A First

Today, after sending out an email yesterday in regards to an open house I'm helping with, I was asked to make a flier to help advertise. At first I was a little frustrated. I have a full time job, plus packing to leave and then flying in right before the holiday. It felt impossible to be able to create this product before I left.

I have never made a poster or flier before, so this was completely new to me. After looking up some of other fliers for the same program, I had a good idea of what NOT to do. After talking with my sister and then getting completely frustrated over my old version of Word, I borrowed Lisa's computer and used publisher for the first time. It was a great learning experience and I'm eager to work again on that software, but perhaps on my own computer, or at least with a wireless mouse...

Anyway, here's my first ever flier. I'm thrilled that I got it done today, that four of MY pictures are on there and that it's my first one ever. I think it turned out pretty well, although it certainly took me long  enough to make.

Also, cozy fires, cello music and ice cream help the work go by faster.

P.s. If you want to learn more about CAP and what we do... We're having an open house. ;-) *shameless advertising attempt*

A Good Day

I woke up to rain. Beautiful, thick, gloomy rain. It made me so unreasonably happy. It felt normal, looked lovely and reminded me of home. 

Today was a combination of lovely and really challenging. After Church, we went out for Indian food. The bold flavors and textures make such a unique cuisine and make me jealous because I don't know how to cook Indian food.... Yet... 

Challenging came next. A seemingly hopeless situation from far away. I know there is nothing I can really do, but it's sad when you lose respect for someone who you should always respect. I still don't know what to do in that situation, so for now... I'll pray. 

After that, I sat down to start a traffic safety course. I really don't want to talk about WHY I have to take this course. Ahem, speeding ticket while going 26 MPH... 'nough said.... I had planned to take it today because I had the time off from watching the girls and could focus 100% of my mind to this 4+ hour course. The dumb course had expired and the office was closed for the day. 

Anyway, these "hard" things happened right before a lovely Facebook video chat with Ian, Jane, Mitchell and Kara. And brownies. Plus happy babies. And episodes of Chuck. And a game of Wizard that I got absolutely demolished at... 

I'm learning that even when things make me angry, that stewing in that anger or ruining a day by being mad won't solve anything, but will take away my ability to see the good things that happen. I'm learning (and have a feeling I'll be learning for a while), when I worry, even for a second or two, I should change that worry into prayer. And that's why today was a good day. 

 

Cascade Falcon XXII

Cascade Falcon has now been over for almost two weeks. So now I can actually think about it and not feel exhausted. ;-) So here's my experience.

I went into CFXXII dreadfully unprepared. I didn't have the uniform pieces I wanted, I had holes in my shoes.  I had an injured ankle.... Anyway, my attitude was a *little* less enthusiastic about going. I griped to Evelyn and she told me that I signed up for it, that I needed to find something good about going. So I thought and this is what I came out with:

1. I go to support my siblings. It was Jane's first time on Cadre and she did great!
2. I go so the parents of Arlington's cadets know there is someone reliable who their cadet can talk to if there is a problem. Or for parents to text for information.
3. I go to take Arlington Composite Squadron exclusive pictures. It's been nearly two weeks and NO official pictures have come out.
4. Learn something new.

So I adjusted my attitude. I was going to be positive, give leadership advice when needed, supply snacks to cadre members, not cause drama and have fun.

I got there and learned that instead of 1 flight of girls, I would have a squadron (2 flight- 24 people) to take care of. I had 1 hour to get 24 girls through the shower (we had 3 showers).... That's like 2 minute showers.

I have girls who cried, wanted to give up, who were homesick and in pain... I also had girls who inspired, who thrived under the leadership environment, who took initiative and who pushed themselves. I had girls who wouldn't shut up and girls who wouldn't talk.

I got pictures every day and it took me two days to completely edit them. I still haven't gotten them to parents like planned.

It was so worth it. I talked again to Evelyn yesterday and some things I got from the experience were: 1. I don't have to spend time with other senior members. The majority of the time, I was alone, watching my cadets.
2. I don't have to be friends with everyone. There were people there who I didn't get along well with. He just didn't treat me well and I had no energy to deal with that.
3. Always look into someone's eyes to ask they if they're okay. The answer will be different.
4. Never baby someone's injury. Have a suck-it-up mentality. If they're in serious pain, you'll know.
5. Thank people for helping or teaching you something.
6. Making eye contact and verbally greeting people are both just signs of a good person.

7. No matter how tired you are, standing outside and watching the sunset, even for just a couple minutes is always worth it. I recharged almost every night this way. It was a couple minutes to think over the day, pray and see something beautiful.

8. Always have a notebook with you. The one I chose was too small, so I didn't use it and regretted it a little.
9. Thank the people who serve you food. I know this one from experience....
10. Take time to write in year books, you never know what will make someone's day. I found out that I was the only one to write in one of the girl's book last year and it meant a lot to her.
11. Always be observing what going on in your surroundings.
12. Have a few stress relieving things to occupy the minds of students and cadre. One of my cadre members right before a stressful inspection had her girls playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. It was great.

