Got back tonight from Ft. Myer. The weather stayed tolerable. Karen is still down there with Lindsay (can't have a family member alone on New Year's now, can we?). Last I heard (around 9:30 tonight) they were at a mall about to go see a movie. K will be flying back Monday evening.
Here's a brief summary of the week's events:
Wednesday
-Drove to Ft. Myer (about 525 miles FYI).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer... did NOT get searched because (terrorists stop reading here) we came to the wrong gate so late at night and the guys had mercy on us.
-Checked out Lindsay's new barracks (pshh.... apartment!).
-Unpacked her stuff.
-Decided to leave right away (as Lindsay had to "WORK" in the morning... more about this to follow).
-Drove around the Fort finding nothing but closed gates for about 30 minutes.
-Stopped at the MP office. They were very helpful (we were interrupting South Park... it was late, what ELSE where they supposed to be doing... besides... maybe.... GUARDING THE FORT!!!).
-Stayed at the Days Inn in a Canyon, erm.... King bed with three pillows total (what an experience... more about that later... or not).
Thursday
-Woke up to the sound of gunfire with a sore back (after way too little sleep... more about that later... or not).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
*Note: the searching process involves everyone in the vehicle surrendering their ID's and exiting the vehicle "to the right please", opening each door, the rear hatch and the hood. At which time four or five people with various weapons rummage through your stuff. Finally, we are told "vehicle clear" (after closing all the doors and stuff).
-Visited the Old Guard Museum (which is about 200 meters north of Lindsay's place) while Lindsay was "working" (more about that below).
-The gift shop was closed, but was supposed to be open Saturday (pshhh... I'm totally getting a couple of OGF&DC shirts and maybe a hat and maybe...).
-Got a call from Lindsay around 11am saying she was DONE WITH "WORK" (actually they just all went out to breakfast... tough life).
-Went shopping the whole day (nothing more about this to follow... yawn). Suffice it to say that it involved decorative rocks, incense, plastic hangers and a vacuum cleaner. On a brighter note, I did pick out a spiffy tool kit.
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Spent the evening sprucing up the apartment and watching two movies on L's new DVD player (O Brother Where Art Thou, which she stole from the Exped and Napoleon Dynamite).
-Accidentally toured the western most part of Washington DC at 11:30pm on the way to our NEW HOTEL!
-Stayed at the Hyatt in a King bed with SIX pillows(a bit further away, but WELL WORTH IT).
Friday
-Woke up refreshed.
-Had (FREE) breakfast with a view, read the paper.
-Waited for slacker... erm... SPC Natiw to wake up (she was OFF TODAY... NO WORK).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Picked her up and went to Arlington Cemetery. Toured around a bit and watched the Tomb Guard (part of the 3rd Infantry Division!) change.
-Lunch at the Washington DC Hard Rock (can you say STEAK?... sure you can).
-More shopping, this time at Ballston (just west of Ft. Myer).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Chilled at the apartment and watched another movie (The Brothers Grimm).
-Stayed at the Hyatt in a King bed with SIX pillows.
Saturday
-Woke up even more refreshed.
-(FREE) Breakfast with a view, read a new book on touring/travelling the original 13 colonies (purchased while shopping Friday).
-Arrived at Ft. Myer - GOT SEARCHED.
-Woke up SPC Natiw.
-Walked over the the Old Guard Museum... the museum was open, but the gift shop never opened. Phooey.
-Said my goodbyes to Lindsay and Karen.
-Drove back to Michigan.
-Arrived home around 7:30pm.... GOT SEARCHED. Wait...
31 December 2005
26 December 2005
I Believe in Movement
I've been such a slacker since Thanksgiving. Boomer and I finally got back out on the roads today. We did an easy three around the Koppernick loop. While I was running I was thinking about some poetry. It's weird, but I tend to think about stuff like that while I run. Back years ago I would come up with marketing campaigns for different products. Sometimes I'd remember them after the run. Sometimes the chemistry would balance in my brain so quickly that I'd forget them. This time I remember most of it. It'll be called "I Believe in Movement." There are so many benefits to running, walking, swimming, cycling, etc. Everything in my body seems to just work better when I'm running including my mind.
Off to shower and then... I dunno. I love the holidays.
Off to shower and then... I dunno. I love the holidays.
23 December 2005
This is why...
Yeah, so I'm sitting at my computer last night and THIS walks down the stairs. This is what I'm dealing with here... and people wonder why I am the way I am...
21 December 2005
PFDC Cookie Party
Monday night was the PFDC cookie party. I deliberately didn't eat dinner in preparation for this. The cookies were very yummy. We had a great turnout including a few alumni. Jessie, Matt and Erin were there. It was nice to see Lindsay have a chance to chat with friends. After the party, the four of them went out to Zach's for a bit.
I had each recruit come forward and introduce themselves at the start of the party. They all got a great reception from the vets. After them, the alumni came up (including instructors). Looks like it's gonna be another great year!
19 December 2005
Guess who's home...
Lindsay got in at 8am this morning. She is home! It's been almost three months. Boomer was very happy to see her too. As you can see, it didn't take long for our house to be filled with the familiar sound of fife music. These next two weeks are going to go by way too fast.
18 December 2005
Over the Rhine at Taft!
Perfect background for the Christmas show!
Rick, Karin and Devon are feeling "blue"
Karin sings to the balcony
Karin puttin' some "stank" on it!
Linford on bass, Karin and Rick
Orange you glad I posted these?
Rick, Karin and Devon are feeling "blue"
Karin sings to the balcony
Karin puttin' some "stank" on it!
Linford on bass, Karin and Rick
Orange you glad I posted these?
16 December 2005
Busy, busy, busy...
These are busy times. After getting back from Missouri (why is it colder there than here???), we have been busy getting ready for Christmas and Lindsay's homecoming. I'm not supposed to say anything (Lindsay, if you're reading this, stop here), but she will be coming home Monday morning (19Dec). It's going to be awesome having her home for the PFDC cookie party (but you didn't hear it from me).
Seven Bridges (my band) has agreed to do a special gig at Brew Waters next Friday (the 23rd) to celebrate Lindsay coming home for Christmas. Should be a blast. Everyone better be there!
The week after Christmas (28Dec), K and I will be loading up the Exped with all of Lindsay's personal belongings and taking her back to Ft. Myer, VA. We plan on staying there for a couple days to help her get settled in.
In the short term though, we're gearing up to go to see Over the Rhine at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati tomorrow night!!! We're going to get to meet all the nutjobs that frequent the Orchard at dinner beforehand. This should be... interesting. Can't wait. I just got a four CD set of live OtR recordings from Canal Street Tavern sent to me this week (thanks Ruki!). I was amazed at the sound quality for a bootleg.
Off to shower and dinner.... out.
Seven Bridges (my band) has agreed to do a special gig at Brew Waters next Friday (the 23rd) to celebrate Lindsay coming home for Christmas. Should be a blast. Everyone better be there!
The week after Christmas (28Dec), K and I will be loading up the Exped with all of Lindsay's personal belongings and taking her back to Ft. Myer, VA. We plan on staying there for a couple days to help her get settled in.
In the short term though, we're gearing up to go to see Over the Rhine at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati tomorrow night!!! We're going to get to meet all the nutjobs that frequent the Orchard at dinner beforehand. This should be... interesting. Can't wait. I just got a four CD set of live OtR recordings from Canal Street Tavern sent to me this week (thanks Ruki!). I was amazed at the sound quality for a bootleg.
Off to shower and dinner.... out.
11 December 2005
Update from Ft. Myer
Lindsay called this afternoon. She has been doing well at Ft. Myer. She felt pretty lonely Friday night and Saturday (which is completely understandable). Melissa and John took her out to dinner Saturday night (Olive Garden). Today they went shopping for some supplies that Lindsay needed. She got some food, some cleaning supplies and an orange rug for her bathroom. Yeah, that's right, an orange rug. She has also asked Karen for some Partylite candles for her room, so it sounds like she's getting back up to speed in a hurry.
She will be reporting to Old Guard in the morning. She will do PT with them. They run Monday, Wednesday, Friday and hit the gym to work those "guns" out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is required to take a PT test again within three business days of arriving at her AIT post, so she will be taking it this coming Wednesday.
She will be talking to her commanders early this week to set up her leave time. We'll keep everyone posted on when she'll be home.
She will be reporting to Old Guard in the morning. She will do PT with them. They run Monday, Wednesday, Friday and hit the gym to work those "guns" out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is required to take a PT test again within three business days of arriving at her AIT post, so she will be taking it this coming Wednesday.
She will be talking to her commanders early this week to set up her leave time. We'll keep everyone posted on when she'll be home.
10 December 2005
Graduation Day Photos/Videos
Lindsay shows how she spent much of her time during basic... in the "at ease, make way" position whenever a drill sgt. walked by.
Lindsay shows off her M-16 near her bunk inside the A, 2-10 barracks
Welcome to Fort Leonard Wood!
This is the first time we saw Lindsay on Wednesday morning. The drill sgts. marched them out in their class A's right in front of the barracks.
Lindsay's home for the last 10 weeks, A, 2-10 Infantry Barracks. Notice the chin up bars in the foreground. Lindsay called them the "implements of torture."
The senior company on post! A, 2-10 Infantry! Hooah!
Together again!
Lindsay with the Grandmas.
One last time with the drill sergeants.
Jen and Lindsay acting... normal.
Lindzy and Lindsay... acting.... um.
Our first lunch together (Cracker Barrel, duh).
PVT Crafton and SPC Natiw prepare to ship out to their new assignments.
Here are a few videos captured with our camera on graduation day.
Please allow some time for the larger ones to load. They are worth it!
Video one: The soldiers of A Company 2-10 Infantry renew their oath.
Oath (6,003KB; 00:20)
Video two: The soldiers of the 4th Platoon march onto the Baker Theater stage with one of their drill sgts.
4th Platoon takes the stage (2,588KB; 00:08)
Video three: "Left, Right, Left!" The soldiers begin their march back to the barracks after graduation in 10 degree weather.
"Left, Right, Left!" (13,237KB; 00:44)
Video four: "I'm gonna be a shootin' man!" The soldiers arrive back at A, 2-10 barracks.
"Shootin' Man!" (9,509KB; 00:31)
Video five: A short video of Lindsay marching with her platoon.
Lindsay Marching(1,696KB; 00:05)
Video six: "Platoon, HALT" The soldiers are ready to be dismissed for the last time at Fort Leonard Wood.
"Platoon, HALT!" (4,152KB; 00:13)
Lindsay shows off her M-16 near her bunk inside the A, 2-10 barracks
Welcome to Fort Leonard Wood!
This is the first time we saw Lindsay on Wednesday morning. The drill sgts. marched them out in their class A's right in front of the barracks.
