A rainy day in July pt 2

Exactly one year ago, to the hour, I sat in a big auditorium, watching it rain buckets and I wrote a blog post as I waited to catch my flight. I told everyone about the unexpected storm that marked my last day in America.

One year later and there's another surprise storm dropping inches of water on our parched land. I hadn't even realized the occasion until the rain reminded me. One year ago I was leaving for deployment, fresh out of school and new to my unit. I hardly knew anyone and I knew nothing about how the army worked. I was excited to visit new countries and cultures; I brushed up on my history and geography. I had a new iPad and about 35 electronics too many. I had asked around and thought I had everything I needed (ha). I was stuffing my face with Jimmy Johns and trying to act like this wasn't my first rodeo. Everyone knows that new LT that is completely lost. I mean, deep down they're all a little lost, but I was determined to not be the doe-eyed one that you can spot in a crowd. 

So much changes in a year. 

I met people, made friends, lost one and learned exactly how tight a bond you form with the men and women you deploy with. 

I changed units, changed jobs, grew as a Soldier and grew as a person. I discovered exactly which people, values and accommodations I truly missed, and which I could do without.

I'm home now. My husband is out of the army and in a wonderful job where he's home every night for dinner. I'm home every night for dinner. We get to enjoy our weekends and we're expecting a baby! 

Looking back on the last year, there are things that make me laugh for how I handled them, things I wouldn't want to do again and people that I am immensely proud of. I'm proud of my family for how tight our relationship has been through it all. I always had a stable support group and that made things 1,000 times easier. I'm proud of the men and women in my unit because we were able to accomplish the mission without unnecessary risk, drama or friction. I'm proud of all of my friends and the American people because of the outpouring of support and care packages we received. All politics aside, there was never a doubt that the vast majority of the American people support the troops. Unless you've been in a war zone, you don't know how much that really means.

I could write a lengthy advice column from what I learned overseas but instead I'm going to laugh at all of the dumb things we endured, pray for the families of the friends we lost, give a sincere, heartfelt thank you to all of my family, friends and supporters and be available in case anyone has questions, wants advice or cares to share their stories. 

Lucy, I'm home!

Home. After 8 months in Afghanistan and  a 2 day trip home by way of Romania, Germany and Cherry Hill, North Carolina. 

The trip wasn't too bad; I had my eye mask, ear plugs and zzquil for the flights. Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly as prepared for the lay overs. When I checked weather.com it said that Romania would be 55. Wrong. We landed in the middle of the night, there was snow on the ground, a nasty wind and lucky for me, we had to stand outside for an hour while we found our bags and moved them for the next flight. The army sure knows how to put a kink in anything you might consider fun. 

Once that was done, we spent the night in Romania and left the following evening for a brief stop in Germany. We didn't have to get off the plane for that stop, so I slept through it. Then our next stop was North Carolina at about 2am. The walk from the plane to the terminal was not pleasant! Neither was the 3 hour wait in a closed Marine terminal. Although it did give everyone time to clean up, charge their phones and buy a soda.

Before I knew it, I was back in Texas and I laid eyes on the most handsome man I've ever met.

We couldn't get off that parade field fast enough. All I wanted was to eat, shower and finally take off that multicam uniform! 

Thankfully, I have some pretty awesome friends that came along to photograph my arrival! Seriously, one BIG shoutout to Heather and Nick- you're great people and I love the photos! 

Now that I'm home I've kept busy by soaking up time with my babies

Aren't they the cutest?! 

I've also donated a rather large portion of time to cleaning up after this monster. Everyone, meet winny

She's 9 weeks old, super smart and incredibly adorable. She already comes, plays fetch and sits (most of the time). Now we just need to teach her the difference between her toys and the kids toys!

Between Matt, the kids and Winny there's never a shortage of love and snuggles, which is exactly what my life was missing. Well, that and my makeup and clothes. Definitely glad to have those back too. 

As my life transitions I can reflect on how truly blessed I am. I don't know what the best chapter will bring my family, but we're ready. 

Oh, and you're invited too! 

The long road home

I got to spend a day and night in the country known for these things:

Hint: this is no ordinary castle, it's rumored inhabitant lives for the night and may or may not have the ability to turn into a bat. 

This pup is one of thousands of strays that roam the cities and countryside in this country. 

What country is known for Dracula's castle and an increasingly alarming stray dog problem? 

What is Romania.

After a 5 hour flight in a C130 with my 55lb rucksack in my lap the entire way, it felt amazing to step off the plane and out of a war zone. Although I would have easily taken a 10 hour flight with a 90lb ruck in my lap if it meant leaving Afghanistan and coming home!

We weren't allowed to take pictures during our brief stay, but the scenery there is beautiful. My first impression was that the country is run down, but on closer inspection I saw that aside from a couple run down places there was a simple, old fashioned beauty to most of the homes and yards. We were on the eastern edge of the country and the best comparison I can come up with is Belle's village in Beauty and the Beast. It was night and it was cold but I could almost see the little old ladies and chickens roaming the yards.

