Here's some pictures from leave, and the modifications we've made since being back! Enjoy!

Here is a shot of this pace in Central Washington near The Gorge! It was breathtaking!

Here is the view of what is directly behind the above picture! They call these the feathers for some crazy reason...

Beth and I on our last day with her Mom and Kevin

Me in New Mexico shooting Daniel's Glock!

Beth's target

My Target!

Beth and I on my last day of leave having fun cutting off my beard

Our new living room arrangement!

Our new items, the mirror and the tv!

A good view of the living room!

The Mountain that Never Stops Growing...

Today is the day I am supposed to be a Staff Sergeant but unfortunately I am unable to because I have to graduate from Airman Leadership School first. Yes, my time has come to be tormented by evil instructors itching to drive you to the breaking point...ok, that may be a little melodramatic but it sure seems that way sometimes! Beth got her turn, and she had to go thru this when I was deployed so I really shouldn't be complaining. She has been incredible and I am very lucky to have her here for ME since she knows exactly what's going on! She cooks me food, listens to me complain, tells me to deal with it(haha!), and puts up with my grumpy stressed out-ness, and this is only day 6...YIKES...good thing there's a pay raise at the end of this class!! 

This is just some of the homework I have for today...!!

(one of)The Purchase(s)!

I enjoy throwing darts! I find it relaxing unlike most sports or other forms of entertainment. That I am halfway decent at darts helps of course. Since I learned to throw dart I have always played with whatever darts I could get my hands on, I didn't feel like I was worthy to own my own set of darts or I couldn't justify spending the money on them because I didn't play enough. Really though it was just because the only place I tended to play, a japanese bar called Mets, had house darts that I threw really well. Unfortunately though those darts fell prey to wear and tear and are now all but extinct(I knew I should have swiped a set when they still had them, haha). The last few times I have played there I haven't been able to scrounge 3 of the same darts that I used to play with and have had to throw other inferior darts and that is just unacceptable. So I finally broke down and bought my own! We ended up paying about $100 for them, and I have high hopes for them! One of the first times I threw them I ended up throwing a hat trick(three bullseyes in one round!)! I will need to get used to them but I know they will improve my consistency which has always been my biggest struggle.

Ps. Sorry for the long absence, time flies so fast if I'm not careful before I know it I've not posted for a month but it seems like a week. Crazy how that happens...

End of a LONG Week!

Friday was the last day of our week long Operational Readiness Inspection which we have been preparing for for the last 2 years!!! It has been a VERY long and stressful week, and we won't know how we did on it until Wednesday, but the hard part of this ORI is OVER! 

Beth and I had to do something a little different this week for lunches. The people in charge of the inspection make all eateries off limits and we couldn't go to the chow hall for ridiculous reasons so we made our own lunches. Beth went to the commisary and picked up some food stuffs and then every night before we went to bed we would put together our lunches(so we didn't have to do it before work at 4:00 in the morning). We had ham sandwiches with swiss cheese and honey mustard for the main course the first few days. Beth would have a few Luna bars, some yogurt, some Sunkist fruit snacks, and a piece of fruit for snacks throughout the day. I would have some trail mix, some fruit snacks, some Sechuan barbeque rice chips(they are AWESOME!), a piece of fruit, and a couple of cookies! We also made some chili for dinner one night and  had a TON left over so we had it for lunch too. 

We were usually pretty wore out by the time we got home at night, plus Beth had class, so I would make something very quick and easy for dinner. I was having some trouble once we ran out of leftover chili until I looked in our cupboard and saw that we had some pesto sauce all ready to go(just add the cheese)! So...about 16 minutes later dinner was served! It really was actually pretty good and quite filling, too.

Friday night we were both not feeling like cooking anything but I was hungry. After pulling everything out of the fridge that could possibly be eaten and some serious debating, we finally decided on an omelet(which ended up turning into scrambled eggs because the pan was kinda small). This omelet had some of everything in it, let me tell you! First we sauteed some garlic and onions, then added turkey(I pulled a pre-made sandwich apart for that, ha ha!), spinach, portobello mushrooms, cilantro, broccoli, and sun dried tomato's! After we heated all that up we threw in a couple or 3 eggs, added a few twists of pepper and salt, then topped it off with some sharp cheddar cheese!! I can't even describe to you how good it smelled! Honestly, I couldn't believe how delicious it smelled, and the pan we cooked it in was the perfect size,  I just kind of plopped it out onto a plate, and this is what it ended up looking like:

If only pictures could capture smell as well!

