The Lone Star State

Well a lot has changed since I blogged back in... when was that... March? Oops. Well to start the updates off, as many of you know, Zane left for Initial Flight School at the end of February. While he was there, he decided that being a pilot was not what he wanted to do in the Air Force. After three weeks apart he came back and we started doing something that is very common in the military: the waiting game. We actually only had to wait about 6 weeks to complete the paperwork and find out what our fate was (we were expecting it to take 3 months).

Zane with his flight class at IFS

We had initially requested for Zane to become an acquisitions officer (the business side of the military) but due to the needs of the Air Force, he was selected to be trained as an intelligence officer. This has turned out to be a fun blessing because my dad served in the Air Force for 23 years as an intelligence officer. When I gave the news to my mom she squealed "You are living my life, just 25 years later!" Because of the new job, we moved in the middle of May from our beach side home of Pensacola, FL to our western adventure in San Angelo, TX.

We have been in San Angelo for almost two months now and are really enjoying it. We have made some great friends in both our ward and in Zane's training class. While I was unable to find a job in Florida except for nannying, I landed two jobs in Texas after about a month of searching and interviewing. I am working at the local victims of domestic violence shelter as a family services advocate. I have completely revamped their nutritional program, am helping to reform and organize policy, and will be starting some health education classes (like tobacco cessation) in the near future. My other job is working for my parents' neighbor remotely from my house which is great. I am doing some internet billing and processing for him which is a great supplement to our income while we are saving to buy a home.

Besides work, our lives have been busy with traveling, church callings, hanging out with friends, and school. On our move out to Texas we spent the weekend in Houston which was a lot of fun. We have also gone on weekend trips to San Antonio and Austin a few times (they are about a 3 hour drive from where we live). Zane's brother Charlie came to visit us for two weeks before he left on his mission to Puerto Rico and my sister Sarah was just here last week to visit. We plan on going to Dallas next month for a weekend trip to visit the temple and see what the city has to do.

Zane and Charlie at our favorite local restaurant Cork & Pig

Our new ward here is great. Coming from a small branch in Florida (only 10 people) we are having so much fun being in a "normal family ward". Zane was called to be the ward executive secretary and I am the 1st counselor in young women's. We have started to get our first taste of Zane not being around much on Sunday with all of the meetings he has to attend in the morning which leads me to be in charge of waking myself up. At 9 AM on a Sunday morning that is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

I have started a couple of online classes to build up some skills and my resume. I am currently taking an Adobe Illustrator class and will be taking an Adobe InDesign class next month (graphic design courses). I am also starting an online certification next week through the University of Texas at Austin for NonProfit Management.

We have had some requests for pictures of our new place so after cleaning tomorrow I'll try to remember to take a few. Feel free to come visit us if you like 105 degree weather and no rain!