Weekend of Work

Most of my weekends are spent working. This past weekend was no different. I worked at the airport both Saturday and Sunday evening. I am currently working at Van Nuys Airport at an FBO. A Fixed Based Operator is an aircraft service center for general aviation. It is a terminal for people who use private jets. I wish I could get into the details of what I do, but since I am working in private aviation, I can't. Let's just say, that I get the opportunity to meet and see a bunch of very famous people. There is never a dull  moment at work. My co-works are always having a good time, but still able to get the job done. I really enjoy my time spent at the airport, aviation is truly my passion. I have something in the works that will allow me to have a career doing what I love and move around where ever the Army may take us.

This past weekend I had a mini photo shoot with my sister. She is a very talented photographer and I hope that, with a lot of practice, my pictures will turn out half as good as hers.These pictures where taken with my new camera and 50 mm lens that Joe bought me! I really love this lens.

" To most people, sky is the limit. But for me, it is just the beginning"

Deployment is what you make it

Even though my blog is called Living in the Moment, I am a planner at heart. I am always looking forward to what is coming. I named my blog Living in the Moment as a reminder that I really need to appreciate the things that are currently happening and just enjoy life. With the deployment it is very easy to get caught up in the countdown to homecoming and I do. I am always checking my app to see how much time I have left until Joe comes home and sometimes I am just looking for ways to make the time pass.

About 2 months ago, after working over 75 days in a row with no days off, I decided that I would enjoy the life that I currently have. I was missing valuable time with my parents and sisters. Instead I was going from one job to the next and working out all of the time(often doing 2 a days and seeing little to no results), coming home, taking a shower, and going to bed. I wasn't very happy with my current situation and I would just dwell on the fact that my relationship with Joe was at a stand still until he got home(at least that's how it felt). The first 2 months of the deployment felt like eternity. Everyone would tell me that "time would fly", but it didn't. I was miserable and it was taking a toll on our relationship. I would often get upset for the smallest of things and I knew that this was adding extra stress to an already stressful situation for Joe. I decided to make a change.

After talking to a friend of mine on the phone, I decided that I would go on 1 trip a month and make it a point to spend time with my family. This was the best thing I could have done. Now, instead of spending hours at the gym alone, I will go for a run with my sisters or take them on hikes. I have the best of both worlds. I also have been using my annual pass to Disneyland, there have been many weekday nights that my family will meet at the parks just for a few hours. I have kept up on my monthly trips, the first one was a trip to visit my friend Nikki in Vegas and the next one was a trip to visit my friend Amanda in Hawaii. This month I will be going on a trip to Austin to see my friend Brittany and next month is a family trip to Yosemite in our RV!

My relationship with Joe has also changed, in stead of talking about how much it sucks that he is not here or dwelling on how long it is going to be until he gets back, we talk about all of the things that I have been doing. He has also been able to get involved with a bunch of things in Afghanistan. He is the moral leader and plans activities for the soldiers. My care packages have been getting better and better, because I want to do them. We have begun to focus on our relationship and our future together. I haven't been upset over small things in  a while and I have been able to be his support.

It really has been an adjustment, but I am happier and healthier then I was in the beginning of this deployment. I wish I could tell you that I have stopped looking at my apps, but I haven't (we only have 150 more days as of today!!!) Deployments are tough and it is up to you to decided it you will enjoy the time you have or if you will just sit and wait. I have figured out how to enjoy the time that I have now and as a bonus, time really is starting to fly by.

Enjoy the little things in life

Every Sunday, Joe takes the time to write and send me a card. I think this is the cutest thing that he has done. It was his idea and has done it ever since the beginning of his deployment. I have received both cards and post cards. They are only a few lines long but they make my day. They always seem to appear when I need them most. He has sent them to my office and to my house. He writes about things that we didn't talk about over phone or email. I love it and hope he will continue to surprise me with the little things.

Week 1 of Running Completed!

Week 1 of training completed!  I have put together a training schedule of 5 runs a week, with the long run on Sunday. The race is officially 12 weeks away and I know we will be ready. I'm really excited to continue to train and hopefully beat my current 1/2 marathon record of 2 hours 8 minutes. Stevee is really into the running this year and she is giving me the motivation needed to keep up on my running. We found a few places to run that are dirt trails that have plenty of options for different distance running. We really want to find a lot of different options for running so we don't get bored. Wish us luck!

Total Miles Ran: 15 miles
Longest Run: 4 miles
High: Getting a mile logged at 8 min 35 sec

Low: Missing my Wednesday run, instead I made Joe's awesome Zombie Care Package

How I felt: Over all I am very proud of completed my runs! I was a bit out of shape, but I know that I will be in shape in no time. My legs are sore, hopefully it will wear off soon. 

Zombies are Coming!! - Care Package

I am so excited for Joe to get this care package! I have been wanting to make it for a while now, but every time I go to make it I get another genius idea. I have a few more ideas brewing, however I decided to make this care package. I got the idea of sending a zombie themed package because Joe was reading World War Z. To be honest, I am not even sure if he liked the book. I was a bit nervous that this wasn't going to come out as planned. I have seen many zombie boxes on instagram and they don't look clean (which I guess could be the look that you can go for). I am very happy with the outcome of the box.