As I was in the shuttle heading from the airfield to my room I got to listen to 107.9 Europa FM and although I don't speak Romanian I knew at one point they were discussing America and Michelle Obama. Beyond that I couldn't tell you what they thought of the topic. I had to laugh at the music they played, during my 20 minutes in the shuttle I heard Cindi Lauper, Brittney Spears, a local artist and a Spanish song. It always cracks me up to see that Europe still enjoys our 80s and 90s music. 

I didn't actually get to see Dracula's (or any other) castle while I was there, but I did see a few stray dogs. To be completely honest, it was much harder to pay attention to the details and capture the atmosphere for the blog because I was so ready to be home. 

It was also about 20° outside and I didn't bring my winter uniforms, so I stayed inside a much as possible! 

Next time I go to Europe it will be on my own terms and I promise to take lots of pictures and fill you in on all of the natural and cultural beauties. Until then I'll be enjoying the beautiful USA. 

Did I mention I HATE packing?

I hate packing. Have I ever told you that? I have? Well I'm going to tell you again. I hate packing. 

Even after giving away my scale, hanging storage bins, tools my dad sent me, mirrors, hangers, and all the basic supplies I have, I still have way more than I came with! 

I'm only bringing home the bare essentials plus the scarves and chess sets that I bought as gifts, but look at this!

 My bag is too full to close and I haven't even packed the pile of things on my bed! 

Where did all of this come from?!

This is what I get for ordering ADO and not getting my RFI (deployment clothes) until I got here. Which technically wasn't my fault (or my choice- they ran out of my size in the states) but I'm stuck with it either way. It looks like I will have to go buy a big black box to shove this stuff into and mail it home separately.

I've been putting off that trip because I don't fancy wheeling a box through this:

This is what northern Afghanistan looks like in February. As the wettest month of the year all of the dust just turns into endless, thick mud. I've been pressing my luck and waiting for it to dry out a bit. I think tomorrow I will have my golden window of opportunity and if not, I'll just shamelessly beg for a truck or gator to run my errands. I mean, its bound to work sometime, right?

Packing and mud aside, things are going pretty well out here. But really, how can they not when you're this close to going home? I spend my days reading, napping and playing volleyball with what has to be the goofiest and least-coordinated bunch of people. Anyone that has played a sport with other people in the Army knows what I'm talking about; what they lack in coordination and sports experience, they make up for in enthusiasm and trash talking. All in all it makes for a pretty entertaining way to pass the hours. Thankfully there aren't many more to be passed before I get to head home! 

Before I attempt to climb Mt. Useless-Crap that is inconveniently located on my bed, I need to make a quick shout-out. 

Happy birthday to my smart, caring and beautiful mother! 

I hope you're enjoying your birthday week in the Keys and I hope this is your best 29th birthday yet! <3

Afghanistan: An Overview

I've had a few readers point out that I never gave an overview of Afghanistan, like I did with Kyrgyzstan. Shame on me! It's about 6 months late, but here it is.

Afghanistan is a country in Central Asia, not the Middle East. It has 34 Provinces (Amercans, think of them like states) and it is bordered by Pakistan to the south and east, Iran to the west, Turkministan, Uzbekesistan and Tajikistan to the north and China to the far northeast. Afghanistan's time zone is UTC +4:30; unlike the vast majority of countries, Afghanistan decided it would be different and select a timezone in incriments of 30 minutes instead of hour intervals like everyone else. After a little research I still couldn't figure out if there was a logical reason for that, but they aren't alone in their desire to be different. India, Sri Lanka, and parts of Australia and Venezuela all have +X:30 as well. And then there's Katmandu, Nepal.. They took being different to a whole new level with the UTC +5:45.

For those that don't know much about timezones UTC is the Universal Time Coordinated and the zero or 'zulu' location is in Iceland. UTC was formerly Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and people still use that but the correct scientific term is UTC. So Americans, you are all UTC - something and pretty much the rest of the world is UTC + something.

Of the 34 Provinces in Afghanistan I have spent most of my time in Parwan Province.

Parwan was founded by Alexander the Great during his conquest of Asia Minor and the Persian Empire. The province was inhabited by his Greek decendents for over 1,000 years. Around 792AD it was conquered by the Arab Muslims and it became a foothold for the religion. The region remains overwhelmingling Muslim to this day. Most people in Parwan are either Pashtun or Tajik and most farm and live off the land.

This picture, like the rest in this post were taken by whoever had a camera handy on our patrols.

There are some green and beautiful places in Afghanistan, as you see above. However you have to be that close to the river and have a well built karez system (their irrigation) to achieve that. As y'all should know by now, I would not recommend swimming in that river. The locals get their water from wells, river water is strictly for plants and external use!

When you get down to the day-to-day lives here compared to America or Europe you'll notice a few key things:

The kids love interacting with the Soldiers. Mostly because they have learned over the years that many Soldiers will go on patrol with a pocket full of candy and small toys to hand out. Regardless of the continent you're on, kids love candy.

Kids also love entertaining themselves. There aren't many toys out here (most villages don't have electricity or running water) so the kids make their own fun. The most notable form of fun: throwing rocks. Now this wouldn't be an issue, but the kids learned that Soldiers don't retaliate when they get hit with rocks, so some kids like to aim at patrols! Thankfully most parents and local adults put a stop to it when they see it.