Lindsay's home for the last 10 weeks, A, 2-10 Infantry Barracks. Notice the chin up bars in the foreground. Lindsay called them the "implements of torture."
The senior company on post! A, 2-10 Infantry! Hooah!
Together again!
Lindsay with the Grandmas.
One last time with the drill sergeants.
Jen and Lindsay acting... normal.
Lindzy and Lindsay... acting.... um.
Our first lunch together (Cracker Barrel, duh).
PVT Crafton and SPC Natiw prepare to ship out to their new assignments.
Here are a few videos captured with our camera on graduation day.
Please allow some time for the larger ones to load. They are worth it!
Video one: The soldiers of A Company 2-10 Infantry renew their oath.
Oath (6,003KB; 00:20)
Video two: The soldiers of the 4th Platoon march onto the Baker Theater stage with one of their drill sgts.
4th Platoon takes the stage (2,588KB; 00:08)
Video three: "Left, Right, Left!" The soldiers begin their march back to the barracks after graduation in 10 degree weather.
"Left, Right, Left!" (13,237KB; 00:44)
Video four: "I'm gonna be a shootin' man!" The soldiers arrive back at A, 2-10 barracks.
"Shootin' Man!" (9,509KB; 00:31)
Video five: A short video of Lindsay marching with her platoon.
Lindsay Marching(1,696KB; 00:05)
Video six: "Platoon, HALT" The soldiers are ready to be dismissed for the last time at Fort Leonard Wood.
"Platoon, HALT!" (4,152KB; 00:13)
SPC Natiw arrives at Ft. Myer!
We're home. Arrived home about midnight last night. Lindsay called us to say that she arrived safely at the airport in D.C. Melissa picked her up and took her to her new digs. Apparently she is going to be living in NCO quarters on base. She has a queen bed, an entertainment center (minus TV), a computer desk (minus computer), a walk in closet, a microwave and refrigerator. She also told us that her name "SPC Lindsay Natiw" is on the door.
Yesterday was an amazing day. We arrived at the Baker Theater on post at around 7:30am. There were already quite a few people there. The ceremony started right at 8am. The troops filed in platoon by platoon and all sat on the right side of the auditorium. There were a couple of short PowerPoint presentations (PFDC has them beat here hands down) and then each platoon marched on stage to graduate. They each called out their name and marched off stage. The captain of the company, Captain Flores, led the troops in renewing their oath. It was awesome.
After the ceremony, we got to meet with Lindsay for about 10 minutes outside (it was about 10 degrees). Then the marched them to the barracks (about a quarter mile away) to get their gear and ship out. Many of the graduates are living on post until December 20th when they begin their Christmas exodus before AIT. Some, like Lindsay, are going straight to their units. Lindsay left on a bus for the St. Louis airport at 10am.
She has been through quite a lot. I can't wait for you all to see her in a couple weeks. You'll be amazed. Oh, and you have to feel her "guns." It's scary...
Yesterday was an amazing day. We arrived at the Baker Theater on post at around 7:30am. There were already quite a few people there. The ceremony started right at 8am. The troops filed in platoon by platoon and all sat on the right side of the auditorium. There were a couple of short PowerPoint presentations (PFDC has them beat here hands down) and then each platoon marched on stage to graduate. They each called out their name and marched off stage. The captain of the company, Captain Flores, led the troops in renewing their oath. It was awesome.
After the ceremony, we got to meet with Lindsay for about 10 minutes outside (it was about 10 degrees). Then the marched them to the barracks (about a quarter mile away) to get their gear and ship out. Many of the graduates are living on post until December 20th when they begin their Christmas exodus before AIT. Some, like Lindsay, are going straight to their units. Lindsay left on a bus for the St. Louis airport at 10am.
She has been through quite a lot. I can't wait for you all to see her in a couple weeks. You'll be amazed. Oh, and you have to feel her "guns." It's scary...
09 December 2005
Graduation Day!!!
[Fort Leonard Wood, MO] Yesterday was another great day. We stayed at the hotel for the most part in the morning. I took a drive on post (at FLW) for a bit in the morning and watched platoons being "scolded" (to put it lightly) by drill sgts. Also watched a cattle truck pull up to a barracks building and saw a group of soldiers get out carrying what looked like about 40 pounds of stuff each. Looked like they had been on an FTX.
We picked Lindsay up at noon. She was feeling sore and tired. Someone in 4th platoon had gotten caught using a cell phone that night and they took the whole company out into the cold in their PT's (pajamas) and made them stand out there for 40 minutes. Lindsay was not a happy camper.
We went to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch where we got to hear more stories from Basic Training. After lunch, we came back to the hotel where Lindsay came up to our room. We went through some of the 20 pounds of mail she got from you all. The amount of mail she got was amazing. We really appreciate every single person who took the time to write her.
After eating pretty much everything in our room, Lindsay changed into her civilian clothes and fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon.
When she woke up, we went out to eat at Ryan's Steak House. We had another great dinner and more time with Lindsay. We had just a short amount of time after that to come back to the hotel. Lindsay wanted a massage, so Karen spent a few minutes doing that. After that, we took Lindsay back for her LAST NIGHT IN THE BARRACKS. She took all her belongings that will be going to D.C. with her (including her fife). She also took our digital camera into the barracks last night. She wanted to take a bunch of pictures of her friends. We'll see how that went.
It's about 7am right now. We're leaving in 15 minutes to go to post. She graduates in just about an hour. Directly afterwards, she gets on a bus and goes to the St. Louis airport to fly to Ft. Myer.
This last few days has been great, but has gone way too fast.
We picked Lindsay up at noon. She was feeling sore and tired. Someone in 4th platoon had gotten caught using a cell phone that night and they took the whole company out into the cold in their PT's (pajamas) and made them stand out there for 40 minutes. Lindsay was not a happy camper.
We went to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch where we got to hear more stories from Basic Training. After lunch, we came back to the hotel where Lindsay came up to our room. We went through some of the 20 pounds of mail she got from you all. The amount of mail she got was amazing. We really appreciate every single person who took the time to write her.
After eating pretty much everything in our room, Lindsay changed into her civilian clothes and fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon.
When she woke up, we went out to eat at Ryan's Steak House. We had another great dinner and more time with Lindsay. We had just a short amount of time after that to come back to the hotel. Lindsay wanted a massage, so Karen spent a few minutes doing that. After that, we took Lindsay back for her LAST NIGHT IN THE BARRACKS. She took all her belongings that will be going to D.C. with her (including her fife). She also took our digital camera into the barracks last night. She wanted to take a bunch of pictures of her friends. We'll see how that went.
It's about 7am right now. We're leaving in 15 minutes to go to post. She graduates in just about an hour. Directly afterwards, she gets on a bus and goes to the St. Louis airport to fly to Ft. Myer.
This last few days has been great, but has gone way too fast.
08 December 2005
Finally...
[Fort Leonard Wood, MO] The drive down was uneventful. We left at 6:30am Tuesday morning and got to Fort Leonard Wood at 6:15pm. We spent the evening driving around (mostly at Walmart getting Lindsay some snacks).
Yesterday was the day though. We attended the family briefing given by Captain Flores. He gave us all the information we needed for the next few days. Also, we saw a slide show of photos of Lindsay's company. After the briefing, we all walked across the street to the A company barracks where our troops were waiting in formation for us. Lindsay was in the front row and was having trouble keeping from smiling when she saw us.
After lots of hugging and tears, we toured her barracks. We saw her bunk, her locker and the room she has spent the last 10 weeks in. Not many creature comforts there.
We got to take her off post, so (naturally) we ended up at Cracker Barrel where we all had a great meal with Lindsay. She had lots of amazing stories to tell us. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and we all just relaxed for a few hours. Lindsay made a couple of phone calls to friends and spent the rest of the time visiting with us.
Later that evening, we went to the Warriors Banquet. This was a very nice event. The food was great and the speech by the commander was really good. I guess the females in Lindsay's company did so well in grenade tossing that they are considering raising the standard. The commanders made the night a "no make way/at ease" night, but the new soldiers could not bring themselves to be that relaxed around the drill sgts. Every time one would walk by Lindsay would immediately go against the wall and put her hands behind her back. This was quite entertaining to watch the whole night. We got to meet one of her drill sgts. who called her his "lean, mean, killing machine." He also said that he knows that Lindsay will be an excellent addition to her group, but "if the going gets rough, you know you can do what you gotta do, right?" Lindsay said "yes, drill sgt."
We dropped her off at her barracks shortly before 8pm. She was sad to be going back, but she knew she had one more day left. Her company was doing a company graduation run this morning (at 4:30am) and it snowed about 3" overnight.
It's about 9:15am (MO time) and we all just finished breakfast. We get to pick Lindsay up at 12pm. We have her until 8pm again today. Graduation is Friday morning.
That's about it for now. More details and photos to follow. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Yesterday was the day though. We attended the family briefing given by Captain Flores. He gave us all the information we needed for the next few days. Also, we saw a slide show of photos of Lindsay's company. After the briefing, we all walked across the street to the A company barracks where our troops were waiting in formation for us. Lindsay was in the front row and was having trouble keeping from smiling when she saw us.
After lots of hugging and tears, we toured her barracks. We saw her bunk, her locker and the room she has spent the last 10 weeks in. Not many creature comforts there.
We got to take her off post, so (naturally) we ended up at Cracker Barrel where we all had a great meal with Lindsay. She had lots of amazing stories to tell us. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and we all just relaxed for a few hours. Lindsay made a couple of phone calls to friends and spent the rest of the time visiting with us.
Later that evening, we went to the Warriors Banquet. This was a very nice event. The food was great and the speech by the commander was really good. I guess the females in Lindsay's company did so well in grenade tossing that they are considering raising the standard. The commanders made the night a "no make way/at ease" night, but the new soldiers could not bring themselves to be that relaxed around the drill sgts. Every time one would walk by Lindsay would immediately go against the wall and put her hands behind her back. This was quite entertaining to watch the whole night. We got to meet one of her drill sgts. who called her his "lean, mean, killing machine." He also said that he knows that Lindsay will be an excellent addition to her group, but "if the going gets rough, you know you can do what you gotta do, right?" Lindsay said "yes, drill sgt."
We dropped her off at her barracks shortly before 8pm. She was sad to be going back, but she knew she had one more day left. Her company was doing a company graduation run this morning (at 4:30am) and it snowed about 3" overnight.
It's about 9:15am (MO time) and we all just finished breakfast. We get to pick Lindsay up at 12pm. We have her until 8pm again today. Graduation is Friday morning.
That's about it for now. More details and photos to follow. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
05 December 2005
Ten long weeks...
We leave in the morning for Ft. Leonard Wood! This is what we've been waiting so long for. September 28th seems so long ago. Speaking of "waiting so long," we've had a few discussions lately about how fast/slow the last 10 weeks have gone. Seems like for our family, it has been about the longest 10 weeks in history. Most other people say it went really quick. Either way, it's time to go to Missouri and hug my baby girl. I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight...
