Apology

Ok, just a quick note. You'll have to excuse me for how my posts look. For some reason, the previews and the actual posts don't want to seem to look the same. So my formatting hasn't been working too well. I'll try better to make them a bit more readable. Again, sorry!

Vaca from the Vaca!

Ah.....as much fun as vacations are, sometimes its nice to be done with them so you can catch up on sleep!! The only down side is that now that the vacation is over, I am back up in Alaska, missing my two lovely ladies. (Yes, they are still down in Washington for the time being). But I am heading to Mobile, AL for 3 weeks for training, and good news, when I get back, they will be visiting me for about 5 weeks!! WOOHOO :)

Now, for the details of our trip. Some people would yell at us and call us bad parents for dragging our child across the country and subjecting her to all those nasty germs and people out there. Well, thats one way to look at it, the other way is to say that we are helping her to build up her immunities at an early age :) In case any of you are worried about our dear little one, I will tell you that she is in good health and has survived our trip without so much as a cold!

Ah, but enough on that. More on the trip! The reason we actually took this trip, is because next summer I will be transferring away from Kodiak, AK (sad, I know). Before that can happen though, I need to put in my choices for where I want to go, and that needs to be done by 1 September. Needless to say, I want to be the good husband and allow my wife to have some input into where our family ends up, and we planned this trip to do two things; check out the two places I want to put at the top of my list (San Diego and Cape Cod), and to introduce baby Ayla to her extended family down in Arizona and Illinois.

So let the travels begin:

Our trip started out in the great city

of San Diego. SD is one of the places I would enjoy being stationed at next tour because who can beat the weather there!? Although it may be crowded and be located in the state of California, it would still be a fun few years I believe. While we were there we did a little house hunting to see what the neighborhoods looked like. On top of that, we HAD to do a little shopping (Thea loved that part). And then I surprised her with a quick little trip to the San Diego Zoo. With our time completed in SD, we then hopped a plane for Phoenix, AZ.

So you are aware, most of Thea's family lives down in Arizona...a small town called Cottonwood. Actually, they are all around that area, but I will use that as the focus. We headed out there and spend a couple of days visiting grandparents and cousins and whatnot. They all loved baby Ayla and couldn't get enough of her. (not my fault that we made such an adorable little girl...blame her mother). While we were in the area, we decided to take a little detour on our last day and go north to see the grand canyon. Although Thea had seen it before, this was a first for me, and it was Amazing. Words and pictures don't even begin to describe how awesome the sights are. I am really glad we were able to see the canyon as a family.

On top of that, while we were up at the canyon, we took Ayla for her first little swim! How much fun is that?? Surprisingly enough, she didn't even start screaming (which is kind of ironic because she hasn't made it through a bath yet without screaming). Now all we have to do...scratch that, all I have to do is to teach her how to swim! (her mom has a little issue with the swimming thing, but I'll teach her too) ;)

After leaving Arizona, we flew into Milwaukee, WI so we could hang with my family up in Northern IL. Ever since they new the date that

we were coming into town, my family went above and beyond by throwing somewhat of a reception for us. Any of you that know our story, know that we had somewhat of a "small" ceremony in Idaho last year (yes, pretty much an elopement). So, my family wanted to throw a little party to say Congrats, and so they did. All I have to say is, Thank you, it was an amazing time!! On top of that, I decided to FINALLY get my wife a wedding band, since I had been mr cheapo for the last year by having her wear her engagement ring as a wedding band....And funny enough, earlier in the day before the reception, some lady referred to me as her fiance. (since I was trying to decide on when to give her the ring, either the reception or our 1 year anniversary, that comment decided it for me).

As much fun as it was to spend time with family and friends, we had to say goodbye to the mid west, and travel out to New England to check out Cape Cod. We arrived in Boston and Thea fell in love. Granted, I can't blame her, because I really like the city too. So, we spent a day and a half checking out the city, and driving down to the cape and looking at towns where we could live if I got stationed there. And then, that night, we took Ayla to her first baseball game. The Sox vx. Sox at Fenway. What a great night it was. I was happy that a Chicago team won, and Thea because an instant Red Sox fan. (hey, at least the Sox and Cubs are in different leagues!). Then, on our final day in town, we decided to take a quick trip down to New London, CT, in order to show Thea the Academy. No, not because it was where I went to school, but because I have a feeling I'll be teaching there in the future and so the family will end up living in that area. So I wanted to make sure that the wife would be ok with that...and luckily, she was :) After that, we raced back to the airport and flew all the way back home to Washington.

So, 8 states and 7 flights in 11 days....yeah, that was a hell of a trip. But we survived, and we had a fun time doing it. We didn't kill each other (phew!!) and Ayla stayed healthy. I couldn't ask for anything more wonderful than that. Now I am just looking forward to a month from today when my two ladies will once again come up to Alaska to visit. I miss them like crazy already and its only been 3 days since I left....I don't know if I'll survive. Wish me luck!

(and I'll try and post more often about my goings on...but you have to give me credit, two posts in a year is a lot better than what I had done in the past few years!!!)

I'm back....sort of

Hello all! Well, it's been almost two years since I put up a blog. Yeah, I know, crazy. Not sure why I've gotten back to the site again.

1) Maybe I just wanted to see if it was still active (or if it had been deleted for non-use).

2) Maybe it was that little red reminder in my outlook pane that had been there for well over a year now telling me to "update blog".

3) Maybe its the fact that my life has changed so much in the past two years that I feel its time to update my peeps on how things are.

(the last one is probably the most accurate).

Because of so many changes in my life, I am currently at a position where I am married to an amazing woman who has given me the most beautiful daughter in the world. I know some of you would argue with me on that one, but hey, it's my girl, I can brag about her as much as I want! But, having said that, I know that I have a lot of friends and family scattered across this country and globe that would love to hear about all the new things that Ayla (our adorable little girl) is up to.

So, that being said, I have decided to try (hopefully this time successfully), to keep everyone informed by updating my blog on a more, shall we say, "regular" basis.

To all of you out there that I haven't seen in forever, much love and happiness to you and yours!

PS. I've added a few ads onto the blog. Another possible "revenue source" (yeah, maybe 10 cents probably). But, if they become over bearing or distracting, please let me know, and I'll just get rid of them. Thanks!

Birthday!!

Hey all! I hope you got a good laugh out of my truck story...I know I still think about it and laugh too :) But, I wanted to share a little something with you all about something that is coming up (and rather too quickly I might add) MY BIRTHDAY!! :) Yeah, I know, it isn't that big of deal. I'm turning 27 this year, slowly marching towards 30. But my AGE is not the point of this blog...no-sir-ee...I'm not going to complain about getting older, I'm just going to enjoy the chance that I have to live another year and learn a little more and give a little more to the world. But what I am going to do is say "Come Celebrate With Me!!" Especially if I haven't seen you in forever! My friend Amy and I are throwing somewhat of a joint Birthday Party shin-dig on July 12th. (I know, one day after my birthday, but thats because we are going to a Cubs game ON my birthday). So anywho, the get together will be at my friends condo at 1645 W Ogden Ave #316, Chicago at 1900 (thats 7 pm for all you non-military types) You are not required to bring anything but yourself, not even gifts (because seeing you is enough of a gift...) but if you really really feel like you must bring something, you can bring food or drink and an extra large smile on your face :) All I ask is that you send me an email at mheussner@Hotmail.com to let me know if you plan on coming. (please let me know by the 8th of July at the latest!!). Thank you again being a part of my life (for those of you who are!) and I can't wait to see all you family and friends when I come home to Chicago next month!

