HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Old Friends and New Friendships

I love that this girl is back in my life! I have known Mary Kathryn since 4th grade and we lost touch after we graduated high school, but thanks to Facebook, we've reconnected! I got to catch up with MK this past weekend in Charleston since they were in town for the Citadel's Homecoming. Her husband is a Citadel grad (just like Johnny) and she was an Army wife for several years when they first got married. Needless to say, we have a lot in common and I can't wait for Johnny to meet her husband because I know they will hit it off. Her precious daughter Reagan had me laughing the entire time we were together - she has the cutest personality!

Hope to see you soon Mary Kathryn!

Pictures from Iraq

Here are a few pictures Johnny just sent me today. You can click on the picture to make it bigger. I have Johnny's address as well, so if would like it just let me know, I'd be happy to give it to you!

He was very excited about seeing the camels. Apparently they just roam around like deer do here.

This is where Johnny will be living for the next year. He is roommates with one of his buddy's from the company and they have fixed up their little trailer to resemble something simliar to a dorm room, complete with a South Carolina flag and everything! The black, wooden looking crosses to the left of the door are holders they built for their Flack Vest (bullet-proof vest) and Kevlar Helmet. They were probably working on spray painting them which is why they are outside.


Here Johnny is at the range shooting a MK-19, it's basically an automatic grenade launcher.

HELP!

Nerds, computer geeks, technology junkies, geniuses...who ever you are....please help me! Johnny is finally getting settled in Iraq and we've tried twice now to talk using our web cams....both times unsuccessful.

His web cam is built into his laptop, it's that Dell PC I was telling you about before, and I have one that sits above my screen. I actually have two because I was so frustrated when the first one didn't work, that I bought another one, different brand. I downloaded the software, followed the instructions, set up the volume for the speakers and the microphone, yadda yadda yadda.

Both times we've tried to talk, we've been able to see each other and I can hear him, but he can't hear me. HELP! What are we missing? Is it a problem on his end or an issue with my computer or web cam? We are using AIM to do a "Video Chat" and it all seems to work seamlessly except for the one problem that he can't hear me!! I am open to any thoughts or suggestions whether you know what you are talking about or not! I'm slightly desperate at this point and just want to have a normal conversation (normal in relative terms considering he's halfway across the world at war!) with my hunny!

Thanks for your help! Our marriage thanks you! My lack of patience thanks you! And my non-technologically savvy brain thanks you!

If you want to make a comment, but you're not sure how to do that, just click on the bold gray words at the end of this post that says "comments" and type your comment in the box. Next you have to choose from the 4 options. Click on the Google/Blogger option to sign in if you have a blog, I'm not sure what the Open ID thing is so skip that one, click the Name/URL if you just want to put your name so I'll know the comment was from you (you don't have to put anything in the URL line), or you can click on Anonymous, but then I wouldn't know who made the comment and that would make me sad!

The Demy

I'm warning you in advance, you will probably want one of these little wonders after this post. DO NOT read if you are an impulse buyer!

So....have you heard of the Demy? It's amazing and I was immediately jealous that I didn't come up with the idea first! It is a digital recipe reader. I know - genius!
I am kind of OCD about recipes. I love them. I love reading cookbooks and recipes in my spare time. When I find a recipe that I like, I type it up in a particular format (every card is the same) so I can print it off onto a 4x6 notecard. I like to put the list of ingredients on one notecard, then put the cooking instructions on a second one so if I'm planning a meal, I can just grab the list of ingredients from each recipe to take to the grocery store with me. All the recipe-notecards are in plastic sheet protectors in a categorized binder. Like I said, kind of OCD. I also love pictures to accompany the recipe. If there isn't a picture, more than likely, I won't try it. So anyways, enough about my weird ways and back to the Demy.

You can store up to 2500 recipes and categorize them any way you want; Mark it as a "Brunch Favorite" so you can get to it easier next time you're planning a brunch. It has two different viewing angles, is splash resistant and can change the font size of the recipe so it's easier to read. It has 3 built-in kitchen timers, converts measurements for you and has a list of alternate ingredients in case you run out of something while you're cooking.
And it can all be yours in exchange for your first born!! It's not cheap, that's for sure, but it's still awesome - admit it! What gadget are you obsessed with currently??