On a related note, I talked with Melissa yesterday. She asked for our thoughts and prayers this week. She is appearing before the promotion board of the Old Guard today. This will be her third attempt at E-7. She has been in since '98. She should know something tomorrow. Good luck Melissa!!! May the third time be your charm.
On a related note, I talked with Melissa yesterday. She asked for our thoughts and prayers this week. She is appearing before the promotion board of the Old Guard today. This will be her third attempt at E-7. She has been in since '98. She should know something tomorrow. Good luck Melissa!!! May the third time be your charm.
03 December 2005
Phone call!!!
Lindsay called this evening. She sounds very excited and relieved. She has completed all of her training and has only a few more days before she ships out to Ft. Myer. She has lots of amazing stories to tell us. Can't wait!
Lindsay is doing fine...
Just got off the phone w/Melissa (and Kara!). Kara is now at Ft. Myer and moving into her room. She said that she got to talk briefly with Lindsay this morning and she is feeling better and can't wait to get out of there. Sounds like Kara and Lindsay will be neighbors. They will have private rooms a couple doors down from each other.
I am ready to go. I can't wait for Tuesday to get here so we can get down there. Only a couple weeks until we get her home for Christmas!
I am ready to go. I can't wait for Tuesday to get here so we can get down there. Only a couple weeks until we get her home for Christmas!
01 December 2005
No word, but we're going!
Last time we heard anything from Lindsay was on Thanksgiving (the 24th). She had a few challenges left to overcome at that point and we're hoping that everything went well. We'll be leaving Tuesday morning for Missouri. Calendar of events is as follows:
Tuesday, December 6:
6am Leave Canton
7-8pm - Arrive at St. Robert, MO Baymont Inn
Wednesday, December 7:
11am-12pm - Family brief
12pm-6pm - Family PASS (on post)
6pm-8pm - Warrior Banquet
Thursday, December 8:
12pm-8pm - Family PASS (off post)
Friday, December 9:
8am-9am - GRADUATION CEREMONY
10am - Soldier Shipping (Lindsay leaves for Ft. Myer, VA)
Remainder of day - Drive home!
Stay tuned for news and photos from Ft. Leonard Wood!
p.s. Congratulations to Kara (Lindsay's friend and fellow Old Guard recruit) who graduates tomorrow morning!
Tuesday, December 6:
6am Leave Canton
7-8pm - Arrive at St. Robert, MO Baymont Inn
Wednesday, December 7:
11am-12pm - Family brief
12pm-6pm - Family PASS (on post)
6pm-8pm - Warrior Banquet
Thursday, December 8:
12pm-8pm - Family PASS (off post)
Friday, December 9:
8am-9am - GRADUATION CEREMONY
10am - Soldier Shipping (Lindsay leaves for Ft. Myer, VA)
Remainder of day - Drive home!
Stay tuned for news and photos from Ft. Leonard Wood!
p.s. Congratulations to Kara (Lindsay's friend and fellow Old Guard recruit) who graduates tomorrow morning!
25 November 2005
24 November 2005
Lindsay called...
and I am thankful. This was a good call. She got to talk to everyone via speakerphone for a bit and then individually. She is doing a bit better. More good news is that she took her PT test Tuesday (as scheduled) and PASSED. Not only did she achieve Basic Training standard, but she has already reached US Army standard. She seemed very relieved. We all were too.
She now has to focus on four more days of actual Basic Training and then she has a make up week. She will be doing her 10k "make up" road march soon. She also has a 15k road march and FTX (field training exercise) this Tuesday it sounds like. These last few things are the only things between her and graduation. She seemed very happy to be able to talk to everyone. I think she was on the phone for almost an hour.
She did tell me that she was still feeling anxious about her last week or two, but seemed to be confident. We leave in twelve days! I can't wait!!!
Happy thanksgiving.
She now has to focus on four more days of actual Basic Training and then she has a make up week. She will be doing her 10k "make up" road march soon. She also has a 15k road march and FTX (field training exercise) this Tuesday it sounds like. These last few things are the only things between her and graduation. She seemed very happy to be able to talk to everyone. I think she was on the phone for almost an hour.
She did tell me that she was still feeling anxious about her last week or two, but seemed to be confident. We leave in twelve days! I can't wait!!!
Happy thanksgiving.
23 November 2005
Photos from Lindsay!
This past Sunday, the soldiers were allowed off base. The photos below were taken at either a church, a gas station or bowling alley. Looks like they got some good coffee finally! Lindsay sent the camera back to us to be developed. So... here they are.
22 November 2005
This one hurts to type...
Postmarked 19Nov05 (this would've been Saturday, at the start of the three very bad phone calls we received):
Dad,
Hi. Well, today was the first day of week seven. And I've never been more emotional in my entire life. I swear, it's like one minute I'm crying my eyes out and the next I'm laughing really hard. This is seriously stressing me out. I feel like it's not even worth it sometimes. I know it sounds stupid, but I seriously can't stay motivated at all. I'm really sick (even worse than before... my head hurts like crazy, my skin hurts when I touch it, it hurts to swallow... etc.). I'm run down, drained, tired and ALWAYS FREEZING. I swear to God Missouri is the coldest state on earth. Not even joking.
We just went on an FTX yesterday and it was so miserable. There are no heated buildings on the site, so if it gets cold, sucks to be you. It got down to like 20 degrees or something and we slept out there. Then in the morning (4am) they made us all get up and pull security which basically means go sit in the hole you dug up the day before with your weapon in 16 degree weather for an HOUR. I cried because my fingers were actually numb. Plus I'm ridiculously sick, so if I even move my WHOLE BODY hurts. This can't be good for you. Seriously. Ow.
Today at range detail (five people from each platoon go set crap up on the firing range for the company to use) we sat in the ammo shack and listened to music and loaded ammo into magazines for about 2.5 hours. Summer of '69 came on and I cried. Seriously. No joke. I friggin' BAWLED MY EYES OUT. It reminded me of home and I was in a really sucky mood so when I heard it I flipped out. It was pretty sad looking. I just got my sweats on. I'm so cold. Crafton said I have a fever. Nobody else is cold but me. They're all walking around in shorts and t-shirts w/flip flops. I can't even write because I'm so cold. This is seriously miserable. I am in hell. It's official.
Three more weeks feels like so long from now. DS Allen didn't let me do the 10k foot march because of my back. So as of now I'm in non-graduate status, which really makes me in an even better mood. Not. This is ridiculous. I need major help dad. I don't know how much longer I can take it.
I was in a better mood earlier. When we did night fire. We all waited until the sun went down, put tracer rounds in our magazines and put our M-16's on burst and it was like a lazer light show going on. The drill sgts. were lighting off pink and orange flares (one of them started a fire on the range). I was so excited and happy, but I took medicine before it so I wouldn't feel so bad. However, now I feel like poop and I'm going to cry.
Sorry for the bad note. I'm gonna try to write everyone one by one.
Love you,
Lindsay
p.s. WRITE BACK
Dad,
Hi. Well, today was the first day of week seven. And I've never been more emotional in my entire life. I swear, it's like one minute I'm crying my eyes out and the next I'm laughing really hard. This is seriously stressing me out. I feel like it's not even worth it sometimes. I know it sounds stupid, but I seriously can't stay motivated at all. I'm really sick (even worse than before... my head hurts like crazy, my skin hurts when I touch it, it hurts to swallow... etc.). I'm run down, drained, tired and ALWAYS FREEZING. I swear to God Missouri is the coldest state on earth. Not even joking.
We just went on an FTX yesterday and it was so miserable. There are no heated buildings on the site, so if it gets cold, sucks to be you. It got down to like 20 degrees or something and we slept out there. Then in the morning (4am) they made us all get up and pull security which basically means go sit in the hole you dug up the day before with your weapon in 16 degree weather for an HOUR. I cried because my fingers were actually numb. Plus I'm ridiculously sick, so if I even move my WHOLE BODY hurts. This can't be good for you. Seriously. Ow.
Today at range detail (five people from each platoon go set crap up on the firing range for the company to use) we sat in the ammo shack and listened to music and loaded ammo into magazines for about 2.5 hours. Summer of '69 came on and I cried. Seriously. No joke. I friggin' BAWLED MY EYES OUT. It reminded me of home and I was in a really sucky mood so when I heard it I flipped out. It was pretty sad looking. I just got my sweats on. I'm so cold. Crafton said I have a fever. Nobody else is cold but me. They're all walking around in shorts and t-shirts w/flip flops. I can't even write because I'm so cold. This is seriously miserable. I am in hell. It's official.
Three more weeks feels like so long from now. DS Allen didn't let me do the 10k foot march because of my back. So as of now I'm in non-graduate status, which really makes me in an even better mood. Not. This is ridiculous. I need major help dad. I don't know how much longer I can take it.
I was in a better mood earlier. When we did night fire. We all waited until the sun went down, put tracer rounds in our magazines and put our M-16's on burst and it was like a lazer light show going on. The drill sgts. were lighting off pink and orange flares (one of them started a fire on the range). I was so excited and happy, but I took medicine before it so I wouldn't feel so bad. However, now I feel like poop and I'm going to cry.
Sorry for the bad note. I'm gonna try to write everyone one by one.
Love you,
Lindsay
p.s. WRITE BACK
19 November 2005
She sounds pretty rough
Lindsay gave us a phone call today (30 minutes!!!). She sounds really sick. She missed her chance to go to the Doctor's today, so she has to wait until Monday now. Problem is, her PT test is Tuesday. She seems to be keeping her chin up, but is just really physically drained. She needs all the support we can give her for these last couple weeks.
She has a few really important milestones coming up. Her PT test is next week, a 10k road march another FTX and a 15k road march. She also has to make up a push-ups test. These are all going to take every last bit of strength she has it seems. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She said she would be able to call again tomorrow.
On a scheduling note, she will be shipping directly to Ft. Myer on December 9th (right after graduation). Right now it looks like she will be coming home on December 19th and going back to Virginia on January 3rd.
And finally:
18 days until we see her!!!!
20 days until she graduates!!!
30 days until she's HOME!!!!
She has a few really important milestones coming up. Her PT test is next week, a 10k road march another FTX and a 15k road march. She also has to make up a push-ups test. These are all going to take every last bit of strength she has it seems. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She said she would be able to call again tomorrow.
On a scheduling note, she will be shipping directly to Ft. Myer on December 9th (right after graduation). Right now it looks like she will be coming home on December 19th and going back to Virginia on January 3rd.
And finally:
18 days until we see her!!!!
20 days until she graduates!!!
30 days until she's HOME!!!!
17 November 2005
"Our company moved into White Phase yesterday!"
