Crapple Cup '08 Champs

In a historically bad year for both teams, the WSU Cougars and UW Huskies brought the heart, fight and drama to the 2008 Apple Cup game that recent games were known for. Had it not been for 2 missed field goals AND two big runs taken away due to penalties by the Huskies, I'm afraid that the "right" team would not have had a chance! But the Mighty Cougs managed to pull out a double-overtime win over their cross-state rivals! GO COUGS!

Congrats to the Champs - WSU Cougars
4th Apple Cup win in 5 years!

It's GOOD!
Nico Grasu becomes a Cougar Legend!

Priceless!

No new news ... is good news?

Nothing too exciting has been happening in the Little World of the Smiths lately. Cam is still plugging away at Basic Training. I have been receiving letters pretty regularly, however almost everything in the letters is information we have shared in phone calls (and thus shared in my posts below). This weekend, Cam is participating in exercises (one last "camping trip") over several days and didn't expect to be able to call this afternoon. His upcoming two weeks will be the last few at Ft. Jackson and the soldiers will be cleaning up the barracks, turning in their gear and rifles and maybe get to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving meal this Thursday.

I'm still hanging in there here in Port Orchard. Work has been unusually busy lately which is good AND bad. Bad because people are screwing up royally and causing more work for everyone. But also good because a Busy Day means a Quick Day and allows me to rip one more day off my count-down list! 10 days until I leave for South Carolina and Cam's Basic Training Graduation!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I am most thankful for my family and friends and all the love and support you have shown these last few months! I pray that God will continue to bless you with many wonderful things this holiday season!

Quick Update from Cam

Cam called me twice yesterday (the first time we were interrupted by a fire alarm!). He seemed to be in really good spirits, especially because he did really well in his final PT test at Basic. He scored a 258 (out of possible 300) with 63 push-ups, 76 sit-ups and a 15:12 2-mile run. Good job, Cam!!!

They are also starting to wind things down at Ft. Jackson. The soldiers still have to complete two live fire events, one with their battle buddies and one as a team exercise in the next two weeks. The last week will be spent cleaning up, turning in their gear and packing. Basic Training Graduation is just around the corner and I can't wait to visit!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, I turned the big 2-9 today and I have nearly reached the end of childhood. This is the last birthday where I can honestly claim that I'm still not a grown-up! (You have to act like an adult when you hit your 3rd decade, right?!?) Even though I'm married, have a career, and have been living on my own for 10+ years, it means nothing! I still have one more year of my 20s left and I'm going to use that time to be as immature as possible! Ha-ha!

To kick off this glorious year, I, unfortunately had to work. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my "special" day, but since we often act like we are kindergartners (throwing fits, taking naps, and eating paste), I decided to pull out the old grade school trick and brought in my own birthday cupcakes! Also, when I got in this morning, I did have some very yummy carrot cupcakes (my favorite!) WITH candles waiting on my desk for me. So, it was a cupcake bonanza!

After work, I had a very lovely dinner (and show, of course!) with my friend, Ruth, Tommy and Audrey, her two kids. I tried shopping for my own birthday present after dinner (Don't worry! Cam gave me permission to do so!) but didn't find much that piqued my interest.

When I arrived home, I found the snail mailbox full of cards, the email inbox full of e-cards and some very cheerful flowers waiting for me on the doorstep to go along with the great gift I received last weekend from my parents. I feel so blessed that I have so many wonderful people in my life that love me as much as I love them! Thank you, Family and Friends! You're the bestest!

Update from Cam #6

Cam was able to call yesterday and we spoke for about 5 minutes before I lost signal in the hills between Yakima and Ellensburg. :( Due to the short phone call, there are only a couple exciting things to report.

He completed his marksmanship qualifications last week and earned a Sharpshooter ranking during the first day of the qualification runs. Unfortunately, his "new" rifle wasn't performing as he would have liked and he wasn't able to score any higher on his second day of qual runs.

Cam also had firm dates for his visit home during December. He will be flying into Seattle late Saturday, Dec. 20th and flies out really late on Sunday, Jan. 4th. I'm really excited to be able to spend a little over two weeks with him. Woo-hoo!

Update from Cam #5

Unfortunately, I did not receive a phone call from Cam this past weekend. It is likely due to two reasons: either (1) someone in the squad/platoon got in trouble and lost everyone their phone privileges for the week or (2) they were out on a "camping trip" over the weekend and were unable to call. Hopefully, it is reason (2).

