At the Cross of Cavalry

Update!

2009-02-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

Hey! Just a quick update, for any of you who still happen to read my blog!

I've been kept quite busy these several months. Mostly with CAP- Civil Air Patrol, the US Air Force Auxiliary. I have a staff position in my squadron (the smaller, county-based units. I'm a Flight Commander), and have a few positions in the Wing (the state of Washington). Those are temporary, and include Cadet Training Instructor of the Cadet Basic Training School for WCA (Western Cadet Academy), and until recently, C/Executive Officer of the Challenger Program (Emergency Services and Search and Rescue training). I'm still actively involved in Challenger, but since it's recent overhaul, the staff has been wiped-out and still need to be re-established. I've been trying to start a Color Guard for Competitions next month, so until then, I will be busy with my nose stuck in some manual or other. Mostly AFMAN 36-2203. ;) I've also arranged for a tour of McChord AFB for my squadron, so one of these days we will go and explore a C-17, the Fire Department, EOD, SFS (Ravens), aeromedical evacuation training facility, air tower training facility, and the maintenance facility. We will also tour the O-DFAC, the best place for food on the planet. :D

Other than CAP, I've been busy with school. I'm taking a sweet chemistry class, and manage to keep my grade up by the essay-summaries in my lab book. teehee. I'll be enrolling in Running Start at Olympic College this next fall, and am excited to finally "start" school. Last fall I ran Cross Country with North Kitsap High School, lettered, and placed 3rd on Junior Varsity and placed 4th for JV Olympic League. I love to run! After a minor hip injury took me out right after the season, I'm finally back to running and will soon begin the track and field season as a middle-distance runner.

Let's see.. I got my permit (driving... flying is going to have to wait), and went out on my first drive today. I succeeding in COMPLETELY freaking my mom out for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4-5th time in my life. I think next time I'll take my papa-san for a drive. He's a little harder to ruffle. :)

I also discovered that my dream of becoming a fighter pilot for the Navy is exactly that. A dream. Because of my height and weight, I would end up snapping my spine if I ever had to eject. So, instead of going through USNA and getting a Navy commision, I'll go as USMC. That way, after I get my commision, I can choose between combat pilot (in case technology advances for us shorties) or attack helo pilot. Flying (correction, being "repelled" in) a Supercobra for the Devil Dogs wouldn't be half bad. ;)

Well that basically sums up my life for the past several months! I've been truly blessed by a wonderful God who has shown me His mercy.. My life has been changed and I enjoy every minute of it! I pray that God will also bless you and that you will come to realize the saving power of his love. Take care, and until next time!
Cat

September 11th, 2001

2008-09-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

What were you doing on that Tuesday morning seven years ago? What were you doing this morning? I ask that all of you devote a few minutes of your time to those who lost their lives in that brutal attack on our country, if you've already done so, do so again. I was (by coincidence) in the same place at around the same time this morning that I was seven years ago, and it was tough. I was in constant playback mode, and it was very sobering. One thing I have never been able to understand is this: how can someone see pictures of those towers, before, during, and after the attack, and not feel the need to do something about it, to retaliate? Should we have sat and done nothing, instead of go after Bin Laden and the Taliban? Sure, we've gotten rid of the Taliban, and Bin Laden is in hiding, so our job is done now, mission accomplished, right? Wrong! There are still terrorists (al Qaeda) who wish to do evil in the same way as Bin Laden's Taliban did, and are we going to allow another 9/11/01 to happen? 2998 people lost their lives that day. God forbid that it takes another tragedy to show the deceited, ungrateful, selfish people of America that there is an evil in this world that needs to be confronted and extinguished.
Lest we Forget-

Cascade Falcon XIII, Basic Encampment Summer 2008

2008-08-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Oorah! It's been awhile since I've posted, and with good reason! I left on the 9th of August for Washington Wing's (WAWG) basic encampment, Cascade Falcon XIII (CFXIII), got back on the 15th, and then left again for Camp High Rock (CHR) at White Pass, WA on the 17th, and then got back from that on the 22nd. Because I have so much to post, I'm splitting it up into two posts, with photos over at Picasa. So, I will begin with Cascade Falcon XIII.

Cascade Falcon is the basic encampment for WAWG, were all CAP cadets, regardless of current grade, attend their first encampment as a Cadet Airman Basic. The week is spent in training which includes everything from drill to customs and courtesies, PT, military bearing, leadership, aerospace education, and tons more. This particular encampment had three Squadrons and six flights. Squadron 1 consisted of Alpha and Bravo, Squadron 2 Charlie and Delta, and Squadron 3 Echo and Foxtrot. I was part of Charlie Flight (the girls' flight), Squadron 2. Now on to the good stuff... we arrived at Camp Murray to see lines of cadets standing at parade rest, waiting to be filed into the Admin building and signed in. I have no clue how long the initial check in process took, but it did take awhile, and the whole time we were in line we had staff yelling at us to "Move with a purpose!" "Look straight ahead!" "Position of Attention!" "Did you just look at me?!" "That was an officer! why didn't you brace him/her?" etc. Very unnerving. I finally got inside, had to answer a lot of questions about medical stuff, and then it was time to go outside. I went out, was greeted an officer that was standing right there, and was directed to report to my flight sergeant. I screwed that report up, tried again, got it right, and then waited for more cadets to report and fall in. Pretty much that entire first day (Day 0) was a shake down, and it was murderous. The worst part was when my Flight Com or 1Sgt would come up behind me, ask a question, and scream at me when I addressed them wrong. It took me all that day to learn to differentiate between their voices. Day 1 was basically the same sort of shake down, when the staff picked and pried at you to try and break you. I think we got up at 5am to the sound of whistles and Flight staff yelling at us to get out of bed and on the line now it shouldn't take this long. A minute or so later we were outside and on our way to The Field for a bout of PT. For me, that PT was no sweat. Couple warmups, a short run with jodies and cadence, and that's that. It was gradually increased throughout the week, but until the big PT test on Thursday, it wasn't too difficult. Anyway, we were marched back to our barracks, and because Squadron Two (S2) was up on The Hill, we had about 5 minutes to change from PT gear to BDUs. Crazy hard, especially for us girls. But we did it before Delta, our S2 counterpart. The rest of the day continued with the whole stressed-out-frenzied-basics-are-fun-to-watch, and by the end of the day, we were all able to sleep a few hours before getting up for Day2. That's basically how the entire week was spent, with a few glorious highlights that I'll enlighten you on. Wednesday was pretty fun, as we got to use all that pent up energy and excitement without getting yelled at for it. We were shown some infantry tactics, and so we did buddy rushes up and down a big field a few times. Basically you start in the prone position (face in the dirt), push yourself up with your left hand, shout "I'm up!", run a few paces, shout "They see me!", and throw yourself prone with "I'm down!", and repeat, repeat, and repeat again. For the buddy rushes, you just do that in a leap frog pattern, and when you are with a team, the gunner and assistant gunner leapfrog and the rifleman and teamleader leapfrog. We did the team rush and secured a building using the ADRAC (is that how it is?) and SAFE acronyms, and what those stand for I forget. After that and some lunch chow, we headed out to an acre or so of woods to shoot some staff members. C/LtCol P (Encampment CC) basically told us that there was a downed pilot in the woods, a bunch of enemy, and we had to retrieve the pilot by dividing into a medic team and a defensive team. Only the defense could "shoot" (shout "bang bang bang you're dead" when the enemy is sighted) the enemy (staff with towels on their heads... a few of them, anyhow), but both the defense and medics could be "shot" and "killed" (three minute time out) by the enemy. On our second try we retrieved the pilot and shoved him in the back of one of the CAP vans and so completed the mission. After that, we headed out to another field where C/1Lt B gave us two giant chests, a bag of old army helmets to go around, and the directions to cross the field before you got shot or the enemy found you. Oh yeah, the chests had "confidential" material inside, and we had to keep that from the enemy (more staff members) at all costs. After about three tries, we never completed that mission. It was Charlie and Delta, and each time half of us ended up "dead" in the middle of the field. Some Delta guy tried to rescue me, but ran straight into the line of fire and ended up dead. Another Delta guy tried to retrieve the first Delta guy, and he too went belly up. The biggest event of the day was during evening formation and Charlie flight was awarded Honor Flight Day 4. That was absolutely incredible for me, as I had worked really hard with my team to get that far. Our flight sergeant (C/MSgt R) discovered that the only way to really motivate us to get Honor Flight was the cookies we would recieve for dessert, so that's what he used. "Do you want them cookies?!" "Yes, SERGEANT!" "THEN GET THEM COOKIES!" "YES SERGEANT!!!" We ended up earning those cookies, but unfortunately DFac forgot and we never did eat them cookies. I cried after formation, and that was because when we were dismissed, Sgt R went around a shook hands with everybody. When he got to me, the look in his eyes was beyond words. The best I can describe it is with the quote from Babe: "That'll do pig, that'll do". Thursday was the big PT test, where we had a mile run, pushups, situps, and the sit n' reach to complete and score in. I did a 7:15 mile, which was disappointing, as my record is 6:39. Situps I got about 56, but my record in that is 65. I still did better than most of S2, only a few guys (two?) beat me there. I rocked the sit/reach with a 46 1/2 cm, and grossed out the C/Lt who was scoring that. I also scored pretty high on pushups, with 51 of those. I came in second for the whole of S2, and the guys who came in first got 96. Back up to The Hill, into our BDUs, and over to McChord for the C17 flight. That was pretty darn awesome, and I had a lot of fun. I didn't get to spend as much time in the cockpit as I would have liked, but I didn't really have a choice. I got some spectacular pictures of Mt Rainier before and after the 60^ bank and of the surrounding area. After that, we went up to The Hill, cleaned up our barracks super good for the White Glove Inspection, and then change into Blues for the formation inspection and Drill Eval. We did pretty well on our White Glove (didn't win it, though), but our formation inspection totally flopped. We all got gigged on something, and half of us screwed up our memory work. I didn't screw that, but my POA (position of attention) gig line was messed up (the guidon wasn't exactly straight) and I had an IP on the epaullette button. Dang it. Oh well. We did ok on our Drill Eval, and the stuff we messed up was the stuff that our flight staff had forgotten to teach us. Namely, Hand Salute and Dress Left, Dress were the two we messed up. That night was the Banquet, which was ok. I was sitting at the table right next to a staff table, and those LTs and NCOs were being ridiculously silly. I mean, the basics were better behaved than they were. A little after everyone ate they started giving out the awards. When they started calling up people for Flight Honor Cadets (Most outstanding cadet for each flight), I started getting slightly nervous. I was called up for Charlie Honor Cadet, Smith (Delta Guidon Bearer, awesome cadet) got Delta HC, and Basile got Foxtrot HC. Then came Encampment Honor Cadet, the award given to the most outstanding cadet of the entire encampment. I wad tingling with adrenaline, and could not wait for them to announce the name. So when I heard "Cadet Sedy front and center", I nearly dropped dead. I walked up there, shook the CC's hand, had my picture taken a couple times, and then dizzily made my way back to my seat. The whole of Charlie Flight was waiting for me, and as soon as I got over to my table they were all over me; shaking my hand, fist punching, hugging, shouting, slapping my back, etc, and I just broke down. The support that I got from Charlie and multitudes of other cadets was overwhelming, and I simply could not hold it all in. The next day, Friday, was the Pass in Review Parade. We changed into PT gear and went down to morning formation, went back up The Hill and packed up our stuff. We ate breakfast at the barracks in the courtyard thingy, Charlie in circle in one corner and Delta in the other corner. After breakfast all the officers and guidon bearers were taken away to practice and rehearse the Pass in Review parade (PNR), so I retrieved my guidon and hopped into a van with the officers and guidon bearers of S2. We went down to the parade field and spent a good hour or so (I have no idea, really, as we weren't allowed anywhere near a clock, watch, or other time piece) practicing for PNR. That was fun. All those staff members can be absolutely hilarious, especially when they think there are no basics around. I guess they forgot that the guidon bearers were present. :) The actual parade went pretty well, and Charlie flight recieved two more awards: PT Award (for the highest percentages of PT scores) and Warrior Flight (the most motivated, loud, or jody-awesome flight ). Those two awards are perhaps the most masculine awards of the encampment, so it was pretty hilarious that Charlie got them. After PNR we had some pictures taken, and then we were marched back to the admin building to claim our gear, check out, and leave. On the march back, Sgt R started the "Napalm sticks to Babies" (pretty gruesome) jody with these words: "I want you to sound off, but not too loud, ok?" Of course, all 15 Charlie girls sound off as loud as we darn well could, and were more than happy to show that jody off to all the parents waiting to pick the cadets up. After Charlie had checked out we all grouped together and I lead the flight in a jody that Cadet K had created the night before, and we rocked the place. There was one dude (probably a parent or relative of a cadet) who was video taping us. Whoohoo!! I ended up hanging around for awhile, long enough that we (Basile, Brink, and I) were the last basics left. The kitchen staff had tons of extra snack food left, so they invited us to take all we wanted. That was seriously really fun, as we had been outlawed from sugary foods that entire week, and we ate what DFac served us. I packed up a pretty good-sized box of snackfood to take home, although half the box never returned. It was greatly appreciated by Yours Truly. :) Pictures of Cascade Falcon are over at Picasa, so you can go check those out here.
Next post: Camp High Rock!

