At long last...

Hello everyone! Please forgive my tardiness and inability to keep up with this blog over the past 3 months. It is really no excuse, but life is BUSY for the Modells!!! It seems like there's rarely a free minute, and if there is, I certainly don't want to sit down and stare at a computer screen But, after some needling from my husband and one BayLoretta, I think the time has come to update said blog. I can't promise I'll be any better @ updating in the future, but I will certainly try. :)


Okay... so what have we been up to over the past three months? I definitely won't get this out in the correct order, I'll just go by topic.

TRAVEL:

I have been home to Texas twice, Kyle has been to England, Spain, Mali (Africa), various American states, and is in fact in Texas as I type this post.

My first time trip back to Tejas was in October. I flew into Houston and then drove to College Station for the Texas A&M v. Texas Tech football game, and of course to see my family. Kyle and I were supposed to go together, but for some work related reason that I forget, he didn't make it, and I traveled solo. My brother Chris and sister Kerri and b-i-l Stephen live in C-Stat, so my dad & other brother Bryan drove down there so we could all hang out during the weekend. It was a really short trip, Friday to Sunday, but I still enjoyed myself. Friday was sibling bonding time, Saturday was game day, and Sunday was just enough time for a late breakfast and then I had to get outta there. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and here are some pictures from the visit:

Christopher & I @ the game

Fightin' Texas Aggie Band!!

Mi familia.

In November Kyle & I went back to Texas, this time to Mt. Pleasant, and to Arkansas to be with my family on the first anniversary of the death of my precious Momma, November 22nd. That was a hard (but comforting) visit, which I wrote about here, on the Nov. 29th post. Also, my Aunt Teresa wrote a nice post on her own blog about our visit, which you can see here, on her Nov. 25th post. Below is my favorite picture from our visit. It is of my mother's headstone and to me it captures the peace & serenity of that location... I also like how mine & Kerri's reflections can be seen under our maiden name. It's who we are...Atkinsons and our mother's daughters.

Momma's resting place.

Twinkies!

The cutie on the left in that picture is my second cousin Tyler (son of my cousin Daniel). After our visit to the cemetery, we went over to my Aunt & Uncle's land to see the "new farm", which is where my Aunt & Uncle are putting up a new home/retreat for their family. (Be sure to check out the rest of her blog, there are a ton of cute pictures of their grandkids.) Anyhoo... you can see from the photo why I had snap this picture - how cute are the incidental twins!?

Speaking of Kyle, let's talk about him!!

Right now my husband is in Texas, San Antonio to be exact. He is on a banner mission (Presidential support), but I have no clue what in the world he is doing. All I know is he left last night at 12:30am and will be back here at about 3:00pm tomorrow.

He's also on the schedule to go someplace really, really cool in a few weeks, but I don't know if I'm supposed to broadcast that on the world wide web. So, for now I'll just tell you that he go to go to some other really cool places a few months ago. For his "dollar ride" (first trip overseas) in the C-17 he took a trip to Mildenhall, England, Rota, Spain, and Mali, Africa. He took some pictures, but I'm not sure if he wants me to post those on the web either, so for now I'll just say he had a really nice time and if he tells me later that I can put those up, I will do so.

He's also done some some flying to various places stateside for some locals and some training.

A couple of months ago he also took a roadtrip to Newport Rhode Island for the wedding of one of his buddies from pilot training. I didn't make the trip because of work, but I think he's secretly glad I didn't because he got to have guy time without the wife cramping his style. :) I don't blame him at all, but I'm sad I didn't get to see Kerri & Jamie's beautiful wedding!! Several of his pt buddies came in from various places... California, Arizona, New Jersey, Texas.

Justin, Jack, Ellen, Gabe, Kyle, Colin

Kyle and I also FINALLY made it up to Philadelphia a few months ago.. the weekend after Halloween actually. We spent Halloween night in New Jersey at McGuire AFB. Kyle got scheduled for a sim (simulator) up there at the last minute, and so I tagged along just to see something new. The next day we detoured to Philly, which was just a quick trip, but still fun! We did a few tourist-y things: the Liberty Bell, Franklin Square, Reading Terminal Market. We saved Independence Hall until our families come to visit (hint hint Atkinsons & Modells - get yourselves up here!)

Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Us!

EMPLOYMENT

Our next topic in the life of the Modells will be our jobs. Both are still going well, while Kyle's has changed a bit since I last blogged.

You all know that Kyle is a pilot, but when the pilots aren't flying, they have other jobs within the squadron that they have to fulfill. A few months ago Kyle was assigned to a job in the director's office, which he enjoyed, but now as of three weeks ago, Kyle has a new job! He was asked by his commander to become an exec with the Operational Support Squadron (the OSS), which means he is now part of another squadron and will definitely be busy with the desk job and his flying.

He also began classes for his Masters, which he plans to get in Homeland Security. So, needless to say, Kyle is extremely busy these days, which is a big change from 5 months ago when he was in the midst of the clavicle debacle. (Which, by the way, is totally healed and good to go, according to his last doctor's visit two weeks ago.)

A while back, I left work early to drive back to Dover for the arrival of the last C-17 at the base. Kyle's squadron is a new one, so they've been steadily receiving their new planes over the last months (or is it year(s), not sure). The "Spirit of Delaware" was the last one to arrive, and it was fun to see it in the air and on the ground.

C-17 in the air, being quite awesome.

C-17 on the ground, still awesome, and do you see Kyle at the tail of the plane?

Kyle has a really, really, really cool job, and he flies a really, really, really cool plane.
(Do I sound like a proud wife? Because I am.)

