A Bad Moon

So I was just browsing through some movies a friend of mine sent me and found The Wolfman with Benecio Del Torro--ever seen it?  (Just FYI, I am extremely frightened of werewolves.  I am almost phobic about them.  I watched American Werewolf in London when I was 5 and refused to leave the house for days and days, even in the daylight.  CCR's Bad Moon Rising would come on the radio and I would scream.  It was bad.)  Anyway, now I watch EVERY werewolf movie I can find just to prove that I can watch it, even though I cover my eyes and have nightmares.  SO tonight I thought why not!  I started watching and of course they leap right into the scary parts--some dippy guy was wandering around the forest yelling for someone to come out, presumably the werewolf?  I don't know who else he was expecting...  You can guess where this is going huh?  It came out!  And didn't say 'here I am, what did you want?' like that idiot was so obviously expecting but instead ate him!  I made some yip noises and covered my eyes and then my heart was pounding so bad I had to shut it off.  Maybe I will watch that later...in the daylight...when I am feeling brave!

News

I have some news--bittersweet news, really.  I am unable to return for Bryn Mawr summer '12.  :(  Very sad face.  I am going to the Middle East next summer to become more fluent in my Arabic.  I have a couple different programs to choose between so I am not sure which country I will be going to yet--either Jordan or Oman.  I will keep you updated.

I already told Bryn Mawr I can't come back and it was awful and broke my heart.  I hope that I will be able to return to Bryn Mawr at some point though!  I have a feeling we are not done yet, oh no, we are not.  It will always hold a very special place in my heart. 

Soldier Update

Hey there, Happy belated Thanksgiving!!

I have 2 weeks left of classes and I am very excited!  Although I really enjoyed this semester so part of me will miss it.

Soldier update!  I have had 7 Soldiers thus far and 4 of them are now home--yay!!!  Of the last 3 I have two will be home by mid-December and I am so excited for them.  I will miss talking to them but I am very happy they get to be home with their families finally.  My last and 7th Soldier is in Kuwait and just got there so he will be there until next November.  I plan on adopting more after my two in Iraq go home though.

Will and Aunt Jessie

Brandt, Jessie, Will

Family Pic

While I was home I attended Weston's baptism.  He is 2 months old and adorable.  I coaxed a few smiles from the little guy and man is he wiggly!  It is almost hard to hold him he is so wiggly!  And Will and I played and sang the pirate song a lot.  It was a good time.

Happy FALL!!!

I have been remiss in my blog updating duties.  Many apologies!  I am still busy busy busy with school--but there are only 5 weeks left or something crazy like that and I cannot believe how fast the time has flown.  My classes are going great and I love learning about Psychology.  Of course my FAVORITE class is Arabic :)  And, tadaa, I can read and write!  We are getting to some big-time sentence structures now and it is a little intimidating.  I met with my prof the other day and we discussed the class--strangely enough, or maybe not so strange, most of the class has dropped out.  There used to be close to 40 of us and now there are 22.  I guess not everyone shares the same passion for learning Arabic.  Anyway, hay mucho plans regarding Arabic but I cannot put them on here yet.  I will let you know when I can :)

My family is good.  All are busy.  Kaelan turns 7 on the 8th of November.  Can you believe that??  I cannot.  Kameron is in preschool--he goes to the Deer room and is loving it.  I think he mostly loves the miniature toilets and sinks that are just his size.  And my other two nephews are also good.  Weston is getting big.  I will post a good picture.  Will is getting used to being a big brother and it is cute.

Big Brother!

I have to do an oral presentation in Arabic today.  It will be easy because it is about me and at least is in first person.  :)

Baby Weston!

So precious!

