Goodbye, Iraq

I should be sleeping, but this is a post that can not wait. Early this morning, the last U.S. Convoy arrived from COB Adder at K-Crossing. I wish so much that I could have been there for it, been a part of it...ESPECIALLY since the 1st Cav got a lot of recognition for it...but they didn't even convoy this year! MY brigade did! We pulled almost every last piece of equipment out of Iraq. But, bitterness aside for the 1st Cav, it was truely a job well-done....for the cav, for the 230th Sustainment Brigade, but most of all, for the U.S. Army. Now that we are back with our mission complete, I feel okay with discussing our mission as we have been stationed here in Kuwait. My Brigade's job has been to organize the drawdown of Iraq, the largest retrograde of equipment since WWII, something my grandfather was a part of. We organized the convoys, managed the bases and their support for our convoys, supplied food, water and fuel to these places in Iraq, kept our TCNs mostly safe (aside from the occassional high-jacking) and most of all, did not have 1 KIA from the roads. This year, other units and brigades may have, but within every unit of the 230th Sustainment Brigade, each Soldier will be returning home alive. At the beginning, I was stuck behind a desk. These last 2 months, I have seen the roads and the threats firsthand. And what we have accomplished is unreal. I wish I could have been a gunner on this last mission...over 500 Soldiers and 100 vehicles came back, but you know what? I was still there. I watched over my battle buddies, I looked for possible dangerous things, I unloaded my 240B ammo at that testfire pit...hell, I scouted and set up that testfire pit! All never to be seen again...hopefully. Will they open the boarder for good? What will become of Iraq? I have no idea, I hope for the best...but as I saw Soldiers standing outside, waiting for their battle buddies to arrive at the motorpool today, I was filled with an over-whelming sense of pride...I too, was a part of this. Lucky me =)

Happy Almost Holidays? =)

Hello all. I apologize for being MIA. Because I'm sure what I have to say is SO interesting and its SO important to the function of the world...NOT. I don't have much to say, was just going to do a real-world update and not a book review, which I finished another one today but I'm not sure I want to review it...I'll decide by the end of this post, I'm sure. I packed all my stuff up to move into the tents! I feel really bad, 2 girls from my section has to move it =( We couldn't move it ourselves because, well, I'm in Iraq again. I love being on the road and not in the office. We've missed a lot of bullshit stuff, drama, etc. Of course, on the road we have our own drama but you can always stay in the truck and avoid everyone =) Its really REALLY not bad though. I have 2 boxes to mail home and then everything else should be able to fit in my duffle and ruck, which we can take on the plane. I'm ready to be home, but if we kept running missions, I could do a few more months and be fine. Aside from being on the road, I've been reading and getting on Pinterest a lot. Pinterest might possibly be the coolest thing...like EVER. Its a website made up of "boards" that you "pin" pictures onto. You pin pictures that inspire you, of things you want, things you want to try, etc. For example, I have a "Things for cooking" and a "DIY" board. I pin pics of yummy food and in the bottom corner of the "pin" there is a link with the recipie posted! Same goes for the "DIY" board, I have a pic of something I really like and I click the link and Viola! There's instructions on how to make the item shown. Yep, I be lovin it. Can't wait to get home and put some of the stuff to use. I am excited for New Year's Eve, hoping all my plans work out for that =) For now, I leave you with a pic from one of our missions! It is of Sadaam's

Book Review - Sarah's Key By: Tatiana De Rosnay

I KNOW I still have yet to do a real life update...but here's another book review =)

Interest:

Not sure what it is about the Holocaust I find so interesting, but it is definitely something I have always been drawn to. I remember choosing books on the Holocaust to read as a 3rd grader...I think its because its real world and my grandpa was in WWII. Anyways, as an adult, same attraction. I saw that it was a Holocaust-era book and immediately attracted to it. The book is not a true story, HOWEVER, the historical content about the Vel' d'Hiv roundup in France in 1942 is true.

Initial Reaction:

The book started off well, ever chapter is between past and present. It starts off on the night of July 16, 1942 when a young Jewish girl's family is arrested by French policeman. The next chapter is an American journalist living in France 60 years later. It is a real page-turner, I read the book in 2 days flat. Nearly 300 pages. I did not like the journalist's story as much, I enjoyed reading about the girl and her journey. However, about a quarter of the way through the book, I started to catch on to the connection between the past and the present.

Overall Review:

I'm trying desperately not to give too much detail and spoil the book, its insanely good. Extremely sad though and I did not feel like there was closure at the end. Or maybe there was closure, just not the kind I'd hoped for. The lady's life was changed, but she did not seem to be moving on to bigger and better things. Maybe the end is a good setup for a 2nd novel, wouldn't be enough material though, I don't think. I just wanted her to be happy and at peace...she wasn't. I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. ONLY because of the ending.