Photo Essay- Around the House

2008-08-07T14:57:00.001-07:00

A bee on a flower in a flowerpot

Some type of daisy growing in a flower pot

My doggy, Ranger! Half German shepherd half Australian shepherd. Goofiest, loyalest dog on the planet

My youngest brother, Justin, takes a nap during a movie. Yes, he's actually asleep

My sister L's worst nightmare... Literally. The thing jumped out and scared her half to death; she went running all the way upstairs all out of breath and gasping: "A...A a a s..s.sspider!! I-in my r-r-oom!" We caught the thing, sprayed some Scrub Free into the container, let it sit the night, and then I took the corpse out and moved it into this position for a photoshoot.

Enjoy the pictures! Just as a note, this will be my last blog post for a while. I'll be gone at a Civil Air Patrol Encampment and then with my church for a Missions Trip, and then I'll most likely be busy with work and CAP for a while after that. My boss wasn't so happy when I told him I'd be gone for two weeks. I guess I'm the 4th person to ask off, and two of those other people are shift leads. That's about half of the workers, I think. Little less, maybe. Stay cool while I'm gone, and don't you go complaining about the summer heat! It finally heats up and I like it that way. Till later
MitchCat

Books to Read

2008-08-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Michael Yon's Moment of Truth in Iraq - The real happenings in Iraq from 2005-2008. I had no idea what it's really like over in Iraq, but now I've got a pretty solid idea of the goings on in the past 3 years. Details the Anbar Awakening, the civil wars, the media war, Mosul, the 1920 Revloution Brigades and their faithfulness to the US, and much, much more. If you want to check it out at the library, put it on hold now; there's a list of people waiting for it.

Sort of self-explanatory, but Mattew Currier Burden's The Blog of War is a collection of blog writings from soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and writings from the homefront. A great book made from great blogs, but remember, soldiers use plenty of foul language, and it comes up frequently in many (most) of the blog writings. The blog postings mostly detail the daily life of a soldier serving in the Middle East, with a few sections devoted to the homefront. Enjoy!
MitchCat

McChord Air Expo 2008 Photo Essay

2008-07-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here are the pictures from McChord. Gianni hasn't posted anything, so I figured I might as well. Just know that these are all from their camera, and most of them his mom took. I take no credit! These are in reverse order of events, but we get to start off with the biggest attraction:

The Thunderbirds in a five-some formation

One of the F16 Fighting Falcons

Opposing Solo Maj. Douglas (6) spirals 3 miles high

The tribute to all US Service Members completed

From the left: Gianni, Stormer, Brink, Sedy (Wasowski), and Sedy (me). PCS in a nutshell.

Brink and I chillax in a Pontiac Solstice. Sweet ride

Can't meet the Thunderbird pilots without getting a picture, so from the left: Maj Douglas (6) Maj Poteet (4), Brink, Nye, Sedy (Wasoski), Sedy (me), Gianni, LtCol Skelton (7), Stormer, and Capt Ploetz (11)

The CAP's glider trailor... That thing was so small, it was really cool to watch them unload it and set the glider up.

Sunday morning staff briefing. I can pick out: Chief Nye (second left), SSgt Bell (middle, back turned), Lt Stancikas (second right), and Chief Brandon (first right, back turned)

Cruz, me, and Doyle.

Part of a column of 50+ cadets before the C17 tour

Heading out to the C17

Cockpit tour! It's pretty darn cool up there

The C17

I got my camera yesterday, so for now on my posts will not be pictureless! I like the W80, except that the transfer speed is significantly slower than the older W55 model. Hmm. It's still a nice little camera. :)
MitchCat

McChord Air Expo 08

2008-07-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

McChord Air Expo 2008, the first expo McChord has held in three years due to war efforts drew 377,616 people over Saturday and Sunday, July 19-20th. Was I there? You bet I was, along with more than 50 other CAP cadets who came to help out and have a blast. CAP started its Air Expo weekend on Friday morning to set up, settle down, tour the aircraft, watch the Thunderbirds practice, and go to a hangar party and meet the Thunderbird pilots and crew. That was fun. The Spazmatics (uh huh) played all evening during the party, and wow! They were, um, interesting, to say the least. Sort of like a pop band out of the 70's... It was still cool. We had the opportunity to meet the pilots, which was really cool. After a big briefing we settled down to a movie, none other than "The Final Countdown": an old movie about the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) that gets put back in time to December 6th, 1941, and has no real plot line. After the movie I was asked: "what was the point of that movie?" And I could only think of one answer. I haven't the foggiest! Eventually we got to bed around midnight, in tents that the Air Force set up for us and on cots that were provided but that we had to set up. I was cot master, seriously. I went through about 3 tents (each had 10+ cots) and would pop the end bars into place with half the effort that other people were using. There was this one that Gianni couldn't get and I just grabbed the lever bar and pluncked the end bar into place on the first shot. I felt good after that, and kept putting cots together until it was time to form up into flights. hehehe. Up at 5 am Saturday morning and out the door (flap, more like) to breakfast and the flight line. I was stationed at ECP 1 (Entry Control Point), and for about an hour or so had no work to do. The programs hadn't arrived, the public was barely arriving, so I hung out with two other cadets and a senior member until the giant military forklift came with a large pallet of programs. We started knifing the plastic wrap and ties, and then started handing out programs as the people came through the ECP. While I was doing that, an USAF Airman was wanding people for knives or other weapons, and he handed a knife back to me and told me to pocket it. I didn't hear what he said, so I threw it away (like they're supposed to). He saw me do that and said "What?! You didn't pocket that? (seeing the look on my face) Well, next time I give you a knife, pocket it!" Cool! Sure enough, the next knife he confiscated he handed to me, and it made its way into my pocket. Whoohoo! Around 4:00 ish (I actually have no idea, just a guess), all the CAP cadets were pulled onto the flightline to patrol the crowd line while the Thunderbirds performed. We got to watch, and we were super up-close. I was right in front of the parked F-16s, and when they were starting up, those screaming engines just about drove one mad. After the Birds were airborne, we got to sit down and watch. They have some pretty awesome maneuovers, my favorite being the High Bomb Blast and the sneak attack that Maj Weeks used to scare the crud out of the crowd. She just roared over right behind one formation really low and freaked everybody out. The noise is more of a feeling, and you can feel it everywhere. Mostly it's your ears, and it feels and sounds like they're being ripped to shreads. I loved it. Every second of it was amazing. The F-15 Eagles and the F/A-18 Hornets also made some low passes, and those were equally thrilling as well. Saturday night we watched Transformers, which I saw for the first time. It's ok, but not the best. My favorite part was the little Japanese cellphone that got transformed into a tiny robot. Oh I forgot to mention: All the briefings/debriefings and movie-watching took place in a theater across the road. The movies were awesome on the bigscreen. Sunday was also 5 am wake-up time, at least out-of-bed time. I didn't wake up till about 9am or so. That day I was again stationed at ECP 1, so I missed out on all the parkinglot perimetering stuff in the hot sun with nothing to do but stand there and make sure the people had their IDs. This time at ECP I was wanding people, so I was the one confiscating knives. hehehe. I got three of them, and the AF Sgt let me keep them. That's not really allowed, but anyhow. The kids got a kick out of being wanded. Some would walk up with arms outstretched and feet apart, and so I'd do the whole shbang and wand them all over. We really only had to quickly wand the guys, but for the kids that wanted it I'd make them stand there and get wanded. They were smiling the whole time and thought it was the greatest thing. Exact opposite of some of the older participants. This one guy was super angry at me when I discovered his double Swiss Army knife. You have two choices if you get caught with a knife- take it back to your car or throw it away. This guy had taken the bus. So, he thought he could get it around me and he was being super difficult so I told him to talk to the AF Sgt (the same that allowed me to keep the knives), and the Sgt ended up throwing the knife away. The guy was still glaring at me when he came back and I had to wand him again. I didn't feel bad, I was fed up with him by the time he was finally through the gate. We did the same patrolling for the Thunderbirds again, but this time we had to keep standing up and facing the crowd. I sneaked a look at the foursome cross they do, and they missed. I saw it coming, and I couldn't believe it when I saw the fourth plane miss the cross with the other planes by a second. That must've been disappointing, but it was still cool. The narrator decided not to tell the crowd that the "four planes crossed simultaneuosly with less than 50 feet seperating them from each other". Altogether it was an awesome weekend, very fun but very hot and very hard, and a lot of no-repeats for next time. I loved it, and can't wait to do another. I'll have some pictures up shortly. I didn't have my camera (how many times have I said that?), so all I've got are the ones that Gianni's family took. He'll get his pick of the crop and I'll glean the rest of the presentable ones.
MitchCat
Oh I did buy a camera off ALL HAIL eBay, it's a little Sony (only reason for Sony again is because of the equipment I have that's Sony-only compatible) DSCW80, one model up from the old DSCW55. It should be getting here fairly soon, as the seller was an actual business and not a private seller. Whoohoo!

