a sailors nonsense

and im back!

2009-07-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

i want to start by apologizing. im sorry to all of you who rush home after work to see if i have put out a new exciting....debbie downer post. lol. i know you all do. really, its okay. haha...just kiddin! i have been without internet for quite some time now and have recently found that at certain times during the day if i sit by my window and strategically place my computer...tada tada tada! so yay! anyhoo...this will not be a "ahhh, what have i done wrong" blog. i promise. the only upsetting thing that has happened lately is that i wasnt able to get leave to go with my family to disney world. for no other reason than someone just didnt want to help me get what i needed for it. BUT on the bright side of things, i still have 23 days of leave built up and do not have to use it in order to see my family and friends seeing as how i am so close. not many people have that luxury.

good stuff...since i have been on "the other side" i have been going to a working party during the day at my old barracks. i worked in the student control office with a petty officer. this man is a character. he cracked me up! there is a sort of fence type thing that covers the office window and when he got really worked up he would stick his finger through it to get his point across. (he never really did, but he tried really hard.) one day he was going off on the students in the lounge and when he started to back up, well, he didnt go far because his finger was stuck. now, you have to understand...when i say character, i mean CHARACTER! he's kind of barney fyffe-ish? he was a hoot to work with! his orders here in pensacola are up and he will be going to guam soon. however, he has let me know that he WILL be stopping at the I-59 flea market on his way home before he leaves. he thinks it is hilarious because that is the exit that i live off of. so, he told me all day everyday about how excited he was. hehe. i wish him the best of luck in guam!

new news! as of last night i started a new working party...mids. i work from 10 pm to 4 am. doesnt sound to pleasant but i have liberty all day everyday pretty much. from 8 am to 10 pm. and on fridays i can leave at 8 am giving me quite a few more hours with my family when i go home. i only work 2 days of my duty weekend. so many people want this job and it just fell in my lap. in the words of rhino from bolt...."it is fully AWESOME!" : ) i am going to try to go to the museum, along with the other 8000 people that go, and watch the blue angels practice. i will try to get some good pictures and post them if possible.

i hope that everyone is doing wonderful and loving life. have a great day!!!!!

fathers day

2009-06-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

i just want to talk a little bit about how thankful i am for my family. i know it is fathers day, and i will get to that. lol. but i believe we should be thankful for and celebrate all of our family, everyday. i dont know how i got so fortunate. i have talked to so many friends of mine who just do not get along with their family, or have nothing to do with them period. and i understand that happens...nothing against them. but im so greatful to have the relationship that i do with my family. from the grandparents on down. i have a God fearing family who has been nothing but wonderful to me. i know that if ever i feel unloved or lonely, i can always be confident that i can find it thru the doors of my home. so thank you and i love you to my family. its an unfortunate rarity to find that these days.

now, fathers day. i can not begin to tell you how wonderful my father is. a lot of you know him, so you know. he is one of the most kind-hearted, loving, honest and faithful men you will ever meet. my preacher talked this morning about fathers being an example for their children and hoping that their kids would say, i want to be like you dad. well, i do. i want to be like my father. i love and respect him so much. he is just a good man. i want to be like my parents. they have been that example in my life. im am just overwhelmingly thankful for what i have. i want to just say, dad, happy fathers day. much love to my family and i couldn't tell you enough how greatful i am to have you in my life.

happy fathers day to all daddys out there. not that any men read this, but hey, you ladies can tell them. lol.

on the other side

2009-06-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

first of all, i want to apologize for the hundred posts of "the end of the road" that had nothing for anyone to read. i have had no internet access ever since i moved to the other side of base and just realized that all i wrote in that post...didnt show up. lol. so, sorry. not sure what happened there.

so, i have moved to the other side of base. it leaves a lot to be desired. it isnt THAT bad, but it's not what i have gotten used to. the rules are different, the people dont like us "aircrew people" and nothing seems to make sense. they wake you up at 23oo to tell you that you have watch at 0300. why? why couldnt you have told me this at 1200? because it is "funny" to wake people up at all hours when you arent the one doing watch. i clean from 0700 to 1400. clean the clean. thats what they say. you have no purpose but to serve us hahahahahahaha! please! so...im on a working party now and i dont do that anymore. lol. it really wasnt that bad...it's just going from feeling accomplished and being challenged everyday to cleaning a spot on the floor for hours on end is a little more than disappointing. you think you are going to move forward and yet, you take a step back. but, im going to make the best of what i have while im on hold. i did get to experience a lot of things that not many people will in their lifetime. so i cant complain. my body is complaining...lol...but i wont.

i hope that everyone is doing well! hope to hear from some of ya! take care and have a wonderful day!!!!

ahhhhh snap!