Recommendation:

I got this book here free, I will keep it and give it to my kids to read, good historical context. I would read it again AND I would buy it and buy it again if I had the choice. GREAT book! And apparently its a movie now...or going to be one soon. I will be watching to see the difference in the book/movie. I like doing that.

Bye y'all!

Book Review - Intern: A Doctor's Initiation By: Dr. Sandeep Jauhar

I know I have mucho to update on real world stuff, but lets talk about books since I've done a lot of reading while out on missions lately. First book review EVER is going to be on

Intern: A Doctor's Initiation By: Dr. Sandeep Jauhar

What I'm going to do with these reviews is explain what interested me in reading/purchasing the book, give initial reactions on the beginning of the book, an overall review and then my recommendation (i.e. whether or not I would recommend it or read it again.)

Interest:

I want to be a doctor. I have heard from people I know in the medical field and read that your first year of residency (when you are known as an intern) is one of the most challenging. I enjoy true-stories and memoirs, so this book seemed like something I would be interested in. When I picked up the paper version in the bookstore, the back cover described the book as being a personal account of one physician's intern year. I then purchased the book on my Nook and read it.

Initial Reaction:

Let me explain this portion of the review a little more. I am big on an author "reeling in" me as a reader. If it doesn't grab my attention and make me want to keep reading, its hard to finish the book. I'm sure most people feel this way, but being an avid reader, I also know some books just don't have that "it" factor at the beginning, you have to read a while to see the pace pick up. I would have missed out on a lot of good books had I not kept on reading through the painful beginnings of them. Anyways! On with the review!

It took a lot for me not to put the book down initially. The author comes across (in my humble opinion) as a little selfish. He discusses that he is from an Indian family, which sound pretty oppressive. His father and mother expect him to be the best of the best and to do a job for prestige as opposed to a personally rewarding job. His brother also is a doctor, not much older than Dr. Jauhar. Dr. Jauhar was a top student at USC-Berkeley and graduated top of his class. When he decided to go into medical school, he had just finished up a PH.D. in Physics. His decision to go into medicine he described as essentially being bored with his current career path and he heard about how much people love medicine. So, he decided to give it a shot because he thought he could "find love" in medicine....ugh. WRONG reason to go into the medical field. It had better be heavy on your heart from the beginning. Anyways, he graduates from medical school, still unsure how he feels about it. He chooses an internal medicine residency, which leaves his options pretty open to specialize in a lot of medical fields. Much of the beginning of the book discusses the pressures that he feels and his pity party about his fight with his love (or lack thereof) for medicine. He meets another Indian girl and is also, unsure about how he feels about her even though he feels pressure from his family to marry only an Indian woman.

Overall Review:

I give it about 2.5 stars on a 5 Star scale. Eventually, Dr. Jauhar pulls himself out of his hole, barely making it through internship. He is on the verge of quitting numerous times throughout the book. His father repeatedly scrutinizes him for having no direction in life and just doing things because they are a change of scenery and they amuse him at the time. Medicine is not a field, in my opinion, where you should take it up because you think it will be something cool to do for a bit. Its a life-long journey. You are responsible for peoples lives. So a day in the office when you want to half-ass something is one thing, a day in the hospital when you want to do that and it could cost you someone's life. He ends up marrying Sonia (the Indian girl) and grows to love her, when he gets engaged to her, it seems a little pushed, he expresses being unsure of himself. The book does cover his 2nd and 3rd years of residency, where he seems to find the light and be less detached from his job. He speaks more with patience and develops a heart, which I like. Overall, the book jumped around too much instead of sticking with the year he was in and didn't have good flow. It also didn't offer closure for me, I never got a warm and fuzzy that he wouldn't trade the world for his job, it just seems like his brain landed him in a career field that he enjoys, but doesn't necessarily have that DRIVE I would want my physician to have.

Recommendation:

I would not purchase the book again, it took me a long time to read because he wasn't engaging, he was whining about how hard his life is/was. I wouldn't even read the book again. It just wasn't what I hoped for. I was looking for a more altruistic heart than what he had and that's what made it bad for me.

Hope you guys liked the review, even though the book wasn't that great :( Let me know if you have any suggestions on how to make the review better and what you think. Thanks for reading!