Prayer Needed

2008-07-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

BBC News, Wednesday, July 16 2008

US troops abandon Afghan outpost

Kunar has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict

US and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote village in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine US soldiers and wounded a dozen more on Sunday.

A statement said the outpost had been temporary and that "regular patrols" in the area would be maintained.

Afghan police are continuing to fight insurgents after the pullout on Tuesday, local officials say.

The attack caused the biggest American loss of life in battle in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.

Nato says the rebels also suffered heavy casualties.

It did not name the attackers but there has been a sharp increase in Taleban attacks in the country, and in that region in particular, although other rebel groups are also known to operate there.

'Disestablished'

At least 100 - some reports say 200 - insurgents stormed the small combat outpost in the village of Wanat on the border of Nuristan and Kunar provinces on Sunday.

Some militants briefly broke through defences and into the temporary base.

"We are confirming that we have vacated our combat outpost at Wanat," said Nato spokesman Mark Laity.

The outpost had only been constructed days before it was attacked.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) announced the camp had now been "disestablished" but said there would be a "continued presence" in the area - namely patrols and the use of Afghan security forces.

Omar Sami Taza, a spokesman for the governor of Nuristan, said US troops had withdrawn from the area, "leaving the district in the hands of only 20 policemen".

"American troops have taken all heavy weapons out of the district," he told the BBC. "This is why we have lost the district to the Taleban because our police couldn't defend it with one AK-47."

However, the local police chief, Hazarat Ali, told the BBC: "Our police are still in the district, the elders are backing us. We have not lost our district."

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says there are many of these small outposts scattered across eastern Afghanistan as part of the US counter-insurgency strategy which is being followed to the letter in this area.

Our correspondent says the idea is to get small groups of international troops and Afghan security forces out on the ground as a permanent presence to instil more confidence in the local people and show they can provide security, rather than just visiting the area on patrol.

The danger for Nato is they risk being outnumbered and attacked, or even overrun, as almost happened in the raid at the weekend.

There had been reports from Afghan local officials of civilian casualties caused by bombing in the aftermath of the attack on the base, but Nato also put out a statement denying this.

They said the only bombs dropped were more than 40km (25 miles) away from the villages named by local officials.
_________________

I ask all who read this to pray for our troops in Afghanistan. Now is the time our troops need the support of the nation they defend. Please pray for them and ask the Lord to give them strength to continue, and strength to stand back up and again bring the fight back to the enemy. It may not feel like you're doing much, but prayer is the greatest thing we can do to help our troops.

Independance Day 08 - 232 Years of Freedom

2008-07-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Parties, BBQs, friends and family, fireworks, nice weather (I never said "wonderful" or "good"), and forgetfulness. I'm not talking about the insanely stupid people who forget that lighting an explosive something and holding it longer than there is fuse has not-so-jolly consequences, I'm talking about forgetfulness of what the 4th of July really is. Independance Day is a celebration of the day America became a nation, independant of any other country, and began it's struggle for freedom. Yes, we did have the freedoms we wanted since that day in 1776, but it was hard won, and there was still a lot to overcome. Every war the United States of America has fought since that day have all been for one cause: Freedom. Regaining, conserving, or liberating a foreign country, it's all for the Freedoms that we take for granted. We've lived here in the States our whole lives, so we don't know what it's like beyond our borders. Enslaved, tortured, desease-ridden, oppressed, and dying countries that have no hope of freedom, yet strive for it every day. These people value what little freedoms they have, because it's all they have. How do Americans value freedom? Not very high, because it's what they're used to, and they take it for granted that they will always live that way. My favorite is the Code Pink people and the people with the signs reading "Thank God for IEDS" and "Kill the US Soldiers" and such. The very people they are protesting, hating, and despising are the people who gave their lives for freedom, one of those freedoms being the Freedom of Speech. They are free to express their opinions in such a way because of our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen die for the freedoms that the protestors use against them. Call it stupidity, call it misguided, call it whatever you like, but I prefer to call it evil. Only evil can so completely lead a person to repeatedly do such things, and only evil can make it look right to the eyes of those participating. Nowadays there is much evil in our country, and if evil is given a foothold, it will grow and prosper in US citizens. Remember the 4th, what it stands for, and contemplate what freedom means to you, a citizen of the greatest country on God's green Earth.

Update!

2008-07-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post anything from our CAP meetings, but this is the exception.
Last night was a 5th Monday, so a civvies day and also a party night at our squadron building. Instead, our CC made it into a VERY necessary cleaning day, although we all brought some food to share afterwards. We started off by cleaning up the pinecones outside. No kidding!! we made a huge pile of ALL the pinecones, and then ferried them over to the gully where we left them. So now more tripping over those lousy things when you're hurrying somewhere, until the next big wind comes in. Oh well, it looks good now, if it only stays that way for a week. Inside, we vacuumed the whole floor of the Cadet Room, and pulled chairs around and such. We also moved two tables into the middle to create a classroom setting. It looks nice. The windows were cleaned inside and out, the kitchen was cleaned, Logistics was tidyied, and the MREs that were up on that shelf?They're gone, at least most of them. I have the 12 of them that weren't chewed upon by mice. The picture is of one of the culprits that was stupid enough to eat the stuff that wasn't food, the dry-packs, or whatever. All's left of it was a skeleton with about half the insides still inside. The pictures are the ones I took. Yea, I know, I'm morbid to no end, but I couldn't pass it off. I mean, a mouse skeleton with half the inside? How cool is that! I also came away with 12 MREs that weren't chewed open at all. 5 Chicken Stews, 3 Chunky Beef Stews, 3 Chopped Beef, and 1 Beef with Noodles. All of them came with bread, a chocolate chip granola bar, a beverage base powder, salt, sugar, and pepper. I'm so keeping these things.. I'll take them camping or something, or bring them to some CAP event just for kicks.
I sent my camera in to Sony, and they might do something for it. It's still under the 1 year warranty, but I think dropping it in saltwater counts as "misuse", and if that doesn't, then taking the covers off sure does. It's scheduled to arrive at Sony on July 8th; I'm just hoping I can get it back by the 18th. Fat chance, but I'm really gonna hate myself if I don't have it for the McChord expo. :(
Well, I hope you're not eating anything, because I don't think you can actually "enjoy" these pics. :)
Cat

Bomber Fly In (Edit)

2008-06-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Edits:
Here is a pic of all three bombers together- the B24 "Witchcraft" is closest, the B17 "909" in the middle, and the B25 "Tondalayo"is the farthest. These are the bombers from the fly in. Oh and the fly in is actually the Wings of Freedom Tour 2008, put on by the Collings Foundation.

Bomber Fly In

2008-06-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, curses on my clumsiness and saltwater's corrosiveness! Yesterday I went to the Tacoma Narrows Airport for the Bomber Fly In with 6 other cadets from my squadron. It was a beautiful day with an average temperature of about 75, but an out-on-the-tarmac temp of about 85. All of us cadets were in uniform and basically we exercised our awesome crowd control abilities. Hardly. When the ropes were not up, we acted as the ropes and created a perimeter. The hardest part was to keep the people behind the cones when there wasn't a rope and the bombers were starting up. You know, the casual photographer steps up to take a picture, somebody follows and goes a bit farther, and soon you've got a giant breach in your section of the perimeter. And then it's the whole "Sir/Ma'am, you need to go back behind the cones; the bombers are starting up, and they need their room" or something like that. If they didn't listen to that, then you add that it's for their safety and we don't want them getting a mouthful of spinning prop. It'd be awefully hard to do that as we keep the people pretty far back, but you never know if the odd beserker just might decide to get an up-close-and-personal view of the bombers. Plus it usually scares the crud out of people. The show consisted of a B-17 Stratofortress, a B-25 Mitchell bomber, and a B-24 Liberator, and the added bonus of a rare C-class trainer P-51 Mustang. All bombers but the B-24 went up for a couple runs, and the -17 and -25 were taking passengers, if you bought a ticket for 440$ bucks. Awoooogah!! It does cost an average of 4000$ dollars to operate a bomber per hour, so it all goes to the bombers' mantainance and fuel. The Mustang went up a couple times, and made a couple of low-altitude fly-bys. Those were pretty cool. Towards the end of the show, the Collins Foundation (which sponsors the bombers) gave CAP one ticket to ride the B-17. A CAP Squadron Commander told the cadet commander for the event to choose one cadet to have the ride, and I ended up getting chosen. When I heard that I was pretty much rooted to the spot with my chin hanging down by my toes. I was seriously not expecting that. So on the second -17's flight, I got to go up for a 20-minute ride around the area and back. I sat right behind the pilot's seat, on the floor. Another kid sat behind the co-pilot's seat. We were told to sit there because we were the smallest people on the flight, and you can't exactly tell an elderly guy to go and sit down on the floor and buckle in. Before the take-off the kid told me "you look a little young to be in the Army." !!!!!!! I nearly couldn't help myself from laughing my head off, but I eventually told him that I wasn't in the Army; I am in CAP, the USAf Auxiliary, and that it's sort of like the JROTC programs but not. To a person who hasn't even heard of CAP, JROTC is a good a picture of it as any. Anyway I never stayed in one spot that entire ride for more than a minute or two. As soon as we were allowed up and out of our seats, I pretty much dashed to the nose. Amazing up there. The nose gunner sits in this little clear bubble-like thing, and so you can look down between your feet and see the ground a couple thousand feet below. Amazing feeling. And then it was down the waist section, right above the wings. You could actually stick your head out of the top of bomber and get your face blasted by wind with the airspeed at 145 mph. When you turn into the wind, you can't breath and it feels like your eyeballs are gonna pop out. That was cool. When you turn around and you try lifting your hand up to wave to the Mustang looping around you, it's almost impossible to keep it up. Maybe it's the fact that I was hanging by my elbows with my shoulders and head out of the bomber and my feet a good foot off the floor that it was hard to keep up, but in any case the -51 passenger never waved back. The tail gunner turret was off-limits; the crew keep their stuff there, and so it was closed off. I also spent a little time watching the pilot and copilot, in fact I was leaning on the back of the copilot's chair. They've added some new things to the controls; they didn't exactly have everything they have in there now back in the 1940's. I also did pushups on the catwalk, which was different. So now I can say that I did pushups in one of eight surviving B-17s when I was ------- feet in the air. I forgot to look, stupid me. So I don't have any pictures to prove it, but I will get a picture of me when I'm coming out of the -17 afterwards. Another cadet took the picture and said he would send it to me, so hopefully he doesn't forget. But here, I've posted pictures from the internet of each of the bombers and the mustang, so you can see what they look like.
Cat

