More from Iraq

Well, I have been gone for whats seems like quite some time now, but it hasn't even been two full months. However, today does mark our 4 month anniversary! We have only been together for half of the time that we have been married. I still get to talk to Rebecca quite often which makes the separation a little easier. We have finally gotten into our battle rythm and I am happy to say that it isn't bad at all. I work from about 0800 until 2200 or 2300 depending on the day. I usually go out on missions about 4 or 5 times per week. Going out makes the days go by a lot faster. Usually my missions include city council meetings, meetings with the mayor, and micro grant assessments. Sometimes I will just tag along on a regular patrol if they are going to a neighborhood that I need to go to.

This is me out on a patrol looking for a weapons cache based on a tip we got from a local farmer

This is me with one of my many Iraqi friends

Nothing too exciting has happened and I am just fine with it staying that way. I am still living in a room with about 12 other guys. I heard that we should be spreading out once some of the empty rooms are hooked up with electricity which is supposed to be happening sometime this week. The food is still pretty poor. They have all the junk food you can eat but really lack in the healthy choices. Don't worry about me starving though, with all the food that Jim and Jony and my parents are sending me, I will be just fine. Sorry this blog is so boring, but nothing much has really happened. I have some big projects coming up that require a lot of work that are keeping me busy. I usually get done with what I plan on accomplishing each day around 1700 and then I have dinner and wait for my CO (commanding officer) to get back from his nightly meetings and then there are always new, last minute taskings that keep me busy until close to midnight. After that, I usually try to make it to the phones or the internet to talk to Rebecca. Other than that, life is pretty regular. I will try to continually update this as things happen. I miss you all and I can't wait to see everyone (especially you, Rebecca).

Chilly Willy

Well it has been a while, so I figured I would give everyone an update. Since Nathan is gone, I will be spending the next year living with my sister and her cute little family. It has been great, although the weather is way colder up here in Washington then it was down in Texas. Last week I woke up to an inch or two of snow on the ground. Despite the cold weather I get to help out and just do normal every day things I probably wouldn't do if I was living with my parents. It is great because I get to feel useful and my sister doesn't get over whelmed with all she had going on.

Lately I have been helping out by cooking, I love to cook so it isn't really a chore, and if any of you know my sister cooking really isn't her forte. Although I am not sure Tanner appreciates it since almost every meal I cook he either drenches it in ranch or turns his nose up at it and has to take a "no thank you bite."

One great thing about living here with my sister is I don't have to go to a laundry mat to do my laundry. I don't know about you but I am so sick of lugging all of my stuff to some laundry mat, feeding machines, that sometimes work, with quarters, and sitting around all day waiting for my stuff to get done. When Nathan comes back one of the requirements for our new apartment is washer and dryer in the unit.

Besides a little cooking and cleaning my sister has asked me to work out with her. I am in desperate need of some exercise, since I need to get into a shape, besides round, before fire season. We had a lot of fun running down by Lake Sammamish, pushing the boys in the jogging stroller. Well, Maria pushed the stroller and I ran next to it so Tanner could "see Aunt Becky run".

These last few weeks have been great because I get to spend so much time with two of the cutest boys in the world. Tanner loves to hang out and read books. It is tons of fun even if Tanner love to read the same stories over and over again.

Davis is a lot of fun to hang out with. He likes to play with blocks and just about anything he can put into his mouth. Davis has grown so much in the two and a half months I was gone. He can sit up on his own, he can feed himself, he blows raspberries, and he just learned how to wave hello. I get to spend quite a bit of time with Davis because if he isn't sleeping or eating he expects someone to either hold him or entertain him or he gets upset.

Besides helping out around the house and hanging out with the boys I do spend quite a bit of time talking to Nathan on the phone. It has been such a blessing to talk to Nathan every day. Every time we talk I get a big smile on my face and it makes all my stress melt away. I don't think I could survive this year with out our phone conversations. Luckily right now Nathan hasn't been super busy so I get to talk to him at least twice a day.

Another thing I get to do to keep in contact with Nathan is send him emails and Skype. I just got Nathan a web cam and tomorrow I am going to send to Nathan along with his laptop. It will be so nice when he gets it because then we can talk on Skype and I can see his sweet face. Right now it is like a one sided conversation, Nathan can see and hear me but I have to read his responses like on AIM.

Even though I have been staying pretty busy I still get to spend sometime just hanging out with my sister, or reading a book, or just watching TV. I am so blessed to have family that will put up with me. I don't know how I would make it through this next year without the distraction they provide.