Weeks 13 and 14 (11-24 July, Days 53-62)

Hi, I know its been a while since I've talked to y'all. Its been an INSANE couple of weeks.

I won't bog you down in the drama of what's been going on here. All I'll say about it is that we've had some LONG days, because naturally I was getting into a groove again...I'm beginning to think this is all on purpose. Either way, I've come to a conclusion. I don't care even the slightest about what's going on here besides what's going on in class. I've been here for 3 months now, and all I've been trying to do is get my job done (my job being doing well in class) despite distraction after distraction. I'm here to prove to myself that I can handle as much crap as life can throw at me! With the help of God I'm learning lessons about myself and pushing myself to follow my personal goals, even when most people would say its impossible (eh-hem, qualifying for Boston in October and making it to the Olympics one day).
I know I write one of these super motivated blog entries about once a month, I hope I'm not annoying anyone with them! I think though, that most of you will relate to the constant struggle to maintain that motivation throughout life's daily challenges, that motivation is a week to week, sometimes day to day, struggle, a rollercoaster that's obviously reflected in my blog.
My excitement about class is mounting, as we've started to be tested on the entire process of Intelligence production, versus learning and being tested on tiny parts. We can see the entire picture, and its so exciting! This past week has given me such confidence in my ability to take broad information and turn it into something that can be used for not only conventional military operations, but more importantly peace operations.
Aside from class, the past week (not the one before that) resulted in me getting all the little things that were stressing me out, out of the way, freeing me up for a weekend of relaxation and working out! I even got to lay out! If I do say so myself, I should have set a goal to LOOK healthier, because despite the time constraints and stress of the last two weeks, I've managed to eat much healthier than before, and it shows! :)
I finished an amazing book- Between a Rock and a Hard Place, by Aron Ralston (PICK IT UP!!!) and I've started a book called Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, by Mark Goulston, M.D. The latter of which I plan on putting to good use when I work on starting my non-profit horseback riding program. It opens up the doors that cannot be opened with too much persuasion, arguing, and fighting. I hope that it eliminates the unnecessary conflict from my life, whether it be between me and my friends, future (and former) boyfriends, my brother, my family, and my current and future co-workers. I'm so exciting about learning how to get my point across to people without escalating it through emotion.
Anyways, I've got to get ready for tomorrow, so I'm signing out for now. Thanks for reading! I'll update again soon! Post if you have questions!

Natalie

Week 12 (5-10 July, Days 49-52)

Can you believe it? I'm updating my blog on time!!!! -so you know it had to have been a pretty good week :)

Tuesday 5 July (Day 49)-
We worked on a Battle Update Brief, which is basically just an intelligence update for the commander. We will do 4 of these briefs, the first being presented on Wednesday, and the fourth on Monday. Tuesday was one of the longest days we've had since Module A. While I hate (HATE) cutting into my "Me" time, I'd rather cut into it while working actively on something than being beaten to death by powerpoint. Adding to that, my new TOC and I work really really well together, we all respect each other and think pretty similarly, making it easy to work on a bunch of separate products and put them together. We've been so much on the same page that we forget to break down who will brief what part of the presentation, so that could use some work. Our analysis though is spot on, which is a real confidence booster.

Wednesday 6 July (Day 50)-

Our first day of combatives! We learned just the very basic moves, such as the fighter stance, getting up while protecting ourselves, and some simple ways to begin a clinch (when you close on your combatant so they can't hit you effectively). It was all really useful information, but I think the fact that we had to be at formation at 0445 won out when it came to my attitude.
Class was the second day of the Battle Update briefs, once again another long day, but at least I was working on something again!

Thursday 7 July (Day 51)-
I'll bet you can't guess what Thursday was like! Ok, fine, yeah you can- combatives and BUB. Combatives was a little more exciting because we worked on clinches, but its still too early in the morning!!! After class I realized that I had finally heard back on an issue I've been having with getting reimbursed for the cost of living here, I found out too late to follow up...but that's for Friday's paragraph...