2009-05-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

the adventure for the day was the helo dunker. basically it simulates being in a helicopter that crashes into the ocean. i was kindof nervous just because...well, you are strapped into a seat, dropped in the water and turned upside down. you can not release your seatbelt until the 180 degree turn is complete. hahahaha...yea. i was worried that i would run out of breath before that happened.

we got 3 rides. in the first ride i was "the pilot" of the aircraft. turned upside down, had to push out a window, release the seatbelt, flip out of my seat and then swim to the surface. piece of cake. it was a little nerve wracking but still, i made it with no problems.

ride number two was a little more difficult, and i had a bit of a malfunction. never good when you are upside down underwater. lol. i was in the back of the aircraft and had to pull out a window that would always stick. the call for "crash" was made and we were goin down. as soon as the water hit my feet i started to pull on the window. ofcourse..it was stuck so i had to wait until i was completely submerged and upside down so that i could release the seat belt straps and get leverage. well, there are 5 straps to this seatbelt. one of which did not come loose so when i spun to get out, it wrapped around my neck and started choking me. lol, i stayed calm because, well, i was already holding my breath so that wasnt an issue. however, 6-7 seconds off of your escape time underwater is not good. i managed to pull the belt over my head after spinning back around a couple of times, pull out the window and shoot myself to the top of the water without showing signs of panic. heck yea! inside, i was almost to that point.

one more ride to go. this one...yea, it was the one i was worried about. i was stuck in a seat in the middle of the aircraft. before you can release the seatbelt, aside from waiting until you are upside down, you have to have a reference point. or, something that you are holding onto to guide you to your exit. okay, i can do this. BUT for this ride we were wearing black out goggles because we were crashing at night. haha. nice...you are gonna put me in the seat that i have to travel the longest distance and find a little hole by pulling myself along the seats and give me goggles that i cant see out of. holy bad scenario batman! thats just awesome! we flip, i get out of the seatbelt, without trying to hang myself, pull myself along the seats....or try to. when something that you are in flips upside down and you have no way to see, things get a little confusing. to me, the seats were below me. haha...not anymore, they are above me. im pullin and i get to the back of the aircraft. i thought i felt the window, but then i felt wall. what the heck is goin on? i feel around some more and find an opening, however, i soon realize that it is not one that i can use. before i could take my hand off of it i felt someone smack my helmet. lol...the instructor was letting me know i was going the wrong way. i gave him a thumbs up, or atleast i think i did, and found the window. i was on my last few seconds of air when i popped up to the surface. its over!!!! i made it. easy day, right? lol. well, to truly finish things off in a hayli fashion...i went to pull my goggles off and when i did they slipped out of my hand and popped me right in the eyeball. not the general area...the actual eyeball. hahaha...it stung, but i didnt care. i just got out of the pool and thanked God that i was still alive. then i was getting out of my flight gear and thought...wait a minute! im not even going to be on helicoptors. oh well, it was fun.

anyway...that was my adventure. if you would like to see what exactly it is, you can go to youtube and type in helo dunker or something along those lines. it should pull it up. some videos are better than others. it is a really awesome training tool. i hope you have enjoyed another silly story from this silly sailor. have a wonderful memorial day weekend!

on to disney week

2009-05-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

i made it through hell week. by the end of it i decided that it was definitely an appropriate description of my life last week. however this week should be fun. today was boring though. all we did this morning is do a cpr class. we will play team sports this afternoon so that will be fun. tomorrow we go to the spin and puke and the low pressure chamber. the spin and puke is self explanitory and im not excited about that. the tea cups get me at disney world! the low pressure chamber will test our ability to pop our ears at different altitudes and see how our bodies react. they will take the pressure down just enough so that you start to experience signs of hypoxia. (spelling???) not a doctor or anything but i think it is just lack of oxygen to the brain? correct me if im wrong. anyhoo...they have a couple of people playing patty cake or playing with toys. and apparently its pretty funny to watch because you lose the ability to do those things after a while. patty cake turns into smack your face and toys start to confuse you. haha...im excited.

that is the plan for tomorrow as of right now. i will keep you informed on how things go...if i do, in fact, puke during the spin and puke. haha. and when i find out how the rest of the week is going to go, i will let you know that too. why? because i have nothing better to do apparently. and im okay with that. i hope you all have a wonderful day. and i dont know how to respond to peoples comments, so someone could inform me of how to do this i would greatly appreciate it.

just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

2009-05-13T13:25:00.001-07:00

we all know that i love the movie finding nemo. well, i never realized how much i would use it. haha. this week, hell week, we pt in the morning and swim in the afternoon. 1st day-tread water for 2 minutes,float for 5...this is just in a swim suit. then u put on the flight suit and boots and do the same. easy day! day 2-flight suit, boots, gloves and this vest that feels like it has some sort of weights in it. tread 2 minutes float 6 minutes. little harder, but got thru it. day 3-flight suit, boots, gloves, heavy vest and helmet. tread 2 minutes float 7 minutes. that ended the tread and float session i believe. lol. i can float, we have established that. today we had to jump off of the tower in flight suit and boots then swim 15 yards underwater. got it on the first try....thank you, thank you! the old one still has it! haha. then we had to learn how to use our pants as a floatation device. it was pretty cool actually. tomorrow is a basic stroke test then friday we do our mile swim. i believe i can do this. we will be in a flight suit i know, but im not sure about the boots. hopefully just the flight suit. this is such a random blog, but i was extremely bored. lol.

so how is everyone else doing? i would love to hear from people. it makes me smile really big when i see that i have comments. really! gives me something to do. ooohhhh! and i recently bought the movie amazing grace. it has the video for amazing grace/ my chains are gone..on the special features part. its really an interesting movie. heartbreaking actually. but it is $5 at the walmart if you wanna check it out. lol. wow...okay, im stopping with all of this nonsense. i have to go eat!!!!! BIG GIRL HUNGRY! haha. hope that everyone has a blessed day!

just wanted to throw this one out there...: )

2009-05-05T13:30:00.001-07:00

some days you just have to love your job!

fried crispy!

