Friday/Saturday/Sunday

Friday was a short day of classes. I got my group presentation done in my Essentials class. It went well I think. Glad to have that class basically done with. Now I just need to listen to the rest of the presentations.

We had PT on Friday also, only day that week! We ran 400s-sprinting those sucked! Was a good workout.

Friday night a group of us headed down to Fredericksburg to get some food off the reservation. We settled on Capital Ale House. The food was good and the beer selection is way above average. It was a very nice relaxing night and we were back home early for a nightcap in the Boardroom.

Saturday am started with a workout and then we carpooled into DC to tour the White House. A classmate made arrangements for us, where normally you have to make these appointments months in advance, we didn't have to. We did have a hiccup though, the International students that were with us weren't allowed in. It kinda stunk for them, we all felt bad. The tour isn't very long anyway, so we hooked up with them at the end. We all went to the White House visitor's center and learned quite a bit about the building. Then we hit Ebbott's Grill. They are famous for their oysters if you are into that sort of thing-I am not!

I spent the night in DC with my Uncle and Aunt. It was very awesome to sleep in a normal bed and hang out in a real neighborhood! The food was awesome too! The next morning I was up early to head in to do the Mall run. We met at the Jefferson Memorial and ran to the Capital and back. It was about 4.2 miles and there was 50 or so of us from 271. It was very fun and a great workout. Our last 2 miles we were moving and I'm pretty sure we were under 7:30/mile. It's a great place to run, the views are very cool.

Once I got back to the NA I finished my last major paper (8 pages) and emailed it off to my instructor. I have only printed off 1 paper the entire time I have been here, most of them prefer you email it as an attachment or copy and paste it into Collab. Collab is the UVA website for assignments that the NA uses. If you are coming here, you will learn all about it.

Yesterday I walked 16,663 steps = 7.9 miles.
Today 11,792 steps = 6 miles

Halfway photo


Ending photo

Me running with my classmates

Washington Monument

Dinner Saturday night with Aunt and Uncle! Was delicious

If you are a craft beer person, like me, might I suggest ChurchKey in DC? Great selection!


400s x 8 with a break in between each rep. Ouch!

271 at the White House!

Backside of the White House, I asked to meet The 1st lady, apparently she was busy?

Governors conference Monday in the White House

You can’t see Baron’s soccer goal, it’s there.

If Your Coming Here-Advice

Today was another normal day of classes with presentations. Classes are much more student driven lately as we are all doing our individual/group presentations. I gave one in my Violent Crime class about a murder I worked on in 2003! It went well.

We also had our last international panel today. I'm glad they do these, it's very interesting to hear about the international agencies and how they do things. I'm kinda bummed we are done with them.

I didn't really post much last night except for pictures, but yesterday was our Winged Monkey Assault challenge! It was awesome weather out (75 or so when we were out there, but I think it broke 80 later). Basically you worked your tail off doing anything you wanted from bands, to lunges, to weights/kettle-bells etc. You just run from one station to the next for 30 minutes-no big deal! Like all of the challenges, you work as hard as you want, don't feel intimidated by the physical stuff here, you'll be fine.

So some advice if you are coming here:

Clothes-I feel like there is enough room to unpack your stuff. You can store your bags under your mattress if you didn't drive here. Bring clothes to wear on the weekends, for all weather types! You are fine to bring more then you need, you just leave some stuff in your car if needed. Make sure you bring workout clothes for the weather, you can wear whatever you need to keep you warm under your FBI gear. I suggest a pair of tights/long under wear for cold weather. Don't forget a hat/gloves if you are sensitive to cold.

Bring a car. Being stuck or at the mercy of your classmates to go places is annoying.

You have to be in uniform M-F 7:30am-5pm (unless you are leaving). Some people really hate this, it doesn't bother me much. For instance, you have PT first thing in the morning, you have to wear you uniform first to get to the locker room, then you change there into your PT gear. Same goes for the end of the day, your PT might be over at 4:30, but you need to change back into your uniform if you leave the gym area before 5. Just stay and stretch out or something.

Patio area off of the atrium is open for hanging out after hours. Make sure you clean up after yourself. You can bring your own beer/cigars etc. out there, just not in your room. As the weather has gotten nicer, we are starting to take advantage of this more. It's nice to unwind out there a bit.

Laundry-best time to get it done is at 5 am! I put a load in, hit the pool, put the load in the dryer, go eat, grab it and fold it all before class. After school it gets busy! Some people also go and do it over lunch. Another secret, the other dorms (Washington and Jefferson) also have laundry in them, use them! The washer machines here are HE, make sure you leave the front loading ones open to avoid any mildew smells.

Classwork-get organized and knock out stuff as much as you can. Some instructors will wait to give assignments till the end, they don't want you checking out with a couple of weeks to go! Either way, get your papers done, turn them in early if you can, it makes life easier at the end. I literally have all my major work done as of now, I am just waiting on presentations and some other small stuff. It feels good!

There are 2 stores here. The FBI store and the NA Store. They have some similar items for the NA students. I think the FBI store is cheaper! But the NA Store has some cooler stuff.

