Sleep Is Overrated!

So I've definitely come to the realization that sleep is definitely an overrated thing when it's daylight nearly 24 hours a day! It's been a crazy first full week down here on the ice. I'm getting into the grove of how things work down here. Unfortunately I haven't spent too much time outside yet (still going through all of the training), yet I'm eating like a pig because there is so much good food! The best of all of the food though are the desserts. Just as an example last night we had Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with marshmellows on top! And about the fourth night here we had smore pie! They are amazing, not as amazing as patricia's ice cream dessert but that's a tough one to top!

So where I was actually going with this tangent about food is the fact that I've been eating so damn much I've already gained like ten pounds and I've only been away from home for two weeks! I really need to exercise more for sure. One thing that has been really great however is there is a good number of half way decent volleyball players down here. One thing I'm really excited to say is there is a good chance I am the best player on an entire continent in the world! If not the best overall easily the best American!

It being Monday right now the week just started and I'm ready for it. I caught up on some sleep a little bit yesterday but not too much. Other than playing volleyball on Monday the rest of the week last week was pretty relaxed. It's nice to just get off of work talk to Noelle, go eat dinner and then hang out with friends. There are a lot of truly amazingly interesting people down here. I've learned how much of the world there truly is to see out there and how lucky I am to start my tour of continents off with this one!

It's quite amazing how you can go from pretty chill relaxed nights every night of the week to everyone you work with just going crazy on Saturday nights. People enjoy themselves every night but they really go out of their way to party hard on Saturday's. I stayed up until 4AM on Saturday night just hangning out with friends and enjoying the evening.

Yesterday Anthony, myself and a Kiwi named Neil made our way out to the airfields and my god was it amazing. To experience the extreme weather conditions that we did was awesome! I don't have any great photos of it because my battery in my camera died early but there are some you should check out! Don't worry however because I plan on making many more trips to the outer edges of the continent.

For the most part my blogs have done a lot of narrative of my time and activities here on the ice. I'm going to change that a little bit right now however.

I've read a lot of blogs where people talk about life altering experiences. I am definitely having mine right now! Being so separated from the life I was so use to living I'm able to step back a little bit and I'd like to give a little advice. You should try to always make some time for yourself each day to go and do something. Whether that be going to the movies or reading a book or just a walk. Something that lets your mind just clear. That's one thing that I really love about being down here. Every single day at one time or another I am alone with just my thoughts and the shear beauty of my surroundings. It's a time when I get to think of my friends and family and all of the wonderful things that you mean to my life. I get to just think about how lucky I am for my life to be the way it is. The peace of mind that it gives me is amazing, it makes me think that no matter what problems arise in my life I will be able to conquer them. I have lots of people that I can depend on and that love me. Anytime you are having a rough time just think about the good things. A lot of that I stole from an email I wrote to Noelle but I think it should hold true for everyone. I'm extremely thankful to have found her and to know that we are going to be able to take on this big bad world together.

I couldn't imagine going through the rest of my life without taking the time to appreciate the world that we all live in. Life down here is so simple and uncomplicated. I wish real life were like that but I know that it isn't. (Ok totally just had a Doogie Howser moment!). What I guess I'm trying to say is that make sure to enjoy the simple things in life because when you stop doing that, when you stop loving and you stop laughing you truly stop living... It's not human to be unhappy at times, it's not really normal. But you are cheating yourself if you're not happy most of the time. You're going to miss way too much if you are.

So I know I said in the last blog that this one was going to be shorter and I'm not sure that it really is. But maybe the next one will be a little shorter. In case it's hard to pull out the main point of this all what I'm trying to say is I'm having an amazing time down here. I couldn't be more in love than I am (with Noelle as well as everyone and everything in my life). This so far has been an amazing adventure and I can't wait for it to get even better!

Miss you all and love you all!
Danny!