Belize?!

Anyone been to Belize?! Let me know :-)

Dave called today and said he is doing well. I think he is antsy for a package, even though he won't admit it. I am going to send one out Monday and will continue to do one weekly, if you would like to add anything. He said magazines are good and DVDs. Mostly, when he gets back to the dorms he just reads or watches movies on his laptop. He has only been able to go to the gym one time since he has been there but plans on going more often if possible.

I got him a Men's Health magazine today and am going to send him his Sports Illustrated that he has been getting. I also got some GREAT deals on books!! I am going to send him one each week until I run out.

He said the food is actually decent. They are at one of the better bases that apparently has better food than Moody! A soldier that was there in the past has sent them a supply of hot sauce so each table has hot sauce for their enjoyment. The food used to be not great and they had to douse everything in hot sauce to cover up the bland taste.

He says they have been in the 30-40 degree range lately, but his job is inside so it usually doesn't matter. They guys call him "Control" because he is the Control Manager at the base. They put him in charge of the scheduling and he also listens to the radios and keeps watch over all the activity on the base pertaining to security. He said that I shouldn't worry because he is not in much direct contact with the locals since he is manning the radios behind a desk. So that is comforting!

I am still waiting on pictures from him to post so we can see where he is living and what it looks like! The other day he was not allowed to call me due to some security issues. No one was allowed outside contact by phone or email due to the situation that he can't tell me about?!

Today my cheerleaders marched in the Victory Parade for our local football teams, the Valdosta State Blazers and the Lowndes County Vikings. Both won their state championships this past month. It was so cold and rainy, but the girls had fun and it was neat to see a lot of the people out to support our local football!

Last night I went to Thomasville to see our beautiful "nephew" Jensen and Chris and Amber. We ate pizza and watched golf on TV! Jensen recently turned one year old!!! We got him a wooden train set for his birthday from Pier One. If you need cute gifts for kids you have got to check out my favorite store, Pier One!!!

I am signing off to go see Bianca for her birthday! The dogs say hi and "send more bones"!

Peace :-)

Good site...

Here is a site that talks a little bit about what soldiers need and I thought it was interesting.

http://www.anysoldier.com/WhatToSend.cfm

Don't forget...

Remember that Dave does not know about the honeymoon thing, so DON'T say anything!!! I told him he had to promise to not look at this blog until he gets back, so ssshhhhhh!!!

He just called again!!! Nothing new...I can never remember all of the things I want to talk to him about. I guess I am going to have to go back to how it was when he was on swings. We never saw each other, only in passing, so I would leave notes to him and he would write back so when I got up I had an answer to my problem or the jar that I couldn't get open the night before was now loose. Craziness, I know.

We are working on getting the fence so I talked with him about remeasuring for the fence, moving it up closer to the house, so we can reduce our footage and maybe get a better fence. We did have 360 feet that we needed fenced, but I think we can bring it in a little tighter and still get the picket fence we really want.

He said he is okay on PT gear, I cannot find his only set that is supposed to be here some where? He said he can borrow some from a friend there to go to the gym, but I really want to find his. I have asked him to take a picture of himself in his full gear, so I will post that when he sends it! Some ideas for care packages: beef jerky, gum, blanket, i-tunes gift card (he can't illegally download there), cookies (even though he says he doesn't want any junk food), Doritos, Energy Bars, Copenhagen Snuff (dip) in a tin ("Even if he doesn't dip, he will be a hero and have more power than the Commanding Officer if he has a 'log' (10 cans) of 'Hagen.' A large percentage of infantry use this stuff and it is hard to get. The stuff they do get comes in a plastic can and tastes terrible. The 'Stateside Hagen' is the most powerful bargaining tool in a field environment!")---I am definitely not encouraging this, but Dave says that it does give a lot of power, little candies like smarties for the local kids, Gatorade mix.

I know this is a lot of stuff, but any of it he would LOVE. He did not ask for anything, which is so like him, but these are the things that other people have told me that he night need or what I know he really wants. If you have any questions, let me know. You can all mail anything to me and I can send it over to reduce your costs in shipping. Just let me know if you are sending something so I can hold any packages that I may be sending.

Thanks for suggestions on the trip (Jennie)...keep them coming!! I am leaning towards a Sandals-type resort now. Has anyone had experience with Sandals?? Or the all inclusive-type of resorts? I am liking St. Lucia or something in that area. Still not sure, there is so much to choose from.

CrAzY!!

Suggestions...

Shhhhhh, don't tell Dave....I want to literally plan an entire honeymoon (since we never took one) for us to take when he gets back from Iraq. Any ideas!!! We want the beach, but not super touristy, lots of culture, relaxing but also options for additional activities, boating, golfing, etc....with pampering honeymoon suite treatment :-)

Dave is SUPER money conscious, drives me crazy, but without him I would be in HUGE debt :-) My obsession is shopping, cannot help it. I love filling shopping carts, even if it is with all those on sale candy canes after Christmas (they were 9 cents at Target, couldn't help it). Is is an addiction, but I have recognized it, so that is my first step to treatment...even though I despise the treatment. Money is money though, meant to be spent, right?! You will never have enough of it.

So back to the point...we need a GREAT, FABULOUS, PERFECT place to be together with minimal expenses...preferably an all inclusive type of set up. I DO want my sand and blue water and my pretty drink with an umbrella and the tiki tent cover thing and maybe even a cabana boy. Suggestions?!

Some ideas: Canary Islands (but which one?), Cape Verde, The Seychelles (picture above), St. Lucia, Italy, some where in Central America, there are so many places to choose from....HELP!

Yay!

Another phone call...I talked to Dave tonight for about 12 minutes!! He is doing well. He has an address but I wasn't home and didn't have anything to write with. He will try to call tomorrow to give it to me. He doesn't need anything right now and he said everything is going well.

I asked him if he feels safe and he said he did, so that is especially comforting. It is VERY cold there, in the single digits!! I got this site from Dad Adkins and you can check his weather etc. there... http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/iraq/kirkuk .

I will let you all know when he needs anything. I am guessing he would like some more PT gear since that is all they can wear outside of their uniforms. He only has one set, so I will have to go buy him another set. If you would like me to send him a set from you, let me know and I can do that! He may also need extra blankets, maybe a heated blanket, but let me check because that may not be authorized for use in their dorm area?!

I was not able to ask him about other stuff...so I will get details when he has more than 12 minutes to talk! Hopefully that will be soon. He is also hoping to get more email time. If any of you have Dan, Dustin or Matt's email addresses, could you please send them to me via email cmcaggie04@hotmail.com THANKS!!

Today is Kellie's B-DAY!!!

Happy Birthday Kellie!!!

I just got the FIRST call...yay!! He is able to talk for about 15 minutes each time (he has to call the base operator and they will get him an outside line to speak to the wife and kids) and he seems to think that he will be able to talk almost daily?! He may need calling cards to call anyone else...we are still waiting to find out. I will let you all know.

He still does not know his mailing address, he should get it tomorrow?? He said he has had very long days with only a few hours of sleep each night so he is very tired. Plus, the jet lag is killing him and he said he is cold--or his room is :-)

I have to send him his PT gear because they are only authorized to wear the BTUs or the PT gear, no civilian clothes except when they are in their dorms, which he said is like a trailer.

He misses the dogs, wants me to make sure and give them a hug and to tell Sully to "get off the bed". Sully has since claimed Dave's spot on the bed. Even right now as I sit at the computer on the other side of the house he IS on that bed---ahhh!! He and Cooper usually follow me around the house to keep me safe so it is funny that he is more concerned with the bed now!

Thank you all for the prayers, keep praying :-) He says it's "not too bad" and that despite the long days he thinks things will be good. Below is his update email for those of you that he does not have on his email list yet. By the way, if you would like his emails, let me know so I can tell him to put you on his "Family and Friends" list.

"Well, I started off with a bus ride to Atlanta Sunday morning. We had a really long layover so we watched the Colts game which was a huge disappointment. We then flew to Norfolk, VA where we stayed until monday morning. We were supposed to leave at 1 am on monday but they delayed the flight til 10. We then stopped off in Bangor, ME where there was a huge blizzard. I went outside and threw some snowballs, it was great to see real snow again. Then we flew to Germany and stopped for gas and then to Al Udeid AB in Qatar. We stayed here last night and are in the airport waiting to leave. It's about a 3 hour flight to Kirkuk so we should be there pretty soon. Hopefully we'll be able to get settled in tonight. It's been pretty smooth so far. The customs here in Qatar are crazy. They won't let you bring hardly anything with you. That's a quick update of the last four days. It should be a lot easier to contact all of you when I get there. When I get my email and physical address I will let you all know. Love you guys.

Dave

Oh yeah, we are 8 hours ahead of Eastern time so It may take a while to get back to you."

Miss you all and will continue to update here as I get info! Please pass this blog link onto anyone interested :-)

The map...

If you are not sure where Dave is, here is a map of the area. Kirkuk Air Base is where he is or will be momentarily. I got an email saying that they left Al Udeid yesterday and were about to leave for Kirkuk soon (this was 3:50 am our time). They are about 8 hours ahead of us (eastern) so you know the time difference. More info when I hear from him again....

Recent Pics :-)

Even though Cooper won't admit it, he really does love his brother very much. They are such good dogs :-)

Sully was so sad that he accidentally got up on the bed with me. He didn't mean to it just happened...uh oh!!!

Cooper was very sad to see his Daddy leave him. Plu she was cold so I gave him a blanket to make him look even more pittiful....pooooor baby!!

Dave in the coolest sweater you will ever see. Thanks to Ashley's "Tacky Christmas Sweater Party" Dave got to live it up for a few minutes before it was taken away from him!!!

Dave and I at the BEST (not kidding) steakhouse in the WORLD...Bob's Steak and Chophouse!! Do not let the name scare you away. Go to the one in Plano and ask for Eddie (he is a manager and my uncle). You might be a little less rich but you will not eat better any where else :-)

Amber and me in Dallas during Christmas break---miss you already!!!

More pictures to come...hopefully I will get some from Dave to share with you also. Stay tuned :-)

AHHH!!!

So I STINK at keeping up with this blog, but I do like it so I am going to try to write more...HA! No really, I am going to try to do this more often.

Ok, so Dave left yesterday EARLY morning and took a bus to ATL, from there they flew to VA, then to a few other places state-side and they should be some where over the Atlantic now...not really sure though.

Home sucks without having human interaction. Gotta love the dogs, but I need to be able to speak and be understood. You would think I would get that all day at school but you must remember that I teach 7th grade and really all they here from me is blah, blah, blah, blah. However I sometimes pretend that it is indeed true interaction :-)

So far we have no word on when he will land or where he will land next. They were told he would be in the air for about 18 hours, not including layovers, etc. I will let everyone know as soon as we hear anything. I know he will be desperate for care packages as soon as he lands :-)

We miss you all and are already counting down the days for his return...only 120 days (give or take--this IS the military we are talking about and therefore you must know that they rarely stick to their word!)

Say hi to Abbey (family dog)...she isn't feeling well...pray for a quick doggie recovery.

Peace :-)