2009-04-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

okay ya'll. i had a great idea for saturday. i wasnt on duty, im right beside the beach and i figured i would go. i had never been to pensecola beach so i was excited. i heard it was beautiful. it seems odd that i have been here for right at 2 months and havent been to the beach yet.

it was a beautiful day. between 85-88 degrees with a glorious breeze. okay...so the main reason i wanted to go to the beach and lay out was because of the oh so attractive farmers tan that i have developed since i got here. you know...when you take off your shirt it looks like you have a white undershirt on. yea..that would be me. but add the knee-thigh area and an adorable little sock line that actually could fool someone into thinking i have them on. we found a nice little spot by a group of people playing bean-bag toss and downing beer after beer after beer and sat our little cooler of coke and oreos down. time to tan! i spray on the sunblock and im ready to go. hahaha...sunblock? the only part that the sun was blocked from were the parts i wanted to tan! so now, the dark part of my legs are a lovely shade of red along with the lower part of my arms. my feet are still as pale as a cotton ball in white paint AND i have random red spots all over me. there is a nice red racing stripe down my left arm and what looks like the imprint of a deer hoof on the back of my right arm. lol...i love my life. really! i mean...if something like that wouldnt have happened...i wouldve thought something was wrong. i just laugh about it now. it doesnt hurt so that is good. did you know that sunburn (if it affects your ability to do your job) is punishable by the ucmj? yea...destruction of government property and im not even kidding about that. lol.

anyway...i was bored so i thought i would share my story with you. i hope everyone has a blessed day and buys sunscreen that works.

bored

2009-04-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

i figured i would take a break from watching ncis non-stop. seriously...what would possess anyone to lay in bed for hours watching a t.v. show? lol. yet, that has been my weekend. have you ever seen this show? ya just get hooked. it's as bad as army wives! haha. oh, and if anyone knows how to get a hold of season two of army wives please let me know b/c i cant find it anywhere.

anyway...it has been a little while since i have written anything, so i figured i would give it a go. this past week was fairly good. i got med-up on tuesday and was planning on going to pt for the second half of the day. i was so excited until a chief stopped me and said i was going to a working party. what???? i have been dying to go excercise with everyone for what seemed like forever and he is telling me that i cant? you have to be joking! but, i turned around and went to change into my coveralls. as we are walking out he says that we are going to the aviation museum to work on a plane. well, hot dog! i can pt tomorrow! lol! we got to the museum and it wasnt just A plane. it was an f-18 fighter jet that we were priming for the blue angels to paint the following day. i was climbing all over an f-18! so awesome. totally made my day.

the rest of the week we watched a movie, did uniform inspections and excercised. all went well. still a little soreness in the knees and ankles but nothing compared to the last time. the day we went to pt, i saw the best blue angels practice runs ever! rolls, loops, smoke release...it was amazing. so yes, things got better. i knew they would, it just stinks when you have to sit back and watch others do what you are supposed to be doing. im not a big fan of that if you havent noticed. lol.

well, im about to recieve the next disc from ncis and i have rambled on enough. i hope you all have a blessed day. the picture is of me and my buddy black sittin on top of the f-18 we were working on. and a random marine that i dont know.

i cant do this

2009-04-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

i went to medical friday to see what was going on with the mamaw ankles. well, the doc had no clue. he put on my paper "ptop" which is pt at your own pace. but then he told me that i can still pt with everyone else. i turned in my paper to the coreman today and he said that i am now med down. THAT IS NOT GOOD! all i do is sit in a room all day doing nothing! and perhaps i will get 12 hours of watch or something. which im pretty sure will not help my situation at all. im extremely frustrated and i am planning to go back to medical today and tell them that i am okay and can return to full duty. i can not do nothing. that isnt me and never will be me. i feel like the room should have padded walls and i should be in a straight-jacket. im so not even playing. i could possibly go crazy. any of you who know me know that i have issues with being told i cant physically do something. it just doesnt work out well for me. anyway....i just ask that you pray for my sanity. this is not a joke. i feel like im a waste of government money right now because i am sitting here with no purpose other than to think about how upset i am that im not getting my backside kicked with everyone else. i just hope that they will take my request for a med up chit so that i can get back to what i was doing. okay...that is my rant for now. i hope you all have a wonderful day!!!!

wanna see 'em fly?