Friday 8 July (Day 52)-
Ohhhh Friday.... Its amazing how one week can go from kind of boring (to tell people about, not to be living-life out here is much more entertaining than is sounds on here! :P) to crazy as all get-out in a matter of hours. Friday began with combatives again, while it was a much more exciting (and PAINFUL) day, I was starting to feel the lack of sleep. It didn't help that we basically did clinch drills with each other...most of us wanting to beat the crap out of each other for various reasons-mostly friendly competition- and I ended up getting my shoulder popped in a not so good way. I think the way my classmate moved it ended up pinching a nerve briefly, which was really painful initially but has since worn off for the most part. We did actually get a workout Friday morning though, because we were so aggressive with each other (or at least me and Robin were).
After combatives I worked on following up on my pay issue...which ended up being an all day project. I feel terrible that I barely helped my TOC out, but the issue concerns my ability to pay rent, so I prioritized in hopes that I'd be able to work it out quickly. Those hopes were dashed as it seems no one can help me with this, we'll find out Monday how this issue will be resolved.
Friday evening was the highlight of the day...The Clinch Drill. The Clinch Drill involves our instructors donning 16 oz boxing gloves and swinging at us repeatedly until we achieve the clinch and stop them from effectively hitting us. Before anyone starts a riot about the Army allowing instructors to beat the hell out of us, let me explain its purpose. Achieving a clinch is extremely easy to do when you're not dodging punches...and also completely unneccessary. If we were ever in a situation where we'd have to clinch, it would be in a situation where someone was trying to land a punch or two-so what good would a clinch drill be if we couldn't prove that we are capable of clinching someone who is trying to stop us? So while I got the crap beat out of me, resulting in a really nice dead leg and a headache (not the concussion kind), I also gained the confidence in my ability to close with someone who is swinging at me. My day ended with a limp and a trip to my climbing friends' house for a birthday party, where I got some quality time with good people and their wonderful dog :)

Saturday 9 July-

TRIATHLON DAY!...not... I actually made the decision to not participate in the triathlon I entered (on Wednesday) the night before, because of the amount of sleep I've been getting, and our plans to go to Tucson to climb on Sunday. Further supporting my decision was a pounding headache, surprisingly not my leg or shoulder! Instead of swimming, biking and running, I went to the range to qualify on the 9mm for my German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge... which I have officially earned (Gold too, the highest you can get *smug smile*), can't say I'm sorry, shooting was awfully fun! Especially Garrett's .22 revolver! He has a holster for it that fit on my belt, I probably looked ridiculous but I felt so country it was worth it! Saturday afternoon was filled with Olive Garden and a cookout, as well as some quality time with a classmate who's a former boxer and a speed bag...and a pullup bar...its almost as if I forgot that I was going rock climbing the next morning...oh crap...

Sunday 10 July-
Valuable lesson of the day- DON'T FRY YOUR SHOULDERS AND BACK BEFORE YOU CLIMB ROCKS. I am dumb, and I ended the weekend with frustration because I didn't plan ahead. I blew a shot at finishing my first difficult route because I worked too hard on Saturday. I feel that way because while I'm out here my priority is improving my climbing skill, while I love working on boxing, I can do that back home. Climbing when I get home is going to be challenging, I'll need a partner and lots of equipment that I can't afford just yet. I am glad that I still tried though, and managed to push myself to basically muscle failure, that's the best way to work on muscle endurance. Get your muscles tired, then keep training!! So while I'm pissed that I failed a climb I really really wanted, I'm proud of myself for trying something I knew was going to push my arms past their limit, and pushing hard enough to fail.

Next week is more combatives, more BUBs, and hopefully a solution to my pay issue!!
Love y'all and miss you!!!

4th of July Weekend!!!!

"An excellent weekend if I do say so myself..." ~Robin

A Little Background...

For a girl like me, there's little that reminds me of my blessings than a weekend with great friends, the great outdoors, a tent, and tons of rocks just begging to be climbed (is that a word?). This weekend was exactly what I needed; though the fire nearly ruined it for our class. Since we missed classes to "fight the fire," TRADOC decided to take away the 4 day pass we had for the holiday in order to make it up...two weeks out. Many of my friends had plane tickets bought (one to Hawaii to see his wife and 4 month old!) that they were fearing would need to be cancelled. They had to write a paper to the commander explaining why they should get to use the tickets they bought! I was a little disappointed in the Army for a few days. Luckily, two days before the weekend we were able to get the passes back and my friends with tickets were able to use them.
Since I couldn't afford a flight home, and Robin and Garrett's plans got cancelled we decided to go on a climbing expedition to Flagstaff, AZ.

Adventure Day 1:
Friday 1 July

Our adventure started with loading out backpacks (yeah, the backpacking kind) into the back of Robin's Subaru-how glorious is that? We stopped at Walmart and headed out on our way. I wasn't the most social thing on our roadtrip, I got the backseat and promptly made myself a nice cozy reading den. Turns out "Between A Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston is a great book to read when going rock climbing :)
We finally arrived at the meetup place around 6 Friday evening, waiting for our climbing buddies by sitting on top of the Subaru sipping iced coffee from the nearby Starbucks. Once we found our camping spot, and introduced ourselves to the other climbers we were camping with, we all settled down to get to know each other the way other outdoorsy people do. We didn't get to know each other really personally, but we got familiar with the important parts- hardest routes climbed, pets, other outdoor activities, favorite organic dishes, etc. It was glorious! The night ended with a look at the stars, a view of the Milky Way (yeah you read that right), and a lesson on constellations. I'm so in love with this lifestyle! A friend of mine once mentioned his goal to hike one of the three major trails across the United States straight through...the more I spend time backpacking, climbing, and day-hiking out here, the more I want to try that myself. I'll give myself some more time to think about it, and of course figure out the logistics to see if its important enough to me that I sacrifice other important things in my life, but I would say that its a possibility!!

