THINGS I learned at BOLC

First, pictures:




As you might know, I have been in San Antonio, Texas doing army training at Ft. Sam Houston. While I am a very young, inexperienced lieutenant, I have learned a great deal both about the medical service corps and the army in general. And by "learn" I do not mean that I was taught things I had not already known. There were few days that actual "learning" took place; I mostly observed both by my instructors and peers and saw how I wanted to act/not act.

7 Things I learned at Basic Officer's Leaders Course (BOLC)

1. The army is a great institution to be apart of and to work for. It has it kinks, as any major organization will have, but all and all I feel I am well taken care of.

2. People do crazy things when away from their husband/wife/significant other. No explanation necessary.

3. The food at the dining facility should be banned from human consumption. It's absolutely disgusting. And I know they have to feed a massive amount of people, but c'mon.

4. The majority of prior enlisted officers like to complain about how easier it is for officers. I often pose the question, "well, why did you become an officer then? No one forced you to do it!" They usually don't respond, just groan and curse me under their breathe. But it always really bothers me when they say that.

5. The only form of teaching is NOT powerpoints. Technology is great, but teachers need to get more inventive.

6. There are alot of weird people that join the army.

7. A positive attitude will get you far. Sometimes life really sucks, you are up far to early for nothing, you wait around to do nothing, and you feel very unproductive. It is easy to get bogged down with all the negativity- especially when those around you are negative too! But if you are positive, think positive- it really will make time go by faster and the situation more bearable.

Only a few more days left, then a little break, and then I am off to Seattle... finally!

Becoming Thrifty

Many know that my sister Fran is quite the money saver. From coupons to giveaways and contests- she's hooked. Anyone who is on facebook chat when she is entered in one of these contests know what I am talking about, as I frantically ask you to go and "like" a site and vote for her! It's a little ridiculous, but fun for her to WIN.

I got my first kick of the adrenaline that comes with competing in a Halloween picture contest when I submitted my photo of Amber (college roommate) and me being Juno and Bleaker to CrazyDog tshirt facebook site. After I WON (and got a $25 gift card to their store) I realized what my sister was talking about! It was like getting $$ tossed at me! And I loved it.

I am a lover of ebay, quibids, and craigslists (much of this because of Fran). I find myself going through my closet and other possession wondering how much it would sell on ebay. I was talking to Ben the other day and was telling him how I was considering selling jacket I have that I watched sell for $75 on ebay. He reminded me that I love the jacket, and wear it all the time. "But," I said, "I would get so much money!" Just the idea of "winning" that much money gets me excited. It's like winning the lottery! Not to mention that I love the jacket and wore it today in the 20 degree Nashville weather...

At this rate, I will be a 22 year old female with few material possession and clothes, but lots of mooolah in my paypal account!

The Month in Review:

October 7-10: Went to Minnesota to go to Jinette and Ryan's WEDDING! Ben was a great date :) My date's car had some troubles overheating and so we spent awhile at a local DQ when we should have been at the reception. But it was a good time. Jinette looked stunning, Ryan so handsome, and the food was much better than the chicken basket Ben and I split at DQ while we waited for Al to come save us!

October 10-17 CHICAGO: The public schools in Tennessee have a 2 week October break. Wanting to do something fun with the kids that was within driving distance to TN, Fran decided to plan a trip to Chicago. Mary has been dying to go to a "big city"- her dream is to ride a taxi in NYC (big dreamer, I know!), but she and Fran compromised with Chicago. And after further investigation, we found that The Lion King on Broadway was playing in Chi and Mary was hooked. Liz came from Texas. Thank gosh too, since Liz is Mary's absolute favorite :) Highlights from the trip:

- Having the worst possible seats at the Lion King, and Mary sitting on Liz's head in order to see.

- Gracie's 2nd birthday spent in a hotel room and an ice cream cake.

- countless taxi rides.- Lizzy and I walking around Chicago looking for a laundromat!

- Liz puking from the stench of our hotel room.

- Fran and I having to explain to Liz that lunchables are NOT a midnight snack.

- Jack's fascination with the Chicago subways

- Fran being too scared to walk the glass of the Sears Tower- what a wuss.

October 31st: Halloween! Mary was Rosetta the Garden Fairy (good friend of the more well-known fairy, Tinkerbell), Jack was Thomas the Train, and Gracie was Dora the Explorer. It was an all weekend event- as we went to many Octoberfests, school Bazaars, Chick-fil-a trunk or treat, and trick or treating in the neighborhood.

Good month, good times...

The Porker turning 2!

I started this blog more 3 summers ago before I left for Africa. Fran was a few months pregnant when I left and found out the sex of the baby while I was abroad. Communication was almost none, and I was hot to find out what Fran was having. It was in a crowded room with other bennies and johnnies that I found out it was a GIRL! Fran wasn't sure the name, so I made it my mission to converse with my buddies about what she should name the girl. Everyone gave their two cents (Ben was especially fond of this game, and actually used it as a tactic for our first date, asking if i wanted to have dinner b/c he wanted to discuss possible names for his almost-born cousin with the "baby naming expert!" I still have that email!).

And now the baby, name Gracie, is turning TWO in 6 days. Funny she is not even 2 years old yet when last night when I put her in nightclothes she fit perfectly fine in 4t PJ's. Can you say porker!? And while I peruse the photos of her 1st birthday, I can only hope she enjoys her 2nd birthday as much as her first.

It is the people that make the place.

