I know I haven't updated this in a while but for some reason I can't get on at home. So I am doing this via blackberry. Just over a week ago we moved into our new house. It is a spacious 3 bedroom with an eat in kitchen, HUGE living room and two full baths.
We were not overly impressed with it when we walked in since all the flooring was a light colored cheap tile/linoleum floor. When we got past that shock we saw it for what it could be. High ceilings and big rooms. We have three large storage areas and one big laundry room.
We bought a new(to us) black leather living room set, and a new beautiful shaggy rug. It is so soft and the kids love just hanging out on the floor playing!
The kids have a vibrant play area with lots of space for imagination play. Thor has really blossomed here and loves making up elaborate stories about all his animals. He is such a ham!
Thor and Baleigh helped pick out all the decor for their bathroom. It is bright and very underwater/coral reef themed. Lol. They love it!
I love the giant kitchen with the first gas range I have had since I lived at home. I love cooking on it. I would love to upload pics but can't seem to get them on from my phone. Check them out on face book if you are curious.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Not So Bad.
This was my first official week of work and I have to say it isn't so bad. I know things will pick up when I am doing everything but I think it will be good. I came in on the busiest week for me and managed to do everything I was asked to. I like the people I work with/for and as of Monday I will have my own office space.
I had a pleasant surprise on Wednesday... I found out i was getting a four day weekend. I didn't realize it was Prez Day this weekend so that was really cool. Not to mention that Thursday's are family time days. We are let go at 3 PM instead of 5PM like normal. Granted, I didn't get off until around 5PM on Thursday anyway but I have a 4 day weekend!
We went out to our second movie in 2 weeks on Friday morning. I am tired of waiting to find a baby sitter so we decided that the kids are old enough to sit through a movie. We went and say Valentine's Day and it was really good. We stopped by McDonald's on the way to the theatre and snuck in some "lunch" snacks for the kids. They had fun sitting on the steps eating their french fries and cheese burgers.
This morning Thor and i got up early and cooked like crazy. WE are back to that place that we have to plan our meals out again so we aren't making irresponsible decisions about our food. Both Jake and I want to get back into great shape and lose some weight too. Jake is planning on joining a mixed martial arts school here in town and I want to get back to the running shape I was in last summer. So Thor and I made a few healthy meals that we can just go to when we are really hungry.
In a kid highlights: Baleigh and Thor recently discovered singing. They have a few songs that they sing but my favorite is Little Jack Horner. Baleigh cracks us up with her interpretation of it. I am working on uploading a video of her and Jake singing it. Its too cute.
I had a pleasant surprise on Wednesday... I found out i was getting a four day weekend. I didn't realize it was Prez Day this weekend so that was really cool. Not to mention that Thursday's are family time days. We are let go at 3 PM instead of 5PM like normal. Granted, I didn't get off until around 5PM on Thursday anyway but I have a 4 day weekend!
We went out to our second movie in 2 weeks on Friday morning. I am tired of waiting to find a baby sitter so we decided that the kids are old enough to sit through a movie. We went and say Valentine's Day and it was really good. We stopped by McDonald's on the way to the theatre and snuck in some "lunch" snacks for the kids. They had fun sitting on the steps eating their french fries and cheese burgers.
This morning Thor and i got up early and cooked like crazy. WE are back to that place that we have to plan our meals out again so we aren't making irresponsible decisions about our food. Both Jake and I want to get back into great shape and lose some weight too. Jake is planning on joining a mixed martial arts school here in town and I want to get back to the running shape I was in last summer. So Thor and I made a few healthy meals that we can just go to when we are really hungry.