New Ride

So I went test driving, and I'm not sure if that was a good idea, or a bad idea, but it was fun! :-) Before leaving, I mapped out all the locations of the dealerships that I was interested in. Then, it was off to Portland in my cool little KIA Rondo (note the massive amounts of sarcasm in that last statement!) Now, I'm just going to skip the story of stopping at all the different places, but I will list all the cars that I did drive that day: Dodge Charger, Mini Cooper S, BMW 135i, Chevy Malibu, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Acura STX, and the Jeep Cherokee SRT8. I also walked trough the VW and Honda dealerships, but didn't really see anything that caught my eye.

After that long day of driving, I went back home with all my info and started trying to decide what vehicle to get. Now here's the funny story... About a year and a half ago I was down in San Diego and I got to ride in the back of a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and I remember saying to myself "I should get one of these!" And then, just a few months ago I go the chance to drive around a normal Jeep Wrangler when I was in Hawaii (I say normal cause the Unlimited has 4 doors). And that was quite enjoyable. Then, the week after Hawaii, I was down in Florida and driving around a Mini Cooper, which I have to tell you, is like driving around a go-kart everytime you get in it! And that, again, was another car I told myself I needed to get. So, is it any wonder that the two cars that I came down to as finalists for my new ride were the Mini Cooper S and the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited?

So, although I really wanted the Mini Cooper S, I decided that the Jeep would be a bit more practicle for me...seeing as how I could get stationed anywhere between Kodiak Alaska and Tampa Florida. So that was my final decision, and to be honest, I love it! It is a ton of fun to drive and with the two 90 degree days that we had this past weekend, it was great to roll around with the doors and top off and just enjoy the sun and breeze!

Well, now that I've passed that on, I'm off to get ready for work, but if ay of you are around in Oregon and ever want to go for a cruise, just let me know! (not only would I enjoy riding around with you, but it would nice to see you again! [or meet you for the first time!])

My Crazy April...

Yes, I know its been over a month since I've put something up, but I believe I deserve a little bit of leeway on this one... Usually I don't have any really new things to put up on my blog, but this month is quite different. Lets just say I've had a pretty shitty month, all told....so here we go.

The month started out alright, telling april fools jokes and enjoying a short burst of nice weather. About a week into though, I had what some would call a falling out with a really good friend of mine that lives here in Oregon. And honestly, it was my fault. I crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed, and I paid for it. Luckily for me we've been able to work though much of our issues and I foresee the freindship continuing to grow and improve.

Now we move into the sad part of the month. On the 19th of April I was at home in the afternoon just taking care of things at the house. Then, the fire department pager went off saying that somebody had been thrown from a vehicle and had a broken leg (for those of you who don't know, I'm on the fire department here in Warrenton). So I ran out to my truck, started it up, started down the driveway, and I was off on the call....but I never made it. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I happened to look in my side mirror and saw my cat Ginger (aka fuzzy) on the cement and I could tell immediately that something was wrong. I thought that maybe I had run over her leg or something because she was kinda limping around. I stopped and went to her and as I got near, I knew it was much worse. I don't know exactly what happened, but I am assuming that somehow the truck and her met, and she lost, and I think broke her neck. So I sat there on my driveway and watched my furry friend pass away. It didn't hit me at first what had happened. I went to the truck and called my friend who works at the vet to ask what to do with a dead animal. Then I went back and picked her up and sat in my truck and just cried for at least 20 minutes. I won't go into too many more details about the night but it involved crying, guilt, and needing a hug so badly and not being able to get one from anyone. I think that Fuzzy was one of the coolest cats in the world. She was so loving and soft and was willing to investigate anything and say hi to anyone. I can't think of anyone that knew her that didn't love her.

So after that tragic day, you'd think my bad luck was over...but no. As people say, bad things usually happen in 3's. Well, there was a third to this one as well. So I go out to my truck to head in for duty on Wednesday, and when I remotely unlock my truck, nothing happens. The locks do not go up. So I unlocked it myself with the key and went on my way....no big deal right? When I got off duty on Thursday, a couple buddies of mine from work ask me to video tape some stuff on the beach because they were making a skit to make fun of one of our fellow pilots for a Dining Out that was coming up. I said yes, and we headed off to the beach. Again, I had to use the key to open my door, and so I thought I would get it checked out one of these days if it started to bug me too much. We get to the beach and as we are driving down the sand I turn my stereo down (cause if you know me, you know I like to listen to it loud) and I hear static coming over the speakers..."great, my speakers are starting to go. Looks like I'll have to spend some money on those too" :-( I park my truck next to everyone else's vehicles, leaving it in 1st gear as always, and since we were on the beach, I set the parking break...not like it was going anywhere anyways. Oh, and I also had it in 4WD, not that it really matters. But I hit the lock button and what happens...nothing. "Great, now my doors won't lock either". So I head over and start talking with the guys about what the plan is for taping...and this is where it gets good.

But first, a disclaimer...although you might find it hard to believe that the following events took place, I swear that what I right next is the complete truth.

About three minutes into the conversation, my alarm starts to make funny sounds, I look over and the first words out of my mouth are about three explitives. In front of my eyes I see smoke in the cab of my truck...not good. I run over and open the door and look, and there are embers falling down from behind the driver's side dash. Yikes! So what do I do, I do the only thing I can think of...I grab a few things out of my truck, and I call 911. They say they were going to send the fire department. Mind you, I'm ON the fire department. So two minutes later, I get a phone call from a friend on the department that says "Mark, you at home, what are you doing?" I reply, "no, why?". Back to her, "we got a car fire call!" And me, "No SHIT! its my truck! GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE!" Of course she didn't believe me, but the second time I told her she kinda got quiet and said, ok, and hung up.

Now the weird stuff. After I got off the phone with her. We were sitting there watching, cause thats about all we could do....and out of nowhere, my truck starts itself up! No joke, the engine startrs up!! and like I said earlier, 1st gear, 4wd, and parking break....truck begins driving itself from where it is parked (or WAS parked) toward the frickin' OCEAN! It made it about 50 yards into the shallows of the ocean and it stalled out (whether that is luck or not, I'm not sure). And yes, you can all laugh now if you weren't already, cause we sure as hell were. I couldn't believe it, and if we all weren't there to see it, I know we wouldn't have believed it either. I just wish we had the camera out already and got that part on tape. Oh well, better luck next time. After that it settles down. The FD shows up, I talk to my fellow fighters, they kinda chuckle with me, bust open my hood to cut the battery leads, and then hose down the inside of my truck. Then they tow it back up the beach away from the water and head on out. Well, what else am I to do, so I finish the taping with my friends while in complete disbelief about what had just happened. After we finished, one of my FD friends came back with his truck and we towed my truck back to my house (after scraping some soot of the inside of the window).