On The Road Again

Well, I write this from...IRAQ! Haha. This is my 5th time out and I'm glad to be out again. We're actually on our way back in and needless to say, this trip has been a DOOZY. But, I'm really glad not to be at Camp...typing away. Even though, my own bunk is nice to stay in. I like being out here and learning and seeing new things. Yesterday ended up being a 30 hour day. When we got to our destination we had to load the trucks up with connexes. We got in at 3am and didn't get done until the afternoon. Slept for 4 hours, went to dinner then slept for like 11 hours and jumped on the road, stood up for almost 9 hours gunning. And amazingly, I'm tired, but its not that bad. I FINALLY ordered a running watch, can't wait to try it out =))) Other than that, just miss my Framer and all the fun we had. Not much else to say, I have a lot to think about writing and I always forget when I sit down. Hehe. Okay that was a lame post, but I wrote, right? =) Byeee y'all.

Ahhhh

I'm pretty sure this is a woman thing BUT something that always makes me feel better is being productive. I was bummed missing the bestie and I decided to get my mind off of it by packing and laundry. I leave for mission early Monday morning and don't get tomorrow off so while everyone did the Halloween party thing I packed and listened to some country music =) It was helpful. I got most of my packing done, all my laundry done and my bed smells great and I'm snuggled up in it writing this. Today I spent wayyyy too much time on Pinterest but I am so okay with that. I can't wait to get home and just be human again. But, I have enjoyed getting so organized with my military stuff. I am going to make a list of the patches that I need tomorrow...my goal is to get them sewn on everything I have before I leave. I wish they would let us sew it on all our stuff, pcs and jackets. Still sooo excited for 68W school, that will for real be a dream come true. Anyways, going to read just thought I'd talk about what keeps me sane sometimes =) Goodnight you guys.

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Saturday Blues

Well. Dropped Mr.Frame off on Thursday, as well as Eddie. They are both in Memphis for 2 days until they get to go and demobilize. Glad they're home. It was very sad to see them go though. I really don't know what to do with myself...I want to run but it's sooo ugly outside and I hate running inside...I can't do it, it's awful. Going to figure out something though, I'm bummed and missing them =( I'm going on mission next week so that will keep me busy. Got lots of preparing to do! I'll post more later, promise promise!


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Busy Days

Today is Friday, which means tomorrow is Saturday and then I will be off! Haha, I'm really looking to sleeping in =( I didn't sleep a wink last night, I think I was anxious about a lot of things, Frame, PT Test, our class we have to teach today, getting enough sleep. It was just all jumbled up. Passed my PT Test, it was pitiful, well I guess not pitiful, but definitely just okay. My run went really well, I was shocked! I timed myself the other night and was like 10 seconds over what I needed. Today, I had more than a minute to spare. I'm still trying to get into the habit of getting up and running in the am, then running at night also. Maybe getting up early 3 days a week would be a good start...I really HATE waking up early, I could be sleeping! Even though I am soooo much of a morning person, I just hate making myself get up, I like just waking up feeling good. In other news, I lost 6 pounds. Which, is after like 1 week of running. I'm sure if I keep it up it will just drop right off, almost anyways. Haha. Work got CRAZY busy randomly. Cannon and I broke up our week into how we were going to build our continuity book/powerpoint class and then yesterday we were supposed to put the finishing touches on it and we got 6 packets! ALL of which were wrong. It required a lot of work to straighten it out. And its still pretty messy. Anyways, class was rescheduled until tomorrow since our NCOIC has to be somewhere this afternoon. So, PT test was done, felt better, class was rescheduled, can definitely get more and better sleep tonight and Frame, well he finally got back from mission last night so I feel better just seeing him, to see him less stressed out really. He will be going home and he's dreading that, because of everything back there, but I know its so much better for him, and that's good to know. I have GOT to upload some pictures. And take more. We had our first softball game of the season last night! And we WON! Yes, we actually won! And not by forfeit! Hahaha. It was really fun, we laughed the whole time and we won. And, personally, I think that team was better than us. Skill-wise. We had them laughing though, we laughed and we won. And we were missing at LEAST 4 starters. Yea, it was nice. I'm eating dinner with one of the softball umpires tonight...actually, the Navy guy that put on the league. He sent me an e-mail last week, asking if I was going to take him out to pizza and I told him Frame and I and him and Ben (another softball umpire) could do a double-date. Hahahaha. Well, I don't think he ever invited Ben and Urtula (Navy guy that ran the last softball league) e-mailed me to make sure we were still on...he never e-mailed or mentioned Frame. But uh, Frame will definitely be coming, not going to dinner just Urtula and me...idk why, just don't want to, weirds me out maybe? Not really Urtula, just eating dinner with him alone. So, I get off at work at 6pm, will go run with Frame, we'll head to go and order the pizza and eat with Urtula. Then him and I might go to the MWR or something. So, everything should be downhill for the weekend, thank goodness. That is all for now!

