Rants, Recipes, and Running

Last night we celebrated a ceremony called "Drop Night". It's a military pilot school tradition that when they finish their  final "weed out course", they have a ceremony where the Airmen find out which aircraft they will be flying and where they will be stationed! Now that is the standard for Active Duty members, but because Ryan is Air National Guard -- we stay in Tucson. ( Think of "guard" as being for the state, active duty orders are delegated is for the nation ). When they find out their assignment, they stand up on stage, their assignment is announced, they have to say old saying, and everyone in the audience cheers them and says "Here, here!", and they have to take a shot of cheap whiskey, and say "Smooooth" and then turn the shot glass upside down on their head to prove that they drank it all. It is really fun. It was exciting to see the looks on the faces of the Active Duty guys when they got their assignment. Everyo...

Life just got a little more fun. :) So as you know, Ryan had his check ride last Wednesday. This means that the first portion of the San Antonio school is done, which also means I get my husband back! No more studying every waking hour that he's in class. Since we set foot in Texas, we've been dreaming of taking a weekend trip to Austin. Ryan used to travel here a lot for his job at Raytheon, and has always talked about taking me there. I now see why he knew I'd love it so . It is most definitely the most fit city I've seen! So many running trails, biking, paddle boarding, and just fun! Great food. Great music. It's my kind of city. I could probably write about book professing my love-at-first-sight I experienced this weekend. But I'll spare "y'all", and do my best breaking it down. Friday : It was Ryan's 1st half day off in a since June 14, so I didn't allow us to make any itinerary . It was all about spontaneous fun! We c...

It's been a good 48 hours for this little Nastase family! As I write this blog, I am sipping a celebratory glass of Canelo Hills Cabernet (the best wine on the planet - seriously), as Ryan creates/edits his class video for his "Drop Night" next Friday. (More to come on "drop night" next week). We have a few happy things to thank God for today. First and foremost, I have to make a big shout-out to my husband, Ryan. He passed his check ride yesterday. Heck, he didn't just pass it, he got rated an 'Excellent' on it (which is the highest you can get). I can't even begin to describe how hard he's worked. Being a rated pilot for the Air Force is a dream Ryan has held since he was a little man, and passing this check ride means he will be getting his wings on October 4. The second awesome piece of news is I got offered a contract today with a hospital for the rest of my time here in San Antonio! I've tried keeping quiet about this in my b...

One thing cooking trick that's become a ritual in our Hotel Habitat is shredded chicken. In fact, this is my favorite way to eat chicken! Have you ever made a bomb-tastastic chicken soup/stew, but been disappointed that it was a tad too dry? SHRED IT! More surface area to marry the juices and herbs = more flavor! A few variations of shredded chicken I've made over the past few weeks: Hot-wing style shredded chicken (hot wing sauce + shredded chicken + salad = serious party in your mouth) Shredded chicken tacos BBQ shredded chicken wraps (shredded chicken + BBQ sauce + honey, wrap in tortilla with spinach and jack cheese -- delicious!) Shredded chicken with carrots, celery, and chicken broth for a noodle-less chicken soup You get the point. But my most winning recipe is my Chicken Tortilla Soup. It is hands-down Ryan's favorite thing I make. (It's probably my favorite thing I make, too). It is our favorite comfort food. Also, a staple on camping trips! Th...

If you didn't know this about me, I'm a little neurotic about cleaning . I have certain ways I like things done. Not to pull the " I blame my Mother card '. But...I blame my Mother. But that's not such a bad thing, as I dearly look up to my Mom and hope to be like her some day. ( I'm guilty of the above photo... ) She had "A Way" of doing things around the house. Bath towels were to be folded in thirds, beach towels in halves. Kitchen floors were to be vacuumed, and then scrubbed in a certain manner. Dishes that made it to the dishwasher had to pass a test. I used to find this annoying. Now, I'll say it. Mom, you're right ! Bath towels should be folded in thirds, they fit better on a towel bar that way. And beach towels will fit better when folded in halves! ;) Where am I going with this? Well, as I said, I'm a tish neurotic. Sometimes I've made comments like, "Some day, if our budget allows, I'd like to get a c...

"Man in Blues" ? Does Ryan have the blues? No. I'm referring to him as "a man in blues" meaning Air Force. As most of you know, in January he "took the plunge" in taking a more active role in the Air Force by taking a pilot spot. Although he's been in for 8 years, this past year our lives have changed drastically. I've never considered myself a 'military spouse', as before his only activity in the military was 1 weekend/month and 14 days/year. So when he was commissioned back in March, and I sat in a "Spouses Forum"...I felt clueless. All the wives were dropping terms like "TLF", "TDY", "enlisted vs officer". "IFS" "UPT" "Tincker AFB" "March AFB" "Nellis"....the list went on. Whaaaat? Then we were separated for a few months. Then I moved to San Antonio. There was I was the base library, trying to get a card. The librarian asked me for ...

Looking back on the whirlwind of a weekend, I am feeling pleased. We didn't make any plans this weekend, as Ryan has his check ride coming up (this is basically a "test" where he flies, and the instructor critiques him, and if he makes any big mistakes he fails and gets set home...No pressure!). So we had to make sure a good chunk of study time was set aside each day. So here's my break down of what we did (again, this is my little dream that newby to SA will stumble upon this blog and find out some neat spots in the area!) Noteworthy food we enjoyed Friday night after I got off work, we tried out a placed called " The Lion and the Rose Pub ". This is an Irish/English eatery. I would almost consider it a gastropub, because it had a few pieces on the menu that were a little different. Like the Curry Hummus . Ryan got the "Tour of Britain" which had sheppards pie, parmesan broiled tomatoes, bangers sausage, and a filet of fish. It was a ridicul...