Five Months

Five Months Down!! WOW!! Five months! That is a really long time if you think about it. I always say how fast time flies by, but if you realize that you haven't seen your husband since before Halloween, before Thanksgiving, before Christmas, before New Year's, before Valentine's.... it adds up! Drew's leave date was pushed back 5 days so he is now scheduled to leave Iraq on April 9th. Like I told our family, I have waited five months for Drew so what is five more days? I am learning to be so flexible in this experience. I was able to reschedule our cruise too so we are good to go. It's still less than two weeks before he leaves Iraq! He is soooooo ready to come home. It's one of those things that when you know you are coming home you are so over it. He is on a 24 hour checkpoint now and continues to do his missions morning and night.
I was on the phone with him earlier this week when they announced the winner of the elections. I have never experienced anything like it- and I was on the phone! There were tons of gun shots everywhere with the celebratory AK47 fire. The sirens and alarms continuously sounded and warned everyone not to move unless it was mission-related. It's crazy. I have said it before but that man is so brave! He didn't skip a beat!
Drew also was excited this week because he is no longer a driver. He now has the responsibility of carrying the SAW- which is a neat weapon I think called a M249? I think that's right. Anyway, he is really excited to be in charge of this weapon and he turned in his previous one.... AND more great news!!!! He is down to only one other roommate!!! He was soooooo excited about this!! He says he no longer has to turn sideways to fit into his room and has the entire back half of his chew. I know it doesn't sound like a lot- but think about having three roommates in a college dorm? How much nicer would it be to have one roommate? Then think you have already lived through the college thing and you are a 31 year old married man? Hopefully that gives you an idea of how happy he is to be down to one roommate. :) He always tells me he can't wait to go back to having his wife as his roommate. Amen! So one more weekend then my big man is coming home! Oh I can't wait! (Well yes, I can wait and I have been waiting but you know what I mean!!) :) WOOOOOO!!!!! Sorry I can't help myself!!!

Two Weeks

Drew leaves Iraq in two weeks from today!!! That's right! Easter day means our soldier is heading home!! So in two weeks he'll be home for two weeks!!! WOOOOO HOOOO!!! Woo hoo is not a strong enough phrase! We cannot wait!!

Spring has finally arrived in Savannah, GA as well as Kuwait, Iraq. I went to the beach for the first time on Saturday and it was a gorgeous 82 and sunny. It made me even more excited to be on a cruise with Drew and to have him back home. It also hit 90 in Kuwait this week. Drew said he already has a good looking red-neck tan going on. :)

He has been super busy lately. I would even dare say busier than during the elections. They have added tons of training hours on top of continued patrols and 24 hour checkpoints. I talked to him briefly this weekend but his days recently have him out the door at 3am and not back until late at night. All he can think about at this point is coming home and he probably will not have a break until then. Work for me is also absolutely insane so we are both staying busy.

Here are a few more pictures of Drew.

This is Drew's boss Noyce.

Another pic of Drew dismounted. Just a note- if you are ever looking for Drew in a picture- he is one of the rare lefties meaning he carries his weapon in his left hand. (He's right-handed but shoots left-handed.)

Drew is in front of the Iraqi Police Station here. He didn't know his picture was being taken or he would have done a much cooler pose I'm sure. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Drew and I cannot believe it is already mid March. I am sure this is becoming a recurring theme for you in that I always talk about how quickly time flies and how excited we are to see each other but it is so true! So last week I tried to explain my excitement by sharing the song with you in my head. Last night I thought of another good example. I was flying back home from a business trip and realized my level of excitement matches that of a plane taking off. You know... the plane starts its engines, pulls away from the gate, waits its turn in line, makes the turn onto the strip, and guns it! You can literally feel the energy increasing until it is in the air. That is exactly how I feel! I feel like we have waited our turn, made it onto the strip and the excitement is building!! We cannot cannot wait to see each other. It also makes me even more excited to see all of the soldiers in the airport. I can't wait until I get to pick up my soldier! And sorry for the boring analogy but I seriously cannot explain how excited we are!

Drew is doing well. He has had more opportunities to dismount (meaning get out of his vehicle) and walk around on patrol. He loves when he gets to dismount. His friends actually call him "Captain America" because they think he looks cool when he is on patrol. It's pretty funny!

This fire is caused by exhaust let off from the oil refineries. At this point Drew is still about 150 meters out.


I would say, in looking at the picture of his group, Drew looks the part of the American soldier. He wears the uniform well. :) The smiley face is used for security reasons. Drew is on the right.

Only 22 days until our cruise! WOO HOO!

Election Day

Drew and his team have successfully made it through Election Day. You've probably seen it on the news with early voting this week, but there have been some sticky situations. Thank you to everyone for showing your support with your warm wishes and prayers this week. Drew, as you can guess, has been busy with his 24 hour shifts and long, multiple missions. I talked to him this morning and he had been out all day in it. It is pretty intense to say the least! It is just a different world over there. People walk around shooting AK 47s in the air as a way of celebrating! It's crazy. But the Iraqi Police are thankful to have our guys there supporting their efforts. They are not out of the woods yet as it will still be a few weeks of craziness post-election. Drew had to be at the trucks again this morning at 3:30am so there are still long days ahead. I am so proud of him and everyone over there. Drew is so brave. Love that man.
And.... he should be home in less than 1 month!!!!!!!!!! Drew and I were talking and we decided that this could possibly be the most excited we have ever been for something. One thing that comes close was when we hadn't seen each other for 2 1/2 months during basic training... this will be over 5 months without seeing each other!!! OH MAN oh man oh man!!! I explained it best to my family this week when I tried to put into words the song that occurs in my head when I think about it... It goes something like... Woo!! Hooo!! Hooo!! Deee dee!! Woooo weee!!! Oh man I am changing the subject now because my excitement shoots through the roof when I think about it!! We have now decided that we are going to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Oh it will be great!!!!! It sounds like once he leaves Iraq it should take him only a couple of days to get home. Some guys were delayed due to sand storms but hopefully Drew can come straight home. Let the time keep flying! April here we come!!!