So as we sit now, I'm still waiting to hear back from my insurance agency and I've been spending some time online looking up a bunch of cars that I might want to get (cause from what everyone tells me, they will probably total my truck). So, does anybody have any ideas as to what kind of car I should get, cause I could use the ideas. But I am going to Portland tomorrow to test drive a bunch of cars, so wish me luck!

Well, I hope that kept your interest and you enjoyed my story. I'll try to keep you updated as to what vehicle I decide on (if they decide to total my truck that is). And like I said, give me some ideas (looking in the 20-30 g range!)

Peace and love to all, miss you much!

Off again!

Hey all!

Just wanted to put up a quick update for everyone since I've been reminded by a dear friend of mine that I haven't put up a post in over a month and I guess that makes her worry about me ;-) Anyways here we go:

In the last month I have saved my friend Krista's ass at her restaurant (she owns the little cafe I work at). I think two or three times she's asked me to "Please come work" because there has been a string of emplyees getting sick and not being able to make it to work. Must be a virus, and I'm glad I didn't catch it! I can't give her too much crap though because I made a few extra bucks because of it, and she is also watching my cats..thats right, the word was plural. I recently added a new little feline to my family to keep my other one busy and hopefully get her running around the house so that she can lose a little weight! Cute little bugger too if you ask me :) I've also done quite a bit of flying because I'm working on upgrading to First Pilot. Hopefully I should be finished by the end of the month. Also by the end of the month I hope to be qualified as an entry level firefighter so that I can begin responding to calls. Wow, it actually seems like I was just a little bit busy in the month of February! (probably because it was the first month that I've spent entirely at home since who knows when!)

But I do have to admie that staying at home didn't last very long. As I am writing this, I am looking out the window of a condo on the 25th floor of the Admiral Thomas builing in Downtown Honolulu. How sweet is that? I'm visiting my aunt for a few days (from the 10th to the 19th) and I really can't complain at all. So far I've been to a couple beaches, gone out to the bars, met a girl or two (hey, what happens on vacation, stays on vacation, right?), and enjoyed the sunny and 80 degree weather that almost a constant state here on the islands. I wish you all could join me out here because it really is paradise!

Alright, enough typing, I'm off to enjoy the night life here, and who knows, maybe I'll actually get some sleep one of these nights!

Lots of Love!

WOOHOO!!

Well, I'm back again! Nice to see you have all decided to keep reading my blog as I post. Well, I'm just guessing that you're reading it because I never get any comments...but I'll just be positive and assume. :-) (yes, thats a slight nudge in the direction of leaving me some comments because I'd love to hear what you think!)

Its the beginning of February and I'm finally back in Oregon, and hopefully I'll be staying here for a while too. By that I mean that I hopefully won't have to travel anywhere for at least a month. (And then I think in March I'm going to Hawaii to visit my aunt!)

Anywho, I left off back at the end of January. Lets see, the last week of January I had to head to Newport News, VA for a Weight and Balance (W&B) conference. For those of you that don't know anything about aircraft, W&B is basically the process of making sure that the aircraft isn't too heavy to fly and that the weight is in the right places so that it is stable in the air. Ever wonder why on smaller commercial airplanes where they ask someone to move from the back to the front, or when there are a bunch of empty seats on a plane that they said they couldn't take any more passegers. W&B is the reason. If its too heavy, the plane won't take off and you go boom at the end of the runway. If the weight is in the wrong places, the aircraft is unstable and it is possible to get into a situation that is unrecoverable, and you go boom into the ground. Not that I'm trying to scare you! :-)

Now to continue after my discourse, I cought the red eye out on Sunday night because flying from the west coast to the east is a pain, and I would have had to leave my house at like 3 in the morning if I flew out on Monday. But, I'm rather glad I did because three awesome things happened during my travels to the east. First off, when I got to the airport, I went to sit down in the terminal and some no good-two timing-meanie head of a girl tried to steal the outlet that I was about to plug my computer into. Actually, I'm lying. A wonderful young woman named Amy happened to sit down accross from me and proceeded to entertain me for the next 45 minutes or so until my flight left. Turns out I THOUGHT I was sitting in the right place, but I was actually at the gate for a plane going to NY, and I was stopping in Chicago. But it turned out alright because since then I've become quite good friends with Amy, and the more I learn about her, the more I like her. Hopefully we'll get to be friends for a long time!!

Now after that, I hopped on my flight and luckily enough I was able to sleep for about three hours on my trip back home. Landed in Chicago about 515 in the morning, and because I have such wonderful parents, they picked me up from the airport and we went out for breakfast. Awesome thing number two! The third thing that was great, was that when I landed at Richmond, I got to hang out with a friend of mine that I haven't seen in almost 5 years. Originally we were just going to grab lunch together because she was working, but she surprised me by taking the afternoon off, and so we were able to get lunch, and walk around the city, and just spend time together. We had a ton of fun. Always great to get back in touch with friends you haven't seen in forever!

Then the conference went pretty well. Nothing too much to report on there. But one of the days I did get to go down to the CG aircraft Depot and see the new modifications that we are going to start receiving in the field at the end of the year. The MH-60T model. WOOHOO. It comes with some new parts, but most of all, it is an all glass cockpit. So basically there are just 5 screens that hold all the navigational information. (see pic). Doesn't really mean much to most people, but to us aviators, we can't wait to start playing with it!

Then I got to see Emy again on my way out of the city. We ended up going to see Mamma Mia together in Richmond. I know, what a dork I am, but hey, ABBA's cool :) And it actually was a really cool show! Then I flew back home to wonderful rainy Oregon to get back into the grind again.

I must say that I do believe I'm improving on my social scene though. I have started to meet a bunch of people that live around here, and I've been trying to get out more and more. Although I am thinking about making a pact with myself to stay single until 2010 just to make sure that I don't go rushing into things and that I make sure I'm ready for another serious relationship. Either way, I'm planning on just staying with the dating scene for quite a while as of now.

Well, I think that about covers it for now. I know this is a long one, but I wanted to share my trip out East! Enjoy the rest of your day and week and I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Look...two blogs in the same month!!

