Sauna

wow, just to think that it's finally august. hopefully the weather will start to cool down. i hear that it's only like 70 in chicago right now; i think i will have to wear a sweater when i get there. i'm totally okay with that.

i am also so ready to take a break and go home. i think that a year long deployment is entirely too long. the army would have a much better time if they would just cut down the deployments to sic months. say goodbye to all the retention problems at least. oh well, little ol' me has about umm..zero say in any of that stuff. i just think it wears up down; being out here for a year. i would gladly take two six month deployments over a year, eh. once again, things in life you can never change.

so you try to look to the good side. you try to look ahead and take it one day at a time. you get by from the cute and many times much needed packages and cards from friends and family. you try to keep yourself as busy as possible and you try not to think about where your at. i saw a quote the other day the courage doesn't mean that your not scared, it just means that you keep going even though your afraid. well here's to all my friends, all my fellow Soldiers and to all the courage they show everyday.

Two Weeks -ish

hello all! i swear i will never complain about going to the field again. i used to think that a weekend away from home was unbearable. geez, i remember thinking that three days was forever. now, three days is just another three days. wow, when the heck did that happen? i guess you just get though day by day.

well i am really excited about going home, if anything it will be two weeks of not having to worry about any of this stuff, thank goodness. oh yah, and i get to eat lots of yummy, yummy food. i can't wait. the only thing that tops eating a ton or really good food is seeing my family and friends again. oh, and maybe a really good margarita or daquri! haha, we don't get to drink out here at all, so even if you're not a big drinker, you do end up missing it! haha, i went to qatar for like a day and a half, and had 3 heiniken, and i was buzzed. ha, i guess i am a total lightweight.

oh well, i am so excited to see everyone. I can't wait. i get to see all my fam that i haven't seen since last x-mas. that is so awesome. yay. i am excited. miss you guys, and make sure you keep in touch!

Two Weeks -ish

hello all! i sware i will never complain about going to the field again. i used to think that a weekend away from home was unbearable. geez, i remember thinking that three days was forever. now, three days is just another three days. wow, when the heck did that happen? i guess you just get though day by day.

well i am really excited about going home, if anything it will be two weeks of not having to worry about any of this stuff, thank goodness. oh yah, and i get to eat lots of yummy, yummy food. i can't wait. the only thing that tops eating a ton or really good food is seeing my family and friends again. oh, and maybe a really good margarita or daquri! haha, we don't get to drink out here at all, so even if you're not a big drinker, you do end up missing it! haha, i went to Qatar for like a day and a half, and had 3 hinekin's, and i was buzzed. haha, i guess i am a total lightweight.

oh well, i am so excited to see everyone. i can't wait. i get to see all my fam that i haven't seen since last x-mas. that is so awesome. yay. i am excited. miss you guys, and make sure you keep in touch!

Sunday Morning

  Well tomorrow is another Sunday morning.  They have really become my "day off" out here.  So Saturday night is our night to go out.  This usually means DFAC for dinner, a movie, then some coffee at "green beans" afterward.  I know you're jealous.  I bet you couldn't have this much fun at home.  Hah, really it's actually not too bad.  Tomorrow we will go to the pool, which is actually not too bad.  I will get really hot cause even just laying down in the 115 degree sun can be unbearable, and then i will jump in the pool and maybe play around a little bit.  There are always a group of guys, not always the same guys, but always a group that lines up at the diving board and jokes around.  It's funny cause you know these anonymous guys have been out on patrols all week, and are unwinding.  You know that they have been serious as hell all week, and now they are finally relaxing.  It's good to see.
  
  I miss you guys a ton. Oh and today marks my mid-tour!  Yay, I’ve been here for exactly 6 months today!
  
      

Hmm

yeah, well i really have no excuse this time. my mom yelled at me for not posting for a while, so i guess it's really back to the drawing board haha. i haven't been too busy, just trying to get through the last few months out here. i think that the first few months out here i just had to figure out what the heck was going on out here. now that i've moved a few times, and that i'm finally with my detachment for a few months; i've been feeling a ton better. some days are harder than others, that's for sure.

have you ever woken up in the morning and not known where you were for a few seconds? well that kinda happens to me sometimes. except, it's not that i forget where i am (impossible), it's that i just wake up and pray that one day i don't have to wake up here the next day. it's not that i don't believe in what i'm doing, or that i'm not 100% behind this mission; it's just sometimes i would do anything to wake up next to the man that i love. sometimes i would give anything to wake up back at home in chicago; to be able to just get in my car and drive wherever i want. it's just sometimes when you're fighting for freedom, you just end up missing it. i have really fallen in love with the iraqi people (that i know), and really believe that we can make this a better place; i see everyday the good we do for them, and the freedoms they have that they would never have had before. it really makes me excited to feel that again. this place really does teach you; war teaches you, and i really think that life in general was meant to teach you. you spend your entire life learning who you are, and sometimes, i think, taking a step back and learning what your real meaning is, is also really important. you can be any kind of person in this world, good, bad, somewhere in between, but i don't think that changes what the meaning of your life is, or what purpose you were meant to fufill. hell, anyone of us could kick the bucket tomorrow. i guess i'm really learning to ask the question: if i did, what did my life have to show for it? hmm..

on a happier note. i am coming home on R&R. if you want the dates i will be home e-mail me, and i'll let you know. love ya all. no matter who you are.