Recipes: Easy Chicken Skewers

Alright, so here is a super easy recipe and I mostly am just throwing it out there as a simple dinner idea.
Ingredients:
Chicken (about one breast per person being fed)
Green bell pepper (about one per two people)
Red/ Yellow bell pepper (about one per person)
Zucchini (one per person)
Carton of Grape Tomatoes
Sweet red onion (to taste)
Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
Wooden Skewers

Directions:
Cut up chicken into cubes. Put in a gallon sized bag and coat with balsamic vinaigrette dressing (make sure you chicken is fully covered).  Set the fridge for at least one hour, but preferably more than 12.

Cut up peppers and onion into cubes.  (If they are too small, it will be hard to get them on the skewers, but if they are too large, they seem more likely to break and fall off).  Slice zucchini.

Alternate putting chicken and vegetables onto skewers.  Grill on low heat for about twenty to thirty minutes and rotate frequently.

Leftovers!

Recipes: Maui Black Bean Soup

Here is my favorite vegetarian recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped
1 fat carrot, pealed and choppedd
1 small purple onion, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and deveined, chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and deveined, chopped
2 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press
1 t. dried cumin
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
1 t. chili powder
1/4 t. crushed red pepper (skip if you don't like food with a kick)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes
1 c. corn kernels
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:
In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add celery, carrot, onion and bell peppers.  Saute until onions become translucent.  Add garlic and spices, cook another two minutes.

In a large pot, add stock, beans and tomatoes plus content of skillet.  Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat.  Cover and let simmer for 20 min.  Use a hand held blender and puree to a desired consistency (careful of splatter).  Add corn and let simmer for another 5 min.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Nutrition information: Calories ~ 180:  Calories from fat ~38: Protein~ 9g: Carbs ~26g: Dietary Fiber ~8g: Sugars ~6g: Fat ~4g: Sodium ~600mg

Recipe: Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Ok, so here is a recipe I mostly invented with some help from google.  I haven't quite mastered it yet...

Crust:
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. butter 
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup milk


Filling:
1lb chicken breast, cubed
2 T olive oil
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
2 cans condensed cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom)
1 bag of frozen vegetables (or fresh. I like frozen since the veggies turn out softer.  I like to use the corn, peas, beans and carrots mixture, but feel free to add your own stuff to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
1/3 c. water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Start by cubing chicken and adding it to the skillet with garlic salt and olive oil.  Cook fully on a low/medium heat, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, combine all of the crust ingredients.  Roll the crust into a ball and then roll out flat.  You can either divide the contents into 8 souffle cups or use a 9x9 pan.  I used my souffle cups to make individual servings (plus extras can be frozen or refrigerated/ reheated much easier).  To make the souffle crusts, use your souffle cups as cookie cutters to make the tops.  Set each crust off to the side.  Use cooking spray inside either the souffle cups or your 9x9 in pan.

Add frozen vegetables and 1 can of cream of chicken soup to your cooked chicken.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Afterwards, add the skillet contents into the same bowl used for the crusts as well as the other can of cream of chicken soup and all of your preferred seasonings.  Add water for a better consistency.

Transfer the filling into either the souffle cups or the 9x9 in pan. If you are using the souffle cups, stretch each crust out a little bit before topping your filling.  Try to make sure each one fully stretches the top of the cup.  If you are using a 9x9 pan, make sure the crust stretches across the top, and use a fork to make a neat edge (if so desired).  Put your pan(s) on a baking sheet covered with foil (alleviates mess) and bake for 20 minutes for the souffle cups and 30 minutes for the 9x9 in pan.  Make sure the tops are a nice golden brown.  Cool for at least 10 min, then serve.

(note: I haven't tried it, but I am fairly certain a faster alternative for the crust would be to use pre-made biscuits, divide them in half and stretch them to cover the souffle dishes.  Again, I haven't tried that yet, but I seriously considered it)

Family: Sad reflections

I don't wish to speak out of turn, and normally I wouldn't post anything under the circumstances, but my father-in-law recently passed away.  I wasn't sure if I really wanted to blog about such a close and personal time for our family, but I decided to anyway.  I am not going to reflect on the life of the man that I didn't know as much about as I now wish I had, nor am I going to reflect on my experiences with him. Instead, I want to reflect on one small part of his legacy. The thing I guess I have learned from him the most is that even though your children might have completely different goals, dreams and preferences in life doesn't mean that they can't grow in expressing the values you instill in them.

