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.

Latest Happenings

Time for an update on the latest happenings around here!

Working Nights
They put me on nights after I got back from Maryland. It hasn't been as terrible as I thought it would be but it's still brutal... especially around that 4am, 5am mark. It's not as busy at night and I'm usually not rounding on my patients as much, mainly because I don't want to disturb them while they're trying to get some sleep. I like the people I work with on nights... well most of them at least, they're pretty laid back. It's tough keeping the night schedule routine though, and it's been keeping me from watching the world cup! =( The other day, I came home from work and got in bed by 8am. I set an alarm to get up to watch the USA vs. England game (which was airing at 11:30am PT) but I ended up setting my alarm for 11:30pm. So I slept from 8am all the way til 5:40pm!!! I couldn't believe I had slept that long. Of course when I got up, I had 20min to get ready to go back to work.

Visitors
My friend's brother and his friend were taking a road trip along the CA coast and was planning on spending a couple days in the SD/Oceanside area. I don't know my friend's brother too well but I've met him a couple times and he's a pretty chill and funny guy. They were supposed to spend a couple nights in the area at a friends place but that didn't work out too well. Apparently, this guy already had 2 other people staying in his crowded apartment and his place was pretty trashed and smelled of urine. So I offered my living room and they ended up staying two nights. I took them on a quick drive thru of base, went to the pier and had burgers right on the pier over the water. The next day, we met up with his dad and went to this park with tide pools, and an awesome view of SD. Oh and I finally tried a California Burrito! I don't know about other people, but I still prefer Chipotle! It was a fun time.


At the bottom when the tide is low, there are small pockets/pools where animals sometimes get stranded. The tide was high that day so we didn't get to play in the tide pools.


View of SD (Picture does it no justice and it was gloomy that day- see below)


Visiting the seals in La Jolla

June Gloom
As you can see from the pics above, June Gloom is upon us. This is when the clouds come in from the shore and it's overcast and cloudy most of the day. Sometimes it'll break and we'll get the sun back in the afternoons. I don't mind so much though since the gloominess helps me sleep when I get off work at 7am in the morning!

M-9
I was sad that we never got to play with, erhh I mean learn about weapons and guns during ODS. We got to do other training like fire fighting, mending a sinking ship, etc, but no guns. I finally got a chance to learn about the M-9 Pistol before I left for Maryland. Guns can be pretty scary especially if you've never handled one before. I was fortunate enough to have my cousin (ex Army) take me shooting once back in Maryland. I remember being totally freaked out and scared (mainly because I didn't know anything about guns and never handled one before). Anyways, our training was two days. The first day, we had to sit thru class time for most of the morning. In the afternoon, we got to actually handle (an unloaded) weapon. We took it apart, put it back together, then went out back and practiced our stance and drawing our weapon from the holster. Drawing your weapon from the dang holster is the hardest part, not aiming and firing! Next day, we got to go out to the range (somewhere on base in the middle of some dessert mountains/open fields aka middle of nowhere) and fire the weapon. Afterward, we came back, took the weapon apart, cleaned them, and put them back together. I finally felt like a real (and badass) military member. hahahaha. I want to go out to the shooting range and practice some more so I can earn my expert/sharp shooter. Now that I've learn about the weapon, I'm not as scared about it. Thinking about getting one... maybe? haha

