..it is the presence of Christ. that was the main message this past Sunday at church. the sermon was about takin in what we have available to us. it may not all be the greatest [especially out here], but we just need to make the most of what we have and not dwell on what we don't have. i got a lot out of this sermon and i just wanted to share it w/ all of you...sorry it took a little bit for me to actually post it, but i eventually got around to it.
it has actually rained 3 times since i've been here. and by rain, i mean terential down pour and thunderstorms. it's actually pretty nice when it rains, b/c after the rain there's not near as much dust/sand blowin around. and the air is fresh. reminds me of home. i honestly never thought it would rain here while we are here, but it has and it's awesome. kinda lessens the heat just a little bit.
work has been slow and boring as usual, but i make it through. i find random things to keep me busy and try to keep me awake. lots and lots of caffeine and sugar is definitely involved! well, looks like i got some actual work to do right now, so until next time...peace!
~stef
*update* since i have a lot of free time out here, i'm gonna work on gettin started w/ online courses. hopefully in medical assistant or criminal justice...or both! wish me luck!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
hit a little too close to home....
i know, i know, i know...2 posts in 1 week, what a shocker! i just feel like this one is absolutely necessary. today when i got home from work, one of my roommates told me that one of our other roommates was going home for a few days. when i asked why, she told me that her step-mother had passed away. that made me really sad. not just cause she had lost her step-mom, but cause if i had lost my step-mom or anyone close to me for that matter, and especially if i was out here, i would be an absolute wreck. it really hit close to home cause i have a step-mom, and i love her and miss her so much. i honestly don't know what i would do without her in my life...pretty sure i would go crazy. yeah, she's my "step-mom", but she's also my friend. it's kinda weird that she's only 10 years older than me, so the step-mom title, is just that....but it's ok, cause it's like a step-mom/friend/sister all rolled into one. pretty sweet if you ask me. the loss of one of my roommates family members also hit really close to home cause she is from michigan. i did not know this until today. what a way to find out huh? actually, the way i find out was...she was packing some clothes and things to take home and she pulled out a michigan shirt. so, i of course said "nice shirt, actually, love the shirt", which she then asked if i was from michigan, and then of course we got to talkin about how crazy michigan is. she's from the bay city area. if any of you wouldn't mind please send some prayers up for her and her family. i'm sure they could use them. please pray for safe travels for her [to and from this wonderful place], and also for healing during this tough time. i can't even begin to imagine what she is going through right now. like i said, i would be an absolute wreck, especially if i was unable to go home and be with my family.
so, anywho, i'm sorry this post isn't all that happy and cheerful, but it's just been not so good of a day. it's one of those days where i want to crawl into a hole and just chill there for awhile...and maybe...no definitely cry a little...a lot. right now, i feel like anything could set me off into a whole lot of waterworks. i don't want to cry here cause it's not "marine like" to do such a thing. but if i can't help it, i can't help it. i can't wait for sunday to get here. i have a feeling church will make me happy again. so, i guess please continue to pray for me. pray that the rest of my time here will go as well as can be expected. pray that i won't go crazy and somehow manage to stay sane. and also, pray for all the troops out here, that we will ALL make it home safe and soon.
thank you from myself and all the troops out here. it really means a lot.
until next time,
~stef
p.s. let me just point out that this post may be a lot about my step-mom, but that's not because i love her more than my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, sister, brother, cousin, friend, whatever...it's because my roommate lost her step-mom, so that got me thinking about my own step-mom. trust me, i love you all and i don't know what i would do without any of you!
so, anywho, i'm sorry this post isn't all that happy and cheerful, but it's just been not so good of a day. it's one of those days where i want to crawl into a hole and just chill there for awhile...and maybe...no definitely cry a little...a lot. right now, i feel like anything could set me off into a whole lot of waterworks. i don't want to cry here cause it's not "marine like" to do such a thing. but if i can't help it, i can't help it. i can't wait for sunday to get here. i have a feeling church will make me happy again. so, i guess please continue to pray for me. pray that the rest of my time here will go as well as can be expected. pray that i won't go crazy and somehow manage to stay sane. and also, pray for all the troops out here, that we will ALL make it home safe and soon.
thank you from myself and all the troops out here. it really means a lot.
until next time,
~stef
p.s. let me just point out that this post may be a lot about my step-mom, but that's not because i love her more than my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, sister, brother, cousin, friend, whatever...it's because my roommate lost her step-mom, so that got me thinking about my own step-mom. trust me, i love you all and i don't know what i would do without any of you!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
i sleep in an actual bed!