The B-25 Mitchell bomber- the Mitchells carried out the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, and Gen. Jimmy Doolittle's nephew is the commander of the Mitchell at the airshow. Briefed us cadets on the bomber, the raid, and made sure to tell us that the -25 was the A-10 of it's day

The B-24 Liberator- the "unsung hero" of the War.

The B-17 Stratofortress- the one I went in wasn't silver, but still super-cool

The P-51C Mustang, the Betty Jane, which just so happens to be the exact same one that was at the Fly In. Sweet!

Good Times, and Bad

2008-06-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Let's see... Where to start? Oh yeah. Sunday was the Olympic College Commencement Ceremony, and my sister Leah graduated with an AA in Arts and Sciences, a president's list student with a GPA of 3.9. Go Leah! She's going to Linfield down in Oregon in August, and I think is going for a Major in Japanese. We had a big party at our place after the ceremony, and had a ton of fun. The next day, Monday, we went to Kitsap Memorial park for an impromptu picnic. We had everybody there except for dad, who was working. It was pretty cool. Beautiful sunshine, warm weather (69F), grass, beach, playground, and woods. The beach was your typical Washington coast: rocky, seaweedy, barnacle-y, and great for looking for crabs, eels, starfish, bugs, shells, clams, oysters, and beach junk and trash. We came home with a pair of purple sunglasses. Anyway, we found a couple of little starfish, so of course we pick them up and play with them, snap a few pictures, and then put them back. I, uh, ended up ripping some of the foot-things/suckers off one of them, so the next one I picked up I made sure to let it crawl off. I bent down, put my camera in my lap, and waited. The thing was almost off when Skadoosh! My camera fell into the water. Yes, saltwater. It was in about 2-3 inches of water for a second or less before I was able to grab it out, but alas, the damage was done. At least that stupid little starfish lost some more feet for his slowness. The camera was off, and I didn't turn it on at all, so I immediately popped the battery and the card out, left the compartment open, and left it to dry. Didn't turn it on again till the next day, and it wouldn't turn on. I know the battery works: the camera would start to turn on and suddenly shut off. I took out the battery, took the camera apart, put it together, and tried again. This time it turned on but the lense was flipping out. Turned it off, took out the battery, took it apart again, and left it for the rest of the afternoon. Later in the evening I tried turning it on again, and this time it worked enough to take a picture, but the playback wouldn't work. So I again took it apart and now it is sitting on my dresser-top, where it will stay in its present form, 7 or so pieces with the screws in a baggy for a couple more days. My older brother thinks it might be ok, as long as I don't turn it on anymore for a few days. And you have probably read Gianni's account of the other picnic when he dropped his camera in the lake. History repeating itself? Hmm. His camera died eventually but he's got insurance on it so he'll get a new one. So until I either get my camera working, get a little card converter thing, a new camera, or maybe transfer the pics through Joe's computer, my posts will be picture-less. Seems boring without pictures, but deal with it, and hope for the best. :)
Cat

HSS Picnic

2008-06-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Whoohoo!!! Yesterday was the annual Home School Strings End-of-the-Year Picnic at Wildcat Lake. I'm not part of HSS, but it was a family thing so I went along. It was a blast. I climbed another giant tree, and got a spectacular view of the lake. We played frisbee, and had a bread war. The owner of the camp had thrown out tons of loaves of old French bread on the grass for the ducks and geese, so you can imagine what the boys immediately started doing. And I chucked a few too. Or more than a few. But anyway. After lunch we started doing flips on the playground bar, and I managed to do a feet-first flip over the bar, eventually. Gianni started it, and then my brother Mike did a few, and then I was next to succeed. We got a bunch of other people trying it, but alas none others were able to complete a flip. Then we played in the boats. A couple big canoes, a few kayaks, and a row boat were deployed on the lake, and it was all hands to the boats for a while. I took Chris, Matthew, and my brother Jon (Juanny!) out on a canoe ride to feed the ducks some bread, but that didn't work out. So, I suggested beaning the ducks with the bread, but that didn't work either. I, uh, ended up starting a full-blown sopping-wet bread war, every vessel for themself, in which nearly every crew participated in some way. It was great fun until you stopped being the targeter and became the targeted. Gianni ended up dropping his camera into the lake, diving for it and flipping his kayak, saving the camera by the string as it sank. But he can tell you about that, over at his blog. If he doesn't post soon, just comment as an anonymous person and let 'im have it. :) To justify my guilt in starting this whole mess I cleaned out most the boats before putting them away. I had a bunch of help, but no way I was gonna stop till I finished every last canoe and kayak. Ended up coming home sopping wet, but it was fun. Here are some pics; I don't know if they'll all fit on one post but here they are.
cat
Oh yea... this is my 50th post!! Oo-rah!

"L" on the swing. I'm on top of the structure

The other "L" on the swing

The view from the tree I climbed. This thing was huge, with the first branches at about 8 inches diameter. Great climb. Easy, too.

Another view from the tree, this time looking to the right.

The view down, before the Frisbee game started. I see: B, L, L, Juanny, G, T, M, M, and N.

The bread... Looked delicious except for the duck-duck-goose guano.

Juanny chucks a loaf.

Mike tries the feet-first flip over the bar. Didn't make it this time.

Matthew perched on the tire-swing beam.

Chris models a new fashion in... um... you get the picture.

Front side of the canoe I was in with friend M and "the other L". I forget what we named it.

Some of the bread that was used in the bread beaning. It's got this lovely, gooey, slurpy, mushy feel to it. :)

A "Chase", a Car, and a Cha-Ching!

2008-06-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

WAOW! Guess what we did last night? It was bout 10:30 at night, we were picking up my older brother after spending the evening at G's place, and a drunk guy swerved in front of us and nearly side-swiped an oncoming vehicle. My mom did this shriek/gasp/shout which scared the heck out of me more than the drunky himself did, and the chase (follow) was on. My mom declared that "that guy is definitely drunk" when the car continued to drift all over the lane and turn the left blinker on for no reason. Mom called 911, told them the street we were on, and after I shouted "JACKSON AVENUE!" mom was able to give an exact location. Then we got close enough to see the plate, and the number read A23724Z. I shouted that out as well, and mom echoed it to the lady taking the call. Don't know what they did, but they've got his tag. So do you. :) We just followed him for another 5 minutes or so and called again to give the location of the neighborhood he entered, and then we turned around and picked up my brother. It was pretty exciting, and my mom rocks for following that guy. It was pretty cool. Now that I think about it I did have my camera with me, but mom had it in her pocket and I forgot about it. :( Oh well.

My dad mean while was in Yakama with a Gideons thingamijig, and bunny-trailed to our grandpa's to see the new toy he brought home. Grandpa drove to the East Coast somewhere, bought a old new three-quarter-ton Dodge pickup, a utility trailer, and the best of all, a fully-restored 1930's Dodge. Original engine and everything. I guess it runs, too, although he never started it while dad was over. Here's some pics:

You should know that my grandpa has two barns full of stuff, one filled with junk of all sorts, and another filled with old cars. He's got an early-seventies Dodge Charge and Ford Mustang, both of them rusted, rotted, torn, scratched, dead (most likely), rat-infested, with the keys still dangling from the ignition. It's my dream to get at least the Charger out of there and restore it. There's a number of other vehicles in there, all of them old, but the Charger and the Mustang got my full attention. :)

Major P (again!) brought up another good point on the media's reports on the war. Ever watched the news and noticed that if there is any mention on the war at all, it is the now-abnormal IED or VBIED? You never hear of the good news, such as the 7 new warehouses that have been built to store Iraqi Police equipment, the 20 captured terrorists in Tikrit, the new Iraqi Army's Command Center beginning construction, the foiled insurgents' attack in Afghanistan, or the newly-completed road in Afghanistan that will increase the province's economy. You NEVER see this stuff in the news. Probably because the media is too proud to admit that Bush was right in authorizing the surge that so dramatically caused the decrease in violence. I think it's incredible that we can watch the news without once hearing anything about the war. We are a country at war, you would think they'd have more reports about it. I'm going to email or write different news stations and comment on their "news" concerning Iraq. Please join me! It'd be great to completely flood the media with emails.
Cat

Oorah

2008-06-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Wonderful post from Major P over at One Marine's View, regarding the current situation in Iraq. This guy has phenomenal posts, but the language is a lot of times typical Marine language... Foul. If I post any of his stuff on here, I have edited the language out. If you go to the link, you will see foul language right off the bat, so be careful. This is all MajP's stuff, not mine. Enjoy!

Major P says:

"NSN-No "Stinky"* News

Good comments left by readers like YOU!

· "Eighteen American soldiers died in May, the lowest total of the war and an 86 percent drop from the 126 who died in May 2007."

· It will be an interesting campaign if the Dems continue to pull the get out of

Iraq because we are losing schpeel - - just wonder if any journalist will have the guts to say, "Um, excuse me, last we checked, we're winning."

· The surge didn’t work in Iraq …………….no really, they said that, or should I say continue to say that.