From my husband and his two older siblings, I have seen nothing but charity, generosity and big hearted-ness (not really a word, I know) along with valuing education, self-improvement and all three truly being self-starters.  They are all successful in their careers, have continued their education past baccalaureate degrees and have moved out on their own successfully.   There are other traits they share as well, but I think these are the most predominant from what I have seen from these three.

This has led me to contemplating Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."  I don't have any children of my own, but as I spend more time with my husbands family, I realize the truth in this verse.  It doesn't say to be a bible thumping parent nor to let your children do whatever want and give them whatever they want.  It's actually training your child to be an adult who does what is right because it is right.  (And being in the Army, the word training really stands out.  Training is continual, and is never complete.  There is always more to do as perfection will never be reached.)  This will be your legacy, and my father-in-law has left an amazing one.  The example he set for his family has not influenced my husband to become the man that he is, but will also effect my parenting some day as I hope to raise children who know what is right and have the strength to do it.  I hope, pray and will strive to raise my children in a similar way so that some day they will be as generous and as driven as my father-in-law's children.

I wish I had had more time on this earth with him but I am truly grateful to have known him. My heart aches not just because of his death, but because of the large hole that has been left in our family.  Things will never truly be the same again but I am thankful for the lessons he has taught me, and more importantly, for the way he raised his son, my husband.

Army: Crazy NTC 2.0

Ok, so after some "enlightenment", I have decided to rewrite this blog.  This one should be less whiny, and will focus more on what the Army life is really like in the field, and what it's like to be doing your own thing with a family at home.

So, of course, NTC is just a beast of a different color compared to the rest of the Army training, or even deployment.  Its a game that is already rigged for us to lose.  I'm still unsure why they do that.  It's probably to stress us to a point we are unfamiliar with, but I think it's probably more than that.  The Army, as a whole, is completely unaccustomed to failure.  Mostly because we don't fail, but also because we are not good at it. I have yet it meet a leader that is willing to accept failure, let alone is ok with the idea that failure might occur by any measure (which is usually when they create a higher standard than what the Army has and their is any inkling that it may not be fully met).  So I think it gives leaders a chance to understand that failure is a possibility, even when we are trained and our doing our best.

You may be thinking that the game isn't rigged, and that its all just perception, but it really is.   Everyone is monitored by these OC's (Observer/ controller) that tell the OPFOR (Opposing Forces) what we are doing and how we are reacting.  It's the only thing that makes sense! Because the OPFOR literally know our every move before we make it.  The battle was definitely lost.

Now, our unit isn't the warfighters, its the war-supporters.  So our quality of life was completely different.  The guys on the "front-line" ate MREs for every meal, had to go to the bathroom in bags. They slept on the ground and never showered. We had our own DFAC (technically in a tent) where we were served hot breakfast and hot dinner and was open 24/7 so we could pick up snacks like cereal with cold milk or M&Ms or whatever.  We had porta-potties that were cleaned almost daily (there was a rather gross period where some Soldiers did some gross stuff and the cleaners didn't want to clean them but our S-4 took care of that in less than a day).  We slept in tents with heat and a/c and worked in similar conditions.  The a/c for our work tent didn't work that well, but we still had it.  Now, we still didn't have showers, but most people dealt with it by either taking showers while they were out picking up supplies (I can't prove that that happened, but I am pretty sure it did.  It doesn't take that long to pick up CL I) or they just used some water from the water buffalo and cleaned themselves with that.  And of course, lots of baby wipes and face cleansers were used.  I tend to use Clean and Clear face wipes for my face, unscented wipes for everything else, and a dry foam shampoo for my hair.  They dry shampoo works better than nothing, and it also helps to style my hair back into the bun.  So, all in all, our living conditions we so much better than the guys actually in the fight but were, of course, still terrible to us.

Most of what we did was go and pick up supplies from the TISA, then push them to either the BSA or just all the way to the units that need them.  We mostly pushed food supplies, fuel, construction materials, ammunition, and repair parts. There were normally at least two convoys on the road at any one time, and occasionally three or four.  My job was to track them and record when they reached certain check points or their location and wait for them to get back on the road.  And of course, receive reports if they came into enemy contact.  After the first week, the OPFOR pretty well quit hitting us and focused on the frontline battle so it made our lives much easier.