My job is going well, as well. I've been working on some really fun projects. We just got a set of drawings out for a historic church in Bryn Mawr, PA. It is a beautiful piece of architecture, and I am really excited to be a part of its restoration. I've also dabbled in the drawings for historic homes, and barns, and buildings at the historic Nemours Mansion. On Monday I am traveling to Gettysburg, PA to survey a historic church that served as a hospital in the Civil War (!!). Now how cool is that!?

I am still working a 4 day work week, which is still a blessing and still very appreciated. The commute is still a bummer.... it's dark when I leave the house at 6:30am and its dark well before I leave the office I night. I've been getting home at 7:30ish, which doesn't leave a lot of time for me to make dinner or be domestic. Luckily, I am married to THE sweetest man in the world, and he has really pitched in to help me, where I can't seem to help myself. He oftentimes makes dinner on Monday through Wednesday or Thursday, and then I take over on the long weekend.

We certainly cherish the weekends, which is where we really get to spend our time together. Part of the past two weekends were spent at our office Christmas parties. Mine was two Sundays ago at the Dilworthtown Inn Keeper's Kitchen. The Inn has been around since 1780, while the part of the complex our party was in (the Kitchen) serves as a modern culinary teachings school. There was a cocktail hour followed by dinner (I had crab cakes, Kyle had veal) and dessert. Gifts were presented to my bosses and it was really nice to to see everyone outside of the office environment.

John Milner Architects, Inc. Holiday Party

Last Friday was Kyle's holiday party. His was at the Sheraton here in town, and it was a good time as well. The emcees were funny, there were a ton of door prizes, our dinnertable company was great, and the food was good as well. We one a free cake from a local bakery... but uh.. no birthdays or events in sight. We'll have to maybe have a celebratory cake when our families come to see us (Hint Hint #2).

3rd Airlift Squadron's Holiday Party

That next Saturday we went to another party, and that brings us to our next topic -

A SOCIAL LIFE:

We have some pretty amazing friends and neighbors and we truly love where we live. We like to spend time with those guys, and we enjoy how the time is spent - hanging out at our houses and just chilling. Game nights, Guitar Hero World Tour nights, Christmas parties, its all just FUN!

Last Saturday was the monumental Bruyere Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. I made sweatshirts for Kyle & I with the following cartoons. Can you guess which one I wore?

(both are copyrighted of course, can't take credit for the funniness.)

Here's a pic of some of the girls - Amanda (her daughter), Lori, Rachel Tall, Rachel Small, me, and Robyn

Here is picture from a Christmas Eve gathering at the Houcks. That party was also fun. Boy/girl segregation and lots of fun talk and good spiced wine. :)

Rachel Tall, me, Rachel Small, Lori, & Kristin

Let's back up a holiday. Thanksgiving was a blast as well! Since Kyle and I went back to Texas the week before Turkey Day, we stayed in Delaware and shared the day with Jack & Lori (the Houcks). We cooked all day, and created quite a spread! See below:

Us & a lot of food.

Yesterday was Christmas, and we spent that holiday in Delaware as well. And while we missed our families, it was really nice to have our first "alone" Christmas. We had our first tree (a real one) and are beginning our own family traditions. We exchanged gifts and opened those from family back home, and it was just a really nice day. We had a really easy lunch, as I have come down with a cold and do not feel 100%. We napped yesterday evening so Kyle could be ready for his midnight-thirty show time, and boy did I enjoy that. There is nothing I appreciate more when I'm sick then a good nap!

Our pretty tree

Kyle will come back tomorrow and then I imagine we'll have a fairly boring weekend. We'll play with our new toys and attend church on Sunday, and afterwards Rachel Tall will tempt me with lunch at a mexican food restaurant, I will cave, talk Kyle into it, and then we'll indulge ourselves.

We've found a church that we're really enjoying. The music is more praise & worship than traditional, which we weren't sure about, but now we really like it. The message is preached well, and the church members couldn't be more friendly. It's a good place to be, and we are happy to attend there.


And that brings me to my conclusion. God has blessed the Modells IMMENSELY! He has been so good to us, and we are so thankful for everything we have - our great jobs, our friends, our families, and each other!!

Thank you for reading the blog and catching up on my very belated post. I hope you are all well and thriving, wherever you might be. Take care of yourselves, and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

-Jill

Please see...

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/suzyq17

I'm here, he's there.

Greetings friends, family, & passers-by. I hope that as you read this everyone is doing well, especially those from the coastal areas of Texas. It's quite awful what happened down there, and I pray that everyone is alright!

We had very calm week & weekend in comparison. I'll start from the beginning, which is always a great place to start.

Kyle's appointment with the surgeon was actually on Monday, not Tuesday as I originally posted. The visit was both good and bad. Most importantly, Dr. Brady said that Kyle's showing a lot more progress than he would have anticipated at this point. His range of motion is really good, and the break looks to be healing very well. However, he wants Kyle to wait one more month before he flies, and that is really disappointing. We understand the surgeon's reasoning however... he wants the bone to be completely and totally healed, with no room for problems. He told Kyle the story of another patient with a very similar break & plate who tried to pick up a bag of ice (that's all!) and snapped the plate in two because his bone wasn't healed up all the way. Yikes! So, its disappointing that he can't fly yet, but he is going to be busy for the next month!

The powers that be in the flying world decided that Kyle can do sims in the meantime. The simulator won't apply the same amount of force & potential for injury as a plane... i.e. those sims aren't planting themselves onto a runway at excessive speeds and then throwing on the thrust reversers to bring it to an abrupt halt. The sim will provide Kyle with flying hours until he's good to go.

He was gone last Wednesday night to McGuire AFB in New Jersey, and then he left this morning for his sims in Mississippi. He won't be back until Thursday, and I'm going to miss him!