2009-04-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

so i talk about the blue angels a lot in my blogs because they are amazing. so here is your chance to see them. if you are in alabama, which most of you who actually read my blog are, they will be in tuscaloosa saturday and sunday. it's the 4th and 5th. you can google their website to get other details. it is actually in northport i believe. neway..it says admission is free. they open at 9, the show starts at 11 and the angels fly at 3. i would love to go and actually see a show, but my niece is hunting easter eggs so that is a little more important. besides, all i have to do is look up on tuesday and thursday. lol. if you decide to go, blog about it so i can hear how awesome it was!

it was a trick!

2009-03-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

so i wrote yesterday about how worried i was about our deadly pt for the day, then it was easy? hahaha...THAT WOULD BE TODAY!!!! if you ever thought that holding yourself in the up push-up posistion for 8 minutes was easy...think again. after holding myself there for as long as we did, and knowing it will happen daily, i will look like i have shoulder pads in all of my clothes. lol. i just got a mental picture of that. anyway...it was a bad day. one of the petty officers decided that i would be the one he would pick on all morning. i was thinking...if you could see what my ankles looked like, you would be happy that i didnt quit on you. but i wasnt going to say that. i just agreed that i was an out of shape sailor. my ankles by the way look a good bit better today. im still gonna grab some ice later, but they are alright. now i have to figure out why the arch in my foot hurts. if its not one thing its another.

in the midst of a cloudy day in the firey pitts there was one thing that made me smile. we were holding ourself in leaning rest (the up push-up posistion) and i thought i was dying. really, i thought i was dying. lol. i heard a sound in the distance. sweat is pouring out of my body, im straining so hard to hold my body up that a tear popped out. it was wierd. i wasnt crying. there's no crying! there's no crying in pt! haha...sorry, big fan of a league of their own. neway...im shaking like crazy then i look up and out of the clouds comes all 6 blue angel planes! it was like ghosts appearing out of nowhere! they were so close that it made my ears pop! im not even joking. so for about 20 minutes of pt time they were flying over. that just pumps me up. if only it could make my tired little body run faster. lol. afterwards we ran back to the barracks and i continued to hear the petty officer go on about how we were pathetic and blah blah blah. fun times. and that was the end of our torturous day. no bueno! however i made it through another day and am getting ready for another. there was one funny thing that happened today though. we went and played team sports the 2nd part of the day. i always play basketball because im not really good at volleyball. i played against a new guy today and i talk a lot when we play to distract people. the guy stops the game and asks me where i am from. i said alabama and asked why. his response..." because you sound like paula dean! i love it!" that was a new one. however it made me laugh and brightened my day. lol. so this is the end of this sailors nonsense for the day. i hope you were bored enough to read it. have a good one!

ya just have to laugh.

2009-03-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

today was a dreaded day. there had been rumors of it going to be the worst day of pt we could imagine. im automaticallly thinking...yep, this will be the day i kick the bucket. my knee and ankles are sore, my body is still tired from the 1.5 hours of sleep i managed to squeeze in after watch. its gonna be a great navy day.

we head off to the pt field at 0620. im thinking the worst. im doing my best to keep up, but im sore. the field is soaking wet as we run out there. mud is flying everywhere, soon to be all down my front side, back side and all up in my hair. (that part is actually kind of fun...when it isnt 50 degrees outside like it was this morning.) here it comes, the worst day ever! it is all i could think of. YALL, it was the easiest pt day we have had in a long time. no kiddin! i mean, it was tough, but not at all what i had expected. now, the quarter mile sprints that we did were not my favorite, but still a good day. THEN...we got back here an hour earlier than we usually do. im thinkin this could be a good day after all. and it was except for one thing. i came back to my room took my shoes and socks off, only to see that my ankle looks like this. not only this ankle...both of them look like this. ladies...i must admit. i believe i am a bit different because all i could do was laugh and go to different rooms showing people how fat my ankles were. this picture doesnt do it justice. im not even kidding. it was so big. the swelling is around the size you see here now. so it is doing okay. nothing a little bengay wont help. the funy thing is i didnt turn or roll my ankles at all. they just swelled up like this. i believe it is from standing hours upon hours upon hours a day. perhaps you could let me know what you think. im not a doctor. i just think its odd. lol. have a good one. maybe i can come up with something interesting to write about next time.

belay my life! lol

2009-03-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

things started looking up for me. i shouldve known better than to get comfortable with that. lol. we found out today that more than likely overnight liberty will be taken away from us after this weekend. it is possible that we keep it for a little longer, but it doesnt look good. u see, people here love to think they can get away with things. underage drinking....of age drinking and acting stupid. the past 5 or 6 weekends there have been alcohol related incidents. therefore, we are all going to get punished. not so much fun. i was so excited about being able to see friends and family on some weekends and now that could be taken away. not to mention we are now getting trained by rescue swimmer instructors. i just thought my body hurt before! lol. apparently they are trying to get it up to a 50% drop out rate and this is how they plan to do it. it may just work. however, i will not say d.o.r. (drop on request) and i will not spell dorito if someone asks me to. haha. did you know that as beautiful as the beach is.....it is not fun to run in the sand. just sayin. my ankles and knee are killin me right now. but i love it. i love the fact that im still here and im not backing out of this. my body hurts, but my heart tells me to keep going. when i look like a sugar cookie during beach pt (which i was told about this week. they make you exercise in the water then in the sand and you look like a sugar cookie. lol) i will just laugh. haha....noone will take a bite out of this sugar cookie! sorry, it was funny in my head when i thought it. : ) i just pray that God keeps my body intact long enough to finish this. i just want to know that i can do it!

wow..so im jumpin off my soap box now. its a stormy navy day, so ya just think of the crappy stuff i guess. hehe. i know it will get better. im going to keep my head up and push harder and harder every day. i hope you all have a wonderful day!!!!!!

sweet!