Hey, I'm back again, and its only been two and a half weeks! How nice is that. I figured since I had a few minutes I'd throw up a few words about what is going on with me. (I'm currently sitting in my favorite little cafe in Warrenton...more on that in a few minutes) To go back to what I ended my last post with, I have some pictures to put up that depict my latest adventure. (darn digital photos...take forever to develop). About two weeks ago, I was one of the lucky crew members who got the opportunity to perform the flyover for the Seattle Seahawks playoff game against the Washington Redskins! Not only did we get to fly really low over the city and the stadium, but then we also got to go to the game AND go onto the field! I must admit, it was pretty sweet :-) Here are a few pics of it. On a completely different note, I've begun to establish myself a tad bit in my community. Instead of being a person that moves into a city, lives there for four years, and then leaves without making much of a dent...I've decided to become a part of the community by interacting with others and being involved (as much as I can while doing all the work with the Coast Guard). So, I think I've mentioned it before, but I've joined the volunteer fire department, and in that single move, I've gotten to know a ton of awesome people in the city and have started feeling like I'm a part of the town. In about another month (hopefully) I'll finish up my training period and will actually be able to start responding to emergency calls (imagine me riding on the back of a fire truck!). I've also decided to take up a second venture (or a third job as some would call it) by working at a local cafe :) (see the first sentence of this post). I never really pictured myself as a waiter, or a server, but its actually a lot of fun. At least being in my position it is. The best part is that I am getting the chance to really get to know a lot more people (because this particular diner is like the best little place to eat in the town). And of course, the extra money in my pocket never hurt anything! Well, I think I've put more words up than I already planned to. So I'm off to get back to work because my lunch break is over. Oh, and if anyone that reads this is in the newport news area of Virginia, give me a ring because I'll be there from Monday till Friday morning of next week! Peace, Love, and lots of great big hugs!

Christmas Travels!

Hello again all! I've talked to a lot of you that read my blog (ok, maybe just a few of you), and you expressed your enjoyment at reading my blogs and keeping up on how I'm doing. So one of my new year resolutions (other than getting back down to 200 lbs) is to be a bit more consistant with my blogging. So I thought I would start by telling you about my trip home for Christmas! To begin any travelling story during the winter months (especially near the holiday), I was delayed a whole lot on my trip home. Supposed to end up in Milwaukee at 1730 on Friday (that 5:30 pm for those non-military types), but ended up getting into Chicago (O'Hare) at 0200 on Saturday. Luckily for me, my parents and brother were nice enough to come pick me up. And surprising enough, O'Hare airport was a parking lot at that time in the morning...the cars were literally at a standstill getting into the airport. Nuts! But finally I made it home and headed to bed around 2 in the morning, only to be woken up by my most adorable niece at about 7. She was so cute....up until the point she realized that I wasn't her daddy. Then for the rest of the week I think she was a bit frightened of me :-(

(and I just have to throw in this picture of her because she is so cute!) Later that day we headed off to my Aunt's house for our famed "Hohs Family Christmas." It was quite the blast. All of my aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family got together, along with all my cousins. (And I actually think they were all there!) It was a ton of fun because I got to reconnect with a bunch of my cousins and to talk catch up with my aunts and uncles, and then, of course, it is always awesome to see my grandparents again. After the party ended, we went back to my sister's house to pack up, and then Mike and I headed down to my parent's house to spend the night there. We did that, because on Sunday, we went downtown to Soldier Field to watch the Bears kick the Packers' ASS!! WOOHOO!!! BEST GAME EVER!!! Although I do have to admit, it was rediculously cold that day, with the blowing snow and all. Brrrrr. The rest of the week almost turned into a blur after that. Although there are some things I do remember. I got to see my dad on Monday night when he came to my sister's for X-Mas Eve dinner with Mike's family. Then X-mas morning my parents showed up and we got to open presents with the family there. It was so much fun watching Jessica open her presents. She was so distracted by all the new toys that she didn't know what to do :-) (oh, and did I mention she is SOOO spoiled, hehehe). Christmas night we ended up going to my Step-Grandma's house for dinner, and met up with the Kent's. As always, it was great to see them again too. Oh, and since I know you'll probably be reading this Bonnie...tell Art he got me hooked on Nintedo DS. I ended up getting one before the week ended and I still can't put it down! Friday we finally got some snow, but it still wasn't enough to go boarding. So it turned out I brought my board for no reason. Oh well. Hopefully one of these days though, Mike will be able to come out to visit and I can bring him up to the mountain and teach him how to board. Then on Saturday, we had a farewell dinner where a bunch of friends came over. Including the newly engaged Mike and Jess....I'm so happy for them! I know they will have an amazing life together for a long long time. B & K were also there with Sean, which was really nice. Definately fun to watch Sean and Jessica interact. That was pretty much the end of it. I ended up flying home the following day, getting back to my house (again) at 2 in the morning. If there is one thing I missed while I was home, it was getting together with my other friends, the ones I don't talk to all the time, but miss all the same. Hopefully the next time I get home I'll be able to see them too. Some of you might think this weird, but I did do two things that I wanted to (other than see the family). Eat some good ole Chicago Style Pizza, and get a brocolli and chedder in a bread bowl from Panera. I know, kinda weird, but I miss that stuff when I'm out here on the West Coast. Well, I think thats about long enough for now. I don't know why I insist on writing a ton all the time. But for my next blog, I'm going to put some pictures up from my recent Coast Guard adventure :-) Have a great day!

My adventures in Washington

The past week I was without power and internet which sucked for me, but in the real aspect of things, it wasn't even something to really worry about compared to other people. When the powerful storm ripped through the NW last suday/monday, millions of people went without power for an extended period (some of which still don't have any). The following is what I had the pleasure of participating in with several others that I work with. It made me realize how devestating weather can be, and it made me glad that I do what I do. The following is a summary of actions that I wrote up retelling the events of the flight I was on last Monday. I hope you enjoy it. Mark

