The Sun Is Always Shinier...

Well it's been a few weeks and a few more tests since I wrote last, but I successfully passed Phase 1 and have moved to the Sunshine State for Phase 2. I arrived to Florida last Saturday, checked into a hotel and have been living out of a hotel room and my car ever since. I should have a new place by the 24th, but this living out of the car/room thing has become quite interesting. Plus, I left half of my stuff in VA to be transferred down by one of my classmates who rented a U-haul. Now the U-haul is here and I have no home in which to download my stuff.

Poor, poor pitiful me, right? I eat a great continental breakfast, have a nice bed/roof over my head, and have someone to clean up after me every day. Life is hard. Haha

Anyway, when I sat down to write this, I thought I had cuter stories to tell about FL, but now I can't think of them, so sorry you wasted your time opening this page to read that I am alive and well; a text message could have served the same purpose. Ha

Talk to you soon!

Testing 1, 2, 3

The holidays have come and gone. I'm ever so grateful for the time I got to spend at home with family and friends. For those of you I was unable to meet up with, I'm truly sorry. Hopefully I'll get more time in the near future to meet up with you all.

Back here in Army life, we're playing the military version of Who's on first, What's on second. We have to sign in from holiday block leave, a process that in no way should be difficult. Well, on Monday, I received three texts all with different dates for signing in. It was agreed upon that Tuesday would be sign in day. Tuesday, I went in, turned in my form, signed my name on the sheet of paper and then had to wait for 45 minutes to sign my name on another sheet of paper, one serving the same purpose as the first. The entire process for signing in took an hour and a half. Good thing we don't get paid by the hour. haha

Today we had to report at 4am for our return from holiday block leave urine analysis. After standing outside in the bitter cold (side note: I do believe it's colder here than it is in the Midwest) for a half an hour, we were told we needed to come back at 8am to donate our samples. Upon arriving back at 8, we marched over to the facility used for testing. I stood in line for an hour and a half before given the opportunity to test. Many were still waiting to test; there are no classes today because this is apparently a day long process. Again, it's a good thing the Army doesn't pay by the hour.

Don't get me wrong, I love the school I'm in right now and there are some nice perks about being in the Army, but sometimes, you gotta just step back and laugh at the administrative inefficiencies (unless these inefficiencies involve lack of payment--monetary issues are NEVER a laughing matter...haha).

So my first two days back to work consisted of signing my name twice and peeing in a cup. What did YOU do on your first few days back from vacation? haha

Week 1

This past week I started Phase 1 of training. I think it will prove to be very interesting. The training is a mix of Privates, NCOs and Officers. It's funny because nine months ago, I was a private getting yelled at for everything, so I'm pretty sympathetic for these guys. Days are long and weekends are treasured. I apologize in advance if I get out of touch with anyone for a while. I promise it is not intentional; I'm at school from about 5am-6pm, and then I come home, prep for the next day and crash.

I will be coming home for the holidays, so for those of you in Omaha and the surrounding areas, set aside some time to meet up. I won't have a car, as I'll be flying in for the holidays, sooo yeah...Anyway, I'm excited for the holidays, can't wait to see you all. I'm also excited to be starting this new training; it looks to be pretty intense so wish me luck!!

See you soon!

A Weekend in the Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made

This past weekend was a four-day weekend for us thanks to Veteran's Day. I decided to celebrate graduation and enjoy the four-day by taking the train into New York City. I stayed just outside the city, so I took the bus or the train in every day. It was like being back at FDC and being sent to work in Europe. I loved it!

Friday I went to the Veteran's Day parade. I was planning on going to the parade and then heading to Central Park, but the parade lasted over three hours and by this time, the wind had picked up and it'd gotten cloudy and I'm a wimp and was tired, so I went home.



Saturday, I woke up and headed for Central Park. It was a beautiful fall day. The pictures don't do the park justice. I think I spent over two hours walking in the park, even ate a hot dog from a street vendor. I also clocked 10 miles on my Nike+ Sportswatch GPS. That evening I took the train out to visit my fire-fighting friend, Paul, at his firehouse. Great night! I got to try on his jacket, slide down the pole, AND go out on two calls with them in the fire truck!



Sunday, I took a walk along the Hudson River boardwalk? I guess? I'm not sure exactly where I was, but again it was very beautiful and fun. I must have walked 12-14 miles that day. I didn't charge my watch overnight, so it died around mile 7 and I wasn't even close to home. I like to believe that the watch dying worked out in my favor, because then it just looked like I was house arrest and wearing a tracker on my wrist, scaring would-be hoodlums away...

Monday I got on the train heading back to the 'Burg and life as I currently know it. It was a great weekend and I hope someday I live close enough to the city that I can go for a run in Central Park or along the boardwalk at least once a week.

RIC and Graduation

A couple of weeks before graduation we had a regimental induction ceremony (RIC). We donned our ASUs, which have about as much comfort as a straight jacket, and stood through a 45 minute ceremony inducting us into the Ordnance branch of the Army. We pinned on our crests (the pin above our nameplates), chit-chatted with the Chief of Ordnance, and waited somewhat impatiently for him to leave so we could make a mad dash for the door and shed our straight jackets.

This past Thursday, we graduated BOLC. We walked across the stage, sang the Ordnance and Army song, took some more pictures, then said our good-byes. Most people headed home to see their families and pack up their stuff before heading to their permanent duty station. I, however, hopped on the train to New York, since I'll be staying here to attend another round of school.

Tough Mudder

Back in October, my friends from OCS convinced me to sign up for an obstacle course to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, a project that helps Soldiers. Little did I know that following the event, I would be a wounded warrior. It was a 9-mile obstacle course up and down the mountain side. It took four hours to complete and I buy the end, I was a wet, muddy, scraped up mess. I guess I should have figured that an event named "Tough Mudder" wouldn't be a cake walk...I hurt for three days following the event. Here's a link to the page so you can see the route: http://toughmudder.com/events/virginia/wintergreen-resort-course-map-2011/. This map doesn't do justice to the giant hillsides we trudged up and down, but click on the 'photos' and you should get to see some pictures of this horrific (but fun) event.

Michelle!

Last weekend my sister, Michelle, came to visit. I'd forgotten how much I miss living 20 minutes from her until she came to stay with me. I picked her up from Reagan airport in DC on Thursday and after grabbing a quick bite to eat, we fought the traffic to get home.

Friday, I took her to Virginia Beach. After walking the shoreline collecting seashells for Brooklyn and writing in the sand, we found a place to sit and enjoy the ocean view and sun. I'm not really sure what happened next, because I fell asleep. I'm getting pretty good at falling asleep anytime, anywhere. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.


Late afternoon we rented a two-seater bike and peddled our happy backsides down the length of the boardwalk and back. I figured it up; we probably walked about 3 miles and biked 5 that day. It seriously was exhausting, but fun.

Saturday we took a day of rest, sort of. We went out and bought me a crock pot and groceries and made a lot of food for me to freeze so that I can eat proper dinners now. It was Michelle's idea and it was a good one, cuz I've been eating like a queen every night this week. YUM!

On Sunday, I had to take Michelle back to DC, so we got up kind of early so we could see the city before her flight left. We walked the length of the National Mall, seeing the Capitol, Washington Monument, the White House and much, much more. The time with my sissy ended much too quickly but I'm so glad she came.



This week in school, we've been studying ammo; it's actually decently interesting. Tomorrow I'm going to DC again with a group to see the MLK Jr Monument and whatever else they have planned. And that brings you up to speed with me. So what's new with you?