Thankfully, to combat my lack of contact with him, I did receive two letters in the mail from him this past week! Yeah!

The first letter brought some very welcome news. Cam said that he will be getting two weeks vacation to come home around Christmas! Hooray!!! That means I will get to see him TWICE in December, the first being a trip back to Ft. Jackson, SC the first week of December for Basic Graduation! I hope that will tide me over until I get to visit him next for Commissioning in April '09. That also means that we will be able to spend time over the holidays with our families.

The second letter contained much more info regarding what he has been up to lately. They were set to have rifle qualification on Election Day (Nov. 4th). Cam was a little concerned that he wouldn't be able to make the "Expert" qualification as he had to have his rifle replaced a couple days before the qualification try. His previous rifle was "one of the biggest piles of crap rifles [he's] ever seen" and it had started double firing during his practice. He went to the gunsmith to get a replacement part and the gunsmith told him it wasn't worth replacing the part. Thus, he ended up with a new rifle.

The platoon also had to do a 6K road march in full "battle rattle" pre-dawn one day. Cam said that while they were marching, he didn't notice the cold. However, it was a different story once they stopped marching.

For Halloween, the Drill Sergeants treated them to packages of M&Ms. Cam knew that if anyone ate them, the D.S. would make them burn off those treats, so he chose not to open his bag. Unfortunately, several others in his squad had devoured theirs and Cam was ordered him eat his own M&Ms. And, of course, everyone got to work off the treats later...

Lastly, he wanted me to extend a big thanks to those of you who sent him birthday cards! He really appreciated your thoughts and well wishes and enjoyed hearing from you all!!

Wonderful White Hat-ness

Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Today, after two and a half long years, I finally became a fully qualified engineer at work!

It's been an uphill trek to this point. After years spent in school earning my chemical engineering degree and another year figuring out that I did NOT want to be an accountant, I was hired as a civilian engineer at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Since that day, my days have been full of hours and hours of classes and training, weeks of manual reading, months of following a mentor around (to the point that I earned the nickname "Baby Duck") on her projects. This past year I was finally given my own project for a little on-the-job training.

My last step to qualification was completing an Oral Board in front of 3 managers in my division. I had been prepping and stressing for the Board for two weeks and was definitely sweating bullets before and during the Board today. In the end, while it was tough, I did PASS!

With this achievement, I not only get a pay raise and a change in title ... I finally get a coveted white hard hat! While this might not seem like much to the general public, it truly is a sign in the Shipyard that I have arrived! That, and the fact that (as a co-worker so kindly pointed out today) I can no longer pull out the "I don't know - I'm new here" card.

Oh well! I'm still stoked about my gorgeous, shiny, new white hard hat! :)

Thank Goodness for GREAT Friends!

In this month dedicated to Thanksgiving, I wanted to give a big 'shout-out' thanks to all my wonderful friends who have been entertaining me while Cam was away these last two months.

Thank you to Garth and Mandy for having me over for dinner several times before you moved away. Thank you, Mandy, also for taking the time to have a 'girly' breakfast out at the Victorian Tea Room! It was delicious and my guy should definitely not be so opposed to stepping foot into the bright pink house! I look forward to seeing you both soon in your new place in the Tri-Cities!

Thank you to Heather and Jessica for a wonderful dinner out in the big city of Seattle. I hope we can arrange something again in the very near future - this time with guests who arrive on time (or close to it!) :P

Thank you, Sabrina, too for another fabulous Girls Night out on the town. Even though my triceps were killing me after our night full of darts, it was still fun to reminisce about Valhalla's 80's Night while singing along to a little of Def Leppard's finest. I hope we can get together more often!

Thank you, Ruth, Audrey and Tommy! Not only were you superb anniversary dinner guests, but you made my Halloween night that much more fun! I can't believe that my house could once again be the site of another Halloween party full of 'drunken' dancing and even a little puking! (Hope poor Tommy is feeling better!)

Thank you, Jessica and Justin, for a birthday dinner (for Cam!) that I won't soon forget! I had a nice time and hope that we can do it again soon ... except this time I'm paying!!!

Thank you to the girls at work for keeping me laughing while we slave the day away! I look forward to touring the underground of Seattle with you all very soon!

Thank you, everyone! You're friendship means the world to me and I couldn't feel more loved and supported!! Happy Thanksgiving ... in a few weeks!