So.. I haven't written in awhile... I should have probably looked to see when the last time I actually wrote was.... This week, right after Christmas we had a huge blizzard. We got close to 10 inches of snow, which I guess is unheard of. They have said it gets as cold as it is, but not this much snow... We have had A LOT of issue all around the Camp. Heater units are going out, only blowing out cold air, when it's barely getting above 32 degrees during the day.. and at night it gets into the teens. And it's very frigid. We have been having A LOT Of issues with pipes freezing. The bathroom I use by my tent has been closed for 3 or 4 days now, and the showers... well lets just say a lot of us are lucky to be able to shower every other day. It could be worse... So I'm not trying to complain.. just let everyone know what we are going through. Where I work, we no longer have usable bathrooms and now have porta potty's. What's really funny, is that the blue liquid is frozen.. .I've never seen it frozen before.
Christmas was another normal work day for the most part. My boss and I ended up watch A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation and A Charlie Brown Christmas... Most other Soliders had the day off, so you could hear them outside enjoying the day. On that day, I ran a 5K race that I helped set up and run, and ended up placing 2nd for the females, running a 22:37. Not to bad for 3.1 miles. I'm not sure what place I came in overall.. but there were close to 150 participates. It was a great turn out and for placing I got a $50 Amazon gift card and a Battalion Commanders Coin.
Speaking of coins... Maybe people don't know a whole lot about coins, but you get coins for doing good things. So far I have gotten 4 total. I received one from a Civil Affairs team here, for helping them with some PPE to go on a mission. The had helped out with The Blue Mosque, and in order to go inside you had to take off your boots, but I had given them over boots, from a supply that i had, and they were able to go into the Mosque without taking off their boots. The Blue Mosque is something VERY huge in Mazar-i-sharif, and people from all over Afghanistan come to see it. My friend from the Civil Affairs team gave me a CD of pictures. I will post them on Facebook... It's VERY pretty. My 2nd Coin was from the post office girls I work with. It's a great coin! It has a honey badger on it :) The third was from the race. And recently I got another one from the 1 Sustainment Brigade Command Sergeant Major. Which is a pretty big deal. Still not 100% sure why I got it, because I said, are you sure I deserve this, I'm just doing my job. And he said, isn't that why everyone gets one. It was pretty weird.
Travis is back in Iowa enjoying time with his friends and family. He seems to be enjoying himself, but always makes sure to tell me he misses me. It's nice to hear, but hard at the same time. I get very mad at myself for choosing to be away from him. If I could do it again, I totally wouldn't. Having a combat patch is not worth being away from the person you love. People say distance makes the heart grow founder or something like that... it's true, I miss him more and more every day. And we are very lucky to be able to have the communication that we do, but it is still VERY hard. We both have VERY different schedules and everyone knows how social of a person he is. Which doesn't always help especially when I want to talk to him, but its just something that we have to work through. He will leave for Alabama sometime after New Years and I think he jumps right into the first phase of flight school right when he gets back. We are hoping everything works out and he is able to come back for my Welcome home in July. We will see...
This past Saturday I hit 18 weeks of being gone... And on Christmas eve... we broke 200... We hit 199 days left. And today we (the people I work with) were talking about how we are 45 days away from being half way done.. BUT if they don't pass the budget by the first... some of us could be leaving here soon. Sometimes I pray that, that happens. The only thing that would stink would be not having a job. I have a good skill set and I feel I would be able to get a job quit quickly.
Oh.. I am learning to crochet.. I've only made a handful of things. I'm great at making scarves! haha... and learned how to make a beard!!! So all I have to do know is figure out how to make a beanie, and then.... Epic things will happen!! I posted a few pictures on facebook. THere was a beanie laying around and i just attached a beard... Looks pretty sweet :)
Well.. I need to go pick up my laundry.. So until next time!
