Day 10.

03 JUNE 2012
1855

Today proved to be just as fun as yesterday. This has definitely been the BEST weekend I've had in months :)

I set my alarm for 0900 this morning because I had plans to go to breakfast and church. Sam joined me for breakfast at the galley and at 1015 I met my friend Chris (he's from Ole Miss) to walk over to the wet side of base for the Sunday service. We thought it started at 1030, but turns out it really starts at 1100, so we decided to walk around base to kill 20 minutes before returning for the service.

The church was on the smaller side but really beautiful with it's stained glass windows. It was nice to have a friend accompany me to the service as I enjoyed our conversation on the walk to and from the church and I was surprised by how many MIDN's were at the service as well. I saw a few walk out of the Catholic service before ours and there were about 11 or 12 of us in the Protestant service. The sermon was nice, a little old fashioned compared to what I'm used to, but it was still enjoyable. At the end, the preacher called all the MIDNs the front and we sang a song dedicated to Marines and Sailors. It was very sweet. I mentioned to a couple friends that I went to church this morning and they were interested in going next Sunday too. I'll definitely try to make that a regular part of my last 2 weekends here during CORTRAMID.

After church, I met up with Colleen around 1215. We grabbed our beach stuff and made plans to go to Ocean Beach. Just as we left base, our friends Christian and Wayne asked if they could tag along so I turned around to pick them up. The car ride was so fun because everyone knew every song on my CD's. (Yes, CD's! Sadly my truck doesn't connect to my iPod...)

I definitely think Colleen is meant to be my ROTC best friend because we have the exact taste in music and get along so great. It's wonderful to have a roommate that I do absolutely everything with and get along with! I am going to miss her so much when she has to leave! :( But we still have so much planned to do together. Next Friday, we're going back to OB to get pedicures at this nail salon we scoped out because we know our feet are going to be stuck in our steel toe boots for the next 5 days and then we want to look in the vintage clothing and antique shops up and down the main street. We'll probably also try to go paint balling with the guys in our company and hopefully set up a bonfire. Alright, after all my roomie love confessions I'll get back to my day.

The 4 of us had lunch at Hodad's, my favorite burger place! I normally don't like burgers, but if it's from Hodad's... MMM! I'll take one! Everyone enjoyed the burgers and we made a little camp on the beach. The sun wasn't really out but it was still a relatively nice day. We ended up attempting acrobats (see the pictures in the next post!) and running around the beach. The boys got in the water while Colleen and I stayed dry. Turns out Christian is probably one of the funniest people I've ever met. Read the quotes #shitmyshipmatesays haha and Wang is hilarious too. We ended our beach trip with froyo (need I say more?!) before returning to base. I had to pick up a few things from the NEX so we stopped there too.

Now I just got out of the shower after getting pretty sandy today, and attempted to start packing for SWO week, but got side tracked with writing this blog. I figured if I go ahead and get it out of the way, I won't have the urge to blog instead of pack. Smart thinking if you ask me.

Tomorrow I leave for Surface Warfare week. I'm spending 5 days underway (out at sea) on the USS Stockdale. It's a destroyer. There's only a small group assigned to the Stockdale, and the only people in the group I know are Colleen, Ryan (the same guy that went to Bucca di Beppo with us), and my friend Jake (from my unit). I was hoping to be on a ship that included more of my friends that I've made within Alpha and Bravo, but I guess this gives me another opportunity to make some new friends! I really need to pack, Colleen just started and is making me feel bad...

I won't have internet access nor cell phone service until Friday when we return to port. (I think anyway...) I'll definitely keep a journal again so I can blog everything next weekend. I'm definitely thinking we'll have downtime, so I borrowed 2 books from Wayne for reading in my bunk. I'll try and write some letters too.

On a side note, my good friend Jake reports to MCRD to start Marine basic training tomorrow. 13 weeks of hell at boot camp. By the time I return in the fall to start my sophomore year at USD, he'll be done with basic and I'll be able to see him when he has liberty, so I'm excited about that. I know he is going to be an awesome Marine, but please keep him in your prayers <3



I am so so thankful for my opportunity with NROTC. I love going to college, I love being close to my family and home, and I love all the people I've met and the one in a lifetime chances I've had because of it. Even when times are tough and I'm stressed out to the maximum, I can't imagine my life any other way now.