Getting into routines!

Deployment is significantly different from normal military life. That is no secret to any of you. One thing that I have realized over the 30 plus months I have been deployed is deployments are the perfect opportunity to start routines.  It may sound strange but the last time I was deployed to Iraq, after a long day of missions and Iraqi heat; all the ladies would take the walk together to go to the shower trailer.  We would all grab out shower caddies filled to the brim with soaps, shampoos, lotions and all the smell goods that reminded us of normal life and walk over to a cramped shower trailer for our evening gossip session.  You all know when ladies get together there is always gossip. So we would all be cramped into the shower trailer, talking through the shower curtains and trying to hurry to make sure the hot water lasted and to make sure the awful showers which didn’t drain properly wouldn’t rise up above our flip flops.  It seems silly but this was one routine I looked forward to every night so I could catch up with the girls… Ms. Grant-Astorga and Ms. Bell: Miss you ladies!

Working out has been a routine which I have been keeping up with pretty regularly. Not only do I enjoy working out every day but it allows me to start my day off stress free or it allows me to leave work and take out my stress on running or exercise.  It is a lot easier to develop this routine here while deployed because there are less distractions from everyday life.  There are less long days at work, unfortunately no husbands or children to come home to, no dogs, no rushing home to cook dinner, no laundry or tons of errands. Honestly being away from normal life occurrences makes me miss them. My roommate has been a great motivation. We are keeping each other motivated and push each other when it’s time to work out. This helps a lot with keeping to a routine.

I have been working out with her and a few other folks since I have been here.  A few days a week we do a workout called “300” Supposedly this workout was done by the actors in the movie. All these exercises are to be done one right after each other as quickly as possible. My record is 22 mins.

300:

25: Pullups

50: Pushups

50: Deadlifts

50: Box Jumps

50: Floor sweeper lifts (while laying on your back and holding a bench bar above your head you sweep your legs from side to side in a “v” motion)

25 each arm: Overhead Dumbell Press

25: Pull ups

Well the other day while I was completing a similar leg workout which includes box jumps, I took a nasty fall.  I had already done about 45 box jumps. Jumping up onto a 24” box, on number 44, I had reached some form of muscle failure and my left leg made it onto the box but my right did not!. My right leg slammed into the corner of the metal box and bruised my leg from my knee to my ankle.  I guess next time I will jump higher. It hurt so bad I had to stop and keep myself from vomiting. Other routines are less harmful.

 

I have also developed a love for online shopping and working in front of a computer most of the time doesn’t help with shopping on line. Imagine all the money I could be saving. Well I have been scoping out this electrolysis thingy for a while now it is called “Tria Beauty Next Generation At-Home Laser Hair Removal System” It is a small laser which will remove almost any hair you would like on your body after regular use (weekly for the first few months and then every two weeks). So I checked the reviews and not many negative things could be said about this product. So I couldn’t resist. I even convinced my roommate to get one too! So now I patiently wait for my Tria to come in the mail so I can start incorporating hair removal into my daily routine. It is hilarious to see myself getting excited about hair removal. I have already been here 70 days and I am losing my mind… hair removal excites me.  By the time I go home in 6 months or so… I hope to be have hairless armpits, arms and legs… at a minimum.  Hurry up and get here Tria.  LOL!

Food oh how I miss thee!

Well it has been quite awhile since I have had the opportunity to blog…things have been pretty busy for me.  But today I can say that two months have passed and in less than seven months I will be taking the long journey back home. 

Today is my anniversary; four years. It is amazing how fast the time flies. It’s like you blink and years have passed.  Today I was fortunate to spend a significant amount of time on Skype with my husband. Not talking about anything important, just talking like we were sitting on the couch together. Almost like we weren’t separated by countries and miles.  Today is my anniversary; it was a great day.

So enough with being sentimental and serious.

I am seriously addicted to food blogs. www.smittenkitchen.com , www.beyondkimchee.blogspot.com, www.butterflyfoodie.blogspot.com, and my current favorite is  www.howsweeteats.com.  I miss real tasty, mouthwatering, flavorful, mind blowing food.  I miss cooking and eating almost as much as I miss my husband. I can’t help but look at these sites and drive my stomach crazy by imagining what the food will taste like. I honestly believe that you are going to have to kidnap me from my own kitchen when I get home.  Most people know that I live to eat. Most people eat to survive but I am the complete opposite.  I can always remember how food tasted, what I was doing when I ate it, where the best meal was and how the food made me feel.  You all might think I am crazy but a great meal can make me forget how bad my day was.  

 

The problem for me is I can’t cook, I can’t go out to eat and I stand in line for meals at a chow hall which are not anywhere close to being good. The best meal I have eaten at the chow hall has been their half-hearted attempt at Jerk Chicken. I mean I can pretty much tell you what is going to be for dinner every night of the week. How? I can tell you because it is the same crap every week.  I must give the Guam Military Police a shout out… because they have given me the best meal I have had in 60 days.  They definitely know how to cook, eat and entertain.  They had a BBQ a few weeks ago and have been able to arrange for some of their civilian counterparts to go shopping on the economy which allowed for me to share in chicken, ribs, steak, brisket, rice, cucumber salad, chicken adobo, potato salad and the best mouth watering dessert I have had in months. I piled my plate so high and ate every savory morsel. I even wanted to go back for seconds. So thank you my Guam friends for allowing me to indulge!

Time for bed… will be back soon.