Adventure

It's been almost a year since I sat down to type anything for the blog.  I guess anything that can keep you distracted for that long is definitely an all-consuming adventure.  That's one way to label the Army!  So much has happened...let's just bullet-list it down:

• They kicked me out of 12W school and decided I would be a 15T - Blackhawk Mechanic.
• I traveled, once again, to a new post, new school, new company, new friends.  It turned out to the absolute best of all three that I'd forcefully tried out.
• Five months later, all of our families from all of the corners of the states came to Virginia in July to finally see me graduate Army training.
• Monkey and I spent a beautiful 5th wedding anniversary exploring Washington DC, doing all the touristy things.  (Thank God we did before our gov't pulled this shutdown act on us.)
• I made it back home to Fort Bragg, Raeford, NC, Old Man HB, and the Monkey love of my life.
• SPC Johnson spent a month in the suck at Fort Polk, LA, hating life, only to come home and find out he would have to back a month later.  (He should be coming home from this second adventure, today!)
• SPC Johnson also endured the promotion board and will be receiving his rockers on November 1st!  (So proud of my soon-to-be NCO Monkey!)

All in all, we've continued to find what joys we can in this crazy Army life.  We cycle when we can, have rediscovered that we both love a good hot yoga class, and have made a tradition of Saturday morning breakfast at Lindy's, the most wonderful little homespun-family-owned breakfast diner in town.  Holding on to what sanity we can when we truly have no control of the schedule of our lives.

With an open heart...

Pig's Ramblings

I think I have too much time to think right now.  That's the problem.

I've been trying to open my ERB (Enlisted Record Brief - the end-all-be-all PDF where the Army lists anything and everything that's of importance to your enlisted career) all weekend and finally managed to do so today.  My PMOS (Primary Military Occupational Specialty) has officially been changed to 12W.  You know, that job I'm happy to have, but kind of don't really want either?!  Yea, that one.

I think about it all the time.  The training, the day-to-day-job of it, the physical labor, the probably necessary but will be hell for my feet brand new steel toe boots, the hard hats and safety glasses, the power tools, the new people I'll have to figure out how to work and socialize with, the new living accommodations, the new chain of command.  And, as usual, I think the worst, expect the worst, because the pessimist in me is a winner in the outlook ring.

However, in addition to my PMOS having changed, my ERB is also sporting another new addition, my projected duty station and unit. This, my friends, is an exciting thing.  It means the time is drawing near to be out of TRADOC, to be a permanent party soldier with an everyday job, to get all those wonderful government three-day and four-day holidays.  And, as most things go, my remaining time in TRADOC probably won't be that bad once I'm there, starting class, working during the day, studying at night, staying occupied and busy, and worn out enough at the end of the day to actually sleep well.

Here's to the days ahead, busy, without too much time to ponder.  The best kinds of days!

Pig's Ramblings

Nothing can really be that bad when this grin is what you've got lookin' back at you.  Best friend.  Lover.  Monkey.  Confidant.  Maker-of-all-bad-things-better.  Soulmate.  Husband.

xoxo-Pig

Gig'em!

source

It's bowl day and yes, I've been wearing my favorite 2005 maroon out t-shirt under my tan t-shirt and my uniform all-diddly-day-long.  Gig'em Ags!  Tonight at 2000 it's time hit that field strong and beat the ever livin', ever lovin', complex, compound, fightin' Texas Aggie class of '08, TEXAS-sized hell outta OWHO!

WHO8P!
Pig

Gotta Make it Work

Today I woke up at 0320, drank two bottles full of H20, peed in a cup for a small audience, ate breakfast at 1030, and started packing while I contemplated where this grand universe has chosen to take me next.

I finally returned to good ol' C Co 832d after seventeen days of amazeballs family vacation time, to finally get orders for my reclass.  A new job.  The least preferred, least promising, least appealing job of all those that were given to me as options.  GIANT le sigh.  I will officially, as of my arrival to Gulfport, Mississippi next Wednesday, be an Army 12W: Carpentry and Masonry Specialist.  Who'd've thunk it?!  Me, following in my Dad's carpentry footsteps?!  I wouldn't have thought it, nor did I really wish it.  (I know for a fact my father takes no offense to that statement.)

