A Day of Celebration

Today was a day of celebration.  Promotion results came out for Technical Sergeant and Wes' name was on the list.  This was the promotion Wes had been studying so hard for all year.  Wes has been in the Air Force for less than ten years, so this is quite an accomplishment. 

The Air Force promotes in order of line numbers.  Wes' line number is 4,921.  He predicts he will sew on in December or early in the new year.  In the mean time, he is taking some college classes.  He thought it through and he has to miss a testing cycle before testing for Master Sergeant.  He thinks he may test for Master by the following year, and he plans to get a jump start on studying for it.  Wes never ceases to amaze me.  I told him to not think about it and just enjoy the day.  Nope.  Wes was busy planning out the future.  

Out of the 34,257 people who tested this year, only 8,545 were promoted.  Out of the 1,256 people who tested in his career field, only 363 were selected.  I am pretty proud of Wes for being one of them.  Wes scored higher than 70% of the people who tested on the PFE and higher than 68% of the people that tested on the SKT.  He made TSgt with 8 points to spare.  He said he actually scored better on the tests last year, but he missed promotion by a couple of points.  Either way, he did excellent.

Gosh, Wes has come so far.  It seems like just yesterday when he was getting on that bus to head to the airport and ship out to Lackland AFB for Basic Training.  I remember bursting with pride the day he graduated.  That was in 2002.  He was 20 and I was 19.  Those are the fond memories I will always hold close to me.  Watching him grow from a young Airman straight out of Basic and Tech school into what he has become today has been the greatest joy of my life.  I'm not proud to be an Air Force Wife.  I am proud to be HIS Air Force Wife.

We had this coffee mug made at Lackland AFB when Wes graduated from Basic Training.  That pendant that I am wearing is an Air Force pendant that Wes bought me at graduation.  It matches his Air Force ring.  He wanted us to match.

 I remember moving to our first duty station, Fairchild AFB.  We chose to live on base because Wes was an Airman First Class and our housing allowance was not very high.  We moved next door to two Tech Sergeants and I remember being in awe that they even talked to us.  They ended up being our best friends.  I remember Wes being invited to a birthday party for the son of a guy he worked with.  He was a Staff Sergeant.  Wes was an A1C.  I remember telling our neighbors that we got invited to the party and "the guy is a Staff Sergeant!"  I look back at how silly I was, but how much respect I had for people of higher ranks.  Now Wes is one of those.  Our next door neighbor is a newly retired Colonial.  Our neighbor across the street is a Colonial.  One of our friends is Brigadier General who just retired.  We got to go to his retirement ceremony at the Pentagon and we were honored to be around people of such great importance.  They have all been so nice to us and have mentored us in one way or another.  They have all inspired us to be our best.  Now Wes is becoming one of the guys we've always looked up to.  This Air Force life has been a rewarding journey filled with lots of cool adventures.

Wes was in the shower when promotion results were released.  He had left his phone on vibrate and neither of us heard it.  When he got out of the shower, he saw that he had several missed calls.  He knew what it was about and he was anxious to call back the people he worked with.  When he called, I overheard a guy say, "Congratulations, Wes."  The stress and tension just melted off of Wes' face.  A whole new look of relief came over him.  Wes stood tall and proud for the rest of the day.

Wes' commander called Wes to congratulate him.  That made his day.  He received an e-mail from an old Pro-Super from Fairchild who is now a Senior Master Sergeant.  He looked Wes' e-mail up to congratulate him.  That made him feel really good.

We had an interview with the Volunteer Coordinator at Mary Washington Hospital about volunteering with Topher and Tanker in the hospital.  We really enjoyed talking to her.  We have to attend hospital orientation on July 11th and Wes has to get his TB test done.  We have to take Topher and Tanker up there to have their badges made.  Then we are free to work our dogs at both Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital.

I treated Wes to a special lunch at Amy's Cafe down by the river.  Located in Historic "Port of Falmouth" in Falmouth, Virginia, Amy's Café resides in an historic three story brick tavern building dating back to the 17th-century. The inviting interior reveals exposed bricks and wood beams.

Historic Falmouth was founded in 1727 as a trading center for the Northern Neck. The Hunter's Iron Works foundry of Falmouth was an objective in the Virginia Campaign of 1781. The Army of the Potomac camped in Falmouth from November 1862 to June 1863, and then moved to Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.

Located only a few feet from the banks of the Rappahannock River under the Falmouth Bridge, Amy's Cafe is a wonderful place to have a peacefully quiet and relaxing meal. You'll want to take a little walk before or after dining to enjoy the river views and other historic dwellings and sites in the immediate vicinity.  (http://www.amyscafefalmouth.com/)

This was a really neat place to have lunch.  The really cool thing about Amy's Cafe is that they are dog friendly.  They allow well behaved dogs to dine in the seating out on the deck.  I really love where we live.  There are so many dog friendly places here.

Wes and I chose to order the crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries.  We normally wouldn't choose such a fatty meal, but it is one of their famed specials and we just couldn't resist.  It was a day to celebrate.

We could not celebrate Wes' big day without a brainfreeze, so off to Bella Cafe we went for dessert.

I needed some fertilizer for my flower beds, so we went to Wal-Mart next.  I've been wanting to get ferns for my front porch and I was hoping Wal-Mart would have some for cheaper than Lowes or Home Depot did.  The Wal-Mart in Stafford is currently being upgraded to a Super Wal-Mart and their lawn and garden department is not stocked with many plants.  We ended up going to Lowes and Home Depot.  Lowes had ferns on sale for $9.99 a piece, so I picked up four for our front porch.  You have to have ferns on a front porch with rocking chairs.  I also picked up a Daisy Gardenia for $6.00.  I was going to plant it in Blondie's Memorial Garden on the side of our house, but when I got started, I realized that bed is pretty full with bulbs and flowers already.  I decided to pot it in a clay pot and put it on my front porch instead.  It is little and only has one flower right now, but it smells so good!

My mom mailed me some wildflower seeds that she got from her flowers last year.  I planted them in Blondie's Memorial Garden (which I didn't take a picture of).  I also sprinkled fertilizer down in my front flower garden.

We had to move the rocking chairs off the front porch until we can sand them and refinish them.  They are 20 years old and some of the finish is worn off of them.  Now that I will be watering ferns, I don't want to get them wet with the wood exposed.  Wes said it will take a couple of days to refinish them.  They are currently sitting in our basement until we get them done.  We can't wait to sit on our front porch with a glass of iced tea and a good book.  It is very peaceful being surrounded by nature.

All of the ivy and other plants I had growing in the front has been cut back and lime has been put down.  The soil was too acidic and they weren't growing well.  By cutting everything back and applying lime, it should all grow back thicker and fuller.

While we worked in the front, Shiloh and Bella watched through the fence. 

Bella is howling.

At the end of the day, we were exhausted.  We showered and decided to go to bed early.



A day of celebration.  A day of fulfillment.  A day to appreciate the things we've been blessed with.  The perfect day to spend with the one we love most.