He's here!!!  His C-section was scheduled for the 26th but apparently coming early is just his MO because Ashlie went into labor on the 22nd early in the morning and rather than wait they just took him C-section that morning, at about 8:20 AM.  He was 7.4 pounds and was 19 inches long.  And I will say one thing for C-sections--they don't make the baby look all squished!  Weston is perfect :)

I went to Helena on Friday after class and stayed the night with Will so that Brandt could stay at the hospital with Ashlie and Wes.  Will and I had some good bonding time--we ate cookies and played the X-box.  It was a mini-vacation for both of us :)  Man Will can talk!  Sure, half of what he says he is just repeating but it is impressive all the same.  I think if he was taking Arabic class with me he would kick my butt at it!

Taking Me Back

I love school!!!  I am in my official 3rd week of classes and I am going strong.  And despite having 19 credits I am not overworked a bit.  Not much homework.  Granted I am tired but that could be because I haven't been sleeping very well--I wake up in the middle of the night and speak Arabic to myself.  Then I get the itch to get up and start writing words--in Arabic, of course--but I make myself stay in bed and eventually I fall back asleep again. 

I am practicing Arabic on a daily basis and I already can feel myself getting better.  I can read and write 13 letters in the alphabet thus far--but I definitely need improvement.  My writing looks like a 4-year old!  I bet those little Arab Kindergarteners could show me a thing for two.  But I love it and I am excited to be getting a little better.

As far as the rest of my classes go, I am learning so much about Psych already.  I think my favorite class just might be Development Psych, but then again we are learning cool things in Research Methods right now too.  I am a bit disappointed in my Abnormal Psych class but that is just because the instructor seems a little uncomfortable teaching it and we haven't gotten to anything good yet.  I also like my Psych 100 class, despite having to go be a guinea pig for the grad students on Wednesday--I just hope their experiments have nothing to do with The Jersey Shore!

My Babies

Playing at Sandy Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to Casper before school started so I could see my boys.  We hung out all week and had tons of fun!  Here are some pictures of the merriment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Cold!!!

I will miss my Kameron

Firepower!

Playing in the water

Crazy Thing Called Life

So I did go to Bryn Mawr this summer--for my 6th.  I did not, alas, write about it!  I was crazy-busy--I moved from Junior Camp to Senior Camp.  I loved my kiddos though--for those of you reading this, you know who you are and I miss you!!!  Basically I can never go back down to Junior Camp after the hectic-fun-wonderful-insane thing that is Senior Camp.

And now?  I am back in Montana, at the University of Montana as a post-baccalaureate student, getting my degree in Psychology.  I will be here until May.  It is only the 2nd full week of classes but I already LOVE all that I am doing.  I am taking Abnormal Psych, Developmental Psych, Arabic, Research Methods, and Psych 100.  Even though I have 19 credits my schedule isn't too busy.  Arabic is my hardest class and the one that I love the most, it is true.  Everyday I go and everyday I feel slightly uncomfortable to be there but that is how I know I am learning!

In other news, Brandt and Ashlie's baby is due soon.  His name will be Weston Brandt and they will call him Wes for short.  His due date wasn't until the beginning of October but Ashlie went into labor with him a few weeks ago and his little lungs weren't fully developed yet.  That and because he is breach made for a scary time until they got it stopped.  They initially put her on bed rest but then took her off and now they are deciding whether to schedule a C-section or see if they can get him turned naturally.

In Soldier news, two of mine went home.  You may have heard that I had just adopted a 4th Soldier right before I went to camp.  He went home mid-summer due to a family emergency--:(  I worried about him and still worry about him but I don't want to bother him now that he is home.  And my SMSgt got to go home because he was all finished!  And then my SSG was promoted to SFC--yay!!!--and he went home for this month only on leave.  That left me with only 1 Soldier to support so I am going to adopt another one!

Fun in the Sun--Finally!

It has been RAINING nonstop for the past couple of days.  I would say that we get 3 days out of the week that are sunny.  Boo!!!  And so yesterday it was beautiful, but a bit cold, so we went to the park in Fairfield to watch a parade.  Brandt and Ashlie came down with Will so we all went together and hung out.  Here are some pictures of that.