That's enough for now, I will try and post some more advice in a week or two.

Steps 8986 = 3.99 miles. Yesterday was 15000 steps! We had time after the challenge so a few of us hit the local outlet mall to enjoy the weather and get off base for a bit.


That’s the cafeteria on the swings floor. Library is behind me. Also the FBI store is in here along with linen exchange and post office. Dorms are to the left and right.

Left-Madison dorm where NA students stay.

Challenge day equipment. Fieldhouse to the left back ground

Our challenge photo-left side about 3 rows deep is me!


Me giving my presentation in Violent crime.


Better pic of the track and the field house-we work out in there sometimes too. I will try and get a pic of it-it's neat in there.

International Night!

Bulgaria 

Taiwan 

Canada-barely international 

Nepal!

Denmark

Mass

This was glorious-Lebanon dessert!

Spanish cheese and sangria!!

Spain

Ukraine 

Morrocco 

Australia 

Hong Kong 

I ate one of these...

Week 70?

It’s week 7 here at the NA and it feels like 75 or so outside! What a great weather day, everyone wanted to get outside and enjoy it. It feels like spring in the middle of February and it’s amazing for everyone’s mood. Not sure if it was the long weekend and all of us heading home or the weather, but spirits are high around here it seems. After classes, the track was packed with people getting some outside workouts in. Scott and I ran some sprints and I think I tweaked my hammy a little...great.

I almost forgot...Blue Brick=DONE! Finished that up this am. Not sure what I am going to do with myself for the last couple of weeks, the pool is going to miss me.

Classes went well today, every single class revolved around a presentation! My group did our news analysis in our Media class, it went well! I won’t look at the media the same after this class, it’s been eye opening. My Change class we had a presentation on Jeff Bezos being a transformational leader, sounds like a pretty smart guy. We had a good presentation on the Boston Bombers today from one of the negotiators on scene. It was very informative and well received by the group. Some of those F block classes are very good.

Tomorrow is the Winged Monkey Assault Challenge. That should be fun. We also have International Night! We have been warned multiple times to be careful...those international drinks can be potent! I will do my best to pace myself, but I want to try it all! Really looking forward to all the food also. I will have a bunch of pictures tomorrow, sorry for none today-you’ve pretty much seen everything at this point anyway, if you have read the previous posts.

Have a good night, A

Steps 14,179 =. 6.29 miles

Home Sweet Home! Week 7 Begins

What a great weekend! We got out of class early Friday and this place turned into a ghost town! Because of the holiday on Monday, everyone it seemed (most anyway) went home. The excitement around here was contagious and created a festive environment all week. I didn’t say anything on here, because my kids had no idea I was coming home and I didn’t want them to read it!

Amy and I left here around 430 and parked at the Franconia station and took the Metro to Reagan for our 8pm flight. The Metro is way easy and super convienent, I recommend it big time. We got checked in and grabbed dinner before boarding. I couldn’t believe how many classmates we saw, I’d safely guess there were over 20 of us there at the same time.

Before we boarded, I ended up running into one of our Reserve Deputy’s, Matt! Matt is a frequent traveler and upgraded me with his miles so I could sit first class with him! What a great way to start my trip home!

I got home while the kids were asleep, so I got to surprise them in the am, turns out they had an idea that I might be there, but it went well. Problem was that Sadie and Eli were still sick from the week before. They were troopers though and we went about some of our normal day anyway. Eli ended up getting a couple shots for an infection, in his leg, that wasn’t fun holding him down! Sarah bought us tickets to the Air Play show at the Civic Center, that was really neat and the kids enjoyed it.

We took it easy that night due to Sadie getting worse as the day went on. Sunday was pretty rough for poor Sadie, but Eli came around and seemed to be back to normal. We had fun playing and he gave me multiple hugs and told me he loved me. That stuff gets you. It was great.

I had a quick minute to hang out with Uncle Pete and get caught up with him, he is doing well! My parents came over and we celebrated Sadie’s birthday. That was fun to see them also and Sadie got some really neat presents!

Monday am, I was out the door quick and early. The Sheriff himself gave me a ride to the airport at 4:30am. Very nice of him to help us out and it was nice to catch up on office stuff. I almost missed my flight, those security lines at Des Moines airport are getting ridiculous.  I heard my name over the intercom twice...that made me nervous.

Amy and I got back to school early and I was able to get a bunch of homework done on the plane ride. I also got a haircut back in VA. They are so cheap here and you get a massage for a minute on your back. I will probably get another one before I am done here, just because!

We are pretty excited for week 7 to start, because that means we are very close to being done. The work is starting to become due and all the presentations are piling up, but we are close. Hit it hard this week and I think we really start to see the light.

Night night, I’m tired! A
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Steps 7434 = 3.31 miles

The Metro! Very convenient for getting into and out of Reagan.

My poor kids weren’t feeling the best, they enjoyed the Air Play show though.

Matt and I riding dirty in 1st class! Thanks Matt for the upgrade!

Metro map-they have an app also.