Ft. McCoy...du du du DAH!

La la la la... the Army life for me
Spent the last couple of days at the weapons ranges shooting all sorts of stuff. Mostly machine guns of all sizes, but also a grenade launcher and my pistol and rifle. I have some pictures, but I'm not able to upload them onto this lovely Army computer so those will just have to wait till I get back to Omaha! I've not been feeling too well the last couple of days either, so it makes the days a lot longer. I've just been trying to hang in there and try the boundaries of over-the-counter meds. Just so ya know, the boundaries don't go too far :) This always seems to happen, though, at Army training places. So many bodies, from all over... put 'em together and what have you got? Bippity boppity flu. It should be over soon. The yuck that is.
I think it's funny how I can carry or operate the biggest and baddest weapons out there but how quickly little bugs can put me out of commission. Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think?
Well, we got about one more week left of cool Army training. Right now, I got a movie date. Me and my laptop, probably by candlelight. haha... or probably not. whatever. I can dream, right? If you wish upon a star... (I'd probably wish for NC)

Heeere's Ft. McCoy!

Heyo!
Just a QUICK hello...
I am at RTC in Ft. McCoy WI doing some pre-mobilization training. And if I knew what RTC meant I would tell you! haha. Everything is going great! We have done a lot of different training including classes in Arabic, all different weapons training (and firing/qualifying with the M4 rifle and 9mm pistol), vehicle rollover simulations and so very much more! They put us up in these crappy barracks that remind me of summer camp with open bays of 40 bunks! That's a lot of estrogen!! Not to mention open showers (that means there are no shower curtains in between shower heads... thas right, one room+ 6 shower heads= no privacy. I figured it was coming sooner or later tho. Every other time I was at training I was staying in a hotel or really nice barracks so it's about time my treatment is evened out...with crap! They have been long days, but I am starting to feel more and more prepared for this deployment! We don't have hardly any access to the 'net so it might be a week or two before I blog again...much to my dismay. (: I hope everyone is doing well! You all are in my thoughts and prayers! Until next time...

My new tattoo BITE

And yes, I say tattoo bite because it hurt so significantly like the iron brush turned into a ferocious dog that was biting at the flesh of my side! Too gory?? Sorry...umm...yeah, it just hurt more than the outline did, so it caught me a little off guard. But I like the outcome, and unfortunately it appears as if it will take quite a bit longer to finish this project! So far, so good! Lemme know what your thoughts are for the rest. I want the big circle on my shoulder to be blue/turquoise but my tattoo artists thinks ALL the circles should be that blue color! I'm not so sure about that. What do you think would look good for the remaining part of the tat? 'preciate your artistic insight ;)

whoop whoop for a slice of awesome-ness

I like pie...but the slice of awesomeness on Saturday night that I experienced was better than any pie...and I'll tell you why. In this picture we have threeee veeerrrrry special people (aka the slice of awesomeness). Nick, Brenda and Ben. Jake, is always telling me about his best buddies, Nick and Ben and how freakin' awesome they are. So, like any normal person who likes to meet awesome people, I really wanted to meet these guys.
Problem #1: Jake lives in NC, I live in Omaha and these two guys don't live in either place...
So Saturday I was in my parents hometown and our plan was to watch the HUSKER game, well husker game actually, because it wasn't so pretty and I'm a liiiiiiiiiiil bit embarrassed right now. So it ended up that Brenda, me, my mom and sister all went out to watch the game. Besides the game sucking, it was a really good time!! It's always SO GREAT to see Brenda, so that was a piece of that pie I was talking about. Then she and her friends and I went to a "club" (and the term 'club' is really pushing the limits...more like a smalltown-hiphop-hoedown) to dance a little. Ahem...problem #1 from before found it's solution at this point. Who would'a thunk that Jake's two buddies would be there that night? And they just happened to be friends with MY good friend who was there as well and actually introduced me to them! HAHA! Oh, so I was more than delighted to meet them and I had a great slice of wonderfulness because of the whole shibang. Great to meet you guys!! Always fun to hang out with you, Brenda! hooray for slices of awesomeness.

today I realized I'm phasing out...

