US Open begins

Crazy game. That match was so intense.... 2-time US Open champion Andre Agassi at his last Grand Slam ever, and he was neck and neck with an opponent who's name was also Andre...

I mean, of course you'd root for the guy who's been so awesome in the 20+ years in tennis history... or do you show some love who has also proven that he can in fact beat Andre the Great? How rude was it that the audience was rooting only for Agassi, even when almost every match was a tiebreaker??

I'm tellin ya.... the entirety of the 23,000 fans in the stands was loud as hell... I dunno if I was actually down there playing the game I'd be nervous and feel so much pressure because as the last series, you'd want to leave on a good note, right? You wouldn't want to get kicked out of the tournament only after the first round...

They wouldn't shut up. Someone even had the nerve to yell out 'There's only ONE Andre!"
Felt like they didn't even give the other guy a chance. He could have very well been the one to say "I was the one to beat Agassi at his last showing of the US Open" and then, his career would have just skyrocketed from there, then he'd win more money, then he'd get endorsements and then onto commercials...

Well, anyways, congratulations to Andre [Agassi]... I'm sure Steffi Graf is damn proud of her husband for making it through that non-traditional match. I want to see more of their kids though.... that cute boy of theirs needs to play more tennis on TV vs. Taylor Dent.

Sigh... I miss Blacksburg already.

Picture post

Just some of the activities I did when Ysmaelle came over for the week...

Now I just have 3 more days left! PENSACOLA OR BUST!

One week update:

Talladega Nights: terrible movie. Lorie and I wanted to walk out of it and I can't believe it won me over with those previews. It was such a let down! And I was all ready for that type of humor too.. or was I maybe I was just too bored and tired today to really give it justice.

The corps is back in town, the parking lots are flooded, the kids are running around drunk hitchhiking for Hooptie Rides. Well, that means one thing: the clubs aren't going to be half empty anymore. Great great great...

I don't think I like boys as boyfriends.
I like boys as boytoys. And I've just been too ashamed to admit that, but hey, what the hell. It's out. So sue me. Kiss my ass! Haha.

I feel like watching something... maybe I'll check out the Kiss Me, Kate musical on Sunday..? Who's with me?

23 days

I was lucky enough to steal my boo away for Wednesday night Salsa Massive at the club formerly known as Burruss Square Tavern... now Oge-Chi's

He's leaving me next weekend! For TBS! Who's gonna be there to talk to? To chill with? To mess up my hair and do all the other things he does?

Boooooooo.

You can do it. All you have to do is push yourself.

I really didn't think I had that much endurance in the water.

So after Jon Marta put me to the test and told me to just worry about staying afloat and not doing the crawl stroke, I was ecstatic. Then after asking how many laps I should do, he said to do a quarter of a mile.

That already sounded dreadful. I'm supposed to be able to do a mile in a flight suit.

Then I calculated it: 1/4 mile = 9 laps = 18 lengths.

As far as being blind during the swim, losing my hairtie in the middle of it, and having a funky neck pain... I actually thought I could have done one more lap after the 9th one. It was a fabulous feeling afterwards.

And thanks to the morning banana, my foot didn't spaz. Huzzah!


Night #2 at the Cap'n's... where I watched JP for the first time and we ate pizza and I think attempted to play every single card game in the book. Sigh... gotta start bringing board games I think.

Duty ensign in the morning! Later, kids.

All hail 7-Eleven today.

Free slurpees! Ok.. well time for an update. I guess I should start with the phone pictures I took at the Salem fair before I went home for the Fourth:

Spent a lovely Saturday evening with Georgiana (her last one in the burg) and her twin, Amanda, and the Boo. Filled with competition, sore throwing arms, dizziness, and eventually empty pockets, it was a great time.

I then drove north to keep the pops company while the ma and lil one went back home for the medical mission. When I get the pictures of them, I'll be sure to post those up so we can see what a great job they all did up there... they made a big difference to the orphans and poor indigenous Iriguenos... I digress. Never had a greater time being lazier with anyone else like I did with dad... it was sweet. And then to top it off with golf and the fireworks at Lunga Park, MCB Quantico... beautiful sight on the lake. I took some with my camera (not the lake, unfortunately)

So... as far as IFS training is going, I finished did my cross-country flight to Chesterfield, VA in a set time of 2 hours, and aced my final. Tomorrow I do my final flight, the night flight, in which I have to navigate in tougher territory sans GPS... in darkness. And if I'm lucky (OH if I'm lucky..) then mother nature grants me those scattered showers like the weather guy is telling us. Oh happy day. Then more ground schooling to get me on the simulator as long as I can drag it out so I don't have to start cleaning the uniform again. Haha.. no I'm not reeeeeallly like that...

