Turning 30 PT1 and a few fun pictures

Turning the big "30"...

Well, ladies and gentlemen.... I am now entering my third decade. Ugh... ha ha ha!

When my brother would say that I was getting old, I would rub it in and remind him that I was the last child out of all of us that was still in her 20's. Fortunately and unfortunately I can't say that anymore. I have joined the rest of the siblings of being in their 30's. However, I can say that they will ALL make it to 40 a lot faster than I am!

SO - what have I learned in my meager 30 years of life? To be honest, not much and a whole lot of nonsense! Just kidding. I think I've actually learned waaay more than my age, and tooo much of probably what NOT to do. Then again, I didn't specify if I learned things good or bad. However, I've, hopefully, been able to take my unfortunate lessons and turn them into something better - for the future.

Anyway - I'll blog more about my birthday later. It's late and I'm going to bed. (By-the-way, it's my birthday here for me, but just think... I'm still going to consider it my birthday until the people in Hawai'i end the 26th of May!)

Here are some pictures as of late.

A big 3-0 picture I did back in January. I'm so silly.

Me and one of SGTs in my unit - we went to have Kava with members of the Fiji Army.

Here I am getting an award. I was pissed but trying not to show it. I don't like being in the front of everyone. I would have much rather they tossed me my award and said, "Good job, now get back to work."

I got to participate in an egg relay race. The females in my battery got together and did the relay as a team.

Here we are... we won! Our prizes were these cool little howitzers that they mechanics made. Waaaaay cool!!!

Alrighty then... blog you later!

The Future...

Lately I've caught myself getting sooooo wrapped up and concerned about "what I am going to do after deployment" - that I have let it, some what, consume me. I've found that I've spent quite a lot of time researching, calling, e-mailing different schools and looking up tuition, financial aid, and when classes start. So, yesterday, I decided I wouldn't get on my computer and do the daily checks, and rechecks of what schools are available to attend. By-the-way, did I mention I'm looking for a good massage therapy school?

Anyway, tonight I was reading my scriptures and was led to a few scriptures that I read out of order - but in the following order, it was meant exactly for me:

3 Nephi 13

v. 33 - "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

v. 34 - Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself...

v. 32 - For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

Even though it's good to have a background and a good knowledge of my choices, I am pretty sure that God definitely is mindful of me and will look out for my best interest. I have, however, been praying that I will have the strength and courage to do what He needs me to do. (Hm... well - it's not praying for "patience", but sometimes I think it's pretty close. Blah!)

Anyway... here's to the future and trusting that the Lord's plan will always be better than what I could do for myself.

Race for the Cure

Even in Iraq, we were able to participate in the Race for the Cure run that happened in Boise, Idaho. We paid a fee, donated money, got a shirt and I don't think I've ever seen more "men" wear pink, than I did that morning. Here are some fun shots of our runners.

Oh, and if I look absolutely tired and funny looking in one of the pictures, it's because I did the 5k in 38 minutes with a ruck! I beat my last personal 5k record with a ruck by 5 min 19 seconds. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Then again, I am the one doing the rucking. Ugh!

Surprisingly, I do have a picture of myself actually doing things. I don't really have a lot of pictures of myself on this deployment, and honestly, I really don't mind!

Happy Mommy Day!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

An Adventure for Sure!

Helllooooooooo, Darlings!

Well, these past few days I've had the opportunity to go out with some of our teams and take photos of them. Most of them are of the Soldiers getting ready for missions etc. I do have to admit, I've been able to get in some of these pictures, too! YAY! I think you'll laugh at some of them.

This one is of me putting a gunner's harness on. (Why they only got me with a weird face - I'll never know.) The Convoy Commander let me ride in the gunner's hatch to take some photos. Granted, I also had to be aware of my surrounds and scan the area for any kind of threat, but IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

Here's a picture of me sitting on the little webbed seat swing that, surprisingly, fit my bottom. The actually gunner jumped up and took a photo of me. He thought it rocked that I was up there. Then, he had to complain that the driver was going extra gentle on his driving because I was up there. Bah - I didn't care. It was a sweet deal.