 

Another similarity: a sense of community and hospitality.

This is one of my friends sitting with a member of the police. Please take a moment to notice that the locals have Mountain Dew! I don't understand why it's so hard for the government to get it for us if the locals can get some! When you stop to talk to the locals out here a large number of the maliks (village leaders) will invite you in for Chai and a meal. They also have local and national level police to help reduce crime rates and keep their villages safe.

 

When you boil it down you've got some people here that are nice and helpful, some that are openly loathsome and my personal favorite are the people that act friendly and helpful and then as soon as you're out the door they're scheming against you.

It's not so different from the people you meet back home, although at home the schemes normally don't involve rockets..

Redeployment Plans

We had the awards ceremony for the early redeployers recently. Aside from losing feeling in my fingers halfway through because of the temperature, it was a nice ceremony. Especially since it means we are one step closer to our turn! 

Now that we have recognized all of the hard work of the select few that get to go home early, we are focused on preparing for our replacing unit. Their advon gets here pretty soon which is doubly exciting because not only does that give me something to prepare for but I just found out that one of my friends is coming on their advon and he'll be training to take on my role! It will be nice to see a fresh friendly face, and it will make the hand off process easier since I've worked with him before. It really is a small world. 
On top of learning that news, I found out that our replacing unit has very few females which is great news for me because it means the chances of me keeping my room all the way up until redeployment greatly increases! If we don't have enough rooms to accommodate them, then we will have to move into transient tents (the tents I first lived in while I was out here) until we go home. The tents I don't mind, but I do not want to give up my indoor toilet/shower! 
While I wait for the new unit to get here, another task I face is sorting my things. I need to go through all of the possessions I have acquired while being in Afghanistan and decide if I need to pack it and take it home, mail it home (I can't send anything fragile that way. The Clock I bought Matt got there in about 1,500 pieces.), or donate it to the next group of Soldiers stuck out here. A few things are pretty easy to decide, for instance I'm leaving my storage bins, hanging storage, scale and whatnot here for the next person. 

This spread should make her life much easier than mine was when I first got here! From the carpets to the clorox wipes and command strips it took me weeks to get all of these things because the PX out here is so lacking. 
The final thing that I am doing in preparation for redeployment is planning my homecoming and the leave that comes with it! I am so excited to return home to my favorite pastimes. You can be sure that my spring and summer are going to be filled with golfing with Matt and camping, fishing and trips to the beach with the whole family! I plan on using every chance I get to absorb the two things I have missed the most in the last six months: my beautiful family and the beautiful outdoors. We have already gotten the kids excited about all of the weekend trips we plan on taking and as the days pass I'm getting more and more excited too!
I've also sat and thought about the places I really want to travel and see because after all of this time working I want a vacation. The places I came up with are:
Ireland- I am in love with the countryside, history, castles and culture. However I have had enough intercontinental travel for one year, so I think we'll save that for 2015!
Nashville- I've been there before but I especially want to go back so that I can visit some very dear friends and enjoy the lively city and gorgeous rolling hills surrounding it. I think Matt and I will have to plan a four day weekend up there!
Smithsonian- I am not the hugest fan of the North East. I lived up there as a child and although the winter is a wonderland and the clam chowder is to die for, the overall personality tends to be curt and elitist. Besides, listening to some of the accents just makes me want to punch someone in the throat. That being said, I absolutely want to show the kids the gems and wonders all over the country and DC has quite a few! It's definitely on the Places to Go list, but not until the kids are a little bit older so that they can appreciate the history (and walk through the museum without needing a nap)!
Mid-west- As a child my parents took us to the Royal Gorge, the Garden of the Gods and the Grand Canyon (as well as about 10-15 other fantastic national parks and monuments). That is definitely something I want to share with Matt and something we are going to pass on to our kids. Seeing all three is a little hefty for one trip but at least one is on the docket for this year!
If anyone has any suggested vacation or travel sites, be sure to let me know! In the mean time, I need to figure out if the soft scuffling noises I've been hearing for the last few minutes are coming from my refrigerator or from mice... Oh deployment.

H2.. Ohhhhh!

Word of the day: envy [en-vee]

1. A feeling of discontent of covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.

Example: Natasha is extremely envious of everyone that gets to go home on ADVON. 

Boy, am I! I've been plugging away at work for the past week or so and trying my best to ignore everyone that is completing their redeployment preparations. It isn't working; every time I leave my office or check my email I get inundated with reminders intended for those lucky souls.

We have reached that awful part of deployment, the part where redeployment is finally in view and countdown-close which means time has stopped in Afghanistan. If ever there were a time in my life that I wished to have Adam Sandlers remote from Click it is now. I would loooove to fast forward a month or so to get out of this terrible waiting period. At least when I'm in the last couple weeks left I'll be busy handing off my job and prepping to come home! 

When this perpetual boredom set in a few days ago I went to the education center to try to schedule my GRE. True true to my luck, they only have one scheduled (for February) but they don't know if they'll hold it or not! To be generous and to round up, that gives me zero motivation to study. Thank God for my kindle. Also for Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and blogs! Speaking of blogs I have two new blogs for you to follow:

Muse & Miscellany
MuseandMiscellany.com

+Megan created an entertaining and well written blog that covers beauty, literature and other aspects of an every day southern girls life. 

