
There are unique qualities in living in an Italian home as well. For one there are no closets, no kitchen appliances or cabinets (if there are its because they put there to make them more American for us military folks), we also have a bidet in our bathroom (I couldn't help but laugh when I saw it) and the thing I love is that all the floors are tile. The houses are adorable though.
Below I have added pics of our home without furniture. We have all of our stuff but I have yet to see how the hubby arranged it all in the home and once I see it and put my final touch on it all I'll post more pics of the after!
This is the front of our home (we have a one car garage).
The war memorial behind our home.
The church in the front of our home.
Our bidet LOL!!
The cherry trees in our yard.
Isn't the view beautiful?
Brand New Staff Sergeant
On Monday Jerry went to his promotion ceremony to become a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. For those of you that don't know every time you get a promotion you go through this ceremony. The base commander and command chief stand on stage give you a certificate and tack on your new stripes (you get punched in the arm its a tradition). The difference with what he did though is he has become a non-commissioned officer or NCO as we call it and when this happens he has to take an oath with all the other Staff Sergeant being promoted this month. The NCO oath:
NCO CREED
"NO ONE IS MORE PROFESSIONAL THAN I. I AM A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, A LEADER OF PEOPLE. AS A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, I REALIZE THAT I AM A MEMBER OF A TIME-HONORED FORCE. I AM PROUD OF THE FORCE OF NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND WILL, AT ALL TIMES, CONDUCT MYSELF SO AS TO BRING CREDIT UPON THE FORCE, THE MILITARY SERVICE, AND MY COUNTRY REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION IN WHICH I FIND MYSELF."
"I WILL NOT USE MY GRADE OR POSITION TO ATTAIN PLEASURE, PROFIT, OR PERSONAL SAFETY. COMPETENCE IS MY WATCHWORD. MY TWO BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES WILL ALWAYS BE UPPERMOST IN MY MIND--ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MY MISSION AND THE WELFARE OF MY PEOPLE. I WILL STRIVE TO REMAIN TACTICALLY AND TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT."
"I AM AWARE OF MY ROLE AS A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, I WILL FULFILL THE RESPONSIBILITIES INHERENT IN THAT ROLE. ALL AIRMEN ARE ENTITLED TO OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP. I WILL PROVIDE THAT LEADERSHIP. I KNOW MY PEOPLE AND I WILL ALWAYS PLACE THEIR NEEDS ABOVE MY OWN. I WILL COMMUNICATE CONSISTENTLY WITH MY PEOPLE AND NEVER LEAVE THEM UNINFORMED. I WILL BE FAIR AND IMPARTIAL WHEN RECOMMENDING BOTH REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT."
"OFFICERS OF MY UNIT WILL HAVE MAXIMUM TIME TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR DUTIES, THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO ACCOMPLISH MINE. I WILL EARN THEIR RESPECT AND CONFIDENCE AS WELL AS THAT OF MY PEOPLE. I WILL BE LOYAL TO THOSE WITH WHOM I SERVE--SENIORS, PEERS, AND SUBORDINATES ALIKE. I WILL EXERCISE INITIATIVE, BY TAKING APPROPRIATE ACTION IN THE ABSENCE OF ORDERS. I WILL NOT COMPROMISE MY INTEGRITY NOR MY MORAL COURAGE."
"I WILL NOT FORGET, NOR WILL I ALLOW MY COMRADES TO FORGET, THAT WE ARE PROFESSIONALS--NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS--LEADERS."
The part of this that really sucked though is that I could not be there at his promotion. If you have a spouse and children they allow your family to come on stage and help tack on their new stripe and I would have loved to go on stage with him. I am very proud that he has met this milestone in his career but I wish I could have been there for him.
Since he had gone through the ceremony and did the whole NCO creed thing when the first of October comes along he would be able to put on his stripe officially. Which means today he is now SSgt Jerry Shoup in the U.S. Air Force!! In his shop they did what they called the gauntlet where everyone lines up on either side of him and he walks down the center and everyone in his shop tacks on his new stripe. Needless to say he has sore arms now.
I am super proud of him and with this promotion also comes more responsiblities. I know he will have airman under him and that he will be in charge of several programs within his shop and squadron but I plan to be as supportive as possible and help whenever needed. It is just the beginning and in two years he will be eligible to test for Techincal Sergeant and with lots of prep and studying hopefully he'll make it the first time round.
Jerry @ Charleston AFB graduating Airman Leadership School (ALS). The first step in becoming an NCO.
(I will post picks of the promotion as soon as he sends them to me)
NCO CREED
"NO ONE IS MORE PROFESSIONAL THAN I. I AM A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, A LEADER OF PEOPLE. AS A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, I REALIZE THAT I AM A MEMBER OF A TIME-HONORED FORCE. I AM PROUD OF THE FORCE OF NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND WILL, AT ALL TIMES, CONDUCT MYSELF SO AS TO BRING CREDIT UPON THE FORCE, THE MILITARY SERVICE, AND MY COUNTRY REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION IN WHICH I FIND MYSELF."
