34 days down...

30 more to go... Yeah!

66HM5 out...

A true inspiration...

The Officer in this video spoke to us today and he makes me immensely proud to be an Army Nurse Officer. I was shocked by his sense of humor, and seemingly well adjusted manner after being so badly wounded. His insights on leadership and how the medical side of the house can better work with the combat arms side of the house to care for Soldiers were well articulated and incredibly helpful.

As an Emergency/Trauma Nurse, I am continually amazed by the body's capacity for physical, mental and spiritual resiliency. This is a great story, and I am happy to say that LTC Karcher is alive, well, and thriving.



66HM5 out...

Three-and-a-half weeks down...

Five-and-a-half weeks to go! My time here in San Antonio is flying... Which is nice, because I am seriously chomping at the bit to get to San Francisco!

So, just a little recap of what has happened so far... LOTS of PowerPoint, Crossfit, and combatives once a week. It is actually sort of fun, it is a chance to blow off some steam and test your ability to gain the upper hand. At the end of each combatives session, we pair of and fight for one minute... I am proud to say that I am twice undefeated! Here I am gaining the dominant position (considered a win) against my classmate Crista. I think we were laughing the entire time! In terms of Crossfit... It is kicking my butt! However, I can see a serious difference already, and might even be tempted to join Crossfit San Francisco. We will see if I still feel the same way in five weeks. :)

We also had a Staff Ride out to Bandera Pass. It took lots of preparation and reading, but was fairly fun and informative once we got out to the site. It was cool to walk the ground that people battled for, defining our nation and contributing to our history. We were peppered with endless questions about warfighter functions, terrain and weapons technology used by both the Texas Rangers and the Comanche Indians, but as a group we rocked and tackled them all! We also did a weapons shoot using the weapons that were used during the time period. I shot a single-shot muzzleloading pistol, and a single-shot muzzleloading rifle. It was cool, and I was the first girl to take out one of the water jugs! Here I am shooting the rifle... So fun!

Last Saturday, most of our group floated down the Guadalupe River... Always a good time, but it was super hot and I got burned in a couple of spots by the heat of the black inner-tube. I guess I should have spent more time in the river, or kept the tube wet. Oh well, such is life! Kaitlyn had the great idea of bringing a waterproof camera to take some pictures, and we also procured another camera that was lost in the river... The ironic thing is that the camera we procured must have been from a group near us, because when we had the photos developed there were pictures of our group in the background of their photos! Here I am relaxing in the sun on my blisteringly hot tube.

Well, that is just about it for now! Thanks for coming back... I am truly making an effort to keep this baby updated. :)

66HM5 out...