Now don't get me wrong... I realize that 5 days is NOTHING, but I still miss him, no matter how long he is away. I've been pretty fortunate thus far, as far as being a military wife goes. I haven't had to deal with the long separations yet, just the small ones. Truly, my "together time" has run its course.... his injury has allowed us more time together than is normal for a C-17 pilot & his wife. Now I'm getting my taste of the absences. Which is okay. The alternative to lots of little small trips + a medium-sized deployment is one really super long deployment. No thank you. I'd rather have him gone 2 weeks a month & then 6 months , rather than being deployed one whole year (or even more.)

And really, we're pretty good at this separation business...we had a long distance relationship for 17 months before we were married, and then I was away from home very frequently last fall while my mom was sick. I definitely don't need him around, but it makes me really happy to have him near. As I told him yesterday - I can deal with him being gone, but it still makes me sad. I married him because I like him....I don't have to be happy that he's leaving, and of course I'm going to miss him!

And then, I'm going to be husbandless (again) on my birthday. Last year was spent apart as well while I was in Mt. Pleasant for mom and he had to stay in Del Rio for pilot training. Boo! Okay, enough pity party-ing.

Now let's see.... well, my first 4 day week was fabulous. The days were long, but at about 5 o'clock everyday I was like "C'mon 6!! I just want to go home!" But on Thursday evening, as I drove down the most boring stretch of Route 1, I realized how fortunate I am that I didn't have to drive that commute one more time that week. Woo hoo!

That night I went over to my neighbor's house for a get together with all the girls from the neighborhood to celebrate another friend's birthday. That was a good time, and I really like being surrounded by so many nice & fun people.

Friday I tried to sleep in.. but my body betrayed me and wouldn't let me. I spent the day running errands & cleaning the house... and it was fun! Saturday morning we had our friends Andrew & Robyn over for breakfast, and afterwards we sat around talking for several hours. Both are Aggies, so of course there was a lot of discussion about missing A&M and College Station.

Last night Kyle took me out for a birthday dinner to a local restaurant which we both really enjoyed. It was so nice to just sit with him in a darkened & quiet room with candlelight & soft music and appreciate being together. The food was delicious (He had lamb chops with plum mint sauce & I had steak au poivre with risotto), and the service was excellent as well. For all of you Dover-ites who read this, we highly recommened Chops Grille (voted one of Delawares Best for 2007).



We planned to try the early morning service at a church which we went to last weekend (and enjoyed), but Kyle had to leave earlier than expected. So after he left, I hitched a ride to church with my friend Rachel & her husband John & their neighbor Andrew (another Aggie!). I liked the service & then I didn't... the music was nice, but the preacher was a bit over the top. Someone compared him to Billy Mays, the infomercial salesman for products like OxyClean & Orange Clean. I found that amusing, and maybe it paints a mental image for you.

We had lunch at Texas Roadhouse, which a) I will never turn down, and b) was really tasty. After we returned home I took a trip to some stores in order to return some items, a trip that I never seemed to have time to do before. Then I shopped. :)

Now I'm updating this and will shortly begin working on my Intern Development Program so that when I grow up I can be a real Architect. A few people at work have decided they're going to bug me to death until I get that started, so I suppose now is as good of a time as any.

I'll update this again next weekend probably. Kyle and I are going to work at the NASCAR event next weekend. FYI, Dover is a NASCAR hotspot, & sometimes I feel like I'm still living in the south. I can't honestly say that working in a concession stand is how I want to spend my free day, but it's a way to spend time with Kyle & support the 3rd. I'll report back on all the happenings, maybe it will be entertaining.

Till then,
Jill

hiya

Hello friends & family,

Once again, it's been awhile since I've blogged.... I just can't seem to build up enough energy to sit down during a weeknight and write a little something of the goings-on of the Modell household. Luckily, today was a very chill day and I've got some free time now, so I'm looking forward to posting tonight.

Alrighty... let's see. Well, as I said last post, we went to New York state last weekend. It was quite a long weekend as Monday was Labor day coupled with the fact that on Friday I took off of work, and Kyle had what's called a "Family Day". (Just a free day off that generally occurs around a holiday.) We were in the car for about 20 hours round trip, but it was fun as we were able to see new parts of the country. (From Delware, through Pennsylvania, to New York.)

Our travel destination was a town called Silver Creek, which is located off of the shores of Lake Erie. We met up there with our great friends Ben & Renee. Ben is one of Kyle's buddies from Sq. 17 and Renee is his beautiful wife and of course Kyle's known them longest, but I'm really glad to call them my friends too. :) They're living in Dayton, Ohio now while Ben is stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB.

A great photo because it also capture's their "child" Jade, seen in the background.

Anyhow, Ben's mother's family is from that area of NY and they have a few houses in Hanford Bay, one of which is a beach house built in the 1920's, which his mom is restoring. It's awesome! Picture below:


That's also me collecting the golf balls from an intense game of Ladder Golf.

We spent a lot of the weekend on the water. It was a gorgeous few days... temperatures ranged from the mid-eighties during the day to the fifties at night. It was a little chilly for me, a Texas girl used to 90s well into November, but still fun nonetheless!


We slept in in the mornings and spent our days in or on the water. The evenings were spent around a fire listening to the water lap onto the shore and watching the stars while we chatted. The last night we were back out at the beach in time to see the sunset & it was beautiful!




So, we had a really, really fun time. It was fantastic to see our friends & to see such a pretty piece of the country.

The upcoming week is going to be exciting for both Kyle & I. Kyle has a doctor's appointment on Tuesday where we will ideally receive the "all clear" as far as his collar bone is concerned, and I begin my first 4 day work week. Please pray for both of us if we cross your minds!

