Jobs, Java, Jello and Jewlery. Things that begin with the letter 'J'

Jobs-
I have a new job. I have gone through a lot of change in the past few weeks....resulting in the lack of posting. I am going to start a new routine, now that I have more stable employment. First of all, let me share with you a secret. Ssshhhh......*don't tell anyone~* (its who you know, not what you do) I used to be in a truck platoon. I loved it. It was fun, I learned things about mechanics of the truck. How such a large piece of machinery operates. I learned about oil levels and transmission fluid, along with changing tires and a proper PMCS (preventative maintenance checks and services) for both the truck and trailer of an M1070. I learned how to get along with many different types of people and my patience increased. However, I rapidly became bored. Once you master you piece of equipment, what else is there? And, I am type of person who wants to make things better, and knows that no matter what there are many more ways to skin a cat.
This got me into trouble and my intelligence got me demoted. Oops. I'm over it. I know that it shouldn't have happened and my opinion was confirmed when my company first sergeant called me into his office and apologized for the situation by telling me that 'he messed up.' I told him that the NCOs (non commissioned officers) in my platoon are corrupted and I do not wish to be apart of their shenanigans any longer. I told him, I don't care where I go, I am miserable where I am. So....I got moved to 'assistant training NCO' and they gave me the additional duty of 'mail clerk' since the NCO in charge of that duty was going home for 2 weeks for R&R (Rest and Recuperation) leave. When I went into the mail room, it was disgusting. It hadn't been cleaned and I found mail from November and December that hadn't been forwarded. I simply reported my findings to my senior NCO and I ended up with the job permanently. I wasn't too happy about it, but what could I do. I wasn't completely miserable. So, I took it and transformed the mail room into a clean, organized place of business. I received many compliments on the changes--even from the commander and first sergeant.
Then one day First Sergeant asked the company, in formation, who has a journalism degree. I do not, and so I hung my head. My platoon sergeant took that to mean that I did and was trying to hide it...so he ordered me to go talk to the First Sergeant. Hmmm...
I ended up that afternoon with an interview with Command Sergeant Major Clark. The Battalion Sergeant Major. I told him that I did NOT have a journalism degree and that my experience with such was limited to the fact that my ex boyfriend was a journalism/communications major and my best friend is a photographer. Apparently, that was sufficient for him. I ended up that Friday (one week ago. April 8th) with a new job as Battalion PAO (Public Affairs Officer) along with additional taskings as Effects and Events Coordinator. I was told by Sergeant Major that my mission was to 'increase the morale within the Battalion' (of 1,100 people I might add...)
Needless to say, I have been crazy busy. In the past week, I have been so engaged, that I feel like I am in college again. I have projects, and due dates. I am rubbing shoulders with Sergeant Majors and Army Boaties, Warrant Officers and SmArT* people.....I am so happy, I could scream! I have been to the Kuwaiti Naval Base, and had a tour of an Army watercraft. I have plans to go on a mission with them and take pictures and write articles of my time with them. I have been collecting photos and articles from our companies and editing them to turn into the Brigade. I am in love.
My life is fabulous. I am busy. I have planned a 3-on-3 basketball tournament in a week and a half and it takes place this Sunday :) I am excited!

Java- ...with my new job, I am getting significantly lower amounts of sleep than usual. See photo to see how I passed out in my bed. The below photo was taken at 7pm by my new roommate, in a different barracks across the camp. Yes, that is correct. I moved barracks. The night I got hired. By myself. In the dark. Now, that was a lot of work! But, I did it! ..(and a few nights later, a friend helped me move the remains) The story with the picture is that I had been working 12-14 hour days trying to get everything for this tournament ready on top of learning a TON of new information about my new job. I had gotten back to the PCB (pre-cast billet) to check facebook and emails before I was going to take some food up to Brandi since she was stuck in the motor pool....and ta-da! I just passed out. As you can see. It was the most bizarre thing that has happened to me so far. I think I'm going to increase my caffeine intake from zero to SomEthIng...

Jello- I am trying to lose weight. According to Army standards I am 7-9 lbs overweight. On top of the fact that I wouldn't mind losing a little weight :) Jell-0 is a good alternative to ice cream or cookies they give away at the chow hall. On top of trying to eat healthier...Brandi and I have been doing all the post sponsored runs, our biggest achievement was the 10 mile 'Cherry Blossom' run. We had a sleepover.... and went to bed around 0030..yikes! We had to get up at 0330 to make it for the sign in at 430. We are 6 hours ahead of Washington D.C. time where the real 'Cherry Blossom 10-mile run' was to take place at 0700. They were taking photos of us running and sending them to DC to show during the run there. It was a pretty cool thing. Our run was sponsored by the run in DC and we got Tshirts and coins. Brandi and I ran the entire 10 miles and we did it in 2 hours and 3 minutes!! I was so proud of us, I still can't believe I ran that far. But now, when I am on the treadmill running and thinking to myself how tired I am..and how much I want to quit--I can't, because I know I have ran farther! It is nice to have a workout partner who is similar. Brandi and I are only a few years apart and we were both athletes our whole lives. So, we have the same type of discipline when it comes to exercise. We are together so often the people have started calling us the 'doublemint twins' So, we had our black gym bags embroidered :) I am lucky to have a friend like her!! Finally a female who I get along with, who doesn't try to hook up with all the men here and who can carry on an educated conversation. She just finished her Masters right before we deployed.

Jewlery- I splurged on some real silver stud earrings, the jewels in them are fake, but the silver is real. The man in the shop was listening to the Koran, it was a Sunday morning and my friend Brandi and I were headed to the pool. But first we had to bedazzle our ears** We bought pink ones, blue ones, green ones, red ones, purple ones! Color is something civilians take for granted and something we try to incorporate every chance we can get. Brandi has tied a pink ribbon on her black bookbag. I cover everything in either hot pink or zebra print tape. Or both!! We were curious about what the Koran was saying that morning and asked the salesman. He told us that it was saying everyone needs to love God. Pretty good message for a Sunday morning. And we headed to the closed pool deck to spend a lazy afternoon sun bathing.