Then, the gunner got my camera again and took a picture of me coming out of our vehicle. I don't know if you can notice, but I'm wearing my glasses and my eyes are a bit puffy. The night previous, I guess, the mosquitoes had a field day on me and decided to bite me on my eyelids. I had to spend an hour just trying to get the swelling down in my eyes. It was horrible!

Okay... I'll end here for this mission. I hope you read the next blog though. It's pretty stinkin' cute! Today we had our "Race for the Cure" (Cancer Run) and a lot of people wore the shirts, but others also got into it! It was a great morning. I'll see if I have time to post it on here a little later.

A Brief Hello

One of my favorite memories of being overseas:

It's funny - I felt more at home on a camel than I did on the back of a horse! I guess that's my ancient bloodline going all the way back to the "Land of Father Abraham" making me feel like I've lived here all my life! Even though this picture was taken in Kuwait about 6 months ago, it's still one of my favorites that I wanted to share.

AND, if you've already seen this picture - pretend like it's the first time you're seeing it. It's more fun that way. :)

Get a Clue!

Honestly people - when you see a ring on someones finger... DO NOT COME ON TO HIM/HER. It's irritating as all get up! Seriously! Sad to say, I get upset and end up being a complete "not nice person". Ugh...

Okay, so here's the little story. I'm sure I shared this on here earlier today, but I thought I'd share it again.

Soooooooo - we arrived here on Thanksgiving day, and after getting my things to my room, I headed out to chow. My battle buddy and I sat down and commenced to eat. Some guy sat down by me and then proceeded to ask me questions, then asked for me e-mail, then asked for me to take him to my country and to join the military... blah, blah, blah. Then, seemingly enough, several times during my time here I've been asked to move to another country to marry; and have even been asked to marry and move here to Iraq. Oh boy!

So, would you like to hear how I met my "husband"?

- We were introduced back in college. ROTC together.

- We "married" December 22, 2009.

- His name is Sam. Works for the "Government".

Translation?

- In college I was introduced to the military by taking ROTC classes.

- I enlisted on December 22, 2009. I guess you can say that's a type of marriage - a "binding contract" for a specified amount of time.

- The name "Sam" - came from "Uncle Sam"... Get it? Married to the Government. He works for the Government, too.

Well, I think it was pretty witty.

Anyway, that's the story.

Have a nice day! :)

It's a Boy!!!!

First, let me clarify - I'm not pregnant, and I have not been pregnant. This is not about me.

I'M AN AUNTY... again!

My brother Keoki and his lovely wife, Foeata, had a baby boy on the 6th at 1022 PM. Or in military time: 2222 :) I heard he was 20 inches long and 8lb 9oz or something of the sort! Man alive - by the time I see him he'll probably be soooo big!

When I get a picture, I'll see if I can post it. YAY!!!!!

One love!

P.S. His name is Paenoa!

Hello Darlings!

Okay friends and family -

I know, I've been slacking on what to put on here. But, honestly, what am I supposed to put on here that doesn't compromise things. Besides, half of you might not know what I'm talking about anyway. Sooooo, am I forgiven? :)

I thought I'd put a few pictures on here and write a little description about them. Not sure what I'll put on here, yet, but here we go!

Here's the American Flag flying on our post. 01January11

We flew flags for some friends and family members. Here is one of my favorite people folding the American Flag.

A brother to two of our guys died that morning. We flew a flag on his behalf. A few days later, the brothers were on their way home with the folded flag from Iraq.

Me with some of the cleaners. They strung "Christmas" behind us.

Some of the Fiji Army came and sang Christmas Carols to us. Oh the beautiful sounds of Polynesian voices! YAY for brown people!

A Bit Sad....

Sad news -

One of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life passed away this past Monday. I am so heartbroken and sad. I can't mourn with the rest of my friends who's lives she's touched and loved. Oh the heartache of being alone.