Bonus Post! Saturday

On Saturday 8 of us made a trip to Mt. Vernon (George Washington’s estate). It was a really cool trip that I would recommend to anyone in the DC area. It was only about 30 minutes from Quantico.
I learned quite a bit about ole George. He was rather tall for the time and sounds like he treated people very well. He resigned from powerful positions twice to turn it over to others, which they explained didn’t happen very much at that time in history.
The house itself was impressive, very large for the time and very well thought out. The most impressive part was the back and the view of the Potomac. I could see why someone would want to build a house here.
Sunday we worked out and watched football in the cafeteria area. It was really fun to watch the playoffs with people from all over the country and get their perspective. Back to work Monday!

12,834 steps = 6.1 miles

Front side of the house. Huge estate, the picture doesn’t do it justice.

Lunch!!!  I can’t begin to describe how glorious it was to eat some king other then cafeteria chicken and salad. It was like we have been in Survivor for the past two weeks. Everyone ate all their food!

The back of the house. Could sit in those chairs for hours.


The view from those chairs looking south.

My classmates. I’m standing next Theresa from San Diego SO. Small world moment, she is the boss of a good friend of mine that used to work with me!  Small world huh? Other departments represented in this picture are Coranado, Escondido, Rock Island (IL), Akron, and Morocco!

Selfie in front of the house

2nd Week is Over!

Well the talk of the NA right now is the big government shut down! It’s all over the news and everyone here is having discussions about it. We have been worried that we might possibly be sent home if it goes through, but we found out today that won’t happen! That doesn’t mean other staff here might not be coming back to work for a while though. I hope it works out for them, I wouldn’t want to have to worry about that kind of stuff.

Classes flew by today and the weather has improved! That has everyone in a good mood it seems. A lot of people headed home right after class, those of us who live too far away are making plans for the weekend. Sounds like a group is hitting up Gettysburg and another one is going to Mt. Vernon. I think I’m doing the Mt. Vernon trip.

We had PT today with Mr. O’Malley...dude is intense! Gave us a great workout and then a few us hit the track to do some stride work.

If you are coming here, I read all the blogs about AT&T not working and Verizon being the only cell service that worked. I am here to tell you that AT&T has been working fairly well for me. I don’t know if everyone else is not using it and that’s why it’s good for me, or not, but it is working. I have FaceTimed my kids everyday and had very little issues.

Also, if you are coming here...bring a humidifier and lots of lotion. I am drying out! It’s getting painful, so is my room mate. It’s probably the pool, but others are also complaining about that.

Ok, have a good weekend, sorry no pictures today, I will have some Monday from my trips this weekend! Now to the Boardroom to hear some more stories!

13677 steps = 6.14 miles

Seminars Started!

Another day at the NA! Started off with my swim, I was tired today but got it done. Had a good discussion about the future of law enforcement as it relates to the 21st Century Policing study in our leadership class. It is interesting to hear the different points of view from all over the world in these discussions. What some places can do and what they can’t. The funny thing about all of these productive talks are that deep down we are all very similar!

We started our session wide seminars today. Our first speaker was outstanding. He was the incident command for the Lancaster County Amish School House shooting over 10 years ago. He gave us his perspective on the whole event and how it went from a law enforcement perspective. It was riveting and everyone in the room was locked into his story. I had many discussions with others after and we all agreed that this was a powerful presentation. Give your kids a hug. If you don’t remember what happened, a quick Google search will get you up to speed. It gives you perspective to hear about these tragedies.

Last night was pin and patch night. That was great, see below for a picture. If you are coming here, make sure you have enough patches for your entire class! Also, plan on reading and writing every night for homework. I can’t comment on the overall toughness of the course yet, but I am putting in some time working on stuff. I’m learning a ton and it doesn’t feel like work at all.

My friend Luke mailed me some cookies today! It has been a big hit amongst the people in my class!  Thank you Luke, very thoughtful of you and they are great!

I forgot to add my steps yesterday, so here they are! 11,552 steps = 5.47 miles.


The gym lockers are small and assigned. You don’t really need a lock I don’t think. I live out of this one and use it a few times a day.


Patch and Pin night last night, these were the coins I got!


These are the patches! Some really neat ones, over 100!

