Routine

Well, today is day 26. Thank you to everyone who as sent me packages, post cards, and letters since I've gotten here. It's so much fun to get mail!

We've changed to a 2 on, 2 off shedule which I am thankful for. 6 in a row, even when you're patient census is low, leads to stupid errors. We're finally getting settled, I love being on nights, and I've got a great routine down. I work 7pm to 7am and when I get home, I generally get to be by 0730 or 0800. I sleep ALLL DAY to wake up at 1530. I work out from 1600-1700, then I shower from 1700-1800. At 1800 the night shift team meets for dinner. Report is at 1900 for my 12 hour shift. Rinse and repeat. My off days aren't much different, I spend that 12 hour chunk of time in my CHU doing various recreational activities which I will now go into more detail about:

1. Working Out:
I have been known to be a pain in the ass about going to they gym. I don't like it, I don't want to do it, you can't make me. But, when you're in Iraq, there's nothing else to do and it's TOO easy to get chubby here with all the fried and greasy food they serve. Currently, I'm on a 6 day a week workout program divided into two categories: 1. the couch to 5k and 2. muscular workout and/or weight trainning. It all started when we decided to work out as a team. EH had done the couch to 5k before and liked it. I figured it would be worth trying. So, 3 times a week EH, KH, and I go for a run. We either run the 1/4 mile track or we run the roads. Today we ran week 4 day 2 along the roads. It consisted of a brief stretch, a 3 minute run, a 90 second walk, a 5 minute run, a 2 minute walk done twice. The weather was slightly overcast and it had rained which left a hint of moisture in the air. Great running weather. My ultimate goal from this program is to be able to acheive 100 points on the run. AKA 15:34 2 mile.

My strength training involves A LOT of core exercises. We pretty much do core every day. My favorite is the stability ball. I like being able to use the full range of motion while engaging balance. We also do free weights, the machines, and streching. Usually we do arms and abs one day, then legs and abs the other day. I can already tell an improvement in my overall strength. I can't wait until my body starts to look leaner and fitter. All the boys have to do (My battle and I work with all boys) is say, "A girl who wats to fit into her weding dress works out" or, "A girl who wants to fit into her wedding dress doesn't eat 3 cookies". It makes me laugh and keeps me responsible.

2. The Cookies:
There are WONDERFUL white chocolate and macademia nut cookies here. I became so addicted I had to quit. Now I'm only allowed cookies once a week on the 3rd run day. We (as a run group) made a pact that that was the day we were allowed our comfort food. Otherwise, I eat a lot of chicken and rice. I have also taken to eating broccoli with every meal. If you know me, you know how unlike me that is. For other people, there are ALWAYS hamburgers, hot dogs, onion rings, french fries, a soda fountain, cheese sticks, battered chicken wings...plus the short order line, plus the main line, plus the grill... it just keeps going. We are the best fed deployed people ever. The dining facilily does rate their foods as "performance food". They rate them green for high performance food, yellow for moderate performance food, and red for low peformance food. Obviously, the more green you eat, the better off you are. I pretty much stick to the green stuff. Occasionally, like pasta night, I'll have some yellows. And then of course there's the one day a week I can savor the delicious cookies.

3. CHU time.
I spend at least once a week cleaning my CHU. I clean off the floor, I swiffer, and I vaccum. I change my sheets, make my bed, and I put stuff away. Then I turn in my laundry and I take out the trash. It's easy to throw stuff on the opposite bed and leave it there, but I am more motivated to clean my small space here than my overwhelmingly full space at home.

I have my computer here with my slow internet so I don't spend as much time on it as I thought I would. Skype is still the best program in the world and I get to talk to Joe almost every day on it. Seeing him makes this time apart easier.

I also have a TV with DVD player. The DVD store here sells movies cheap so I've seen some movies recently that are still in theaters. I enjoyed Couples Retreat and I still have It's Complicated and Sherlock Holmes to watch. I haven't watched as many movies as I thought I would either, mostly due to my recent addiction...

...I have been addicted to reading. I read all 4 Twilight books in just under a week. I read the 2nd and 3rd ones in one night each. I even started reading the digital draft of Midnight Sun on Stephenie Meyer's homepage. I took a break from the Sword of Truth series to read them and they took over my life. I enjoyed them, but I think my favorite book was the first one. It was meant to be a stand alone book and I like thinking of it that way. I would also like to read Forever Dawn (the adult version of Breaking Dawn) because I think I might like it better, but I doubt the public will ever get to see it. Now that I'm done, I think I'll get back to my sword of truth books and finish the last 5 books of that series. Then, I might do something completely different. I think I might read some Danielle Steele or something. the PLX tent has a huge shelf of books and there are a TON of DS on it. I've never been interested in reading any, but since this is a place where nothings is normal, I'm going to go with the flow and do something I wouldn't normally do. I'm up for it.

I have also been cross stitching. What a midwest thing to do. Funny thing is, my battle brought hers too and she's from Illinois! You can take the girl out of the midwest, but you can't take the midwest out of the girl. I brought two with the hopes of finishing one. I'm pretty sure I will as long as I divide my time wisely. Read, watch a movie, or cross stich, oh my?! It's nice when my only concern is, "what do I want to do tonight?"

4. The Wedding
I'm sure many people are starting to wonder what Joe and I are thinking of doing for our wedding. Well, first, it's a lot harder than I thought to plan this from Iraq. I am struggling with being so far away and not being able to do this for myself. My mom, my best friend Kristen, and Joe have taken a lot upon themselves to help me out. My mom ordered my dress last week and I'm so excited. I found it in a magazine and fell in love with it. The picture is taped to my wall right by my head (with a picture of Joe, of course) so I can look at it every night and dream of wearing it. I was sad that I didn't get to try it on, but I knew when I saw it that I wouldn't have needed to. When I described to my best friend Emily what I wanted, even before I started looking, I pretty much described this dress. The picture my mom took on her blackberry was even more beautiful than it looked like online. I really want to post a picture of it, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for EVERYONE.

Since we want to get married before I leave Germany, it's going to be simple and small. The date is still August 28, 2010, in Seattle. It's hard to decide what small means so the list keeps growing. I don't mean like 100 people growing, but it went from 12 to now more like 20 with maybe a few more. We are still sold on doing the reception in the summer of 2011 in New York which we hope everyone will be at. The wedding is mostly for family while the reception is going to be the big hoopla. It also gives me a chance to wear my dress twice!!! I'm thrilled with that idea.

I haven't been able to do much, so Joe is going to send me my printer and I'm going to make our invitations from here. Besides, the postage is free! It will give me something to look forward to and something creative to do to pass the time. Something I want to learn is calligraphy and I thought that might coincide well with doing inviations (that's a birthday hint).

The concept of time is very weird here. I really don't care what day or date it is. It's much easier to think, 'it's day 26', '14% over', or 'already february 16th' than think, 'I still have March, April, May, June, AND July!! AHHHH!!!' The quote, "one day at a time" has never been more true. Time flies much faster when I don't look so far ahead.

Well, as much as I enjoy 2 on, 2 off, I'm on my 2nd night off and I haven't done ANY of my above preffered recreational activities. I'm going to go spend some time with myself!