Translation Failed

TranslationFailed.blogspot.com
+Rebecca  has hysterical posts that track a girls adventure as she moves from America to be an Au Pair in Germany (with little to no knowledge of the German language)! 

Both girls are intelligent and outspoken, which makes for a great read. 

I don't know how I would keep my sanity out here if I didn't love to read. I suppose I would rot my brain watching videos/movies/tv non-stop. I have witnessed a few mush-minds develop over the last six months, which makes me so glad my parents would lock us outside (or prop us up with a good book in inclement weather) instead of using the TV to contain us. I benefit a hundred different ways from that. Thanks mom and dad! 

Aside from battling boredom I have to admit that I have been losing the skin care battle. I am more blemished than an oilier-than-average 15 year old! Being a girl that thought 2 pimples was catastrophic during adolescence, this has been a hard pill to swallow. I've tried 2 different face washes, foregoing face wash in lieu of face wipes, gentle body wash, tough actin' body wash, all of the above, and none of the above, all to no avail! Just as I was adopting a melodramatic countenance to match my newly acquired prepubescent skin I had an epiphany. I was washing my hands in the bathroom and thought, "H2...Ohhhhh!! The water! The damn water!" They take dirty river water and dump chemicals in it to make it less hazardous; essentially they give us water we can shower in but is unfit to drink. How did I not see this sooner?! Of course my skin is breaking out. Of course my skin dries out even after generous applications of lotion. It's like going through the car wash and leaving before the final rinse. I've been parading around with left over chemicals and dirty river remnants all over me! 

The obvious solution to my problems has been staring me in the face. 

Literally. There's always a bottle of water within arms reach and water points are more abundant than bathrooms and bus stops combined out here. 

I tried out my miracle-cure last night and today my skin feels great! The only tip I have for anyone else living out here (or weird enough to try this at home): pop your water into the microwave for 20 seconds or so, so when you turn off your nice warm shower and dump the water on yourself you don't induce shock like I nearly did!

I still have no idea how to cure my exorbitant boredom but at least I have a fighting chance at returning home in the same general condition that I left in!

Better late than never

It seems like amazon processed my request for snow on Christmas a little late. I don't blame them, from what I've heard there were record sales this year! 

But seriously, we have snow! 

We got a solid 3 inches last night and although the long walk to work was treacherous, it looks gorgeous! 

Even howitzers look pretty and festive with a nice white coating. Now I can pretend that I'm walking past the lush lawn of a military museum on my way to work. Thank God for vivid imaginations.

Vivid or not, I can't seem to make this feel warm or festive:

I don't think any amount of snow can make concrete blocks, T-walls and concertina wire look cheery. Which I guess is a good thing because that would be a wee bit counterproductive. 

Large, sharp and unwelcoming scenery aside, this snow is enough to make a warm chai tea a necessity! 

Don't worry grandma, I added an extra ingredient and I am getting enough to eat! 

See?! 

Now of you'll excuse me; I have a chai tea to drink, a hand painted longhorn to touch up and some snow to enjoy!

Sprint across the finish line

Ah, the end of another year. Normally I do a little reflecting on how wonderful my year has been but this year I'm going to skip that and dive right into celebrating the new year! I mean let's face it, if your year starts out with two speeding tickets and a chipped windshield on January 1st, it's a pretty good indicator that you should just chalk that year up as a loss. 

2014, I have been waiting for you for months! Now that we're days away from a magical new year that's full of mystery and promise I want to go about my usual end of year planning. 

I don't do New Years resolutions. My philosophy is this: if you have an issue, fix it now and stop being lazy. Putting it off for weeks or months with the misguided promise that the next year will be wonderful is just setting you up for a difficult year full of struggle and limited results. Every day you continue with your bad habit you're willingly making the upcoming change that much harder. 

So instead of New Years resolutions, I like to do an outline: major life events, 2014 edition.

Don't worry, I already know that I'm a nerd. I've embraced it.

Honestly though, what better way to get excited for the new year than to focus on all the great possibilities! You're also giving yourself a little New Years present; taking the time to map it out in advance will save you from so many of those surprises. You know the surprises I'm talking about. Everyone (well almost everyone) loves surprise presents and surprise parties but I don't think anyone likes surprise bills and finances. On top of giving you events to look forward to, coming up with a little timeline gives you an idea about when you'll need to save money for which events.

Oh, you're still reading? Well thank you for pushing through the life/finance lesson from a 20-something who probably has far less life experience than you ;)

Now for the good stuff!

2014

Glorious reunion- in a few short months I will be reunited with America, healthy food, clean water, beer, jimmy johns, and most importantly, my family! If this were the only bullet on my life-of-a-nerd outline it would be enough to guarantee a spectacular year. 

Beach wedding extravaganza- that's right! It's long overdue but Matt and I will finally be able to have our wedding! I am counting down the days, and checking off the planning blocks as I impatiently await a weekend full of love, family, laughter and all the seafood we can shove at you.

I cannot wait until the sand I'm surrounded by is coupled with water instead of rocket attacks! 