At the parade!  Will wants Kam's candy

Wrestling in the park

A new work out for Aunt Jessie

Kameron riding the miniature pony

Then today it was 86 and so hot out that we broke out the Slip-n-Slide!  It took about an hour and 20 minutes to set the thing up but once we did it was so worth it!  The boys had a great time.  Even little Will played in the cold water.

Holy Buckets that is cold!

Uncle Bubba giving a boost

Kameron

Kaelan got the hang of it finally

Then after the heat went down a little bit the boys and I went slacklining.  I had sunburned the backs of my legs and boy could I feel that when I was walking on my slackline!  Ouch!

Hammock time!

Kaelan is a natural!

Yes he has no pants on

Firetrucks and Motorcycles

We are in Montana for some vacation--Kurt couldn't make it due to work so Kat and the boys and I hopped in my Highlander and headed down yesterday.  The roads have been closed for a week due to flooding but we only crossed over one section that had water covering the road.  Today we woke up and made the jaunt to Helena to visit Brandt, Will, and Ashlie.  We got to play in the firetrucks at Brandt's fire station and took lots of pictures.  We also got to ride on his Harley Davidson Road King.

Here are some highlights of the day!

We all got rides!

Kaelan riding the Harley

Kameron riding that Harley!

Whoa--cool toys!

Kaelan and Auntie Jessie

Cousins!

Kaelan climbing trees

We Heart Our Soldiers

AAUSS

I have been asked some questions about the program I go through to adopt soldiers so I thought I would take a minute on here and tell you about it!

It is officially called Adopt A US Soldier--if you look that up you should find it. I was first introduced to it by a friend who was in Afghanistan. She asked if I would consider adopting a soldier over the holidays because so many did not have family or were not getting mail. I said yes and that is how the boys and I ended up with our SSG in the SF, who we had until April when he was finally sent home. We liked it so much that we adopted more! And now I have 4 soldiers!

Basically you sign up to adopt and it takes about 3 days initially to be assigned a soldier. Their information--rank, name, address, email address and any comments--will appear in your profile after the 3 days are up and you have yourself a soldier! Each soldier is given between 4 to 6 supporters just in case 3 or more stop writing for whatever reason. I must stress that this site does NOT guarantee that your soldier will write back. I have 1 silent soldier that I have not heard a peep from since I first adopted him--and I write him 2 letters a week plus the care packages I send. So if you are easily discouraged or are doing this to be in constant contact with a soldier I have to tell you that it is probably not for you! However, I have gotten fairly lucky. I have had 5 soldiers altogether and only 1 has been silent.

My idea of support is to write letters, emails, and to send down care packages. You are not obligated to send care packages but I like to spoil my soldiers. I especially like it once we have developed a rapport and I know just what exactly they would like the most--and then surprise! It shows up in Iraq or Afghanistan! The only problem I have had is that I want to ask so many questions and most of the time they can't answer. Especially my SSG in the SF! That was so hard! At first he would say 'I can't answer that' and then once he got to know me better he would just ignore the question.

I have gotten to know 3 of my soldiers pretty well. Our SSG in the SF is home now but we are keeping in touch still. He has disappeared for training purposes but I hope to hear from him soon. 2 of my soldiers still deployed in Iraq keep in very close contact. We talk almost everyday, and sometimes more than once a day. They are great guys. My SSG (P) has a family back home and it is fun to hear about them and see pictures. My SMSgt in the Air Force is my silent soldier and I just hope that my long rambling letters don't annoy him too much and that the care packages make him smile. Now my new CPL and I have exchanged emails too and I sent down his first care package to Afghanistan.

The program will contact you once in a while to adopt another soldier but only when they have an influx of new soldiers looking to be adopted. They are never pushy and they never make you feel guilty. If anything, they are a tremendous support and it is awesome to visit the forum on the site and talk to other adopters. I have gotten tons of answers and tips through there. I even found recipes! I am sending my soldiers a cake in a jar today--I am excited to get that going to them. If you do not feel that you can adopt a second or third or 4th soldier, then don't! It wouldn't be fair to them or you. So no pressure when you do get an email asking if you would like another one.