One of the first things people in college asked me was where I was from. I guess my extreme use of the word "y'all" gave it away that I was not a native Minnesotan. After I told them I was from Texas, the next question always went something like this, "how the heck did you end up in Minnesota/St. Ben's?" To this questions I had two answers, a short and a long version. The short version is I found it on a whim. The long version includes:

*my deep desire to go to small(er) D3 school that had an above average softball team and finding a school that matched- St. Scholastica.

*a 20+ hour drive in the summer of 2005 with my dad and getting caught in the worst rain storm in the middle of Iowa!

* a deal Minnesota has called "Mn Private College Week" where if you come and visit a certain # of colleges in a certain week you get like 5 free application fee waivers (and everyone knows my family is a sucker for a good deal!)

*disappointing visits at most of the Minnesota private school (weird tour guide at St. Kate's, even weirder tour guide at St. Scholastica- I didn't care that they had a decent softball team anymore, they were weird!)

*my want to not drive another 20+ hour back home having not even liked any of the schools I visited. It was because of this, that my dad and I visited CSB on the last day of stay in Minnesota. As soon as I walked on to campus, the entrance near the Main Building, I looked at my dad and said something to the effect of, "this is it." And boy was I right.

I spent the last year of high school telling all my friends back in Texas about this great school in Minnesota I was going to attend. Most of my friends weren't looking to go out of state, and looked at me strangely that I would want to go so far. But my mind was set.

And so in August of 2006 I embarked on the journey that is college... met great people, had a great time, and couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. I went on service trips to Africa and Alaska, traveled with friends, cultivated and nurtured relationships that I know will last a lifetime.

...the reason I am thinking about all of this- my finding CSB, building relationships, etc.- is because I just got back from CSB/SJU for the first time since I graduated. Ben is a senior there and so I wanted to visit him, and see some friends in the area.

I enjoyed my time at St. Ben's/St. John's this visit. I love the feeling of fall, the changing of the colors, walking in the arboretum on trails I had never been on before. But what I enjoyed more than the scenery, or physical beauty of the campus was the conversation I had with my friend Lucy at Olive Garden. Listening to her talk about her new job as a nurse and while she isn't completely comfortable as a nurse yet, she knows it's the perfect job for her. I loved hearing about her wedding in May and all the planning that she already has done.

I loved going to Alexandria and visiting Tiffany. I loved watching her light up as she talked about her extremely "excited" 4th grade class. I remember sitting in our dorm freshmen year and her talking about wanting to be a teacher. Or last year as she stayed up so late making lesson plans during student teaching. She is a great teacher, and all her hard work has paid off.

And with Ben and I now in separate states for an unknown period of time, it was so great to be in each other's company for awhile. He has a tough semester with his senior thesis and upper division classes, but I know he will do great! I remember last year reminding myself how lucky we were to be at the same school together and how I needed to cherish these times- when you aren't 800 miles apart, but it is only now that I am truly realizing how lucky we were.

So now, four months after graduation it has finally hit me. It was not St. Ben's/St. John's itself that I loved so much (although I do!), it was the people. The people who made every weekend eventful even in the dead of winter, my fellow ROTCers who I worked out with before the sun came up, my nursing pals who became some of my best friends, and the 1.5 years I had at school with Ben (well minus the semester he spent galavanting in Europe!). Afterall, it is the people that make the place.

2006-2010 in pictures...

So, I am officially a college graduate! And rather then spend timedissecting and explaining every detail of my college experience, I think pictures are a better depiction of my time. So here it goes.... I decided to go to college in Minnesota, some 1000+ miles away from home. From the get-go I knew I wanted to pursue nursing, even though I had heard it was a tough major. (Above are 3 nursings friends and me on graduation day!

Freshmen Year:

First time I ever experience all 4 season, nephews Jack and Timothy were born, learned what an ice scraper was, travelled to Alaska for two weeks working with the state park to clean up trails and cabins, nearly gauged my eyeballs out studying for Anatomy and Physiology,

had a blast at Johnnie football games, rode on a jet ski for the first time, found out what a pontoon was, got in the groove of ROTC and 540am workouts 2x/week, had a blast....

Sophomore Year:

Lived with 5 great roommates, gorged myself at the new dinning hall (Gorecki), spent Xmas break in Lake Tahoe, nephew Brady was born, got accepted into the nursing program, travelled to Tanzania, Africa for a month- which is by far one of the most memorable moments in my college life.

Junior Year:

Experience apartment living, stayed up all night writing "care plans" for clinical, realized that I had no sense of direction hence my inability to find a point on a land navigation course for ROTC, my niece (and goddaughter!), Gracie was born, started dating Ben, completed LDAC at Ft Lewis, Washington State- where I realized I could find a land nav point, had an internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC

Senior Year:

Found the beauty in having a washer/dryer in my apartment, Had my own room for the first time (in college), visited Ben while he studied abroad (using the word "study" lightly) in Greece and Rome, went to Disneyworld for Christmas and Montana for spring break, graduated with a BSN, commissioned as a 2LT in the United States Army, realized this would be my last summer vacation

I am sure I have missed many "key" points, but this is a glimpse of what I have been doing these past 4 years. The 2010-11 school year started 2 days ago for CSB/SJU. Fran has been giving me lip about being sentimental and nostalgic about not being there no partake in all the college festivities. It's a funny feeling I feel about college... I feel 4 years is a sufficient enough time there. I throughly enjoyed every moment I had there- even in the -25 degree winters. And while I am excited about the future, I will always have a special place for CSB/SJU- the quaint colleges in a small town in Minnesota.

Maybe this is why I love it so much...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH7OPUfUx7c&feature=youtu.be