In a kid highlights: Baleigh and Thor recently discovered singing. They have a few songs that they sing but my favorite is Little Jack Horner. Baleigh cracks us up with her interpretation of it. I am working on uploading a video of her and Jake singing it. Its too cute.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Salt Lick BBQ and The Austin Zoo
Over the weekend we went on a bit of an adventure. We got up early on Saturday morning and headed out to Austin for the day. Jake got the address to a great bbq place we had seen featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives, along with an address for the Austin Zoo. We drove for about an hour and were out in the middle of no-where texas....(did i mention we were on our way to the zoo) when we passed the Salt lick BBQ. That is when we realized that I had entered the address for the BBQ place and not the zoo in the GPS. So we decided to get lunch instead of going to the zoo first. It was AMAZING!!!!! If you come and visit we will have to go to this place because it is so worth the drive. WE had the sampler platter of brisket, sausage, ribs and turkey. All smoked with a fabulous sweet spicy BBQ sauce. We all loved it!
The zoo was not a traditional one but rather a place that rescues exotic animals. They had several wolves, one with only three legs(so sad). There were pot bellied pigs, exotic birds, lions, and tigers and bears, oh my. The kids had fun and it was just big enough that they could walk almost everywhere without getting too tired.
That night Jake headed out to the local Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the UFC fight. We are looking forward to finding a permanent baby sitter so we can go to these events together. However, I had fun staying home with the kids by myself and we made all sorts of fun food for the superbowl. Good weekend all around!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Getting Started At Our First Duty Station.
I began in processing post on Tuesday evening, although it did not really kick off until Wednesday morning. I wrapped it all up on Friday just after lunch. i do have to say I LOVE being an officer. I didn't have to report in every morning like the enlisted guys. PT on my own and I processed at my own speed. Which was SUPER FAST!
We also got Neeka ( our cat ) declawed this week. Before anyone freaks out about how inhumane that was here is our reasoning. She has clawed the heck out of the kids, alot of times for no reason and she has come too close to getting the kids' eyes. I am not going to sacrifice my kids' safety when I could do something to change it. Thor was absolutely devastated when we left Neeka at the kitty doctor though. The nurse was amazing though. She got down on his level and promised to take good care of his pet and read a bed time story to her that night. I thought that was really nice of her.
On Friday morning I finished in processing and signed out of the reception battalion(so i could go to my permanent unit). I went to the S1 (administration office) to in process the 69th Air Defense Brigade Brigade. I was told I was supposed to be going to 4/5 Battalion (this is smaller than a Brigade so it falls under the 69th ADA Brigade). When I got there I was swarmed by people who knew who I was and apparently had been tracking my progress in school since my orders were cut last July. They have not had a Chemical Officer in a long time and the one they had at Brigade had gotten "stolen" by the 1-44 Battalion (also under the 69th). So they were so excited to see me and said that they were going to write an amendment to my orders right then and I would be staying right there at the Brigade level and be the "head chemo" so to speak. They rapidly in processed me and sent me over to the S3 (office where I will be working). I met Cpt Coscas and she showed me around. Since my primary job will be doing the Unit Status Readiness Report and she has been doing it for a while she will be my go to person for the next few weeks. She is really nice and very go with the flow it seems. I was also introduced to Major Reese and had a lengthy talk with him about my job and expectations. It was not how I imagined my Friday afternoon going since I was not even technically supposed to sign into the unit until Monday. Now instead I have a different job.... instead of answering to the Brigade Chemo and turning in the USR report for my Battalion I will be the one people turn in their USR's to and I have to make sure all their information in correct. So as it stands now I will have three other lieutenants reporting to me each month and have at least one NCO who can put Boot to Butt when when the need arises. Isn't that cool? I get my own muscle! lol. MAjor Reese said that I will have my own office but he has to figure out how that is going to happen since they are short on space at the moment. However he said it was VERY important for me in the job that I will be doing to have my own space to work in. He promised that that would happen by next week.
That's about it for now - except that we officially have an address now. Its just a PO Box but it will be our address for at least the next year.
