Last Phone Call!

I just received Austin's last phone call (as they take away his right to outside verbal communication) for at least the next 10 weeks. It lasted about .2 seconds and he was really rushed, so I guess that the sh*t has hit the fan!

In any case, I now have his full mailing address which is:

OC Austin Gage
Office Candidate School
Class 17-08
Officer Training Command Newport
291 Kollmeyer Street
Newport, RI 02841-1641

Please send him your thoughts!!! I know he is looking forward to hearing from everyone!

Also, don't send cookies or sweets...apparently they are 'contraband' and he could get in trouble for it :/

Wow! so here we go! he's probably getting his head shaved right now...

And he's off...

and is safely in RI.

We were so thankful that we got the chance to spend some time in Virginia with friends and family before taking him to the airport!

Friday we spent the day together and took some photos for him to take on his 13 week indoctrination...

We spent the day together doing fun things that we have missed since being in Georgia, i.e. eating at Perfectly Frank, going to the beach...just hanging out.

Friday night we went out to Plaza Azteca with a really fun group of about 25 people to send Austin off and wish him well :)

and then came...

Saturday! the big day!

We got up early and got to the airport in plenty of time...promptly upon our arrival we found that we could not check him in, because the Navy had yet to PAY FOR HIS TICKET!!!!

(ughh, welcome to the Navy!)

Austin jumped into action like crazy, calling numbers running for a fax machine...it was very impressive. In any case, it all got straightened out and he got on the plane in time and is safely in RI :)

This is our "before" shot at the airport...

United States Navy...Accelerate Your Life

Well, Austin is now officially an Officer Candidate of the United States Navy.

For the last few months to a year the "accelerate" part of the Navy motto has seemed a bit, er, reaching, to say the least. Considering that we waited for months and months to find out what was going on (apply, test, submit, jk, submit again...ok you are in, we will call you when we know more) I for one did NOT expect this part of the process to move so swiftly.

Austin got the call about OCS (Officer Candidate School) on Thursday April 10, which told him he would be leaving for Newport, RI on the 26th...of April. 16 days?!

Needless to say these past two weeks have been a blur, and if they are any kind of precedent for the rest of our life, I thought this little blog may be the answer to keep everyone informed of our comings and goings and how the military has taken over!

In the mean time, Austin leaves on Saturday and I am trying to reconcile myself to the fact that we are in an 1800's relationship for the next 13 weeks. (letters only. bah.)

More to come!