Family expansion- Matt and I are joyously planning on expanding our family by another rugrat in 2014. Wyatt and Alexis are also planning on family expansion. The additions they are excited about will look a little more like this:

 

We're still working out a compromise on the kitten. Despite Wyatt's protests, the kitten will be a little girl (Matt doesn't want this cat peeing on his clothes). Now we just need to pick a color; Wyatt wants a brown can and Alexis wants a purple one.. I'm hoping a nice purple collar and brown bed will suffice! 

Home improvement- structurally our house is in great shape. However with all of the military travel since we moved in we haven't had the time to completely customize it. 2014 will be a year full of interior paint, lawn and garden projects and making space in the garage for t-ball equipment and soccer nets. 

Higher education- aka even more money generously donated to a university (as if Matt and I haven't already spent enough on degrees)! I may grumble but after a few years away from a university I know that this year is the year to get my Masters Degree under way. 

I am incredibly excited about 2014. Our family will be going through a lot but unlike 2013, in 2014 we're the ones who pick the events and they're going to be great.

Life is about enjoying the ride. 2013 might have been the long, rickety, painstakingly slow climb up the roller coaster but 2014 is going to be one hell of blast because of it. 

Mashed potatoes and apple pie gravy, anyone?

At the end of a meeting a few days ago my boss asked his subordinate leadership to wait around. We did, and he explained that around the 6 month mark of a deployment is when drama usually started and people started to hate their job and stop caring. He told us to try to understand that and make sure we were encouraging a positive environment and not letting drama interfere with our work. 

If only his advice wouldn't have been so prophetic.

Every work place comes with it's fair share of drama, but I have been fortunate  enough to work in a drama free environment for the most part. As I've said before I think that's party because we all have a job to do but mostly because I simply don't subscribe to the drama. For example, the wonderful ladies that live on our floor have continued their drama. I don't know the details and I don't ask; I mind my business and people leave me alone. I do know however that someone created some lovely fliers and attached them to the bathroom door that claim if anyone takes longer than a 5 minute shower they will be "reported to the chain of command and recommended to be moved into transient housing for at least two weeks"... Really ladies? 

She took a long shower, off with her head! 

Unfortunately sometimes the drama can't be avoided or ignored. 

Today we (my whole shop) got an email from one person and it was business as usual, except for a somewhat snippy comment to someone else in the body. Then 30 minutes later the referenced person sent a juvenile and dramatic reply.. To everyone. 

Nothing screams mid-tour drama like passive aggressive email arguments sent via 'Reply All'. 

As soon as I read the email I went to the source and told him it was unprofessional, juvenile and completely inappropriate and as I did, my boss came in to tell him the same thing (in nicer and more vague terms. He's not really a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy). Unfortunately after that another person chastised them, but via Reply All! I had to shake my head at that one because it was only perpetuating the nonsense, not squashing it.

So now we have a handful of sour people walking around and being pouty and argumentative. One of them even tried to start a debate with me about how men should be paid more in the army because they are required to do more push ups and run faster on their pt test. 

Needless to say after about 2 minutes of trying to calmly show him my reason for disagreeing I just told him to get out of my office and go do some work. He then decided that it was a good time to tell me that "the reason America is going downhill is because of women"... Looks like somebody is still bitter that I chewed him out for being unprofessional!

Hopefully (for his sake) he loses the attitude very quickly. I am not a fan of drama and if he tests me, he will learn that I do no tolerate disrespect. 

I don't understand why people have to be at each other's throats. This guy is mad at that guy and this girl said something to so and so.. I'm just sitting here wondering if the DFAC is intentionally messing with my food!

Last night I grabbed a to go plate and asked for pork chops and mashed potatoes. They offered me gravy, I gladly accepted and they poured it all over my food. It wasn't until I got home and took a big bite that I realized the gravy was in fact apple-pie filling, sans apple chunks! In case you were wondering, mashed potatoes, pork and apple pie filling do NOT taste good in the same bite. I wound up snacking for dinner instead. 

Then this morning I grabbed a milk and apple jacks and sat down to eat my breakfast, but as I poured my milk it came out in clumps.

This isn't the first time the locals have mixed up food labels.. A few weeks ago I got very excited for fajitas and got a nice big one, loaded with beef, onions, peppers and sour cream, only to bite into it and realize they added COTTAGE CHEESE instead of sour cream. That was probably the biggest shock/disappointment yet. It's easy to get used to the regular food shortages and limited selection, but I don't think I'll ever get used to biting into my meal expecting what I asked for and tasting something completely different!

At least they keep me on my toes..

And if all else fails I'll just eat the cookies and snacks we get in care packages!

Which reminds me, I really need to hit the gym. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year

The day after Thanksgiving Matt and I don't wake up early and rush out to do shopping. We sleep in, which for me is until about 9:00 and then I can't lay still any more! Then I wake up, turn on Christmas music, start making apple cider and breakfast as I wait for him to get up. Once he's up, we dig out the Christmas decorations and get to work! I love spending that Holiday weekend together and preparing our home for Christmas. That is when we go out and pick out Christmas cards and I spend the next 4-5 days filling them out. 

