Sunday, June 12, 2011

Rhode Island: Winsor, C. Officer Candidate Graduation

This was a fun trip and I really enjoyed it. We were very busy, but the most important thing was that I got to spend some time with my "little" brother. He has spent the last 12 weeks in Rhode Island for Officer Candidate School with the Navy.

These are pictures of the Pass and Review, Thursday afternoon. Mind you, my flight got in at 12 PM Eastern time...that means, I left SLC at 1:05 AM to make it to his Pass and Review at 2 PM. I was sooooo very tired, but I did it for Chase!
These next couple of photos are really bad because my camera ran out of batteries so I had to use my phone and it was horrible lighting, but at least I have something. These are pictures of their parade and they were able to show us their skills through all of their training with their drill master.

Here is Chase with his Class Drill Sergent Bamba and .... I could tell Chase had a very high form of respect for these individuals.
Hi MOM Dinner
After the Pass and Review, there was a dinner with a presentation of Class 11-11 and their accomplishments. Class 11-11 earned the highest honors in five areas of testing in 12 graduating classes. That is amazing. Here are just some random pictures of the views at the dinner.

Chase with my cute Dad! I needed a leash for y dad...I couldn't keep track of him worth a darn...he was always wandering off somewhere to eat or drink something...and a picture or ten!
Some of the guys!


Chase and his Mentors!


4:45 AM, family members were invited to do one final run with Class 11-11, after which Sergent Bamba led them through one last round of hell. The class had named him Hades. But, in this picture, the whole class had to eat at the exact time, bite for bite, chew for chew! It almost got me to the point I couldn't watch it because it was horrible!!!! If one person was out of line, they got REAMED...and not just a little ream, a MAJOR dip in the bucket!


Graduation DAY

The swearing in.
Walking up to get salute his Captain and Lieutenant.
Saluting the Captain.
Shaking hands with the Lieutentant.
I am glad I caught this...I so wasn't expecting them to do this because everything has been so formal and I didn't know they could do this. I thought it would be a form of disrespect to throw their hats, but I was so wrong...good thing I have a fast camera because I kid you not, I was snapping the picture as I brought it up from my lap!!!






Random pics of downtown Newport.



Drive along Ocean Drive and some of the houses you would round the corner and it would pop out of no where.
Dinner...and of course my brother was trying to gross me out. I was doing everything I could to hold in the few bits of salad I had just eaten!!!

10 pound lobster! That thing was huge!
"Pooh Bear" is Chases nickname from when he got strep throat and was trying to answer one of Uppers and sounded like Pooh Bear...so the name stuck!
I got up at 5:15 one morning to run the Cliff Walk. It was absolutely beautiful. The sun was coming up and it was perfect. This happened to be where I rolled my ankle for the second time. This path I thought was paved all the way 3.5 miles in, but it was only paved about 2 miles in. So trying to run this trail was interesting and when I rolled my ankle the second time, I kept thinking I was going to have to call my dad to come get me out of there. Mind you, there are cliffs on one side and huge, ginormous mansions with private property along the whole way.
This was the house in which I stood bearing through the pain of my ankle. It helped keep my mind off the pain a little!

More pics along the trail!
Had to slow down too many times...started to make me mad! But still, gorgeous and worth it!


Had to go through a couple of tunnels...kind of cool!

One of my favorite "houses!"
All in all, the run was 7 miles and absolutely amazing. It was a perfect run, even with the ankle problem!!!!

On the way home, we flew near one of my favorite places...the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole! My camera had awesome zoom and we had lots of turbulence, but it was incredible to look at the mountains way up high!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Next "TOP GUN?"

My little brother, Chase has persued a career in the Navy. He will be graduating from Officer Candiate School this Friday in Rhode Island. Then will be transfered to a new base, but is unknown where. I am extremely proud of him for committing himself with endless opportunities.




Monday, May 23, 2011

OgDeN MaRaThOn!

I did it and proud of it! Let me just say that I never thought I would have the desire to do this...Ok, I still don't have the desire, I consider it more of an ambition to do it. As a part of my goal to lose weight, I have taken up running as a new hobby. At first, it sucked and I hated it. But I set small little goals. First was to run a mile without stopping, then 3, then 5, and etc. Once I conquered the 3 miles, I registered for the Ogden Half Marathon. This was an attempt to keep me motivated and believe me, having the thought of competition only increased my amitions. Its amazing how much your mind plays into accomplishments! This was an accomplishment for me and I am very proud of myself. It was fun, exhilerating, exciting, and self-fulfilling. The run was absolutely beautiful running around Pine View, down Ogden Canyon, and through the Ogden Parkway. It was magnificent!

Whats next? I have registered for the Other Half Marathon in Moab in October. This should be more of a challenge because there is a lot more up and down hills. One inparticular, is at mile 8-9, the biggest climb and for me, at the hardest part of my endurance. However, during the Ogden run, mile 5 is where I got my engergy boost and lasted through mile 10!



My Buffalo Point Friends! Thanks for letting me hang out with you before the race started!



Me and My inspiration! My friend Kari helped me prepare for this! We have been through a lot together, why not add 13.1 more miles!!!





(More pictures to come...those will go here)




Me coming into the finish line! The last mile was death! But I counted 53 yellow dashed lines on the road from where we got off the Ogden Parkway to Grant St. until the finish line at 25th st.



Me and my girls! Nothing is more important to me than them! I love you very much!


Reagan enjoying some treats I was able to snag!
Saige, being the little ham she is!

Saige and Savy giving each other a hug.


Me and my family. My mom came to cheer me on too! Thanks family!



Savannah Reagan Saige

Savannah Reagan Saige
My little EVERYTHINGS!


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