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| I swore into the Army March 18th and leave for Basic Combat Training in Ft. Benning, Georgia on May 27th followed by OCS on August 10th. Pris is moving in with my parents for at least a year, maybe two or three depending on what I'll be doing and when/where I get deployed. She'll be finishing up college and earning a teaching credential so she'll at least be busy. How it works for Army Officers is I'll know what field I'll be going into half way through Officer's Canidate School, which will be in September. After I graduate OCS on October 29th I'll be comissioned a 2nd Lt and head to another training phase which is called BOLCII. This is basically where all new officers from OCS, Westpoint, and ROTC train with one another for 6 weeks so we're all on the same page. Hopefully I'll be able to do this at Ft. Benning right after I graduate from OCS, but being how I gotta do things the Army way I might be at Ft Sill in Oklahoma for this phase, and, again, hopefully as soon as possible. Since I graduate OCS at the end of October there is a good chance I won't be doing this next phase until after Christmas in which case I might end up attending Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger school, etc. After BOLCII I'll attend BOLCIII which is where I'll learn what it is I'll be doing in whatever field I select. Most often, Officers are generalist in the Army, in charge of people who have specific jobs. And, even within career fields (we call them branches) there are usually a million different jobs I may be doing. For instance, Military Police in the Army are basically serving the function of Infantry right now. Also, my degrees don't mean a darn thing. I could branch into the Medical or Engineering field depending on how well I do at OCS and how many job slots there are for my class to choose from. Go figure, me in charge of hospital or using my mad math skillz to build something. The Army approach to any type of job, is if I made it this far and graduated OCS then I can do anything that is teachable...which is true to an extent. I usually lose people at this point so I'll cut it off. I'm nervous and excited, but mainly I just want to get on with it and get it done. Praise God I didn't get any of the other jobs I was applying before, because I never really wanted to do any of them, well, except for the railroad job with Union Pacific. That sounded fun. | | |
| 1 Who kissed you on new years? Pris!
2 Did you have a New Year's Resolution this year?
Don't need them, I'm perfect
3 Does it snow where you live?
nope
4 Do you like hot chocolate?
I don't like hot drinks, chill it and we'll talk
5 Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop?
Nope...but I wanna
FEBRUARY
1 Who was your Valentine?
My Xbox 360
2 When you were little did you buy Valentine's for the whole class? Fo sur
3 Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not?
No, but I love the movie!
4 What did you receive for valentine's day?
Beats the hell outta of me
5 What did you give for valentine's day?
Beats the hell outta of me
MARCH
1 Are you irish?
Sadly
2 Do you like corned beef and cabbage? I used to eat once a week
3 What did you do for St Patrick's Day?
I don't recall...I think last year we ate some Mexican food.
4 Are you happy when winter is pretty much over?
Nope
APRIL
1 Do you like the rain?
Yup
2 Did you play an April fool's joke on anyone this year? Nope
3 Do you get tons of candy for Easter?
Nope
4 Do you celebrate 4/20?
Is that the pot day? If so, nope
5 Do you love the month of April?
no
6 Anything special happen this April?
no
MAY
1 What is your favorite flower? Yeah right
2 Finish the phrase "April showers…" ....wash my car for free!
3 Do you celebrate May 16th: National Piercing Day?
never heard of it
4 Is May anything special to you?
It used to be the end of school
JUNE
1 Did you do anything fun during this month?
Mass Effect
2 Have a favorite baseball team? Giants, A's, Indians.....
JULY
1 What did you do on the 4th of July?
EG fireworks and BBQ with the darker side of me
2 Did you go to the fireworks?
Made the 1/4 mile journey
3 Did you blast the A/C all day?
Of course
AUGUST
1 What was your favorite summer memory of '08?
Hated this summer
2 Did you have a sunburn?
No, but I finally got rid of my sunglass tan
3 Did you go to the pool a lot?
Not once
SEPTEMBER
2 Do you like fall better than summer?
That's an understatement
3 What happened this month?
I got a little nephew, the new love of my life
OCTOBER
1 What was your last Halloween costume?
I put on some shorts and a shirt and ran five miles. I was Forrest Gump this year.
2 What is your favorite candy?
See's
3 What was your favorite thing(s) about this month?
I bought some good aircraft models and Pris bought me a useful radar detector
NOVEMBER
1 Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving?
My restaruant and Pris's G-ma
2 What are you thankful for? My stash of aircraft models, my video games, and paypal for refunding my money
3 Do you love stuffing? Only if it is good
4 Anything special in this month? Thanksgiving was fun!
DECEMBER
1 Do you celebrate Christmas?
yes!
2 Have you ever been kissed under the mistletoe?
The list is long, but distinguished
3 Get anything special last year?
Forget special, I think only two people bought me anything.
4 What do you want this year?
A new job and all my dinero I lost in my investments and Pris's mutual funds.
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| Well, I wasn't going to tell anyone because....well.....you'd think I was smoking crack. Anyways, I was running on the American River bike trail a couple of nights ago and saw, without a doubt, the best shooting star ever. It looked like a comet on fire leaving a trail of blue flame, but it was huge and in our atmosphere. I actually forgot about it until I was on KCRA's website and someone took a video of it! http://www.kcra.com/video/18014775/index.html | | |
| Joanna and I were talking last night and she asked me a question that has been troubling me since the early ‘90s and that is, basically, has our Nation seen its finest hour? Will we ever rise to the unprecedented power we once were? With Independence Day being only a few days away, the typical American might celebrate the Fourth of July by watching a parade, lighting fireworks, or simply grilling ribs in the backyard with family and friends. However, I challenge you to take a moment this Friday to consider, not only our nation's rich history, but also its prophetic future. What is our ultimate destiny? What does the Bible have to say about America? The United States appears to be conspicuously absent from Biblical prophecy. Biblical scholars tend to disagree on this subject, and we could make a multitude of conjectures concerning America's fate, but the fact of the matter is that the Bible does not specifically explain God's plan for the US. In fact, beyond a verse that mentions “Coastlands”, nothing is said of this nation God has used in a unique way that no power, peoples, or society can claim. We can learn many things about America's possible destiny by looking at the parallels between the US and the Northern Kingdom of Israel as described in the book of Hosea. The Northern Kingdom enjoyed material prosperity unequaled since days of Solomon, but they had sunk to the depths of immorality and idol worship. As a result of their sin God judged Israel and they were destroyed by their enemies. Outside of the Bible one can look at the fall of the Roman Empire and make similar analogies. The United States has also enjoyed unprecedented wealth and prosperity, but as a nation we have turned our back on God. So why hasn't God judged America? Is it too late? Or is there still time? On one hand, we are God's stewards. The future of America is in our hands. God made a promise to the people of Israel that may apply to us as well: "If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." -2 Chronicles 7:14 On the other hand, if we look at the current situation in the world and use the old saying that “If you want to know what time it is on God's calendar - keep an eye on Israel for it is God's timepiece.” Then its hard to assume anything other than the ball has already began to roll and there is no turning back. Which leads one to question, where and what happens to America? Sadly, it’s not looking to good for us, but thankfully our hope doesn’t rest in man or this nation. I personally think, and am hoping for Christ to call his church to heaven “in a twinkling of an eye”. | | |
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