Dated 09Nov05:
Fasha,
Hi dad. Ugh. I am SO sore it's almost ridiculous. My arch support in my running shoes and boots suck so I keep getting major pain all the way up my back. My knees hurt too. And my pulled muscle isn't doing any better. To tell you the truth, I think it's getting worse which sucks a lot.
I refuse to go on sick call (the doctor's office/pharmacy) because I'll miss training and I might get put on code again (no run/jump/march). That means I can't do jack crap because the doctor said. And if I do, I get an article 15 under the VCMJ for disobedience. SO, that's why I'm not going. Plus, I only have four more weeks left (hopefully) until graduation (if I graduate... nervous). The last week we really don't do anything but get our crap together. So really, I only have three weeks of training left. Woo.
We're getting fitted for our Class A's today. I'm excited! They're pretty. I get to put my weapon qualification badge on them. We qualified yesterday (Nov. 8). I sucked really bad. I was pretty much pissed the rest of the day because I got friggin' marksman. What the heck?? I shot crappy. I got a 28. A sharpshooter is a 31. The day before qualification I got a 34. What kind of crap is that?? I got nervous is what that is. DUMB. I feel embarassed wearing that stupid badge. However, I should just be glad that I qualified at all or I'd be a restart. I just want another chance. I'm 100% positive that I'd get sharpshooter. UGH. Okay, all that is doing is making me irritated. NEXT SUBJECT.
Our company moved into WHITE PHASE yesterday! I was so excited. Our company commander (Captain Flores) said he was proud of us because out of 175 soldiers, only two didn't qualify. He said that showed that we were paying attention to our drill sgts. and working as a team. I wonder what blue phase will be like.
I've been wanting family day to get here already. I get to walk around in my Class A's and leave the fort for a whole day. I don't get to change though, which sucks. I keep thinking about my graduation and knowing that all of you are proud of me and it's making me, like, cry. lol. I just can't wait. I'm going to feel so accomplished. Heck, I already feel like I did so much already, but I know I still have more work left to do.
Oh, I forgot to tell you (I think, if I did, disregard this next statement). One of the girls in my bay bought me a bible at the px the other day. It's really pretty. It's all green leather with the Army emblem on the front of it in gold. It's like a soldier's bible. It's got helpful stuff in it like what verses to go to when you need help, fearing failure, need to be cheered up... etc. It's really useful. It was like 20 some dollars. She's really nice.
For Christmas exodus they might make us wear our ACU's home instead of our Class A's. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. My ACU cap doesn't really fit me right. It's too small. Kara has BDU's instead of ACU's. BDU's are the dark camo print stuff. ACU's are the digital light stuff with the tan boots. I actually like the BDU's better. They look cooler. ACU's are LAME.
But yeah, I still don't know if I'm going to take a bus home or a plane home. A bus to Chicago is only like $141. Whereas a plane ticket is like $300-500. Lame again.
I was looking at my pictures yesterday during qualification while we were waiting for everyone to get done and everyone loves my pictures. lol. They all wanted to see them. I have one of you in the gas mask [from PFDC tour banquet, jn] that Mrs. Cogo gave you. They thought it was funny. Are there any new pictures of us on the website? If there are, send me some of them. I really want to see them. The last ones I saw were the ones where I was on the wall with Crafton, Morrisette and Staggs, the M-16 water one and the gas chamber one.
This sucks. I want a break to come home and tell everyone about basic. I'm supposed to be cleaning right now, but there isn't anything left to clean. We did it all already, but if we told the drill sgt. we were done, we'd be running laps or getting "corrective training" of some sort. So, we're all hiding out in the changing bay sitting around acting like we're cleaning the latrine.
I had fire guard last night. Actually, it was supposed to be my night off, but one of our females got sick and went to the hospital, so I covered her shift. It wasn't that bad since it was the first one (9-10pm).
It smells like bleach in here. Yuck.
Oh, that guitar pick you sent me... the words wore off. So now it's just a yellow pick. lol. I've been doing so much crap, nothing is left on it anymore. Hmm... which do you like better... ACU's or Class A's? What do you think of me in my spiffy ACU's? lol. Did you flip when you saw a picture or laugh at me for looking like such a complete dork? HA! I'm getting bored/tired now. That sucks. See, I can't even write anymore. So... with that I will be on my way... to clean doorknobs or something. Bye!
Love,
Lindsay
Fasha,
Hi dad. Ugh. I am SO sore it's almost ridiculous. My arch support in my running shoes and boots suck so I keep getting major pain all the way up my back. My knees hurt too. And my pulled muscle isn't doing any better. To tell you the truth, I think it's getting worse which sucks a lot.
I refuse to go on sick call (the doctor's office/pharmacy) because I'll miss training and I might get put on code again (no run/jump/march). That means I can't do jack crap because the doctor said. And if I do, I get an article 15 under the VCMJ for disobedience. SO, that's why I'm not going. Plus, I only have four more weeks left (hopefully) until graduation (if I graduate... nervous). The last week we really don't do anything but get our crap together. So really, I only have three weeks of training left. Woo.
We're getting fitted for our Class A's today. I'm excited! They're pretty. I get to put my weapon qualification badge on them. We qualified yesterday (Nov. 8). I sucked really bad. I was pretty much pissed the rest of the day because I got friggin' marksman. What the heck?? I shot crappy. I got a 28. A sharpshooter is a 31. The day before qualification I got a 34. What kind of crap is that?? I got nervous is what that is. DUMB. I feel embarassed wearing that stupid badge. However, I should just be glad that I qualified at all or I'd be a restart. I just want another chance. I'm 100% positive that I'd get sharpshooter. UGH. Okay, all that is doing is making me irritated. NEXT SUBJECT.
Our company moved into WHITE PHASE yesterday! I was so excited. Our company commander (Captain Flores) said he was proud of us because out of 175 soldiers, only two didn't qualify. He said that showed that we were paying attention to our drill sgts. and working as a team. I wonder what blue phase will be like.
I've been wanting family day to get here already. I get to walk around in my Class A's and leave the fort for a whole day. I don't get to change though, which sucks. I keep thinking about my graduation and knowing that all of you are proud of me and it's making me, like, cry. lol. I just can't wait. I'm going to feel so accomplished. Heck, I already feel like I did so much already, but I know I still have more work left to do.
Oh, I forgot to tell you (I think, if I did, disregard this next statement). One of the girls in my bay bought me a bible at the px the other day. It's really pretty. It's all green leather with the Army emblem on the front of it in gold. It's like a soldier's bible. It's got helpful stuff in it like what verses to go to when you need help, fearing failure, need to be cheered up... etc. It's really useful. It was like 20 some dollars. She's really nice.
For Christmas exodus they might make us wear our ACU's home instead of our Class A's. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. My ACU cap doesn't really fit me right. It's too small. Kara has BDU's instead of ACU's. BDU's are the dark camo print stuff. ACU's are the digital light stuff with the tan boots. I actually like the BDU's better. They look cooler. ACU's are LAME.
But yeah, I still don't know if I'm going to take a bus home or a plane home. A bus to Chicago is only like $141. Whereas a plane ticket is like $300-500. Lame again.
I was looking at my pictures yesterday during qualification while we were waiting for everyone to get done and everyone loves my pictures. lol. They all wanted to see them. I have one of you in the gas mask [from PFDC tour banquet, jn] that Mrs. Cogo gave you. They thought it was funny. Are there any new pictures of us on the website? If there are, send me some of them. I really want to see them. The last ones I saw were the ones where I was on the wall with Crafton, Morrisette and Staggs, the M-16 water one and the gas chamber one.
This sucks. I want a break to come home and tell everyone about basic. I'm supposed to be cleaning right now, but there isn't anything left to clean. We did it all already, but if we told the drill sgt. we were done, we'd be running laps or getting "corrective training" of some sort. So, we're all hiding out in the changing bay sitting around acting like we're cleaning the latrine.
I had fire guard last night. Actually, it was supposed to be my night off, but one of our females got sick and went to the hospital, so I covered her shift. It wasn't that bad since it was the first one (9-10pm).
It smells like bleach in here. Yuck.
Oh, that guitar pick you sent me... the words wore off. So now it's just a yellow pick. lol. I've been doing so much crap, nothing is left on it anymore. Hmm... which do you like better... ACU's or Class A's? What do you think of me in my spiffy ACU's? lol. Did you flip when you saw a picture or laugh at me for looking like such a complete dork? HA! I'm getting bored/tired now. That sucks. See, I can't even write anymore. So... with that I will be on my way... to clean doorknobs or something. Bye!
Love,
Lindsay
15 November 2005
Please disregard the last post...
Bambi is alive and well. My "hunting" trip turned into a "non-hunting" trip. I just didn't have the energy/interest/passion to go out this year. I didn't even go out today (opening day... the horrah). I did, however, do a bit of running and writing. I took my guitar up there and spent many an afternoon playing away. Even wrote part of a new Nirvana-ish sounding song (see the music blog). Anyway, not one of the guys got a deer this year (this is really nothing new). Although the other two that were up there with me did work very hard this year to bring home the venison. So... I'm back a day early and it's raining. Sounds like "song-writing" weather to me.
12 November 2005
10 November 2005
"...the only way I'm going home is in my Class A uniform, graduated and on a plane..."
Dated 05 Nov 05:
Everyone,
Hi! How are you all? I'm okay. A little freaked out though. We qualify with our weapons on Tuesday. If I don't qualify I get restarted in a different company. And since you know how absolutely freaked out I can get, I'm not going into details.
Oh, I got into trouble for the first time yesterday. Our PG (Platoon Guide) told me and two other people to go out into the hallway to talk about an issue (we were cleaning our weapons) so I said "okay." Just real quick. So we walked out into the hall and started talking. Then the drill sgt. came and made us do squat thrusts (basically going down into the push-up position and jumping back up). So we were doing them and I started to get mad. So when the drill sgt. started yelling at me, I answered like I was supposed to, but was pissed and had an attitude. So... he made me to 150 squat thrusts with two push-ups in between each thrust. Needless to say I was pissed. THEN TODAY HE CALLED ME A LIAR AND SAID I WAS FAKING MY MUSCLE PAIN IN MY BACK. Friggin' retard. I hate that drill sgt. Ugh.
Anyways, sorry. I was really mad and had to get that out. Whew. Okay. Moving on.
I just sent a letter to Melissa saying hi and other stuff like that. I got Kara's address from mom, but I'm not allowed to write to other soldiers in Basic Training. So that pretty much sucks a lot. But I do get to see and talk to her every Sunday at Church! Woo!
You know what? I am SO ready to come home. I want to graduate. This morning (when my DS called me a liar for my back) he asked me why I wanted to fake sick and go home, but I told him the only way I'm going home is in my Class A uniform, graduated and on a plane because I DID MY TRAINING! [that's my girl!!!, jn]The thing is with sick call, is basically anyone who goes is automatically a "liar." So, by people going that are actually sick/injured we get crap for it. Ugh. I'm still mad about that.
