10/15/07-Okay, we're still busy. Probably even busier than the last time I blogged. I got a second job at the Marion Airport so I've been working a couple days a week for the last couple of weeks. So far the weather hasn't been the greatest when I've worked so it hasn't been too busy. We also started going to a small group at our church. We've only gone one time so far but they seem nice there.
9/26/07-We have been very busy lately so I haven't had much time to blog or even check email. Work has been keeping Jon busy and he has added to his schedule by deciding to get his MBA , therefore studying for the GMAT test he needs to take to get in the program. He took a brief trio to Rochester a couple weeks ago for his dad's surgery which went well. This trip also coincided with a Rockwell recruiting trip that he was asked to attend so the timing worked quite nicely. This past weekend we went to a Celtic Festival at Usher's Ferry Historical Village. We had a good time. That same evening I survived my first night cross country flight. It was a GORGEOUS night for flying--clear and smooth. We flew to Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and back to Marion. I had a good time even though the flight kept me up way past my bedtime!
9/10/07-Let's see...what's been happening lately? Well, for starters, the fence is done and Bowser LOVES being able to run free. He often wants to go outside and doesn't even care if we're there or not and for those of you who know Bowser, you know how unusual that is for him since he usually wants me around ALL the time. Flying has been going well. A couple weeks ago, I did my first dual cross country flight. It was fun but there isn't really anything interesting to share--and that's a good thing! Mostly I flew over a bunch of small towns and cars and people and saw some areas of Iowa I wasn't familiar with. I flew to Oskaloosa, then to Marshalltown and back to Marion. It took about 3 hours or so. This past weekend, Jon and I went to a gun show here in town. It was a good sized show but it didn't really have what we were looking for.
8/29/07-Well, it has been awhile since I last wrote. Here are a few things we've been up to in the last couple of weeks. We drove to Dubuque to visit the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium and explored Mines of Spain State Park while we were there as well. I started back to work last week. Jon has been working lots of overtime. I haven't been able to fly much due to work and weather. However, I did fly to Cedar Rapids and did some touch and go's last week. Then this week I soloed away from the airport and practiced some ground reference maneuvers and I didn't even get lost. We almost have a fence--the gates just need to be put in. But we did block them off so Bowser could run around free in the yard a bit. He had a great time.
8/10/07-Praise the Lord! Today we received good news about my dad. He had a CT scan this morning and the blood clots and nodules in his lungs are all disappearing! One of the nodules is actually completely gone. That means they aren't cancer so we're very relieved. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for him. His birthday is tomorrow and this was a very happy birthday present for him and all of us.
8/5/07-Today was a bit of a crazy flying lesson. There was another student flying the pattern and a crop duster without a radio flying around the airport and then I had to deal with all of that while flying solo. I didn't really appreciate the crop duster--it was spraying the fields next to and at the end of the runway. Several times he flew past the runway while I was taking off and then he flew under me several times as I was climbing. Later that evening, there was a story on the news about a crop duster that crashed. Turns out it was the same one that was flying around the airport during my lesson. Here are links to the news articles:
8/1/07-Today turned out differently than I expected. I had a flying lesson in the morning and my mom was in town so she came to watch. I knew I was going to be doing take-offs and landings so I figured it would be fun for her to see. Anyway, after doing 3 take-offs and landings, my flight instructor told me it was time for me to fly on my own so he jumped out (don't worry, we were on the ground) and told me to do 3 more take-offs and landings on my own. So I did! My first solo flight! It was pretty exciting! And I even had an audience and was able to get pictures of this momentous occasion. Check out the Pictures section to see some photos of my first solo!
7/29/07-This last week or so was pretty busy for us. First of all, last weekend our good friend, Val, came for a visit so she and I spend most of our time shopping. We left poor Jon home by himself to put up the chandelier and assemble our new swing. He's so wonderful! Secondly, Jon and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary by going out to a movie. Boy, prices sure have gone up at the theaters! I took my Private Pilot's Knowledge (written) Test on Wednesday and passed with a nice score of 92%. On Friday and Saturday, Jon and I went to a "Welcome to the Family" class at a church we've been regularly attending for a more in-depth look at what they believe. Then Saturday night we went to dinner at one of Jon's co-workers homes which was fun.
7/18/07-Well, the adventures continue for us here in Iowa. We went shopping today and almost didn't survive. When Jon came home from work, we decided to go to Lowe's to get a few things since we had a coupon for them. Anyway, they had 2 out of 3 items we wanted. The one thing that I really wanted was gone--a crystal chandelier--and to make matters worse, it had just been marked down 75%. Inquiring about it, we discovered they still had them in Coralville (about 23 miles south of us) so we decided to go down there to make our purchases. As soon as we loaded up the car and started driving out of town, we encountered ominous wall clouds and strong winds. Turning on the radio, we discovered we were under a Tornado Warning and, looking at the weather conditions surrounding us, we were in the worst of it. Anyway, we survived and can say we had an adrenaline rush after shopping-- a new experience for both of us!
7/13/07-Today for my flying lesson, instead of flying, I took my pre-solo test. Yesterday, I worked on crosswind take-offs and landings. Jon and I also started our ground school course on Wednesday. Of about 30 in the class, only 3 have actually flown, myself being one of them. Many are just interested in learning more about aviation, since they work in an aviation company so it was rather amusing to hear some of their thoughts--when discussing the requirements to obtain a private pilot's license, one person asked how many of those hours were in a simulator and were surprised to find that ALL of the hours were spent flying in an actual airplane!
7/8/07-Jon, Bowser and I just returned from a trip to North Dakota to visit Jon's family. We stayed at his parents' lake cabin and had lots of fun kayaking, pontooning, target shooting, flying, cutting down dead trees, roasting marshmallows over a campfire and, of course, shooting off fireworks. Be sure to check out the Pictures page for some pictures from our trip.
6/28/07-I had another flying lesson today in a Cessna 150. I practiced slow flights and stalls. I also did 2 take offs and landings. These were rather tricky as there was a crosswind (wind blowing across the runway). But I didn't crash and that's always a good thing! After my lesson, I finally got to see the cougar, Thor, that lives at the airport. Don't worry, he's in a cage but he's pretty shy so normally doesn't let himself be seen. It just seems appropriate that I ended up at an airport that has a cougar since I've had a bit of experience with cougars. There even was a cougar spotted at our wedding!
6/26/07-For those of you who haven't heard, I (Whitney) have started taking flying lessons in a brave attempt to get my pilot's license. Anyway, today I had my 4th lesson. It has been a few days since I flew because the weather didn't cooperate this weekend. We got to do some steep turns (banking at a 45 degree angle) and some stalls. I also got to do the landing. Good times!
6/23/07-Well, since we moved to Iowa we thought it would be a good idea to start a web page to keep people up to date on what is going on with us, that is, if they really want to know. We'll see just how well we actually keep up with this thing.
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