Hello All

Clearly I'm not meant to blog but let me see if I can give you guys a quick update on Mrs. E. So I finally got to speak with her two days ago which was a surprise. She is doing well and happy to be really close to graduation. Basic is not for the faint of heart and I am very proud that she has made it through. Not only has she made it through but she has excelled! She has been ranked as runner up for Soldier Leader of the Cycle out of almost 230 people! She has even gained an understanding of why Mr. E does some of the odd things he does. Lol. Mrs. E said that her feet and hands have been through a lot and you can tell by looking at them but she has also been through a great deal emotionally. She has grown as a person and is very proud of herself (as are we) that she has made it through something so trying. In just one day she will have access to the real world. Maybe she will have time to give you guys a quick update but I'm not sure. I mean she hasn't seen her husband (or anyone) in a while so we shall see. Tomorrow (4/20) is family day and she actually graduates on 4/21. Well that's it for now. Peace! :)

First Week at Basic

So I know it's been a while since I have written on the blog. Sorry guys but life has been busy. As of today I have received 2 letters from Mrs. E. During her first week in basic training there was alot going on. On Monday she had her first PT test, of course she passed. Thank God! Tuesday she had to climb the victory tower. For those of you that don't know the victory tower is like a 90 foot tower that she had to climb up and then repel off the other side. She said this was scary for her especially when she was at the top of the tower getting ready to come down. She thought that was difficult until Wednesday came around. On Wednesday she had to do the gas chamber. Which she stated she never wants to do again. She had to stay in the gas chamber for 5 whole minutes and state her full name, rank, social security number, and say the Soldier's Creed. Unfortunately, Mrs. E only got one line of the Creed out and then she started throwing up. Everybody was throwing up and passing out! It was so bad that her nose started bleeding and it got all over her uniform. I know she is glad she got that part over because it was what we talked about the most before she left. Glad she made it through throw up and all. Lol

Thursday they did team building activities and a course called Fit to Win. The course was 2 miles long with all kids of different stuff like a a net to climb up, a mud pit to crawl through, walls to jump over, etc. Friday she had to participate in a Land Navigation course. They dropped them off deep in the woods when it was pitch dark outside. They had to use a map and a compass to find their way back. For those of you that really know Mrs. E you know she is deathly afraid of snakes. So all she could think about during the activity was being careful not to step on a snake. So that concludes her first week in basic training. As you can tell once someone goes through something like this they probably don't want to do it again. Mrs. E is no exception she said that it is really hard and she is sore. She has bruises all over and skin missing off her feet from her boots and all the marches they have to do. The Drill Sgts. are a whole 'nother (yes that's ebonics!) story! Let's just say they aren't pleasant. Lol. I'm counting down until her graduation so we can see her again. Just know that her second letter sounded way more positive so don't get discourage if you plan on joining the Army :). I will try not to take so long posting again but until next time peace!

MEPS

Okay guys just a quick introduction and an update on Mrs. E. Like she stated in an earlier post I am her best friend, T., and I (along with Mr. E) will be keeping you guys up to date. This is my first blog post so lets see how it goes! Yesterday was a very looooong day. And I do mean long. We all rode up to MEPS (Me, Mrs. E, Mr. E, and Mrs. E's mom) really early in the morning. We woke up at 3am just to make it on time. It was 5:30am when we finally arrived. Mrs. E had to get out of the car and get in line with the other soldiers almost immediately. However, because the office did not open for family members and friends until 8am we had to stay in the car. So we stayed in the car. In the cold... until 7:50am when Mr. E decided it was close enough to opening time and we went inside. When we went in we sat in the family lounge which was comfortable enough besides the tv being very tiny and inaudible. It wasn't that many other family members there when we arrived in fact it was only one other family. While all the recruits were waiting in the big room for their name to be called they watched tv and walked back in forth between their waiting room and the family lounge. We could see them from the family lounge through a big glass window. While we waited I bombarded Mr. E with questions since he is a recruiter and I just wanted to know what my best friend had gotten herself into. He informed me that all the recruits would be called into their respective offices (Army, Marine, Navy, and Air Force) and they would be weighed and asked if any of their information had changed. By 9am more family members showed up to join us in the lounge but they still hadn't called Mrs. E back in the room. They finally called her later around 9:45am and it took them a while to get her information updated because she had to change her name from the old one to Mrs. E. After that we waited some more (hurry up and wait military moto) until finally they said Mrs. E was about to take her oath. Then she decided to wait and take her oath with the next group because her father hadn't arrived yet. Once he got there she went right in to take the oath. It was really cute! Her first "real" solider moment. I'm so glad I got to be a part of the ceremony. Of course all of us are very proud of her decision but we were all sad because she had to leave. And so soon after getting married!!! After taking her oath she had to go and get debriefed (I have a feeling she will be doing this a lot). Finally around 2:17pm Mrs. E and a group of 51 others got on their charter bus to head to basic training. While we, family and friends of all the recruits waved and cried. It might be a while for the next update I have to wait for Mrs. E to write me or Mr. E before writing more. She has contacted both her mom and her husband so we know she is safe :). Until next time T. signing off.