LT Bartram, PO Ramsey, PO Lieb and I came on duty Monday morning (3DEC07) at 0800. During our brief we learned that the previous crew had flown the night before looking for 4 hunters that were stranded on Long Island in Willapa Bay. We were told to expect to fly a search pattern in order to find and evacuate them that day if the winds died down a bit. At approximately 1200, after receiving new information on the hunters exact location, and entering a slight lull in the winds (gusts staying below 60 kts for a 1/2 hour), our operations officer decided to launch our crew to retrieve the hunters. We got airborne at 1304 and headed northwest towards Willapa Bay. During our transit we experienced heavy turbulence and excessive gust spreads of 20-30 kts. So much so, neither of the crewmembers in back wanted to unbuckle in order to take video of the 40-50 ft seas breaking over the south jetty. Heading North, I noted a sustained 60 kt tailwind gusting into the 70s. As we quickly reached the Northern edge of Long Island, we turned Southbound, circling around and traveling down the East coast of the island. When we reached the Southeast corner of the island we began our search for the hunters, because this was the area they were said to have been at. While searching, we received a radio call from Astoria Air saying that if we did not find the hunters in the next five minutes we were to divert to Chehalis for more SAR. At that time we spotted the hunters near a shack in the trees. We discussed our landing options and decided on a hard-packed gravel road next to the water. We set down and the swimmer left to go retrieve the hunters. After approximately 20 minutes on deck, we had all 4 hunters loaded and we lifted off to drop them at their vehicles. We slid back and left to the boat ramp that was across the water. During the landing we experienced heavy downdrafts off the shoreline's ridge causing us to pull torque exceeding 115%. Once on deck, we offloaded the hunters and then lifted off to head to Chehalis at 1354. During this time we received some conflicting reports on where the flooding was located, so we initially headed north towards KHQM. After about 5 minutes we received word that it was at the Chehalis airport and not the Chehalis River, and that we needed to head back south and take the Columbia River East to the I-5 corridor. So we then proceeded back South to the Columbia, losing about 20 minutes in the process because of the excessive headwind that we were now fighting (approx 65 kts). After our transit up the river and I-5, we arrived on scene in Chehalis at 1500, just behind the 6006. After trying to coordinate for a few minutes over the radio, we received a position and proceeded there to begin rescues. While transiting to the first position we were all amazed at the devastation in front of us. Houses were flooded up to their rooftops. Cars were completely covered; trees were down all over the place. Surprisingly a lot of power lines were still intact and providing power to houses that were completely or partially flooded. [ Just as a precursor, all of the hoists that we did were in variable conditions. The wind was never steady and had 20-30 kt gust spreads. The visibility also changed frequently, going from vis of about 3-4 miles at some times, down to less than a mile with heavy rain. This also made things a bit more difficult when operating on NVGs. ] The first houses we arrived at, there were several people on the roof of one and next door there were several more on the deck and in the windows. We began our checklists to execute a hoist, but there was a rescue boat that had arrived on scene and waved us off. So we left that position and began searching the river for more people that were stranded. The next set of houses we came to had 7 people at one house and 1 at another house nearby. We began by lowering the swimmer down to the house with 7 people. He briefed the survivors and then called for the rescue basket. We did 5 basket hoists at that house and then retrieved the swimmer. Two of the 7 decided to remain at the house. We then moved across the street (or what we think used to be a street because it was completely flooded) to recover the other person. We again lowered the swimmer, then executed a basket hoist of the survivor, and recovered the swimmer. With no more people in that area, we continued our search down the flooded river, looking at all the houses we flew past to see if any people were in distress. Coming around a bend in the river, we came upon the 6006 and Navy Rescue 2 (a Navy H-60). Speaking on the radio with the 6006, they directed us to a position between them and NR2 where 4 people were stranded in a rowboat. This hoist was particularly difficult. Because the people were on a boat and they were near a house and power lines, we opted to do a Strop augmented pickup with the swimmer. We lowered the swimmer to the boat and he grabbed the first survivor. While hoisting the swimmer and survivor back to the helicopter, the boat broke free from the house that it was attached to and began drifting down the river with the current. Working around the live power lines, trees, and houses, we executed two high hoists (above 100 ft so we wouldn't swamp the boat with the rotor wash) to recover two more people from the vessel. After the 3rd hoist, the boat got pushed into a fence near a large tree. We re-evaluated, and decided to do a basket hoist for the final lift. We lowered the swimmer to an area near the boat, and he was able to wade waist deep over to the survivor. We then lowered the basket and recovered the 4th and final survivor from the vessel. After that, we recovered our swimmer, and now having 10 survivors onboard and starting to run low on fuel, we departed for the Chehalis airport to drop them off and refuel. We landed at Chehalis at 1620 where we pulled next to the fuel pump and shut down. We unloaded the survivors, of whom there were a mix of adults, teens, children, and even a few pets. While fueling, we worked with T. English, a local Sheriff, who was coordinating positions with the helos. We passed a few coordinates to the Navy helo that was waiting to use the fuel pit, and then decided to take the Sheriff onboard with us to direct us to people in need. We finished fueling after almost an hour (the pump was really slow and they could only pump $500 worth at a time) and spun up. We were airborne again at 1710 and it was now dark, so we were on NVGs. The first position we received from our newly acquired Sheriff had a lady with a red and white light. We arrived at the position and found the lady with the lights and several other people. We lowered the swimmer down to assess the situation. After a few minutes, he radioed us back and told us of all the survivors located there (15 total) and requested the basket. We moved into position and executed 7 basket hoists recovering 11 persons and several pets. There were 4 others that elected to remain there. We then recovered the swimmer and returned to the Chehalis airport to drop the survivors off. On deck at the airport, we received word from our Sheriff that there was a 97 year old non-ambulatory male who required assistance. So we departed the airport (after deplaning all our survivors) and headed to that position. When we got there, we located the persons and lowered the swimmer to them. We then circled while the swimmer helped the individual to the door. Once the swimmer was ready, we lowered the basket to him and he worked to get the survivor in the basket. When we got the survivor inside the helo, the flight mech and the Sheriff helped to get him out of the basket and onto a seat. I had forgotten to mention earlier, but the Sheriff was extremely helpful in all aspects while he was onboard. Not only did he direct us to people in need, but he also helped calm children when they were hoisted, help get the elderly out of the basket, and got blankets for those who were cold. He was a valuable asset to have in the helo with us. After getting the man situated, we lowered the basket again for the lady and her dog. They were both in the basket ready to be hoisted when the dog (who was going crazy) jumped out. The hoist was continued with just the lady. Once that was done, we sent the basket back down, and the swimmer corralled the dog and got it in the basket with him, and they were both hoisted up successfully. Because the male was wet and possibly hypothermic, we decided to head directly to the airport, calling ahead for an ambulance, so he could get proper medical care.

After dropping the survivors off, we returned to the same position where we had seen several other people shining lights at us trying to get our attention for help. We came upon about a 100 stretch of street that was not flooded, but was surrounded by power lines. There were three more elderly people at that location, so we lowered the swimmer to get them ready to be hoisted. Once ready, we sent the basket down three times to recover all three survivors, and then recovered the swimmer. The hardest task during this evolution was trying to remain clear of all the power lines, which were most likely still energized because there were some lights on in buildings that weren't completely flooded. After recovering all three survivors and the swimmer, we headed off to a new position that was reported as having 7 persons in distress. When we arrived on scene, we recognized the position as the same are that we had hoisted the lady with the red and white light, and the 10 people from the other family. There were still a couple people on the ground, but they were the ones that we had left there before, and they gave us some thumbs up and indicated that they were ok. So we received another position from the Sheriff and headed there. When we arrived we found two neighboring houses that were cut off from everything else by floodwater. We were told that there were 4 people in the one house, only two of which were going to leave. We lowered the swimmer to assess the situation, and after a few minutes on deck, he reported to us that there were also 11 people in the house next door looking to evacuate. We realized that we didn't have enough room in the helo to recover all of the survivors at once, so we completed 4 basket hoists, recovering 6 survivors and several animals. We then departed the scene (leaving our swimmer on deck), dropped off the survivors at the airport and returned to the position for the rest of the people. Once back, we continued basket hoists recovering the other 7 people that were going to leave. We then picked up our swimmer and departed the scene for the airport to drop off the passengers and refuel. We landed on deck this time and dropped off our survivors. The 6006 was also on deck, and since we were required to head back to Astoria after this refuel (because we were just about at 6 hours), they requested that we let them take our sheriff so that they could continue searching for another hour. We agreed and the sheriff headed off to the 6006. They also passed another location that was 3 miles south of the field and asked if we had enough fuel to head down there and do a couple of hoists. We were currently at 1000 lbs, and so we agreed to do it. After arriving at the position, however, we realized that it was a bad position, and so we returned to the airport to shut down for fuel. When we landed on deck, we realized that the airport itself was beginning to flood, and had about 4 inches of water over most of the taxiway and ramp area. We taxied in to the fuel pit and after the Navy helo that was fueling finished, we began fueling ourselves. We had originally planned to take on 500 gallons of fuel, but after being on deck for about 40 minutes, the water was already over a foot deep and so we secured at 375 gallons. After we started up and were taxiing to the ramp, the mech reported that the water was coming over the wheels and was almost level with the cabin deck. We then pulled into a hover, finished our flight checks and departed the airport. Once in the air, we established communications with the 6006 and told them that we were returning to base. At the same time EOC was trying to contact all the helicopters in the area and so we acted as a repeater between the 6006, Navy Rescue 2, and the EOC. We circled south of the Chehalis airport for about 20 inutes and then we departed scene and headed south along I-5 to return to Astoria. Along the way we saw the extent of the flooding over the top of I-5 and several other areas. Once to Longview we headed west along the Columbia, which was pretty uneventful until we reached Puget Island. At that point the wind started picking up again and buffeting the aircraft and we also lost most of our visual references because it was raining and all the power was out, so there were no lights. Even with NVGs, it was almost pitch black. We ended up navigating back to Astoria by using a mixture of the AVMAP, the RADAR and following the buoys marking the channel on the river. This continued until we reached Astoria. We landed on the darkened airport, taxied in, and shut down so the aircraft could be serviced and sent up with another crew to do the same thing.