Today Tropical Storm Hanna blew through the northeast. I'm a little disappointed in the results. I mean I wasn't wishing for dangerous weather, but the forecasters said there would be a lot of rain & some pretty significant winds. It was indeed a gross day, but there was not nearly as much rain as anticipated and the wind wasn't as severe either.

It ruined our weekend plans however. We intended to drive to Chadds Ford, PA (where I work) for something called Chadds Ford Days. It's an event involving local artists, colonial craftsmen, restaurant tastings, and lots of live music. I was really looking forward to it, but I imagine the whole thing was canceled because they were hit harder by the weather than Dover.

Well.... I'm sleepy. So I'll wrap this up and hopefully post soon! I will get back to you with how Kyle's appt. turns out and how my work week goes. And I hope that you guys have a wonderful week, wherever you might be!

-Jill

By the numbers...

Hello again! So, life has been hopping for the Modells over the last few weeks. I'll post for you numerically...

341: 3 dollars & 41 cents is the last price I paid for gas (yesterday morning)

130: the # of miles I put on my car per day

80s - 60s: the temperature range around these parts, with some exceptions. yesterday it reached 91 degrees. Fall temperatures in a fall month - a novel idea! It is so enjoyable we bought a patio set last weekend & took a trip to the beach on Sunday. A nice time to be outdoors.

50: the age my mother would have been last Monday. Cancer sucks.

22: Today's date. Kyle is out at Buffalo Wild Wings with the boys, whilst I while away my time on the computer, playing correspondence catch up. He also went to Washington D.C. today on a errand for the squadron.

15, 16, 17: the days in September that Kyle has his first sim (simulator) rides. Good bye husband, hello my birthday. I think I'll be husbandless on that day... sad face! :(

7: the number of screws Kyle has in his collarbone. Ridiculously cool x-ray to follow at some later point in time.

4: The number of days in my future work week. Kyle & I contemplated the idea of a 10 hr, 4 day week, I asked my boss, she gave permission, now it has to be decided upon by the senior associates. 3 of 5 have already verbally agreed. Suh-WEEETT! I am already in the office 9 hours a day anyway, 1 extra will not be a big deal, and a 3-day weekend is nothing to sneeze at. :)

2: the number of houses down from us, where our friends Jack & Lori Houck reside. We had dinner with them last night, delicious! They also made the beach trip with us, and then we stopped at a great farmer's market on the way home. I bought lettuce, peaches, baby potatoes, and some honey. Yummy! (Not all together, of course.)

1: the number of years it does not take to win at the game of Like Minds. Weekend before last we went over to our friends the Bruyere's house for game night. We played the LM game, which is essentially testing how alike the mind's of you and your partner are. Four couples played... Kyle and I had the least amount of marriage time with one year, and we totally got our rear ends handed to us. We didn't think alike on anything! Or... I could have just been having a slow night. For the topic of "religious holidays" I wrote down Christmas and Kwanzaa. You decide. (Totally not one of my finer moments.)

Our weekend isn't going to be too exciting. I am going shopping & I want to clean the house. I'm not sure what Kyle's plans are, but I guarantee they don't include accompanying me to the mall. He shut me down on that idea.

Next weekend we are planning to drive to Silver Creek, New York to spend the weekend with our friends Ben & Renee. It's about an 8.5 hr drive for us, so I am taking a day of vacation next Friday, while we both have Labor Day free, and he will have Friday off as well. It should be a good time!

Hopefully I'll post again before September, but if not I will get back to you when I'm able!

-Jill

At Long Last

Hello friends & family!

Apparently when I said I would post soon, I really meant that I would get to that task over a week later. Sorry for the belated post, if anyone's been waiting out there. (Doubtful that you are, but my apologies anyway.)

Alrighty.... so I have a lot of back-tracking to do, in order to keep you up to date on the life of the Modell's in Delaware. First, I'll give you a quick clavicle update. Basically, Kyle's doing quite alright. He stopped taking his pain medication last Sunday, and says he feels fine. He has a post-op check-up this Tuesday, so we'll find out just how well he's doing at that point. He went back to work this week as well. He's (of course) not flying yet, but he goes into the squadron to get back "into the mix", so to speak.

And if you're interested, here's an x-ray of the break:


Kind of on a funny/unfortunate note, Kyle was randomly drug tested yesterday at work. Normally wouldn't be a topic of discussion, except he was on about 2.5 weeks of a serious narcotic that shows up as heroin in the blood stream. Ah!!! His squadron commander tried to get him out of it, but with no success, but he was able to at least tell the testers about the situation, so it shouldn't be a problem.

So in summary, Kyle's doing much, much better, he's just very tired of sitting around, and he wants to fly.

I just finished up my 6th week of work at John Milner Architects. This job is such a great experience for me. The projects are amazing, the quality of work spectacular, and the people are so nice, and so willing to help me learn. Thus far I have been able to work on projects ranging from the garage/pool house of a $3 million dollar home, to historic churches in the Philadelphia area. I'm learning about new construction as well as preservation methods and techniques. I was even pulled in to work on a model, which I haven't done since undergrad.

Soon I will be beginning some SketchUp projects in the office. They are very interested in this program, and luckily I'm well acquainted with it, so I will be able to facilitate some new methods within the office. That's very exciting for me, because a) I really enjoy that program, and b) it will be fun to start something new!

