Pennsylvania

I've been here in PA at a little National Guard base called Fort Indiantown Gap for almost a week. Its a small place and most of the structures, our barracks for example, are very old and dilapidated. We're surrounded by some nice big hills, and its actually quite picturesque at times.

Right now we are studying for our Emergency Medical Technician National Registry examination. This is usually a 120-hour course, but we're cramming it into nine days. After we're done with that, we'll be taking the EMT Intermediate course followed by a Prehospital Trauma Life Support. Its been some pretty intense study, and I'm sure will continue to be for the remainder of the time we're here (although we did find time to go have a few drinks last night).

In a few days I get to go home for Christmas and I'm very excited about that. I'll be visiting family up in Brainerd for the weekend. I have also purchased a plane ticket to head back to MN over New Years. I'm not sure what my exact plans are yet, but I think I'll be dropping by the Arvold family Christmas get-together if at all possible.

The internet access here is hard to come by. Also, for some reason the DOD net we're on won't allow me to check my hotmail account. I apologize to those that have sent me mail to that account. I will have to read it when I get home this weekend.

I hope everyone is enjoying the season, if not the weather. Hope to see you all soon!

Congratulations and Happy Holidays!

First of all, congratulations to Heather and Kyle who are now engaged! I think its awesome and wish you guys the best.

I am now in the end stages of detainee training. We've been doing some pretty cool things, and all we've got left is a practical exam. As soon as we're done with this, we've got a few odds and ends to wrap up before the company hops on the plane.

As for the other three medics and myself, we'll be heading to a National Guard base in Pennsylvania for some EMT training. This will be about a three week course. While there, we'll get a few passes for Christmas and New Years. Thus, I think that I may be flying back to Minnesota sometime in the next few weeks. I'm pretty excited for this.

That's about it for now. Have a save and happy holiday season!