I learned so much more, but these are the ones that came to mind first. Check out my pictures on Facebook!

A Freezing Weekend

Weekend, freakend, weakend, freezend, pleasend. Those where my thoughts on this past weekend.

Thursday proved to be ridiculously busy with back to back scheduling that went something like this:

7:45- Wake up
8:15- Drive Ev to School
8:50- Breakfast and make dinner (we had crockpot fajitas)
9:00- Grocery lists
9:30- Tidy house
9:45- Groom
10:00- Shop (Winco, Walmart, Dollar Store and Cash and Carry)
1:00- Put food away
2:15- Jane to Choir
4:00- Prep for CAP
4:45- CAP
9:30- Home (we ended up staying an hour late to run through ceremony processes for next week)

I kept perfectly with my schedule, fitting in a three minute shower and getting a 45 minute break in the afternoon... It was a crazy day, but kinda fun.

Friday: we cooked all day for the weekend. I got signed up to cook for Field Emergency Services Training (FEST) at CAP. The "kitchen" was a stove (partially working), oven (only got to 160-170 degrees) and a microwave (which we didn't use). There was no running water, no flushing toilets and the building was a balmy 45 degrees. Colder inside than outside.

I was super thankful for my brand new Cambro, which Mom and Dad got me for a gift over a year ago and I just now got to use it. It basically keeps food whatever temperature is it when you put it in. I made breakfasts from home and transported them in the Cambro. It kept it hot until service which was key since the building was practically the temperature of a fridge.

Anyway, Saturday was freezing cold, but all the food cooking went well. Sunday I switched out siblings. Jane came with me to help and Ian and Ev stayed behind to work on homework with the agreement to help me get all the dishes washed when I got home.

Hours later (and a good long nap) and I'm still trying to get my hands and feet to warm up all the way. It was so cold that for part of the day I was wearing two hoodies, with hand warmers (which I kept calling hot pockets, which is funny cause I've never had one before) in the pockets of the inner one.

I won't be doing that kind of thing anytime soon...

Cascade Falcon XXI

Wow, I haven't posted for ages! Mostly because I've been gone. Again. This time, however, at least I was in the state of Washington....

Four days after I got back from Louisville, Kentucky, Ian, Ev and I left for Camp Casey to work at Cascade Falcon XXI, Civil Air Patrol's basic encampment. Camp Casey has ZERO internet, so naturally, I went the entire time without it. It was only partially missed... The day we left, Ev gave me the wrong time to arrive, so we were there two hours early. I really had no problem with that, however, Whidbey Island and Camp Casey are gorgeous and it was easy to kill time in conversations with the other cadre members who arrived early.

For the next 9 days, I was a training officer for the encampment. Which meant...

During the day: I followed around my flight (Bravo flight) making sure everyone was okay, hydrated, healthy and not hazed. I had 17 people in my flight, plus two cadre members and another two who were in and out between Alpha and Bravo. I passed out a lot of sunscreen and cough drops during the week. I gave my advice to cadre and dealt with students who were emotional and homesick, dealt with minor injuries and took pictures of my people.

Bravo Flight touring Fort Casey

During the night: I had 22 girls in my barracks to take care of. I had one girl working under me, kindly referred to as Dormlord (although Dorm Chief was the official name). Anna (my Dormlord) got all the girls efficiently through showers each night (45 minutes to get them through the three showers we had). It was a fairly hard job at first, mostly because the water pressure sucked. It was a mist. I had to wash my hair in the utility sink... Anna and I did foot checks, asked how each was doing, if they were hydrated, answered uniform questions, handed out snacks and news letters and made sure the lights were turned off on time.

All the girls from Cascade Falcon XXI

After lights out was almost always entertaining. I would shower and get a few personal minutes (usually spent watching the sunset from the edge of the field) or the even more rare times of going to the staff barracks to talk/hang out with the seniors (which was hilarious), but by the time I got to bed, all the girls were deep asleep and that was what was amusing. A lot of my girls snored, a few would groan, one coughed almost non-stop, a couple rolled restlessly, I'm pretty sure one cried in her sleep and my favorite... sleep-talkers.... it was hilarious. They talked about food, apologized to one of the officers, mumbled and went back to sleep, but it happened almost every night from at least three different people.

Inside the female barracks

I got to work with a great group of senior members. We had fun bantering back and forth, making up fake awards for the annoying people, taking care of students, eating meals together and being overly-critical about the food- perhaps that was just me- and taking naps.

There was one particular day where three of us training officers took an hour long nap on the parade field while the cadets were doing parade practice. It may or may not have been the best nap of my life. I had my first cup of black coffee thanks to a senior member. Not something I'll get into, but I can definitely handle the bitter brew (it was Army Strong)... 