Productive Evening

Things picked up tonight...got a lot accomplished. Cannon and I have to be the first to present our class...SHOCKING. I got us smoked because when our NCOIC said, "well spc cannon, since you and spc smith want to be so enthusiastic and sarcastic, you two get to teach your class first." To which I loudly and clearly sarcastically said, " gee cannon, didn't see THAT one coming!" andddd then we got dropped, he wasn't happy but it was worth it =) got two loads of laundry done, ran two miles, had dinner, cleaned out my wall locker and recovered some ACUs and name tapes to get sewn on them. Still pumped for 68W school!!! And I have FRACUs I can take and not get dirty ACUs from training. So cool =) Frame should be back soon, I miss him, ready for my friend again. Night all!

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Tuesday Slump

Its Tuesday. 2:20 in the afternoon and I feel like I'm going to dieeeee. Okay, not really, but I am incredibly sleepy. I have got to go to bed earlier. I even took a nap at lunch for an hour and I'm still just dragging my behind. I have guard duty alllllll night tomorrow night and I am dreading it. Its so difficult to try to have a habit of going to by by 10pm, getting up at 5am and then all of a sudden in the middle of the week you have to stay up all night until 5am, when you're used to waking up at that time! Then I have to be at work at 11:30am the next day. I swear my NCOIC is the only one in this Brigade who gives us the policy that we get 1 day off. All the other sections give their soldiers a half day, so they can take a nap and be more apt to stay up all night, then give them the next day off so they can recover and get some sleep! Hell, I know a few sections that give them that day before and the day after off. I would have to work till 6pm, then be at guard duty at 6:45pm, then stay awake till 5am, sleep for 5 hours, get up and be at work by 11:30am. It is the most God-awful thing. Haha. There's just 2 things that make life unmanagable for me, 1) lack of sleep and 2) lack of shower. 2 things that the Army love to deprive you of. It happens...but I feel like if I have the OPPORTUNITY to get both, why should it be hard to get it? Ughhh! Anyways. Trying to figure out how to work this so I'm not dragging through the work day tomorrow, I'd like to jump right back onto my 10pm, 5am schedule. Oh wait, I have to, I have a PT Test Friday morning. Dangit! I gotta run tonight. I didn't this morning, totally slacking. I think I'll time myself tonight, time myself in the am then rest the remainder of Thursday. Well, probably sleep in tomorrow and give myself a full 24 hours off before the test. Yeaaaa. Good idea Jamie. Yuck. Alright, not much to say just complaining! Sorry guys =)

Monday Madness

Hokay so like my Monday started way too early but I needed to get up at 5:30am (yes, I know I'm in the Army and I refuse to use military time as a habit) and run. Not just because I have a PT test Friday, because I'm totally not promotable till next year, but because I'm going to 68W school when I return!!! For all you non-army peeps, that's combat medic school!!! It has the highest failure rate of ANY Army job...what a challenge! Andddd it's just something that I've always wanted to do. Anywho, been hyper all day, I blame my run! Miss my Framer, I'm worried about him =( Ran 1.7 miles this morning, planned to run tonight but just had too much going on. That'sssss it. Night y'all!


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Endorphins =)

Okay first off, I am INCREDIBLY excited to be doing this on my iPad =)))))) secondly, today has been quite the day. My best friend may be going home early because of an unfortunate situation back at home. It makes me incredibly sad...I would have to process his packet because that's my job and it would just suck. I think the worst part is 2 nights before he got news of all this stuff, I had a dream I had to send him home...he laughed it off as did I, and told me that I was a "tard". Haha. But now we're both freaked out =( however, I know this definitely isn't the end of our friendship, I want him to be home so his heart and mind is at ease. That's what's important. I just enjoy his company so much, he makes this place bearable everyday for me and is my ray of sunshine...he always says that about me, but it's really the other way around. I am incredibly fortunate to have him as a friend. Seriously. Anyways thats the sad stuff from today...we'll see how it plays out. Now for the good stuff! I ran twice today, for a total of 6.2 miles in the last 2 days! Impressive, considering I seriously have NOT been running, but likely R&R a couple of times. This morning I wasn't hydrated so I was hurting some and got dizzy as soon as I stopped. I have a bad habit of running feeling fine and then stopping, feeling as though I'm about to pass out. I don't prepare my body, number one, and two, I don't pay attention and know when to stop. So, I dragged my behind back to the barracks and just relaxed, had lunch, took a top to get my name tape and rank sewn on, then relaxed till about 5:40pm and went to run again. This time with like 15 people on the track, blah! It wasn't too bad, at my 1 mile mark I passed this girl, she didn't seem happy about it, the next mile she was actively trying to catch me, I was thinking, "ha! I dare you girl!" lol! Normally, I just don't care, but tonight I was all about it. I felt a lot better from hydrating and stretching and I was feeling competitive when she was busting here butt to pass. It's good for me, right? So I felt good, going to run in the am with the lt and at night with someone I never thought I'd want anywhere with me. I won't say names, but I really, STRONGLY disliked this girl. I had little respect for her. But, a couple of missions on the road made for some forced bonding, so to speak, and she really does have some areas of her life together, a lot more than I originally thought. Pt being one of them, so, I'm excited, I feel I can learn lots from her. Probably just some big misunderstanding of her from the beginning. I mean, who am I to judge? I could care less, she inspires me in some ways and I'm game to learn from her =) So, the running helped me so much on a difficult day for me. I feel fine and I know I will be fine =) yay for friends and endorphins =) I still didn't edit my pics, but I will soon. Goodnight all! Oh, did I mention I LOVE my iPad?! =)))))))