Now, initially, I was a tad upset because for once I'd finally allowed myself to be positive and hopeful about the possibilities that were placed before me as a new job.  But, as one of my platoon sergeants has so aptly reminded me on many occasions, "reclass is like playing Russian roullette"!  And, oh boy, yes, it got me.  Got me saddled with all the worries...what civilian career prospects does this really provide me, if any?  Will I be able to handle the daily physical rigors of construction work?  Yet alone find enjoyment in them?  Will it be challenging enough?  Will my leadership skills be utilized or will I be just a low-rank gopher?  What promotion possibilities does it allow for?

All the possible negatives.  Now doesn't that just sound like the traditional pessimistic pig that we know and love?!

But then I tried, and oh my friends, it took some effort, to look at it differently.  It's a brand new year, right?  No need to start it off totally in the dumpster.  So I realized that the class is only 7 weeks and 3 days long.  That was seemingly the only real positive that jumped out at me.  But at the same time, the single positive, means so many other things will get to happen this year.  I'll get to go home like we wanted this year, and sooner than later, too!  I'll get to enjoy a summer block leave since I'll most definitely be in the real Army by then.  MonkeyHubby and I will get to be together and really celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary.  We're even talking vacation, maybe a cruise!  And we'll get plenty of months back together before any possible deployment pops up towards the end of 2013.  (Maybe we'll even manage to deploy together, but let's not get too hopeful, that emotion doesn't seem to be pulling universal strings in our favor quite yet this year.)

And then, when you find a couple positives, a few more positive-possibles pop through...Maybe I'll enjoy being outside on a regular basis.  Maybe doing heavy physical work everyday will give me a killer bikini bod before summer.  (The small things, eh?)

All in all, maybe it won't really be that bad.  I guess this pig will just have to ride it out and make it work.

Adios 2012!

This past year was so many things for us.  And even though we didn't make it to midnight (we don't, most years), we did go out for a few drinks and reminisce about all that we accomplished, endured, and just plain ol' muddled through during the past twelve months:

-Moved into a beautiful rental home a little ways outside of the city.

-We welcomed a roommie into the Johnson fold.

-I walked 50 miles in beautiful Charleston, SC in three days.

-OldManHB learned to rollover.

-I quit my job and enlisted in the US Army.

-MonkeyHubby bought me a bike and I learned that I really enjoy cycling with him.

-We spent a beautiful long weekend exploring Asheville, NC.

-I shipped off to Fort Jackson for Basic Training.

-MonkeyHubby shipped off to Afghanistan for his first deployment.

-I graduated basic with a broken pelvic bone.

-PFCJohnson returned home safely as the newly promoted SPCJohnson.

-SPCJohnson earned his EIB.

-Skype became one of our best friends.

-Multiple, multiple, multiple trips home to Texas.

And of course, we've had the joy of spending this year's holidays together.  Seventeen days of togetherness has been amazing after living apart since June 4, and more time together is at the top of our wishlist for 2013.  We look forward to finding out what Army job I will be assigned, celebrating five amazing years of marriage, trimming down MonkeyHubby's waist and our own personal debt ceiling, seeing if we can teach OldManHB to rollover in the opposite direction, my hip healing and being able to run and cycle together once again, and simply living more fully the adventures this crazy world continues to offer us.

Cheers, family and friends!  Welcome to 2013, and good luck!

The Ranch

Dear Cherry Springs Ranch, You were the best end to a rollercoaster trip back to Texas this worn out gal could've asked for. Fresh killed turkey, OldManHB's first sniff of the freshly dead, the ranchkeep's pet pig (razorback genetics included), haunted bunkhouse, my new favorite lab in the whole world Tikka, and our best friend Travie.  Oh, and did I mention no cell service and no internet?!  I think that part might have been the absolute best!  I only hope that we get to make it back to visit you more often.