Come on and join your fellow (wo)man, In the Navy

This past weekend I cleared out my storage unit and took most of my stuff out to my mom's (to be stored for free!). Lots and lots of boxes of stuff that I obviously don't need since it's been locked away for two years. One day soon I plan on going through the boxes and chunking (sn!!) most of it.

Robb and Stacey lent me the use of their Suburban and Robb helped me fill it up to make the first run out to my mom's. As we began packing the truck, I was making a mental note of all the boxes I knew had stuff in them that I absolutely had to keep. One of those boxes was of pictures; pictures that I’ve been wanting to use in a blog about my being in the Navy. Most people, when I tell them I was in the Navy for 5 years, get this rather funny look on their face as if their thinking, “NO WAY!!” Yes, way and I have the pictures to prove it.

Taken just after boot camp graduation. We're visiting a museum about the Space Shuttle.
I'm in the middle. I only remember the name of the girl on the right - Baumgartner. Don't you love my glasses? We called them BCG's - Birth Control Glasses!

I had been in the Navy about a year when we sailed to the Bahamas. I'm modeling my friends straw hat she had bought while on leave. I had no idea someone had their camera out. Good thing though, I kinda like the picture. The room I'm in is called a berthing. Basically it was our bedroom. The blue curtains you see behind me were our beds. My whole living space on the ship was 7' long x 3' wide x 3' deep; just about the size of a coffin. The mattress, if you could call it that, was about 3" thick. Everything I owned had to be stored in a small 4" deep area just below the mattress. The mattress rested on the lid of this area and could be propped open to gain access to your stuff.

This was taken close to the end of my enlistment. I had the best job in the world! I sat at the front desk of the men's barracks for 8 hours a day! Nothing but men for 8 full hours! I have no clue why they gave me that job, but I was not about to complain! My only gripe was that we had to wear our dress whites. They are 100% polyester and 100% hot!

So there you have it! Proof of my being in the Navy. Enjoy and don't worry if you find you want to laugh. I know I look like a dork in most of them; we'll laugh together! :-)