2009-03-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

so, do you remember in one of my last blogs when i was talking about seeing the blue angels while we were on the pt field? and how i was upset that i didnt get to see it? well, i got to today. it was awesome! they were so close. and so loud! i hated that i was running and couldnt stop to take it all in. it was amazing! nehoo...just thought i would share that i finally got to see it. obviously im bored. have a good day!

blessed

2009-03-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

i just want to start by thanking everyone for the prayers they put out for me. i passed my phase 2 test friday night and was given my liberty card at 10 pm. i came to my room went to sleep and woke up at 5 am to get ready to start my journey home. lol. i was stoked! the bad thing was...i had no clue how to get home. it really didnt matter to me becuz all i could think of was getting home to my family. hehehe...it probably should have mattered. i left the base and just took to driving. i was on a mission. i was looking for signs to point me in the right direction. okay....just because you see a sign for a city in alabama...it doesnt mean that you go that way. oh well, i learned. fortunately im not as stubborn as some people i know and i do not care to stop and ask for directions. heck...i was laughin so hard at myself by this time it was probably the safest thing i could do. yes...i had gone 20 miles in the wrong direction, but i acted unphased by it and went on my way. either way, i made it home by one and was able to see my family and friends.

on to church. to be honest with you. im not positive what all was said during the service. all i do know is that my heart was consumed by the Holy Spirit by the end of it. sometimes the Lord just gets a hold of you and you get what you have needed for a while. and well...i got it. there is a song that the choir did...amazing grace with my chains are gone. MAN! "my chains are gone, ive been set free!" it's overwhelming, isnt it? "unending love, amazing grace." and that line...not just love, but UNENDING love. it doesnt stop. EVER. i know this, and ive always been taught this. but it is still so hard to wrap my mind around. but thankful is what i am, and will always be.

im sorry to go on, but i felt like i needed to write this out. lol, its not my normal nonsense from a sailor, but its good. God is good.

i guess i wouldnt be me if i didnt throw in something silly though, so...an exercise called the dirty dog...my backside hurts! but it works! im sure you have all seen it done before or have done it. down on your hands and knees, hike one leg like your waterin a tree, (at a 90 degree angle to really feel the burn :) leg straight out behind you, then water the tree again and back to all fours. just sayin, if you have never done it before...try it. you may never do it again, but atleast you will get a good laugh in.

a lovely day

2009-03-20T09:13:00.001-07:00

alrighty people...i have a test tonight. just throwing it out there...if ya wanna whisper a prayer, i'd appreciate it. it's a test that will give me phase 2 liberty. i can wear civilian clothes, drive my car, come home on the weekends :) , leave base on the weekends and all that fun stuff. so yay! i want to pass it! not many people do on the first try, but i would love to do it.

other than that...i got to pt today and yesterday! i never thought i would get excited about doing push ups and running. (among other things) yesterday we got to swim. alright...i can swim but im no michael phelps. just sayin. we swam for an hour straight and i never realized just how tiring it is! it is an awesome workout! however halfway thru i just started singing dory's song from finding nemo. "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." and i made it. lol. ofcourse i got a little tickled and took in a bit of water, but it was funny. no blue angel sightings today, but im hoping to see them again next week. it's like, you go into top gun mode and get all pumped up! hehe. okay, im rambling on so i am going to go back for muster. have a great day!!!!

fly by!

2009-03-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

just a quick post. today was horrible, yet awesome. i havent gotten to pt in 3 days. im really upset because i have been put on watch for the past 3 mornings. i feel like im falling behind...moreso than i already was. however, while i was on watch today i got to watch the blue angels practice. they would fly over...looking almost like they were going to knock the top of the buildings off! it was amazing. ofcourse if i had been on the pt field (or so i hear) it is a notification point. meaning it lets them know when to do a maneuver. i hear that they fly over the pt field then shoot straight up when they get to a certain point. so close that you can feel the heat from the burners! i gotta get out there! hehe. neway. i get to watch them practice atleast on tues. and thurs. so i am stoked! hope all is well with everyone! love ya tons!

didnt know i could hurt in this many places!

