My Italian skills put to the test = Success!

Last week was a VERY busy week for me.  I had three midterms and I'm proud to say that I ACED all three.  Yep...100% on all three.  I'm so proud of myself. Especially the Calculus exam.  But I will admit I did study very hard.  I never thought I would be doing this great in college.  I guess my first experience in college helped me to learn not to waste my time and money all over again. This week I have two more and then I'm finito on midterms. =)

This weekend was great.  Saturday my husband and I woke up early and had breakfast and then went to see our neighbors' girls play soccer.  It was so cute.  The teams were made up of little boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 6.  The little 4 year old kids were so cute with their tiny soccer cleats and shin guards.  It really puts me in baby fever mode haha.  After the game I had to head out to Pembroke to do a color guard detail for UNCP's homecoming game.  When I got home my husband was gone (out to the mall).  I did some homework until he got home and I got a nice little surprise from him.  He bought me a cute dress and I must say he has great taste in clothes. LOL

Sunday we went to church (Rivers of Living Water).  We decided to check out their Sunday school classes.  A couple weeks ago, one of the ladies informed me of a marriage couples Sunday school class that Rivers has called Couples 4 Christ.  We actually enjoyed the class very much!  My husband and I are going to make it a point to get up a little earlier on Sundays so we can make it to this class from now on.  We also got to meet other couples through this class which is nice since we don't know very many people at the church.  For Sunday dinner I decided to try something new.  One of my aunt's has a lasagna recipe that is to die for.  It's very unique in the fact that no ricotta cheese is used in the recipe.  (I can't let out the secrets though!  It must stay in the family hehe)  So for dinner I decided to attempt to make it and I must say I did a great job!  My husband had three plates last night and we ate the leftovers for lunch today.  I guess this dish will be a regular in this house from now on.  A big thanks to my aunt for coming up with this recipe!  =)

The night ended with a movie and reading an entry of The Love Dare.  I had bought this book for us years ago when we first got married but being so far away for such a long time, we never got around to doing it.  We are on day 4 and I'm loving this book.  I truly believe that by the end of this 40-day challenge, my husband and I will have learned more and loved more of each other than we have in the almost 3 years we've been married.  I'm looking forward to finding out what our next dare will be.  =)

My first time making lasagna from scratch!

Good news!!!

I don't know how I forgot this but Monday I took my APFT and I passed!!!!  Yeahhhh yuhhhh...I did 45 push-ups, 60 situps (counted) I got cheated out of like 15, and I ran a 17:18 on the 2-mile run.  Not too shabby eh? 

That's not all the good news though.  I just finished my packet to contract with the Army ROTC...so the $$$ should be in effect pretty soon.  I can't believe I'll be getting paid to train to be an officer....too cool lol.

And last but not least....my husband passed CA selection! Yay!!!  Good things to come for us.  I'm not gonna lie...it's been a tough week not being able to talk to him and motivate him but prayers work miracles....and so does having my parents that I can call who encourage me to stay strong and positive.  =)

I feel so blessed and I'm excited for what to come.  I wish we could spend tomorrow celebrating BUT I have my FTX this weekend so I guess we'll have to wait.  But for a small celebration, I have cooked one of my husband's favorite meals...rice, beans, and fried pork chops!

The Power of Words...(blog-share)

So I was skimming through my FB friends and came across one that has a blog and decided to check it out.  Behold I never knew how talented she was with words.  She goes by the name Psyqsol in her blog.  Her last post was quite deep and sobering to say the least.  Like I said in my last post, words are our footprints that we leave behind.  I would not be surprised if years from now some of her work gets published.

Here is her most recent poem: "Til' the Glass is Empty"

Where would we be without books?