Local Sheiks in our area have continued to tell of stories about how life was with Al-Qaida present. The evil that existed and now, its not a new way of life, it’s a new era. Economy growing, shops opening, insurgents are now the outcast, not the shop owner, not the Iraqi Policeman, the insurgents. I remember how it was on my previous deployments; it was not a good way of life for any of the above, except for the enemy. Now things are back in the peoples hands. Why can’t some Americans see this? Why can’t they see the growth of the Iraq’s, their leadership taking steps, their cohesion? May be those that deny it see it but ignore it. The insurgents see this, and they hate it. Maybe a letter from one insurgent to another would read like this:
Dear fellow scumbag, how is your mother? Oh yes that’s right you killed her. Any ways I was looking to find that prime spot to plant that IED in the city yesterday you know that hole your cousin dug last week just before he pre-detonated?? Any way I couldn’t help but notice those dang Marines are everywhere, what is an insurgent to do? I can’t even go get my insurgent unemployment card because they are in all of the streets. Arrrghh!! I was trying to intimidate the local sheik but he told me to come by this afternoon to see him and when I got near his village. AArrrgghhh more Marines. You don’t think he was trying to trick me do you? No of course not I am too intimidating for that…right? I remember the old times when we could scare the silly Americans with threats, but those days are gone my fellow scumbag. AArrgghh! Now I have this silly IED vest on that your brother made, you know I have to tell you he isn’t all that smart, there is no kidding explosives in this thing. I mean I could be getting out of my car smoking a cigarette looking at the new line of sheep in the area and boom dang detonator gets hung on the seat belt. Did I mention its cumbersome, how do I tend your funeral wearing this? It doesn’t go with my latest attire. AAArrgghh. Well I must go my fiend, those pesky Marines are approaching and I have to run before they come here and I snag my fashionable detonator on the door handle on the way out. It will ruin the carpet…..AArrrgghh.."

*"stinky" editing mine.

How Do You Like Them Apples?!

2008-05-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

So I climbed that tree today... Flipping AMAZING!!! There is nothing that can compare to being up so high when it's your own muscle and brains getting you there. The feeling of power surges over you and you just want to jump out of the tree and fly. Tree climbing is a sort of art, in some ways. It takes strength, both of mind and of body. Bodily strength is a duh, but mental strength is also needed. There are two types of tree climbing: bulling your way through the branches without so much as one thought to what branch you'll grab next, and then there's the more "elegant" way of strategically finding a branch that will benefit you the most. I tend to go with the former in trees I'm more familiar with, such as my cedar, but with this tree I used the latter method. Anyway. I conquered the tree, and scratched my name in the bark 80+ feet off the ground. When I got to the top I just started laughing. It totally blows you away to see all the other trees growing up at you and the ground so far below, and the sky so close. It was an awesome climb, one that I'll probably doing quite often. Now I want you to go out and find a tree to climb... Regardless of your age. Just go find a nice, tame, climbable tree, such as a park tree, and climb it. You'll love it, I promise.

My feet looking down, down, down... Can't even see the ground from this position.

My name... Veni Vidi Vici!

A trail leading to the glen with the woodstack and firepit

The glen. You can see in the top right corner a trail that cuts across diagonally. That was where our 50foot swing was, before Leah fell off and my mom cut it down.

Tah Dah! A top view of our house, a three-story geodesic dome. Yes, it looks as amazing in the inside as it does on the outside. The painters and roofers loved it, they really did. :) On the right, that first tree is my cedar. Not actually mine, but whenever it's warm and sunny or terribly windy or snowy I climb it, just for the heck of it.

So There! and More

2008-05-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

In reply to Gianni's pic:

The view from my climbing tree, a cedar just slightly smaller than the firs that surround it. This is the tree I hung upside down from with my knees: sit on a branch, hook your feet under another, and lower yourself down and swing. It's great fun, and the view is amazing. I'll get up into a taller one soon, within the week probably. When my schedule allows it I'll climb the 100 footer, the tallest on our property. >:P Heehee

Now for the "More" part. After surfing through numerous milbogs and the such over the past couple weeks, I have noticed the usual outrage at the Military protesters calling themselves Americans, aka Code Pinkers. I know what's wrong with our society today: We take everything for granted. So much so, we don't recognize the freedoms that people in many countries only dream about. Even having a sturdy house to keep us warm in the winter or cool in the summer is a blessing. The ability to rebuild after such events as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and snowstorms without having to live on the streets and starve is another. The biggest is freedom of speech. We have the freedom to say pretty much anything we want in any way we want. And why? Because years ago, we took up arms against the British for our freedom, and we won. The military was formed shortly after, and continued to fight for our freedoms, as it still does. So why do these people protest the very men and women who made it possible for them to openly voice their opinions in such a way? They take everything for granted. Maybe we should deport them to some other less fortunate country for a couple of years (generations, lifetimes) so they get the idea firmly established in their thick blockheads that they are very fortunate indeed to live in a country as great as the United States of America. Hey, just an idea here, but call it "population control". Ha!
Cat

Church Picnic - Memorial Day 2008

2008-05-27T08:39:00.001-07:00

Here are the some of the results of our Annual Memorial Day Church Picnic. The videos are in this order: Ben's Mad Hula Hooping Skills, and the Older Teens' Sack Race. The pictures are of the people who went and played frisbee in the pouring rain, me included... Washingtonians, what can I say. :) The guy in the middle doing the karate pose thing is my brother. Enjoy!

Memorial Day 2008

2008-05-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day 2008- May 26th
I want you to take this time to remember those who have fought and given their lives for your freedom. The men and women of our Armed Forces, the Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen, who everyday risk their lives to protect you, the country, and our freedoms. These days Memorial Day has turned into a three day weekend for super sales, picnics, parties, and the such. Have fun at those things, but don't forget the real meaning of Memorial Day. This is disheartening, but nowadays people have lost interest in remembering our heroes, and an annual ceremony in Seattle, WA, was canceled for that very reason. Can you believe it?! These people protect us, their homeland and country, they DIE for us, and we just shrug it off and forget? Nice way to thank your protectors. I have two words for you. SEMPER COMMEMINI, Always Remember.
Cat

Littlest Bro in my Uniform

2008-05-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Just had to share these with everybody. My littlest brother, Justin, wearing my CAP BDU blouse when playing with the parade rifle. The sleeves went nearly to the ground, so it looked like a night gown or something. Notes on the pictures: (1) I didn't quite want to release my name to the whole world, so I blacked out the name tag. Also notice I took the collar insignia off; I do that so I can iron it. (2) In my room, which is in need of a good cleaning. (3) Standing guard. (4) Preparing to "shoot Lukie" from the deck. Luke is the cat. Enjoy!

Spring Time = Burger Time

2008-05-09T11:36:00.001-07:00

I grilled burgers for the first time last night. It was really fun! My mom was pretty much dead tired from the weeks of play rehearsals every night. She's the costumer's second in command, you might say, so she has a lot of work getting all the kids out on stage and looking nice in their costumes. Anyway she asked me if I wanted to make burgers for dinner and I told her I had never done that before, so she tells me the basics and gives me the burgers. The best part is when you flip the burger and the flames roar up and burst out of the grating, and totally envelope the burger in a wall of orange fire. They turned out ok, too. At least, everyone ate them. But now I want to try a steak. We have our own family recipe for marinating the steak, and my dad knows how to grill it to perfection, and so it is the best flank of steak you've ever had. Juicy, tender, not too pink in the middle (my dad claims he over-does it, he never does), bubbling and sizzling and sitting on your plate in long inch-square strips; it's the best ever, trust me. Together with baked potatoes and asparagus and sometimes corn pudding, you've got yourself a feast fit for a king. Anyway now I want to learn how to grill steaks to that juicy perfection. :) Hope I didn't make you too hungry.
Cat

Miscellaneous Pictures

2008-05-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here is some of my photography from the past couple months. My little Sony stays in my pocket wherever I go, but Oh Horrors! I sometimes forget it's there. Enjoy!

A flight of Lego men... I've been away from my Squadron for a little too long. :)

A bunch of CAP cadets at WTA "go to sleep" for a game of Mafia. I had
already been killed at this point, an innocent villager.

Some sort of flower in our garden...

Red-legged water frog. Didn't much enjoy th photo shoot. :)

It's slug-in-a-fix!

The view from the (near) top of my favorite climbing tree, from about 50-60 feet up.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-04-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

The feud between intelligent design (ID) and the evolution theory has been going on for decades, but the new movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" (Starring Ben Stein) brought to the surface the predicament of many ID scientists. Ben Stein interviewed both ID scientists and evolution scientists, and found that the feud is not just an argument. It goes much deeper and gets much uglier than that. ID scientists and professors are losing their jobs and being denied tenure because of their support of the ID theory. The scientists who are being persecuted are in no ways unintelligent crackpots. When asked what's wrong with the ID theory, many evolutionists could not come up with a very good answer. Here are some: "It's boring! How could anyone study something so boring?! I would die of boredom!" or "The whole thing was created by a bunch of religious crackpots." "These men, these creation scientists, are in no way scientific." This is supposed to be a free country, a country where we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of ideas, and much, much more, but these freedoms are slowly being taken away from ID supporters, and this film really brings this to light. For me, the point were I really boiled over was the link between Darwin and Hitler. You know Darwin's theory of Survival of the Fittest, that only the healthy, fit, and strong species would live? Well, here's the link: Hitler started having deformed, sick, and mentally disabled Germans deported to Hadamar and killed. These people were sent to the Hadamar Mental Hospital in Germany, and doctors would determine if the patient should live or die. Between 1941 and 1945, 15,000 people were killed at this facility, either by gas or by cremation in the building's body ovens. Hitler did this because he had wanted to create a nation of strong, healthy people, and he did that by eliminating the sick.
Anyway, according to Fandango, this movie is a "Go" movie. Probably because of the 79 "Oh, No" reviews, with 511 "Must See" ratings. I would rate this movie an "Outstanding-GO!!!" movie, and accordingly I strongly encourage anybody and everybody to go see it. If you are questioning Darwinism or ID, and don't really care, I recommend that you go see this movie and see if you have any questions about it later. This is a phenomenal film, and I give it a big OO-RAH!
Cat

