Baking

This afternoon I went over to Chris and Andrea's again to bake. Of the four different kitchens I've tried, they definetly have the best one. Plus, they have the most kitchen appliances, which is probably because they are married and so recieved many of them as gifts. I almost feel bad for going over and taking over their kitchen often, about once a week, but they don't seem to mind, especially when I let them taste-test and eat the leftovers.

So far, while at OBC I've baked chocolate-caramel brownies, danish puff, tactical sugar cookies, caramel apples with different toppings, chocolate covered peanut caramel clusters, individual molassas-chocolate tarts, individual blueberry fruit tarts, fruit pizza, and individual meringue fruit pizza's. Rachel and I made the sugar cookies, caramel apples, and chocolate covered peanut caramel clusters together, but the rest of the stuff I've made myself.

Today I made the individual meringue fruit pizza's again (as shown in the picture), except this time I made half of them chocolate meringue. My class seemed to enjoy them last time, and so I hope my TOC likes the new twist.

While at West Point I made Joe Bear episodes as a hobby, and I think that here I've made baking my new hobby. I enjoy channeling my creativity into something that brightens other peoples days. I wonder if I'll pick up a new hobby when I get to my unit. 

Debate

Tomorrow there is a Halloween party that most of my class is going to.  For the most part I grew up not being allowed to celebrate Halloween, and now I am trying to figure out for myself what is honoring and glorifying to God in regards to the issue.  

Friend: I would encourage you to go. you can honor God hardcore there... it's not what goes into you that defiles but what comes out... being a manifestation of God's Love in the midst of people who need it is what Christ was all about and he often was found in the midst of the worst sinners parties, even though the religious folks were aghast.

I had thought of that as one of the two options I have, the other being not going.  My question is how do I actually be a manifestation of God's love there if I do go?  It’d actually be much easier to not go, and that is actually what I was leaning towards at first, but now I don’t know what to do.  

Me Tidy?!?

Apparently I am now considered to be a very neat and tidy person.  If you ever saw my room when I lived at home, or my room at school when it wasn’t around SAMI time, you would find that statement hilarious and wonder what drugs the person was on who spoke it.  As far as I know she wasn’t on drugs, and has never done drugs when my friend told me my room always looks like nobody lives in it, and may have even called me a ‘neat freak,’ although I may have just imagined that part.  

Now this change hasn’t come about without a conscious effort on my part.  My effort to keep my room tidy did not come about through any lessons I learned at West Point about having a neat and orderly room, but rather through something I read in one of Elisabeth Elliot’s books as well as a statement I think one of my sister’s made over the summer, although I may have imagined that as well.  

In her book The Shaping of a Christian Family,  Elisabeth Elliot writes of how her mother was taught the value of neatness and order.  Her mother describes that she was taught to believe “…in a God of order, Creator of a universe arranged in an orderly fashion, each thing in its appointed spot,”  and that, “the freshness, neatness the sense of things being placed…This was a visible sign of an invisible reality.”  The truth of this really struck me when I read it and for the first time I saw the value in being neat and orderly besides it being more aesthetically pleasing and easier to find things.

The other statement that changed my attitude on neatness was when my sister, I think it was Betsy, although I could be wrong, mentioned how if you keep your home tidy when visitors unexpectedly drop by you are a bit more ready and willing to welcome them into your home because it at least looks presentable, which could lead to an opportunity to share the Gospel with them.  

I now try and keep my room neat and orderly as much as possible.  While at West Point I noted that when my stuff was messy my life in general felt a bit more disordered, but that only caused me to tidy-up when it got really bad.  It’s been almost 4 months and so far I’ve managed to keep-up the clean streak, which I believe is a new record for me.  

On a totally separate and different note, I think I may like ice so much because my throat is rather dry.  At times I think I like the ice because I am a bit dehydrated, but other times when I am not even consciously thirsty but want ice it is because the ice cools my mouth and throat down and makes them feel better.  I just came up with this hypothesis over the weekend, so I’ve only had two days to think about it and I could be completely wrong.  

So Tiny!

My iPod Nano came today:) I knew it was small, but when I opened the box it was even smaller than I thought it would be. Rachel was with me and she too was really suprised at it's size.

Although my iPod did arrive today, actually recieving the package turned into a wild goose chase. The tracking said the package had arrived at 11:04 am, when I called the front desk at 12:20ish they said that there wasn't a package for me there. I then looked at the tracking again and saw that instead of being delievered to the address that I sent for shipping, it was instead listed as being delievered to the Mail Room. There are many mail rooms on post, but I figured that I'd first go to the post office where I have my PO box and see if somehow it was dropped off there.