There was drama. Cadets wanting to go home, multiple knee injuries, nausea, dizziness, the occasional vomiting, the cadet who passed out after PT and some other things worse than that, students faking injuries to get attention... The list goes on, but at least there was like no senior member drama like the year before... When the cadets complained of stomachaches or headaches, the fix-all cure was to drink water. It almost always worked. 

Did I enjoy my training officer job? Yeah, it was fun. I walked an average of 7.2 miles a day totally more than 65 miles during the duration of my stay. I learned a LOT about the cadet program, mentoring people, dealing with students and cadre, problem solving and so much more I couldn't write it all down. 

Basically, I am beyond proud of my flight and the cadre running it. They did an outstanding job. And, I can't wait to go back next year, although I'll probably be doing some better shoe shopping. ;-)

An April Weekend

Friday:

 I was up at five thirty to go watch Ian compete in SkillsUSA with Dad and Mom. It was super interesting to watch him work and see more of the industry I've heard so much about for the past 2+ years. Once home in the early afternoon, I set to packing for the weekend in Wenatchee.

My plans got somehow foiled when Ian (once he came back) got a game he had been waiting for in the mail. A super fun game called Coup. You all should try it. So we invited the Rothenberger kids over (they live about five walking minutes away...) and played the game with them for a couple hours. 

Saturday: 

I woke up at 4am. Way too early to wake up on a Saturday, but it was well worth it. Ev, Jane and I headed out on highway 2 over the pass to go to Civil Air Patrol Washington Wing Spring Conference. We hit the pass at sunrise and it was gorgeous. We sang almost the entire way and complained about the people who were driving slowly. 

Spring conferences is pretty much a day of awards, speeches, lectures and classes, but the majority of the people who go are awesome. Still, there's nothing like getting to see about 100 friends and having to sit through classes. So I ditched the whole class idea. A senior member from our squadron and I hung out pretty much the entire day and got some good ideas down for things to do with our squadron and ways to improve. 

At four, I taught my DFAC class. Well, at least part of it. Half way through my class, another senior member came in and told us we had three minutes to wrap things up and get out so they could do banquet set up. I was a little frustrated because the second half of the class involved a bin full of M&Ms, Skittles and Reese's Pieces. It was my hands on food handler's portion of the class. Anyway, as far as I got went really well in my opinion, but I definitely need to work on my public speaking. 

The banquet was boring, the food was marginal, the dance afterwards was horrendous, but I got to dress up. During the dance, one of my favorite cadets and I went to the hall and talked instead of watching the awkward senior members and cadets try to dance. We had a blast talking and it made my evening! 

Sunday: 

The drive home the next day was fun, Jane had never been to Leavenworth, so we stopped for less than a half hour and went to the cheese shop and the hat shop. We made it home in decent time. Someone in our family had a birthday celebration that day (namely the eldest child) and we made rice pilaf, garlic asparagus, tilapia with homemade mango salsa and Drumsticks for dessert. It was a fun celebration and the meal was delicious! 

Ian and I ditched after the party to go to volleyball. It was a blast to get to play and hang out with friends again. That and Ian's a pretty awesome brother. :-D 

I thought this week would be calm, but after a crazy Monday, I'm thinking I might just stay in my pajamas all day... 

Living, Learning and Loving.

Today was one of those crazy days. I spent the morning planning a class I'm teaching on Saturday, the afternoon driving Jane to choir and picking up hairnets for her uniform. Her choir went late... Of course... Then we got stuck behind a dump truck going under the speed limit, leaving us a mere 20 minutes between choir and CAP. Yes, I was a bit frazzled. After the rather emotional/me being ridiculous/hangry last Thursday, I had to eat something before leaving, change into uniform, put up my hair... I forgot the camera to take pictures with for our Facebook page. But somehow it was a peaceful, fun CAP meeting.

Talking with new parents at our Civil Air Patrol meeting was fun, but it also showed me how much I miss the quiet life I led for the past six months while in Tennessee. I miss the quiet evenings playing games, the dinners eaten together, not fighting for a chance to wash laundry or make food. But those things are part of my life again and they are good.

I wrote some words out on paper while in Tennessee that I wanted to remember during the transition back home.

Instead of following through with what I wanted, I let myself down. I'm talking with God less, I'm growing angry faster, about pathetic things. I've felt not rejected, but like I can't quite fit in. I'm having trouble connecting with my family. 

I need to slow down, not rush through each day, but enjoy the busy days and cherish the quiet ones. I need to take time to talk to God and read my bible.

 I need to find a routine that works with the family and my personality. I need to learn to relax, to not stress about little things. I need to work on my temper. I don't want to be irrational, angry and bitter. Learning is not just the school we did as children, that is just the very beginning. Life is about learning, about adapting to changes and challenges, learning about our Savior, our family, our friends.

And so, going into a busy weekend, I am going to embrace the busy, the people, the long drives and the impending class that I have to teach. I'm going to open up and sing on the drive, laugh with my sisters and enjoy their company, because we have to cherish these little moments in a crazy time. Living, learning and loving.