I also got moved from battle captain-ing to planning, which is really my bread and butter.  I mostly spent my time working on planning our movement from "the box" back to where we were first received, where there are showers and a PX and gut trucks to feed us.  Our battalion was the first to get back and the first to be in line for pretty much everything.  We had to make sure that we got everything turned in or we pretty much couldn't leave.  So it was really great that we were pretty much ahead of the curve on everything.  While we were executing, I got the joy of being the TC (mostly just meant being a passenger) in a HMMWV with no doors and broken heat during a two hour drive in 19 degree weather after sitting in it for three hours before movement.  But such is life...

The weirdest part for me for all of NTC though was being so busy and in  new place.  The long hours were pretty typical and to be expected.  What I didn't expect was to not really even think about home nor my husband.  It was likely they didn't exist, and nothing really did outside of NTC.  I can barely even describe it.  But I think it was a mixture of not having the time to think about it, and not really wanting to.  I mean, thinking about it makes you sad, and you don't have the time to sit around and mope about things; so you might as well not even think about it.  But at the same time, I did feel like a horrible wife.  To not even really think about my husband almost made me feel single.  It's the first time in a long time where I was really only thinking about myself and having to really put myself first.  All I can say is I really didn't like it and  much prefer marriage to singleness and am super glad I am home with my husband and puppies!

Our lessons learned from the experience: Overall NTC was a success.  We identified our shortfalls, are realigning our section to make the team we are going to deploy with and I can honestly say, I am more excited to deploy because of our leadership.  We are expecting some new additions to our team, but I'm sure they will be great, whenever it is that they get here!

(p.s. The images aren't mine.  I never took pictures while I was there because I did most of my work in Secret areas which meant no cameras and no phones.  So I never carried around a camera and thus, never took any pictures).

Recipes: Cinnamon Muffins

Here is a great breakfast recipe.  It's really simple and I pretty much just made it up.  

Ingredients list:

2 medium eggs.
3 cups of flour.
1 cup of milk.
1 cup of sugar.
10 tablespoons of butter.
3 teaspoons of baking powder.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg.
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Topping:
1 cup of melted butter.
1 cup of sugar blended with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.

Instructions:

Grease 12 three-inch muffin pan cups.

Cream together the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, salt, nutmeg and baking powder. Stir in the flour and milk alternately until mixture is just combined.

Fill muffin cups to the top.

Bake at 350F oven for about twenty minutes.

Allow to cool for a few minutes.

With each muffin, dip in the melted butter.

Roll each muffin in the cinnamon sugar blend.
(I always double dip them until I am out of cinnamon & sugar!!!)

*Makes approx. 2 dozen!

Recipes: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Served on Rice

• 1/2 cup Smucker's® Apricot Low Sugar Preserves
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce, or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup small mushrooms
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 (6 oz.) package frozen pea pods, thawed
• Hot cooked rice (optional)

PREPARATION DIRECTIONS:

Sauce

1. STIR preserves, vinegar, garlic salt, ginger, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper in small bowl until well blended. Set aside.
2. HEAT oil in wok or large skillet until hot. Stir-fry zucchini and mushrooms over medium-high heat until zucchini is crisp-tender. Transfer mixture to a platter.
3. ADD butter to wok; cook chicken until tender, stirring often. Add pea pods and cooked zucchini and mushrooms; stir gently until heated, 3 to 5 minutes

Ingredients Combined

4. POUR apricot sauce over chicken and vegetables; toss gently to mix well and heat through. Serve with rice, if desired.

Army: Heading to the National Training Center

Alright everybody, so I am about to head out for the next month to Fort Irwin, California.  for those of you who own a map (or can successfully navigate google maps) will note this is a little too close to death valley for my total comfort, but oh well.

So, some fun things for you to know about my trip:
1. I have no clue why I am going.  We are supposedly doing some training, but we won't be training for our Afghanistan mission.  so... yeah.
2. I have no clue what I will be doing every day.  They say my job is to help track the battle field.  I have a limited idea as to what that will entail.
3. I may be sleeping in a tent.  And I say may because they are not sure we have tents, so it may be on the ground uncovered for all I know.
4. I found out when I leave approximately a few hours ago. And it's tomorrow...
5. I still haven't packed half of my stuff and am quite honestly avoiding it. Packing is the worst part, aside from leaving my husband for a month.

Here are a random list of things I like to pack aside from the Army issued items:

• A pillow case (i use it to keep my poncho liner in place, without wasting more space with a pillow).
• Dry shampoo (I might get 2-3 showers in the next 30 days... YIKES!)
• Homemade protein bars (I'll post the recipe sometime!)
• Jolly Ranchers (I eat them when I need to stay awake/ quick burst of energy)
• Electrolyte tablets (Flavored and caffeinated!)
• Leave on face wash (my attempt to feel like a girl)

I have some recipes I blogged awhile ago that I have scheduled while I am gone, just in case I don't get a chance to keep accessing my blog.  If I don't get a chance while I am out there, I probably won't be back on my blog for the next month or so.  