Earthquakes
Since I've moved here, there have been a few small earthquakes. The first one I noticed was when I was at work. You could feel the place rumble and shake but it wasn't too big (one of my coworkers who was up walking around didn't notice). The other night though, we had a 5.7 mag quake centered southeast of me. It was kinda freaky and scary! I was sitting in my living room watching TV and then all of a sudden, the place starts rumbling and swaying. I hope this doesn't mean we are in for a big one like some of the news stations are saying.

~~~~
Things can get pretty lonely out here but it's a great place to be. I love the area and the scenery and weather is awesome. Being independent isn't easy but I'm learning a lot. And I'm also really enjoying the military. Granted there are a lot of pains and things (usually) don't go your way but I'm really proud to serve among my fellow sailors and marines. I never thought I'd feel this way, but I hope they deploy me in the next couple years. I'm ready to see the world!

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to having more visitors later this week!

Pleasant Surprises

This post is a shout out to Amy to say thanks for the pleasant surprise in the mail! It's a little late but better late than never? haha. Anyways I came home from work the other day and found a package waiting for me at the door. I had no idea what it was or who it was from. This is what I found inside:




This totally made my day!! Thank you Amy for remembering me all the way over here! Holy crap, I'm a quarter century now! In a whole new age bracket =(

Operation Fool Mommy= Success

This past week was awesome. Work Monday, off Tuesday, learn about the M-9 Pistol Wednesday, shoot and play with the M-9 Thursday (I felt like a real military person playing with guns, shooting them, then taking them apart, cleaning them and putting them back together), fly home Thursday night, rehearsal dinner for friend's wedding Friday, Wedding Saturday, and Surprise Bday for Mom (and my 25th birthday) Sunday. What a busy and awesome week! I'm so happy I got to go home, even though it was way too short and I didn't get to spend enough time with my family. The best part though had to be how happy and surprised my mom was.

My mom turned the big 5-0 this year on May 27th. I wasn't home then but I knew I wanted to do something big for her. She has to be the best mom in the whole world. Talented in every single aspect (I can't really think of anything she can't do or learn to do... except maybe fixing cars lol). She's helped me with soo many things, and not only me, but she's a crusader in nature so she helps everyone around her too (whether they ask for it or not). We were throwing her a surprise party the weekend I was coming home for my friend's wedding at Hunan. Usually you can't get anything past my mom or fool her. A lot of the times, she knows what you're gonna do before you do it. Also, since my dad can't keep a secret for the life of him, this party was going to be surprise for him too. My parents thought they were coming to the restaurant for my cousin's graduation party and when we yelled "SURPRISE" my mom was totally confused. She saw the priest from our church and all of our family and was like, "What's going on?" When she finally caught wind of what was going on, she was totally shocked and speechless. Operation Fool Mommy was a success!!! I'm so happy I could finally do something nice for my mom since she's done so much for me. It was really nice being home even though it was only for a short period of time.

You know work has taken over your life when....

You know work has taken over your life when... you start dreaming about babies and have nightmares about teaching women how to breastfeed! lol. And I'm not kidding, I actually dreamt about this last night! haha Thank God I'm coming home to MD this weekend! Can't wait!!

Sea World

So much to update on but no time! It's been so crazy busy lately. At work, we're either dying from boredom or dying from being too busy. Well, this week was a full moon and all the moms were giving birth. Our entire floor was full and we started doubling up rooms. I was a complete zombie wanting to kill myself by the end of the week.... but that's a different story for another time. This blog is dedicated to Shamu! lol

So my aunt was in town for a work conference. My cousin, who's currently living in LA for school, drove down and the 3 of us got to spend a nice Sunday together. We started out the day going to the NEX (Navy Exchange) so they could go shopping. The NEX is pretty much like a giant Macy's/shopping mall with just about anything you'd be interested in buying. The best part is that everything is at a discounted price AND you don't have to pay tax. I bought my mommy a Coach purse for her 50th birthday and my aunt bought one for herself. After the NEX, we went to Sea World! This was my very first time going to (any) Sea World. I love sea life and dolphins are my favorite animals so I was looking forward to it. It was kinda windy and a little chilly that day but sunshine all around!

The best part was that I got to go in the park for free and I got my aunt and cousin 20% off. Sea World had a "Here's to the Hero" thing going on and gave free admission to all military members. It was so awesome. On top of that, around the park there were signs that read "Here's to the Hero's". And to my surprise, right before the Shamu show, they asked all military personnel past and present to stand up and applauded us. I felt so honored and was so happy to see how much support the troops were getting from Sea World.

The show was great, it felt short but it's amazing how they train these animals. Here are some videos and pictures:




Shamu!








Dolphins!!

This one goes out to...

This blog goes out to my family who I miss dearly!

To my dad: who sat down and wrote me a real letter! He even stuck a crisp $20 bill in there and told me not to forget to start saving for retirement! hahaha Oh I love my dad!

To my mom: who never tires of me calling and asking for advice on what to cook or how to cook this and make that. Always there to offer her advice, even if you don't need it =P.

To my sister: who still goes out of her way to do stupid things I request back home. I know times are a little tough now with the job and stress and all but I have all the faith in the world in you. I'm sure I'll be seeing you out here soon ;-)

To the rest of you: miss you guys and I hope to see you out here soon (before they decide they want to deploy me!) lol