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Convoys and iPads

Okay, haven't been on in a while soooo let's get crackin =) Went on R&R, it was good, nice vacation, well-needed 9 months into the deployment, needless to say. Came back about 2 weeks ago and immediately was asked if I wanted to go on mission...uhhh....DUH!!!! So we were out for 5 days in Iraq, I loved it. I'll post some pics later, probably will edit them tonight and upload, I'm pretty behind on all the "resilency" stuff in my life. I.E. photos, blog, organized wall locker, PT, organized desk, personal e-mail...haha all the stupid stuff that makes me feel better when its accomplished. I'll talk about the mission first, while its still fresh in my mind.

First off, not sure that I've discussed any "missions/convoys" yet, I'm 99% sure I have not. I can't give away too many details about what we do regularly, like the order of march and when we go, how we travel, etc. I'll keep it light but as informative as possible. A little background about my convoy experiences. I have been on 3 thusfar. I loved it. Every single time. When we first got here, my NCOIC said that we would not be going on missions, it was not our job. Well, the first time I went out was for a day thing so I volunteered my day off to go. Did that and it was great. Over time, our Colonel started making it known that he wanted everyone wishing to go on convoy to get the chance. So, I was permissed with my first real trip north. I did not run with a typical CLP (Convoy Logistics Patrol), I ran with an escort team with gun trucks. So, I went as the "medical" personnel. And ACTUALLY had my first patient. One of the guys got incredibly sick and we ended up having to make a pitstop for about 5 hours to give him nausea medicine and 2 liters of IV fluids...which is a TON. Basically, he got sick and I was doing typical first aid (applying a cool compress, loosening the restrictive areas of clothing like boot blousers and trying to settle his stomach). Once he was throwing up water, I told the COL we needed to stop and why. Our COL is a nurse, so he is extremely familiar with all of that and understood. We stopped, at what is still my favorite FOB, and he was administered IV fluids. To get an idea of just how sick he was, imagine being in a 10 x 6 room with no windows, no airflow and EVERYBUMP hitting it hard. He cleared 2 medics out of the room when he started throwing up...my whole truck almost lost their lunch too. It was gross, but I didn't care, it was exciting, so to speak =) It was a long day and we came back, Frame took me to dinner at the chowhall and we hit the road again. We went to 5 FOBs, got to see each for about 1 or 2 days. I really enjoyed it. That was in July, my first convoy.

Its been a real fight to get on convoys, have gotten SO MANY excuses from my NCOIC (can't afford to loose you, some people haven't been on mission yet that want to go, you already went out, thats not your mission) etc etc etc. MY defense is this: I've never fallen behind on my work, I get it done fast, on time and done well, not just barely scraping by. Also, for all of my section who "wanted to go on mission", when I was pushing for this big time back in May, no one was helping, backing me up or contributing, so I didn't care that they hadn't been out when they didn't really want to go from the beginning and didn't help get the changes made. My job, is a joke, I rarely have anything to do (hence why I'm doing this at work as we speak) and my OIC, NCOIC can go, so why can't I? They have way more important jobs, why can't a little E4 go? It is not my mission, but as long as I can accomplish my mission, who cares what additional tasks I take on AS LONG AS I GET MY MISSION DONE. Anyways, all my defenses.