The job is great, however my commute is awful, AWFUL, AWFUL!! It is very much bringing me down. I'm in my car about 2.5-3 hours a day. Sometimes the drive goes well, and I can be here or there in an hour and ten minutes... but mostly it takes me about an hour and twenty minutes to make it to my destination. The evenings are the busiest, but Thursday and Friday are ridiculous in the amount of vehicles packed onto the road. It is unbelievably frustrating. I very much want to work for this firm, but I am hating the drive between here and there. Well, I won't complain to you too much, so I'll move on to a new topic. :)

I have pictures of our house! I've been able to successfully complete the decoration of the downstairs of the house... upstairs is a totally different story. So for now, I'll just stick to pictures of the living room, kitchen, & dining room.

Entryway

View from the front door into the living room

The living room

My kitchen! (dining room to the left)

kitchen (cont.)

Dining Room

We bought the table about two weeks ago. We're very glad to have it, because well, it's been awkward having dinner at the coffee table every night. I love it!! It's just what we were looking for, and I think it goes well with the red that I painted, before seeing the table.

When I have some time (who knows when that will be) I'm going to continue the red paint into the kitchen, in the space under the cabinets and above the counter. I also have a gallon of a pale golden yellow that I plan to paint on the soffit in the dining room and kitchen, as well as near the pantry, which I haven't shown you yet. (It's to the right of the refrigerator.)

Okay... I will try very, very, very hard not to be so long in between posts next time. I don't make any promises because time seems to be a very valuable commodity now. I don't even have time to facebook anymore... and that's very telling in how much time I don't have, because I'm kind of addicted to fb-ing.

Okay, anyway.... I hope you are all doing well, and until next time, take care!!
Jill

Keeping up with the Clavicle Part 3

Hello friends!

We have arrived home after a successful surgery! First of all, we want to say thank you so very much for your prayers & good wishes. That means a lot to both of us, and especially Kyle. He is sleeping right now, and I anticipate he'll be that way for the rest of the day.

Surgery was scheduled for 9am, and we were there by 7:45, but they didn't actually wheel him into the OR until a little after 10. Added to that, the surgery took about 2.5 hours, one hour longer than we were told, and his recovery time was longer than expected, so we didn't get out of the office until about 2:30pm. However, those times don't really mean much because the surgeon said the operation was a success!

Kyle now has a plate & screws holding together his clavicle which was broken into 4 pieces. (I don't know if I had mentioned the # of bone pieces.) I haven't seen it of course, but he has a pretty nicely sized incision to go along with the new metal insides. His shoulder is all wrapped up in a sweet bandage, and he's got this nifty little ice-water thingy for the area... I've never seen one before, but I'm also new to this surgery thing. It's essentially a wrap that we can fix on his shoulder, which attaches through hoses to a small cooler filled with ice & water. The whole contraption is run by electricity and cycles ice water through the wrap on his shoulder, acting as an ice pack. The advances in technology these days! :) Haha

He's hurting, quite a lot actually. He said he hurts more now than ever, which makes sense. His bone is still broken, but now he has been cut on, an manipulated, and drilled into... so he's entitled to complain more.

I took off from work today and will do the same tomorrow. My employers have been so understanding about this situation, it's a blessing. I was able to work from home this weekend and last night to make up some of the hours I will miss in the office. One good thing about architecture is that can indeed be a mobile profession if the need arises.

Anyhow... so here's the deal. I have LOTS of pictures to post and LOTS of things to tell you about, that don't all pertain to broken husbands. So tomorrow I hope to post again, as I will have more free time than I am used to!

Until then,
take care, and thanks for thinking about us!
-Jill

Keeping up with the Clavicle Part 2

Surgery - July 29th, 9:00am.

Dude, totally too far away.

Keeping up with the Clavicle...

Well ladies and gentlemen.. we've seen lots of doctors in the past 4 days, but we really aren't closer to any medical aid for Mr. Modell & his cracked clavicle. I am past due for my bedtime, so I'm going to keep this quick and informative.

Saturday & Sunday were spent on the couch. He had lots of visitors on Saturday, which was amazing. We've met & made lots of friends here in Dover, and so many people came by to check on him, it was really touching!

Monday I took off of work to help him out around the house & drive him to the base clinic. I spent a L-O-N-G time on the phone that morning coordinating between a) Tricare, b) the Flight Doc, c) the referring doctor's office, & d) the surgeon's office. In the meantime he laid around, trying not to move.

This morning we had a consultation with the trauma surgeon who is going to perform surgery on his collarbone. After leaving his office we are no further along than where we were Saturday. We left the ER knowing he would have surgery, and we left the surgeon's office knowing we would have surgery. But when? That is still up in the air.

They've said it could be anytime between now and the beginning of next week. SO FRUSTRATING!!!! For me at least. Kyle is being so chill about everything... he is very understanding, and I'm just irritated. I'm glad he's there to balance me out. And really, it's his shoulder, so I should go with how he feels, but I'm just tired of watching him hurt (although he doesn't complain at all).

We will be sure to let you know when the surgery is scheduled. Please continue to pray - for the wisdom and talent of the surgeon (Dr. Brady), for the healing of Kyle's bone, & for the peace to realize this whole ordeal will play out how God intends it to.

And on another note... today is the 8th month anniversary of the death of my sweet mother, Sue Ellen Atkinson. Today has been hard (-er than normal). I miss her.


..... We have a lot of things to tell you, and lots of pictures to post, and I will do that at the first available opportunity. Hope you are all well.

Take care,
Jill & Kyle

A Prayer Request...

Hello guys & gals...