Cruising is the way to go!!

Hello again! A vacation I needed and a vacation I got. What a trip. If I could, I'd suggest everyone take a cruise some day. They are so much fun and so easy, and it really is a pretty good deal. Lets see, I'll catch you all up since the end of September. I left off after my buddy Mike visited. Ah yes, well, my external harddrive crapped out in the beginning of the month so I was livid for a while. I had all my pictures and songs and some important files on it. Needless to say it would have been tragic if i couldn't have recovered them. But luckily it turned out to be just the power cord (which was my original thought when it first occured). So I was pretty busy at the beginning of the month trying to figure that out. And then of course I was trying not to think about my cruise because then time would have creeped by. But soon enough the 10th rolled around and I was off to Pheonix to meet up with Amanda and head to Miami.

We showed up and my buddy BJ picked us up from the airport and we went out to breakfast. Then he had to go get ready for a flight, so he dropped us at the pier and there we waited until boarding began. While standing in line we met some folks that we would end up getting to know throughout the week. When they were finally ready to let us on, we headed up the stairs and started the process of getting checked in and getting our key cards and all that fun stuff...which took WAY too long. Then, we stepped onboard, and the fun was about to begin. I won't go into too much detail, but I'll try to lay the week out for you.

We got underway Sunday afternoon after spending some time on the sun deck and having a drink or two. Then we got some food and that night they had a welcome aboard show that we went to. It wasn't that great, but after that, we went to a lounge, had a few drinks and danced up a storm.

Monday was an at sea day, and so we just hung out on board. A lot of the day was spent in the sun by the pool. I also played some bing, some blackjack, sat in the jacuzi and just enjoyed some time away from work in the sun. Amanda did pretty much the same thing too. Although funny enough, during the week we figured out that we are SOOO different from each other, and so its a good thing we are planning on just staying friends. It seemed like all the shows I wanted to go to, she didn't, and vice versa. But it was still an awesome time. Monday night I ended up at the lounge again, and this time I ended up talking with the Cruise Director a few of his staff members. Funny enough, I got to know the cruise staff very well throughout the week. They are all really awesom people and made the week even better.

Tuesday started the shore excursions. In the morning we pulled into the Dominican Republic and Amanda and I took a boat to Cayo Leventado, and little island with a beach and a lot of other stuff. We ended up swimming, catching rays, and I played some Volleyball with a fun family that was on the island too. We also ended up buying some paintings from a local. Gorgeous! I didn't have my camera with me, so I don't have any pics sadly enough.

Wednesday we were in Tortola, of the British Virgin Islands and Amanda and I went with Daryl and Phillis (the couple we stood in line with at the beginning) to the Virgin Gorda Baths and did some snorkeling and hiking through some HUGE granite boulders. Really awesome sights. First time I'd been snorkeling too!! I almost snagged a sand dollar from the bottom of the bay, but it broke in my hand :( (That night back on board the ship was also filled with a lot of drinking, dancing, gambling, and just plain craziness)

Thursday was at the US Vigin Islands on St. Thomas. Here we had signed up for an Ocean Racing Excursion. So we headed out in the morning and went and sailed a sailboat as part of the crew while racing another boat just outside the bay. What an experience it was. Exciting, and a bit of a workout. Nothing beats being out on the ocean moving through the waves with just the wind pushing you around. (This night was pretty crazy too, but not as bad as Wed. night)

Friday was another at sea day. We tried to make it a little bit more laid back and less crazy, and it worked out alright for me, but not so well for Amanda. The day was great, just catching rays and enjoying the sun...drinking a bit and laughing a lot. Amanda decided to take a nap though, and I went gambling. But when the alarm went off, Amanda knocked her head pretty bad (poor thing) and didn't want to do anything other than just rest and let her head return to normal. So I went to dinner with Phillis and Daryl and his parents like we had made reservations for. (oh yeah, Monday night and Friday night we got dressed up "formal like" and mingled). But after dinner they had a gameshow called the Quest (an adult scavenger hunt) that I played in, and it ended up being a pretty crazy night anyways. Lets just say there was one time when I was standing there in just my socks boxers and undershirt...(but thats not as bad as a bunch of guys who were dressed in bikinis!!)

And then we were on to Saturday. In the morning we pulled into Great Stirrup Cay. A private Island in the Bahamas that Norwegian Cruise Lines actually owns. On the island they had a barbecue and I ended up playing volleyball all day while Amanda layed out in the sun and went swimming. What a gorgeous day. And then it was back to the ship Saturday night and a farewell dance that night. Ended up dancing with Amanda and another girl that I met onboard too....actually, she worked on board, but hey, there's nothing wrong with that!!

And then there was Sunday morning. I was a dumbass and booked our flight for two hours after we docked, so we ended up missing it, but we got on a flight a little bit later and made it back to Pheonix Sunday afternoon. We were both pooped and ended up going to bed pretty early. Sadly Amanda needed to do a lot school work to catch up for the missed week, so she had a bit of stress to deal with :( But then Monday I flew back to Portland, and my wonderful adventure in the Caribbean was over.

I miss it like crazy already and I can't wait to get back on another cruise. But, at least I made some good friends that I hope to see again sometime, including Daryl and Phillis, Jill, and of course I'm still friends with Amanda.