Came back from R&R and SFC Weeden (the convoy commander for these PSD missions) specifically went and asked for me, as they needed another female for the other girl going out on mission...alot of crap and pissing contests later, I got to go! =) And this was not just up to Balad and back...it was to an area where route clearance is not done because it is a "hot" area...we had to have IP/IA escorts going through these small villages, the villagers were giving us the finger and yelling at us to slow down...it was a tiny taste of what things were like probably prior to the "winning the hearts and minds" propoganda. Those Soldiers were literally walking around having things thrown at them, always in the way of danger. These days, its a lot calmer and the Iraqis seem to be either more supportive or have ignored our presence. Either way, it was clear that we were hated at the areas we went through. At one point, my truck got stuck on a powerline and our gunner had to climb on top to remove it and the village went from hustling and bustling to so quiet you could hear a pin drop. When you go through training, they teach you that when that happens, something bad is about to take place. The villagers locked their gates, doors, windows, everything. We were stopped for less than 2 minutes, it cleared out that quick. That was eerie. Then we continued on to our final destination. At this FOB, there are Iraqis that train there, its almost completely handed off to them and we had to walk around in Amber status with our weapons. The command feared that there could be an attack from the Iraqis within post. Then we headed back. I loved it. I love convoys...its so so so so incredibly dangerous, I understand that. But its also what I was trained to do. Yes, I'm trained to do Army paperwork, but we are taught that we are combat Soldiers first, that is our base of being a Soldier. So, its refreshing to really be living the real thing...not to be doing what I do in the States, only getting paid more. You have less time to worry about superficial things. You focus on taking what you need and knowing your life-saving training. They work hard and get more down time. Train to standard, not to time. Averaging 4 1/2 hours of sleep a night was fine, because it was exciting to get out. Thats my convoy stuff =) Love it.

Other random sidenotes, I'm going to start doing book reviews on here I think. Posting articles about things that interest me. I bought an iPad and a watch! The watch, doesn't SOUND too exciting, but it really is. I hate watches...they're uncomfortable and I have a cell that I can just look at in the states. HOWEVER. Being places that don't have clocks, and not having a cell phone here, I need a watch. So I got one, I love the idea of it. Hopefully it won't irritate me like watches seem to do for me. Plus, Frame will be exstatic because he won't have to tell me what time it is all the time. Hahaha. He's on mission right now, just left yesterday...BOO.

iPad!!!! I got a used generation 1 iPad...kindda to test it out, I really got it for a steal $380, and its a year old. I. LOVE. IT. I never thought I would...but its perfect. I'll probably end up packing up my computer and sending it on home. The iPad is incredibly convienent for travel...better than a laptop that you have to start, restart, etc. The battery life is shorter also on a computer, so my iPad conviently plays movies longer without charge, good for travel. I wouldn't want to do school work or a post this long on an iPad, but its great for travel, on the go entertainment. I had to be up at 4am for a 2.4 mile run this morning and I played with my iPad until I was literally falling asleep with it on my chest. I adore it. I'm off tomorrow and I foresee mucho naps and iPad time. Laundry is all done, Frame is gone on mission and I have not a care in the world. Might go swimming, who knows? Oh. Yes. Its only 1045am and I wish I were off work right now to play with it...sigh. Lol! Frame might have to find a new battle buddy, I may spend the rest of deployment with my iPad! Hahaha. I have a PT test next Friday...haven't worked out. At. ALL. We will see how THAT goes. Also, a blogger who I love does a "this week in photos" with a little photo and caption at the end of the week for all 7 days...I will probably do that. Love the idea. That's all for now guys, too lazy to type more. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends!

Quick Update

I swear I'm going to make this cool...one day. Haha. Baked 84 cookies for my two favorite boys and mailed them each a box of goodies today. Its my last day of R&R and I will begin my journey back to Kuwait tomorrow. Its been a pretty good R&R...got to do a lot of fun stuff but I think I'm ready to do my own thing and my own adventures. I love people, I think I've just gotten to one of those weird stages in life where I want to really pursue what I love, minus worrying about others. I always try to consider family and friends in the equation but I think a happy Jamie = happy family and friends, its too hard to please the crowd! Oh! And one of my high school friends got into med school in Charleston! How cool! Awww. Such motivation for me =)

Senoritis

Okay, so maybe its not senoritis exactly, but it kindda feels that way! Going on R&R tomorrow night! WOO HOO! Its much needed, I'm JUST now getting excited about it. Hopefully the rest of today and tomorrow flys by and I'm home before I know it. It seems crazy to be going home to such a beautiful country that I haven't seen in 9 months. A lot to do before tomorrow night but thats okay because I'm excited and ready to go. I'm going to make a bucket list for R&R and try to post more and clean this blog up...its looking lameeee. Anyways, I'll post the bucket list in my next post, maybe tomorrow or even tonight. We shall see...