I want family day to be here already. Only 33 more days left as of today. I can't wait. Alright, I really need to take a shower, make my bed, clean my locker, do PT and massage my "fake injury." I'll write more to you all later. Send me as much mail as you can because I could really use some cheering up right now.
Love you guys,
Lindsay
Everyone,
Hi! How are you all? I'm okay. A little freaked out though. We qualify with our weapons on Tuesday. If I don't qualify I get restarted in a different company. And since you know how absolutely freaked out I can get, I'm not going into details.
Oh, I got into trouble for the first time yesterday. Our PG (Platoon Guide) told me and two other people to go out into the hallway to talk about an issue (we were cleaning our weapons) so I said "okay." Just real quick. So we walked out into the hall and started talking. Then the drill sgt. came and made us do squat thrusts (basically going down into the push-up position and jumping back up). So we were doing them and I started to get mad. So when the drill sgt. started yelling at me, I answered like I was supposed to, but was pissed and had an attitude. So... he made me to 150 squat thrusts with two push-ups in between each thrust. Needless to say I was pissed. THEN TODAY HE CALLED ME A LIAR AND SAID I WAS FAKING MY MUSCLE PAIN IN MY BACK. Friggin' retard. I hate that drill sgt. Ugh.
Anyways, sorry. I was really mad and had to get that out. Whew. Okay. Moving on.
I just sent a letter to Melissa saying hi and other stuff like that. I got Kara's address from mom, but I'm not allowed to write to other soldiers in Basic Training. So that pretty much sucks a lot. But I do get to see and talk to her every Sunday at Church! Woo!
You know what? I am SO ready to come home. I want to graduate. This morning (when my DS called me a liar for my back) he asked me why I wanted to fake sick and go home, but I told him the only way I'm going home is in my Class A uniform, graduated and on a plane because I DID MY TRAINING! [that's my girl!!!, jn]The thing is with sick call, is basically anyone who goes is automatically a "liar." So, by people going that are actually sick/injured we get crap for it. Ugh. I'm still mad about that.
I want family day to be here already. Only 33 more days left as of today. I can't wait. Alright, I really need to take a shower, make my bed, clean my locker, do PT and massage my "fake injury." I'll write more to you all later. Send me as much mail as you can because I could really use some cheering up right now.
Love you guys,
Lindsay
09 November 2005
"Do you hear that Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability..."
Came across another one of those entertaining quiz thingies. This one tries to pinpoint which movie villian you most closely resemble. Turns out I am the one person I fear.... Agent Smith. Dude scares the life out of me...
Favorite Agent Smith quotes:
[hearing the coming subway]: "Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability."
"I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it."
"You are a plague, and we are the cure."
"Never send a human to do a machine's job."
Lieutenant: "I think we can handle one little girl".
Agent Smith: "No, Lieutenant. Your men are already dead."
"I am the Alpha of your Omega. I am the beginning of your end."
Hmm... I think I actually like this guy after all...
Favorite Agent Smith quotes:
[hearing the coming subway]: "Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability."
"I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it."
"You are a plague, and we are the cure."
"Never send a human to do a machine's job."
Lieutenant: "I think we can handle one little girl".
Agent Smith: "No, Lieutenant. Your men are already dead."
"I am the Alpha of your Omega. I am the beginning of your end."
Hmm... I think I actually like this guy after all...
07 November 2005
"Me and Crafton own the place"
Dated 02 Nov 05
Everyone,
Hi! How are you all doing? I'm... okay. Not horrible and not great either. I'm VERY sore and we were smoked until muscle failure. I can barely do 10 push-ups anymore because my arms don't work anymore. That's NOT COOL because the PT test is in three weeks. BRM qualifying is soon too. Like, next week or so. Sorry my writing sucks so bad. Lights out was a little bit ago and I'm writing in bed by flashlight. Don't you like the stationary? [she got some cute military cartoon stationary at the px, jn] It's so great. It was only $3.75 at the PX. Woo.
Oh, guess what. I'm a squad leader. Heck yes. There are four squad leaders in a 45 person platoon and the drill sgt. said me and Crafton own the place. HAHA. Which is cool. And he said I'm tough as nails. HA. I own you all. Oh yeah, I can also shoot a target 300 meters away square in the head. How flippin' sweet is that?! Uh, yeah... awesome. Well, I gotta go. I want to fill you in on the squad leader thing more.
Love you guys!
Lindsay
p.s. WRITE!!!
Everyone,
Hi! How are you all doing? I'm... okay. Not horrible and not great either. I'm VERY sore and we were smoked until muscle failure. I can barely do 10 push-ups anymore because my arms don't work anymore. That's NOT COOL because the PT test is in three weeks. BRM qualifying is soon too. Like, next week or so. Sorry my writing sucks so bad. Lights out was a little bit ago and I'm writing in bed by flashlight. Don't you like the stationary? [she got some cute military cartoon stationary at the px, jn] It's so great. It was only $3.75 at the PX. Woo.
Oh, guess what. I'm a squad leader. Heck yes. There are four squad leaders in a 45 person platoon and the drill sgt. said me and Crafton own the place. HAHA. Which is cool. And he said I'm tough as nails. HA. I own you all. Oh yeah, I can also shoot a target 300 meters away square in the head. How flippin' sweet is that?! Uh, yeah... awesome. Well, I gotta go. I want to fill you in on the squad leader thing more.
Love you guys!
Lindsay
p.s. WRITE!!!
05 November 2005
"Drill Sgt. I have one thing to say... I am awesome"
Dated 01 Nov 05:
Everyone,
Hi, how are you all? I hope you're doing okay. *sigh* Today WAS an alright day... but got worse and worse as it went on. In the morning (and a lot of the afternoon) we had BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship). I love BRM because we get to shoot our guns! Oops, I mean "weapons", ha! Anyways, today was my third day shooting it. We were practicing shooting at 75m, 175m and 300m away. I was really excited because I was AWESOME. I hit all the 75m, 16 of 20 175m and 6/10 from 300m. I own! Anyways, so when I was walking back to get off the range, my drill sgt. (Allen) put a clearing rod in my face and asked me how I did. Haha, then I go "drill sgt. I have one thing to say. I am awesome" and then walked away. Haha. But when I walked away, he hit me with the rod and called me a "moo-cow." Yeah, interesting. Anyways, basically if that was my qualifying round, I would be a sharpshooter. I keep telling you, I'm awesome. Not only would I qualify, but I'm 5 points away from an EXPERT. That's right, OWNAGE at it's finest.
Oh yeah, not only does my drill sgt. know me by name, but the FIRST SGT. of the whole friggin company does too. He smacked me on my helmet today because I'm a specialist and I "cheated the system." Pssh. Whatever. Oh, I just remembered. My drill sgt. Allen told me I shot like a girl (to get me motivated) the other day, and I must have been really awake because I said "if I shoot like a girl, then I must be shooting like the rest of the males here." Wooooooo! I got an M&M for that one. It was good too!
DS Allen said I haev an attitude, but I know how to use it. Which means I haven't screwed up too bad YET. *knock on wood* Anyways, after lunch all of us (the whole company) got the crap scuffed out of us because we're not disciplined. And it was from the 1st sgt. too which = VERY BAD!! Yeah, people are stupid.
Anyways, the whole day has pretty much went to crap because I got sick again (I still wasn't all the way better) and we kept getting smoked. LAME. And I'm really friggin tired, but I'm writing you all a letter because I feel like craaaaaaaap. We're qualifying in like a week and a half and our FINAL PT TEST is in like two or three weeks. Scary. I'm really afraid of the last few weeks. They're gonna HURT.
I'm supposed to get my platoon photos back during week six or so. I can't wait until family day when I can wear my class A's and get to spend the whole day w/you guys. We get to leave the fort and everything! Can we say COFFEE??? HECK YES! Oh, I got a letter from Sgt. Kwik. Woo. It was about time. He said every time I write him a letter, I get one back. So woo. Letters for Lindsay. Oh, dad, my writing on my guitar pick is starting to come off. I keep it in the pocket of my ACU's and with all that moving around the writing is wearing off. I sleep with both guitar picks. I have William (my fife doll) and I put the picks in his shirt and go to sleep with all my special stuff. Aww... he's so cute. I told Kara at church that I slept with a William doll and she flipped and wanted it. Lol. I might let her borrow it for a week just so she can feel at home.
Oh, if you can... send up any pictures of me and Kara and/or the Old Guard because she doesn't have like any pictures. Okay, it's 9:25 and I am SO TIRED. So, I'm going to bed. I love you!
Good night everyone!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. write as much as you can!!
Everyone,
Hi, how are you all? I hope you're doing okay. *sigh* Today WAS an alright day... but got worse and worse as it went on. In the morning (and a lot of the afternoon) we had BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship). I love BRM because we get to shoot our guns! Oops, I mean "weapons", ha! Anyways, today was my third day shooting it. We were practicing shooting at 75m, 175m and 300m away. I was really excited because I was AWESOME. I hit all the 75m, 16 of 20 175m and 6/10 from 300m. I own! Anyways, so when I was walking back to get off the range, my drill sgt. (Allen) put a clearing rod in my face and asked me how I did. Haha, then I go "drill sgt. I have one thing to say. I am awesome" and then walked away. Haha. But when I walked away, he hit me with the rod and called me a "moo-cow." Yeah, interesting. Anyways, basically if that was my qualifying round, I would be a sharpshooter. I keep telling you, I'm awesome. Not only would I qualify, but I'm 5 points away from an EXPERT. That's right, OWNAGE at it's finest.
Oh yeah, not only does my drill sgt. know me by name, but the FIRST SGT. of the whole friggin company does too. He smacked me on my helmet today because I'm a specialist and I "cheated the system." Pssh. Whatever. Oh, I just remembered. My drill sgt. Allen told me I shot like a girl (to get me motivated) the other day, and I must have been really awake because I said "if I shoot like a girl, then I must be shooting like the rest of the males here." Wooooooo! I got an M&M for that one. It was good too!
DS Allen said I haev an attitude, but I know how to use it. Which means I haven't screwed up too bad YET. *knock on wood* Anyways, after lunch all of us (the whole company) got the crap scuffed out of us because we're not disciplined. And it was from the 1st sgt. too which = VERY BAD!! Yeah, people are stupid.
Anyways, the whole day has pretty much went to crap because I got sick again (I still wasn't all the way better) and we kept getting smoked. LAME. And I'm really friggin tired, but I'm writing you all a letter because I feel like craaaaaaaap. We're qualifying in like a week and a half and our FINAL PT TEST is in like two or three weeks. Scary. I'm really afraid of the last few weeks. They're gonna HURT.
