Independence Day and My Birthday

Happy 4th of July! I read a few interesting takes on the holiday that you shouldn't say Happy 4th of July but that you should focus on the fact that it is Independence Day. I think both are important. 4th of July bring memories of family, friends, fun, food, and fireworks. Just realized those all start with F. :) But it is also a time to appreciate and thank the men and women that sacrificed so much before us, are currently serving, and those that will continue to fight for our freedom and the luxuries we enjoy each day. So Happy 4th of July and Independence Day! How about that?
I had SUCH a great holiday weekend. Soooo much fun! The only thing that would have made it perfect would have been if Drew could join us but soon enough. My parents arrived on Wednesday evening and didn't have to leave until Tuesday morning. So nice! Thursday we played total tourists in Savannah. We went on the trolley tour which was really interesting and fun but it didn't stop there. It started to rain so I bought an obnoxious poncho that literally looks like the plastic that comes when you pick up your dry cleaning. Even the trolley guy commented to the whole trolley how nice our ponchos were. Dad was too cool to wear his but Mom and I rocked it. If that wasn't bad enough, I needed a baseball hat because my hair was a mess with the rain. Oh yes, I got a hat that said Savannah. So between my Savannah hat, dry cleaning poncho, and my trolley sticker, I looked so cool. :) That was the extent of our "bad" weather. Wouldn't even call it bad weather actually. It was in the low 80s so we didn't complain. We also stopped by Tybee on Thursday. Friday we headed to Jekyll Island for three nights. AMAZING! The weather was soooo nice. We rode bikes, fished, walked on the beach, went on a shrimp boat to watch fireworks... the works. Like I said, would have been perfect with Drew there but it was pretty darn close!! Drew of course was so cute on my birthday on Monday. His roommate came over to tell me Happy Birthday when I was talking to Drew and I asked Drew if he had just told him. He said he had told everyone he talked to that it was my birthday. We tend to miss each other like crazy on special occasions so I wasn't surprised. :) Can't wait to make up for every missed occasion.
Notice Dad's trolley sticker. My sticker stuck to my poncho when I took it off. Darn!


Here are the three of us at a restaurant in Jekyll.


We found a new place to catch flounder but we kept snagging so didn't catch anything. At least it was pretty!

We have hit the 90 day mark for Drew. Hard to believe he only has 90 days or less in Iraq. His boss said these are the days that can be the most dangerous if guys lose focus or become complacent. Drew is completely aware and encourages his guys to remain sharp. He's now helping to design the workout programs for the guys too. I was watching the news yesterday and they were saying children should not be playing sports in this weather (it went back up to 100 after my parents left) but yet it is 130 in Iraq and Drew plays sports all of the time! He is drinking water by the gallons and feeling good.
Last week we had another blackout when a guy in Drew's company was shot in small arms fire. He will be fine and again the team reacted perfectly. They are taking many measures to increase safety and they continue to train to prevent this but unfortunately, sometimes no matter what you do, things are going to happen. Drew is confident in himself and his team's training to handle anything.