Ok, now I have to address another big downside, other than perhaps not hearing from your soldier ever. Worry! I worry about my guys. I can't help it--I get too attached, especially when we talk more than once a day. My SSG in the SF disappeared for the entire month of February and I think I got an ulcer. I worry about my guys pretty much all the time but I do not let them know that. They do not need to hear it from me. I am just there to write about things light and to take their mind off whatever they are going through. That being said, I do not avoid the topic if they bring it up with me. They are pretty stoic guys for the most part--when they do mention any dangers they do it in a straightforward way. Now that I have gotten to know some of them more they let me in a bit more and tell me what they really think.

I have found some very good people through this program. My soldiers are all sweethearts and I am so proud to be supporting them. I feel that just saying I support the troops isn't enough--I need to DO something myself, other than donate money to some organization. This is the most hands-on thing I can do and it lets me see some of the people I am helping. Not only see but get to know. They have pretty much become family by this point!

And One More Door Closes

I am officially through with Precision Prosthetics & Orthotics. I first started in 07 and minus summers have been there ever since. And while I love the people I work with--they are truly lovely--I have never been more excited to close one door in my life.

On Friday we had my goodbye lunch, which due to an overload of patients meant that we pretty much ate in shifts and only overlapped by about 10 or 15 minutes. Oh well. We went to Wonderful House, which has the BEST chicken fried rice you will ever eat. However, do not get too attached because I plan on marrying it. If I ever decide to settle down and commit, that is. Who knows.

Anyway, I have more news. I was asked to adopt another soldier--and because I truly feel down to my bones that this program is a good one and because I feel that I have the time and energy to devote to yet another--I said yes. And now I have a CPL, in the Army, in Taskforce Spartan at FOB Ramrod in Afghanistan. Yep, I have my first soldier from Afghanistan and that means I will worry twice as much. Anyway, I emailed him and got my first response! I have his first care package all ready to send out--although it was hard to choose because he is fairly remote. Not so remote that he doesn't have internet access, obviously, but I don't know how often he gets to use it. And no one I knew could tell me about FOB Ramrod. So we shall see.

And that makes 4 in my family of Soldiers!

So now I will be cleaning, organizing, and packing in the coming week to get ready to head back to PA and my 6th summer at Bryn Mawr. Soooooo excited to be there and to be able to have 4 Soldiers to share it with--it really isn't fair because they are like a hostage throughout this! They will be forced to listen to all my camp stories. And because I am making the move to Senior Camp I am sure they will listen to all my fears and frustrations too. I feel a little bad about that--not enough not to write though!

On a happy note, it very much looks like my boys will be coming with me to Montana so I won't have to say goodbye just yet.

Freaking Terrorists!

I know that everyone is thinking that...so I don't feel bad for titling my blog this way! As my friend Dan says, if you don't want jumper cables on your jumblies then stop blowing up civilians! Ok, so that had to do with the conversation we had about waterboarding and other torture means. This was in response to an article about whether we had received information on bin Laden's whereabouts through torture, but really the same applies. If you don't want to be called a freaking terrorist stop bombing people! But I digress.

The real point of this blog is to express my concern about what is happening to our ladies and gents in uniform in Iraq--and probably Afghanistan, too, actually, but I don't know for sure. Due to the adoption of my Soldiers I know much much more about what is going on over in Iraq than I previously did. And for reasons of OPSEC I will not post names or locations.

I was always hearing from my SSG in the SF that they were getting hit by IDF--indirect fire for those of you not in the military lingo know. That included me until I adopted my Soldiers. Anyway, he would say that he would be sleeping and bam--they would get mortars dropped on them. He would be so casual about telling me this too--just drop it into conversation. I was appalled! I mean, I know that they aren't vacationing over there but I didn't think that while they were on Base there would be any issues--not now that it is supposed to be better in Iraq. I knew that once he left on missions there was danger but not while he was back at the FOB--Forward Operating Base.