I'm supposed to get my platoon photos back during week six or so. I can't wait until family day when I can wear my class A's and get to spend the whole day w/you guys. We get to leave the fort and everything! Can we say COFFEE??? HECK YES! Oh, I got a letter from Sgt. Kwik. Woo. It was about time. He said every time I write him a letter, I get one back. So woo. Letters for Lindsay. Oh, dad, my writing on my guitar pick is starting to come off. I keep it in the pocket of my ACU's and with all that moving around the writing is wearing off. I sleep with both guitar picks. I have William (my fife doll) and I put the picks in his shirt and go to sleep with all my special stuff. Aww... he's so cute. I told Kara at church that I slept with a William doll and she flipped and wanted it. Lol. I might let her borrow it for a week just so she can feel at home.
Oh, if you can... send up any pictures of me and Kara and/or the Old Guard because she doesn't have like any pictures. Okay, it's 9:25 and I am SO TIRED. So, I'm going to bed. I love you!
Good night everyone!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. write as much as you can!!
03 November 2005
02 November 2005
"...he said I wasn't allowed to get stressed out..."
Dated 30 Oct 05:
Everyone,
Hey! Well, it's Sunday! Church day! They usually call Sundays the "three C's" day. Church, chow and clean. haha. We're supposed to get a phone call every Sunday, but sometimes the stupid people in our platoon screw everyone over and we don't get to use them. I hope we do today [she didn't, jn].
Grandma Ruth sent me so much stuff. She put gum in the package but the drill sgts. didn't find it. She also sent me some Mary Kay stuff, pens, paper, post-it notes, stamps, pre-stamped postcards, a sketch book, graphite pencils and lots of Burt's Bees lip stuff.
I made two really good friends here. Venicia and Crafton (Crystal & Casey). If you can, and have time, send them a little care package. They don't get too much mail and I would appreciate it if you got them something small like Burt's bees or pens and paper/stamps, that type of stuff. They never get any packages and the smallest thing would help a lot.
Oh, dude, guess what. So today, I was getting ready for Church and my friend Crafton asked me if I would go to her church with her today, so I said "sure" (her church is Protestant). So we went, and we walked into the bathroom and Kara was up there!!! AHHHHH. We both flipped out and wouldn't stop hugging. lol. I started crying when we were hugging. Then she started and it was like the water works in there. haha. All the other girls looked at us like we were insane. HA. So we're switching churches every week to see each other. WOO! It was so good to talk to someone. lol.
[Kara is from New Hampshire and is going into the Old Guard F&DC with Lindsay, jn]
I was just informed that my platoon (again) probably won't get to use the phone tonight. Wow. What a surprise. NOT! Well, I'll just have to tell you this then. When we were in the simulation for the M-16 (it's like duck hunt on Nintendo) I was feeling a little stressed (just because I was). And so I started drawing, trying to get my stress out. Anyways, the drill sgt. caught me and took my notebook in front of the whole platoon. About an hour and a half later, he called me into his office and was asking me why I was drawing and stuff during training (first of all, I was just sitting in line doing nothing). So I told him I was stressed out and was trying to get over it so I can chill and he said I wasn't allowed to get stressed out because I'm one out of three people in the whole platoon that keep it going. The other two are Venicia and Crafton. And he said that I need to chill because he needs me to keep everyone in line. Haha.
It's funny because I got away with saying some crazy stuff to him over the past couple weeks. One day, I was climbing this huge vertical ladder (60ft.) and all the rungs are 5 feet apart and he was shaking it to get me scared (ha, it worked!) and I yelled down from the top "THAT'S NOT FAIR DRILL SGT., I CAN'T TELL YOU TO SHUT UP!" lol. I thought I was gonna get it but he just went "oh really Natiw?" and shook it more. lol. Everyone laughed their butts off.
Then last night I got a letter from Emily with the teen girl squad cartoon in it and he looked at it and went "what the heck. I don't get it." And without thinking I went "I didn't think you would drill sgt." and everyone went "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!" lol. But then he actually laughed at me and chucked the letter across the room, haha. Woo. Yeah, funtime!
I've been in a weird mood lately. Sometimes I'm like "Woo! LET'S DO THIS THING!" Then others I'm like "meh.... I miss my family, blah, blah blah." I'm really tired right now. There isn't anything to do. It's cleaning day. All we do is sit around, clean, eat, more sitting around, eat, sit around, formation, personal time, bed. I <3 Sundays. lol.
Oh, but seriously, those packages. If you can, send one to PVT Venicia and one to PVT Crafton. Crafton is like my closest friend here. In my pictures that you sent me with me on the wall with three other people, Crafton is the really short girl sitting right next to me. She's so funny. I would send them myself, but I can't lol. But yeah. I should go write other people now so I don't seem retarted for getting letters and not writing them. OH, I don't get in trouble for getting letters, so SEND THEM!!!! XD. lol.
I gotta go. I'll hopefully get to actually TALK to you all soon providing my platoon stops being retarted. lol. I love you guys. 40 more days!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. oh, try to make some labels of my address so I don't have to write it out on the envelope please!
Everyone,
Hey! Well, it's Sunday! Church day! They usually call Sundays the "three C's" day. Church, chow and clean. haha. We're supposed to get a phone call every Sunday, but sometimes the stupid people in our platoon screw everyone over and we don't get to use them. I hope we do today [she didn't, jn].
Grandma Ruth sent me so much stuff. She put gum in the package but the drill sgts. didn't find it. She also sent me some Mary Kay stuff, pens, paper, post-it notes, stamps, pre-stamped postcards, a sketch book, graphite pencils and lots of Burt's Bees lip stuff.
I made two really good friends here. Venicia and Crafton (Crystal & Casey). If you can, and have time, send them a little care package. They don't get too much mail and I would appreciate it if you got them something small like Burt's bees or pens and paper/stamps, that type of stuff. They never get any packages and the smallest thing would help a lot.
Oh, dude, guess what. So today, I was getting ready for Church and my friend Crafton asked me if I would go to her church with her today, so I said "sure" (her church is Protestant). So we went, and we walked into the bathroom and Kara was up there!!! AHHHHH. We both flipped out and wouldn't stop hugging. lol. I started crying when we were hugging. Then she started and it was like the water works in there. haha. All the other girls looked at us like we were insane. HA. So we're switching churches every week to see each other. WOO! It was so good to talk to someone. lol.
[Kara is from New Hampshire and is going into the Old Guard F&DC with Lindsay, jn]
I was just informed that my platoon (again) probably won't get to use the phone tonight. Wow. What a surprise. NOT! Well, I'll just have to tell you this then. When we were in the simulation for the M-16 (it's like duck hunt on Nintendo) I was feeling a little stressed (just because I was). And so I started drawing, trying to get my stress out. Anyways, the drill sgt. caught me and took my notebook in front of the whole platoon. About an hour and a half later, he called me into his office and was asking me why I was drawing and stuff during training (first of all, I was just sitting in line doing nothing). So I told him I was stressed out and was trying to get over it so I can chill and he said I wasn't allowed to get stressed out because I'm one out of three people in the whole platoon that keep it going. The other two are Venicia and Crafton. And he said that I need to chill because he needs me to keep everyone in line. Haha.
It's funny because I got away with saying some crazy stuff to him over the past couple weeks. One day, I was climbing this huge vertical ladder (60ft.) and all the rungs are 5 feet apart and he was shaking it to get me scared (ha, it worked!) and I yelled down from the top "THAT'S NOT FAIR DRILL SGT., I CAN'T TELL YOU TO SHUT UP!" lol. I thought I was gonna get it but he just went "oh really Natiw?" and shook it more. lol. Everyone laughed their butts off.
Then last night I got a letter from Emily with the teen girl squad cartoon in it and he looked at it and went "what the heck. I don't get it." And without thinking I went "I didn't think you would drill sgt." and everyone went "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!" lol. But then he actually laughed at me and chucked the letter across the room, haha. Woo. Yeah, funtime!
I've been in a weird mood lately. Sometimes I'm like "Woo! LET'S DO THIS THING!" Then others I'm like "meh.... I miss my family, blah, blah blah." I'm really tired right now. There isn't anything to do. It's cleaning day. All we do is sit around, clean, eat, more sitting around, eat, sit around, formation, personal time, bed. I <3 Sundays. lol.
Oh, but seriously, those packages. If you can, send one to PVT Venicia and one to PVT Crafton. Crafton is like my closest friend here. In my pictures that you sent me with me on the wall with three other people, Crafton is the really short girl sitting right next to me. She's so funny. I would send them myself, but I can't lol. But yeah. I should go write other people now so I don't seem retarted for getting letters and not writing them. OH, I don't get in trouble for getting letters, so SEND THEM!!!! XD. lol.
I gotta go. I'll hopefully get to actually TALK to you all soon providing my platoon stops being retarted. lol. I love you guys. 40 more days!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. oh, try to make some labels of my address so I don't have to write it out on the envelope please!
01 November 2005
"Someone in our family is in the ARMY!"
Dated 28 Oct 05:
EVERYONE!
HI EVERYBODY! Wow, I haven't written in awhile. I'm sorry. I have ZERO TIME to write anyone. Please make sure everyone knows that (Gr. Boyagian, etc). lol. I got your package w/Rachael's haunted house and witch. Cute Boo! Thank you for the Halloween stuff. :o) Keep trying to send a letter every night. I don't get in trouble for getting them, lol. I get messed with a little, but no push-ups anymore. XD
What else... I'm still sick... it sucks. My leg is better for the time being. Now I screwed up my back. Yeah, fun. Not. I couldn't do the 8k ruck march (foot march with all your gear on). So I was on detail to set crap up. Woo! OH, I SHOT MY M-16A2 RIFLE TODAY and I OWNED EVERYONE. IT WAS AWESOME. I <3>
Okay, I just got out of the shower, lol. You really wanted to know that. So, I told you. I don't have fire guard tonight, Woo! I'm excited. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I had my first FTX the other day. It was actually pretty fun. Field Training Exercise. That's what it stands for. Anyways, basically, what it is, is we all wake up at 4:00am, get our weapons and go on a 5k road march with 30 pounds on our backs, full uniform and a bunch of other crap and go camping in the flippin' woods for a random amount of days. At first it sucked A LOT because it was so cold. But after an hour and a half of hammering tent stakes into the ground you warm up pretty fast. They also made us put camo paint all over our faces. It was hilarious. We only went for one night because it was too cold and we weren't ready for the weather.
Oh yeah, we also did land navigation too. It's where they give you a compass, an azimuth and tell you to to find 5 random points in the woods. The first time, we all found our points in 45 minutes. The second REAL navigation too us 3 hours and we only found 3 out of 5 points. We walked about 2000+ meters for that one. It took me 83 steps to go 100 meters. That's a little fact for you, in case you wanted to know. :o)
We were supposed to start white phase today since it's the start of the 4th week, but my whole company is full of losers, so they're keeping us in red phase for another week or so. Lame. We suck. I got stuck in the platoon with the highest amount of attitude problems. Joy. The drill sgts. know me by name already. Lol. One of them always tells me "good job" and other stuff like taht and he's like the hardest drill sgt. I totally owned some guys at some physical crap the other day. HA! I'm still as awesome as... well... me, because there is nothing more awesome. BAHAHAHAHA.