2009-03-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

so i am here. aircrew candidate school! ladies...if ya want a good exercise plan...lol, i have one. my body hurts in so many places right now. i should be lookin like a supermodel soon. not really, i will probably look more like a body builder! so maybe you dont want this exercise plan. it is beautiful here. i look out my window and see the ocean. the beach is maybe 1/4 of a mile down the road. i kinda like it here. :) if you havent ever been to the aviation museum here you should plan a trip. it is so nice. i went this morning and was just facinated! there are a lot of awesome things to see here. i am so excited to be here and to be training for this posistion in the navy. i cant wait to see you all again and i hope it will be soon! i love you all! for all of you in gatlinburg right now...have a blast. i went last year and wouldve loved to have gone this year. lisa is an amazing speaker and you will all be blessed! oh, and come see me in pensecola. it's not that far away!

bitter sweet...

2009-03-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

i finally made it to the south. we got on the plane at 2:40 pm friday evening. time to take off, but wait...theres a delay. so we sat on the runway for 40 more minutes. lol...that's okay...i think. we should still be able to catch our connecting flight to pensecola. HAHAHAHA... do any of you remember home alone? you know, where they sprint thru the airport to get on their plane. that would be us. we made it as they were closing the doors. but we made it. i dont know if you can understand the excitement i felt as i landed in pensecola friday night. i get off the plane in my dress blues and start sweating immediately. it was awesome. we go to pick up our luggage and it wasnt there. not exactly a wonderful start. our ride came to pick us up at the airport and took us to the base. my friends who are in pensecola already are asking me where i am. i told them im in the barracks but not theirs. they told me they kept some of the aircrew candidates with the air traffic control sailors. AGAIN...HAHAHAHAHA. they do, but not the newbys. at 3 am my luggage arrived....soaking wet and dirty. lol. i spent the night in the wrong barracks. i got up the saturday morning to go get things straightened out and i got a heartbreaking phone call from my family. my grandfather had passed away that morning. i didnt know what to do. my world was a whirlwind.

this was the man that had an influence on my choice to be in the military. he too was a navy man. i so loved talking to him about it before i left for bootcamp. he was so excited. where's my navy girl? that's what he called me. lol. it kills me that i didnt get anything accomplished before he passed. i know he is proud, but i wanted to exchange stories with him. laugh about things that other people didnt get. he was my buddy. and i will miss him very much. all i know is that when i get back to pensecola i will not give up. there is a 10% passing rate for females in aircrew. i fully intend on being in that 10% because one...noone tells me i CANT do something and two...im gonna have a chief hovering over me making sure i dont quit. lol.

i just ask that you keep my family in your prayers. he truly was an amazing man who loved all of us dearly. and the feeling was mutual. it is hard to let go, but exciting to know that he will now have all new stories to share with me once we meet again.

God is good!

2009-02-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

i can already feel the sand between my toes. whooohoooo! im goin to pensecola. i fly out of here at 1500 tomorrow and land in pensecola...after a brief stop in atlanta...at 1920! the time has come. yet...i feel nervous. REALLY nervous! i have been here for 6 months and 7 days. im ready to go. there are, however, people i have come to know and respect. people that have stuck there neck out for me when noone else would. im definitely going to miss them. but they are happy for me. im excited to start something new and exciting. im ready to begin the journey i signed up for. thank you for all of your prayers. you all have been wonderful. ive gotten letters and emails of encouragement that mean more to me than you could ever know. thank you and i will keep you updated on how things go. hello pensecola!!!!!!

wow...

2009-02-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

well, if there is one thing i have learned in the military it is "hurry up and wait." they tell you that "it wont be long" and here i am a month later. still waiting. i do remember the song....God said you're gonna make it...one that was pointed out to me in my last blog comments. and this is what i rely on. if i didn't have Him on my side i am certain i would go crazy. there have been plenty of times that i thought i was. to be honest...i feel like that now. there are so many things going on at home that i feel like i need to be there for. a very dear friend of mine lost her mother this past weekend...and i am here. that kills me. i want to be home where i can give a comforting hug. let her know that i'm there if she needs to talk. yes, i have my phone. but there is something about being there with the person. please keep this family in your prayers. i love them dearly and was devastated when i heard the news. my friends name is brooke. just lift her up to God when you say your prayers. as for me...i will make it. it feels like insanity here at times, but i always know where to go for comfort. thank you all again for your prayers and words of encouragement. i hope to hear that i will be headed to pensecola soon. but until then pray that God continues to open up opportunities for me to share His word. and judith...i dont know what to tell you about the goodies. lol...send them here and if im gone they will send them to florida. love you all!

just sayin...

2009-01-25T17:53:00.000-08:00

so...there is a possiblitly that i could get cleared medically in the next week or two. yay! perhaps it will happen. if this happens my orders will start being written and i should leave a week or so after i get cleared. or...i could retire in thu. who knows. lol. but that is the latest update for me. hopefully i can get to the warmer parts of the u.s. soon. i hope all is well with all of you guys! take care and if i get to florida...maybe i would get to come home and visit on the weekends. take care and i will let you know as soon as i hear anything. no funny stories to share on this blog, but i will get on it.

well, im not sure what to say!

