survival of the sickest.

Is anyone willing to give me a round of applause for surviving this weekend?

Want to hear about it?

Cool. 

The first four hours of drill consisted of the PT test. Which, in case you didn't know, consists of two minutes of push-ups, sit-ups, and a two mile run. No, stop being so loud... I know it sounds exciting. 

I blew through my sit-ups and push-ups, and struggled a little through my run.

Not scurrred to admit it. 

The really cool part of the day was when we got to do our urban ops shooting. We went out to a little "town" in the middle of Camp Dodge. It is actually pretty neat. You would honestly think people lived there, besides the obvious fact that the windows are boarded up. We split up into two groups and learned how to "stack up" next to doors, break them down, and storm/clear buildings.

Now just imagine one more person in the middle there, and that's identical to what we were practicing. 

Now, the last person was the one who had to clear the door for trip wires and then kick through it before the team stormed in. Guess who got to do that sweet job? OH YEAH. *dances* Honestly, I was a little nervous to be the only girl on a four man squad, and have to bust through this huge door. I killed it. Not even an exaggeration. De-stroy-ed it. I also found the "bad guy" aka our Sgt. hiding behind the door and shot him before he could kill my team. It was such a cool experience. Soliders are so brave, they think of the mission before their safety. We got to practice this for a couple hours before we had to load up, and thankfully I was only shot once in the back of the head... by a man on my own team! The funny part is, they had to do push ups and write a letter home to my parents explaining why I died in combat. 

For PT at night we marched up to the top of Camp Dodge where there is a huge hill, and ran up it. Actually, we ran more in a square formation with the Sergents at each point pushing us on. I was about half way to the third Sgt. when I started feeling sick and light headed. My eyes were covered in dark spots and when I reached to top, I collapsed. I fainted. I fainted! Jeepers. I'm sure that with having two ear infections, bronchitis, and a sinus infection, I was asking for it. 

Sunday, we had to get up early and go out to Big Creek Park! My platoon headed out to the northern side of the lake and began picking up trash until 12:30! It was actually a lot of fun, besides the blisters. We got to go in and out of the woods, down to the shore, through the water, and up hills. You would not imagine the cool things we found. I got to really get to know my platoon in those hours, and I will never forget it. 

Now what I would love to forget is how we got smoked after chow in the afternoon. I've never been so miserable. Yankee push-ups, flutter kicks, and mountain climbers... for like 20 minutes. Sweat. Sweaty. Sweat. Gross. 

Going home was a blessing. I got to go straight to my amazing church and get loved on for two hours. 

I can't forget my favorite part of this weekend. Meeting my beautiful lil' girly Elliana. I can't wait to love on her and her brother. If their parents are reading this, I love you!