Goosebumps

Today was so much fun! I had a great time visiting with classmates as we showed my family around the academy. My kids loved it and it was nice to share it with my wife. Now she finally had an idea of what I was talking about for the past 3 months.

I have goosebumps. I can’t believe this journey is almost over. I feel sad, accomplished, refreshed, nervous, excited, slightly anxious. Real life is coming quick.

I wanted to be here and I would say that 95% of the people here wanted to be here as well. That makes a difference. I felt it in our discussions, I saw in the presentations. People here are no joke, they earned this and deserved it. They gave it the effort it deserved. I am honored and humbled to be in the presence of so many quality professionals. I’m blown away by the level of talent here.

At the same time...I am ready to go home. I will miss not having to shop, clean, or take care of everyday things like cooking! But I have neglected my family long enough, I owe them for their sacrifice in the biggest way. I need to make up for my absence!

 For those of you that are coming here, I have tried to leave you some practical advice in other posts. I want to make sure that you take advantage of everything here, so I want to tell you this: DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN. Sign up for it all, no matter what. You have one shot at this experience and it is difficult to get her, so you owe it to those who didn’t make it, to try it all. Do all the extra stuff you can, go on on the trips you can, eat all that crazy stuff on International night...live a little! Enjoy it, you owe it to yourself and your department.

Right before I got here I got a new radio as a part of our radio project. I plug it in every night to charge, when it goes in, it’s red. In the morning it’s green. It works, right? One day I plug it in and it turns yellow...I think, oh crap, this thing is already broken. I didn’t mess with it, I just left it, it was yellow for hours! I finally looked it up, the yellow means it is re-conditioning the battery for maximum life and charge. That’s what the NA is. I have been re-conditioned to last the long haul. My batteries are recharged and it’s time to get back to work. First though...I am going on a little vacation haha!

Take care, thanks for reading, and if any of you need anything from me or my area, please let me know! Ask any questions if anyone is coming here in the future. Take care and be safe!

Adam

Steps 13,002 = 5.77 miles


Out for the last dinner!





Classic!


So good to have these guys here today!

Family is Here/Grad Rehearsal

My family was lucky to get her yesterday, turns out the security line at our airport is getting slower! So after a run for it, they made it in the nick of time! On the connecting flight, United was nice enough to let the kids sit up front and “drive”!

Last night, the Boardroom was hopping! For some of us, it will be the last time we get to hang out. I had a great time with my classmates.

Today we received our yellow bricks, it was a highlight of the session. It signify’s our accomplishment and effort. We then lined up for graduation rehearsal and went through what to expect for graduation on Friday. Nothing terribly complicated.

I left right after and headed to my in laws. Had a great day hanging out around the house and celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday. Pookie is in the house as well, she is up north in DC with my Uncle Mark. Her friend Grace gets here tomorrow, so Friday we should have a nice contingent of my friends and family at graduation.

My bricks!

Section 3!

Dan and I. Long time follower of the blog! W!

The Iowa crew!

My Louisiana meal!

Can’t have Louisiana night without a Hurricane!

Yellow Brick Road-Lots of Pictures

The highlight of today was sneaking over to my nephew’s baseball game and surprising my kids! It was so good to see them and Sarah after all this time! I am glad they are here and I feel my time is winding down here.

Today we completed the Yellow Brick Road, a right of passage at the NA. It’s about 6.1 miles of trail runs and some obstacles at the beginning. It would have been glorious if the weather had cooperated, but it was cold and windy. I wouldn’t want it any other way though, it was tough! A few classmates didn’t fare as well, we had one break a wrist actually. I hope she is feeling better today, traveling with a broken wrist can’t be any fun.

Before I went to meet the family, I had a chance to eat at Louisiana Night! Well done fellas, well done. I had catfish, fried okra, shrimp, gumbo, the whole works! It was great fun and good company. I will post some pics of that stuff tomorrow.

Graduation rehearsal first thing this am and then I am headed to the in laws for the night. Tomorrow I am going to give the family a tour of the FBI Academy! Have a good day, A

Steps 22,147 = 10.5 miles

Carb Load meal provided by the FBI NAA and First Tactical. It was very good, shrimp were on point!

Hoover reading room in the library

Tile I received for finishing the triathlon challenge. Coolest piece of swag I’ve got so far!

Our triathlon group! Beasts!!!

Dessert at the carb load meal. Well done! Cake under the fondent was very good.

The big yellow brick!









Uncle Jeff and I! Aka Mr McCormick. He’s a big deal around here!

All over!

Group shot

The library.

Library.

YouTube Video of Our Class to This Point

Well done Carl! Thanks for putting this together!

Week 10 Begins-lots of Academy Pics

This post will be good for people who are coming here or people who wonder some things. I tried to upload some pictures instead of just explaining everything. I will post some more pictures of stuff around here for tomorrow's post.

We are officially done with all classes. Yellow Brick Road tomorrow, Grad rehearsal Wednesday, Thursday is family luncheon, and Friday is graduation! I hope to have a few final posts to give some other perspectives before I leave.

If anyone has any questions, make a comment and I will try to answer as best I can and maybe even find a picture for you.

This is breakfast, every day! Yup, no joke. That's turkey bacon and turkey links FYI. There is also fruit/veggies at the salad bar and toast. Oatmeal and cereal are also available.



On the weekends they bust out the waffle maker! They also have omelets on the weekends.



There is usually another area for breakfast that has something like this or a breakfast sandwich.



Apples and Bananas are usually here with some fruited water. Stock up, they are good snacks for middle of the day.



Dessert bar after lunch or dinner. Avoid! Except when they have soft cookies...if they aren't soft, put them through the toaster for a cycle. Thank me later!!!



Protein shakes-usually available at lunch. No idea what kind of protein they use. People dig these, I never tried it.



Lunch will have sandwiches or some sort or this as an alternative to the main hot dish. These are gyros and they aren't bad.



Every dinner/lunch has a pasta/pizza bar as an option. Never ate the pizza, have no idea how good it is.



The grill-hamburgers, veggie burgers, hotdogs-available for lunch and dinner.



Salad bar. Part of it.



Salad bar



Salad bar with lunchmeat if you want a sandwich. I enjoyed the tuna a few times



Pasta bar part 2. That chicken is a staple and very dry. You'll always see it!



My room, being lived in. Day to day, this is basically what it looks like.









You get one half of this and a drawer. I never used my drawer.




Bathroom you share with another room.