Wonder Why You're Moving But Go No Where

I am vewry tired. I have been the past couple of days, just dragging. My lovely bunkmate has been sick and coughing everywhere and CLOSING THE AIRVENT AGAIN!!! Its really hot in our barracks anyways but she has been closing it. Which is gross because it just turns into a breeding ground for germs. So gross. Not to mention its too damn hot to do that mess. The last two days have been really getting to me. I am so sick of wondering why I chose to come here and what I am gaining from this. But, I have been through things like this and it does come together, eventually...maybe. I'm sure it will. In the mean time, I just have to hold my head up. I don't feel as though the world is against me, but I'm so disappointed in the lack of loyalty this unit has to one another. People are too busy trying to gossip and turn against one another. For what? A big pissing contest? If it weren't for all of the "bad" people in my life though, the good ones just wouldn't seem so good. I have a few and they are just all my knights in shining armour. I'm very greatful. I just wish people were more human and less inhumane. People are just awful. I'm just very sleepy and not making much sense. So, I'm getting ready for bed soon. Goodnight blog world.

Stay With Me

I think its so crazy how people walk in and out of your life! Just catching up with some old college friends makes me think that. Anyways. BUT it is really cool also that somethings never change. Such as: how I crush my tacos to make nachos, how I feel right at home in the water and how I love hospitals. Of course, some things DO need to change. But some things just don't. I woke up at a delightful (not) 5:30am today. Shelby and I went to go swim laps today! I have to say, it made my life. I miss miss MISS the summer. And the water. It was just so nice. Even though I didn't sleep good, it didn't matter that much. Swimming puts me in a great mood. Went to work, which was gay, of course. Its soooo boringggg. Well at about 1400 one of the sergeants from my shop had to go to the TMC and ended up getting admitted because SGT was soooo dehydrated! But, I loved it, of course. Not because of WHY I was at the hospital, but because I got to be there and just see them working. It is fantastic. I just love hospitals, theres a lot of sad stuff but theres definitely a lot of great things. It really takes a certain person to work in a place full of sick people and be successful at it. So, that was my day pretty much. Actually, I made Rev come hit to me. He's a doll, I'm glad he did. I think he wanted to hit as much as I wanted to field though so it worked out. He kept saying, "I'm not Frame!" because I'm so used to the way Frame practices with me. Gosh I miss him! He's not going to be back until like Thursday =( thats almost 3 weeks! Boo! But, whats a few more days? Good God I'm so used to him being gone anyways. I'm still so glad Shelby is back. I had some really deep thoughts but I'm too tired to express them tonight =) Besides, they were a little sad, as they were about old relationships, both friendly and romantic. You just miss the old days sometimes, but, what good does it do to dwell on it? I'm just glad that I've ignored what was really bothering a few weeks ago. No combatives this week, they were full and are for a while! Boooo!!!!! Night y'all =)

Happy Saturday!

The office is thus far pretty quiet today, its nice. Came into my desk with a few new pens and an erasable highlighter! The "Easter Bunny" strikes again. Someone knows me well though! I got 2 apps for my iPod touch last night. I'm loving this thing more and more when I learn what it can do. Anyways, one is a medical terminology quiz and out of 23 I have 20 correct. Whoot! They're not easy either, I don't remember some of these! I listed to my MedPod cast last night on Pediatric Fever and it was good and comical, as it normally is. Shelby had me listen to a sermon on her iPod too, it wasn't bad, I just don't like the way that they are so convicting sometimes. I guess thats the right word for it, idk. I am really thinking pediatric care in the ER would be great for me. Its the best of what I think I would enjoy. Then again, there would be some sad cases I see. Pediatrics is soooo fun, its sad, but kids are so resilient, you know? Which is why its so much harder to lose a child than an adult it seems. Its just unfair, they are so young and innocent. Anywho, I really liked that PodCast, I love kids. I ran another 5k this morning and this is the most I've hurt after one. I think it was my slowest or 2nd slowest time also. Thankfully, I'm not really bent out of shape about it because I've attributed it to my new inserts. I am sure of it because my knees and shins hurt pretty bad right now but my breathing was ridiculous today. Seriously, so easy. I was able to carry on a conversation the whole run, too easy. I know that had I just run I would have not been able to go faster though because my legs were just hurting. I've been running more the past two weeks and I've gotten faster though, about a minute off my mile time. And I have seen no improvement in comfort of everything with those inserts. So it adds up for me, feet have gotten progressively worse so I'm throwing them out and going to try try try again, as they say. Frame should be back in like 3 days!!!! Its still weird, I'm used to him not being here and always with me. I miss him terribly though. Its perked up with Shelby back with Baird and I. Its like with us, the more of the 4 of us together, the better we bring out in one another. Baird and I had fun, but add Shelby and we're a really crazy bunch. Add Frame and we are just perfection, we all play off of one another so well! Softball tonight! Excited! We will probably loose, but eh. Who cares. I think I'll have fun. Combatives next week, hopefully. They changed the times to during the day, soooo its up to my bitchy E8, who is mad at me because I refused to go to the board today. Sorryyyyy. I can't believe I even let them talk me into it last time, its probably one of the worst Army experiences I've ever had. Seriously, I would do some obstacle courses again before I did a board again. If I could help it. I am going to close it up with another worthless survey thingy. I like them, they are fun =)
1. What I love most about my home is...
Its adorable and has character, its not a cookie-cutter home.

