First Ten Days

Hey Everyone. It's been awhile since I've posted so here comes an update. I've been in Alabama about a week now. It took me a few days to get the internet up, and I have been running full speed trying to get everything done before I start Warrant Officer School next week.

First off, the weather in Alabama. Right now it is 71 degrees. In the mornings it's been in the 30's but that's ok, because there is no snow, and the sun shines and heats everything up quite nice. I just keep reminding myself of the freezing temperatures I came from, and even if it's 40 degrees out, I'm out driving with the windows and the sunroof open.

Second, what have I actually been doing:

- Getting my house setup:

It's a nice little house in a prime location right off post.
















- I've been exploring the area:

Chick-fil-A, one of the best restaurants in America.

PoFolks... Yep, couldn't resist this place. Good ole fashioned southern cooking in here.

 Yep...

 Fried green tomatoes, not a fan but Mark enjoyed them.

Fried chicken gizzards. These were delicious, but chewy.


















I explored Atlanta a bit when I dropped Mark off at the airport. I saw Georgia Superdome and Turner Field among other sites.

During my first weekend here, by buddy Brian (also here for flight school), his wife Ashley, and my friend Mark, who graciously helped me move down here, went to Panama City Beach, Florida. Now, if you know me well, you know I am a tropical Norwegian. Florida is right up my alley and as soon as I graduate from Warrant Officer School I will be spending my weekends down there studying and relaxing. Here are a couple pics to make you jealous:

 Sunset...

 Mark and I on the beach

 Brian and Ashley in the warm water, though the air temp was around 48 degrees

Ashley being creative with my camera

Brian, Mark and I tried the hottest hot sauce in this hot sauce shop. It was made from Ghost peppers and had heat rating around 1,500,000 Scoville units. That's around the heat of pepper spray. It was intense to say the least.

Since I knew a hotter pepper than the Ghost pepper was recently discovered I asked for a sauce made with that pepper. Here we go, the Moruga Scorpion pepper from India, in hot sauce form. They take the actual pepper, then concentrate it to bring up the heat. This bad boy is around 2,000,000 Scoville units.














- I've been marking my clothes as required for Warrant Officer School:

 If you've ever wondered why people in the military are anal about things, there's a reason behind it. This doesn't even scratch the surface of what all I had to mark, but you can rest assured that I hand drew each letter with a sharpie or a white paint marker. There are more uniforms and stuff in other rooms, so this is just a sampling. This is the most tedious thing I've ever done, or at least remember doing. Praise God that I was able to watch movies while getting it done.

Here's a little bit about where I live. I am in Enterprise, Alabama. It is a small town that borders Ft. Rucker to the west. I am in the southeast portion of the state, right above the panhandle of Florida. The people here are amazing, southern hospitality is real. I love the food and the accents. As far as what is there to do? Not much, but I did find a great sushi joint in Enterprise. Sushi is better when you get fresh seafood.

The biggest city near me is Dothan. There is a Best Buy there so you know it's civilized. Other than that, it's just like any suburb of Minneapolis, only it's about a 40 minute trip for me to get there.

Other than that, there isn't much I need down here. I have all the essentials either on base, or in Enterprise. I am very content down here. I know the heat of the summer will be intense, but we'll take it one step at a time. Right now I'm looking forward to 70+ degree days. They will make going to the beach all the more worth it.

I start Warrant Officer School next week, and I won't graduate until mid to late April. So, I will probably not update this blog until then.

Finally, Prayer Requests:
Please pray for patience and humility as I go through the course. It will be like basic training again, and for someone who has a bit of military experience it's not easy to go back to square one with the yelling and the intense structure, but it all serves a purpose. I do not need to be prideful, I do not know how to be an officer yet and that is why I am here.

Thanks for reading and check back in April for more updates.

P.S. if you have any questions just throw them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.