So, I’m sittin here, another day at work. Still bored outta my mind, tryin to think of somethin to write for this blog update. I’m sorry that I don’t have an update everyday or even every couple days, but everyday out here is the same for me, so I really don’t know what to say all the time, but I’ll come up w/ something, I promise! I work the night shift here in my own little office w/ pretty much no one around, so I got plenty of time to think. Not sure if that’s a good thing yet or not?? After workin this same shift for the past month, I am still not used to it. no matter how much sleep I get during the day, I’m still tired as all get out at night when I’m working. Right now, typing this, is helping me stay awake….as well as my 16 oz coffee! J soon I will be goin outside to the gym that we have right here at the office and workin out for about a hour. That also helps me stay awake…at least for a little bit. I’m already losin weight, so don’t be too surprised if I’m a lot smaller than I was the last time you saw me. I can’t gain weight though, cuz if I do make it home in time, I gotta fit into my dress for the wedding. And if that doesn’t fit then we got a big problem!! Haha oh! Big news from the last update….i got an actual bed now that I sleep on!! I mean, I slept on a mattress before, but it was on the floor, but 4 girls moved out of the room to somewhere else, so now I get a bed! It’s amazing!! I went to church yesterday (Sunday the 18th of April) for the 1st time since I’ve been here and also the 1st time since I went back at home. It was amazing….i had goosebumps pretty much the whole time, and my eyes were all teary eyed when singing the songs. I loved it and I can’t wait to go back next week. It’ll be something to look forward to every week and help make the time go by faster. Also, the chaplain told us a background story about himself…he was born in Minnesota but raised in Detroit, MI….and the best part….went to the University of Michigan before he joined the Navy!! GO BLUE!!! I just thought it was really cool to meet someone else out here from Michigan who is also a Michigan fan. Makes me look forward to football season even more!! Haha
As I was walkin back to my room yesterday after work and church I got to thinking (and, yes, it did hurt a little)…I am actually in Afghanistan. It kinda just hit me….i know a month later, but still. It’s just hard to believe, that 5 years ago if you had asked me if I would ever join the military and go to Afghanistan, I probably would’ve looked at you like you were crazy. And, now look at me. This is just so unbelievable. I usually have to remind myself everyday where I am and what I’m here for. Of course I’m here cuz they pretty much told me I didn’t have a choice, but more importantly, I’m here for my family, friends, and my country. I chose to do this, and I’ll do it proudly…even if it sucks most of the time. I will have lots of stories when I come back and will be able to laugh about a lot of this later on in life.
I also just discovered that I can do all this [blog updating business] from my work computer, so I'm pretty excited about that! :)
I'll be back soon, I promise!!!
Love you all and miss you all!!
As I was walkin back to my room yesterday after work and church I got to thinking (and, yes, it did hurt a little)…I am actually in Afghanistan. It kinda just hit me….i know a month later, but still. It’s just hard to believe, that 5 years ago if you had asked me if I would ever join the military and go to Afghanistan, I probably would’ve looked at you like you were crazy. And, now look at me. This is just so unbelievable. I usually have to remind myself everyday where I am and what I’m here for. Of course I’m here cuz they pretty much told me I didn’t have a choice, but more importantly, I’m here for my family, friends, and my country. I chose to do this, and I’ll do it proudly…even if it sucks most of the time. I will have lots of stories when I come back and will be able to laugh about a lot of this later on in life.
I also just discovered that I can do all this [blog updating business] from my work computer, so I'm pretty excited about that! :)
I'll be back soon, I promise!!!
Love you all and miss you all!!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
C-130 rollin down the strip....
So…been in afghan about 2 weeks now and I’m still alive! Sometimes it feels like we just got here and other times it feel s like we’ve been here for awhile.
The flight over here on the C-130 was definitely a 1st for me, and definitely very interesting. It’s fairly cramped inside, not a lot of room to move around, and like the most difficult seat belts ever on the face of the earth. Oh well, it’s all good. It’s very loud—need hearing protection or headphones in when flying. Got some good sleep on those flights though, slept the whole way=AMAZING!! The landing was probably the best part cuz we spiraled down. It felt like a roller coaster…I even “lost my stomach” a couple times. Loved it!!
