How Many TImes Do I Do?

...and I'm writing a blog entry I have no idea how I will finish by the time I have to leave. Heh. But yeah; New Year's Eve, 2012. What a year: Grandpa died in March, and it snowed on the day of his funeral, a rarity at any time in Albany; I worked at the hospital as a janitor for a month and hated the hours, so I quit; Julie (or Dodie16 as you people know her) came to visit me in August, and we became official; and then I went to Basic.

Wow, Basic... there were some dark days, I will not lie. I got yelled at a lot, and not just by the MTI's. I honestly spent 5 or 6 weeks thinking "I'm not gonna make it... but let's see how far I get anyway," and I'd go through the motions and try not to get yelled at too much. Around week 5, I stopped getting yelled at almost altogether, but it wasn't until we got back from BEAST week and I passed my PT test that I was like "....wait a second, am I actually gonna make it?" And then I graduated, and everyone in my flight was really happy for me. However, because I kept telling them I didn't think I was going to make it (and also because my father was having health problems) my parents ended up not coming out to see me graduate. Instead, I spent time with a friend and his mom. I am very grateful to them. Looking back, Basic probably would've been a lot better if I didn't let them get in my head, and I wasn't me, had loads of self doubt, and worried about everything.I do have more self confidence now, so that's good. I still can't march worth a crap though, so...

Tech School hasn't been without its bumps along the way either, although it is much better. It would've been so much better if my roommate and I didn't forget silly things that screwed us over when it came to room inspections. I also wish we had more free time; we only seem to get a few hours a night to ourselves, especially on PT days. However, that's a lot better than Basic! Heh. It is nice that I have made friends, and I also found out that someone else from TFF is there as well... Also, as the weeks went by, I got little things that made life easier; first was my phone, next was my brother's iPod, then I finally got ATP (more freedom) and FINALLY I got my lappy <3 Ah, the things you take for granted when you have them. Oh yeah, and I should probably mention that I'm doing great at school. Just not necessarily at PT. I like the job I got, and I like our instructor; he's really cool. I guess the hardest blocks are ahead though; yay math!

And then a week and a half ago, I came back to Oregon. This has really spoiled me. It's been really nice seeing everyone again, drinking the good Oregon beer, and seeing the pretty Oregon countryside. Dunno when I'm gonna get to see it again; Exodus has caused me to go negative with my away time. Going back is gonna suck. I hear it will probably get better once I get to my first duty base, though, so I'm looking forward to that. Just gotta keep my studying up and get all the paperwork and such done before I go.

Over all, 2012 was probably a good, successful year for me. Probably one of the most successful I've had in a long time. It's just had its rough points. I will probably look back at it though, and think, "This was a good year. This is a year when things started to happen." Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom