Airplanes make losers of us all, give us distance much too easily. - Blue Oyster Cult, In Thee

These are just some highlights from my leave back in Texas. Playing with my parents dogs, going to some fun bars, playing pool, watching ttu's hockey team stomp the aggies, celebrating my mom's bday on Christmas.

It was a great time. This leave seemed more relaxed as far as seeing everyone and it didn't go by as fast as the one in May did. I really, really miss everyone back home. Every time I come home I start thinking that I'll get out when my time's up and go back to Texas. It's such a hard decision. I know though, that if I got out, that I would see everyone a lot at first, but then, it wouldn't be as often as I think. All my friends when we'd meet up would say they hadn't seen each other in weeks or months. Well, if I got out, I wouldn't want it to be like that. It just happens in life though. I have thought more about going to grad school in Texas through the DUINS program or being stationed in corpus christi. But, then I feel I'm missing out on the opportunity to live all over. We'll see. I still have time and a lot will happen during that time.

Thank you everyone who came to see me and made my trip a blast! I think I met up with more people this time than any other time. You can look at more pics on my facebook. I still have some to upload at some point. It was hard to leave and every time I'm on the way to DFW airport, I can't help but cry. But, once I'm back in DC, I feel at home.

I'll be seeing you guys soon and I want you to know that I'm thinking about you all the time!

There's a girl across the bar, I get the message she's sending. Mmm, she ain't looking too married, and me, well, I'm pretendin

Oh dear lord...this is the most hilarious video I have EVER seen. You have to watch it about 10 times...but by that point I was crying on the ground gasping for air.

My sediments exactly......

I sing songs about Texas, I sing them often as if she were some old lover. ~Pat Green

One more day of work!!! I just had to get on and brag...

I go home to Arlington on Monday. yeah!

That's all.........

Tanya Singing with Jimmy Buffet

Too bad I was working that night... Tanya got to go see Jimmy Buffet at Walter Reed and got up to sing with him!!! She's the one in the white sweater on the right. Sweet.

So many religions, who is right or wrong? - Brutality, Race Defects

It's so interesting that one of the biggest news stories right now is Romney's speech about his faith. I'm currently reading "American Gospel" by Jon Meacham. Well, I've been reading it for several months now. (I don't get a lot of time to sit and read)

Anyway, the chapter I was reading this morning covered Theodore Roosevelt speaking about Taft's position while running for the Presidency. Taft was a Unitarian and did not believe Jesus Christ was the son of God. TR actually spoke out for him.

"If there is one thing for which we stand in this country, it is for complete religious freedom and for the right of every man to worship his Creator as his conscience dictates....it is an emphatic negation of this right to cross-examine a man on his religious views before being willing to support him for office. Is he a good man, and is he fit for the office? These are the only questions which there is a right to ask, and to both of these in Mr. Taft's case, the answer must be in the affirmative....Discrimination against the holder of one faith means retaliatory discrimination against men of other faiths. The inevitable result of entering upon such a practice would be an abandonment of our real freedom of conscience and a reversion to the dreadful conditions of religious dissension which in so many lands have proved fatal to true liberty, to true religion, and to all advance in civilization." ~Theodore Roosevelt

There is a lot more that he spoke out on with that topic, but I'm trying to keep it short. The book is amazing and I suggest it for anyone, Christian, or otherwise to read it. It's all about the struggle between church and state in our country. It has been a fight since the formation of our government. Lincoln did not choose an official religion and that was frowned upon. Roosevelt wanted to remove "In God we trust" from coins. He stated, "It is a motto which it is indeed well to have inscribed on our great national monuments, in our temples of justice, in our legislative halls, and in buildings such as those at West Point and Annapolis-in short, wherever it will tend to arouse and inspire a lofty emotion in those who look theron...but it seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements."

I've just learned a lot about past Presidents and our founding fathers and their faiths. Jefferson was also an Unitarian and would even cut parts of his Bible out that he felt he did not agree with.
I'm not even sure where I fall with the argument of church and state. On one hand, I fall with the lefties and say that our country was founded on having religious freedom. That is the whole purpose in coming here. We wanted to be free to worship in any way for whatever religion we choose. Then, at the same time, I think that our country was formed with similar Christian beliefs and fear that if we let go of some of our faith based practices, that our country could change in a negative way.

Basically, just like the founding fathers, I'm stuck right in the middle.


One side note: Only 11 days until I jump on a plane for 10 days in Texas!

Bo Diddley bought a nanny goat to make his baby a Sunday coat. - Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley

The legend of Bill the Goat:

In the 1880s, ships sailed with livestock in order to provide sailors with fresh food.

There is a legend that a Navy ship sailed with a pet goat. The goat died during the cruise. The officers preserved the skin, to have it mounted when they returned to port.

Two young ensigns were entrusted with the skin. On the way to the taxidermist, they stopped by the United States Naval Academy to watch a football game. At half time, one ensign decided to dress up in the goat skin. The crowd appreciated the effort. Navy won the game.

In 1893, however, a live goat named El Cid made his debut as a mascot at the fourth Army-Navy game. El Cid was a gift to the Brigade of Midshipmen from officers of the USS New York. The goat helped Navy win 6-3 over Army that year, so he was adopted as part of the team.

There were other mascots in those years, including two cats, a bulldog, and a carrier pigeon. However, the goat has served without interruption since 1904.

In the early 1900s, the beloved mascot was finally given a name. On the return trip to the Naval Academy after Annapolis' triumph over West Point, the goat was led on a victory lap through the train and did not leave the midshipmen until they reached Baltimore.

It was then that the goat was given the name "Bill", which was the same name of a pet goat kept by Commander Colby M. Chester, Commandant of Midshipmen, from 1891-1894.


GO NAVY
BEAT ARMY!!!

Home in her apartment she'd dwell 'til the man from her dreams comes to break the spell. - Paul McCartney, Another Day

I'm finally getting settled in my new place! I wanted to show some pictures. My room is very small, but better than I thought with all my stuff in it. It's actually quite cozy! I also just got my new laptop, so I'm blogging from my comfy bed with patton curled up next to me and looking at all the city lights outside of my window. I'm on the 16th floor of this resort like apartment. My roommate is gone and out of town a lot, so I have only seen her one night since I moved. She's pretty cool and we get along great. I can't wait to go shopping for our living room tables. I think she's going to order the dining room set so we'll have a little more furniture in a bit. My room is fixed. I have a lot of little things lying around that I want to get rid of....it's just that since I had my own place before, it's hard to consolidate all my crap to one room. Well, I've started putting some things up in the living room. It's all coming together slowly. I also have a washer/dryer in my bathroom, so no more walking to another freaking building!!! I've been down to the hot tub a few times to rest my sore muscles after that craptacular move. I went for a long workout today and that felt good. It's so nice that all of this stuff is right downstairs. The guys at the front desk and the valet personnel are so nice and accommodating.

Shawn was in town this week. I didn't get to do too much with him because of work, but we did get to go see DC some and I got to take him to Matchbox. I take everyone there. It's soo freaking good. This time we got the mini burger appetizers that everyone talks about. I think I could eat those straight for years and years. I have never had such amazing burgers. Why have I not ordered those before??? Well, I will now. Anywho. Let's see.

Thanksgiving was okay. I was at work, but then when I got off I went to ENS Smith's and then ENS Conrads. One after the other and ate way too much food. We played a short game of taboo at Smith's. That was a riot. What else??

Going to Norfolk this weekend to see Lyndsy. I'm trying to take these two days off to just sit and do nothing. I haven't stopped moving physically in a few weeks. This is really nice.

Only a few more weeks and I'll be home on leave.

