Wow. . . This is gonna be like starting all over again. Well what's new with the Stroupe family in the six months. Well the biggest thing is I joined the Illinois Air National Guard. Jamie and I had been talking about it for some time and we both agreed that this would be a awesome opportunity for us. I've always wanted to join the service but the years passed by so quick that I thought that I had gotten too old for something like this. What really encouraged me was a co-worker of mine who's in his mid thirties was considering joining as well. I went down to St. Louis to take my ASVAB and get cleared by medical in late September. Scored a 97 on the ASVAB! They offered me a great job and I took it. Swore in Sept. 30. The worse part according to my wife is that I had to shave my beard. I hadn't been clean shaven in about five years.

This photo brings me to my next point. . . Dieting. The max weight for my height to get into the Air Force was 197, I weighed 196 at MEPS. My ideal weight is 174. To get ready for Basic Training I've been running about every other day, a mile and a half each time. That with dieting I've lost about ten pounds!



Here's some random photos of what we've been up to the past several months.


My bride at the ANG Christmas Party.

Chessy laying lazy in front of the fire.
Me rocking it on a kiddy ride at Kentucky Kingdom.
Oh yeah. . . and me with chicken pox.