So I've been spending a lot of time lately at the school library.  I've almost forgotten how much I love being around books!  Nowadays we spend so much time on the internet.  You can google just about any question you have and for the most part you will get a decent answer.  Now we have e-books that can be accessed through a computer or mobile device such as a cell phone, tablet, kindle, or nook.  I am a victim of this...I do have a kindle lol.  But it just isn't the same as a good old book in your hands.  Walking down the aisles in the library skimming through the titles and names of authors I felt them whispering to me "Read my story" "Hear my voice" "Welcome to my world of..."  Words are the physical proof that knowledge exists.  It's our way of leaving a footprint behind to others...so that this knowledge can be passed down from one generation to the next.  These books of yesterday are what have helped us become what we are today and what we will be tomorrow. 

This week my MSgt informed my class to start preparing a briefing which each of us will give to the class in two weeks.  I've decided to do mine on Airborne history and Airborne school.  Can you guess where my first stop was?  The library of course!  I decided to test my library's topic content to see if by any chance they had any books on military Airborne operations.  And to my surprise I found absolutely everything I needed for my briefing and more!  I'm excited to get started on this project.  I've always had an interest in Airborne operations so this is going to just as fun for me as my briefing will be for the class.  I will also be doing a demonstration of the jump commands with the help of some prior service cadets who are Airborne qualified.  A big thanks to a good friend who suggested it.  =)

If my book fascination wasn't enough already...I've also checked out some books for free time reading.  I think I love non-fiction books just as much as fiction.  Non-fiction books allow you to experience a real-life event that could have taken place hundreds of years ago...or maybe during your lifetime but it was in a place far away.  Fiction books are great because you get to jump into an author's imagination and experience a world only known to the author and the readers of that book.  Since I couldn't decide what type of book I wanted to read I picked one of each.  My fiction book is a fantasy called Alanna, the first book of a quartet.  It's juvenile reading so I should finish it pretty quickly.  I've actually read this book before in middle school.  It's part of a quartet (a series of 4 books) by the Tamora Pierce.  She actually wrote a series of quartets and the characters are all part of the same world...and it's always about a female warrior of some sort.  (Does it sound like someone here? lol)  I just like how I can go through one book after the next and still be in the same world of people getting to know everything about it.  I remember wondering how someone could just come up with something so fictional and immense in just their mind.  I guess that's why I want to re-read these books.  To be able to get lost in an amazing and magical world.

The non-fiction book that I picked is about a specific company from my husband's old unit.  The book is called WAR by Sebastian Junger.  Many of my 173rd family and friends have already bought and read the book when it released to the public last year.  I've heard that it's a must read but it takes a lot to get through the whole thing emotionally.  Well I started the book a few days ago and only got through the first few pages before I had to set it down and compile my thoughts and emotions.  Just knowing that these stories being told actually happened and there are people right now with an emptiness lingering in their houses and hearts because some of the soldiers in this book didn't come home....it gives me goosebumps.  I know that as a cadet training to be an officer, I will eventually have to face the loss of a soldier and the heartbreak of a family.  It could even be me in the brink of action and how will I react if I'm to encounter an attack like Bella Ambush?  Yes, I know you can never be prepared for death and reading this book is going to be hard but I know reading this book will give me a good picture of what war look likes and supply me with an awareness of what I could encounter in a few years.

Fair or Unfair???

It's been a crazy busy week and weekend!  School is still going great and ROTC as well.  Friday was a big accomplishment for me.  We had a four mile run and I was really nervous that I wasn't going to be able to survive the run.  But to my own surprise I did very well!  I stayed with the head of my group the whole run.  I'm very confident that I will pass my APFT next week.  My endurance has really built up in the last few weeks.  These last two weeks I've been running a minimum of two miles so I should definitely be good for the run.  Pushups and situps will definitely be no problem.

Yesterday was the Mayweather vs. Ortiz fight.  We had a bunch of our neighbors and friends over to BBQ and watch the fight.  We made homemade burgers, grilled Italian sausages, and roasted marshmallows on the firepit for s'mores.  It's always a good time at our house lol.  We laughed and joked about how no one really makes s'mores the old school way anymore.  Many of us reminisced on our childhood memories of making  s'mores over a fire.  I know we all enjoyed the fun of sticky marshmallowey fingers, melted chocolate, and crispy graham crackers that night.  The kids definitely loved it.