Inside of the box I included the following:

• Walking Dead Season 1
• 10 Zombie Movies
• The Zombie Survival Guide 
• Nerf Gun - To shoot Zombies
• Nerf Ammo 
• Zombie Targets - these were given to me from a shooting range 
• Zombie Repellent - Sunscreen
• Smelly Shoe Balls - To keep his shoes smelling good, Zombies can smell feet from miles away
• Gushers, Fruit Roll Ups, Fruit by the foot - I like to send him these sugary snacks because I don't eat them and they will not be in our house. Hopefully he enjoys them while it lasts.
• Popcorn- to eat while he watches the movies

I also included a little note addressed to him letting him know that Zombies are coming!! Hopefully he enjoys this care package as much as I enjoyed making it!

When it rains it pours, but the sun will come out

Yesterday, I was having a horrible day. It just seemed like nothing was going right. I am having some troubles adjusting to some changes that are happening in my office.

To give you some background, I moved to LA to open up an office. I successfully opened and operate a 1 man show for a company that has 6 other offices. The other 6 offices have 5 plus people in each office, some even have close to 20. I have enjoyed working alone with little to no guidance. I think it has given me the ability to grow as a professional. My work world, as I know it, drastically changed about 2 months ago when the owner of the company let me know that someone from another office was moving to LA to help me out. I was so excited that this was happening.  I would finally be able to breath a little bit. I would have someone to share the responsibilities with and someone to share my daily route with. Let me note that this guy is my senior, he has been with the company for almost 10 years.

Everything was going fine, he had his first visit to LA about a month and a half ago and it was wonderful. He was very happy with my work, how I set up the office, and my general reputation that I have been able to maintain with my colleagues,  my clients, and my vendors. He made another trip down to LA to cover me for my vacation to Hawaii. He used this time to look for an apartment and to come in like a Hurricane (this was an analogy that a co-worker from the other west coast office gave me). He instantly was changing everything that I had set up, he was micromanaging me, cc'ing everyone on emails, and I felt like he was trying to find things that I am doing wrong. When he would change things he would say things like " this is how we do it in my office". It was really frustrating me and I couldn't just let it go. It was literately making my stomach hurt. I was un-happy and my suite mates could tell. Why do I let something like this get to me? I have spent some time thinking about it, it's because I created this office and I have maintained it all by my self for 1 year now. I feel like it is a personal attack on the job that I have done.

All day yesterday I was trying to focus on the positives. I have a wonderful boyfriend, I have an amazing family, and I have great friends.  I also have someone that I can talk to about work, who always listens to me complain. He helps me whenever I ask for help and I know he will be on my side and defend me .  Thank you RP!

After my horrible month day at work I decided to go for a run with my little sister. I am currently training for the Diseyland 1/2 Marathon and 3 miles was on my agenda. I was so frustrated with my work situation that I just tuned out the world and ran. I finished the 3 miles in about 26 minutes and logged my fasted mile. 8 min 35 seconds! This is not PR for the mile, but I think it is a big accomplishment for the week. I haven't been running for months and this is my first week back to running so I am ecstatic about that time.

When I got back to my room I had 2 cards from Joe. I love getting cards from him. I'll be sure to write about the cards shortly. After a short break, I left and went to Zumba. I haven't been since before my vacation and I was in need of it. I find that working out with someone is a really big friendship builder and makes friendships that last. I am lucky to have a friend to Zumba with .

So, although my work situation is not ideal, I am so thankful for the other people that I have in my life. One day, I will find that dream job and life will be grand. But until that day, I am going to enjoy the relationships and friends that I have, because I know those same people will be by my side when it rains and when it shines.

Koko Head - Hawaii

One of the things that I wanted to do on my trip to Hawaii was go on a hike! I love hiking. Stevee and I try to go on at least one hike per week. I like to take advantage of living in LA and actually having mountains to hike.

I really wanted to go on Stairway to Heaven, but since it isn't exactly legal to be on it, we decided to go to Koko Head. From what I gathered, Koko head was an old military look out spot with a Pill Box on the top. For those who don't know what a Pill Box is ( I had no idea), it is a concrete box with a look out. There are other things up there also. The Koko Head trail is made from an old railroad, but it just feels like a bunch of stairs. I was eager to start this trail. I started off feeling really good. The first quarter of it is not that difficult, it is a slight incline. 

Then you get to the bridge. I would have to say that this is the scariest part of the whole thing. Although the bridge is not that long, it seams like you are on it forever. The bridge is the most well kept part of the entire railroad, as you can see in the picture below. Just standing there for a little while you see many different ways that people cross it. The bridge is about half way to the top and there are plenty of spots to rest before you go across it. There is also an alternative route to the right that you can take, but of course I had to take the bridge.

The final part of the trail is the most difficult. It is seems to be straight up. It's like never ending stairs. The worst part of it was all of the locals who are flying by you. This hike isn't very difficult, it just gets your heart rate going. There are people of all ages on the hike, we saw a little girl who was about 5 and an older man well into his sixties. The views are amazing on the way up and even better at the top.

Once you are up top, keep going to the right to see the old military look outs. It is so amazing what can be seen up there. We spent about 20 minutes up there but we could have spent more time. You can see a lot of the island from that point. Overall the Koko Head trail was very cool and I would recommend it to anyone who plans on going to Hawaii and likes to hike.