"I WILL NOT USE MY GRADE OR POSITION TO ATTAIN PLEASURE, PROFIT, OR PERSONAL SAFETY. COMPETENCE IS MY WATCHWORD. MY TWO BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES WILL ALWAYS BE UPPERMOST IN MY MIND--ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MY MISSION AND THE WELFARE OF MY PEOPLE. I WILL STRIVE TO REMAIN TACTICALLY AND TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT."
"I AM AWARE OF MY ROLE AS A NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER, I WILL FULFILL THE RESPONSIBILITIES INHERENT IN THAT ROLE. ALL AIRMEN ARE ENTITLED TO OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP. I WILL PROVIDE THAT LEADERSHIP. I KNOW MY PEOPLE AND I WILL ALWAYS PLACE THEIR NEEDS ABOVE MY OWN. I WILL COMMUNICATE CONSISTENTLY WITH MY PEOPLE AND NEVER LEAVE THEM UNINFORMED. I WILL BE FAIR AND IMPARTIAL WHEN RECOMMENDING BOTH REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT."
"OFFICERS OF MY UNIT WILL HAVE MAXIMUM TIME TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR DUTIES, THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO ACCOMPLISH MINE. I WILL EARN THEIR RESPECT AND CONFIDENCE AS WELL AS THAT OF MY PEOPLE. I WILL BE LOYAL TO THOSE WITH WHOM I SERVE--SENIORS, PEERS, AND SUBORDINATES ALIKE. I WILL EXERCISE INITIATIVE, BY TAKING APPROPRIATE ACTION IN THE ABSENCE OF ORDERS. I WILL NOT COMPROMISE MY INTEGRITY NOR MY MORAL COURAGE."
"I WILL NOT FORGET, NOR WILL I ALLOW MY COMRADES TO FORGET, THAT WE ARE PROFESSIONALS--NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS--LEADERS."
The part of this that really sucked though is that I could not be there at his promotion. If you have a spouse and children they allow your family to come on stage and help tack on their new stripe and I would have loved to go on stage with him. I am very proud that he has met this milestone in his career but I wish I could have been there for him.
Since he had gone through the ceremony and did the whole NCO creed thing when the first of October comes along he would be able to put on his stripe officially. Which means today he is now SSgt Jerry Shoup in the U.S. Air Force!! In his shop they did what they called the gauntlet where everyone lines up on either side of him and he walks down the center and everyone in his shop tacks on his new stripe. Needless to say he has sore arms now.
I am super proud of him and with this promotion also comes more responsiblities. I know he will have airman under him and that he will be in charge of several programs within his shop and squadron but I plan to be as supportive as possible and help whenever needed. It is just the beginning and in two years he will be eligible to test for Techincal Sergeant and with lots of prep and studying hopefully he'll make it the first time round.
Jerry @ Charleston AFB graduating Airman Leadership School (ALS). The first step in becoming an NCO.
(I will post picks of the promotion as soon as he sends them to me)
Our First Post
I was trying to find the most efficient way to keep everyone up-to-date with what is going on in our world with us being so far away from all our friends and family and so I've created this blog. I know not everyone has myspace, facebook, or whatever else is out there and that the older more mature members of our families would probably never consider those avenues, so I figured this would be the best way for everyone to be able to see what's going on.
To just put everyone on the same page we are no longer in Charleston, SC. We have now relocated to Aviano, Italy. Yes, you heard right we now live in Italy. Amazing I know!! I couldn't believe it when we found out either!!
Jerry has been there since May of this year and I will soon be there as well (I leave October 15, 2008 to join him). This is a very exciting move for us and hopefully it will hold a lot of fun and exciting experiences for us!!
Jerry is still active duty Air Force and I have separated from the military. I will be a military dependent and will be going back to school. It is a scary transition for me but I think its what will be the best in the end. We're really excited with all the new changes and look forward to what they will bring.
The most exciting news that we have right now is that Jerry puts on Staff Sergeant on October 1st!!! I am so very proud of him!! Congrats baby!! You deserve it!
To just put everyone on the same page we are no longer in Charleston, SC. We have now relocated to Aviano, Italy. Yes, you heard right we now live in Italy. Amazing I know!! I couldn't believe it when we found out either!!
Jerry has been there since May of this year and I will soon be there as well (I leave October 15, 2008 to join him). This is a very exciting move for us and hopefully it will hold a lot of fun and exciting experiences for us!!
Jerry is still active duty Air Force and I have separated from the military. I will be a military dependent and will be going back to school. It is a scary transition for me but I think its what will be the best in the end. We're really excited with all the new changes and look forward to what they will bring.
The most exciting news that we have right now is that Jerry puts on Staff Sergeant on October 1st!!! I am so very proud of him!! Congrats baby!! You deserve it!
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