At the post office the guy claimed to know the package I was talking about, although I know doubt that it did ever pass through his hands, and he directed me to a mail room across post. He also gave me a phone number to call for the mail room. I went back to my room and called the phone number asking if I could come pick up my package and they said yes. Rachel and I were supposed to go swimming at this time, so I asked her if we could make a quick stop by the mail room. She agreed, and we headed over.

Finding the mailroom wasn't as easy as I thought. We drove around for about 10 minutes looking at all the buildings in the vicinity of where I had been directed, and finally decided to stop by the MP office to ask for directions. The first MP I talked to had no clue what building I was talking about, and I got a few responses of, "Mail room? There are a lot of mail rooms on post," from others in the office who then proceeded to look at me like I was stupid. However, the MP that was helping me asked another MP who actually knew the building I was talking about and gave me directions there, althouhg it took Rachel and I one more loop around the building to actually find it.

Once inside the mailroom I was told by the man behind the counter that there wasn't a package for me there and that I would need my tracking number in order to determine where it was sent. He had one idea of where it was, my BN mail room, and called that mail room, but they said there wasn't a package for me there. I was rather disheartned at this point, and was starting to feel bad for dragging Rachel all over post, but I didn't want to give up, especially since it seemed apparent that nobody knew where my iPod Nano was on post.

We made a quick stop back at the BOQs so that I could check at the desk and see if my package had been delivered, and also get my tracking number. It hadn't been delivered, so after I found the tracking number I called the man in the mail room back and he said that with the tracking number he had it as being delivered and signed for at the BN mail room. I told Rachel and asked if we could stop over there, and promised that it would be the last stop even if I didn't find it. She was very nice and agreed, so we headed over.

When I arrived at the BN mail room they told me that they were in the process of looking for the package. Although someone there had signed for it, they had no clue where it was. I stood there for about five minutes watching them look all over the place for it and wishing that I could help, but I wasn't allowed in that part of the room. Finaly, one of the two women working looked on top of a filing cabinet and found it. Apparently, since I thought FedEx would send the package straight to the BOQs and failed to put my unit on the shipping address, when it ended up in the BN mail room, and who knows why that happened, they did not know what to do with it and stashed it out of the way until they had time to deal with it. They told me that the package eventually would have made it's way to me after they looked me up in the computer system, but who knows how long that would've taken. I was told to always put my unit as part of my shipping address.

The sad part of the story is that when Rachel and I got to the pool around 2:20, after taking about an hour on the wild goose chase, we found out that the pool hours have changed and it is only open until 2pm :(

Thanks Mom and Dad for the iCarPlay Wireless :) The squishy ball and the smarties in were a huge hit in class this morning. Some guys in my class had a great time chucking the squishy ball at each other. 

Dining-In Pictures

Vivian has a few more pictures from the dining-in in her blog for OCT 23.

Birthday With Friends

Yesterday, to celebrate my birthday, ten friends and I went out for dinner to Johnny C's. I wasn't expecting any gifts, but I ended up recieving two wonderful dessert cookbooks from Vivian and Natalie(followed quickly by suggestions of what I should bake for the class on Monday from the cookbooks), a beautiful cross to hang on a wall from Jordan, a pumpkin glow-in-the-dark pez dispenser from Hans, an impressive dolly for my table that Rachel made herself, and a framed picture of Kate and I standing in front of Big Nose Kate's Saloon in Tombstone from Kate. Chris and Andrea paid for my dinner and told me to consider it them cooking for me, although I have actually had a homemade dinner over at their place before.

Although dinner with friends was the best part of the day, having both Michigan and West Point win their respective football games was quite a nice addition.

Today is my cousin's birthday. Both her and her brother are getting growing up so fast. Don't they know that they are only supposed to be around the ages of three and four? I miss them and their parents. Who knows if I'll recognize them when I next see them.

Army Crew Disbanded

On this happy day I received some news that has made me very sad on the inside.  The Army Crew Team is being disbanded for the rest of the season starting after this weekend, and indefinitely until a new OIC can be found, if one is ever found.  I only know a little about the reasons why this has happened, but it is very hard not to point fingers and blame certain individuals right now.

Being on the crew team was one of the best things I did while at West Point.  Through it I made friendships that I am sure will last a lifetime.  It also provided an escape from the daily grind of the rest of life, as well as allowing me to react to and release the tension and stress in my life in a healthy way.  