2. I'm excited because...
I have a softball game tonight and a half day today at work.

3. My preferred method for blowing off steam when I'm frustrated is...
Running. Nothing gets it out of me like running. But sometimes, I forget the wonders of what it does for my mood.

4. Currently I am craving...
Going out for a night and WEARING A DRESS!

5. The thing I love most about my mom is...
She cares about me more than I could ever realize. And NO ONE does laundry like her =)

6. If I was going to write a book about my life it would be titled...
Same thing as my blog probably, "With My Heart On My Sleeve" or "Hell On The Heart" or "She Ain't Right"
7. If I were to eat one thing for the rest of eternity it would be...
TACOS! Or sandwhiches and chips.

Stuff...And Stuff

I have found that I have a hard time coming up with names for post sometimes. I like for them to be clever, but well, lets be honest, I'm not always so clever. Haha. Shelby is back, Shelby is back! She walked into my office with 2 weapons and 7 full magazines of ammo in her arms and I attacked her. I don't think I've been so excited to see someone in a while! Its just so nice to have someone around who understands you and thinks like you, because then, you don't feel so crazy, ya know? I feel like I can make sense of a lot of things with good people on my side. And Shelby is so good people. I've come to be somewhat of a Negative Nancy...shocking, I know! You guys are probably like, "ummm, hellooooo, saw this already!" But something that aggravates me is that a female medic who is ALWAYS bitching about going out on missions (hello, you're job), complaining about the brigade and how she isn't reenlisting and can't wait to get out, had this facebook status today, "the true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him but because he loves what is behind him! or her." Really? What a hypocrite. Oh and of course, in true 230th fashion, EVERYONE changed their status to that. Originality truly has no place in the Army. I need a new drive and I need to get back to more optimism. But I'm trying to make the best out of a bad apple of a deployment and I just don't know how. I can't dive into my work and learn anything because my NCOICs have assigned me so little, so that takes away my growing opportunity. I've had a lot of problems with how fairness and punishments are displayed here, so that is sucking my passion for the Army out of me. The only thing I can think of is right now I have 3 great people who are in my life and trying to do the same thing, self-improvement. And they are struggling too. But we are all finding out what the niches are for us. Ah, sounds like a near beer and cigar Saturday night convo along with Bairds wild stories until Frame returns to top Baird's stories. Those boys. Gotta love them. Has anyone really felt they were dealt a bad hand of cards, so to speak, and it turned out totally different than what you thought? For better or for worse? These are the things I'm considering. I need some good NCOs, I have them, they just don't seem to have any viable answers. Help!

Need Normal Lifeeeee

I need a break. Shoo. Not like I may fall apart if I don't get a break, just like, I need to go out and enjoy the little things that life are about, the things that put it all in perspective. Family, friends, going out to dinner, going dancing, shopping, school. Everything that you just "normally" do. DRIVING with the radio. I miss my cousins and the rest of my fam. They're just living life, which, is expected, its just so weird that our lives feel as though they're "paused" and yet to everyone else, its another day. I miss my friends, the people I choose to hang out with, not the people I'm forced to interact with. I have a handful of people I am happy to spend time with, but it makes me wonder if I compromise just given the selection? I know I definitely don't with Baird, Frame and Shelby but everyone else? I'm not so sure about them. They are "Army friends". You can only really understand that if you are a part of it. On one hand, its so nice to have people who aren't so rough around the edges and combative in your life, just relaxed individuals. But on the other hand, its sooo hard to find someone who understands what the Army is about and the "call of duty", if you will. Things things things. Gotta stay busy! It is 108 outside right now, and its only going to get hotter! Anyways, need normal life! This place is so gay!