So, since I’ve gotten here, I now have 15 roommates in one very small room…yes, you are reading that correctly, there are 16 of us in one room. 12 sleep on actual bunk beds, and 4 sleep on mattresses on the floor. Conveniently, I am one of the 4. It’s not too much fun, but we make the best of it. Thankfully, ½ of us are on day shift and ½ on night shift. That way, not all of us are in the room at the same time anymore. I am on night shift, so basically my life now consists of sleeping, working, eating occasionally, and….yeah that’s about it. I thought I had no life before, I really have no life now. Haha
This place is all desert, kinda like 29 Palms, CA…spent a total of 6 weeks there, I know it well. Really the only thing missing here is mountains…well, actually, there are some mountains here, we just don’t get to see them often b/c it’s so dusty. It’s like a constant layer of fog that permits you of seeing longer than a mile away. And when there’s dust storms, those definitely don’t help the visibility either….and they hurt the eyes! They’re kinda like a blizzard, but w/ sand/dust instead of snow. The weather is fairly warm right now, usually w/ what I think are blue skies (dust) and sunshine. I think we’ve had probably less than 5 cloudy days since we’ve been here. It hasn’t rained yet, and it probably won’t until after we leave. We’re here for the hot/dry season.
So, to sum it all up, I’ve been doin ok. As usual, some days are harder than others, but that’s expected, especially out here. The 1st time I got to call home from here, I was so excited/shocked that the person on the other end actually answered (it was like 3 a.m.), that I really didn’t know what to say. It brought tears to my eyes when I heard their voice for the 1st time in about a week. I love to call home, and I do so as much as possible. I also love to get emails from home, some which include pictures…those also bring tears to my eyes. As I’ve said before like a million times and I’ll probably say another million times, thank you so much to everyone reading this for all the continued prayers, love, encouragement, and support. It really, truly does mean a lot to me and helps me to get through each and every day knowing I have such a big support system back home.
Oh yeah, and they do serve caffeine (mountain dew, energy drinks, coffee, etc) here!! And believe me…it is delicious!! J Also, to all my Michigan fan friends and family, my motivation on hikes or even while running is singing “Hail to the Victors” to myself….over and over again. It really does help!! :)
Thank you and love you all!!!
~stef
p.s. please feel free to post your comments! i would love to know what y'all think about all this. :)
The flight over here on the C-130 was definitely a 1st for me, and definitely very interesting. It’s fairly cramped inside, not a lot of room to move around, and like the most difficult seat belts ever on the face of the earth. Oh well, it’s all good. It’s very loud—need hearing protection or headphones in when flying. Got some good sleep on those flights though, slept the whole way=AMAZING!! The landing was probably the best part cuz we spiraled down. It felt like a roller coaster…I even “lost my stomach” a couple times. Loved it!!
So, since I’ve gotten here, I now have 15 roommates in one very small room…yes, you are reading that correctly, there are 16 of us in one room. 12 sleep on actual bunk beds, and 4 sleep on mattresses on the floor. Conveniently, I am one of the 4. It’s not too much fun, but we make the best of it. Thankfully, ½ of us are on day shift and ½ on night shift. That way, not all of us are in the room at the same time anymore. I am on night shift, so basically my life now consists of sleeping, working, eating occasionally, and….yeah that’s about it. I thought I had no life before, I really have no life now. Haha
This place is all desert, kinda like 29 Palms, CA…spent a total of 6 weeks there, I know it well. Really the only thing missing here is mountains…well, actually, there are some mountains here, we just don’t get to see them often b/c it’s so dusty. It’s like a constant layer of fog that permits you of seeing longer than a mile away. And when there’s dust storms, those definitely don’t help the visibility either….and they hurt the eyes! They’re kinda like a blizzard, but w/ sand/dust instead of snow. The weather is fairly warm right now, usually w/ what I think are blue skies (dust) and sunshine. I think we’ve had probably less than 5 cloudy days since we’ve been here. It hasn’t rained yet, and it probably won’t until after we leave. We’re here for the hot/dry season.
So, to sum it all up, I’ve been doin ok. As usual, some days are harder than others, but that’s expected, especially out here. The 1st time I got to call home from here, I was so excited/shocked that the person on the other end actually answered (it was like 3 a.m.), that I really didn’t know what to say. It brought tears to my eyes when I heard their voice for the 1st time in about a week. I love to call home, and I do so as much as possible. I also love to get emails from home, some which include pictures…those also bring tears to my eyes. As I’ve said before like a million times and I’ll probably say another million times, thank you so much to everyone reading this for all the continued prayers, love, encouragement, and support. It really, truly does mean a lot to me and helps me to get through each and every day knowing I have such a big support system back home.
Oh yeah, and they do serve caffeine (mountain dew, energy drinks, coffee, etc) here!! And believe me…it is delicious!! J Also, to all my Michigan fan friends and family, my motivation on hikes or even while running is singing “Hail to the Victors” to myself….over and over again. It really does help!! :)
Thank you and love you all!!!
~stef
p.s. please feel free to post your comments! i would love to know what y'all think about all this. :)
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