(Yet Another) WTA

2008-04-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

I just got back last night from this month's WTA. It seems that every WTA I go to, it gets better and better. Of course, I've gained in experience since last month, so I no longer have to worry about getting the little things right. I took the Flight Line Marshaling (FLM for now on) class, so on Saturday we were driven out to Thun field to marshal the CAP Cessna 206 around. The first time we went out on the flight line, it was snowing and freezing cold, with about 1 inch of snow on the ground. After being outside for around an hour or two, we went back inside for some hot beef stew and some briefing on marshaling a squadron of aircraft. We went outside, and lo and behold! The sun was shining, the snow was gone, and the pavement was starting to dry out already! That's Washington for you: snow in the middle of April, and weather that changes on a dime. It did eventually start snowing and hailing again, but it never started sticking. Anyway, the FLM was a great experience. I loved being able to marshal the plane around and be in complete control of where it was going to go next. At first I was a little nervous, I mean, this thing's coming at you with a shiny prop roaring to go somewhere, and you have to direct it to the next marshaler while keeping it on the taxi line. I got the hang of it, and the plane wasn't all that scary any more. See, I can hardly wing-walk it (where a person walks under the wing tip and makes sure the wing doesn't smack anything by resting his hand on the trailing edge of the wing) because I'm too short, and the pilot was a very experienced guy who knew what he was doing, so it was great.
The other class I took was BCUT, or Basic Communications User's Training, which is basically a course on how to use a radio (walkie-talkie). That was pretty fun, especially when we got to practice sending and receiving a formal message. My team's leader sent us a formal message via radio, and we had to write it down word for word, while using the correct radio procedures to ask for fill-ins. I got a little too "loud" when giving my leader a hard time about his overs and outs, so the Cadet Commander lectured me on not showing emotions on the radio. Oops. It was fun, though.
The whole weekend was a blast. It was snowy and chilly so I ended up coming home with a fever and a cold, but it was great nonetheless. The funniest things about these WTA's is the inside jokes that resurface. This time it was the toothpaste and the bawwackses, and also the penguin huddle thing, but I guarantee you, next time it'll be something totally new and even more random, if that's at all possible.
Cat

Sae, Hoo abit some Scottish fur Ye?

2008-04-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Ah thooght Ah micht shaur wi' everybody whit it's loch tae gab in a real, genuine, Scottie accent. It's stoatin fin, an' in fact Ah got tons ay fowk tae write mukker G wi' aw th' emails in Scottie accents, as a way tae gie back at heem fur his prenk. It worked! Ah foond this an' Ah jist hud tae use it, it was sae funay! Try it yerself! Ah hae th' link tae th' site oan th' reit side ay mah blog... scroll doon a wee... ah, that's it. Gang aheid! Gie it a wee gang!
Cat

Passage of the Week

2008-04-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

A continuation of the Resurrection Story; the Garden of Gethsemane. From the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26:36-45.

36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners."

God Bless the reading of His Word.
Cat

More Blogs!

2008-04-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

So I've added two more blogs and a forum to my Blogroll:
Peninsula Composite Squadron's Blog
PCS's Forum
One Marine's View

PCS's blog was just released last night, so it's still in constructing phase, but hopefully it'll give you and idea of the Civil Air Patrol. The squadron's email is also there, if you have any questions.
The Forum was just set up a little while ago also, great way to get a really close up view of CAP life. Read through some of the topics, they should answer any questions you might have.
Major B over at One Marine's View is a phenomenal writer. True patriotism there, I greatly recommend visiting his blog.

A Visit at SAM's

2008-04-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went with about five families and went to the Seattle Art Museum, or the SAM for short. The featured exhibit was the Roman sculptures from the Louvre, so don't ask me why we brought a whole bunch of little kids to go see this exhibit. We all know what the Romans were famous for. Anyway, the museum was great, although I must say I had more fun criticizing the modern art than I did looking at the Roman exhibit. I mean, the sculptures were amazing, and it was pretty cool to get up close to 2,000 year-old emperors and goddesses, but you can't exactly laugh at those. Well, most of them you can't, but anyway. The oddest piece of "art" in the museum was this giant, 7ft tall black rat sitting on a guy's bed, with the guy's head all scratched up. Morbid, actually. Maybe the artist was troubled by rats and sleeping sometime in his life, and needed a way to express himself, or maybe he had nightmares as a little child of being eaten by rats, because his childhood house was rat-infested... Sorry, I'm making fun of the I-must-find-deep-meaning-in-everything-I-see type people. Art students, psychology students, you get what I mean. So one of the highlights (for me, I'm not exactly an artsy person, although I'm not bad with a brush or pen) was running up the down escalator. I've never done that before, but have always wanted to. See, my mom and dad are always saying "You'll trip and get hurt, and it's not meant for that." So it's the whole you'll-poke-your-eye-out thing, but it was crazy fun. To get up the escalator, you have to run and move your feet as fast as you can, being careful to not take too big of steps or you'll trip. It takes forever to get anywhere, so we were almost running in place before I got the hang of it and was able to go running up. Some older people who were going up on the up escalator started laughing at us, which was really cool, because I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that kind of thing in a museum. We were gonna go down the up escalator, but there was too many people on it. Oh well.
Cat

Not so Evil Anymore

2008-04-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

We all like playing April Fools Day pranks on people, but haven't you noticed that a lot of times the 'delightfully evil' part of the pranks has disappeared over the years? Mostly this is due to the fact that the people who got pranked are always turning the prank around and are then being 'delightfully evil' to the original prank-puller. This happened just recently with friend G and I. What happened was this: In an email I told G that I was leaving CAP, and in that email I didn't put anything about April Fools. So, he really believed me, and actually got kinda upset, and then was really shocked (I think, G, you'd better correct me on this) that I would actually do that to him. So I was all guilty and sorry and everything, and we were OK with it, when G sends me an email saying "REVENGE! I found a way to get revenge on you for that April Fools day ploy you played on me yesterday. Enjoy the flood of emails." So what he did was tell people from the squadron that I really was quitting, so now I've got people emailing me with the most common word being "Why?". G also said he told Chief and our Squadron Commander, and I guess Chief thought it was great, and the Squadron Commander said it was funny but to not do it again. Rawrg, G, thanks a lot. So if you have any April Fools Day stories, I'd love to here them. :)
Cat

More Blogs on the BlogRoll!

2008-03-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Adding new blogs to my Blogroll:
The USS Russell's "The Destroyermen", a blog about life aboard a Destroyer. Amazing blog, you got to read it.
A collection of Milblogs, "Mudville Gazette", a blogosphere recently banned from the USAF. Well, the Air Force actually banned all blogs, or any website with "blog" in the URL. Really phenomenal blog for anybody reading it; it really opens your eyes to what's really going on in the Military.

Freedom! Sweet Freedom!

2008-03-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

Oo-Rah!
I went in to the Orthodontist for my appointment, and when I came out, I was missing something pretty big. My braces! Two and a half years of tortuous pain, and I finally get them off! Talk about the lengths girls will go to for beauty. Not really, I would have had major problems if I hadn't had braces, because my teeth were so messed up. Before I got braces, my older sister even bestowed the name of "Witch" upon me because of them. No more! Now I've got pearly whites with no hardware stores attached to them. I do have a permanent retainer glued to the back of my two front teeth, but it's not visible in any way. So, not completely without metal in my mouth. Oh well. I'm going in tomorrow to get the little retainer thing to wear at night, so I've had a blessed day with nothing to worry about. It's amazing how easy it is to eat something and not have to worry if it will get stuck in the brackets or if you'll end up crunching a bracket off the tooth because of some hard-to-eat food. As much as I love having no braces on my teeth, I think I'll miss them. My orthodontist is the friendliest guy, along with all his staff. He's a Seattle Mariner's season ticket holder, and once he gave us 4 tickets to go to a game. All the previous times we've gone, we'll get seats all the way up in the very highest corner, but these seats were right behind 3rd; I think it was about 9 rows back. I didn't go to that game, because when we drew numbers on it I didn't get the right numbers. Oh well. The rest of the family had fun. So anyway I'll miss my braces, but I'm even happier now that they're gone for good. Oo-Rah!
Cat

Passage of the Week

2008-03-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

This week's passage is a continuation of the Resurrection Story, from Mark 14:12-16 and Matthew 26:20-30. The two read:

Mark 14:12-16 12On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover Lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
13So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
16The disciples left, went into the city, and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
Matthew 26:20-30 20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21And while they were eating, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
22They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
25Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi (Teacher)?"
Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

This is a very significant passage. The breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine symbolizes Jesus' body broken and spilled blood so that we may live for eternity in his heavenly kingdom. Jesus died on the cross for us, so that we could be forgiven of our sins and live with him. I'll get to that part of the story in a few weeks; there is a lot that happens between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Keep checking every week or so for the rest of the story.
Cat

Passage of the Week

2008-03-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

For this post I'm going to start the Easter story, and in the next couple weeks I'll go through and finish it. Starting in Matthew, Chapter 21 with the Triumphal Entry.

1As Jesus and his disciple approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"

10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
11The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

This passage is repeated in the gospels of Mark, Luke, and John with different aspects of the entry into Jerusalem. Luke's story of the entry says that Jesus wept for the Jerusalem when he saw it, saying "42If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone standing upon another, because you did not recognize the the time of God's coming to you." (Luke 19:42-44) This is a sorrowful time for Jesus. All his life he had been ministering to these people; teaching them, helping them, healing them, feeding them and telling them how to be saved through him. And when Jesus enters Jerusalem, they recognize him as their Messiah but think that he will step up and overthrow the Roman oppression and become their ruler. Jesus realized that everything he had done had gone way over the heads of these people, and that they had the wrong idea of their Savior. I like to call this "the Not-so-Triumphal Entry", because of Jesus' sorrow for the people. May God bless you and your families this Easter, and may you not forget the real reason for celebrating Easter.
Cat

WTA and more

2008-03-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Oo-RAH! That pretty much explains my weekend at my second WTA as a CAP Cadet. It was amazing. I was planning on taking the Honor Guard class, but because of the nasty bug getting to the instructor, I was bumped into the NCO Training class. I loved it. I was a bit intimidated at first, because I'm only an Airman and there was a bunch of Sergeants taking the class, but I did pretty well and I passed. I did manage to make a complete and utter fool of myself when I was made Flight Sgt and had to move the flight from one parking lot to the next. I spent most of the time trying to get the flight straightened out, and the other time muttering to myself how silly I must look to the Senior Cadet Officers. Ack! Get this: the second time I drilled the flight as Flight Sgt I did it nearly perfectly, the only comments being that I need to speak louder, call cadence after each maneuver, and keep a steady beat while doing facing drilling. I was so happy I almost hugged LtCol Peterson after he showed me those comments! That would have been really bad. Like, really bad. But anyway, I also got to command a SWAT team. The whole class did a presentation on Public Speaking, with the class broken up into three teams to take three different points. I was in team one, which was entitled the Weapons of Public Speaking. I got to organize and command my 3 teammates and make a SWAT team out of them. So our weapons were a wipe-off board for a crowd-control shield, a projector and clipboard for some kind of firearm, and pens for stick charges. Our instructors drilled us in SWAT techniques, so we started the presentation by bursting into the room in SWAT stance, clearing the room, setting up the various equipment for the other groups, and then presenting each thing we brought in. It was amazing. Especially how one guy, Kruger, created a PowerPoint presentation to go along with all of the groups, which matched perfectly to whatever somebody said. We got big kudos for that presentation. Oo-Rah!
You'll notice that my profile pic has changed yet again. That is me in LtCol Denesik's flight suit at a CAP meeting a couple of weeks ago, and I just today got the rest of the pictures of it. Yes, friend G has one similar to it, the only difference being that mine is actually me, and his and actually him. Whatever.
I'll get the Passage of the Week post up tomorrow; I've been quite busy these past few days.
Cat

Some Advice...From a 2 year-old!