Jake and Heidi Nielsen
PO Box 6094
FT Hood,TX 76544
We also got Neeka ( our cat ) declawed this week. Before anyone freaks out about how inhumane that was here is our reasoning. She has clawed the heck out of the kids, alot of times for no reason and she has come too close to getting the kids' eyes. I am not going to sacrifice my kids' safety when I could do something to change it. Thor was absolutely devastated when we left Neeka at the kitty doctor though. The nurse was amazing though. She got down on his level and promised to take good care of his pet and read a bed time story to her that night. I thought that was really nice of her.
On Friday morning I finished in processing and signed out of the reception battalion(so i could go to my permanent unit). I went to the S1 (administration office) to in process the 69th Air Defense Brigade Brigade. I was told I was supposed to be going to 4/5 Battalion (this is smaller than a Brigade so it falls under the 69th ADA Brigade). When I got there I was swarmed by people who knew who I was and apparently had been tracking my progress in school since my orders were cut last July. They have not had a Chemical Officer in a long time and the one they had at Brigade had gotten "stolen" by the 1-44 Battalion (also under the 69th). So they were so excited to see me and said that they were going to write an amendment to my orders right then and I would be staying right there at the Brigade level and be the "head chemo" so to speak. They rapidly in processed me and sent me over to the S3 (office where I will be working). I met Cpt Coscas and she showed me around. Since my primary job will be doing the Unit Status Readiness Report and she has been doing it for a while she will be my go to person for the next few weeks. She is really nice and very go with the flow it seems. I was also introduced to Major Reese and had a lengthy talk with him about my job and expectations. It was not how I imagined my Friday afternoon going since I was not even technically supposed to sign into the unit until Monday. Now instead I have a different job.... instead of answering to the Brigade Chemo and turning in the USR report for my Battalion I will be the one people turn in their USR's to and I have to make sure all their information in correct. So as it stands now I will have three other lieutenants reporting to me each month and have at least one NCO who can put Boot to Butt when when the need arises. Isn't that cool? I get my own muscle! lol. MAjor Reese said that I will have my own office but he has to figure out how that is going to happen since they are short on space at the moment. However he said it was VERY important for me in the job that I will be doing to have my own space to work in. He promised that that would happen by next week.
That's about it for now - except that we officially have an address now. Its just a PO Box but it will be our address for at least the next year.
Jake and Heidi Nielsen
PO Box 6094
FT Hood,TX 76544
Monday, February 1, 2010
sleeping in.
This morning Thor and I got up early to go get some waffles down in the breakfast room. When we got back, he wanted to wake Baleigh up, so he jumped up on her bed and started shaking her saying "wake up, wake up!" He is such a morning person. He usually wakes up just like me. When the alarm goes off he jumps up ready to meet the world. Baleigh on the other hand is deffinitly her father's daughter. She moans and groans and complains and just wants to take it easy for about an hour when she wakes up. So when her brother was assaulting her this morning she starts slapping in Thor's general direction screaming with her eyes closed "I'm sleeping, I'm sleeping Thor, leave me alone!" Jake and I were both belly laughing so hard we couldn't even make Thor stop. Just thought I would share one of those funny moments kids offer.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
We're in TEXAS!!!!
We made it to Killeen, Texas around 7PM on Saturday night. The last leg of the trip from Dallas to Killeen was beautiful. The sun was shining...as it had been raining for the two days prior to this it was a nice change. The kids were in a good mood and the speed limit is 75 in places! But lets start from the beginning.
Friday morning started with none other than car trouble. For the first time ever our trusty Prius decided it didn't want to start. Luckily it was only a dead battery so since Jake's brother Jer and his wife Sarah were there we could actually jump start it. Well, after 25 minutes of reading how to jump start a hybrid. I felt so stupid. : ) So we got off to a rocky start but things went well from there. Jake and I went on post and signed me out on leave while Jer and Sarah stayed home with the kids. Then Jake and I picked up our rental truck and went to the weigh station and got both the car and truck weighed empty. Just to see how much one family's junk really weighs. Not really, the military wants that info not us.
