Hello beautiful people,

I already broke one of my resolutions for the new year. I apologize. It’s been a hectic past few months. Here’s a little recap:

I left for Korea on 9 Feb and arrived on 10 Feb (crazy time travel!). I am now 13 hours ahead of most of you back in the States. It’s a weird concept to think about. The first week or so was pretty rough adjusting to the new time zone, altitude, and air quality (it’s pretty horrible here). I had a lot of support from back home and talked regularly with loved ones which made the transition much better. I have been working with the Brigade XO here and am transitioning into his job. It is a lot of work and I feel very proud and honored that the command felt I would be able to take on this role, even though it is only temporary.

This past week I participated in the Best Warrior Competition after four days notice and a lot of push from my command group. It was extremely grueling and to steal a line from a CPT back at BOLC “a significant emotional event”. I didn’t place, but I earned a lot of respect from my peers as well as other superiors in my chain of command. I won’t lie. I had ZERO faith in myself that I could do it. I had a lot of prompting from my friends, family, and boyfriend that I needed to buck up and show them what I’m made of. And I did. I finished the events, albeit slowly and with little grace, and I have a little bit of new found confidence in myself. I hope that it helps other people feel less worried about putting themselves out there and trying new things.

Finally, I have been able to fulfill one of my main resolutions which has been traveling. I have been over most of northern Korea outside Camp Casey as well as some parts of Seoul and its surrounding areas. I am about to travel to Germany to take a much-needed vacation from all the craziness that has been Korea as a whole. I am not really sure what to expect from going there, but I know it will be an adventure and I am looking forward to spending some time reconnecting with myself and exploring a new place. I have been debating taking a day or two out of my week to go to France or Italy as they are at the top of my bucket list. Hopefully, over Christmas, I will be able to explore a bit more of Europe and Asia.

So, there’s my little life update. Sorry, it took so long and sorry there hasn’t really been more exciting news besides that. I will do my best to post more often, and I am working on a few short stories for you guys as well. They’re all from the heart as always and personal to myself so we’ll see how it comes out. Hope everyone has been doing fantastic and starting out their new year the way they want. I know I have.

As always, thanks for reading.