It's been a busy morning in the Modell household... to make a long story short, we need your prayers if you have a second or two. We spent a good bit of the day in an emergency room for my darling husband. :) This morning he was playing ultimate frisbee, went for the disc, fell, and instead of face planting took the fall on his left shoulder. This was an uh-oh moment. I got a call to come take Kyle to the hospital, because he & the guys he was playing with thought he had dislocated his shoulder. Actually, he broke his clavicle. In summary, he broke his left clavicle into 4 pieces and it's the worst collarbone injury the general dr or the orthopedic doctor have seen in 30 years of practice. It's something they are more likely to see from a motorcycle accident or a car crash. As Kyle said.. go big or go home. :) They want to send him to an orthopedic specialist for a possible/very, very likely surgery, and that won't happen until Monday. So, we are at home right now, he is on the couch drugged up, and we're waiting to see what they tell us to do.

He is worried about it, for a variety of reasons, and we need him to be repaired and returned to his perfectly healthy self as soon as possible and reasonable. Please pray for his poor bone and that everything will turn out okay.

Thanks guys!
-Jill

Pictures!

Hello again!

I now have some pictures to post for your viewing pleasure. They are from before we received our household goods, so the rooms are quite bare & quite white. (I'm only posting the lr & kitchen for now.) I bought some paint yesterday.. but when we got home and painted a little patch in the living room, the color looked all wrong. So, we're still rocking the white walls, and we're still in the middle of settling in. Everything is unpacked, but nothing looks put together. (I'll make sure to put up some new pictures whenever that feat is accomplished.)



Our new home is one half of a duplex, which we share with a couple named Tim & Crista. (We are on the left.) They have the CUTEST little girl named Adilyn, and someone pointed out that by the time we part ways after our stay in Dover, we will have watched this little one year old grow into a kindergartener! This strikes me as significant. We should be in this little state for 4 years, and we think (at the moment) that we want to stay in this house the whole time... that would be the longest I have lived in one location since leaving home in 2001. I moved around every two years in college... so staying in one place could be very nice!

The front door/entryway

The living room + Kyle

My kitchen!! So much better than the 1960s galley kitchen at Laughlin

But, we'll see about that staying in this house part... we've had some maintenance issues since arriving only 13 days ago. We've had to call in a maintenance request THREE times for our air conditioner. We find that quite ridiculous, for a new ac unit in a brand new house. The first time we called was our first night here... we turned on the ac and suddenly our back yard was filled with this outrageously loud "thwack, thwack, thwack" noise as the fan hit the shroud of the unit. So, we had to turn it off then, to wait for the maintenance guy to show up the next day. So, he came, he repaired, he left. Not 2 days later, the temp in our house shot up to 83 degrees & it was miserable! Another fellow came out, decided there was a coolant leak somewhere in the unit, and that someone else would come out the next day (or the next, or the next, or the next) and repair. So he recharged us, and the temp came down and we were comfortable for about a week. Then last night, Kyle and I both noticed that the air was suddenly becoming very uncomfortable again.. humid, sticky, not cool! (Literally & figuratively.) So, we called again, yet another repair guy came out last night, and we learned our unit had not been repaired as promised. Boo!! He recharged the coolant again, and we have been promised another repair man will come out and fix the issue. They could save themselves quite a bit of cost & effort if they just took care of the problem the first time! Needless to say, Kyle and I are pretty exasperated with this situation.

But, we are thankful this didn't happen in Texas! It is warm up here, but it's not 100 degrees as it would be in Del Rio. One thing we've discovered though is the humidity! It feels like we're back in College Station again, the air is just saturated with moisture. 94% humidity today. Bleh!

We have started "church shopping". This morning we attended the traditional Protestant service on base at the chapel. Next week I think we'll try the contemporary service, and then after that we will venture off base. There are several Baptist churches in the area, which is great! So, please pray that God will lead us to the right church home for the us. We want to get plugged into a good one!

We just returned from lunch with our friends the Houcks. Jack was in UPT at Laughlin with Kyle, and Lori his wife did double duty as a Civil Engineer at Laughlin and as a student pilot spouse. She and Jack were able to be reassigned together, so it's great that they are both here! They moved into a house that is only two duplexes over, so I am very happy about that. For lunch we tried this place called La Tonalteca, and it was actually pretty good. One of the concerns most important to me in this move was "Is there good Mexican food?" And happily, there is! This place had really good food, better than most places we ate at in Del Rio. Ironic huh? We move half way across the country, away from a bordertown, and the Mexican food is better. Go figure. :)

We also shared in our 4th of July festivities with the Houcks, as well as several other couples from the base, some of which we already knew (they're Aggies), and some new friends as well. We attended the town's parade, which was fun but also one big political advertisement. Every other parade entry was someone running for some type of political office, and it was really obnoxious! I did see Joe Biden though (a Congressman whose name is thrown around on the telly a lot), and that was interesting.

After the parade, we hit up the concession stands - hot dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and SWEET TEA!!! Hahaha, I was very excited about that cup of sweet yummy goodness. :) Then we settled onto the town green, which ran in front of the capitol building. There was live music and a C-5 flyover for our enjoyment, although it was so much a flyover as a fly-in-the-vicinity. The plane didn't even come close to going over heads, but it was okay because I'm biased... a C-17 would've been better anyway. :)

The fireworks were scheduled to begin at 9:20, but at around 8:00 o'clock a light, but steady rain began to fall. It slowly, very slowly kept getting heavier, until the girls took shelter under blankets, while all of the guys stood around getting soaked. They started the fireworks early, and at 9:00 the show started. It was a really nice display, I just think it would've been better if we weren't hiding from the elements. Here are a few pics... they're kinda blurry, but you get the idea.

Us + the Houcks

Well.... I think that's all I have to say today. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and as always, thanks for keeping up with the Modells. We'll report back in later!

-Jill

Hello from a far away land... the land of Delaware, the First State! Dela-where you ask? A little nubbin of a state south of Pennsylvania, east of Maryland, and hanging out on the Atlantic Ocean. The new home of the Modells!!

