Things I miss:
- Clean breathing air, non-poop smelling air
- Walking around without having to worry about:
    a) crazy freak sandstorms
    b) rocket attacks
    c) bad guys who may have somehow gotten onto base
    d) getting kidnapped or raped or assaulted
- Driving
- Shopping
- Variety of food, good tasting food
- Cooking
- Showering without shower shoes
- Clean water
- No water restrictions
- Not having to care for prisoners
- Not having to see hurt American soldiers or amputees
- Going to the movies
- Going out on dates
- Going to the beach
- My own space
- And most of all, I miss my family, friends, and boyfriend!

Time to resurrect this blog!

I know people aren't really using this anymore and I had meant to resurrect this blog earlier to update people back home (mainly my dad because he was requesting I update him more on my adventures here) but I've been here for over a month now and am just now getting to update this. lol. Hopefully I can keep up with this. There's a lot I can't talk about or post because of security reasons but I'll do my best. Perhaps the beginning is a good place to start. It was a long journey to get here which included about 6 weeks of training, flights to a bunch of different states and countries and cold frigid weather. Now that we are here, it's been sand, dust, and more sand. It smells like sewer and poop sometimes and the scenery usually consists of sand, rocks, and connex boxes. Training before getting in country was long but fun for the most part. Felt like I was in the "real" military and that I was training to be a soldier. We went to the shooting range everyday for a week and a half straight. I learned and qualified as marksman on the M9 pistol and M4 rifle. There was a day we got to shoot heavy weapons too which was a lot of fun. That 50 cal packs a lot of punch! We also wore our full "battle rattle" which consisted of a flack vest and kevlar (which felt like 50lbs of gear). We went on convoys, did humvie roll overs, learned about IED's... the whole 9 yards. Of course none of this pertains to my job as a nurse but it's fun to learn none the less.

Since I've been here, I've learned and seen more than I ever have the past two years. I've taken care of detainees, US forces, NATO coalition forces, local nationals... you name it. We've done everything from gun shot wounds (GSW) to IED blast injuries, to kidney stones. I'll get more into stories later. Now it's time to get some sleep. Hopefully the sandstorm, wind, and smells will be gone tomorrow. Til next time...

Summer

Even though I'm in beautiful Cali where it's sunny, warm, and in the 70-80's everyday, it still doesn't feel like summer to me. Summer was when I was home in MD, surrounded by tons of family and friends... beach trips to Ocean City, boardwalk, BBQs and family parties/get-togethers out the wazooo and of course good ol' Maryland crabs!!! I miss the east coast and my family!

Playing with Fire

Playing with fire.... it's fun at the time but sooner or later you're gonna get BURNED. And it hurts when you get burned. F00k it all!

Sink or Swim

So it's kinda crazy to believe that I've been here 1 year already and I'm now the second most senior officer on the unit. A lot of people have come and gone during that time and there have been a lot of changes over the past year too (not only at work but in my life as well). Since my deployment got canceled, I've been in a little depressed mood. I was looking forward to getting away from postpartum, getting out there in the world and really DOING something, and I was also looking forward to getting out of a lot of things including:

1) Uniform Inspections
2) Physical Fitness Test
3) Training to Charge Nurse

Well, $300 later (from buying stuff for deployment i.e. more uniforms and all the items that go along with it, toiletries, etc etc.) not only am I NOT going anywhere anytime soon, I'm stuck with all this crap and a big credit card bill. Not to mention the gov't shutdown that almost took place and would have cut my pay almost in half. (But this story is for another post) Oh well, I told them to pick me up for the next deployment so hopefully that will be sometime soon.

But alas, I diverge. I was thrown for another loop today. No one was scheduled to be charge nurse. None of the nurses who were scheduled had been trained and neither had I. Well, since I was the most senior out of everyone, I took the reins and took on charge nurse... yup without having ever been trained for it! Didn't really know what I was doing but all of a sudden I found myself not only responsible for the entire unit but also responsible for assigning patient load, collateral duties, calculating numbers, and making sure everything was running smoothly. Sink or Swim! What a tiring and stressful day! Thank GOD it was a good day, not insanely busy (patient load wise), and nothing crazy went wrong. I'm beat... time for bed!