You know what I was thinking the other day? Someone in our family is in the army. The ARMY. What the heck? I sometimes sit here and randomly laugh at myself when I remember that I'm in friggin' boot camp. Seriously, who would ever think that I, Lindsay Natiw, would go through BASIC TRAINING? Gah! I am so frickin' random. I got a package from Old Guard saying welcome and all that crap. It was cool! <3!>
I'm more worried about that 15k foot march I have to do to graduate. I can get pushed off 10,000 fot tall diving boards w/my eyes closed, fire an M-16, run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes, perform first aid, and survive a gas chamber, but I think if anything had a chance of holding me back, it would be the 10k, 10k and 15k road marches. They just plain SUCK! I need to think of how hot to think in them. Oh well, just pray or something. I have to/MUST graduate on time or I swear.... al;ksdjfa;sd.
Okay, this is a really long letter. I gotta go to bed. Long day tomorrow (isn't every day?). Anyways, love you all, and keep writing!!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. What is the address to the Army website w/the photos? and SEND MORE PICTURES!!!
EVERYONE!
HI EVERYBODY! Wow, I haven't written in awhile. I'm sorry. I have ZERO TIME to write anyone. Please make sure everyone knows that (Gr. Boyagian, etc). lol. I got your package w/Rachael's haunted house and witch. Cute Boo! Thank you for the Halloween stuff. :o) Keep trying to send a letter every night. I don't get in trouble for getting them, lol. I get messed with a little, but no push-ups anymore. XD
What else... I'm still sick... it sucks. My leg is better for the time being. Now I screwed up my back. Yeah, fun. Not. I couldn't do the 8k ruck march (foot march with all your gear on). So I was on detail to set crap up. Woo! OH, I SHOT MY M-16A2 RIFLE TODAY and I OWNED EVERYONE. IT WAS AWESOME. I <3>
Okay, I just got out of the shower, lol. You really wanted to know that. So, I told you. I don't have fire guard tonight, Woo! I'm excited. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I had my first FTX the other day. It was actually pretty fun. Field Training Exercise. That's what it stands for. Anyways, basically, what it is, is we all wake up at 4:00am, get our weapons and go on a 5k road march with 30 pounds on our backs, full uniform and a bunch of other crap and go camping in the flippin' woods for a random amount of days. At first it sucked A LOT because it was so cold. But after an hour and a half of hammering tent stakes into the ground you warm up pretty fast. They also made us put camo paint all over our faces. It was hilarious. We only went for one night because it was too cold and we weren't ready for the weather.
Oh yeah, we also did land navigation too. It's where they give you a compass, an azimuth and tell you to to find 5 random points in the woods. The first time, we all found our points in 45 minutes. The second REAL navigation too us 3 hours and we only found 3 out of 5 points. We walked about 2000+ meters for that one. It took me 83 steps to go 100 meters. That's a little fact for you, in case you wanted to know. :o)
We were supposed to start white phase today since it's the start of the 4th week, but my whole company is full of losers, so they're keeping us in red phase for another week or so. Lame. We suck. I got stuck in the platoon with the highest amount of attitude problems. Joy. The drill sgts. know me by name already. Lol. One of them always tells me "good job" and other stuff like taht and he's like the hardest drill sgt. I totally owned some guys at some physical crap the other day. HA! I'm still as awesome as... well... me, because there is nothing more awesome. BAHAHAHAHA.
You know what I was thinking the other day? Someone in our family is in the army. The ARMY. What the heck? I sometimes sit here and randomly laugh at myself when I remember that I'm in friggin' boot camp. Seriously, who would ever think that I, Lindsay Natiw, would go through BASIC TRAINING? Gah! I am so frickin' random. I got a package from Old Guard saying welcome and all that crap. It was cool! <3!>
I'm more worried about that 15k foot march I have to do to graduate. I can get pushed off 10,000 fot tall diving boards w/my eyes closed, fire an M-16, run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes, perform first aid, and survive a gas chamber, but I think if anything had a chance of holding me back, it would be the 10k, 10k and 15k road marches. They just plain SUCK! I need to think of how hot to think in them. Oh well, just pray or something. I have to/MUST graduate on time or I swear.... al;ksdjfa;sd.
Okay, this is a really long letter. I gotta go to bed. Long day tomorrow (isn't every day?). Anyways, love you all, and keep writing!!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. What is the address to the Army website w/the photos? and SEND MORE PICTURES!!!
Fall clouds are amazing...
I happened to be getting ready to take this photo and a bunch of geese flew into the shot. Pretty cool.
This was looking more to the right of the first shot.
31 October 2005
28 October 2005
Back in the woods...
Boomer and I went in the nature preserve behind the house this afternoon. Been awhile since we did that. A few photos...
That sign is also about the 1.5 mile mark for my Koppernick Loop. All in all, a great afternoon in the woods. Boomer is whipped and sleeping soundly on his bed, we just ordered Mexican Fiesta carry-out... Life is Good!
On the way in...
Leaves on the path
A happy boy!
The road home
That sign is also about the 1.5 mile mark for my Koppernick Loop. All in all, a great afternoon in the woods. Boomer is whipped and sleeping soundly on his bed, we just ordered Mexican Fiesta carry-out... Life is Good!
In my travels (part 3,895... or so)
This house just "screamed" fall to me today. It is on one of my favorite roads to travel near Milford. The leaves, the color of the house, the lighting just all begged to be photographed.
A postcard...
with a soldier wearing a gasmask on the front of it (wonder who THAT'S from)! Postmarked 24 October:
Everyone!
HAHA! I forgot I had this. This is pretty much what I looked like when I went to the NBC chamber. Only without the hood, LOL. It totally sucked (like I said), but it was also "hella fun!" (haha Jen). Anyways, I have letters to write and SO DO ALL OF YOU! Seriously, write me like EVERY DAY! WOO!!!!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. Send me lots of fun and pretty dollar store stickers. I need pretty stickers!
Everyone!
HAHA! I forgot I had this. This is pretty much what I looked like when I went to the NBC chamber. Only without the hood, LOL. It totally sucked (like I said), but it was also "hella fun!" (haha Jen). Anyways, I have letters to write and SO DO ALL OF YOU! Seriously, write me like EVERY DAY! WOO!!!!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. Send me lots of fun and pretty dollar store stickers. I need pretty stickers!
27 October 2005
It's dark at 5am
Went for an early morning run with fellow PFDC parent Al today. I knew he was a runner and thought maybe we'd be able to hook up occasionally. What I wasn't expecting was that he runs early in the morning. Really early. So... I got up at 4:45am and high-tailed it over to his place. We got out around 5:15am and did a four mile O&B into downtown Plymouth and back. He graciously adjusted his pace to match mine since I've only been back out on the roads for about six weeks. Going to try to fit in a long run on Saturday morning with him. Did I mention it's dark at 5am? Well, it is.
26 October 2005
Cough drops are on their way!!!
Letter dated 22 October, postmarked 24 October:
Everyone,
Hey! This will be a short one. I don't have much time. Today was really fun, but we all got banged up pretty bad. I have bruises all over my body & I'm still REALLY sick! I can't swallow because my throat hurts so bad. But I'll tell you what, I own running now. Just an FYI, we ran a mile and a half in 14 minutes the other day and I am sweet, lol. We did our confidence course today. Wooooo. Oh yeah. MRE's are GOOD. I like them a lot. OH, SEND COUGH DROPS/THROAT DROPS. Like three bags worth. Seriously. I need themmmmmmm. Okay, gotta go. It's almost lights out. I have fire guard today. Woo, HATE! I have to wake up at a random time and do guard duty for an hour. Tonight it's from 2-3am. Joy.
Love you guys,
Lindsay
p.s. Write/send pictures!
[if anyone is wondering, three bags of cough/throat drops are going out in a package tomorrow morning, JN]
Everyone,
Hey! This will be a short one. I don't have much time. Today was really fun, but we all got banged up pretty bad. I have bruises all over my body & I'm still REALLY sick! I can't swallow because my throat hurts so bad. But I'll tell you what, I own running now. Just an FYI, we ran a mile and a half in 14 minutes the other day and I am sweet, lol. We did our confidence course today. Wooooo. Oh yeah. MRE's are GOOD. I like them a lot. OH, SEND COUGH DROPS/THROAT DROPS. Like three bags worth. Seriously. I need themmmmmmm. Okay, gotta go. It's almost lights out. I have fire guard today. Woo, HATE! I have to wake up at a random time and do guard duty for an hour. Tonight it's from 2-3am. Joy.
Love you guys,
Lindsay
p.s. Write/send pictures!
[if anyone is wondering, three bags of cough/throat drops are going out in a package tomorrow morning, JN]
24 October 2005
She's doing fine...
Another letter... dated 20 October 2005, postmarked the 21st:
Everybody,
Hey guys! Well, I'm on personal time right now. I just got out of the shower, so sorry if I get water drops from my hair on the paper. I had to write because I just realized that I haven't really written telling you what I've done.
Let's see... two days ago we did the water training course. They had you stand in full military gear (M-16 and all) on a 10/15ft. high diving board with a hat over your face and pushed you off AFTER spinning you around five times! I was so scared. We also made a flotation device our of our pants. That was fun, haha. A couple days before that we went on the Warrior Tower. It was SO FUN! I repelled off a 45 ft. high wall. I loved it! I can't wait to go again.
After the swimming course (the next day), we went into THE GAS CHAMBER!!!!! HAHA, IT WAS AWESOME! I gagged, coughed, snotted and almost hyperventilated, but it was so sweet! They had us in there doing the stupidest stuff. Kind of like left faces, clapping, yelling, running in place for 20 seconds. Dude, I was in there for six minutes or more. They said my squad (15 people, third group in) were the most motivated group in there. We were all yelling and screaming "HECK YES WARRIORS!!! WE OWN LIFE!!!" I was putting up a "rock on" hand sign and coughing and snotting all over the place, haha. They said we were liking it too much so they put seven cans of CS gas in there instead of the regular four, haha! It was nasty. I literally had a HUGE SNOT going from my nose to my stomach, HAHA! GROSS!
I ordered a video DVD of the whole Boot Camp thing, a graduation cycle book with everyone's picture in it and a platoon picture. Yeah, I know it's a little bit of money, but how many times do you get to go through BASIC TRAINING?! LOL. Hopefully only ONCE.
We're starting combative training soon. My drill sgts. keep telling all the males that the females will totally kick their butts because we have more heart & motivation than they do combined. We had our second PT test today. I ran my mile in 8:52 but it's a resistance track, so I really ran it in like seven something.
