What do I miss?

Well, it is time to see what I can bore you to death with this week. Mom asked us what we have to eat, what we miss, and other things about in this part of the world. Well, I am not sure where to begin. I can really go on forever with the list of things I miss, have, and don't have. But first.....

First of all you will see a list on left side down the side bar. There are few links to sites that a direct link to our page here. We are returning the courtesy to them by linking to their pages. I encourage you to please take at them as well as ours.

It is getting to the time of the deployment where there are several people going on leave and that is leaving gaps in our schedule in my section and....you guessed it, I am changing shifts again. One of the Specialists is leaving on Tuesday to head home on R&R to get that well deserved rest, we have a our new Yeoman (Navy personnel that are in administrative like I am) is in and the old one is out. I am not going to elaborate on that, but those of you that know, know it is...well...uh...we are glad to see a new face. When one leaves that means are closer to home. So we are happy to see them go. Back to the schedule...I am going to work 1300-0100 (1pm-1am), which is 430am-430pm est. I am pretty excited because it will be easier to talk to Tessa (aka Freedom), Courtney and family. Plus I can do physical training on my own more and make more improvements. Speaking of which...

I am still trying to loose that last little bit of weight. I am going to gym everyday religiously on top of morning PT. I am using my lunch time to go to the gym and I use my entire hour to work myself as hard as I can. To help with my eating, I am going to the Dining Facility (DFAC, remember this for later) and getting enough stuff to make 3-4 turkey sandwiches and that is all I eat all day. I was doing GREAT on net eating sweets and junk until I ASKED for Vault, which I got of from Tessa and my parents; and until I asked for pecan pinwheels and got more than I could ever imagined. I am trying to get eaten and gone so I get back to not eating sweets and maybe look that much better for Tessa and everyone when I get home in Oct. Plus I have to look good for the ten year reunion. I am not going to miraculous changes in less than a month, but I know I make a little difference in my appearance. I am pretty excited and plan on continuing this after I get back here and after I am home next year...

That brings up another point to make. I found out that the CJTF-101 RIP/TOA (Relief in Place/ and I do not know what TOA stands for) with the 82nd Airborne is going to be a lot sooner that we were originally told. That means I might actually make it home for Courtney's 5th birthday. I am pretty excited about that. SSG Cundiff went to a briefing this past week and found out the flight dates and how many per flight. They are wanting names for the flights by the first of Oct if I remember correctly. That means I might know in Oct when I am scheduled to come home for good. We all know the army changes things a thousand times before it is actually done, but atleast it will be close to the date. Tessa is pretty excited, as am I and others will be when they read this.

I have been helping with awards for Iraq here recently. Jeremy has called with several questions about awards because I am easier to call and get answers from. I love the fact that I am helping another unit that is not even here. It really brings a smile to my face and makes me happy. Hopefully I am helping Jeremy get the Free Beer Badge, aka Combat Action Badge, and other higher awards for the great things he is doing over there. I am even doing some proofreading for him and giving him ideas on how to write some up. I am glad that I learned something that I can help him with. I used to call him all the time with medical questions, and now he is calling me for help. It really feels good to be there for him.

OK...do I ramble about Tessa now or later...or do I just remind everyone how happy I am and excited about the future. Most know that I am proposing Oct and now possibly getting married and then having a big ceremony when I get home. I talked to Christina the other day and found out she is doing really good and is really happy, although she would not tell me why, I am happy for her and hope it all works out for her as great as it is for me. That was long runon sentence. Hope no English teachers read that one. I hope that Christina finds someone that can put up with her and actually make her happy. I know I could not and I tried pretty hard. But...you know what...I am making someone VERY happy and she is making me VERY happy. She is willing to go anywhere the Army sends me and will support me and be there any time I am deployed in the future. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I think I am reenlisting to stay at Fort Campbell. I am very seriously thinking about asking to transfer to one of the Aviation Brigades at Fort Campbell. For one, the deployments will be a little shorter and I like the leadership there. I work closely with quite a few of them, and hopefully it will open more windows to a reclass so I can stop being a desk clerk. I am over the administrative work and look forward to learning something new soon. I have also been thinking trying to see other parts of the world too, but I do not want to be far away from Courtney after all the effort and money I have spent recently trying to get more time with her. And I know that Tessa wants to stay somewhere for a while before we move. I have been thinking that if I wait until Courtney is older that she will understand more why I am so far away and do what I do.