And now for the BIG debate!  What was up with that fight huh?  I know the crowds were definitely leaning more towards Ortiz winning but lets look at the facts of the fight.  Mayweather's punches were more accurate first of all and Ortiz wasn't in the mood to play fair either.  Mayweather landed 73 out of 208 (35%) punches that night while Ortiz only landed 26 of 148 (only 18%).    Also Mayweather almost tripled the amount of power punches thrown.  You can't deny that he was dominating the fight.  And the headbutt???  Come on now Ortiz...we all know that was definitely intentional.  Check out the first 10 seconds of the video below.  It was intentional.  With that being said, remember we are dealing with Mayweather.  One of the most arrogant men I know!  He is not a gentleman and if you open the doors to play dirty, you damn well better be ready for the Pandora's box that's just been opened.  Not only did he headbutt him....Ortiz decided to mock him right after with a kiss.  Yeah he definitely pissed Mayweather off.  So with that being said yeah the fight ended unfairly but Ortiz is really the one responsible for it.  As for the apology from Ortiz afterwards..........???  He should really be apologizing to his managers and fans for letting them down.  It was an unfair win and Ortiz didn't even really get to show his boxing skills.   

Now with all bets aside Mayweather had no right to tell off Larry Merchant like that.  And I hope Larry Merchant gets a raise for that little episode.  So Mayweather continues to be undefeated...but the bigger question that lingers in the minds of all us boxing fans is......when will Mayweather get his panties together and fight Pacquiao?????

To be continued.....

T.G.I.F

Gosh am I glad it's Friday!  It's been a long weekend for me even with having Monday off because of Labor Day.  PT has been pretty tough for me this week.  We've been running every day.  Between Tuesday through today, I've ran around 9-10 miles.  I strained my hamstring on Tuesday from sprints and it didn't help as we continued sprints on Wednesday.  I was able to get through by stretching my legs many times throughout the days. Stretching is one of the most important parts of exercise.  If you don't stretch right it could really ruin your whole workout.  Here are a few stretches that I used to get myself back to speed.  There are several different ways to stretch the hamstring but these are what I found that fits me best.

Standing Hamstring Stretch #1

This is a good one to do before doing any exercises.  What you do is bend over until you touch your toes. (You can bend you knees if you need to.)  Once you are touching your toes, try to straighten your legs.  You will feel that back muscle tighten a little but remember it shouldn't feel painful.  Stretching is suppose to help not hurt.  =)

Standing Hamstring #2

This is a good stretch to do after you exercise.  It is stretching the same muscle but you are keeping your head up and elevated.  The worst thing you could do is bring your head down after a hard workout and have all that blood rush to your head.  It could lead to lots of dizziness and it could make you feel even more faint.  For this stretch just extend one leg outwards points your toes up.  Then slowly bend the opposite leg and you should feel that hamstring tighten some.  Remember to always stretch twice as long after your workout.

Hamstring Stretch sitting

If you find it difficult to stay standing after your exercising, this is a good stretch to do as well.  You still have your head elevated to stop from getting very dizzy or faint and still stretching that same muscle.  For this stretch just bring one leg inwards with the other leg extended all the way out toes pointed upwards.  Then extend your arms all the way out as you try to reach your toes on your extended leg.  

I hope you enjoyed my little stretching brief.  =)  It really helped me a lot especially for today on our 3 mile run which turned to 4.  I feel real good though. I never thought I could improve so much physically in such a short time.  I think I'll be more than ready for the PT test on the 27th if I keep up like this.  

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Stay blessed ya'll! 

Healthy Music

 Update! 09/7/2011


Il Volo has a sweepstakes to go see them in LA!  How cool!  Check it out.