I love when the house smells like apple cider and pine trees. The next month is filled with Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Nat King Cole. We go ice skating, where Matt shows off his natural athleticism, and I show off my terrible circulation as my fingers turn blue. We make time for shopping trips, and as soon as we get home with the presents, Matt will go about various tasks at home and I pull out the big box of wrapping supplies and get to work. I love wrapping presents, they become a wonderful decoration all on their own. We don't buy a tree until mid-December (the trees in Texas just don't last as long as they do up in the PNW!), but when we do, we bring it home, and spend a day decorating the tree and I bring out all of the beautifully wrapped gifts to sparkle underneath it. 

When we're able to go visit my parents we get to enjoy driving up into the hills and cutting our own tree! If you haven't done that before, I highly suggest you try it once. Up there we are also able to walk the property and collect pine branches to make our own wreaths and swag. It's definitely something we're missing out on in Texas. 

My favorite part of the season though, is having family and friends over, sitting around the diningroom table and thanking the Lord for all of the many blessings we have. I absolutely love having a full, warm home or being in the PNW or Georgia with family. 

This year I wasn't able to be home to do all of those things, but I do have Christmas music, packets of cider and snowy mountains. 

The mountains out here look exponentially more beautiful with a coating of snow on them. I can almost pretend that they are the Rockies, or Cascades.. If only there were more trees. The handful you see are the only evergreens in the area and I'm fairly certain they're just overgrown bushes.. 

I'm not able to fill out Christmas cards by the fire but Matt, being the amazing man that he is, picked out Christmas cards and filled them out for us! He also put up the lights and decorations (with a little help from my sister) so that our house is still warm and festive. 

And even though I can't be in America with my family, I am still going to be able to watch the kids open their presents and visit with everyone over FaceTime. Maybe I'll get a candle that smells like trees and some cider and feel more like I'm there. 

I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.. 

Almost like home

I just finished my blog post and somehow blogger didn't save it. Like any true stroke of genius it cannot be repeated, but I will try my best to recreate it. Please bear with me as I grumble through this..

 Things have started to change around here. There might not be snow on the ground, but the air has a decided bite now. We might not have the smells of apple cider and evergreens, but it has rained recently so the air smells clean and we have candles. 

There have also been some dramatic changes in decor lately.

The DFACs really do go all out; this is hands down the best use of paint and styrofoam that I have ever seen! Kudos, DFAC managers! 

We have also received boxes and boxes of stockings full of goodies from Operation Shoebox. 

We've received so many that we sent some on to the outlying bases. I received an email this morning telling us that the unit can't take any more boxes for the outlying posts because they have completely run out of storage space! It's so nice to hear that everyone here is passing on the care packages to the much less-fortunate posts. Trust me, my living conditions are luxurious compared to some of the smaller bases. Some of them live in tents with no running water, limited access to showers and less than 3 hot meals a day! We have it good and I am so glad that everyone here is sharing with the men and women elsewhere. 

On top of the giving-spirit everyone has, the forecast calls for rain, which means we will see more snow on the mountains! 

That really does make it feel like home, where we can see the beautiful snow capped Cascade Mountains. 

Another easy way to feel like you're home is to run errands. My errands for the day were a trip to the post office to mail out some presents and a trip to the store to buy more gift wrapping supplies! 

Thankfully I finished my last beanie in time to get it out with the rest.

Don't mind how terrible I look, it will look much cuter on my daughter! 

So on top of all of those homely things, my knight in shining armor sent a care package with some essentials! He sent me a new sleeping mask, my beloved slippers, some shirts and Biore nose strips. 

It is shocking how different you can feel with some different clothes (preferably clean, good smelling, non dingy clothes!) and clean pores! Instead of being countries, continents and oceans away from home, I felt like I could have been at home while my family was out for the night. I am so thankful for those home touches. It was just what I needed to put me in a good mood and kick start my usual holiday cheer! 

Oh, thank Heaven! 

An off-white Christmas?

I wish I could say that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.. But we haven't been that lucky. The snow is very distant on the mountains and the days are still dry and in the 60°s . I'm typically not the kind that enjoys cold and wet weather but after all this dessert tan, some green (grass is sprouting up in some places) and white would be a nice change! 

I haven't been in the mood for Christmas music or Christmas movies yet, but I am trying to put myself in the mood by knocking out my Christmas shopping. And I need to send everything out in the next day or two to make sure it gets home in time..!

Being about 12 hours ahead of the states I took advantage of Black Friday and cyber Monday deals online. I even found some local deals! 

Haha oh America, of all the wonderful traditions we have why are the sales the only things we pass on?! 

I was able to find some good gifts; most of which I won't post or talk about until after the recipients get them, but I can show some of the things I found for the kids since they're too young to read or navigate the Internet. 

After telling Alexis about the elephant purse I found out here she informed us that what she wants for Christmas are: a doggy (we already have one) and an elephant. Haha I think I'm going to leave that present for daddy to figure out! 

Even though Wyatt isn't old enough to play chess yet, I couldn't pass up the cute little handmade sets they have here! Maybe we can buy some checkers and start with that until he's old enough.. 