But now that its over, I'm back to work and taking care of the normal business. I took care of a bunch of stuff at work when I got back, and I stood duty on Thanksgiving so that all the people with families could spend the holiday at home. Now its Sunday night and I'm getting ready to go full swing back to work. I hope I survive!!

Turkey Day :-)

Deep frying turkeys to enjoy with my fellow watchstanders. I hope that everyone else has a wonderful thanksgiving too :-) love to all.

A little bit of love...

So I'm on the way home from dropping one of my best friends off at the airport. (We've known each other since about 2nd grade and have been through some crazy stuff while growing up). Anyway, I'm on the way home listening to music and just letting my mind wander and I get to thinking about being happy and how I've changed and how my view on the world has changed since I was a bit younger. I should add that part of this thinking came froma discussion that Mike (my friend) and I had the night before about "carpe diem" and things of that nature. But I got to realizing that I've become extremely guarded lately. Not sure if any of that has to do with my fiance leaving me back in May, or if it stems from just getting older, probably a bit of both really. So I was thinking about that and how it really is just a choice that we make as to whether we're going to be happy or not. I think that over the past who knows how long I've started thinking only about myself, becoming selfish, and because of that I've lost the ability to be happy with what I have. I always seem to want something different. And half the time I don't even know what that something is that I want. Sad, I know...but I think its a common thing. And trust me that I am no preacher, but I think the biggest cure for it is love. Not love as in "I'm so in love with you", but Godly love as in the "I'll put you before me" type of love. The kind of selfless love when you look out for others more than you look out for yourself. Obviously you can't forget about yourself, but to show love and caring for others seems to make such a big change in your life. I can't think of a single time when I helped someone out and I didn't feel good about myself afterwards. Even if that person was an ass and wasn't thankful at all, I still felt good about being able to help others. I think its that type of love that is missing in this world these days, and I believe that we should all work harder to revive it. Take a few minutes out of your day, each and every day, to go out of the way to help someone else. Open a door when you don't have to, let some one into your line of traffic when you ordinarily wouldn't, volunteer some of your time at a local help organization to help make a difference for others. Anything you can do to show love to another human will not only make you feel better about yourself, but it may just change someone elses life. Yes, you may never know it, but that shouldn't matter. Obviously what you do is up to you, but for me, I know that I'm going to work a little harder to help others and to become a little bit more selfless in my everyday life.

Darn Computers....among other things

Hello again. I'm sure you all probably don't remember me since its been so long since you've heard from me. But I'm Mark, the fun-loving guy living up here in the upper Northwest of the US, trying to help others and keep myself out of trouble. But enough about me...how about we talk about my stupid computer. One of the few reasons I haven't posted anything latly. Its decided to give me a hard disk issue. So it just kinda turns itself off every now and then (usually when I'm in the middle of something important). And then of course it doesn't want to start up again. So I might be investing in a new hard drive, unless anyone out there knows what the error code "HD521-2VV" stands for. Alrighty, I know, lame excuse for not putting up a post. I guess I've also been pretty busy lately. Seems like I'm never at home. Actually, I had one of my friends ask me today how many days I've actually been in the office at work in the last six months. I think his guess was 10. So needless to say, I've been around. So lets see what I've been up to. (I had to check my last post to see where I had left off, so I'm back to typing again...not like you even know I was gone). I'm still in training at the fire department, which is going very well. I have to miss it every now and then because of work issues, but I'm still learning a lot. Not to mention I'm putting up with the wonderful people I get to work with ;-) Speaking of work, things are gonna get busier again, even when I thought they were as busy as they could be. I've been enrolled in the First Pilot Syllabus. Which means I'll be studying a lot and flying a lot, trying to upgrade from CoPilot to First Pilot. (more responsibility, and the ability to fly more flights, YIPEE!) Oh, and I'll be gone all this week in Portland participating in an exercise. (even more time I'm away from home) I think that about sums it up for the work stuff On to the personnal side of things. Where to begin? I think I've basically decided to relocate myself onto the "dating around" shelf. Which, if you know me, isn't what I'm normally like. I've always been the "find one person that you see yourself with in the future and settle down" type of guy. So the idea of dating a bunch of girls at once is relatively new to me, but I'm trying it on (even though I have no idea what I'm doing). Hopefully I don't screw things up too badly or get a bunch of girls pissed at me!! So if you have any pointers, please share :-) (or for that matter, if you are interested in going out sometime...let me know) Well, enough about that stuff. I don't think you all want to read about the soap opera that is my life. On a brighter (and more painful) note, I ran a 10K this morning! It was the Great Collumbia Crossing. A 10K that starts in Washington on the North side of the Columbia River, and then we run across the Astoria-Megler bridge (the one you see in the beginning of Goonies when chunk smashes his shake against the window) to the Oregon side. It was a lot of fun and I ran it with my friend Em and a bunch of the people I work with and their wives. So needless to say I am tired and sore. And I think on that note, I am going to head to bed. Cause I have to be up for work tomorrow and then a drive to Portland. I look forward to reading your comments and hearing about what is up with you!! Stay safe

Busy-ness

Well, I apologize because I've been slacking in keeping my posts up to date. For all of you who check it regularly (my friends in P-cola, family back home, the scattered east coast friends, and someone in Allen Texas...not sure who that is) I'll try to do better so you have something to read when you check my page!! :) Some exciting developments that have been going on lately. We'll start with work. Keeping busy on that front. Trying to get my head back above the surface when it comes to all the paperwork and planning things that will happen late this year or even half way through next year (I know, I never would have guessed someone would start planning an event over a year in advance!!). Then on top of that stuff I'm out flying when I need to. Had a couple of cases lately, nothing that turned into anything spectacular, but it was still fun to go out and try to help people. Oh, and before I forget, one of the cable channels (I think its A&E but I could be wrong) is planning on doing an 11 week "reality" show about the Coast Guard in the Astoria Area. They are going to bring out the cameras starting in November and they'll be here until around April trying to catch all the good SAR cases and kinda following along with specific people at the air station and boat stations. Sadly enough, yours truly (me), didn't get chosen to be a main character, but who knows, you might be able to catch a glimpse of me during some of the shows. And if not, then hopefully you'll still watch and learn lots about what we do up here in the NW. On the community side of things, I just started my training as a volunteer fire fighter for the city of Warrenton. I'm pretty psyched about it. I got to play with fire a little bit when I was on my ship a few years ago and its a thrilling experience. So I have to go through a 6 month probationary period and then I get to start responding to calls and helping even more people out. I think the other perk is that I'm getting to know people in the community. I've never really gotten involved in a town before like this, and I'm excited for the possibilities. I'm already getting to know people and make friends in the department. Hopefully my friend base will continue to grow and I'll find people to hang out with on weekends and to go do crazy stuff with on my off time. (cause right now it can be kinda boring without anybody to hang out with). As for the personal side of things. I'm really up in the air right now. Obviously its best to move on when things don't work out, and that's what I'm up to now. I've gotten back into dating (albeit long distance again). Nothing serious at the moment, but promising (aren't they all). But I am definitely going slow on this one. No rushing into things. Not sure exactly why I want to go slow. Maybe still getting over the last, maybe just a knee jerk reaction or a subconscious protective feature. Either way, we'll see where things lead and we'll go from there. (I think I'm also too busy in the present to even really look to far in the future when it comes to a girl). That about covers it, I believe. Nothing too knew has come up for that big exercise next month other than the fact that I'll be in Portland for about 4 days to participate. I will be going to Arizona next month though to visit my new friend for a few days, and then at the end of the month, my "brother" from home will be coming out to visit me for a weekend. Sounds like an exciting and busy month. As always, stay safe, and don't forget to tell your friends and family that you love them!!