8 more weeks of Blacksburg, and then its bye bye Home of the Fighting Gobblers.

Lemon Meringue

This is to die for.

My body has never smelled so good after a shower...

...Trust me, you'd want to eat me all up after you took a whiff of this.

M'm m'm good.

Hope these storm clouds go away... so I can flippin tan.

You are a Great American

I always knew that Col Payne would go out and leave us... and still manage to hit the news somehow:

Taken from MisterPolitics:

The WSJ has a great article today on U.S. Army in-fighting in Iraq...

Camp Taji, Iraq
This sprawling military base is divided down the middle by massive concrete barriers, a snaking fence and rifle-toting guards. On one side, about 10,000 U.S. Army soldiers live in air-conditioned trailers. There's a movie theater, a swimming pool, a Taco Bell, and a post exchange the size of a Wal-Mart, stocked with everything from deodorant to DVD players.

On the other side are a similar number of Iraqi soldiers whose success will determine when U.S. troops can go home. The Iraqi troops live in fetid barracks built by the British in the 1920s, ration the fuel they use to run their lights and sometimes eat spoiled food that makes them sick.

The only soldiers who pass regularly between the two worlds are about 130 U.S. Army advisers, who live, train and work with the Iraqis.

For many of these advisers, the past six months have been a disorienting experience, putting them at odds with their fellow U.S. soldiers and eroding their confidence in the U.S. government's ability to build an Iraqi force that can stabilize this increasingly violent country.

Army commanders back in the U.S. "told us this was going to be the most thankless and frustrating job we have ever held, and boy, were they right," says Lt. Col. Charles Payne, who until last month oversaw about 50 Army advisers.

He and fellow advisers say U.S. troops on the American side of the base saddle Iraqis with the least-desirable missions and often fail to provide them with the basics they need to protect themselves against insurgent attacks. "They treat the Iraqis with utter scorn and contempt," Col. Payne says. "The Iraqis may not be sophisticated, but they aren't stupid. They see it."

Col. James Pasquarette, who commands most of the soldiers on the U.S. side of Camp Taji, calls those claims "totally ridiculous." He says he's proud of what the Iraqi units have achieved in the region and has made supporting them his top priority, after ensuring his own troops have the protection they need. But he worries that if the Iraqis are given too much latitude to execute challenging missions too quickly, they will alienate Iraqi civilians with heavy-handed tactics.

He says Col. Payne and his fellow advisers have "gone native."

...In late May, Col. Payne began to push the Iraqi soldiers to get out on the offensive. "I am sick of sitting around and waiting to get attacked," Col. Payne told Col. Saad. He asked Col. Saad to cut loose 10 or 15 soldiers that he could pair up with three or four U.S. soldiers to venture out at night in search of the enemy. Col. Saad agreed.

On May 19, soldiers from Col. Payne's and Col. Saad's units set out on their second night patrol. After they stopped a car that was out in violation of curfew, the enemy opened fire on them from a surrounding palm grove. The soldiers fired back, killing three insurgents and dispersing the rest. When the shooting ended, a man stumbled out of a small shack deep in the palm grove. His hands were tied and a blindfold hung around his neck. "Come mister. I am problem," he sobbed in broken English.

The man said he worked as a legal adviser for Iraq's Ministry of Defense and had been kidnapped by men who told him they would slaughter him "like a sheep." The kidnappers were setting up a camera to film his execution, he said, when they heard the soldiers and left him. "God sent you to save me," the man said, as tears streamed down his face. (Read more about the mission.)

Col. Payne was elated. "The Iraqi army saved a life. It also demonstrated that it will go into the field to find and destroy the enemy," he said.

His victory, however, quickly gave way to crushing defeat. The next day, he was summoned to meet with his immediate supervisor. Col. Payne was relieved of his command and told to move to a headquarters position in Baghdad.

