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.

Military Life: Part 1 Here today, gone tomorrow

I haven't been so good at blogging, even though there's been a lot I could write about. I blame it on busy work schedules and being lazy! lol. So I've decided to start something new... blogger: military series. I'll try to make one post about military life every once in a while in addition to my other posts.

This week's theme is "Here today, gone tomorrow." I never really realized how difficult military life was and the sacrifices our brave men and women have to make until I joined. It's not so bad for me right now b/c I'm not settled down yet and I don't have any kids but leaving my life and my family behind and going to a whole new area where I knew nobody was not easy. One lesson I've learned pretty quickly is not to get too attached to anyone because being in the military, one of you could be moving away at the drop of a hat. I made some awesome friends at Officer Development School and grew pretty attached within 5 weeks but after graduation, we all went our separate ways. We keep in contact every now and then but it's not the same. I've also started making new friends here too and really enjoy working with a lot of my "shipmates". Unfortunately, 3 have deployed and I already know within the next 6 months, we'll have mostly new faces around. It's hard not getting attached and constantly having to change and adapt, which brings me to my next point....

I wouldn't usually write about this but what the heck. My next point is finding love... ok maybe not that deep but at least dating and having a stable relationship. How is that possible in the military with the potential of deployment/PCS looming over your head? It's not easy! Ok ok, you're probably wondering why I bring this up and I guess I ought to confess... I've finally met someone cool! We've been dating for just a little while but we have a lot in common, one of which may not be a good thing... we're both in the military. I'm a Naval Officer, he's a Marine officer. Yeah, I know what you may be thinking and I never thought I'd go for a Marine either but he's different from all your other Jarheads. We get along well and always have a good time together. Unfortunately, he's deploying next month =( Just my luck, when I finally meet someone cool that I can actually date (b/c as officers, we're not allowed to date enlisted members). Bah-hum-bug!

=)

Been a while since I wrote, and a lot has been going on lately. I'm not gonna lie, when I first moved here, I was extremely terrified and it was lonely for a very long time. I got used to being by myself a lot of the time, cooking for myself, eating by myself, going out to eat alone, going to the movies alone, going shopping alone. But like anything, things have changed with time and I am totally in love with life right now. =P

This past weekend, I got to go to an awesome party with some friends. It was so refreshing to meet other people, especially men! I've been surrounded by too many hormonal women at work with all these mommy's and babies. The party was hosted by one of the doctors at work who lives in a mansion with a bunch of other Navy and Marine officers. It was an awesome time ;-)

The next day, I went to the beach to go boogie boarding. It was such a beautiful day and the sun was out and shining. My co-worker and I were talking about no matter how stressful work gets, how could it get any better, living in a place where people come to vacation?

And on Monday I finally got to take my surfboard out for the first time! The sun was setting and it was getting dark, but we decided to hop in anyways. The scenery totally takes my breath away...





Now I'm preparing for what's gonna be an awesome week with some of my guhs coming to visit! Will continue post later...

Happy 4th!

I haven't been so good with blogging lately. It's been soo busy and hectic. I had some family in town last week and between work, taking them around, and trying to switch between night and day schedules, I was exhausted. It was so much fun though. I wish I could have gotten more days off! Pics are uploaded on my facebook.

But in other news, Happy 4th of July everyone! I wish I could have been home to go to OC and watch the fireworks with my family like every year and also to be home for Amy's bridal shower but I had some fun here in SD too.

My cousin came down and spent the weekend with me. We got to go to the San Diego County Fair which was pretty huge. All the fatty, artery clogging food you could ask for!

Fried Butter Anyone?



Speaking of Butter...


And of course, you can't go to the fair without getting funnel cake...


Even the goats got 4th of July spirit!


We thought about staying at the fair for the fireworks, but after being conned out of all our money on games we couldn't win, we decided to leave and go see fireworks somewhere else. This year, I got to see fireworks on a military base. There's a private beach here on base and they were having their own beach bash and fireworks display. It was really crowded when we got there but they had a live band going and everything. It was definitely a different experience this year, one that had much more meaning than any of the years prior. It made me think of what July 4th really is about, celebrating America's Freedom! Prior to the show, they had a video displaying pictures thanking our troops and the general even came out and made a mini speech before giving away a free car to a lucky service member (no, it wasn't me =(

The fireworks display was choreographed to all patriotic songs and all the marines and sailors were singing along. Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" even made an appearance. And after the fireworks were over (and even before they started) the crowd broke out into chants of "U-S-A U-S-A U-S-A" This is how we should celebrate our 4th of July! Proud to be an American and proud to be free! Happy 4th folks!

Fireworks to "God Bless the USA"


Can't figure out how to turn the video right side up yet, but it's almost 4am and I should prob hit the sack now.