No More Birthday Party Fears :)

This is my first birthday in four years where the words “Birthday Party” don’t send any chills up my spine.  I was never thrown a birthday party other than the good kind, but each year the threat was there.  

It’s almost 12:30 AM and I’m not tired at all.  This afternoon I took a nap before Rachel and I went to see Elizabethtown.  I woke up right when we were supposed to leave, and I wasn’t ready to go at all.  There was a made dash around my room as I tried to change clothes, find my purse and various IDs and keys, and try to wake up.

We did make it to the movie on time, but either missed the preview for Annapolis, or they didn’t show it as a preview, which was probably the case.  I’ve seen the preview once and my friends and I almost died laughing.  I really don’t think I could make it sitting through that movie in the theater because I would get too annoyed with it’s inaccuracy and over-dramatization of everything.  One National Guard guy in my class sarcastically said, “I didn’t know Annapolis was the hardest military academy” after he saw the preview.

My mail is finally starting to be forwarded to my address here.  The good news is that my car registration renewal came in the mail today.  Apparently it was one of the first pieces to be forwarded to me, so I may be getting a second one soon due to the fact that I thought the first one was lost.  

It All Evens Out

It's 10:46 AM and my class has already been released for the weekend :)  This makes up for the long PT session we did this morning that ended with a 6.5 mile Radar Ridge run where we first ran down Radar Ridge, and then ran back up it.  What made it worse was that yesterday afternoon I was playing around on Google Earth and decided to look at Apache Flats where we do PT and scanned the different run routes we do on a regular basis.  The Radar Ridge one seemed even longer when I looked at it on the computer, and that was all I could think about this morning while I was running.  I really need to run more.  

Remember This

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:15-17

1 Month Left

I just bought my plan tickets home for after I graduate. Graduation is four weeks away, but I have a feeling those weeks are going to fly by. It seems like the past few weeks went by in the blink of an eye. I'm excited, yet also nervous, especially knowing that I may be deploying fairly soon after I get to my post. One of my instructors was talking about how new LTs usually have about two months of adjustment time where stupid mistakes are made, even expected, and not usually a problem. That made me feel better until he followed up by saying anyone going to the my unit would not get those two months due to being deployed.

Cooling Off

How is it that it is warmer at home than it is here? Not that I am complaining or anything. I am a fan of cooler weather, as long as I can dress to match the weather.

My iPod Nano was shipped today. I may get it in time for my birthday:) 

Smile :)

 

Grrr...

I just wrote a big post and it got lost :(

Anyway, Rachel and I did the GAFPB 15.6 mile ruck march together and we finished in 3 hours 22 minutes. We did the first 6 miles in 66 minutes, but overall averaged a 12:54/mile pace. The time limit was 4 hours 10 minutes. It was much easier this time only have a 22 lb ruck, although both us had more weight than that becuase we had full camel backs in our rucks in addition to the required weight. The ruck march was our final event, and having passed it we both earned the gold badge :)

Dining-In

Last night my class had our dining-in.

The dining-in is a formal dinner for members of a military organization or unit. It provides an occasion for officers to meet socially at a formal military function. The
purpose of a dining-in is to recognize individual and/or unit achievements or any events
that are effective in building and maintaining esprit de corps to include saying farewell to
departing officers and welcoming new ones. A dining-in may also be held to honor one or
more distinguished visitors. It is important to emphasize that a dining-in should be
viewed as a manifestation of association rather than a mandatory formation for all parties.
http://www.usma.edu/Protocol/images/DiningInOutGUIDE.pdf

One of the highlights of the dining-in is the presentation of "points of order", or calling people out for certain infractions of rules or embarrasing moments. There is a whole process that is entailed with bringing up a point of order and then the President of the Mess, who happened to be the company commander, would decide if the punishment suggested was appropriate. There were usually props invovled, such as tricycles, remote control cars, or sugar cookies. The person whom the "point of order" is about also is made to report to the grog bowl.

The grog bowl is a bowl, or toilet in our case, that is filled with different substances that each have a specific meaning. We had an Alpha grog which was a mixture of many different kinds of alcohol and very little else, and a Bravo grog that was non-alcoholic.

