Earned It

Look what finally came in the mail today:

I completed my Associates in Health Sciences degree in February. But I had to wait until today to actually hold the degree in my hands. 

I accomplished something that most 20 year old kids have! I may have completed this degree a little later in life than I should have, but at least I did it. And I'm not stopping here. I am already enrolled in another degree program. 

I am working towards a Bachelors in Public Health now. Being active duty doesn't leave me a whole lot of extra time to work on college courses but I'm going to plug away at it and maybe before I'm 40 I will earn the next degree (I hope so!).

In the mean time, it's cool to see this posted on my ERB (Enlisted Record Brief) instead of my high school graduation information! 

Too Long Run

I decided it was time for another long run in preparation for the half marathon in April. So I picked a random spot in the back 40 of Ft Campbell to run. On my way to my chosen spot, I noticed a lot of Soldiers out training. One of the 101st Brigades is in the middle of a big field problem and it is running through the weekend. I didn't think it would be a problem, but as I was running along Jordan Springs Road, LMTVs kept speeding past me. In an effort to not die, I made the command decision to find a side road and change my route.

The first side road I came to was called Hellcat Road. I'm familiar with Hellcat Road because it was a land nav boundary road for one of my many EFMB attempts. I had forgotten how hilly it was, though. And it's a dirt and gravel road. Basically, Hellcat started to kick my ass. Hellcat turned into Oriental Road. And then into Destiny Trail. I almost met my destiny on that trail because the hills only got steeper. Destiny kicked my ass. By that point I was at 6 miles at lost in the woods. 

Eventually I saw a stop sign glimmer on the horizon. Civilization at last! Or, at least, a road sign so I could try to get my bearings on where I was. Palmyra Road? I'm familiar with it but nothing looked familiar. So I kept running. Running. Running. I was tired from the all the hills I had just trudged up. After a while I came to another intersection. It was Jordan Springs Road! Now I had a better idea of my location. But I ran into the problem of the LMTVs speeding past me again. Opting out of certain death, I ducked down another side road. This one was unnamed. I should have known better. 

I ran along this dirt and gravel road until I crested a hill and saw a rather large creek in my path. I had no choice but to take my socks and shoes off and wade across to the other side. The water was super cold. As I was putting my socks and shoes back on on the other side, I was thinking about how ridiculous this all was and finally checked my Run Keeper app to see my distance. 8.5 miles. And I had no idea how far from my car I was. I started to scour the GPS map on the app: searching for my start point in relation to my current location. Eventually I was able to trace my path back to my car. Although I couldn't tell exactly how far away I was, at least I had a known route to take to get back. 

I didn't have it in me to run anymore. 8.5 miles of hills was enough for me. So I started walking. Walking. Walking. I walked past a few really old cemeteries. That was pretty neat. I kept walking down this side road (that turned out to be named Ghost Corps Trail) and a stupid LMTV still barreled past me. What crappy luck! No place is safe when 101st is in the field!

Long story short, I ran 8.5 miles of hills today, walked an additional 3 miles of hills and almost got ran over multiple times by LMTVs. Great Saturday on Fort Campbell. 

Cats and Selfies

I was pretty hung over this morning, but I managed to drag my ass out of the house to go run. 6 miles. 6 pretty slow miles. But 6 miles non the less.

While I was on the way back to my car, a cat crossed my path. Except it wasn't just any cat. It was a BIG cat. Like, a 40 lb cat. It wasn't until it registered that it didn't have a tail that I realized I had just seen a bobcat. 

The bobcat had seen me too. Once it crossed the path and was in the cover of the trees again, it stopped, sat down and looked at me. 

Do you see him?

Look closer.

So I stopped and took a picture of it. Then I took a selfie because, like the rest of my generation, I'm a narcissist. A couple of dudes crested the hill as I was taking the selfie and I got really self conscious that they caught me taking a selfie. I started running again and didn't warn them that there was a really cool cat just a few feet away. 

Bad selfie. Don't care!

That was the first bobcat I've ever seen. But not the first time I've been busted taking a selfie. 

Little Jerk

Every morning I am attacked at work. Assaulted. It is quite the hostile work environment. Because of this asshole:

I get it. I know what you're thinking. He's just a bird. A little song bird. What could possibly be so bad about this little cardinal?

Well, for starters, he's a punk. He attacks my vehicle every morning. He lands all over my car. He searches for weak points and tries to make entry. I can tell he's talking shit the whole time. He fluffs up and pecks at the glass. He's a huge bully.

And he's there every morning carrying on like this.

It's not just me. This bird has it out for all the employees at the MSTC. He's become quite the topic of conversation at work. He has yet to attack anyone's person. He sticks strictly to vehicular attacks. I sometimes wonder what his plans exactly are if he were to ever get into my car. 

Just what is this little jerk capable of?? I hope I never find out. 

Friend of the Year

I've been walking my good friend Tracy's dogs for her while she is in Drill Sergeant School. Every Sunday I go over to her house and pick them up from her mom and take them on a 4 mile walk through the back wooded area of Fort Campbell. My job is to wear them out. 

The dogs are two giant and beautiful German Shepherds. One thing I didn't know about this particular breed is that they are very vocal. And when I say vocal, I mean these dogs howl. They are so excited to go on these walks with me that they just scream in the car the whole ride out there. Yodeling and barking, and jumping from the front seat to the back seat. Paws on the dashboard. Accidentally rolling down windows and shifting the car into neutral while I'm driving. Barking right in my ear. I literally drive with my a finger in my right ear to try to protect my eardrum from these dogs.