THE packing of the truck only took a few hours thanks to our many moves we had decided it would be better to put all the boxes we had packed over the past few weeks in the garage and so the truck filled up quickly and easily. Jer and Jake loaded the furniture while I cleaned up after them and Sarah thankfully distracted the two rug rats. We were on our way to re-weigh the vehicles by 1pm. Just an hour shy of my original planned time of departure. Not bad considering the morning's car trouble. We had a wonderful lunch at the BBQ place down the road and then we were off. We made it as far as Tulsa OK the first night. There we stopped at a Motel 8 (really great place for being a cheap hotel). WHile checking in THor managed to pull the fire alarm and it went off for the next three hours. For some reason they couldn't figure out how to shut it off. Woops. We woke up to some Texas shaped waffles for breakfast before getting back on the road.
WE stopped for a late lunch just over the Texas state line. The kids were champs in the car. Never really complaining and I have to say that is pretty awesome considering when we got to the city limits of Killleen I wanted to say "are we there yet?"
Now we are living in the Townplace suites by Marriott for the next week until we get a place. The housing office told us this morning that it will be 60 - 90 days until we get a place on post. So we decided to put our things in storage and live in a furnished apartment until we get a place. Since the army is footing the bill for storage and the truck and all we decided we didnt' want to unpack and repack another time. Its not what we were hoping for but in 60-90 days life will be prerfect. Or as perfect as it can get.
THe town of Killeen is the opposite of St Robert. We have every imaginable store/restraunt and it even has a mall. Post is amazingly intimidating since it is about 10 times the size of ft lost in the woods. We are pretty happy to be here - we'll post picutures later. Sorry for any punctuation errors, etc. I am typing this on my phone. : )
Friday morning started with none other than car trouble. For the first time ever our trusty Prius decided it didn't want to start. Luckily it was only a dead battery so since Jake's brother Jer and his wife Sarah were there we could actually jump start it. Well, after 25 minutes of reading how to jump start a hybrid. I felt so stupid. : ) So we got off to a rocky start but things went well from there. Jake and I went on post and signed me out on leave while Jer and Sarah stayed home with the kids. Then Jake and I picked up our rental truck and went to the weigh station and got both the car and truck weighed empty. Just to see how much one family's junk really weighs. Not really, the military wants that info not us.
THE packing of the truck only took a few hours thanks to our many moves we had decided it would be better to put all the boxes we had packed over the past few weeks in the garage and so the truck filled up quickly and easily. Jer and Jake loaded the furniture while I cleaned up after them and Sarah thankfully distracted the two rug rats. We were on our way to re-weigh the vehicles by 1pm. Just an hour shy of my original planned time of departure. Not bad considering the morning's car trouble. We had a wonderful lunch at the BBQ place down the road and then we were off. We made it as far as Tulsa OK the first night. There we stopped at a Motel 8 (really great place for being a cheap hotel). WHile checking in THor managed to pull the fire alarm and it went off for the next three hours. For some reason they couldn't figure out how to shut it off. Woops. We woke up to some Texas shaped waffles for breakfast before getting back on the road.
WE stopped for a late lunch just over the Texas state line. The kids were champs in the car. Never really complaining and I have to say that is pretty awesome considering when we got to the city limits of Killleen I wanted to say "are we there yet?"
Now we are living in the Townplace suites by Marriott for the next week until we get a place. The housing office told us this morning that it will be 60 - 90 days until we get a place on post. So we decided to put our things in storage and live in a furnished apartment until we get a place. Since the army is footing the bill for storage and the truck and all we decided we didnt' want to unpack and repack another time. Its not what we were hoping for but in 60-90 days life will be prerfect. Or as perfect as it can get.
THe town of Killeen is the opposite of St Robert. We have every imaginable store/restraunt and it even has a mall. Post is amazingly intimidating since it is about 10 times the size of ft lost in the woods. We are pretty happy to be here - we'll post picutures later. Sorry for any punctuation errors, etc. I am typing this on my phone. : )
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