I didn't want to drink and so I was designated a DD. However, earlier in the afternoon when I saw what was going into the Bravo grog I almost wanted to drink because the Bravo grog was disgusting. I talked to the grog-master about the fact that the DDs had no choice which grog to drink from, but he didn't care. It worried me so much that I prayed that either the bravo grog would get changed, or that it would somehow end up being palatable. After the Bravo grog was was made and Mr. Vice almost threw-up after only tasting a small sip, the Company Commander quitely ordered that it be changed. The grog-master wasn't too happy that his bravo grog was going to be replaced with ice-tea, but I was rejoicing.

I was sent to the grog once, but it was not really as a punishment. Rachel brought up a Point of Order against John and I about our Iron chef competition, even though she participates in it as well. John and I had to report to the head table and had 10 seconds compete and see who could best decorate sugar cookies. I made two smiley face once and made it half-way through decorating a third one in 10 seconds. John made one smiley face, which looked more like a mess of lines, and one military symbol sugar cookies. The President of the Mess deemed the competition a tie, as she did all competitions throughout the night, and sent us both the grog.

The dining-in was fun, but it reaffirmed some of the reasons I only drink under certain circumstances which happen very rarely. I was asked a few times by different people if I do drink, why I don't drink except on rare occasions, and other such questions. Some people were satisfied with a simple answer, and others wanted the full answer, which I am still formulating, but in either case I was happy to answer.

On a side note, this afternoon at 4pm I'm doing the 15.6 mile GAFPB ruck march with a few of my classmates. 

Back to Middle School

Yesterday our TAC-NCO told us that we were going to go on a 3-mile class run for PT this morning. Overall that is fairly easy PT, although I'm not a big fan of running. This morning at PT we stretched as usual, but then instead of going for a run we played Sharks & Minnows followed by Ambeia. I haven't played those games at least since middle school. The PT plan changed because we only had 30 minutes due to class starting early today. The games were fun, except Rachel and I were the first amebia pair and we were not able to tag anybody until Omar and John walked right up to us and let us tag them.

Class started early because we had a test on ASAS-L. I got a 98/100 because I labeled a 2S9 battery as a Mortar Battery instead of a Self-Proppeled Artillery Battery. Now I'm in the MI library wasting time until we have to be back in class again, which is in 5 minutes.

It's Thursday

This morning was the final diagnostic APFT for my class. I managed to raise my score 2 points even though my run time was worse. If only I could be one of those people who only runs 4 miles a year (2 miles for each APFT) and still maxes the run every time. I went to bed at 9pm since I had to get up at 4:15am for the APFT. While I was walking out to my car I felt more awake then I expected, and then I thought about how I most likely will not be able to get 7 hours of sleep during the night for the next year after I graduate OBC. I better enjoy it while I can.

Last night a lot of people, including myself, went to a diner for dinner to celebrate Vivian's 22nd birthday. We all knew it was a bad idea to eat there before an APFT, but as Rachel and I decided, we were running an experiment to see how greasy, unhealthy food really effects an APFT. Of course we had to get milk shakes. I ordered a chocolate shake even though I don't like chocolate ice cream very much. It was too chocolatey for me and so I only drank a tiny bit of mine, which I guess is a good thing.

The weather here has cooled down quite a bit almost over night. Actually, it was over the weekend. In the morning when I get up for PT the temp is in the low 50's, although it does get into the mid 70's during the day. Soon we'll be switching to wearing the running suit for PT, but first everyone in the company has to get the complete uniform with hat and gloves.

I miss Anne. We talked over email today, which is the first time we've talked since she left for Cambridge. I'm horrible at keeping in touch with her, and people in general, even though she's one of my best friends. Now we won't see each other for a long time :( That reminds me, I really need to write her mom back.

Next Tuesday I have a battle analysis paper due. Even though I checked the books out a month ago, tonight was the first night that I actually cracked one open, and I only made it through about a page. Yes, I am procrastinating, but so is almost everyone else in my class. One guy in my class has his paper done, but he did it while in class. I think that is a bit extreme since we are supposed to be paying attention to what they are teaching us in class.

This evening I went over to the Munsey's and baked. This time I made individual fruit pizza's, except they have a meringue base instead of a sugar cookie base. Although they tasted really good right after I made them, my guess is that they will be soggey by class tomorrow morning. Oh well :(  

Headed to the Sandbox

I just talked to someone at the unit I'm going to in order to get a better picture of what my future might look like. They are deploying very soon. In fact, I may get there within days of their deployment, although I’d have to wait around for a few weeks in-processing and stuff before I join them in the sandbox.

