Meet Augustus: The Not-So-Lucky German Pig

Meet Augustus, the not-so-lucky German pig.  Allow me to explain.  Augustus came to live with me a week or so ago when my friend Dawn came down to the Milwaukee area for the weekend and we had the opportunity to go to dinner.  We have been good friends since we met in college several years ago.  She knew how much I wanted to be stationed in Germany so when she saw him at the store she had to get him for me.  According to the box he came in, "In Germany, when someone is lucky, it is customary to say 'Ich Habe Schwein Gehabt,' which means 'I have had pig'.  This tradition dates back to hard times, when if you had a pig to feed your family you were considered fortunate.  The Good Luck Pig bestows good fortune and luck wherever he goes!  Find a special place for him in your home and he will bring you luck and success!"  After much laughter and joking we decided he needed a good German name and we felt Augustus was fitting (remember Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory??).

Well, today I found out Augustus is a 'not-so-lucky' pig.  I got word that I will not be stationed in Germany and instead will be moving to my 5th choice, Bethesda, Maryland to start my Army nursing career at the newly combined Walter Reed Military Medical Center. 

While disappointed that I will not be swilling beers at Oktoberfest or testing the limits of my car on the autobahn, I have never been out east either.  I have always wanted to experience the history of the war memorials and battlefields, take a tour of the White House, wander through the 19 museums and galleries associated with the Smithsonian Institution, visit the National Zoo, and see everything else our nation's capital has to offer.  In fact, I'm not sure one year will be enough time!  I think everything in life happens for a reason, sometimes things don't go as planned but that's ok because it means that something better is just around the corner.  I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to get a bachelor's degree and that I had job before I graduated from college.  I'm thrilled that I passed my nursing boards on the first try and that I have family and friends who have supported me all of my life and throughout my decision to join the military.  Bethesda, Maryland might not be Landstuhl, Germany but I'm excited about my new adventure, living in a new city, and all of the new friends I will make along the way.   

So, with all that in mind, I guess Augustus might just be lucky after all, and so am I!

Hurry Up and Wait...

So this blog is really just a means for me to keep friends and family updated with all the new changes that are going on with my life and to provide people who are going to be following in my footsteps tips and lessons that I've learned along the way to make their life a little easier.  I've read many blogs as I prepare to move to San Antonio for 11 weeks of training and then off to a yet unknown location and they've been incredibly helpful as I begin to navigate my new life as an Army Nurse.

First off, big news, I passed my Nursing boards a couple of weeks ago!  I am now an RN.  What a relief that was to get out of the way, I'm glad I will never have to go through that experience again!  Now that graduation and NCLEX are complete I can begin to focus on getting ready for training.  With that comes an unbelievable amount of preparation.  My mom and I sorted out all of my stuff that I moved home for the summer and it's amazing how much stuff one can accumulate from living college apartments for 6 years.  We have boxes to ship after San Antonio, boxes to take to San Antonio, boxes to take to Goodwill, stuff to throw out, and stuff to ship only if I don't go to Germany.  Some stuff is too valuable for overseas travel.  I have gotten my passport and driver's license renewed (even though I might not be leaving the country, better safe than sorry), bought new furniture (since I have a big girl job now, I don't have to use the college furniture that was picked up on the side of the road!), and am still shopping for more furniture so I have room for my guests once I reach my next destination!

My first Army lesson has already been driven home...patience.  I have been working on getting my physical updated for the last 9 months and I finally found out today that my medical waiver has officially been approved!  Physicals have to be renewed every 2 years, so last November myself and two friends started the process of renewal.  The two year mark was January but with all the paperwork involved we figured it would be better to get started early...turns out that was a good idea!  Theirs seemed to sail through without issues, mine on the other hand, snagged every hook and nail along the way.  After months of delays, miscommunication, lack of communication, and several days of getting up at 0400 for a physical only to find out some of the paperwork wasn't in order and I would have to come back another day, everything got turned in and I got an email from the office of the surgeon general that said I'm once again, fit for service!  I've come to find out the Army's motto is Hurry Up and Wait!  FOR EVERYTHING!  No sense in getting upset about stuff, that's just the way they work; the sooner you accept it, the easier life will be.  Another important lesson I've learned is that if you want things to keep moving along, you have to stay on top of it yourself.  Don't count on others to make sure your paperwork is getting processed.  I sent off about 2-3 emails/week to various people politely asking for updates; just to make sure they hadn't forgotten about me.  It's very easy for papers to fall to the bottom of the stack so saying 'hi, remember me?' every few days may help keep yours from sliding head-first into the trashcan.  It was still a long, tedious process but I think it went a lot faster than it could have because I stayed on top of stuff!

Now that all of that is taken care of, the next step is to find out where I'll be stationed!  I'm waiting for orders now for when to report for training and to find out where my first duty station will be...YES!  More waiting!  I'm a little more anxious for this because I really want to know if I'm moving to Germany to be neighbors with my good buddy Caitlin, whom I went to nursing school with.  She moved there last month with her hubby and two dogs and will be working on a Med/Surg floor at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.  We were given 9 different bases to chose from for our first duty station and we picked our top five.  Mine were, in order, Landstuhl in Germany, Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington (state), Tripler in Hawaii, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and Walter Reed in Washington DC.  I really don't like the heat so I was trying to stay as far north as possible, not very easy when it comes to Army bases, they tend to congregate in the south.  No matter where I end up, I think I will be happy to be finally starting the next chapter of my life! 

So this is where I will end for today...I will post more as new information becomes available!  Until then, hurry up and wait!!


P.S. Friends and Family: Everyone is welcome to come visit me wherever I end up!  Just shoot me an email and let me know when you want to take a vacation!