Army: Because Life Gives You Lemons...

So, if you've never been in the Army, you've probably never known what it is like to have everything about your job change drastically, with only a few words from your boss.  Now, I am not talking about job security, I am talking about the where are you going, what are you doing, and when are you doing it, etc.

In the past couple of weeks, our deployment location has changed and changed back more times than I know what to do with.  We are either going to Bagram, or Kandahar. In fact, some of us may go to Bagram and some of us may go to Kandahar.   Only in the Army...

But the more fun portion is my job change.  I used to work in current operations for our battalion.  I was involved in all of the planning craziness as our staff could barely get their heads above water.  Mostly, because any time we tried to plan into the future, our brigade would ignore our plan and throw stuff at us anyway.  When I first got to our staff section, I worked in future operations.  I hated it.  Everyone was so busy handling the current stuff that no one could give me any direction for our future ops.  I basically watched everyone else be busy and run around and had little to nothing to do myself... part of this was I hadn't proved I could handle anything yet.  But then something came up so I had to handle being in charge of our whole section while we were on a Field Training Exercise.  It was truly a trial by fire.  But after that (and then running our section for a time in garrison- our normal- environment) I was ready.  And so I told my boss I wanted to be moved to current operations and he agreed.  We were getting a new lieutenant, who is higher ranking than me, and he is about to make captain, but this was ignored and I was given the harder job because I had proved I could handle it.

Now, as my boss is getting closer to his promotion, we are starting to prepare for a new boss.  Part of this preparation has me switching jobs back to future operations.  This is because my boss' boss wants us to start focusing farther out and getting our heads above water, and part of this is because my coworker is about to make Captain and it would reflect very poorly on him to have the "easier" job.  But the problem is, I have to start everything from scratch and I am not really focused on the future.  It means I am doing both jobs in this transition, and truth be told, the other guy is doing neither.  He is a very approachable guy who likes to tease and make fun and I keep teasing him that he can't tease me about anything in our job until he actually does some work around the office.  He was tasked with an investigation when he first got to our section that had him running around for the battalion commander (all of us officers get tasked to handle various investigations for our commanders), so he was busy with that while I handled a lot of the work around the office.  The problem is, I am a self-starter and willing to ask questions and help out.

So now, I find myself tasked with everything current (finishing our Mission Readiness Exercise as well as planning and preparing for NTC) and everything future, that is, more than 30 days out, (planning casing ceremonies for 3 companies, planning all necessary training for various positions during the deployment, as well as making sure we get everything on the calendar for everything we have to do in order to deploy).  Its been a bit of a nightmare and I find myself with a very long list of things to do and plan.  And of course, in the mean time, I get to meet with my boss (my OIC, officer in charge), and his boss, (my battalion commander) on Monday morning to find out what else needs to go on my planning plate so I can start planning it.  Fun fun!

I love planning and I truly enjoy my job, even if it may seem like I don't.  I'm not trying to complain or whine; I just figured I should give some insight into my job and what I am doing.  I will try to keep updating what I am doing, where I am going and when as things change.  

Recipes: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, so here is an amazing recipe and perfect for fall.

I got this from my friend Jen, at church.  Supposedly, it makes 30 cookies, but I found one batch makes almost 50 if you are using normal tablespoon sized amounts.  So here it is:

Prep time: 10-20 min
Cook time: 12- 15 min

Ingredients:
   2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
   1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
   1/2 t. cinnamon
   1 t. baking powder
   1/2 t. salt
   1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
   1 c granulated sugar
   1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (Libby's is best)
   2 large eggs
   1 t. vanilla extract
   2 c. (12-oz pkg) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.  Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy.  beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets.

Bake for 12-15 min or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Health & Exercise: Learning to Read Your Body

So, this is an odd blog post, but it was something Kevin and I were talking about and he suggested I blog about it.

The photo that brought Vietnam into American homes.

I have always been amazed by some of the worlds most exclusive societies.  Mostly, that of devote monks.  I'm sure you've heard stories of them: those that can control their heartbeat down to almost deathly levels, those that can control their body temperature regardless of the temperature outside, those that walk on hot coals, those that can withstand any pain, etc.  The most infamous in our time would be Thich Quang Duc who set himself on fire (also called self-immolation) to protest the treatment of Buddhist's in South Vietnam by the Catholic government in the middle of a busy town square.