Dang, the lights just went out. Sorry if my handwriting is hard to read. It's supposed to be around 30 degrees tomorrow. Mom (or dad) print off as many pictures as you can send to me from the website. All us girls want to see how SWEET we look, lol. Print off the ones with girls in it. We're better! Keep sending letters every day. I get in a sad/bad mood when I don't get one. I mean, it's easier for me to get sad if I don't have any encouragement. If you can, send cough drops. Like three packs worth. I'm really sick. Some of the guys have pneumonia or whatever, and that sucks.
We start shooting our weapons soon. I can take apart and put together an M-16 rifle in like five minutes. It's awesome! Tomorrow is the first day of our 3rd week in basic. Woooooo! Hopefully we'll advance to white phase. The drill sgts. decide if we're ready to go or not. They've kept people in red phase for the whole nine weeks before. Hopefully we get it together.
I gotta go. Sleep time. Don't stop sending letters. I love you guys. Send more pictures!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. Mary/Jennifer, I got your letters!
Everybody,
Hey guys! Well, I'm on personal time right now. I just got out of the shower, so sorry if I get water drops from my hair on the paper. I had to write because I just realized that I haven't really written telling you what I've done.
Let's see... two days ago we did the water training course. They had you stand in full military gear (M-16 and all) on a 10/15ft. high diving board with a hat over your face and pushed you off AFTER spinning you around five times! I was so scared. We also made a flotation device our of our pants. That was fun, haha. A couple days before that we went on the Warrior Tower. It was SO FUN! I repelled off a 45 ft. high wall. I loved it! I can't wait to go again.
After the swimming course (the next day), we went into THE GAS CHAMBER!!!!! HAHA, IT WAS AWESOME! I gagged, coughed, snotted and almost hyperventilated, but it was so sweet! They had us in there doing the stupidest stuff. Kind of like left faces, clapping, yelling, running in place for 20 seconds. Dude, I was in there for six minutes or more. They said my squad (15 people, third group in) were the most motivated group in there. We were all yelling and screaming "HECK YES WARRIORS!!! WE OWN LIFE!!!" I was putting up a "rock on" hand sign and coughing and snotting all over the place, haha. They said we were liking it too much so they put seven cans of CS gas in there instead of the regular four, haha! It was nasty. I literally had a HUGE SNOT going from my nose to my stomach, HAHA! GROSS!
I ordered a video DVD of the whole Boot Camp thing, a graduation cycle book with everyone's picture in it and a platoon picture. Yeah, I know it's a little bit of money, but how many times do you get to go through BASIC TRAINING?! LOL. Hopefully only ONCE.
We're starting combative training soon. My drill sgts. keep telling all the males that the females will totally kick their butts because we have more heart & motivation than they do combined. We had our second PT test today. I ran my mile in 8:52 but it's a resistance track, so I really ran it in like seven something.
Dang, the lights just went out. Sorry if my handwriting is hard to read. It's supposed to be around 30 degrees tomorrow. Mom (or dad) print off as many pictures as you can send to me from the website. All us girls want to see how SWEET we look, lol. Print off the ones with girls in it. We're better! Keep sending letters every day. I get in a sad/bad mood when I don't get one. I mean, it's easier for me to get sad if I don't have any encouragement. If you can, send cough drops. Like three packs worth. I'm really sick. Some of the guys have pneumonia or whatever, and that sucks.
We start shooting our weapons soon. I can take apart and put together an M-16 rifle in like five minutes. It's awesome! Tomorrow is the first day of our 3rd week in basic. Woooooo! Hopefully we'll advance to white phase. The drill sgts. decide if we're ready to go or not. They've kept people in red phase for the whole nine weeks before. Hopefully we get it together.
I gotta go. Sleep time. Don't stop sending letters. I love you guys. Send more pictures!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. Mary/Jennifer, I got your letters!
22 October 2005
Family OUTing.... Brrrr........
Today's Natiw family activity was a night out. No, I mean really out. Like outside! We decided to show our support for the PCEP Marching Band and their Great Lakes Invitational. Truth is, we all miss marching band days since Jen decided to get out. We know so many students in the band it was easy to sit in the freezing cold for a few hours to see them perform. Rachael managed to con me into getting some cotton candy. My fav bands from the show were South Lyon and, of course, PCEP. Also noticed PFDC's sweet full page ad featuring the corps members who do both fife & drum and marching band. They deserve the credit as hard as they work. Good job PCEP! Good luck with the rest of your season!
Got in a nice long fall run today. Been trying to get at least one hour long run in each week. Today was my Newburgh Lake Loop. The weather was perfect. Have that "pleasantly fatigued" thing going. Been thinking about some goal setting for my running. Right now I'm just gonna try to keep it consistent. I'd like to be able to do Dexter/Ann Arbor Half next summer along with the Plymouth Father's Day 5k. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll just keep running.I need some jello...
7B Rocks South Lyon
Seven Bridges rocked South Lyon and the Brew Waters Coffee House again tonight. This time we played for two hours instead of three. We played quite a few songs that we haven't done in awhile. Didn't look like anyone from our side of town came out. More from the SL area maybe. We have another show coming up in November (the 11th I think) at Foggy Bottom Coffee House in Dexter. Looks like we're going to take a break from gigs for awhile to allow us to concentrate on getting our first CD recorded. Hope to have it ready in a few months. Oh, and Jen took that photo of me with her new camera! Nice one!Sent Lindsay a larger package of stuff this morning. Letters from various folks plus I bought a few things at Walgreens before I sent it out. Got her a Sharpie (in case she has to label anything or sign autographs), a mini sewing kit (for those emergency repairs), Burt's Bees lip balm ('cause she likes it), and a coloring book ('cause coloring is sweet). Hope she likes it all.
Off to bed...
21 October 2005
We have a natural leader!
This letter is dated October 17 and postmarked the 18th:
Everyone,
Hey! Well, it's about 9:50am right now. Which probably means it's 10:50am over there. I'm sitting outside waiting to be picked up from the doctor's office. I've been here since about 7:00am. It sucks! There are so many people here. Everyone is sick with the same thing. I have a nasty flem cough, runny nose and a pulled groin in my right leg, and in inflamed muscle on the bottome of my neck. Yeah, I'm having fun! I'm hoping I don't get banged up too bad so I can still train and graduate on time. If I keep getting hurt, they'll keep me here and restart me from day zero in another company. So, trust me, I'm trying my hardest and to get better and do what I have to do, but it's really hard. The road march is gonna kill. I just want to graduate and see you guys already.
I've been talking to all the week 7's and 8's and 4's and they all cringe when I tell them I'm only in week two, haha. I just wanna get this over with. I repelled down a 45 foot high tower the other day. It was so fun. I had to tie the harness myself. I also am on weapons detail, meaning I hand out all the M-16's. And I'm in charge of restocking the bathroom supplies. Oh yeah, and I was a suicide babysitter. A girl threatened to commit suicide if she didn't get to to home, so I had to follow her around everywhere she went. Yeah, I've been having lots of responsibilities lately. I don't mind. I actually kind of like the "leader position."
Every day I go to eat lunch chow I always see graduated soldiers with their families and I keep thinking/hoping that will be me in about seven weeks or so. Did you get the typed graduation letter yet? Tell me what it said. I wasn't allowed to open it.
I went to Church yesterday. I have to say, I was REALLY glad when I went because I saw it was right CoC. Meaning we sang songs (out of the same book!), took the Lord's Supper, got a lesson and sang more! Woo! Some songs we sang yesterday were:
Sing to Me of Heaven
Sing and Be Happy
Anywhere with Jesus
Our God, He is Alive
Lord, I'm coming Home
I was even more glad when we sang the ones I knew. But yeah, it's getting to be where I'm out of room (on the page) and I gotta get going. I love you guys and I'll hopefully see you around December 9th or so. Keep sending mail! I'd rather do 100 pushups for getting letters than no pushups and no mail! Write back!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. Jen - send me my friends page!
Mary and Rachael - draw me pictures!
Mom and dad - I love you!
Everyone,
Hey! Well, it's about 9:50am right now. Which probably means it's 10:50am over there. I'm sitting outside waiting to be picked up from the doctor's office. I've been here since about 7:00am. It sucks! There are so many people here. Everyone is sick with the same thing. I have a nasty flem cough, runny nose and a pulled groin in my right leg, and in inflamed muscle on the bottome of my neck. Yeah, I'm having fun! I'm hoping I don't get banged up too bad so I can still train and graduate on time. If I keep getting hurt, they'll keep me here and restart me from day zero in another company. So, trust me, I'm trying my hardest and to get better and do what I have to do, but it's really hard. The road march is gonna kill. I just want to graduate and see you guys already.
I've been talking to all the week 7's and 8's and 4's and they all cringe when I tell them I'm only in week two, haha. I just wanna get this over with. I repelled down a 45 foot high tower the other day. It was so fun. I had to tie the harness myself. I also am on weapons detail, meaning I hand out all the M-16's. And I'm in charge of restocking the bathroom supplies. Oh yeah, and I was a suicide babysitter. A girl threatened to commit suicide if she didn't get to to home, so I had to follow her around everywhere she went. Yeah, I've been having lots of responsibilities lately. I don't mind. I actually kind of like the "leader position."
Every day I go to eat lunch chow I always see graduated soldiers with their families and I keep thinking/hoping that will be me in about seven weeks or so. Did you get the typed graduation letter yet? Tell me what it said. I wasn't allowed to open it.
I went to Church yesterday. I have to say, I was REALLY glad when I went because I saw it was right CoC. Meaning we sang songs (out of the same book!), took the Lord's Supper, got a lesson and sang more! Woo! Some songs we sang yesterday were:
Sing to Me of Heaven
Sing and Be Happy
Anywhere with Jesus
Our God, He is Alive
Lord, I'm coming Home
I was even more glad when we sang the ones I knew. But yeah, it's getting to be where I'm out of room (on the page) and I gotta get going. I love you guys and I'll hopefully see you around December 9th or so. Keep sending mail! I'd rather do 100 pushups for getting letters than no pushups and no mail! Write back!
Love,
Lindsay
p.s. Jen - send me my friends page!
Mary and Rachael - draw me pictures!
Mom and dad - I love you!
20 October 2005
Everyone into the pool (don't forget your M-16)!
Checked Lindsay's company's web site tonight and viola! Lots of new photos! There are photos from the Water Safety Survival Training, Nuclear Biological Chemicals, First Aid and Leaders Reaction Course. There are about five that you can see Lindsay real well in. The one above is her coming out of the WSST pool. She looks pretty hilarious if you ask me.
There are a few of her and a few soldiers on the wall in the LRC section (like this one).
Also, there is this one of her going out of the NBC chamber from behind. It's kinda funny, she looks like she's not having too bad a time in some of the photos. Glad they posted them!
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