Nostalgia

Looking at old pics makes me feel nostalgic. Looking forward to summer and hopefully having more visitors! I miss my family!

Dear Mr. President

To my Commander in Chief,

Please stop wasting time playing golf over the weekend and making NCAA bracket picks when there are crisis's piling up all over the world. Libya is on the verge of civil war and even though you were adamant about "tightening the noose" on Gaddafi and holding him accountable for violence against his people, you've made no decisions and have taken no actions.

And then there is Japan who is undergoing the worst disaster since WWII. I don't even need to elaborate on this. What is the U.S. role on this matter?

Actions speak louder than words Mr. President, and quite frankly, I'm tired of being on "standby" for deployment while you're busy doing other things instead of making decisions.

Sincerely,

A concerned and impatient Ensign
U.S. Navy

Ready to Answer the Call

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCJcZemjRMo

Been sitting and waiting for over a week. From the looks of it, I don't think they're sending us anymore. They cut the deployment list in half and I'm the only one left from my unit. All my friends and everyone I know were cut =( I'm anxious to leave! The next update will be next Friday. Maybe they'll send us to Japan instead...


Hurry up and wait, that's what the military does!

Predictions for the future?

My fortune cookie tonight:




Hmmm.... hopefully this proves to be true in more ways than one ;-)

Where Boys are Made...

At the Stupid Factory!!!! hahahaha. Thanks Amy for always sending random surprises to brighten up my day!

What happens when Mom comes to visit

This is what happens when Mom comes to visit!! Well stocked, well fed!!




This is what happens a few months after Mom is gone. Empty fridge, hungry tummy. I miss Mommy! hahahaha

All the same

"Here's a big f*ck you to the calls I waited for, the dates I hoped for, the love I wanted, the tears I cried, and the Heart you broke, asshole."

Hope

"I believe everything happens for a reason. People change so you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they’re right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together"

Military Life: Part 2 Uniforms

One night while Amy was here, she walked into my room and saw me with an ironing board, my uniform, a ruler, and a book. She laughed at me and asked me what I was doing. I guess I didn't realize how funny this looked and said "I'm getting my uniform ready for work tomorrow." The ruler and book was to make sure I had my ranks, ribbons, and pins on correctly. Instead of wearing scrubs to work, I rotate between my khaki uniforms and the new blue cami's. Being a nurse in the military is much different from the civilian sector and we have a lot more responsibilities. Making sure our uniforms are squared away is just one part of it.

This week, we had a command wide uniform inspection for our new cami's. It was pretty crazy walking out and seeing a huge sea of people in blue cami's. Sometimes when you work in a hospital, the military aspect gets pushed aside and you focus only on your job. Uniform inspections always give you a nice smack in the face to remind you that you are a military member and you're held at a higher standard, especially as a Naval Officer. We lined up at 0700 outside in ranks. I've been sick for a couple weeks now and haven't been feeling too good. Standing at attention outside in cold weather was not fun. Times like these make me really happy though, since I'm in San Diego and 40 degrees is considered freezing instead of being back home in MD where it's in the 20-30's. It's always intimidating when the Captain steps in front of you and looks you up and down to see if there's anything wrong with your uniform they can pick out. Luckily there were so many of us, they didn't go into too much detail and got thru all of us pretty quickly. I spent an hour the night before ironing and cutting off loose threads on my uniform. All that for a 30 second up and down look from the Captain. Good times. NOT! I wish I had gotten a picture... hopefully they will post some up and I can post them here later.

**EDIT**
As promised, here are pics!

Thanksgiving

Been way too long since I posted. Does anyone even read this thing anymore? I always check once in a while to see if anyone's posted anything but am usually sad to see inactive blogs.

Anyways, I've been going thru a lot of things lately and a lot of heartbreak especially with Dia Oi passing. I started writing a blog about it and all my feelings but decided not to post it. It's been hard dealing with a lot of things on my own and I wasn't looking forward to spending the holidays alone but this Thanksgiving I got to welcome Amy and John over!!!

I have to say, after trying to cope with things on my own, it was so wonderful having family around. We even got to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal and went shopping. It was a much needed break and I can't say how happy and rejuvenated I feel after spending a little time having fun with family. It really got me to take my mind off things and I feel so much better.