2008-03-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

The other day, two of my siblings got into an argument which ended with both of them upset and hating the other. So my mom makes them tell the story from the very beginning, and it turns out that kid #1 poked kid #2 for the simple reason that he wanted to poke someone. So my little brother J (2 1/2 years old) was watching this whole episode, and he grabbed the index finger of one hand with the other and said very seriously: "You have to hold the poke." I laughed when I heard this, it was so funny! Basically J was telling us that whenever we feel the need to terrorize a sibling or bother someone, just hold the poke, and it will all blow over. I will most definitely follow his advice, no matter what the deal is. Following the advice of a two-year-old.
Cat

Revenge of the Zucchini People!

2008-03-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

Ok, now to show the other, alternate personality, you might say. This is the band I was a part of, named "Revenge of the Zucchini People". Not exactly your average band; all our songs were created on Lappy's GarageBand program. We created the songs before, after, and during the shows of the play we were all in, "Shiver me Timbers". Ok, Greg wasn't in the play, so he was the one that really got it started. Max and I started hanging out around Greg and Lappy and then started recording ridiculous songs that we made up basically on the spot. We were about to start real recordings a couple of weeks later when my mum said I would not have time with CAP and all and told me I would have to quit the band. I'm not exactly sure if that was the total reason, but I'll leave it at that. So I've pretty much left the band, but if I'm right, Greg and Max still kick it off now and then. Here's the link to the GarageBand website, once there, put the name "zucchini people" in the band search, and that's us. Ahem, I never said the songs were pretty or made any sense, but we had a ton of fun creating them.
Cat

Expelled

2008-03-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

If I only get to see one movie in theaters this year, this one is going to be it. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" is a documentary (starring Ben Stein) about scientists, teachers, and professors who are persecuted for believing that the universe is the result of Intelligent Design. Ben Stein basically compares these persecutors to Nazis. It is no joke; Creationists are being fired, ridiculed, shunned, and even denied tenure. I recommend you watch the super trailer, which is linked above. Expelled comes out this April on the 18th. We are going through origins in my biology class, and my teacher is thinking of getting the entire class out to see it as a field trip type thing.

New (sort of) Blogger!

2008-03-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

Please welcome my friend G to the blogosphere! Yes, the same G I'm racing with to get to C/CMSgt first. He's toast. Burnt toast. Non-recognizable pile of charred blackness. So there! Kiddding about the burnt toast part, but I am gonna smoke him. So anyway, visit his blog, leave a comment or two, and please note the similarities between our blogs. Purely coincidental, all of it. It's crazy weird, because we even use the same labels. Totally insane. Here's his link: http://colorguardgeek.blogspot.com/
Cat

Passage of the Week

2008-03-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I last did one of these posts. I'll do my best to keep up!
This week's passage is Psalms 145, a Psalm of David. It is a little long, but I encourage you to read it all the way through.

"1I will exalt you, oh my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever
and ever.
2Everyday I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and
ever.

3Great is the Lord and most worthy
of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4One generation will commend your
works to another;
they will tell of your mighty
acts.
5They will speak of the glorious
splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your
wonderful works.
6They will tell of the power of your
awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great
deeds.
7They will celebrate your abundant
goodness
and joyfully sing of your
righteousness.

8The Lord is gracious and
compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has
made.
10All you have made will praise you,
O Lord;
your saints will extol you.
11They will tell of the glory of your
kingdom
and speak of your might,
12so that all men may know of your
mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your
kingdom.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom,
and your dominion endures through
all generations.

The Lord is to all his
promises
and loving toward all he has
made.
14The Lord upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed
down.
15The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at
the proper time.
16You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every
living thing.

17The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and loving toward all he has
made.
18The Lord is near to all who call on
him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19He fulfills the desires of those who
fear him;
he hears their cry and saves
them.
20The Lord watches over all who love
him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

21My mouth will speak in praise of
the Lord.
Let every creature praise is holy
name
for ever and ever."

I love this Psalm. In verses 1-7 David writes of the glory of God and the wonderful things he has done. Verses 8-21 speak of the love God has for us, and that he is our hope and our help in times of trouble. May God bless the reading of His Word.
Cat

Woops!

2008-03-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, so they didn't all fit on one post. Here's the rest.
Cat

Miscellaneous Pictures

2008-03-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

These are some of the pictures I've taken over the past month. The snow/mountain pictures are from the boy scouts' escapade into the Olympic Mountains to play in the snow. The original plan was to bring boogie boards and tubes up there, but because of the sledding closure, we went down one slope sitting or laying down head first on our stomachs. My friend and I hitched a ride and went along. The other pictures are of my little brother with my CAP practice parade rifle. It's just a piece of polished wood with metal trimmings, it's not real. He's also wearing my BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) hat, which he turned sideways for some reason. There is also one picture of the 'secret' attic/space place in the Kinzie Battlement bunker at Fort Warden. Only a few know of this place; you can crawl (if your small enough) through almost the whole bunker on top of the passages. It's great fun to play capture the flag, especially if everybody forgot to bring flashlights. It's also really fun to hide in a passage and jump out at people and yell in their faces. Makes even the tough guys scream like girls. :) Enjoy the pictures!
Cat

Spring Cleaning

2008-03-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, everybody. I'm gonna do a total blog remodel/makeover. The URL will be the same, but I'll be changing the blog title and everything else. I think I'll probably be doing this fairly often, just to have something new every once in a while. I love variation in my life. Can't stand having one thing the same for a long period of time. I'll even go through my room and rearrange furniture and stuff to see which is best. :) I'm also a clean freak, especially now after joining CAP. If anything is messy and cluttered, I have to go clean it up and make it look nice. Better than some habits, I guess.
Cat

Biology Dissection

2008-02-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago almost was our biology class's oyster dissection day. The funnest class ever. Now, I wasn't wearing those latex gloves, and I was holding the oysters more than any body else. Well, ok, J ate a raw muscle, but that's just plain stupid. It's really fun to slime and squish those things in your hand so they squeeze out your fingers. It actually feels sort of like a hand lotion rub or something. Until you realize that the smell doesn't come out for a couple of hours. Enjoy the pics I took on M's camera! Oh, and by the way, next week is lobster/crab dissection. I'll make sure to bring my camera and get some really cool pictures. Enjoy!

Voice of Truth

2008-02-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

These are the lyrics to another one of my favorite songs, "The Voice of Truth", by Casting Crowns. I thought of posting this because it goes along with Sunshine's recent post, "New Hope..". Sunny loves feedback from all her readers; I encourage you to be a regular reader of her phenomenal blog. Enjoy!

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. 'Boy, you'll never win!'
"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a Sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again "boy, you'll never win!
"You'll never win"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Passage of the Week

2008-02-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

This week's passage comes from Paul's letter to the Romans. Romans 12:9-21.
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something
to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning
coals on his head."

21Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

This passage helps me when I'm feeling angry against or upset with anyone. It speaks strongly about loving everybody, even those who try and do evil to you. I hope that this passage may also help you in your daily lives.
Cat

WTA

2008-02-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

I just got back from CAP WAWG'S WTA (Civil Air Patrol Washington Wing's Washington Training Academy). The absolute best time of my life. I was at camp from 15-17 Feb, so only the weekend. I took Color Guard, except since there was only one team for competition me and G watched and took notes. So we got bumped into Camp Arnold (I'm a noob, it's kinda required). I passed both the LDR 1-1 and the drill test, but I have to wait for Aero Ed and PT. When I get those tests completed and passed and I get my promo board I'll be in the rank of Airman 1st Class. Oo-rah! the schedule was sort of as follows: Every night lights out was 2300, but sleep waited until 000 or so. Lights on at 0600, outside in formation at 0625. Then the march from barracks to mess. Mess for 30min, then march to the class building/chapel building. At class until 1200, then march from classes to mess. Then from mess back to classes. After class everybody meets and falls into one flight and we march to mess for dinner. Friday (day of arrival) we checked in, got briefed on ORM (operational risk management) and formed the two flights, Alpha and Bravo. Alpha for the girls, and Bravo for the guys. Saturday was the main training classes, and Saturday night was Moral Leadership. Sunday morning was Chapel; those going to Chapel were the Jesus cadets, and we formed the Juliet Echo Sierra Uniform Sierra flight, and we totally rocked the place singing "Jesus loves Me". Picture it. We're all in BDU's, after marching around a half mile in the cold morning and shouting cadence and jodies we start singing sunday school songs. It was totally awesome. Sunday afternoon was FTX, or Field Training Exercise. We did like a practice search and rescue thing, and the rescuee was a small box thing. We had mission base and three teams afield. I was blue team; we got stuck with the cruddy radio, so we didn't rescue the box. I think red team got it, the had the better radio. Then we cleaned barracks and the Admin. building. We learned the most awesome jody around. it goes like this, and think of it with a steady 1-2-1-2 beat.
One by one
we loaded our guns
ooon the mountain
all day and all through the night
hey hey
two by two
the commies came through
ooon the mountain
all day and all through the night
hey hey
three by three
we shot at their knees
ooon the mountain
all day and all through the night
hey hey
So it really goes to ten with four being "we shot them some more", five is "skinned them alive", six is "beat them with sticks" seven is "sent them to heaven" eight I think is "used them as bait", I can't remember nine at the moment, and ten is " shot them again". Gruesome, but incredibly fun to do. I know it's gross, but marching in formation is so boring you have to have something to keep you busy. Enter, the guys with their jodies that they teach the whole detail. (Alpha and Bravo combined). Anyway, I can't wait till next WTA, except that Sgt. S and family are going to be gone by then. Also, Chief L is leaving end of March, and he's the one getting the squadron's Color Guard together. Oh well. Sgt. N will take over, and he's good. For now,
Cat

Micheal W. Smith's "Above All"

2008-02-15T14:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most beautiful contemporary Christian songs I've heard. Here are the lyrics:
Verse 1
Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature
And all created things
Above all wisdom
And all the ways of man
You were here
Before the world began

Verse 2
Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders
The world has ever known
Above all wealth
And treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure
What You're worth

CHORUS
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Verse 1
Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature
And all created things
Above all wisdom
And all the ways of man
You were here
Before the world began

Verse 2
Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders
The world has ever known
Above all wealth
And treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure
What You're worth

CHORUS
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

CHORUS
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Like the rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

The song is very powerful, it really makes me realize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. I love how the song is saying that he's above everything, and yet he thought of us above all when he died on the cross for us. Yet he is risen, and has broken the bond of death. This is a testament to the everlasting life that is ours when we believe and have faith in the saving power of Christ.
cat

Tag You're It!