Marko, from Estonia!  A bad dude! Fast and fit and all business. He actually asked for the selfie! Haha

1st Challenge Day

Every Wednesday is a Challenge Day here at the NA! All of the challenges are themed to the Wizard of Oz and culminate in week 9 with the famed Yellow Brick Road. Each week we do a different challenge, with all 225 of us! Today was the Tin Man Trot, a 3 km run around the FBI Academy. It was a brisk 23 degrees outside, a slight breeze that cut right through us! It was great. I especially loved the people who don’t get snow or cold weather, they were bundled up!
It’s pretty impressive to see that many people running as a group and encouraging each other. I am looking forward to the next one! I hear they get much harder though, today wasn’t tough.
If you are coming here and there is a chance of cold weather, bring running tights/gloves/hat/compression shirts whatever you need to keep yourself warm. You can wear your workout uniform on the outside of it.
We had individual and section pictures this afternoon. It was funny to see everyone today all clean shaven!

Pin/Patch/Coin night was tonight also. Was great to hang out with everyone and pass out some of my boring patches! I got some neat ones from other people though. I also passed out some koozies, we were out of coins before I left.

A classmate posted this to our Facebook page! If you are coming here, create your own Facebook group, it’s a good way to share info and make plans with the group

Steps 16,632 = 7.70 miles (includes 1.7 mile run)

Tomorrow I will post patch night photos.


Section 3 after our mile run last week! Front row right side!!!

Tuesday!

A full day of classes and more assignments being passed out! Everyone I can think of has multiple papers, journal entries, final papers, and presentations to give! There is enough work to do for all of us! I am finding myself trying to get organized and getting into a routine/flow.

If you are coming here and you haven’t done homework or college type classes recently, be prepared to get back up to speed. MLA/APA documentation is in a lot of what we are doing. I think I’m getting it. I also have a ton of reading assignments to get caught up on. I’m not complaining, I’m just keeping Sadie informed of how important reading and writing are ;-).

The best parts of the day are our conversations with others. I am learning a ton from people here. I am surprised daily by ideas others have and how they manage their offices. It’s humbling to be with these people, they are hugely important to their agencies.

Got my mile in the pool this morning, I’m at 5.5 miles now, feeling ok!

11,785 steps = 5.58 miles (consistent! Ha)

Best part of my day though is PT! Walked into PT class room to Iowa’s very own Matt Hughes taking care of biznass! This was part of “putting fire in our belly” before our workout! It worked. We also got some valuable information about some useless calories (drinks) and how alcohol affects us strength wise after you consume more then 5 drinks. Our instructor is very knowledgeable and relates well to us. Our class loves him and his style of motivation.

Today’s workout was single arm floor press-work to a heavy 3 reps each arm. Work to a heavy 3 reps unsupported lawnmowers.
After that in the gym with a kettlebell (35lbs for me). 5 swings, walk with straight arm extended over head to the end of the mat, then 5 goblet squats and then walk back, same arm. 5 mins on 1 min rest, then 5 more minutes with our other arm.

Lunch



This is where we put our back packs while we eat. It fills up!


A picture taken here at Quantico...we run through the woods on the Yellow Brick Road at the end. This bear better watch himself!

2nd Week Starts

First weekend is over and it was a long one with the holiday! Many of us agreed that having the long weekend so early in our session kinda stinks, but I didn’t hear anyone complain about another day off!

I spent the weekend in Richmond with by brother in law and his friends. It was great to see all of them and hang out again. Last time I saw most of them was his wedding.

Got back to Quantico nice and early Monday and was able to get my haircut just off the back gate. Was cheap and good. Glad she asked me if I was a Marine first, otherwise I would have gotten the standard haircut.

Once back in NA I went for a swim, but I only got a half mile today. I was feeling sluggish. Ate some lunch with the room mate and then busted out some homework all afternoon. Got a few papers done, still have a bunch to go. Many of my instructors are cool about turning in assignments early. Makes total sense so they can get them graded earlier as well. I am trying to do things early, makes life a lot easier down the road.

Went and ran some sprints with a buddy and did some interval training before supper! Two workouts in one day, going to try and do that a couple of times a week.

Ate dinner and then FaceTimed with kids. Was a nice relaxing weekend. Had some great conversations with others about how they do things. I am learning a ton from the people here. It’s humbling how good some of these people are at their job. I feel fortunate to be here.

Back to school tomorrow!

11,556 step = 5.47 miles

Monday envelope that the kids and Sarah packed for me! I really look forward to opening these!



Dinner Monday night. Not bad!



The Fancy Biscut from Richmond, solid breakfast



The outside of Veil Brewing. Really good spot if you like craft beer!



My BILs Pebbles Shake!



The weekend crew in Richmond! Was really nice to hang out with these guys, thanks Robby!