The amount of self-control these people have generated and the degree to which they are in tune with their bodies has always fascinated me.  The ability to manipulate the body with the mind is astounding.  Even something as simple as the placebo effect shows how much power the mind has over the body.

But I am actually starting to learn that this is far from the realm of only achievable for the extremely devote, it's for anyone. Maybe not at the "set yourself on fire in protest" level, but at the very basic one.  My bouts into massage therapy and yoga have started me on this journey without me realizing.  I'm not going to go into my reasons for needing trigger point massage since I blogged it before (see My Journey into Alternative Therapies) and I know I have blogged a couple of times about my journey into yoga (see Yoga Daily and Yoga Update), but ultimately, these two things have helped me become more in tune with my body and how it feels.  Because of the massage therapy, I am starting to be able to identify which muscles are tight and causing me problems.  I don't know these muscles by name, but i know where they are and where they go (like the muscle that is currently giving me trouble starts in the back of the leg and comes up around my hip towards my abdomen, which, by the way, is very difficult to stretch).  The yoga also helps in this.  While I am stretching, I can actually feel when my muscles aren't opening up and creating circulation properly.  My flexibility has improved, but I am still not fully able to reach each yoga position.  Yet even still, I can tell when my circulation has increased properly in certain muscles, when I need to spend more time in a position and when the stretch needs to go deeper.

I was talking to my massage therapist about this and she told me that this is actually the natural progression for those doing yoga.  (If you are doing yoga and are becoming more flexible  but you aren't more in tune with your body, you are probably doing something wrong.)  But the odd thing was what she told me next.  Parker told me that next I need to work on sending my breath to the areas where I know I need more oxygen rich blood.  Now this is still weird to me, but it is basically identifying which muscles I want to send my breath to, really considering as I breath in and then think about that breath as it enters my body and sort of push it to the area I want.

This is still really odd to me and I haven't really figured it out at all yet, if I even can, but I figured I would give another update and share how far things have come for me.   I will write another update if I manage to figure out how to really direct my breaths and hopefully then I might be able to explain it better.

Recipes: Great Chocolate Chip Cookies

This one is one of my favorites.  This is one of the few recipes I have found that turn out both slightly crunchy and chewy and moist (this is because of the mixture of white and brown sugars).  Be careful though, there is a lot of butter and are thus, very fattening but totally addictive.

Ingredients 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips. At this point, I suggest you taste test some. (In my opinion, you should always taste test your food. It will help you know if you are doing it right, and help you identify if you've forgotten an ingredient... which I have done before)
3. Drop by tablespoon sized spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Makes about 40- 50 cookies (depending on how much batter you eat ;-P)

Wife & Life: Choosing Not to Have Children.... Even When You Desperately Want Them

So, after two years of marriage, baby fever has set in in full swing.  With so many married couples having children, being pregnant or are trying to have kids, it's hard to not want to join them.  Especially with certain parents putting the pressure on!
To be honest, my marriage is amazing! And if it weren't, we probably wouldn't feel so ready to have children.  But the worst part is, we aren't having children because of me. As much as I want them and feel ready, I am just not at a point in my life where children are an option.  choosing to be in the Army has made that difficult.

Now, I am not saying women in the military shouldn't have children, because the Army does some amazing things to help take care of their children.  But as an officer, I know that my days can be incredibly long regardless of my intent to get out on time.  And the longer I stay in, the longer days I will work.  When you work 11-14 hour days, babies don't fit in well.  Ignore the whole not being able to sleep part (though that is a deterrent as well), by the time I get home, my baby would already be asleep.  I would rarely get time with my child and even when I did, I would be too exhausted to truly enjoy it.

And though I could get past all of this, because most days aren't that bad.  But joining the Army is a commitment.  So long as I am in the Army, I need to expect deployments.  To join the Army and hope to never deploy nor fight for your country is saddening.  Even if we weren't at war in Afghanistan (as soon we won't be), you never know when America's Army will be called upon again and as long as I am in the Army, I want to be ready and prepared for that moment.  And I couldn't be a woman who leaves my children and husband at home to go and fight a war.  My heart wouldn't be in it, and I owe it to my Soldiers to want to be there with them.

So, I plan to serve my four years and get out.  I figure as I am close to my contract being up, we will quit preventing children and shortly after start actually trying.  Then I will get out when I have our first child.  At that point, I will be a stay at home mom, work on my MBA and start my own business from home, but that will come in a later blog.