Missing Home

Hmm...lets see. I think the tally comes down to being home a total of 6 and a half days out of 42 days. Now, don't get me wrong, I love travelling and seeing the country (and world when I can), but give me a break!! No, it really hasn't been all that bad. I exagerate. Even though I haven't been able to sleep in my comfy bed all that often, or watch my cat chase a lazer pointer like the silly thing that she is, I've still had some fun times. (maybe I'm repeating myself from an earlier post, but here I am again, away from home doing the king's business). Alright, enough rambling. Just as an update, life is going farely well for me even if I am busy and never home. I've been able to catch up with a few old friends (one of which I hope to have dinner with tomorrow) and make a few new ones (one of which I am definately looking forward to seeing again). Coming up in the near future I am looking forward to starting my training at the Warrenton Fire Department. I turned in my paperwork and even though I will miss the first training day this Thursday, I'm sure I'll be able to catch back up and start learning a ton of new stuff. After that, the month of October is gong to be pretty packed with a nationally run exercise that I'm going to be part of called TOPOFF. Should be pretty cool (even if it does take up a lot of time and energy). TOPOFF is being held in Portland and Guam and Pheonix. Speaking of Pheonix, I'm hoping to head down there sometime in October too, if the timing works out with the whole exercise thing. I also had the chance to hit up a huge private holoween party in Miami, but it just didn't work out, so that kinda sucks. Oh yeah, and one of my good friends from home is thinking of visiting at the end of October too...hopefully that can get all figured out cause I haven't seen him in quite a while. And then, after all that craziness...I hope to take a trip down to Costa Rica for a week with a friend so as to just relax and enjoy the sun and amazing beaches that I keep hearing about. Well, I'm going to get off my soapbox for now and try to get some studying done so I can pass my yearly instrument check (and if you don't know what that is, feel free to ask!)

The Griffon

Yes, the picture you're looking at is of a rollercoaster. But that vertical structure you see in the middle isn't a support beam, its actually the track!! This is the Griffon at Busch Gardens in Virginia, and its an awesome ride. So if you get the chance, take a visit there and take a ride. Also, if you're military, you can get in free once a year. Its a pretty sweet deal, and its nice to see companies saying thank you to my brothers and sisters out there serving us all. This was what i did to keep myself busy this weekend, my last weekend here. And this thursday i'm off to Boston to visit my friends up there and hopefully catch a Red Sox game. Until then, enjoy yourselves and stay out of trouble :-)

Update

So, I got called out by a friend earlier for not putting up a message in the past almost two weeks (yeah, you know who you are). So I thought I would make her happy and let her and everyone else know what is going on with me these days. Right now I'm over in Yorktown Virginia (as you should know from my last post) and I've been here for a while. My cat is stuck at home missing me like crazy I'm sure...and probably tearing my house to pieces. And yes, my buddy Brooks is taking a look-see on her every now and then to make sure she's still fat and happy :-) As for me, I do miss home a bit, or I should more accurately say I miss my house a bit. Home, in my opinion, is where your family is, and right now, I'm the only one in the house (other then my fuzzball) and my family and most of my close friends live back in Illinois. What a lonely existance, I know. But, I'm adapting and overcoming. These past few weeks here in Yorktown, while not so much fun because of a sickness that any recent student would know as "Death by PowerPoint", has been a real blast because of the opportunity to be near a bunch of cool people again. I'm not saying the people I live near in Oregon aren't cool...I'm just saying I don't know them and I haven't been able to make friends with them. But the people in my class have been a blast. We've gone out a bunch. Including all you can eat wings at Hooters, Kareoke at a place called the Cactus, watching the Blues Brothers while drinking beer in the common room, or the most famous, watching the Bears beat the Colts in Monday Night Football (I know, preseason) drinking beer and having 5 of us end up leaving the room with no hair on our heads that night :-) It feels kinda funny too...not that I've ever really had a lot of hair, but hey, gotta try something new every now and then!! (maybe I'll throw a pic up of my bald head if I remember when I get back home to OR). Other than that, things have been pretty normal. I flew up to my former Commanding Officer's wedding up in Connecticut last weekend. He works at the Academy now and so he got married on base. First time I've been back there since graduation. It seemed the same, and for any academy grads, yes I still got that pit in my stomach as I got close to campus. The ceremony was nice and the reception afterwards was a lot of fun in the O-club. Gotta love open bar. So all-in-all the weekend was good. And as a random pleasant surprise, on the way up to CT, I ended up making a new friend on my flight! Who could ask for a better weekend :-) So that is where I sit now. Its Wednesday night, and I only have about 6 more class days left till I'm off to Boston to visit Amy and Mike (gotta make sure he is a good guy and takes care of her!) We're actually hoping to catch a Red Sox game when I'm up there...that would be so cool because I haven't been to ball game in forever, and I've never been to Fenway. What fun! So thats about it for me. Like I said, nothing too exciting. Oh yeah, I almost forgot....going back to the point that I was saying about being lonely and not knowing anybody in my town. When I get back from my wonderful trip to VA, I'm signing my papers and joining the volunteer fire department for the town of Warrenton, OR. I figure that it would be a great way to meet a lot of the people in town, do a service to the community, and learn something new :-) So, thats it for now....I think. Well, I can't think of anything else at the moment, and I'm tired so I 'm heading off to bed. Hope all is well for everyone who takes the time to read this post!! Don't forget to smile :-)

A weekend off

Well, after my short stop in chicago with my parents, I made it to virginia and headed to class. Although I never enjoy death by powerpoint, I do have to admit I've learned quite a bit in my first week. Hopefully I will continue to be a sponge and make the entire month of training worthwhile. That being said, it was definately time to get away for the weekend!! So I headed up North to DC to spend a few days with my good friends Eric and Samantha. They are my saviors for this trip (and suprisingly enough, they invited me to visit again!) As for the weekend, it was a blast. I do have to admit that I did spend a lot of my time enjoying Eric's extensive Star Wars Lego collection. And now he doesn't need to build his death star anymore :-) We did get out though, saturday night we met up with Justin and Lauren, and Kelly and Doug for dinner in Chinatown. (a place called Matchbox, a little pricey, but excellent food). And then this morning before hitting the road, we went out and hit some golf balls around at a fun minigolf place. It was actually ranked in the top 5 in the Nation in some magazine. Sadly enough, Sam beat both Eric and I. Oh well, I guess that means that we need to get back out to the range and practicing :-)