Sunday, May 27, 2012

Another day same ole....beep.. ( edited for young viewers)

I walk through the line in the chow hall, and as I look at the food underneath the glass window where the food is being served.. what do you see?  A large black woman wiping her sweat as she serves up the portions.  The army is so stern about using hand sanitizer to prevent sickness but a little detail they forgot .. the health department regulations. I have had diarrhea since day one here. I have chosen the salad bar for the remainder of my stay. I leave the chow hall hungry.. never full.

I did find small packets of peanutbutter at the end of the fruit line at breakfast. I take about 5 packets of those and stick them in my water pouch so I can snack on those in the barracks.
I had my first mre last night.. they have the nutrition label on the back so naturally.. I check it out being the health freak I am.. I traded out all my food for peanutbutter except the " roast beef" ( imitation of course) . The roast beef has nearly 1000mg of sodium in it!!!  Holy moly.!! No thank you!! 


Just some photos


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Reception week.

Wow.. what did I get myself into??  Was the thought after a sleepless 36 hours and minimal food. Assembly line after assembly line..standing... blood work... formation.. and just getting straight cussed at for looking in the drill sergeants direction.  The un known of everything is so scary and being completely out of your comfort is hard. But as the days gone by... I have already made a large group of great friends,  from all sorts of places!!  My buddy " lockheart" is from Oklahoma,  my bunk mate " Alejandre" is from sac town and "parks" is also from sac town but alot of friends from Kentucky e end o.e from Romania .  Seeing these people day by day... you build a comfort level. Even though we don't even know eachothers first names ( not used) we all have eachother through this.

Today we found out we don't ship till Tuesday... this at first was such a negative thing in my head ... but as the day goes by... it was actually a blessing.  I got the platoon together for some "in barracks " circuit training.  It was a good bonding experience for all of us and I was able to help out the group with their pushups and exercise tips .. my true passion....

I will write again later.. and tell everyone about the FOOD .. and stuff. :)


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

And I thought the DMV was bad...

Well today 4:30 am... WAKE UP CALL! We were woken up and said to be at breakfast at 5am. We rushed to pack up all our things, and down to breakfast we went. Directly following breakfast, we loaded the bus and were taken to MEPS. Once we arrived, we went through assembly line after assembly line and ended finishing around 9:30am. Sounds great doesnt it?? NOPE! We sat in a room similar to the DMV until 3pm. Thats right.. 3pm!! No phones, no internet, no talking, no sleeping. Nothing to read, nothing to look at except a tv on one end of a wall that played "black hawk down" over and over and over again. Getting up to use the restroom sounded like a vacation!! Every once in a while the "Marines" personnel would open the door and yell at all the future soldiers " SIT UP STRAIGHT... OPEN YOUR EYES... PRETENT TO ACT LIKE SOLDIERS!!" 

So all of you who impatiently wait at the DMV... just remember, its a cake walk compared to waiting on the military!  "Hurry up and wait" is the classic military slogan... and now I get why!

Anyway.. we ship out tomorrow 4:30am. Some how... beyond my control, I was selected to be the "group leader" and I have to be incharge of getting everyones tickets, make sure everyone is on the bus, make sure everyone stays together etc. Sounds like a babysitting job... too many 18 year old boys with fowl mouths and ZERO respect. This should be interesting... most have already failed to follow orders, even just puting their name and rank at the top of a piece of paper...

Tomorrow we go from Sacramento to L.A. at 7:30am, there is a layover until 10:30 in L.A. .. Then we fly to Atlanta georgia, we arrive about 5:30pm their time, the we BUS!!Yes.. I said Bus... to South Carolina ..

I will keep everyone posted! Hope everyone is doing well.

Heather

Saturday, May 19, 2012

2 days left in the only place I have ever known.

Monday... that is 2 days away from when I leave Grants Pass.

Grants Pass is such a beautiful town, everyting about it I know and love. It will be hard to leave here on Monday. These last couple weeks have really opened my eyes. I have really spent one on one time with my sister. Her and I , being so close in age.( and very different personalities). have never had a real connection until now. We have always loved eachother, but knowing I am leaving soon, we both have been in a little extra effort to create wonderful memories. With our lives on different paths- hers with building a family and full time school, and mine- full time school and exercise... we havent had alot of spare time to just laugh together. Moving in with her was the best thing I could have done for both of us, but it sure will make it hard to leave.  My going away party was wonderful last night. So many people came that I love and it just showed me all the support I have in my life.

I am a little anxious, not really nervous. Alot of people have asked if I was nervous.. and I can honestly say that I am not nervous, I love a challenge and I want to be pushed. Anxious because I have been waiting 5 months for this day to come. Some are not supportive of this decision, but most are. People who really know my personality.. think I am a good fit for this sort of life style. I am eager to see what this is all about!!

Until next time....



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Further Information about Basic Training

My basic training is in Columbia South Carolina at Fort Jackson. It is 9 weeks and 3 days. The base has a facebook, and I was informed they will post pictures of us in basic training (oh great!) . I leave on May 22!

Here is the link to that:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/FortJacksonLeader

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

21 days

Today I woke up chanting "Only 21 more days!"
I am eager to leave and get this over with. I am ready. I will miss my family and friends, but I know this is the right decision for me. I wasnt ment to be here in this little town. I dont even know who I was ment to be in this life if I were to stick around GP.
I just completed my last recorded PT test before I leave for basic. I improved my pushups, I reached the 75 mark!!! Situps- 80, and 2 miles in 12:49.
It feels so good to start a fresh life. Get rid of all my things I do not need or use.. I have been hoarding way to long unintentionally. You dont realize the things you collect over the years, until its time to downsize! Moving into Kris and Ryan's house for the last month has been fun. Never a dull moment in their household. I come home to Penelope (3) trying on my dresses and jumping on the bed, while Dirk (2) is digging through my things looking for any sort of sugary treat he can find! It gives me a chance to get to know my sister more, and be with the kids. I sure will miss them.
Dr. Foutz ( the dr. I work for) is trying hard to keep me."We can diagnose you Bi polar" was his latest plan. I will miss my job!