Gradumucation and stuff

So it has been a good bit of time since I have last updated, so I suppose I am due to write about what I have been upto these past few weeks.

Well, first, I finally graduated.  I'm a college graduate.  It seems so strange to say that, though I've finally become more accustomed to it, but right after graduation it was the strangest thing to say.  And possibly, more importantly, I'm an officer now.  Also strange.  On graduation day, after we go through graduation, we change into our Dress Blues and do our commissioning ceremony and get pinned.  After we are pinned, cadets who are walking around will salute us.  It was so strange being saluted, but still really neat.  Since I was enlisted prior to going to West Point, it was even a little stranger for me perhaps, because I was finally on the other side.  Of course, it's been five years since I was really enlisted, so not as strange as if I had gone through OCS (officer candidate school) as an enlisted soldier and 16 weeks later came out as a lieutenant.

After graduation I took a road trip down the East Coast and spent a couple of weeks down in Florida enjoying the sunshine and water, and of course, good company.  It took us nearly a week to make it down the coast because we stopped in several random spots:  Scranton, PA, Virginia (somewhere, I don't remember where), and a couple of places in South Carolina before we made it into Florida.  Florida was awesome: lots of time spent kayaking, swimming, eating really good food, spending time on the beach, and of course running - but not as much running as I would have liked.  Unfortunately, the heat made running difficult except for certain hours of the day.  This is one nice thing about being back in Oregon - I can run more than a few miles without hurting.  Sadly, my lack of running due to finals + graduation + travel and heat means I won't be doing the marathon I had wanted to do at the end of the month, but I still want to do the half.  I HAVE been running, just not the miles I usually run (3-6 mile runs have been the norm as opposed to 6-10, and I haven't done a long run in about a month).

Anyways, now I am back in the Northwest.  Around pine trees and rivers and bookstores and all that cool stuff.  The only bummer is that both my mom and sister now live in more suburban areas instead of close to the city, though my sis isn't too far out, so that is nice.

Now I am going to go back to reading my book since I have spent entirely too much time on the internet this morning :)