Even More Craftyness

Boredom begets crafting for me...so here's another little something I did.
This was a kit that had a pack of charm squares (5" each) and stuff for the binding and backing of this little quilted thing. It was fun. I haven't been able to be crafty like this in three years...oddly enough when you have to pay $6 a yard for fabric that isn't even cute you don't want to do things all that much.

I also embellished a couple of shirts I found on clearance. Yes peeps, I am a crafting maniac!

I liked this one the most. It's all fuzzy too...only thing it could use is some BLING!

I'm testing out ideas becuase this year we are going to do handmade gifts for everyone. It just gets too expensive and so impersonal. Yep.

Handiwork

I learned how to sew when I was 7 or 8 years old. My mom taught me how to sew on a tiny little sewing machine. By 11 I had learned how to embroider and I made some of my own clothes after High school. I have learned all kinds of hand work from her (though I still need to learn to crochet) and have always found it to be something relaxing and calming. While Paige was at my house this last week she wanted to do a cute project and so as I was getting my stuff out for her I saw these pillow cases that I started a couple of years ago when I had pneumonia and was desperate for things to do. I had just a tiny bit to finish so I decided to finish it. It only took a few hours but it was fun to actually finish it. I doubt we'll ever use them as pillow cases, but it was nice to do. On to a different project now.

Keeping Things In Order

My squad members have a lot of equipment spread among them that needs to be kept in good condition and repaired as soon as a fault is detected. In order to keep an eye on the status of all of the equipment I created a book of documents that the soldiers use to account for the status of each item. I can pass out the documents in the morning and collect them in the afternoon when I can look over each and be able to report higher the condition of all that I am responsible for and give direction to each soldier of how and where to get repairs on equipment. It took a couple of hours of my time to build this book, but the investment will allow me to have control over these items for the rest of the deployment.

Jeffrey and Daddy

As I have talked to Tricia on the phone and read her letters, I have learned that Jeffrey still has a very strong connection to me. There are things around the house and events that spark his memory of me. It makes me happy to know he is excited to hear that I am on the phone and ready to talk to me.

The Gym

I have been able to get to the gym more regularly since things have calmed down slightly for the time being. It is a good reset for my body at the end of a workday to have a solid workout and to get some aerobic time for my lungs and legs.

How Can I Find the Way In Such a Strange Time?

Aragorn is in persuit of Merry and Pippin who have been captured by orcs when he runs into Eomer and his band of horse riders. When Aragorn asks who side Eomer is on, that of Sauraman and Sauron, or those that are gathering to oppose them, Eomer declares that he is only for his own people. Aragorn then makes the point that the war is becoming so large and encompassing that no one can be left on the sidelines. Then following conversation takes place.

How can I find the way in such a strange time?

“As always,” said Aragorn. “Good and evil have not changed since yesterday, and it does not have one meaning for elves and dwarves and another for men. It is given to men to discern between them, just as in the Forest of Gold and in your own home.”

Visiting with Family

Jeffrey has gotten used to saying Cheese whenever I get the cell phone out. This was the smile that he started doing while Addy and Lizzy were here, they used to laugh at each other for hours. It was cute!

They didn't always play well together. About half the time they would be really cute together and the other half they would be at each others nerves!

No matter how many times we'd say no, they would always end up in the closets. This time they actually took in the cereal and decided to eat. They weren't hungry at dinner needless to say.

AC

Air conditioning may seem like a luxury that tough men and women in the Army should be able to go without while fighting a way, but it is the AC that gives us respite from some hot days. I have told several people that the weather here is quite nice, and it is, but when you add to that the gear we have to wear and the labors we have to perform for hours on end, getting a break from the heat is enough to save your sanity. One of the things I like most about visiting the TV and chai rooms by myself is having the extra coolness since very few people enter and bring in the heat as they come and go.

FOB Improvement

One of the few places to get shade while outside is under the parachute put up as a shade canopy in the courtyard. When we arrived at FOB Connelly this was drooping down and its ropes would come loose once in a while and need repair. For a few days, it was taken completely down while a center pole was constructed and a hole dug to put it up in. We came back from a mission to find the parachute back in its place but more secure than ever, and stretched tight enough that it no longer drooped down or tossed around in a breeze. It is improvements like this that upgrade the FOB and makes me feel like this place is getting better. It is one thing to clean the house, but quite another to make an actual improvement.

4th of July

Our chow hall, which is already amazing, came up with an over the top spread for the Fourth of July. For lunch, they grilled chicken out in the courtyard and served an abundance of fresh fruits. Dinner was the highlight, with a side of beef that had been slow cooking for 24 hours. Putting on a feast at holidays has long been a military tradition, but being able to do it out here in the wildwest says a lot about our cooks.

After the day began to cool off the 1SG pulled everyone together to call out some names of people he wanted to draw attention to for their solid 30 days of work in country. A little thanks can go a long way when applied at the right time and place. Since all were gathered around underneath the canopy for this, it was announced that we would be wrestling in the EOD bomb suits for entertainment. After a few duels had demonstrated the fun, I called out my fellow squad leader, SSG Yepez, to wrestle. He is a very muscular and athletic individual so I got a few ooh’s from the crowd gathered around. We went three rounds with each other and managed to toss each other around as well as we could in the constriction of the heavy suits.

As fun and memorable as this day was, do not think that this was a day off for us. We were hopping and popping getting ready to get out of the wire on a mission that came down last minute and did not get called off until just before we were to leave.

Happy Birthday...to me!

I turned 28 (is that right?) yesterday and so we decided to make it a super fun day! The day before my visiting teachers and the RS president took me out to lunch...I'd like to think they do that with everyone who has a birthday, but I'm led to believe it's because my husband is not here. But either way, I had a great time and THANKS to Paige for watching the kiddos so I could go! *Blogger always puts my pictures in a weird order so this will jump around.