My SPC told me that they have been getting mortared a lot lately. He is at a different location than my SSG in the SF but it apparently happens everywhere. Anyway, what really bothered me this time was hearing that during a Toto concert--yes, that band that sings that Africa song!--they were hit and they had to pull the show early. It is bad enough that they have to randomly bomb our troops but to do it during Toto! Come on!

But seriously. It makes me angry and it makes me sad and it really makes me worry for my Soldiers--and yes, all our troops, but when you personally know someone it makes it harder. And the bad thing is that they are just randomly sending mortars over in the hopes of hitting something critical and injuring or killing our Soldiers. And so I say, freaking terrorists! Get another hobby!

Crazy Thing Called Life

It has been a crazy couple of months. I will list the main points.

Grandma Lena passed away in January--I know she is at peace now but it was really hard to say goodbye. We all came home for the funeral in Montana.

Our Soldier, the SSG in the SF, disappeared on a mission in February--for the ENTIRE month. I developed an ulcer and was having trouble sleeping. (I didn't really develop an ulcer but it sure felt like it!) But he emailed me in March to say that he was ok!!!

I adopted a second Soldier the end of February. SPC, also in the Army, also in Iraq. He has become a good friend by this point.

I decided that I did not want to pursue Criminology and in my quest for a grad school stumbled upon one that I absolutely fell in love with. Forensic Psychology! However, I do not have any psych in my background so after much debating I decided to go back to school to get a second BA in Psychology and from there to go into Forensic Psych with a Graduate degree. Soooooo by this point the only school that would take me was U of M. I will be heading there in the Fall and I am super-excited about this opportunity! Also, as a consequence of my Soldiers, I want to explore post-traumatic stress and perhaps get into counseling for that.

In April our first Soldier, SSG in the SF, came home!!!!! It was sad to not be supporting him anymore but we all wanted to stay in touch still. The boys and I miss hearing from him but we know that at least he is safe now. Alas, he disappeared yet again for training purposes. :(

I adopted a NEW second Soldier--our 3rd if you are going cumulative. SMSgt, in the Air Force, also in Iraq. We have yet to hear a word from him--but we are still writing letters and sending care packages! I hope that they are brightening his day somewhat.

Through a series of miscommunications and errors we were led to believe that we no longer had our first Soldier so we adopted a new second Soldier--our 4th cumulative. Well, that turned out to be wrong information so now we have THREE Soldiers! SSG(P), also in Iraq. We have been communicating for a little over 2 weeks now and he is a very nice person.

All in all our experience with adopting Soldiers has been a positive one! The boys and I love to send them things and to hear how their days are going over there. And although all 3 that we have left are in Iraq, they are all at different bases so we get to hear about life from different perspectives and different areas of the country.

I will be done with Precision Prosthetics & Orthotics in May and off to Bryn Mawr for my 6th summer in June. And upon my return I will be moving back to Montana and living in Missoula once more. I am excited.

Holidays Over--New Year Begins

Hey there!

I am back in Casper and have really begun my Grad school application process. The place I really want to go, San Diego State, extended their deadline to March! That was cool but I think I will have everything done before then. Or I should. Sheesh. It just takes forever for your transcripts to make it by snail-mail, apparently.

We had a good Holiday in Montana. Grandma Lena opted to not have chemo after all, so on Christmas Eve they moved her to a nursing home for extended care. She is hanging in there...I think she will have her good days and her bad. We spent a lot of time visiting her and Kaelan drew her lots of pictures for her walls.

We got so much snow!!! It was my fondest wish to have 7 feet--that didn't happen, but some of our snow drifts are piled that high!

All is well with our soldier, too. I worry about him now--I didn't expect to get so attached! The boys are just enjoying having a penpal I think and they like to draw him pictures. We try not to get them worried when he writes that something is going on over there--going on a mission, mortars, etc. I just tell them the good stuff from the letters.

And as nice as it is to be back in my own bed, I miss being home! We got to hang out with Brandt and Ashlie and little Will a lot, which was good. And of course, my parents.