2008-02-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, that last picture I posted I decided wasn't that nice, and was inappropriate, so I removed it. So anyway I got tagged by John of Latent Prints, so I'm gonna do the little tag meme thing.
Posting 3 sentences after the first five sentences in a book with more than 123 pages:
"With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me."
From Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Now I have to tag these five people:
SandyBelle
Samish Patrol
Zach
Sunshine
Mama

Obama

2008-02-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, Ok. I know this isn't very nice of me. I just couldn't help it. I kinda changed this picture around on the Gimp, after hearing a clip of Obama's on the radio. Now, I am a conservative republican, at least I would be if I could vote, but I'm not doing this out of spite. I mean, Obama's great with trying to bring republicans and democrats to work together, but do you seriously think that he can really bring peace to the world, provide health care for every single American, and find new ways of going green with energy conservation? I mean, this would cost trillions! It would cost the US money that the US doesn't even have! Anyway, that is my pic.
cat

Ta-Dah!

2008-02-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

Yay! Last night was my Civil Air Patrol (Hereon mentioned as CAP) meeting. It was testing day, and I passed the test, so wooo! I'm not a basic any more! I got promoted to Cadet / Airman (C/Amn). Sure, it's not a big step, in fact you don't need any aero ed testing, but I finally feel that I'm part of the Squadron. Sort of. I've been to 5 meetings so far, and have only been a member for two of those meetings, so I'm still successful in making a fool of myself at times. Like last night I forgot to ask permission to join the flight, I had to be told how to report after I got stuck as element leader, I didn't solute properly, I forgot to say "Good evening, ____" to an officer, and ya. But, I most likely won't do those things again, now that I know exactly how it's done. Also last PT day I forgot to count how many sit-ups my partner had done... That was terrible. I'm also joining the newly formed Color Guard. The first meeting is next Monday before the normal meeting. And get this. I hardly know nothing of drilling. I'm going to be a rifleman with friend G, and I don't know how to drill very well. eheh, I'll have to work on that, hopefully this next weekend's WTA encampment will help. I still don't have my nametape for my BDU. I have one from an old BDU from somebody else that had the name "Smith", so if I don't get my nametapes before Friday I'll have to pull smith out and get mum to embroider my name on the tape. Also my boots aren't shiny enough. They're shinier than a lot of other boots at the squadron, and the min. shininess model for next week, but I still need more work. I've polished those thing 10-11 times, and it's hard work. At least I know how to do it properly. So basically that's my CAP life. Oo-rah,
Cat

Passage of the Week

2008-02-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

Psalm 61:1-4
1"Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
2From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.
4I long to dwell in your tent forever."

This passage is the basis of our camp ministry this year during August, Camp High Rock '08. The key verse is the end of verse 2, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I". Last year the theme was "God is the Rock", this year the theme is "Go climb the Rock." Camp High Rock is a ministry to the kids on the Yakama Indian reservation and the surrounding area. Our job is to get these kids off the reservation so they can learn what Jesus is all about. For a lot of the kids, this camp is the only time they get 3 good meals a day and "family" that cares for them. Last year we were rented a camp that wasn't so great. We couldn't drink the water, and it was fizzy and orange. We have a bigger, cleaner camp this year, with water that actually tastes good. The camp itself is going to be a lot bigger, with about 20 more kids than last year. I pray that this camp will be as successful as the previous camp was, if not more so.
cat

Absolutely and Sickly Outrageous!

2008-02-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

Poison cake kills Iraqi children

By Jim Muir
BBC News, Baghdad

Thallium has been described as an ideal assassin's tool

The UK government has flown antidote medicine to the Middle East after some Iraqis became seriously ill from eating cakes laced with the poison thallium.

Two of the victims, both children, died after eating cake delivered to a military club in Baghdad.

Others are being treated in hospital in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

It is the first time the deadly toxin has been used since the downfall of Saddam Hussein, whose regime used it to kill its opponents.

At least two of the poison victims, the secretary of the Iraqi air force club and his daughter, are critically ill in Amman.

They and half-a-dozen other patients suffering from thallium poisoning were flown from Baghdad to Amman as the necessary treatments and antidotes were not available in Iraq.

Britain responded to a request for help from the World Health Organization and medication was flown out.

Lethal poison

Thallium is a lethal poison much used by Saddam Hussein's regime against its opponents. It has not surfaced since his overthrow.

It is an ideal assassin's tool, being tasteless and easy to administer, and its effects take some time to appear.

It then causes a lingering and painful death. An antidote known as Prussian Blue can be effective if taken quickly.

An investigation is under way in Baghdad, but the affair remains shrouded in mystery. The manager of the air force club told the BBC he believed it was carried out by conspirators with a grudge against the club's administration.

In what appeared to be a goodwill gesture, a former official delivered two cakes laced with thallium.

They were taken home by two officials and eaten by their families, who all fell ill.

This is outrageous! How could anybody do anything so sick?! Absolutely SICK!! It's totally overwhelming to think that there are people like this who do these things daily and don't get stopped. And you think of all the people here in the US who want us to withdraw from the Middle East! What the crud is wrong with them??!! They think this will just stop? all by itself?! WAKE UP!!! This is reality; it's bitter, cruel, disgusting and gross, but IT IS REALITY!!! And we need to do something about, instead of whining about getting our troops home! Imagine this happening in your own country. You buy a cake; it's a treat, perhaps a surprise for your kids. Then you all get so sick, that some of your children die. How could you bear that? It's terrible!! That is why we're still in Iraq, Afghanistan. That is why WE MUST STAY till the job is done! Evil will always be evil. There's no way to change it. We must fight it, and be victorious against it.

Cat

Oo-rah!

2008-02-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is my 1000th picture taken with my little Sony Cybershot. I've had it for a total of about 4 1/2 months, and have taken around 1043 pictures. Not that I actually keep all the pictures I take, I probably have around 800 in my folder. Anyway, this little guy is pretty old. We got a whole bunch of army men just like him when we helped my grandpa clean up his house. I painted him because he was all one color (gray), and it took me 2 hours to finally finish. A toothpick was my brush. He's about 1/2 tall.

Answer to the question of life and the Universe

2008-02-04T14:28:00.001-08:00

Answer: Super Bowl 42 (hehe), New England Patriots vs. New York Giants. Answer to Super Bowl 42: New York Giants! I don't know how many of you actually watched Sunday's game, but supposedly more than 2/3 of the US watched. I think Manning (Giants' QB) played excellently against the Pats' defensive line. On the Pat's side, Whelker (not sure what position he plays) did very well, I was afraid for the Giants because of him. There was this one fantastic pass/catch in the last few minutes by the Giants that pretty much won the game for them. The whole last quarter I have never experienced such a rush of adrenaline. I was shaking all over and oh-my-goshing and aaaaah-ing and oooohh-ing constantly. Crazy. I mean, for nearly 3 years now I've been watching Seahawks football (pretty much from when I actually could understand the rules), and NEVER have I been so anxious about their games. And really, Seahawks are positively the worst team to watch; they are sometimes excellent and some of the time so disappointing you want to move to a different state. That's sort of why I watch, it's unpredictable. Anyway, as a little feedback thing, who did you back for Super Bowl 42, and why?
Cat

Passage of the Week

2008-02-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

From Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter 2 verses 1-11.
"1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with
God something to be
grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a
servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a
man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death-
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the
highest place
and gave him the name that is
above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under
the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."

This passage challenges us to imitate Christ's humility, and serve others. "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 21:28. It also speaks of God's infinite love for us, although we in no way deserve it. I pray that God will open your eyes to His Word, and that you will place your whole trust solely in Him.
Cat

Snow Day

2008-01-28T09:28:00.001-08:00

Snow!!
Both of my classes were canceled this morning, because of two inches of snow on top of an icy frozen ground. The snow was just beautiful. It was more powdery than wet, and would not pack very nicely into those icy snow balls that are so fun.

Passage of the Week

2008-01-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

From Ephesians, 2:1-10.
"1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. "

Verses 8-10 again,
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. "
Emphasis mine. This is one of my favorite passages to read, it really speaks to me of the love God has for mankind.
Cat

Ferries

2008-01-26T17:53:00.001-08:00

Here is one of my favorite pictures that I've taken. This was the same trip across The Water that I dropped my camera's case over-board. I just kinda stood there, all shocked like, I couldn't believe it. It was inexpensive, but I was just thankful I didn't drop my camera.

Ready, Set, GO!

2008-01-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

I will start out with a little about me. I am a Conservative Presbyterian. I like heights, speed, and dangerous things. I love watching Seahawks football or any football, photography with Cyberus, my little Sony Cybershot, huge puzzles, wake-boarding, knee-boarding, wind surfing, tubing, swimming, climbing trees, wild weather, snow, and all manner of such things. I play piano, and am teaching myself guitar on my dad's seldom-used Yamaha. I intend to get into the Naval Academy and become a pilot, mainly so I can fly off the aircraft carriers. Future hobbies/plans include: Rock climbing, hang gliding, para-sailing, sky diving, and bungee jumping. I want to climb to the top of Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Hood, and Mt. Baker. So there you have it. Oh and I also don't like PB&J sammiches. Never will. I will be posting regularly, I hope. ;)
Cat