He says he was told that he removed because he was "ineffective" and "lacked the skills necessary to lead [his] team in this challenging environment." An Army spokesman in Baghdad said Col. Payne wasn't relieved for any single incident. He declined to comment further.
"A Camp Divided"

More at this story: http://westhawk.blogspot.com/2006/06/careerism-comes-to-camp-taji.html

Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers

The Piper Arrow Warrior II.

My very first flight was done in this low wing airplane... while my counterparts were in much cooler C-172...

I've made jokes before, about using booster seats, but seriously... I need one for looking out this one--if you can't even see the cowling then you know the pillow you're sitting on just isn't going to cut it.

Hahahaha.... you should definitely try flying thousands of feet in the air after eating chili cheese dogs. Yep. Did that today.

On another note, should I pay for a masseuse or scout around for anyone who'd give me one for.... free??

I guess I should update...

Life as an Ensign

as shown by Matt Christensen

Paint. Does a body good.

My new toy. Its a walkman phone/radio/game controller/camera - its my Sony Ericsson w600i. Its the next best thing to a real live person/companion!

Good times... I miss Joey Lee. C'MOOOOONNNNNNNNN!!!!

At home, away from home

Lets see... What have I been up to?

For the June 3-4 weekend, I went up to D.C. to see the family and to run the 5K National Race for the Cure... my time was a whopping 29:15, but as you can see by the crowd, about 50,000 people (including the survivors, wheelchairers, AND Condy Rice) all tried to start at the same time, 8:30 am...

I think it took about 4 minutes to actually get away from dodging walkers and water-stoppers and get into a nice running pace... it never lasted the whole way, I was slowed down by many different things during the race... paper cups, old ladies, baby carriages, you name it.





Gerardo's friend Valencia, Danny, Teban, me, Gerardo, Alan









Our performance of Blit Bilaan... and of course practice in the Vicencio home

Erika, Shoes, and I played birds... and Danny and Aaren were two male birds who were courting Erika while Shoes and I put on our makeup and lotion, haha

The J-Lo impression and the scandalous Versace dress (I actually wanted to do this one, but Aaren beat me to it)

I'm levitating!

More pictures to come of life...

Kamikaze shooters

"That was the whackest auntie/uncle party ever!" - Aaren

He says this because it was his (and mine as well) first time drinking at an auntie/uncle party. Tons of my parents' family friends and people who knew me when I was just a little girl was there. I sprinkled in college friends with a few high school friends... and we had a garage party. The loudest one on the block that night. Thanks Diana for the shooters and everyone else for the ghettofied beer pong table.

...and the food. OHHHH the food. I have pictures from my disposable, but not quite available for show yet.


3 men who have helped me along with life... and funny they all were in the navy in some point in time... and they were telling me how fast we were all growing up... I don't feel it yet. It's weird. Maybe when I start talking marriage and baby then.. yeah, THAT'll freak me out.

As for work, I have already found things to keep me busy while I'm establishing my workout routine on the side... I have earned myself an additional job title, and today is my first funeral flag folding job. Excited? Maybe... just hoping I don't screw up the presentation.

Today is the 3rd day, but I am getting used to this corporate world business.

Webcam alert! Porn here!

Fun with webcam! (Before, noting the lighter haircolor, After, the shorter 'do)

Grad party... wonder how that's gonna be.

The AfterLife

This may sound insane, but I think this is the 5th online journal that I've started since my existence. Kinda gross, right? But hey, I figure I've got to log these new chapters in my life, so I guess I'll just continue on with the ritual.

A fresh graduate and new '06 alumna from the best school in the country, Virginia Tech. I just commissioned into the Navy as a Naval Flight Officer which means I'll be playing backseat driver. But this summer I'll get my chance at learning how to play pilot as well, which I think is pretty sweet. Hopefully I'll get to fly the EA-6Bs (if it's still there for me before I get to choose) but I've got to definitely hit the books hard core before then.

Quick picture (above) with my buds who graduated and commissioned with me: 2LT White, 2LT Biederman, 2LT Keene, 2LT Horsfall, and ENS Rigoroso

I guess I'll just keep track of what the life is like after college... if anything changes. At least I won't be scrounging (is that a word?) around for a job like the other kids are. Hope I can keep up with this blog like I don't with the others... Keep it real - welcome to the afterlife.