They are so excited. And it's flattering. But I really feel like I should be winning Friend of the Year for doing this for 10 weeks! Thank God I'm not transporting these dogs in my own car. Tracy's mom lets me borrow her Jeep.

Once we actually get out onto the trails they are wonderful. They mind me. They don't run off. They don't need to be on a leash. I love them. On the way home, they sit quietly and look out the window. It's just the ride there... its a three ring circus. 

Today's walk was in the snow. It was so beautiful. I took the dogs back onto a range I've never personally been on. Special Forces train back there, and since it's President's Day weekend, I figured no one would be training. I was right. It's a nice MOUT site. I liked the change of scenery, and I think the dogs actually did too. 

Only a few more weeks walking the dogs until Tracy comes home. I'm going to miss the walks. 

But not the drive. 

8 Miles

I set a goal to run 8 miles this morning. 

You see, the bigger goal is to run the Nashville Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon in April. So I'm going to train for it. Train better than I did for the last half marathon that I did in Egypt. To train for that, I ran 4 miles a lot of times and complained a lot. The experience of the actual 13.1 miles was miserable, to say the least. Because I wasn't really prepared. And it's so damn hot in Egypt. But mostly, I wasn't prepared.

So as I was driving out to the area I was going to begin my run, I started to talk myself down. The usual, well maybe I'll just do 6. Or if I just do 4 that's better than nothing. I do that because I hate the feeling of failure, and if I set my sites low, then I can't be too disappointed. I think the Army has trained me to never get my hopes up high and to aim low. Isn't that terrible?

I started running out in the back 40 of Fort Campbell with the plan of 8 miles, but the bail out option of 6. I figured I'd see how I felt at 3 miles and make a decision then.

Well 3 miles went by and I felt fantastic! So I ran 4 and turned around for a total of 8. I killed those 8 miles, too. NO WALKING. And no complaining. There wasn't any complaining because I was alone, but I didn't even do any mental complaining. 

My average time was around 9 and a half minutes a mile. My two fastest miles were 5 and 6. I ran those in around 8 and a half minutes per mile. It felt so good! I actually felt like I could have gone further. I am confident I will destroy the half marathon in April.

Goal (unaltered) complete. 

Viva Los Tacos

Today was tattoo day! I got off work early and James and I went to Nashville to see our tattoo buddy Matt. He blocked off his day for us so we could both get some work done. And I might have gotten the raddest tattoo ever today. EVER.

He's amazing. Viva Los Tacos!

Any one who knows me even a little bit knows my love for Mexican food-- especially tacos. So what better to get than a jalapeno wielding tacos? I couldn't think of anything better either. 

This tattoo is on my left arm just under my armpit. The skin is really soft and tender there. I managed to bruise all the way around the tattoo. My arm is also really swollen in this picture. It sort of makes me looked ripped, but it also borderlines looking really flabby and fat. So I thought I'd throw it out there that I am, in fact, swollen. And neither of the other two.

Bitch skin can't handle tattooing for 2 hours!

I love this tattoo. I'm pretty sure the jalapeno needs a name. And I still have plenty more space on the my arm to get more Mexican inspired tattoos. I just need to get a move on it before we PCS!

RBF

All my life I have heard, "I didn't like you until I got to know you," or, "I thought you were a bitch when we first met." Almost everyone I've ever met has said something along those lines to me. 

I'm an observer. When I'm with new people I usually sit back for a while and watch so I can get a good feeling of the kinds of people I am dealing with. If I busted out as Weird Outspoken Jackie right from the jump, I'd either hurt feelings or put my foot in my mouth and embarrass myself. So I tend to learn whats kosher before I open up and act like myself.

Unfortunately, I have a condition called Resting Bitch Face, or RBF, that makes me look like a total condescending bitch while I am observing. I might not even be thinking anything bitchy, but my face... my face just screams otherwise. 

While my mom and dad were visiting for Christmas, my mom gave me an old photo of myself at a yard sale:

My RBF game was strong even as a little girl! 

I've been nicknamed RBF at my current job. Everyone said they weren't sure about me when I first started working there because of my face and silence. I'm no longer silent-- they get all my weirdness on full. But my face remains the same. I'll have to show everyone this photo so they can see that it's just how my face looks and has always looked. 

It's a serious condition I can't control!

Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. I know. I know. Normally I wouldn't do such a thing. A clear division of holidays is something I normally like. But I got a new tree this year. It's my first fake tree (I think... did I have a fake one when I lived in Washington? I don't recall...). I got a tall, skinny, trendy tree. 

I love my tree. It's pre-lit. So I didn't have to screw around with strands of lights. The best part of it being pre-lit is that is hasn't lit my house on fire yet. I haven't unplugged the tree since I first plugged it in on Thanksgiving. The bulbs aren't even a little warm. So three cheers for not burning down my house, new Christmas tree.

I also got a Fort Campbell ornament this year. I thought it was really cute. And now I wish I had one from the other two bases I've been stationed: Fort Lewis and Fort Bragg. I'm sure the good old internet can remedy that. 

The dogs have been good and left the tree alone, to include all the gifts that are piled up underneath. 

Only 6 more days until Christmas. 

My Family

Gertie loves her Daddy.

Picasso lives for his Momma.

For whatever reason the stereo type of Momma's Boys and Daddy's Girls rings true even with dogs. Love my family.