3 weeks til I get Home!

Holy cow! I am so excited. I have 21 days and a wake up left. I passed my PT test, I'm done with academic tests. I have a 96% average on my tests. I am ready to be at home.

We have been doing a lot of simple stuff to finish up the week. Last week, we finished up CBRN Room Operations and Rad. We started decontamination and this week we have CDTF (which is a live nerve agent chamber. It is going to be a crazy week.

The week after that we will have our field training exercise and after we get back we will be out processing to graduate and come home!! I ended up getting a 215 on my PT test, which is a lot better than I thought I was going to do. After doing PT two times a day for 3 weeks, I am glad that I passed. Now I am pretty much done and we just have a couple things to finish up on..

I am so ready to be home.. Being away from home really makes me realize what I have. It makes me think a lot. I haven't ever had to worry about my parents finances, my neighborhood or walking to school. I have never had to worry about any of these things because Beatrice, Nebraska is safe. There is no shootings on the street, there are job opportunities for us and I have received a good education from our public school system. I am thankful for everything my parents have given me and all of the knowledge they have set me up with.

I am thankful that I am going into college knowing what I want to do and where I want to be in life. As soon as I get home, I want to go thru the training in order to become a teammates mentor. I want to help someone and become their friend. I would love to have a little girl to show her how to respect herself as a woman as my mother taught me. I see some of my battle buddies here that don't have pride in being a female. Or they think they need a male to make them complete. It kinda makes me sad to know that they didn't have a strong female role model as I did.

Things like these are the reasons that I am so thankful for the environment that I grew up in. I am ready to come home and start college. I am so ready to be with all of my family and friends.

I miss you Mom, Dad, Luke, and Sean. Thank you for all of the support you have given me through all of this.

Thank you to everyone else who has supported me and my family through the long months of me being away from home.

I can't wait to see all of you soon.
Until later (:


The pictures are things that keep me sane through these crazy days here. I am ready to be home. (The fortune was from my lunch today (: ) And thanks Olson, (If you read this) for helping me realize that not everything is about everyone else. Sometimes I just gotta do what I want to do. Thank you.

2 LLLONNNG WEEEKS!

Holy cow! It has been an absolutely crazy long week here yet again.. Well, actually 2 weeks.

   Last week we finished up our HAZMAT operations. I got a 92! Wooo! (No, It wasn't as high as I wanted, but it was good enough for as hard as it was. there was so much information to it.)
   Then we got to do our "missions" on Tuesday. WE dressed out in our bright blue level B suits and walked around the training site making barriers for mock trials. We wore SCBAs (Self contained breathing apparatuses), which are crazy uncomfortable. Its like a scuba tank on your back. Overall it was actually pretty cool as far as something I probably won't do again in my military career.
    Wednesday was our PT test. It was awful, for me. I wish I didn't struggle with PT. Honestly, if I didn't struggle with it, or didn't have it, I could breeze by in this stuff. Well I failed my pt test by 6 push ups and a little over a minute on my run. Our next PT test is July 27, (less than two weeks from now!) Crazy to think I only have about 35 days left here. This summer has really gone by pretty fast.
    4th of July weekend on a military base was humbling. It was an awesome reminder of why we celebrate the 4th.

    On the 4th we go to go over to the field where there were food vendors and tents and a stage set up for all of us to enjoy. There were hot dogs, hamburgers, fried oreos, funnel cakes, pop, energy drinks, corn dogs, and all of the other vendor/fair food that none of us should have eaten. By the end of the night, I was feeling a little sick. But not having fair food 2 summers in a row is sad. Last summer I was at basic, so I didn't get to enjoy any of that stuff.
    There was a concert in the field area, called A soldier show. It is a bunch of soldiers that sing and dance. I am pretty sure they perform all over and some of them go over seas for the deployed. It was really cool.
     Then, there were amazing fireworks after the concert. Some of my battle buddies and I were joking around that we wouldn't need budget cuts if they wouldn't have had fireworks. But it is a different set of funding. The entire night was set up by the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation). This is the same people who set up the gyms and other fun activities on post.
     For the next 3 of my 4 day weekend, we hung out, went to the px. I got a new pair of acu's and a new digital camo laptop case for school.
    On Saturday, a bunch of us decided to cookout. We went to the commisary and got hot dogs, chips and pop. There was a little charcoal grill in the middle of the barracks area. It was so fun and I was so excited for a grilled hot dog.
   It's surprising what little things I miss about summer and being at home. Mostly, I miss shorts and a t-shirt in the heat instead of long sleeve s and long pants. (Mom, I now think I could have survived detasseling all those years ago). Sometimes being gone makes me think McD wasn't so bad. Then I really remember how bad it was.
   One of our Sergeants, that is always with us, treats us like his kids. He is pretty fond of me, but he makes me out to be much more innocent than I am. The other day we were all joking around and he made some reference to alcohol (that I didn't understand) and a bunch of us said "Hooah" (The term the army uses for yes, or I agree) Well, he came running thru the formation and asked me what I knew about the reference. I started laughing and said I have no idea. He is like EXACTLY!
     Then he was talking about how they had to put tape on the barracks windows on the first floor because people were sneaking out of the windows at night. I turned the the person next to me and said "Holy cow, I am so oblivious to life!!" Somehow, from across the room, he heard me and said, "Lyons, its because your parents taught you right from wrong and pounded it into you." I, of course, just laughed because I was still in shock that he heard me. He kinda makes fun of me because I am completely oblivious to the things people do/get away with around here.
    We finished all of our close book tests this week and all we have is open book ones left. It really is all down hill from here. We have Rad, Decon, and CDTF left. Then we will have a week for our ftx. Then we will be cleaning up and coming home!! WOO! (:
    The people who failed their pt test have been having PT two times a day. We have it with everyone else in the morning, then we have right after we finish training for the day. It has made for some really long days here, but we only have 13 days until our PT test.. NERVOUS!! /: but I think I will be fine. I just need to stay focused and not mess anything up. If I pass in two weeks, I will be able to wear civilian clothing and wear my hair down, on the weekends. I think my hair is the most exciting part about all of that.

   Well, I had a lot to catch you all up on!! Graduation Day is getting close!! Write me and let me know how all of you are. I am dying to hear from everyone! Thank you all for all of the support and I will try to write again next weekend.