Slow down, you move too fast, got to make the morning last. - Simon and Garfunkel, 59th Street Bridge Song

I'm still in the process of moving. This is the worst move I've ever had. I'm doing a lot of it myself, which is why it's taking so long. I'm trying to donate some furniture, but can't seem to get it somewhere. Bah. I'm sooo sore and tired. Lyndsy, Tanya and I moved all the big furniture. Who needs guys?? ha. At least yesterday I got to relax my sore muscles in my new apt hot tub! woo hooo! It was excellent. Tonight, I'm gonna try out the gym. Anywho, it's going to be a while before I get internet again. I'm waiting on my new laptop. It's a custom made one from hp. It kicks butt. Can't wait to play on it! Until then....pray this whole moving thing stops soon!

Now I'm grown up and playing in a band. - The Kinks, Come Dancing

*Walking down the street with my grande white mocha in hand, the wind through my hair, and all the noise of the city blocked out by the music in my ipod, passing people on the sidewalk, and realizing we're all part of the big plan.
*Seeing a patient who had been kinda down, finally smile.
*Being charge nurse and helping out the nurses and the corpsmen on my floor.
*Teaching some of the young corpsmen that want to learn things about nursing and medicine.
*Driving to Norfolk, or Philadelphia, or some other fun city to explore.
*Seeing the balance on my retirement fund go up! :) Countdown to retirement: 18 years, 8 months.


These are all the moments in my life that I get a little natural high surge through my body. I have to stop and think about it and realize that in fact I am a grown up. I am a commissioned officer in the Navy. I did do it! I did what I wanted to do for years. Every day I grow stronger and bolder. It just amazes me sometimes. Life has never quite seemed so amazing, surprising, and open as it has since I joined the Navy. I'm so grateful that I really went through with it.

Okay, I probably sound like a hallmark card. The whole, "I'm high on life" thing. I'll change the subject. I've been really busy lately. I can't really even tell you what all I've been doing. Mostly, work and packing. No free time for anything. I'm going to get really good at packing and moving. I'm moving now to North Bethesda, then I'm probably going to be moving my things out in May or June if I get on that deployment, then move it back in when I get back from deployment, then I'll be PCSing less than a year from that....That's a lot of packing and moving. Home is where the Navy sends you! :) Maybe I should just invest in a good air mattress! haha.

So, my roommate is freaking awesome. She's a defense lobbyist. This week she's planning a big dinner party thing in DC and when she called yesterday, she had just gotten off the phone with the secret service! That's crazy. This is the most interesting city I've ever been to. So many interesting and important jobs. People are actually changing the world that we live in.

I'm moving back to days at work tomorrow. I haven't been on days since May. Yep, 6 months of nights. I'm not looking forward to it. Oh well. I guess it'll be a nice change. It's going to be busy though.

That's my update for now. Off to go back down Trogdor. You know, I can fit a ton of my apartment in my little lancer.

I'll go down the road trusting in God and hugging my bottle of wine. - Fireballs, Bottle Of Wine

Lyndsy visited this weekend and on Saturday we took a day trip with Tanya and Phil to the Shenandoah Valley to see the leaves change. We were a bit too early in the season and also the drought has really affected the trees, so they are not as colorful. It still was beautiful. We stopped at a few vineyards to have some wine tastings. Just thought I'd put some pics up of the trip down there and then one random one of us on the metro Sat night going out for Brit's birthday.

Take a look at who you are, it's pretty scary. - Devo, Turnaround

These are some pics from work the other night. I was a ladybug; however, I think the striped arm thingys made people think I was a bee. I dunno. Nonetheless....it was a crazy night and we all had a good time. Too much candy. We were all checking out blood sugar to see who had the highest. haha. Nurses and corpsmen are really big dorks if you didn't already pick up on that from my blog. We also had a code drill, which was funny that we were all running in to do cpr and revive a "patient". Hope everyone had a great halloween!