I recently received a comment from Bree Wienke. The questions she asked I get quite often and I thought it best to address them in case you were wondering the same things. Here is Bree's comment: "Your a 2nd LT in the army reserves... how did you make rank so fast?? I'm enlisting as active army on Jan 4th and am stoked.. I want to make E3 before I ship. Could you give me advice on basic training? what to do, what not to dos? I've read a lot of your posts...read more

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I am way behind on wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! (and none of the "Happy Holidays" politically correct stuff) Because I'm a newlywed, this was the first Christmas that I spent away from my parents, brother, and grandparents. It. Was. Rough. My grandparents are getting up there in age (my Papa turns 90 next year!) and it breaks my heart that I live so far away from them. At the same time though, I got to spend time with my newest family members at my...read more

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A friend of mine posted this on Facebook: http://www.bradleymanning.org/15697/amidst-the-wikileaks-saga-one-other-thing/ I wanted to pick a fight right then and there. Amidst this whole WikiLeaks saga, he is deemed a hero? A HERO? As a member of the Intelligence community, I could not think this further from the truth. Some may argue this is freedom of speech, this is freedom of the press, those in the Apache should be the ones on trial. Yeah, and for the 5,000+ that have...read more

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As I was reading the morning news in the New York Times, I came across this story that is at once powerful as it is heartbreaking. I read it and then began to write Part II of How to Survive BOLC but then had the thought that I really needed to share it. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/world/middleeast/17hero.html This man gave his life so that others may live. There is nothing more heroic than that.

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I started writing part II of my incredibly informative (note of sarcasm) How to Survive BOLC When You're Type A and Hate When You Never Know What's Going On guide but then my husband called me. For close to 40 minutes we went over the mortgage paperwork for the house we really want to purchase so my mom has a winter oasis away from the frozen tundra of Nebraska. The after math of those 40 minutes is a IHATEMORTAGEPEOPLEWHOCANNOTCALCULATENUMBERSCORRECTLY girl who suddenly...read more

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I'm uptight, crazy organized, owner of too many high lighters, Type A, and easily stressed. If I had a "survival guide" for BOLC ahead of time, I would have been most grateful. If I also had known that coloring soothes my nerves, that would have been helpful as well (true story, I found this out my last day of class at Fort Wegotcha). So as promised, here is Part I of my "survival guide": 1) My Orders Say This But You're Telling Me THAT! -...read more

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Do you ever feel like you are stepping right into the middle of the fire? Or just diving in head first without really a clue as to what you're doing? Or are you wondering how many more idioms I can throw in? This all leads to the news that...the offer Mark and I put on a house was accepted! Oh my goodness!!! Here's the background story: Mark and I were looking at another home in the same neighborhood when I mentioned how we should drive around to see if we...read more

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I truly love so much about the Christmas season and have really made it a point this year to focus on giving. I came across a link on a friend's Facebook page about being a bone marrow donor and quickly clicked on it. I learned that as a member of the Armed Services, I cannot just go to my local blood bank and sign up; I have to use the channels through the Department of Defense. I googled this and came to this website: http://www.dodmarrow.org/ Because I...read more

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Arm yourselves Nebraska Alumni, students, and fans. It's Big XII Championship time! Yes, this a completely unrelated to the Army post but ummmm I love college football! Taylor Martinez, you best kill it as quarterback. Cody Green, you best be ready as well. Niles Paul, please catch the dang football. Bo Pelini, you would have made a great Drill Sergeant. Continue on. Nebraska Cornhusker Football Team...I simply adore y'all and can't wait to...read more

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I've been a graduate of MI BOLC for two weeks now. What have I been up to now that I am not stressed about the state of my existence 24/7? For starters... - I finally had a date night with my husband only to poop out around 9 at night because, well, that's my bedtime. I really tried to stay awake at the wine bar, I swear! - I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal from scratch to include rack of lamb (for the meat eating husband of mine), sweet potato fries, glazed carrots,...read more

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