Home Sweet Home

Columbus Day...what a great holiday. I say that not because I'm a huge fan of Columbus, but instead for a purely selfish reason. That reason being that I got a four-day weekend and was able to go home. Betsy had a wedding shower on Saturday and I decided to keep my visit home a suprise for her, although the rest of my family knew I was coming home. The shower was very nice, and it was great seeing Betsy again. She has a lot of hair now, at least compared to the last time I saw her.

The wedding shower was the main event of the weekend, but while I was home I also spent time with the rest of my family, slept, read a lot, went to church at C&R, made a fruit pizza, and went out to coffee with Misha. Misha and I had only planned on getting together for an hour because he had a test he needed to study for, but we ended up talking for 2.5 hours. It was great catching up with him, and also helped abate my recent fear that I am socially inept and can not carry on a decent conversation.

Now I am back in good old AZ (shown below). Only a month left here and then off into the big world.

The view from my window.


I've spent far too much time this afternoon at my computer adding new programs and trying to figure out how to use them to make my life easier. One program that I added was iTunes, because I also ordered an iPod Nano this afternoon. Although I have a Rio 20 gig MP3 player right now, I am not too happy with it and can't really count on it to work all the time anymore. Most of the reviews I read for the iPod Nano were good, so I hope it is worth the money.

 

Inside the Cave

I'm still trying to figure out how to best post pictures, so that is why I have two entries about the cave instead of just one entry.

The cave was really cool, but unlike what the pictures show, it was pitch black which is why everyone was supposed to bring flashlights. I managed to forget mine in my car, so I stuck close to Rachel the whole time. It was also very dusty, so many of the pictures I took didn't turn out very well because the flash would reflect off the dust.

The trip was a very welcome break from the classroom, powerpoint, and preparing briefings. We were all a little smoked after the trip because for PT that morning we had done a harder hill run, and then it was fast-paced uphill hike to the cave. I may go back again sometime with friends, or find a new cave to check out.

Going to the Caves

On 31 September my class took a field trip to a cave in the area in order to get an idea of how and why terrorists/insurgents/anybody really would use them to hide in or for their operations. The picture to the left is from hike to the cave. It's basic AZ scenery.

Army Crew

I miss these girls. I sure hope things start looking up for the women's crew team.

Time for a change

The heading says it all. Plus, I'm at home for the weekend and trying to keep myself occupied. What I really should be doing is going for a run right now instead of playing around with the blog.

I must have been really out of it this morning. I did a load of laundry, and when I opened my fridge just now I found that I had stuck my laundry detergent in the fridge. Maybe it works better and lasts longer when it's kept cold. :Þ

Sore....

I was hoping to make the whole 15.6 mile ruck march, but as I approached the 12 mile turn around and drop off I decided to wait to do that 15.6 miler another day. However, after hanging around for about 10 min I talked myself into giving it a try. I took off running to try and make the time, and I did okay for about the first mile or so, but since I was running alone (there were only 2 other girls going for the 15.6 and they had left a few minutes before me), and since I wasn't sure how much time I actually had to complete the final 3.6 miles, I mentally gave up after the first mile. My pants were also starting to cause chaffing, and my left shoulder hurt a ton. I made it to around the 13.5 mile mark where I was finally picked up, which is what I was hoping for. It was dissapointing, but I'm fairly confident that I can make the 15.6 mile time on the pure GPB ruck march. The good news is that I was third girl to finish the 12 mile ruck march and made it in a time of 3 hrs 15 min, although that was slower than the pace I wanted to keep.

I haven't written much recently, and I guess the only explaination I have for that is that I haven't felt like writting. There's been a lot on my mind, but a lot of it is personal.

Tomorrow is the 12 mile/15.6 mile ruck march. We start at 5pm and I should end before 9:10pm...I hope. I know that I could make the 12 miles in the required time, but I want to go for the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (GAFPB), and so that means that I need to do the 15.6 miles in less than 4 hours, 10 mins. I'm guessing my feet will be fairly torn up by the end. I've passed all the other events for the GAFPB, so this is the only thing standing in my way.

This morning in class I felt like a huge stick hit my left eye and then realized that I couldn't see very well. My contact had somehow managed to rip in half and half fell out, but the other half stayed in leaving me with a lot of discomfort. After about 30 min of trying to get it out without having to leave my work I gave up and went to the bathroom where I removed the other half.

I miss the guys :( I wish I could still hang out with them, listen to all their advice and experiances, and watch football and bake at their place.

Wow! I had completely forgotten that today was Tuesday and that I had OCF tonight. The only thing that reminded me was Jasmin's away message just now.