So we got flowers for our hair...or as Lizzy says Pretty Fowlers...at the Colorado Renaissance Festival. Utah doesn't have one, or one that I've ever been to. I wouldn't recommend it for 10 year old boys, but for our two year olds it was fun!

And what's better than one pretty girl in fowlers? Two? Yes. I always think Paige is much more attractive than I am in pictures.

Because we are both fanatics about matching things...we made dresses and a tunic for Jeffrey. People kept asking if they were triplets and a few people took their pictures. How cute!

This is Addy and her pretty flowers.

Jeffrey decided to go chariot style and let the girls pull and push him. Several people found this hilarious. What was not so hilarious was the "I've been trying to get that monkey off my back too" jokes. People the harnesses were not for rudeness sake...there were three of them and two of us...it was the only way we would have survived!

The girls love fairies. This one was so cute with them. She wouldn't say anything to them but she was all smiles and even gave them special treasures with fairy dust.

She was the cutest fairy we say that day. Jeffrey wanted nothing to do with her, but look at how the girls are in awe. So cute!

So me and my boy! (See my purse on the table there? Isn't it amazing...another awesome creation by Christina my sister in law).

Paige made me a stars and stripes cake...but she pointed out that we were three colonies short.

I love this little boy! What more can I say? He's adorable!

Happy birthday to me!

When I was little I HATED fireworks. Like HATED! It drove me crazy that we ALWAYS had to do them on my birthday. I used to be forced to go to fireworks and I would hide my head under a blanket. I just didn't understand the draw.

Last night we didn't go out for the fireworks. We live directly across from the Air Force Academy and in the opposite direction is the Flying Horse golf course. So from my front porch we had AMAZING views of both of them. Jeffrey was so scared though. I kept trying to tell him it was ok and that he'd be just fine but the only comfort he got when when he tossed his blanket over his head. He was just fine then.

After the first fireworks he decided he'd had enough and went inside. We stayed out with the twins to watch the AFA show and when we came in this is what we saw. Poor guy didn't want to be too far away but he didn't want to be outside either. I just love him!

I've had crappy pics on my blog for the last few weeks, my camera died and I've ordered a new one, just have to wait for it to come...meanwhile you get blurry pictures. Sorry.

Afghan Children

The Afghan people have a lot of children. Everywhere I go I see kids that remind me of Jeffrey and think what it would have been like for him to have been born to some family over here. When I think of that I cannot simply dismiss these people and their plight simply because they are not Americans, born in our amazing plot of land across the ocean.

Beauty In the Desert

There is beauty in the desert. You just have to adjust your palate for pleasing colors and look closer because not everything that is attractive is large and space filling.

When your day starts at 0200 and does not end until 0200, almost anywhere looks like a good spot to lie down and sleep.

Putting an Afghan Face On Operations

Since we do not want to return here indefinitely it is important that we make the effort to put the Afghan face on what we do to build the confidence of the Afghan people that see us. We hardly go anywhere without the Afghan National Army (ANA) or the Afghan National Police (ANP).

Out on Adventure

Out on an adventure for a few days I was able to see a lot of the country side and people that come to the edge of the road when they hear the rumble of our vehicles coming close. A lot of kids come around to wave or look as we pass by. Most adults are lounging in the shade talking with each other and glance up at us as our eyes meet through my thick window.

I have noted that this place is filled with structures that are the starts of buildings, but are little more than footings and short walls left abandoned for what looks like a very long time. Animals graze inside what could be a house if it were complete. Many people live in tents made of tarps sew together with a single stick to hold it up and cords to hold it down. Others live right on the side of the road with a bed on the side walk and their possessions nestled underneath.
While staying at a government building for the night I asked where the latrine was and found myself directed toward a room made of mud bricks with a small enclosure inside full of trash and other business. Welcome to the 12th century.

I did get to sit down with some Afghan leaders and have a dinner meal made of a goat that had been killed and prepared several hours earlier; homemade flat bread to be dipped in yogurt or topped with steamed rice, and a few nuts and candies. We sat down for the meal on large flat mattresses and ate our meal from the floor that we had been walking on earlier. Washing a cup or plate means rinsing it with hot tea. Welcome to the 12th century.

MXT Studio 1

My new microphone arrived from B&H Photo quite quickly. I tested it out for the first time this morning and found that the sound quality was well worth the money spent on it. The file sizes of my recordings look to be about the same, but the distinction of my voice and the clearness of the recording are far above that provided by my built in laptop microphone. The kit includes a hard case to keep the microphone safe in storage, and a stand to set it up in front of my laptop as I read to Jeffrey.

I have to wake up early to get my recordings done, long before anyone else wants to get up. Everywhere I go I have to have my radio with me, and early in the morning very few people are using the radios to communicate. Also during the day time I could get called away at any time and so I cannot afford to set up the laptop in the other building when I could have to put it away quickly at any given time.

Constant Cleaning

With all the dust and dirt that there is all around us it is necessary to constantly be cleaning everything. Our weapons of course get priority, but there are also radios, computers, bedding, items on shelves, the shelves themselves and every other item. One added benefit of constant cleaning is gaining an intimate knowledge of the state of all items. If something is beginning to wear, tear, bend, break or give out a detailed cleaning can reveal this early.

Zero Range

I have taken several groups on different occasions down to our range on our FOB for test fire and ensure that their weapons are still accurate. Since we carry our weapons with us all the time it is possible for our sight systems to get off slightly so the test fire also helps us to know if they are still accurate. Of course it is also good to fire off a few rounds once in a while to keep our marksmanship skill sharp.