thirty-two.

Well, it's my second year of officially being forever-thirty, and I have to say--I'm excited to be 32. The last year was kind of a hard one on me mentally--as a couple of my closest friends and family know--but within the last half year, I have totally turned things around and feel like I'm on FIRE for life.

I've talked about being happy before, but I am HAPPY right now. I mean--life is gooooooooooooood.

I didn't do anything extravagant for my birthday this year. I spent the last weekend in Oregon for my third Hood to Coast relay (post coming soon), and I was lucky enough to have two birthday dinners and a birthday lunch with those closest to me on the days surrounding my birthday. I'm very blessed (hashtag it!) to have such an amazing family!

You know, the last couple years I was kind of going into each year thinking, "THIS IS IT! This is THE year that "x" or "y" is going to happen..." and you know what? Each year keeps going by and those things I keep waiting for just keep on... not quite happening. So you know what I finally settled on a couple months ago? THAT'S OK! I'm not going to sit around and WAIT for things to be perfect or the timing to be right or the pieces to fall into place. I'm going to DO THINGS and everything will happen when GOD (not me!) is ready for it to happen. And just like that, things started looking up.

Since turning 31, I was fortunate enough to go to Ohio for the Air Force Marathon, Disneyland and Maui with my husband, California to visit my dad, Montana for work, Oregon for a friendcation, Seattle to visit family, Mississippi for work training, Oregon for Hood to Coast, and I'm anticipating kicking off year 32 with travel to Florida, Alabama, and Maui--all before 2019 will hit! Oh, and (updated to add) I have also taken up golfing in the last year with our military golf league and have gone from averages of 75 for 9-holes down to the mid 50's in just over 4-months! I'm excited to keep it up and keep those scores going lower and lower (I want to break 100!!). There's no time like now to just go... live life... and be as happy as possible. Because why not, right? Why not!

When I look at the photos above and below, I see a woman who is loved, who is happy, who is so comfortable in her own skin, and who cannot wait for what the future (and God's plan--and timing!) holds. Let's do this, 32!!!

Past birthday posts: twenty-six │ twenty-seven │ twenty-eight │ twenty-nine │ thirty │ thirty-one

Gulfport TDY

Work is an exciting thing for me these days. I have three big hats that I wear right now and one of them took me to Gulfport, Mississippi on for a week-long training course this month.

Now, before I get more into the story--let me tell you about these 3 hats. The first, as you already know, is my Security Forces Operations Officer role. I'm not doing that position full-time right now, though some days it still feels like it. I'm still assigned to SF militarily and still work my drill weekends there. But the job I had been doing for them full-time was only temporary and didn't come with any benefits. So earlier this year in March, I accepted an indefinite Federal Technician job in the Inspector General's office as the Wing Planner. I was excited about learning something new and having a bit more of a permanent job (it was intended to last for a year). Well, the same day that I started that new job, our Vice Wing Commander came in and asked me to also take on the "extra duty" as the Wing's Chief of Information Protection, or Information Protection Officer. I agreed, looking forward to even more job experience and another role to learn. Well, fast forward to August and that "extra" duty now takes up approximately 90% of my time. I really, REALLY love the job, and have been having a great time learning all the ins and outs of information protection, including information security, personnel security to include security clearances, industrial security, and bits and pieces of operational security. I have my fingers crossed that it can turn into a full-time opportunity, but until then I'm happily plugging away in the IG office with IP as my third hat.

Anyway, back to Gulfport. So my IP position has an annual training course and this year I was lucky enough to go back to Gulfport, Mississippi to attend it. Gulfport, or Biloxi if we're being specific, is where I spent 6-weeks for my enlisted Personnel Technician training school, and I loved the area. I didn't have a car last time I was down there, so this time it was a lot more fun to be able to do whatever I wanted to do!

The course ran Monday - Friday and about 0745 - 1430 each day. That meant there was a lot of time for fun after each day's lectures. We had all sorts of lectures and discussions from professionals in the field, and I was able to meet about 100 other people across the Air National Guard who are doing the same job. I made some great connections--many of them have been doing the job for 10+ years, so I will be utilizing their experience in the future!

Each day, I woke up at 0430 and went to go lift or run from 0500-0630. Then I'd attend classes and plan an activity for the evening with my new friends. We honestly had so much fun, and I didn't really take many pictures of the training... only of the fun stuff!

Check out some photos from the trip below:

That's about as far into the Gulf of Mexico that I was willing to go. The water was warm and inviting, but horror stories of bacteria infestations kept me (mostly) out of it. But gosh, it was so beautiful.

I enjoyed a beverage (or two) during the week. This Corona and the view from Felix's in Gulfport almost couldn't be beat.

I sure had my fill of oysters throughout the week! There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't get our fill of seafood.

Taking a nature walk along a path in Gulfport.

This was the group of friends that welcomed me and my coworker in... they were from Kansas and Connecticut and they were an AMAZING group of guys. I couldn't have been luckier to have found guys who wanted to go on fun adventures, eat lots of seafood, and who were just an absolutely blast to hang out with. I still talk to each of them weekly... hoping to see them again soon!

We golfed in an impromptu scramble at the Bayou Vista municipal course in Gulfport. We didn't golf so well, but we sure had a fun time (and took 2nd place!).

My two best friends on the trip. This was in New Orleans on our last day.

When you're only an hour and a half from NOLA, you MUST go. I didn't love it at first but I was sure having fun by the end of the evening (and after a Hurricane!).

Tourist stop to a NOLA penny press--complete!!

Overlooking the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

Despite only lasting a week, I could have stayed in Gulfport for so much longer. The friends I made, places we went, adventures we had, and laughs we shared made the trip what it was. I was so grateful to be able to attend the week-long course to gain valuable training for my job, but man--that trip was A TRIP!

Traveling with the military is such a big passion of mine. I love to see new places, meet new people, learn new jobs or skills, and have so much fun while doing it. Already looking forward to the next one...