OK...back to the original plan of this blog. Mom asked what fast food we have. Like Jeremy, we have the typical Burger King that is not very good and you get to choose from a Whopper, Double Whopper and Chicken Royale. I know that is a lot to choose from. It is hard to decide at times. It just depends on how bad you want your stomach to hurt as to what you choose. We also have Popeyes chicken. I had never heard of this place until I was in Germany several years back. The only place I have seen them was on Army post until I moved to Fort Campbell. We also have a Green Beans which is a sorry excuse for a Starbucks and Pizza Hut. The Pizza Hut is the typical nasty Pizza Hut pizza. We also have a Dairy Queen on this end that only serves ice cream, blizzards, and Julius'. On the other end we have a sorry excuse for a Subway that never has vegetables and if they do, they are not very good. The selection is very basic and limited. The Dairy Queen on the other end also serves hamburger, chicken and other hot food. I rarely go down there and I have never ate a burger from down there, but here is it better than Burger King. On the other end we also have the BBQ DFAC that I have talked about in the past. It is a real treat to go down there, but you cannot stand it very often. It is great food, but I eat until I am sick and can barely walk the mile back to my room after I eat there. All the meat is GRILLED: hamburgers, hotdogs, saugages, ribs, and riblets. The BBQ sauce is about the best I have ever had and if you catch it on the right day, you get black eyes peas, which I really love. I usually get a BOWL of them and eat them first to make sure I have room to eat them all. The regular DFAC is not that bad, but it is the same food all the time. We have Italian night, Mexican night and Surf and Turf on Fridays. Like I said before, I never eat there except to get turkey sandwiches. In the last month or so I have only ate there twice that I can remember, and twice at the BBQ DEFAC. I told you I am trying hard to loose some weight and look good.

Mom also asked what we miss. I miss Taco Bell, but most of all, MEXICAN FOOD!! I miss the mom and pop places that are all over. I can eat that stuff 3 meals a day and be very happy. So, you know what I will be eating when I get home. That and REAL biscuits and gravy, a good juicy steak and a REAL beer!! Oh and there will be a night or two of Red Lobster. I will not be able to come back without it. There will also be a special night at one of my favorite places in Knoxville. I cannot tell where, because Tessa does not know and will not know until we get there.

I have been eating a lot of Tuna in the room at night because it is lighter and healthier than going to the DFAC and sucking down some greasy food. Actually, PFC McCollough had a two pound pack of tuna today and we made a huge tub of Tuna salad to eat. He is keeping it in his fridge in his room so it stays good. I ran out of Mayo and will have to get some more packs when I go the DFAC tomorrow so we can make the other bag in a few days. And I have to find some more crackers to eat with it.

Some of you may know that my Sevier County High School ten year reunion is the first weekend I am at home in Oct. I am really excited to see people I have not seen in years. It will be interesting to see how everyone is doing.

I am not sure what else to talk about at this point and my shoulders are starting to hurt from typing so much. It is because of the height of the desk compared to my chair.

Oh...did you think there was not going to be a long paragraph on how great and awesome Tessa is? Well...she is the greatest thing to happen to me outside of Courtney. She has all the perfect answers, I talk about her all the time, I think about her all the time, and just can't shut up about her. I even ordered copies of pictures of her and have them hanging in my room so can see her all the time. As do I with pictures of Courtney. Tessa is truly amazing and says things to me that I thought I would only hear in movies. The best part, she speaks from the heart. We both do all we can to make each other happy although we are so far apart. I want to go nonstop about her right now, but mom tells me to keep it short so I do not get so mushy and boring. For those of you that do not have that someone special in your life that makes you feel like you are on top of the world, you will find them. I though I never would after Christina and I did. All it took was patience. You never know how you will meet that person either. Be open minded. I am not going to elaborate on how we met, but it was not the normal love at first site perfect date. It was far from the perfect first date that you would normally think of. Once again, you never know. Every story is different. We finally did figure out when we met...well narrowed it down to within a few weeks. I guess that is enough of rambling about her. You all should get the point, although I can never get the point across with words. I also feel like I can never say enough.

Other than what I have said, life here is still pretty normal. I am getting irritated easily and look forward to the trip home to see my loved ones. I especially wait to get home and give Courtney a big squeeze and tell her how much I missed her.

Thank you everyone for the support, I love you all and Tessa, you are everything to me and I love you with all my heart and cannot wait to get home and show you how much I love you!!!

AIR ASSAULT!!!

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