thank you, boss! Today we got released from "work" early because we had a change-of-command ceremony. Thankfully we didn't have to stay for this ceremony which usually consists of standing in formation for hours and hours...days and days. well, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But it is a long time to stand at the position of attention! So, with the free time I took my happy little self to my hometown to visit the fam...and I'm so glad I did! It sure beats sitting by myself at the ho-tel. Bein' with my family also makes my life-at this point in time-feel relatively normal. Life seems less and less normal each day for some reason. I wonder if all people in the "part-time" military feel this way, or maybe I'm just on crack? Either way, I have my civilian life with great clothes and mostly no rules and my military life with an endless supply of THE SAME uniform and many many rules. These two lives were always difficult to transition between, but now that I'm phasing out one of my lives I kinda feel...uneasy? I guess I'm not sure how I feel. I just know that soon a lot of things will be missing...including awesome, wonderful people; my bed; my clothes, shoes, purses; and my car...and I just don't know if I can live without...my purses. :) hehe. Just kidding. I'm trying to think of ways to soften the blow of missing friends and family, but I think I just need a different way of looking at it. When I was at the beach with a good buddy and the waves were comin' in over our heads, we knew we couldn't jump over/with them so we had to tuck our shoulder like a soldier and jump into the wave with all our might. So here I go...not much I can do. Lookin back won't bring me any closer, so I guess I'll tuck my shoulder and brace for the blow...

Army-barmy training things...

So...in the Army we get to learn how to put IVs in "casualties" if they lost a lot of blood or are severely dehydrated. The catch? We practice on each other! This was my beautiful IV my buddy started on me. Not too bad, not too bad. This IV training was during our Combat Life Saving class we took last week.
Right now at work we are just doing a lot of cleaning and packing of gear and supplies. Lots and lots of classes too! Anything and
everything from how to stay hydrated to react to a chemical attack. We also wear OTVs (bullet proof vests), which are pushing 40lbs, for a certain amount of time each day so we can get used to the weight. A lot of people get sent home before arriving in Iraq because they can't adjust to these heeeavfy weighted corsets...so they're having us get an early start!
This is me in my handy-dandy protective mask. My first job in the military dealt with these things (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical warfare), before I changed jobs--now I'm an MP!
In the Army we also get to do things moms ALWAYS told us NOT to do...like...jump into a swimming pool with all our clothes on, including boots! A lil' drown-proofing action here. That's what they call it anyways. I say it's craziness. but fun.
One of my favorite things about the Army...huge freakin weapons. Lots of 'em. Now I could be the smallest person (but I'm not. Just big in disguise) but behind this MK19 (automatic grenade launcher) I look beefy as hell... c'mon, you know it. i do. We do so much more...this is just a taste...

ma' story

So,
yesterday my mom came to visit me in O-town all the way from Norfolk! I just LOVE mom-visits...I know you all with your own mothers may disagree, but MY MOM is the best there is! She made me a good home-cooked meal and is always up for (and sometimes even joins in with) my crazy shinanigans! haha...oh so much fun, and great to talk to. Thanks, ma for your visit...you know who you are.

You never know who you'll run into

So, funny story...

when I was down in ken-TUH-key at MP school, guess who I ran into??

That's right... Jacob from good ole Neeebraaaskeee! Haha!

We were eating in the SAME dining facility the SAME day, on the SAME base-Ft. Knox. It turns out he was there for school too! What are the odds?? It was so refreshing to see a familiar face there!! People kinda looked at us funny too...I guess Army and Marine don't mix. I didn't get that memo.

p.s. i'm the one in the Army uniform :)

Well, well, well...

...another day today workin' in my "army greens."

I'm just amazed at how much I like this Army stuff. :)

Every day I'm learning so many more sweet Army skills... I'm starting to feel a little bit better about our deployment.

I've got an awesome unit of soldiers who are dedicated and VERY hard workers. I thought I was a hard worker until I started working with these guys...now I just look like a bum. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

I think last night it finally HIT me like a freight train, though, that I am leaving soon and I won't be back for a very very long time.

That was a rough one to get through, I'm not gonna lie.

I'm just hopin' every day will get a little bit better, but unfortunately, lately it's been just the opposite! With no place to call home--living in a hotel--and missing everyone I love SO very much, I'm just trying to keep my "military bearing" while at work.

No worries. I'm sure it will start getting easier!

Thank you, everybody, for all your support...you may not realize it, but it helps a lot!