The Time Has Finally Come!!!!!!

Well the time has finally come!!! Time for me to ship out to Army Basic Combat Training! I enlisted 10/1/10 and I can't believe how fast my ship date came! I'm nervous because I don't know what to expect but at the same time I'm excited to begin this new journey. Of course I'm going to miss Mr. E...we haven't even been married a month yet :o(!!! Hopefully these 6 months will past quickly (10 weeks for basic and 16 weeks for my job training). Mr. E and my best friend T will be updating my blog while I'm away. I'm not sure when I'll get to write letters but as soon as I get the chance I'll be sending letters home so they can update the blog. Everyone wish me luck and I'll get back to blogging after basic!!! Mrs. E signing off!

Basic Training Shopping!

Me and Mr. E went shopping last night for some of my basic training stuff. The only thing left to get is my underwear and sport bras. We're going on Base today when he gets off so we can go to the military clothing store to get my undergarments. It was a lot of fun to shop for basic training but at the same time of course it was a little sad. It's so soon...too soon!!!!

Here are some items that I bought for basic training. We have to arrive with trial sizes because they don't take us shopping for our supplies until like the 3rd day there!

Last Day of Civilian Work!!!

Today is my last day of teaching...bye bye civilian work!!! Still can't believe I'm shipping out to basic training next week! I joined back in October and my ship out date came sooo fast! Today when I get off I have to go by the BX and buy all the stuff on my "What to Bring List: Prior to Shipping to Basic Training". I have to buy travel size soap, deodorant, toothbrush/toothpaste, disposable razor, shaving cream, comb and hair accessories, combination lock, shampoo and conditioner, 2 pairs of underwear and 3 shorts bras (don't worry...they let us buy more underwear and bras once we get to basic lol!). And everything has to fit in our little Army bookbag that we got when we first enlisted. Anyway...off to my last day at work. I'll have more time to post once I'm off!

Being Sick Sucks!!!!

Ugh! So all the mornings of me running in the cold and running at night in the cold has finally caught up with me! I'm sick...and it sucks. My husband has ordered me to stop my training and rest but it's kindof hard...because I think I'm addicted to working out now! At first I hated it but now I really look forward to going to the gym with him every night and running around our neighborhood before we go to sleep. I leave for basic in about a week and a half, so I guess I need to rest and get myself better because I definitely don't want to start basic feeling like crap! I know the Drill Sergeants aren't going to baby me like my hubby...*tear*sniff*tear* I'm going to miss him so much. But I know in the end it'll all be worth it!!

Forgot To Mention...

Soooo...while I'm in basic I won't have access to the internet, or computers at that. I really want to keep this blog active so I decided to make Mr. E and my best friend (T.) guest bloggers. If you look to the right, you'll notice that they're listed under the "contributors". When I write them letters they're going to update the blog and keep everyone informed. Just a little warning...weird stuff can come out of Mr. E's mouth lol! I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of crazy posts from him when I get a chance to check out the blog after all my training!!!!

Reality Is Starting to Sink In!!!

So I was sitting at my desk today at work and reality started to sink in that I'm leaving in 2 weeks! I can't believe that I'll be leaving for basic soon. Don't get me wrong...I'm extremely excited to go. I'm ready for the Drill Sergeants to get up in my face and yell at me (yeah I'm actually ready for it) and I'm ready to constantly get "dropped" and made to do push-ups. I know all of this is what makes basic training and I'm ready for it. What I'm not ready for is to leave my husband, Mr. E. We won't even be married for a month yet when I ship out for basic. We're going to spend almost the first year of our marriage apart but I know that comes with military marriages. This is just a little touch of what we'll be going through when he deploys again and when I go through my first deployment. But...off to the gym I go! I still have to work on this 2 mile run...I will not let it defeat me lol!