Another Year Older

ITSA MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!

Today, I will celebrate my birth. I got up this morning and put on my glasses (I'm blind as a bat without them!) and went downstairs to open up some cards and gifts I had received. It was just like Christmas morning....pj's and all! Then I made myself a delicious breakfast and got all dressed up this morning for work. It's amazing how a nice outfit and a few extra minutes on hair and make-up can make you feel so much better. I am super excited about tonight....I get to go to one of my favorite restaurants - Carrabba's - with my "in-law" side of the family and Chelsea.

And I just got flowers delivered to me at work from my Johnny. He is so sweet. I just love getting unexpected flower deliveries! The card made me cry - of course!

My parents started the birthday celebrations a little early and treated me to an excellent dinner at The Chart House in Melbourne this past weekend. I had such a great time hanging out with them and spending Saturday shopping and going to the movies with my mom.




And YES, I do feel older, so I'm treating myself to a facial at the spa this weekend :) hehe. I think the emotional stress of these past few months have taken shape on my face in the form of wrinkles and lines. Still no gray hair....but it's coming...I just know it!

So, all in all, today has been a wonderful birthday. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. And next year Johnny will be home for my birthday! Only 350 days left!

[Chelsea, Mike (my father-in-law), the birthday girl, and

Dotty Jo (my mother-in-law) at Carrabba's Tuesday night]

Moving Forward - Deployment Update

Only 356 days left!

It has been a long week, but it's getting easier every day. Johnny and I said our goodbye around one o'clock in the morning last Tuesday. They flew into Shannon, Ireland where they had a 4 hour layover and then they arrived in Kuwait at 1:45 a.m. (our time) last Wednesday morning. Ireland is one of Johnny's favorite places, so he loved being there...even if it was just the airport! He even got to eat fish and chips, cooked in a Guinness beer batter! It was the closest thing to a real Guinness he could have! He woke up from that dream world once they landed in Kuwait and all he saw was sand for miles and miles. I think it finally sank in that he was actually deployed at that point.

While J was eating fish and chips, that first 24 hours for me was easily the worst day of my life. I literally felt like it was all a dream (in a nightmarish-kind of way). I could not comprehend what was truly going on. It was the weirdest thing to look around on post (what we call the Army base) last Monday night and see all these soldiers in full uniform, flack vest, Kevlar helmet, machine gun - the works - waiting to load the buses. It's the stuff you see in movies. And it's my life. I just couldn't believe what was going on. Well, I believe it now, but unfortunately I haven't woken up from that nightmare yet. Thankfully my mom came into town to keep me company and help keep me going last week. I don't know what I would've done without her.

So far, I have been able to talk to Johnny every day since he left. Sometimes it's a 2 minute conversation, other days we will talk for almost 30 minutes! It might be the fact that we he just finished Ranger School where we could only communicate through hand-written letters, but it's amazing how just hearing his voice for 5 seconds a day helps SO MUCH. I'm very grateful for the time we get to talk. He won't have email access until he gets up to Iraq. And we aren't allowed to mail anything to him until after November 15 for security reasons. But I will be sure to get his mailing address to those who want it so you can send Christmas cards. I'm not sure if I'll actually post it on the blog (for security reasons again) but I'll talk to Johnny about it and see what thinks.

He is doing well. He misses home tremendously, but I think it's easier for him to accept his current situation because this is his job. He has been training for this the entire time he's been in the Army, almost 3 years now....everything leading up to this point. He is an excellent soldier, and awesome leader and we can't forget...a RANGER!!

Here are some pictures from that awful night last week. Don't let the smiles fool you in these pictures - it was a miserable, nauseating night - I had been crying for about 3 days straight prior to dropping him off and was fighting the urge to throw up....I just can't NOT smile when a camera is visible. I think it's a genetic condition...I was born with it.

Fake Smiles....100%. There was nothing happy about that night.



This is Johnny's good buddy Jerry Billings. He just got back from his latest tour in Iraq and will probably be seeing Johnny over there sometime in February or March when he goes back.



I didn't want to let go of him.