Some pics:

There was this man downtown who had a talent for balancing rocks. Crazy!



We got to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner complete with Champagne. I can't tell you how nice it is to come home after work to food and family!


Instead of going out, we spent one night in putting up a tree!! And we did a lot of damage shopping at the outlets!

If tears could build a stairway,
And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven
And bring you home again.

To the beat of the salsa

Summer is making one mean comeback! Just when I thought summer had said goodbye and fall was on its way with lower temperatures, it jumped up to 113 degrees on Monday! I slept thru most of the day since I worked the night before but when I got up, my buddy and I went to the beach to catch some waves. I hadn't been to the beach/swimming in the longest time, let alone surfing. I've been so busy lately and working night shifts doesn't work so well for getting things done during the day. It was so nice and refreshing to actually be up when the sun was still out! The waves were pretty huge but luckily we caught a break and they settled down enough for us to paddle out. Before long, we were out pretty far and that's when I saw fins in the water! They were rounded fins and I'm almost 100% positive they were dolphins but I was still totally freaked out, especially ever since shark week! So, we decided to paddle back in a little lol. After catching a few waves, we decided to call it a day, we were both pretty wiped out. What a workout! I got out just in time to watch the sunset too! It really was a great day to de-stress from all the craziness of work lately.


Caught the chopper as it was passing by (looks like a dot in this small pic tho)!


Ever since Rob left on deployment, I've been having a lot more free time and a lot more time alone too (at least when I'm not working). It's been rough, so I've decided to try new things and explore the area more, hopefully meeting new people in the process or at least help pass the time faster. The other week, I finally made my way down to the outlets close to my place. Though I didn't buy anything, there were some pretty nice stores down there and it was nice to explore a new place. This week, after surfing I decided to try something I never thought I would try: Salsa dancing!! My co-worker had been asking me several times to go with her and I finally decided to go. What the heck, why not? Since we were both running too late to show up for lessons, she went over the basic steps with me beforehand. I felt very intimidated and out of place when we got to the club; everyone was so good and they all knew what they were doing! The good thing about being a girl, however, is that all you have to do is look cute, tell the guy you have no idea what you're doing, and follow his lead. =) The guys at the club were all so good and they were pretty patient too. Surprisingly, I had an awesome time and was able to catch on (somewhat) hahaha. I was glad to say that I was able to step out of my comfort zone and try something fun and new! It's definitely something I would try again. I could probably use a lot of lessons and practice though. haha I would love to be like one of these professionals on Dancing with the Stars! hahaha


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNAOCphVTAQ&feature=related

Phone calls!

Super happy today cuz I got a phone call from my marine over in Afghanistan. Glad to report everything is going well so far. :)

A random act of kindness

Adjusting back to the night schedule hasn't been easy and work is tougher when you're stuck with all civilian nurses. For some reason, most of the night civilian nurses on my unit are pretty lazy and love pawning all the work on the military nurses and corpsman. Work is much better when I have another military nurse to back me up. We stick together, help each other out, and get thru the long shift together. Sunday night was difficult. It was my 3rd 12hr shift in a row and we were pretty busy. Our charge nurse that night was a civilian and as expected, pawned all the difficult patients and hard work on me and my fellow shipmate. By the end of the shift, my co-worker and I were wiped out. But of course we couldn't go home yet because we each had to stay over and get additional things done. I had to run around and get signatures (and a shot-ouch!) for my upcoming TAD (Temporary Assigned Duty) in Temecula. My co-worker had to go to PSD and get a new ID card. So afterward, we decided to go get breakfast at Denny's.

We left straight from work, still in our uniforms... we were both so starved. As we both sat down, I noticed this middle aged man looking at us... no big deal, I'm used to getting stares a lot when in uniform. Before he left, he came over to us and said "Have a nice day." We both thanked him and didn't think much of it. But when it was time for us to get the check, the waiter came over and told us that the elderly gentleman that was sitting across from us had already paid for our meals. What a surprise!!!! After a long hard night at work, it really brightened up our morning. I wish he was still there so we could thank him personally. Military life hasn't been easy but random acts of kindness from strangers like that really puts everything in perspective and makes me proud to be serving our country. I love living in a military town where there's so much support for our troops!

It's good to be HOME.