Drop Night!

It finally happened....the assignments came down, the murder board* happened and drop night occured. What a relief to finally know where we're going after Daniel graduates!
*no one actually gets killed at a murder board, which is where the instructors decide who gets what assignment and apparently it can get pretty ugly.

We'll be moving to Ft. Meade, Maryland!

Daniel got a great assignment that will certainly challenge him and keep him interested while we're stationed there, which will probably be 2-3 years. We are so thrilled with this assignment. Our #1 goal was to be closer to our family up north and this certainly puts us within reasonable driving distance (right now, we're 17+ hours from them!).

Overall, the drop night was great. We split up the food and drink responsibilities between the class & the spouses and had quite a spread! For warm dishes, we had pigs in a blanket (mini hot dogs in crescent rolls) that disappeared completely within the first hour and buffalo chicken dip. We also had some chips & pretzels with dip and an authentic King Cake from a bakery in New Orleans!

King Cake!

While most would think the military runs likes clockwork, the actual drop night didn't begin until 5:30, which turned out to be OK since most of the guests were fashionably late. I completely lost track of time because I was busy setting things up, chasing Anna around and talking with my fellow spouses about how anxious we all were for our husbands and friends to get there assignments!

Bri and Ayla (whose mom, Jackie made the girls matching dresses!)

Audrey (Ayla's big sister) with a Mardi Gras umbrella!

Anna in her Mardi Gras gear eating King Cake

Since the class is made up of 8 men, giving out the assignments didn't take very long. Daniel designed the slideshow that displayed pictures of each classmate, their hometown and favorite quote, along with a slide to show where they were going. Since it was Mardi Gras themed, he had beads fly up and knock away the 2 choices that weren't the actual assignment. The one remaining was where they were heading and would get nice and big before they switched to a video from the squadron the person would be going.

They were the Krewe of Nerf because they are having an all-out Nerf gun war in their classroom. And yes, these are the same men defending your freedom. :-) Don't worry, they will use more than Nerf darts to fight the terrorists.

Here's where everyone is heading:

• Josh: McChord AFB, Washington State
• Andrew: Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
• Justin D.: Columbus AFB, Mississippi
• Caleb: Holloman AFB, New Mexico
• Justin M.: Kadeena AB, Japan
• Daniel: Ft. Meade, Maryland
• Rebel: Nellis AFB, Nevada
• Byron: Fairchild AFB, Washington for the Air National Guard

I took video of each assignment as it was given out, capturing the person on stage and then panning to the choices on the slideshow. When it came to Daniel's, it took a second to focus so 2 out of the 3 possibilities that I saw were Qatar and Ft. Meade. (The other one was Curtland AFB in New Mexico.) I think my heart stopped when I saw Qatar, but thankfully, that one went away pretty quickly and Daniel said that it was supposed to be a joke... yeah, a joke for the class but not for spouses who see it and think "Oh my goodness, my husband is getting a remote tour where I can't go with him and we're about to have our second baby and I'm going to be in Mississippi far from family for 2 years and my friends are all PCSing away." (Not kidding, in the 1.2 seconds it was up there, that's what went through my mind.)
I was so relieved and happy and excited about Ft. Meade that I couldn't stop smiling! And the next assignment given out kept me smiling since Rebel was next and got his #1 choice, which sends my friend Bri to Las Vegas!
After we mingled and celebrated and cleaned up the room we used, we headed home so Dan could change and then we went to Olive Garden with Rebel and Bri to continue celebrating and get some real food in our tummies!
Once we got home and put Anna to bed, Daniel went to the after-party down the street and brought more of the buffalo chicken dip. Apparently, it was a huge hit because Daniel sent me a text that they were swarming it as soon as he walked in the door. I was worried because I made 6 quarts of it, but half was gone at the end of drop night and another 1.5 quarts was polished off at the party afterwards. Several people have been asking for the recipe, so I'll be posting that next. :-)
I still can't believe we're moving up north, or that I have friends already there and another friend from Keesler who will move there just a month before we get there. What an amazing feeling to know that we'll be in one place for 2-3 years, with friends, and in an area of the country we really wanted to go!
God is so good and I'm looking forward to the plans He has in store for us when we get to Maryland!