As for now, I will live vicariously through friends and family (and I really look forward to being an Aunt!)

Wife & Life: To Facebook or Not to Facebook

So, over a year ago now, I decided to deactivate my Facebook account.  To be honest, I didn't miss it at all.

My reasons were many and ones you have probably heard before. My top concern was privacy.  About a year ago was the final straw when I learned that stuff I had made private from my beginning on Facebook was available for everyone to see.  I had decided that I didn't want others to see things I was tagged in, since I cannot control what other people post or say.  I don't need to be associated with anything hateful or stupid or mean or whatever and instead of worrying about untagging myself and creating drama ("why did you untag yourself? We're not friends anymore. blah blah blah") I decided I would just make that private for only me to see and not have to worry about offending anyone.  Then I realized that somewhere in the five years I had had a Facebook account, all of that stuff went public, which wasn't a huge deal in itself.  But not knowing this, and having my settings changed without my knowledge, made me mad.

The truth is, Facebook has always played dirty.  And with beliefs like nothing is private anymore, its not surprising the way they deal.  But, that wasn't the only issue.  I am a relatively drama free person.  I like truthfulness and honesty, so backstabbing and infighting are sort of pet peeves for me.  And amongst friends, that isn't really an issue for me.  But in my family, this stuff is pervasive.  There is so much digging and trying to upset people and taking things personal that aren't.  And I was tired of that.

Two other smaller reasons included using Facebook to evade real social interaction (like Facebook stalking could make up for actual conversations) and the way people find themselves in trouble with work and everything else.

So, I still hate Facebook, and don't really miss it, so why am I blogging about it...? Because I find myself in a situation where I am going back.  As much as I hate what Facebook is about, there are definitely upsides.  Facebook makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family and does so like no other social network on the market.  And with a NTC rotation and a deployment coming up, I find that it will make keeping in touch much easier than trying to email everyone I want to stay in contact with.  Especially since I won't have a cell phone and quick texts are completely out of the question.  However, after I get back from Afghanistan and finish my block leave, I intend to deactivate my account once again.

I intend to continue blogging and using Facebook as a way to share my blog posts.  It will be easier to keep everything consolidated in one place and I want to continue using my blog to share longer posts with stories and anecdotes.  Plus, since I intend to leave Facebook again, I want to make sure I do most of my posting in a place I intend to keep.  But, I will use Facebook as a way to send personal messages and receive them in easy ways.  To cut down on drama, I will delete or block anyone who creates it.  For security reasons, I intend to make it so no one can tag me in anything. (Unfortunately, terrorists have Facebook too and they have used it in the past). &nbsp

So there it is, I am coming back to Facebook and I am sure my parents will be thrilled!

Health & Exercise: Climbing Pikes Peak

So, we finally did it! We hiked Pike's Peak.  And it was... it just was.  It was awesome and difficult and long and crazy and so much more.
Let me explain, Pike's Peak is one of many Colorado 14-ers (A mountain over 14,000 ft).  The difficulty with Pikes Peak is that it is the greatest altitude change in Colorado.  It gains ~7,300 ft in elevation from the start of Barr Trail and is almost 13 miles up.  The average person takes around 8 hours to complete it.

It is broken down by most hikers into fourths.  The first fourth is the second most difficult which sucks since that is the start of your hike. We started at 5:50 a.m.  (before the sun was up) and made it a point to stop and take breaks even though we had energy.  We didn't want to burn out.

The second third is like just walking through woods, super easy and it comes out at the halfway point, called Barr Camp.  This was where we did our fastest miles was really enjoyable.  We spent much of our time enjoying the beautiful White Aspens and their brightly colored leaves.  It was a perfect first day of fall.

The third fourth is the third most difficult.  It doesn't involve much climbing over rocks, but it was a steady grade up the whole time.  By that point, all you want is to hit the tree line and feel like you are close to the top, since you know you are only halfway.  The White Aspens started becoming more scarce, but we could look down the valleys at them.

 

The fourth part of the journey was just terrible.  We
still had over 2,000 ft in elevation to gain and it was all climbing over rocks and staring down gorges.

But once we got to the top, we decided that are joints wouldn't handle the decent well, plus it would take hours more.  Doing a marathon length hike sounded awful and we were already tired. So we decided to take the Cog Railway down to the bottom.

  

Ultimately, we hiked 13 miles up in 7 hours 23 minutes and burned somewhere over 3,000 calories.