I also am passing the time by crocheting. Everyone that sees me assumes I'm an 80 year old that's knitting, but I like doing crafts, having something to occupy my hands and take up free hours at work and in the evenings! Besides I can make about 4 cute beanies with one thing of yarn (Spool? Bundle? Pack?) which costs about $4 instead of buying $10-$15 beanies that aren't as cute and personal.

Obviously I am still learning how to make the beanies cute, but with a little more practice (and enough Internet to load tutorials) I think I'll have it down!

If the shopping and crocheting isn't enough to get me in the spirit, maybe the office Christmas tree is:

In case you noticed the unique silver garland and wanted a closer look..

Yep, those are soda tops; that's what happens when your rather creative team members are exceptionally bored! 

At least some of the people here are embracing Christmas in Afghanistan! 

Many, many thanks

Since today is Thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a few of the things I am the most thankful for. I managed to narrow it down to the top three things (and boy was it hard):

Family

They are and always will be the best thing in my life, what motivates me, and what I thank The Lord for every night. 

No matter what I've got going on I can always count on Matt to be excited for me, patiently listen when I complain and volunteer to shoulder any burdens I may have. He is an excellent role model that the kids (and I) look up to, and he makes me want to be the very best that I can.

One look at these two is all it takes to brighten my day. 

It's hard to be gone through the holidays, especially because their birthdays are around this time too, but I am so thankful to hear their little voices tell me they love me and that they, "want me to come back from gan-ganstan today".

I can never say enough just how thankful and how blessed I am to have them. On top of that I have the most wonderful parents, siblings and in-laws that are nothing but loving and supportive throughout everything. 

They say that life's a game and if that's true, I've got the best team out there. 

America

Land of the free, home of the brave. I am so incredibly thankful for our beautiful country and it's patriotic people. There is never a shortage of cards, letters, and care packages for our troops in Afghanistan and the majority are from people we've never met. Ten years of continuous combat and our citizens have never waivered in their support and care for us.

Matt had the neighbors (that he had never met) knock on the door just to tell him thank you for his service. Only in America. 

I cannot express just how thankful I am for the kindness of strangers, and that of my wonderful friends and family! 

Social media

In the age where everyone has something to complain about it seems like everyone is either complaining about the electronics they have/want or complaining about how "kids these days" are glued to their phone and Facebook. 

I for one am thankful for the leaps and bounds we have made in the last 20 years. We all know how much harder things were in the world wars (I'm going back further than 20 years I know, stick with me) and in Vietnam. When you said goodbye to a loved one you really might not hear from them until they returned. If you were lucky you got a few letters, weeks after they were written. As recently as the early 90s communication was still quite difficult. When I was a toddler my father spent a year in Korea and my mother only got to talk to him once a week for about 30 minutes. That wasn't even in a combat zone! My father was able to surprise us by coming home early and making it in time for Christmas morning. He knocked on the door and my brother (about 4 at the time) and I (2 1/2) opened the door, then closed it in his face and shouted, "mom, uncle Leon is here!" 

There wasn't skype or FaceTime available. We couldn't see our daddy each night before bedtime or even once a week. I am so so thankful for all of the technological advances we have made. They are the reason I can see pictures of my family every day and see my beautiful children as they grow. Long distance families are closer than they have ever been because you can follow current events in someone's life on their Facebook timeline and send them an encouraging text or catch up via FaceTime. 

After reflecting on my many blessings I will leave you with an update on Thanksgiving, Bagram style. 

The dining facility employees and chain of command here really went above and beyond to make this day festive and special. There are all of the typical thanksgiving treats out for everyone to enjoy, the dining halls are decorated to the max, the employees are in pilgrim and Indian costumes and even our holiday servers (the Commanders and Sergeants Major) are wearing festive hats and serving with a smile! 

While nothing can replace family, and it is especially important to contact your loved ones on this day, they have done a great job at providing the other two staples of Thanksgiving: food and football.

Thank you all for taking the time to follow my story. I hope you're able to spend this day and many others surrounded by the warmth of family and friends and able to fully appreciate and cherish what you have been given. God Bless.

The future for us in Afghanistan

Before I get started I'm going to give a disclaimer; I am merely relaying information I have gathered from various news sources and I am not trying to inject my opinion. Please feel free to comment and give yours, I welcome discussion. 

On Wednesday the Secretary of State, John Kerry, announced that he and Afghan president Hamid Karzai have agreed upon the Bilateral Security Agreement. The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) lays out the support that the US will provide Afghanistan from 2015-2024, covering financial support, military support, troop numbers and roles. Obviously this is a very big deal to me, because it will directly impact my future. This should also be a big deal to every US citizen because it impacts where your tax dollars, and more importantly the men and women in your military go. 

Although the president and secretary reached an agreement it is not official yet. In order to become official it has to be approved by the Afghan people. That is why the Afghan parliamentarians and leaders have organized a Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) that will take place over the next few days. At the Loya Jirga they will go over the BSA section by section and decide to approve, revise, or reject each part. They also have the option of rejecting the entire thing. As Kerry stated in an interview, the Afghan people have the power to completely throw out the agreement that they have been working on for the last few months. 