I am sorry for the delay in posting... we have been so busy over the past few weeks, and this is the first time I feel like I have time to breathe!! I want to give you a quick update, but I'll have to keep it short... there is so much unpacking/settling in that needs to be done!

Okay.. we said goodbyes to our families. That was tough! But we said goodbye to Kyle's family in the airport, so we didn't get too emotional, and then well... my dad and brothers aren't really emotional, so that wasn't a problem. I started to get teary eyed saying goodbye to my brothers, and Bryan just looked at me like I was nuts and reminded me I'll see him in just a few months. Hint hint, don't cry sister. :)

We took off on our merry way on the 20th of June. Drove to Nashville, TN the first night, but stopped in Memphis to have some ribs at a place called Rendevouz, at the suggestion of our friend Rachel. On Saturday we made it to Dayton, Ohio where we stayed 'till Monday with our good friends Ben & Renee. We had so much fun! We hadn't seen them since our wedding, so it was really great to catch up with them over a year later!

Monday we stayed in Hagerstown, Maryland and then arrived in Dover on Tuesday!! And happily, we were able to move into our house the very same day. Guys, it's amazing! I don't have pictures to post as of yet, but those will come soon. This house is wonderful, so much more than two people need. A big kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a garage... we are so happy with it. And even better, we have friends everywhere around here... we are so thrilled with this location.

Kyle hasn't begun working yet. He was on permissive leave until today, but he'll start inprocessing on Monday. He is very much looking forward to getting the proverbial show on the road. A new plane (C-17) arrived at the base on Tuesday, and there was a celebration of sorts, and he was able to meet quite a few of his squadron mates. We are both very much looking forward to his first flight out of Dover.

I began work on Monday. In short - the commute is going to kill me, but the work is totally worth it. It takes me about an hour 15 to make it to work in the morning, and an hour 30 to get home. Boo!!! So that is sucky, but I wanted this job really badly, so I will just deal with it. The firm is a dream come true, and I feel very lucky to be working there. I like the project I'm dealing with now, and I'll tell y'all more about that later!

Okay.. other items of interest..... the movers broke our dining table and our washing machine. Total decimation. But our new w&d arrived this afternoon, so we are able to catch up on the backlog of laundry. A dining table is next on the list.

The weather is amazing. A little humid down here, but when I drive an hour north, it's perfect! All in all, we are very happy here. I think it will be a good fit for us.

Now, I need to fold that same laundry, and then I need to crash... I am sleepy! I will write more soon, promise, complete with pictures!

Take care,
Jill

I could quite possibly have a heatstroke any second now..

Hola mis amigos y familia!

Kyle & I are at this moment temporary residents of El Paso, Texas, a city which is in the midst of a heatwave of sorts. As I type, the temperature outside is a balmy 103 degrees. Yikes!

It's way too hot to be doing anything outside, so we, along with John (el padre), Val (la madre), and Katie (la hermana) are staying inside the nice, air conditioned domicile. Kyle and I have been here since last Thursday, when we flew in from Dallas.

We made the trip here for two reasons: 1) to visit with his family before we move, and 2) to greet his father as John returned from a 15 month deployment to Iraq.

We gathered on post on Saturday, and boy, the return festivities were great! I felt like I was drinking happy juice because of all the excitement and happiness floating off of and around those families at Fort Bliss. Balloons and small American flags waved in the air, and as soon as the plane was spotted screams and cheers filled the air as well. The Soldiers filed off of the plane, and made their way towards the family and friends pressed against the barricades, waiting to see their loved one.

The returned men and women were not allowed to make their way to the family right away (having to turn in their weapons and gather together again beforehand), so at first we only got to see John walk by, all smiles and waves. It was so sweet to watch the little kids wave frantically at their daddys, and even see a few rebels break the barricade and wrap themselves around their parent's knees. There were happy tears in abundance, and lots and lots of "woooos!" & screaming. :)

And as I stood there (baking) in the sun, I watched those Army wives around me. We are all military wives, but I think it takes an extra, extra, extra special lady to marry an Army Soldier. That's an extra breed of toughness, having to miss their loved one for 15 months. I think we all have it tough, but 15 months, or even a 12 month deployment would be a hard thing to bear.

Anyhoo... so, the Soldiers have returned, there's an hour long gap, and then there they are! They come marching in, there's a small speech, and then they are dismissed. Chaos ensues! Families are reunited, many tears are shed, and the separation is over. (And not one single casualty!) Whew!

Kyle's dad, Colonel John Modell, was the Chief Nursing Officer at Camp Cropper in Baghdad, and he did his family very proud over there. :) Here's a picture of everyone:

Jill, Kyle, John, Valerie, Katie, & Gabe

The visit here in El Paso has been really nice, and very relaxing so far. Just hanging out & enjoying every one's company. Tomorrow will be our last full day, and I think we're venturing into New Mexico. Thursday we fly back to Dallas and then return to Mt. Pleasant.

Before we came into EP, we spent about a week in the MPizzle. That was also a fun time! I won't bore you with details, but both Kyle and I are very glad that we've been able to spend these days with our families. Goodbye will be awful, but we have good memories to head to Delaware with!

Speaking of! Friday we get on the road. We'll spend two days in Ohio with our friends Ben & Renee, and then we will arrive in Dover on Tuesday!!!! Kyle called the housing office today, and surprisingly we actually get to move INTO our new home in ONE WEEK! I am so very happy about that. It seems unreal... we will finally be there, in our own home. Maybe "stuff-less", but that'll get there when it gets there.

I don't expect I'll do any updating until we are in Dover, but you just never know. I'll get back to you guys as soon as something fun happens! Until that point, y'all take care care and be safe!