2009-01-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

first of all, thank you so much for all of the birthday comments. it took me 20 minutes to read them all. if you only knew how much you all blessed my heart...it was amazing. thank you to "the preachers-wife." you totally rock! it was a wonderful birthday gift.

on the other end of things...i now have a real mattress and a real pillow. how nice! i have like a hotel room comforter or something, but hey, it's not an itchy old wool blanket right? haha. i believe the wind chill is currently -20 here right now. yes...-20. ive got to be the luckiest girl alive. ya know, it wouldnt be so bad if we didnt have to walk everywhere. oh well...it's an adventure. let's see...what else? ooohhhh....always just buy your own water. yea...i took a sip of a friend of mines to take some ibuprofen and needless to say, it wasnt water! water does not burn like the substance that went down my throat. my bad! it was clear. so that was a nice birthday present. the feeling that someone lit a small fire in my throat. nice! many laughed at me until they cried...i coughed till i cried. next time i will just get my own bottle. ah...and did you know that the people at wal-mart do NOT like it when you play football in the aisles? who woulda thunk it? hehe...didnt exactly act like a 28 year old then. but hey...we all have to have fun right? well, i believe i am about to get kicked off the computer. my time is up. i love you all and appreciate your thoughts and prayers. God is good, and so His "little birdy" that sent out a blog telling people about this little sailor. thank you! take care, and perhaps i will have more stories of humiliation share with you tomorrow.

is it possible? a light at the end of the tunnel???

2009-01-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

well, plans changed a little over in the frozen town of great lakes. apparently my chief found it in her heart to move us to phase 3 liberty tomorrow! happy birthday to me! whoohoo! im a bit happy. chief also informed us that the man who signs the waivers in pensecola has been out for the past 6 weeks taking chemo treatments. he is now back and hopefully the ball will get rolling. maybe soon i will be in a warmer environment with a beach and the ocean breeze blowing in my face. haha. perhaps it will happen. im still dealing with whether or not i want to be in the aircrew program or go seabee. im praying intently every night! either way, i should get out of here soon! oh happy day! the snow is beautiful, but im ready to be able to walk outside without icicles forming on my eyelashes. and im not kidding about that at all. when it is -30 wind chill....it happens! it's crazy! thank you for all of your prayers.

discouraged but not defeated!

2009-01-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

do you ever feel like things are progressively getting worse??? lol. yea, i felt that way today when i got finished with my doctors appointment. basically im in the same situation i was in before. i do, however, know that my iron levels are at the perfect spot. so, i guess thats good? im just waiting to hear from pensecola. last night i read a devotion that simply said Lord, if it's Your will, let it be. so that is what i'm going on. i pray nightly that His will be done in my life. my human nature leaves me discouraged with the things i heard today. my faith and knowing that He has a plan in all of this...no matter how down i get...that is what keeps me from being defeated. i know He is in this because after i found out im still going to be here for a long time they let us know that reguardless of how long we have been here we will not be going to phase 3 liberty for atleast another month. without His presence, i would have just broke down right then. phase 3 is basically more freedom. i dont have to lock up my phone every other day and if i want to stay off base overnight, i can. and even when i do get to go to phase 3...they are putting us back in the building i just came from. therefore i still get an itchy wool blanket and a plastic mattress as opposed to a quilt and a real mattress. hahah...it's okay. you can laugh. it is all i could do. either that or cry and who wants to mess up their mascara over an itchy blanket..right? anyway...i wanted to let you know how the appointment went. so...there ya go. :)

just an update...

2009-01-02T20:48:00.001-08:00

i went to medical today and had to have more bloodwork done. yay! whatever. i dont mind getting stuck... but i have had my share in the past two months. normally getting called back for more tests isnt a good thing. to be honest, i dont know what is going on with all of my stuff right now. however, i go back monday to talk to the flight surgeon. i am just going to ask him flat out if he thinks i will be here another 4 months before my iron levels get to a "shipping out" point. if that is the case, i am going to reclass. (get another job) either way, i should have some type of information about when and where i go. so just pray that the luck i have been having with the doctors changes and i will know something soon. thank you all for your prayers.

another day in my life...

2008-12-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

well, im back in illinois. yay me, right??? lol. my flight was less than satisfactory. don't get me wrong. we didnt crash, so that was good. it's just, the entire trip i felt like a turtle in my pea-coat. you see, the burley man next to me had gas. u know..normally i am cool about these things and just go on like it's nothing. (yes, im one of those people who laugh if someone poots. sorry! it's funny.) unfortunately, it wasnt a time to laugh. it seemed like a time to cry, seeing as how my eyes were watering from the stinch. i am not even playin...i was almost to the point of telling him to go to the bathroom because i think he had an accident and just didnt realize it! but i just hid my head in my pea coat and hoped it would help. anyway...that was my flight. an hour and a half of nastiness. he was a nice guy though. lol.

so, today is okay. i was so afraid i would hate being back. while im not excited about it, i did a little devotional this morning that helped me. in a nutshell....GET OVER YOURSELF! in a round about way. i am trying to keep a positive attitude about this situation. like i said before, God has a plan. He has worked things out perfectly in this whole navy process, so why should i wonder what is going on now? so, that is my rant for the day. hope you enjoyed the story of my misery. :) it was great to see everyone while i was home. God allowed me to enjoy a wonderful church service and see many of my friends. it was awesome! okay...i have to go sweep or something now!

do i have to go back???