I know its pitch black outside. That's because it was 9:30 at night, and what better time to make scrambled eggs than 9:30 at night?!

Had to capture this from ALL angles!

I don't know if you can tell but I was seriously restraining myself right there! I  couldn't WAIT to bite into it! It was delicious! One of the best dinners I've ever had! It may have been because I was pretty much starving, though:) 

Not a lot of time:(

Sunrise from the front porch! They are ALWAYS amazing!

Sorry I haven't updated, we are on overtime this week for a readiness inspection at my base. 

I gotta go to sleep soon(and eat, and take a shower, and all that fun stuff) but I just want to say, once again, that it is SO nice to be home! I would so much rather be on overtime here in Japan than in Afghanistan! Over there it is cold, windy, no friends/girlfriend, no color, no normal people, and its just plain miserable. Here it is somewhat warm, there are friends and girlfriend, a kitchen to make YUMMY food in, and its getting even more green outside! Yes there are dogs that whine incessantly sometimes, bad traffic, phone calls from work in the middle of sleepytime, and more overtime, but trust me, its ALL worth it to be home! 

Anyway, thats what is still on my mind even after being home for 2 1/2 weeks...I know it's kinda pathetic but I do love it here!

I will catch up with you later!

 

How to: Life

Sometimes I wish I could go to Barnes and Noble and pick up a book titled 'Dave's Ideal Life-Here You Go Dummy'. It would make my life so much easier! Just think: I would never make a mistake again, never take the wrong college course, never make a bad career move, never miss out on good opportunities, always be happy, confident, and successful! I would never have to make a tough decision again. Sometimes I think I'd pay a small fortune just to have a quick peek at that book. 

Then I grudgingly remember that life isn't so much about where you are going as much as how you get there. I know that has been said much more eloquently, by people much more educated than I, but the fact that I consider that every so often when I make a bad decision or lose sight of my goals is incredibly comforting for some reason. Remembering that making mistakes is a big part of how I learn can be somewhat depressing at times and downright daunting at others. 

I tend to be much more hard on myself, much less forgiving of my mistakes, than anyone else in my life and that makes things difficult at times. Forgiving myself for my mistakes is something I never really learned how to do and that includes even the littlest things. When I learn to accept the fact that I will make mistakes and learn to let go of some of my pride and ego I know I will be much better off in this life. 

  

Where to Begin?

Ok, I know I said I was going to try to keep this blog thing going and I really meant it, I did! Problem was I didn't have the means to keep it going. I've been held back by a few small issues like...not having a computer, not having a camera, going to school and working full time, and getting deployed.

I know, excuses excuses, but I love them and they really are valid, for the most part. Now, as of yesterday, all of those excuses are invalid and the first thing I am doing is blogging so that should show my commitment was/IS for real, right? 

Updates are expected, naturally. Well here you are!

1) The big update! I'm back from Afghanistan!! I am back at Kadena and loving life, everything is so GREEN! I really had no idea how much I was going to miss the people and places, but the hardest part by far was missing Beth. I know we were lucky it was so short but it doesn't matter, no one should have to go through that.

View from the apartment!

2) Beth and I now have a camera and a computer that aren't ancient and actually work like they are supposed to! We bought an iMac yesterday after much consideration. I have to say we have been extremely impressed with the simplicity of Apple and its operating system! We have very high expectations and are pretty sure we made the right decision. It is a one piece computer so everything is built into the flat panel monitor so its a great space/clutter saver! I absolutely hate Microsoft and Windows and everything to do with that whole system and finally was fed up with it enough to do something about it.   

This is the iMac, its a 20" screen and you can see the CD/DVD drive on the side. The speakers are on the very bottom, and that is really all there is to it. The bottom picture is our iMac. 

3) My finger is doing better every day, it still doesn't have much feeling and I don't have full range of motion in it, but it is definitely healing up! I would post a picture of that too but I will refrain because not everyone wants to see that I'm sure. If you would like to see it I'd be happy to email you a picture, just let me know.

Thats all I can think of right now but I will be able to do this more regularly now so check back soon! I have a week off(last week didn't count because it was considered work time for in-processing) so that should give me plenty of time to get real bored with not working.