Adventure Day 2:
Saturday 2 July

I woke up the next day around 7am, I blame that on the sun and the fact that I froze my butt off in my not-rated-under-50-freakin-degrees sleeping bag. Fortunately for me, I got to appreciate my favorite part of the day, in one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've been to so far. I welcomed the day on a comfortable rock with my Kindle and a cup of coffee courtosey of Daryl. I wish I could start every day like that. One day, when I've earned enough to start Legends Farm, and have it up and running like I want, I'm going to do that. I'll wake up and watch the sunrise in a rocking chair on a wrap around porch in the company of several dogs, a few cats, and more than a handful of healing horses....and maybe a guy if I find one deserving enough to share that wonderful lifestyle with me ;)
We were hiking out to climb by 10:30, the hike nearly ruined my knees and hips after the 7.5 mile ruck the morning before. That's what I get for packing too much for a day by the rocks!!
*Just as a side note* As I write this, there's a thunderstorm brewing outside. This happens nearly every afternoon now, and I check the Coronado National Forest website everyday to check if they deem the moisture level high enough to re-open the Forest. So far I think they're absurd for thinking they need more rain, but then again I'm not the expert! For now, I just enjoy coming home after class to blog while it rains and thunders outside, with the door wiiiiiide open :)*
Ok, back to climbing (I should break this one up into two blogs!) Robin and I started out on a nice 5.8 route, might have been a 5.7, we're not really sure. Neither of us had much trouble finishing it though. After that we moved on to the next route over, not being quite sure what the rating was, but being pretty confident we could complete it. Since Robin went up the first route first, and I had the benefit of watching her scale it (I was able to do it just a tiny bit faster- but I'll readily admit that its because I didn't have to figure it out), I got the honor of scaling the second route first. I definitely did not climb the second route faster, in fact I got stuck twice and leaned on the harness for support a few more times than I care to admit. But I finished it! I was also successful in only sustaining one injury on the route, from shin-kicking the crap out of a ledge just before the anchors. I'm proud to say I finished the route with blood running down my shin! Robin, made my effort at the route look like crap, and she didn't even take notes from how I scaled it! Though I feel I could have done a bit better, and that I need to work a little harder on getting up more challenging routes, I'm still proud of myself, and even more so of Robin. As I was taking the rope off the route, a woman stopped by with a friend and was talking about the 5.9 route on the face I was standing next to. Shocked, I double checked that she was referring to the route Robin and I had just accomplished, finished wrapping up the rope (and getting filthy while I was at it) and nearly ran up to Robin to tell her the news. She and I had graduated up a level in climbing skill!
Brimming with confidence, Robin and I sat in intrigue as we watched our more experienced climbing buddies complete a 5.10 with a difficult start. The beginning of the route was over a small cave/overhang, requiring the climber to grasp two handholds (luckily they were easy to grip!) and step up with their right leg onto a less than ideal foothold while swinging the left leg up onto the top of the ledge while standing up and moving to a better handhold for the new foot positions. Lets just say it was a dynamic move that was a little difficult to master. After watching friend after friend complete the start and finish the climb, Robin and I had our chance. After several attempts, and Robin ripping a good chunk of skin off of her pinkie finger, we had both completed the start. Ending the day (for me) on a great confidence building note!
Robin climbed one more 5.9 route before we headed back to the cars. We found food at a local brewery where we enjoyed food and GREAT beer from the comfort of leather couches and end tables while watching SportCenter. A perfect end to the perfect day.

Adventure Day 3:
Sunday 3 July

Sunday was the close of the weekend, there was rain on the way so we weren't going to be able to climb. Robin, Garrett and I decided more time in Sedona was needed, so we spent the day shopping and exploring there. After meeting up with an old friend of Robin's, and some yummy coffee by a great view, and lunch out by an overlook as the rain came in, we decided to head back to Sierra Vista. Overall, it was a weekend centered around self-improvement and the beauty of the outdoors.

Post Adventure:
Monday 4 July HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY!

Monday was a nice relaxing day. I used the free time to clean my equipment and read, as well as catch up on this crazy blog I'm writing. I'm glad that we had a free day after the camping, it gave me a day to get my mind back to work and prepare for this weeks big activities- combatives and Battle Update Briefs!