Adventures of HG at NRTI

So here I am in Aberdeen, sitting on the couch and watching TV and playing Minute to Win It in the living room. Oh how sweet it is to be back! But it took a lot to get here.

I'll spare you all the details, but I started with a Budget rental truck, then they didn't have my truck. So then I looked up Penske, who didn't have anyone in the state of Ohio open on Sunday. Then I finally ended up with U-Haul and they only had one facility open on Sunday and one truck. Unfortunately the gas attendant showed up an hour late and overcharged me for the truck. Regardless, I made it to Maryland, and with lots of help from Ed. He flew down, helped me pack up all my stuff, helped me load the truck, then drove the truck from OH to MD while I drove my car, Feisty and myself. Thanks Ed!!!

Now that I'm home, there is much work to be done. I have lots of phone calls to make, e-mails to send out, packing, unpacking and re-packing to do, etc. Tomorrow should prove to be a long day, but I'm one day closer to Maine. I'm also waiting to hear from Acadia tomorrow to see what HR has said. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Oh and did I forget to mention...I GRADUATED! Now keep in mind it's not totally official yet. Yes, I've passed all the tests, including the physical, but I still have ONE MORE test. I'll be back in Ohio on June 9th to test for the Ohio Peace Officer certification. For those of you who didn't know, the academy I just went through was a dual program. It was both certification for NPS (National Park Service) and OPOTA (Ohio Peace officer Training Academy). In our course outline, it is written as such: you must pass both to graduate from the academy. So basically, if I fail this test, I won't get commissioned either way. Luckily, I have two chances on this test, but I'm really hoping to pull off an 'A' the first time.

I can't believe I've come this far. It's been a long journey and there were times when I didn't think I could make it through, but I did. I pushed myself both mentally and physically and I've never felt better. I've really been blessed with this opportunity and I hope good things continue to come my way. I've learned so much throughout this academy and I wouldn't trade it for anything. A huge thanks to all of my instructors and the Commander for putting up with all of us through RAP 20. :)


Ryan and Joe made an extra large cake. It was actually pretty good!


Excuse the language. This is a common phrase used by our commander and we thought it would be appropriate to attach it to his gift.


















Friday after class we had a celebration cookout/party at Ryan's house. It was a lot of fun, good food and good friends. I hope we get to hang out again sometime in the near future.


I'll miss this sight going in to class every day.

P.S.-Stay tuned for a new blog and new adventures on my upcoming summer!!!