What does this mean for us? Well, according to the Secretary of State, if approved, this means that the US will have a structured, formal support role in Afghanistan until 2024 (unless both countries decide to withdraw, which requires a 2 year notice). It also means that we will continue funding the Afghan government, although I wasn't able to find a figure to go along with that assurance. 

Yes, yes, we all know that President Obama has told the people that he is reducing the number of troops to Afghanistan and that he will end the combat mission in 2014. Please pay attention to wording, not just in my blog but in life. Words have meaning; look into what someone is really saying and don't let yourself fall into the trap of assuming they are telling you what you want to hear. Yes, he has told us that he will reduce the number of troops and end the combat mission. No, that does not mean we will all be coming home. The BSA ensures that we will have US boots on Afghanistan soil for many years to come. How can this be? Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines will still be here, they just won't be here with a "Combat Mission". They will be here to train Afghan forces and they will have an "advise and assist mission". 

A White House spokesman told Huffington Press that our forces would have a "limited" role. They also confirmed that we would not conduct combat operations. . . Unless (pay attention to words like unless) it is mutually agreed upon. Now let's take a minute to dissect that statement: 'unless' means that there is still an option to conduct combat operations and all it requires is mutual agreement. He didn't say what level of authority was required for that mutual agreement. Does that mean that both presidents have to agree to send out one US combat patrol? It's possible, but highly unlikely. It's more likely that it just takes the local commander for each country to agree. So how many combat operations will occur? If you listen to the statement without dissecting it you might think none will occur, but when you dig deep you realize that it's really not clear. On top of that, let's go back to the new US mission again. It's to advise and assist. Neither Kerry, nor the spokesman laid out exactly what they would be assisting with; so it is quite possible that the 'assist' portion has always meant to assist them in their combat operations. 

It's a nice arrangement of words, that sound positively peaceful but are ambiguous enough to continue on with a good portion of what we are already doing, don't you think? 

Before you accuse me of weaseling my opinion in here please realize that I'm not attacking any person, party, or government. I am simply begging each and every one of you to read between the lines with everything! Politicians have a job to do. We all would like that job to be "What ever is best for America" but anyone over the age of 11 (the age generally accepted by the psychology community that children begin to understand cognition and ideals) should know that things aren't always as easy as we want them to be. All politicians (good, bad and indifferent) are faced with doing what they think is best for their country, state, county etc, but they also have to try to please enough of the public to get reelected (to continue to do what they believe is the best thing for the area). Then they have to worry about pleasing their party to maintain standing, support and funding and they have to worry about alliances with others; they give their vote on some things to gain votes on things they deem more important. 

I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying that things are almost never as simple as they seem at face value. Don't take something at face value and act like you understand it; take the time to do your research. 

If you didn't know any of that, now you do and I hope you'll continue to follow this and other current events. The information I just presented didn't come from any privileged military sources, it came from Huffington Post, Fox News, The New York Times and a healthy dose of common sense. 

Your turn.

Too early for Christmas shopping?

I took a stroll down to one of the bazaars and decided to do a little bit of window shopping. I go down there every two weeks or so but this time I had a few spare minutes and remembered to take some pictures! 

The bazaar is home to all sorts of random shops and it's crowded with different kinds of goods from fur vests to fake oakleys and hand made wooden boxes. There is no wall space and the shop owners love to stop you and hand out their wares for you to see first hand. 
Between the shoppers, the owners and the crowded walls it's quite a tight fit! 

There are different types of shops; electronics, jewelry, fabrics, decor, and odds and ends. 

This shop is stocked with movies from floor to ceiling, it's a pretty good selection, but you have to be careful not to grab one that is too recent or it will be a copy that was recorded in a theater! The movies are incredibly cheap because they are illegally copied and pirated so it's always a gamble on quality. For instance I have a copy of The Hangover 3 and it's in English with Chinese subtitles! This shop also sells "beats by dre" (fake ones of course) and fake bose speakers.

Other shops choose to sell more local merchandise.

There are a handful of little shops with jewelry, nicknacks and cute little decorative items. 

I have to resist buying things for my daughter every time! But you better believe she's going to have some great additions to her room and her dress-up clothes when I come home! 

Along with the belly dancer clothes they have some pretty scarves and shirts (none were on a photo-worthy display, sorry).

They also have rug vendors wherever they can set up shop.

This one is an actual room but others are in hallways, outside or wherever else they can find room.

I am definitely planning on buying a rug or two, but I need to do a little research or quality and price before I try to bargain. I don't go buy things here without doing my homework! 

They have lots of pretty wood work, stone carvings, chess sets (great gift ideas) etc. 

I will definitely be buying a chess set for my son.

And if anyone likes these types of decorations you'll have to let me know; I can buy things and mail them to you.

But of course the bazaar wouldn't be complete with out odds and ends stores that sell "American" things like nail polish remover, hair dye, and cologne. They also sell knock off bags and luggage.

Coach, anyone? Burberry? I could probably get it for $20 but I can't guarantee the quality of the not-so-brand-names. Speaking of high fashion, we can't forget the stylish men's clothes they sell:

If anyone wants anything while I'm out here (especially a furry vest!!) just let me know and I can pick it up for you.

I plan on doing a little bit of my Christmas shopping out here, so if you're on my list and you see things you like, let me know!