2008-12-26T12:20:00.000-08:00

well, it's getting to be that time. i must fly away to foreign lands so that i can take the place of the other brave souls. no...not the ones who are protecting our country, but those who are cleaning the toilets and swabbing the floors. trust me, you would call them brave too! the body odor from the new recruits is so thick that you need a breathing mask just to walk from one compartment to the next! i am quite embarassed to know that i smelled that bad for an entire week. but how can you smell descent when you are fighting 80 other stinky girls to get your body slightly wet by one of the 8 shower heads in the bathroom???? oh yea...and you only got 3 minutes. really? i can honestly say that i thanked God for allowing me to have bad eyesight during shower time! the birth control glasses were ugly, but i got to take them off when i had to shower. oh yes....He was looking out for me even then. haha!

i have enjoyed being here with my family and friends. thank all of you who have written and had me in your prayers. i am ready to get to school so i can start my career in the navy. i know that God will get me out of there in His time. it is definitely hard...just waiting. i want to be out doing something exciting and meaningful. i feel like i am getting nowhere and serving no purpose. however, it isn't for me to decide when i go or how long i stay. i just have to try and keep my spirits up and know there is a reason. i have been able to share my faith with people while i have been there. during bootcamp i read my bible a lot. people saw this and wondered what i was doing. they would ask questions and i would answer the best way i knew how. i guess it was an okay answer because they would come back wanting to know more. so if you could just mention in your prayers that God would give me the words to say...i would appreciate it. sometimes i dont know how to answer their questions and i feel like i may mess things up. after a while the questions start getting extremely complex and i want to be confident in what i tell them. God is at work there. i am excited and scared all at the same time. but hopefully, if one accepts Him into their life then they can help and another and another.....perhaps we could have a small revival in the town of great mistakes...i mean, lakes...great lakes! again i thank you for your love, support and prayers. it is surely felt.

to all of those who are serving and couldnt be with their family this christmas

2008-12-25T20:53:00.001-08:00

does it hurt when you get slapped in the face?

2008-12-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

have you ever read something and then had to sit back in awe at what it said? as some of you know, i have been stuck in the frozen town of great lakes, illinois for a while. i graduated boot camp 2 months ago and was ready to get to school! the fact that my school is in pensecola, florida is just a plus. :) one week before i graduated i was told that i was anemic and i would be staying in illinois for a little while. okay...2 months is more than a little while! however, my faith has become stronger because of this unexpected journey. i have always trusted that God would supply all my needs. this is something i grew up knowing. im fortunate to have a God-fearing family! i guess when you face trials you are constantly looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, but my tunnel just seemed to get darker.

it all started when i arrived at boot camp. i was instructed to remove my contacts because you can not have them there. so i did thinking that i would soon have the glasses that you are issued there. although i was blind as a bat, i continued with the process. go pee in a cup while a 4'11" lady calls you cookie and stares at you while you are squatting. after that uncomfortable situation, she says that if i cotinue eyeballing her she will break my arm and/or kill me. haha, she wouldn't really do that????? and so, processing days have begun. we get our shots, we learn to fold clothes, go thru medical, dental and vision exams, and get yelled at like we are 4 years of age. after 7 days of complete blindness, i am issued my bcg's. yes, i finally got my glasses and when i looked in the mirror i realized why they call them bcg's. bcg stands for birth control glasses. lol...they are called this because no man in his right mind would touch you while you are wearing them. i missed my first phone call home because i had my wisdom teeth cut 2 days before we were supposed to use the phones. now, in the civilian world you get a lot of medicine and a week to get over everything. hahahahaha! no, not in the military world. you get two days. yep, two! AND...you do not have the luxery of being knocked out during the process. i was awake for the entire thing. luckily i have and insane pain tolerance. it's a good thing too because i was a tester for a newbee to the dental world. isn't that nice? i had 3 teeth removed. the last tooth had to be cut out...i felt everything, including the moment he cut a nerve. that was pleasant...i recommend everyone try it. really???? anyway...it kept me from calling my family when everyone else did. a week later i got to call. i was so excited! i cried the whole time i was running to the phone center. which, by the way, is about a mile from the building i was in. i ran into the phone booth and called my dad. as he answered i could barely get the word hello out. it wouldn't have mattered if i did...i could hear him but he couldnt hear me. i went through 2 more phones before i got in touch with him. he was happy, mom was happy, i was happy....it was just a happy moment. all happy for a few seconds, then dad gave me the news that my uncle had passed away. the tears flowed heavy and i could not speak. we said i love you and goodbye then i headed back. i wanted to be home. i wanted to comfort my family during this time. all i could do was pray. it was then that i started reading my bible every free moment i had. i have continued that process to this day.

ive written all of this non-sense to say one thing. i have been upset because nothing is going the way i planned. i keep wondering what the reason is behind it. then i remembered a verse in proverbs chapter 16..."a mans heart plans his ways, but the Lord guides his steps." and yes, sometimes it does hurt when you get slapped in the face.