-Jill

Peace out & some crying

Well, as of 1:00pm on Thursday, June 5th, Kyle and I are no longer residents of Del Rio, Texas. We are now two homeless individuals, wandering across the great state of Texas. Right now we are hanging out in College Station with Kerri (my sister) and her husband. Leg One of our trip is complete.

We have had an adventurous week I must say. I just experienced my first military move... and I only felt like I needed a Valium like once. It was old hat for Kyle, as it is his 1,564,398th move. No, I kid, but he really has been through quite a few moves being a military brat and all.

The packers came on Monday to box us all up... and I was shocked at the amount of stuff we have. I don't really know where it all came from, but we have so much junk! It took the packers a full 8 hour day to get it all together, but it was an easy day, meaning no mishaps, nothing broken, nice packers, etc. etc.

That night we camped on an air mattress in our living room. :) We woke up bright an early Tuesday for the movers. That was a good and a bad day for me. The movers were nice people as well, and really efficient, but the truck they brought didn't hold all of our belongings! (The household goods of two other families were also taking up space in this behemoth of a moving truck.) So, ultimately, several boxes of our things were "left behind" and have been put in storage and will make it to Dover in 4-6 weeks. But those boxes included most of my kitchen, so that's when I freaked out. I needed a little bit of alone time to calm down, but its all in perspective now. I don't need those boxes as much as I thought I did, and we can eat off of paper plates for a few weeks. There were also some times when I seriously contemplated leaving the premises because I couldn't watch them carry the important boxes (framed diplomas, crystal, other breakables, etc.) which at times were awfully wobbly on their shoulders.

But by early afternoon it was all over, and in retrospect it wasn't a bad experience at all. Now let's just hope things make it to Delaware in one piece! Here is a picture of some of our things about to be put into the truck.



Yesterday (Wednesday) we spent a lot of time cleaning. I also had to repaint the living room back to its boring white which was not a lot of fun. It made me consider just how much do I really want to paint our new house?

Last night Kyle & I went out separate ways for a last hurrah in Del Rio. He played xBox with the guys, and I went over to a friends for my last girls' night. We had a recipe exchange, ate some pizza, and then sat around chatting & being goofy, as is the norm for us. All the while I was absolutely dreading the end of the night, knowing I would have to say "goodbye" to all of them and to two of my very best friends. (A temporary goodbye of course, I fully intend to insert myself into their lives for the rest of mine. haha)

And pardon my language, but saying goodbye totally SUCKED! Ahh, I cried and cried and cried. I have been blessed by some amazing friends in this role of a military wife, people I know that I will always hold very close to my heart. It is my first taste of this thing I signed up for... the moving and the leaving and the distance. And being Kyle's wife is worth all of it, but it doesn't mean it hurts any less. Let's just say that I am very much dreading saying goodbye to my family in a few weeks. I am still beyond excited for this move, but right now it is tempered by a sadness and a feeling of loss.

Here are my ladies - Deanne, Lori, Lana, Laura, & Shannon (Lori & Shannon completely missed that blue memo, geez girls.) :)


And then today Kyle & I said goodbye to the Rio. Wow, this is really happening!!

I must say, I won't miss the house or the base or the town. But I will miss the people and the camaraderie of girls going through the same experience and supporting each other as they support their husbands. Friends who can offer advice or insight into this military thing, and people who you can do the same for... its a nice thing, this bond all of us wives have.

Tonight we're setting up residence in College Station and then will make our way to Mt. Pleasant tomorrow. It will be the last time my family is in one spot for several months (November 22nd/Thanksgiving being the next time), and I'm looking forward to our visit together. Next Thursday we are flying to El Paso to spend time with Kyle's family.

So, I will update again in a few days or whenever something exciting happens. Until then, take care of yourselves, and thanks for reading about our life!

-Jill

I think I'll jump on this bandwagon...

Hello friends & family!

Apparently the thing to do for military couples is to start a blog for your viewing pleasure. I think that's a great idea, and it will be a handy way to keep in touch with all of you guys!

I can't promise I'll be great about updating this thing, but I'm really going to try, especially with all of the changes coming up over the next few months.

But first, here's an abbreviated version of the events of our life since we got married! It's been an exciting 365+ days, and on May 26th we celebrated our first wedding anniversary!

May sometime, 2007: I graduated from TAMU (again), Masters accomplished
May 26 2007: Done gone and got hitched
May 29 2007: Moved into our new home in Del Rio, Texas on Laughlin AFB. Kyle resumed undergraduate pilot training, flying the T-1 Jayhawk
November 2 2007: Drop night - found out we're going to Dover, Delaware, where Kyle will be flying the mighty C-17!
November 16 2007: Kyle is awarded his USAF pilot wings. Jill holds back tears, is very proud.
November 22 2007: My mother passed away after a very short battle with cancer. A ridiculously rough ending to a month of emotions.
December - January 2007: Lots, and lots of Atkinson family time.
January - April 24 2007: We moved to Altus, Oklahoma so Kyle could learn to fly the C-17. He's now a serious, for real, no kidding pilot.
May 2007: Kyle left for Washington State for a month, and I divided my time between Del Rio, College Station, and Mt. Pleasant
May 18 - 19 2007: I flew to Pennsylvania for a followup interview for my dream job. Accepted said job, and will start work in July with John Milner Architects, Inc. ECSTATIC happy dance ensues.

And now we are about to start the newest phase of our life!! On Monday the movers are coming to pack us up, and we are going to get on the road to Delaware, with some stops along the way to visit family and friends.

I'll try to post pictures & updates along the way.
Until then, take care!
-Jill (& Kyle says hi too)