sororitysoldier.com » Family and Friends

Our Trip to London

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:25:08 +0000

Shoutout to the LSU Tigers, Landon, Jake & Katie

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:53:12 +0000

Here’s my shoutout for the LSU/Florida Game. It aired on the JumboTron during pre-game!

Here’s what Landon wrote after my shoutout

to: the best cousin in the world
from: the best cousin in the world
i would just like to thank you for giving me and all the sigma nus a shout out over the jumbo tron in a stadium of 93,100 fans! your the best! i love u dearly!

Longest Month of the Year

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:54:04 +0000

I can officially say I’ll be home next month. The problem is that this is the longest month of the year… come soon November! I can’t wait to see my family and friends!

Secrets don't make friends

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:54:43 +0000

When you’re deployed, people think they’re protecting you by not burdening you with the problems of home. Last deployment it was the threat of divorce, a family member getting a credit card in my name thinking they could pay it off before I knew. This week, divorce isn’t a threat, but imminent and has been since May. I just found out.

I realize why people keep this stuff from me – they think I’m stressed out and don’t want to put anything on my plate. What they don’t understand is I want normalcy. I want to be treated as if I’m at home. I’ve been making plans, looking forward to getting home. I want to know now that those plans won’t happen, instead of looking forward to them only to get home and figure out they don’t exist. I want to know exactly what I’m walking into. I want to deal with it here. I don’t want to come home with a heart full of joy, only to find out that what I thought I was coming home to is a drastically altered reality.

My friends don’t want me to swear off men or lose faith in trust. I’ve always had trust issues, but I’m not swearing off men… if anything, I’m just going to be much more casual and not get serious with anyone for a while. I need time for myself, time for fun and friends, time to readjust to home and figure out what’s next.

Around the World in 15 Days

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:58:51 +0000

London was awesome… except that Craig left after two days. It’s not as bad as you think… I mean, yes I was left in Europe, but that hurts your pride more than anything – after a day of heart break, I got mad and then I took a deep breath and moved on. Cade really stepped up and kept me distracted. We finished out all we wanted to do in London – lots of retail therapy, of course, London Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the parks, Wicked (amazing), London Eye, Westminster Abbey (breathtaking), St. Paul’s Cathedral, Fat Tire Bike Tour (my favorite of the trip), Parliament & Big Ben, Harrod’s, etc. etc. Cade lost his passport the first day, so we had a fun time trying to figure out how to use a London payphone and we found it after 5 days there, safely tucked away in the Lost Property Office at London Heathrow, Terminal 3. ((Relief)) With the Craig ordeal hanging like a black cloud over my head due to hate mail from one of his family members (“you’re sick for trying to ruin his life… I hope you know you’re putting him in his grave…”), I decided I wanted Momma Time, so we cut the trip short after a week and headed to Shreveport. I had so much fun at home, just what I needed. I spent a ton of time with my mom and best friend, Amanda. I spent every morning outside with Chevy, throwing the ball and walking him around the apartments. He loved riding with me on errands and I treated him to half a day at the doggie spa for a hair cut and bath. The last night we had “dinner club.” It’s something we started a while ago, that fizzled out but is now back in full swing. It’s just a handful of high school friends (girls only) that get together once a month for dinner to catch up. About half of the group is married with kids and the other half is climbing the corporate ladder. It was so good to see them, and even better because we invited the Mommas. We ate at Cantina Laredo and I finally got to meet Jaxon, Amanda & Mark’s baby boy – This fool’s in love again.

After 40 hours of travel (Shreveport to Dallas to London, for a 12 hour layover, to Bahrain to Kuwait, for 3 days, to Basra) I’m back. I was so dreading getting back here, but I was so happy when I walked in the office to see all my favorite soldiers. Ty almost tackled me when he saw me and they all said they were glad to have me back. Now we’re on the downhill slope for real. Our replacements should be here in about 2 months and then it’s Adios Basra, Hola Future!

Here’s some pics from our trip

This makes me bright and shiny

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:25:15 +0000

My wonderful, wacky family

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A-tdabYCDQ[/youtube]

If you need another laugh – check out the Evian babies.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHnRIn74Ag[/youtube]

Geaux Tigers! 2009 College World Series Champs!

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:31:13 +0000

Amanda sent me this awesome Recipe:

LONGHORN GUMBO

1) Start with some Super-Regional seasoned RICE
2) Carefully move from the back burner in Baton Rouge to the hot stove in Omaha
3) Add some VIRGINIA country ham – do so quickly because it doesn’t stay fresh for long
4) Season with a double dose of pig fat - RAZORBACK fat that is.
5) Slowly bring to a boil in a heat index of 107
6) Then slowly add LONGHORN meat from Austin, TX
7) Cook for 11 innings on the first day Let cool for a day
9) Then bring to a boil and blow the lid off on day 3!

This is a tried and true recipe and one that’s sure to tantalize the taste buds of Tiger Fans everywhere!

Welcome Baby Jaxon

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:44:59 +0000

My friends Amanda & Mark had a baby boy yesterday – Jaxon Daniel Duty! … Between missing babies and weddings, deployment is a pretty sucky thing.

Skype – my new best friend

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:11:51 +0000

Today turned out to be an awesome day, but it didn’t start out that way. This morning, with nothing much to do, I pulled guard duty at the headquarters building for about an hour and 40 minutes (Foliente took over the last 20). Not long after, when I was getting ready to shoot a stand up for a story I did, we’re told the Command Sergeant Major wants the sidewalk swept and all the leaves gone. Since it rained last night (a good thunderstorm around 10:00), leaves are everywhere and it’s still pretty windy. Sweeping the sidewalks in Iraq is pretty pointless. It’s like sweeping dirt in a dirt hut. But, we got out there anyway and swept the leaves from the sidewalk and made a good attempt at moving the dirt around. After I shot my standup, we were told it wasn’t good enough and we went at it again. I was more than a little frustrated.

Then, I had to pull the second guard shift at the TOC. Foliente was going to pull it, but the Major couldn’t make her meeting so he went in her place. It’s an hour long shift and he relieved me for the last 20 minutes again. With the guard shifts and sweeping, it would be an understatement to say I was behind on what I had planned to do today. But, I got to work on my little projects and then went to the habibi (my friend in arabic) shop with my new favorite girlfriend, the LT. She gets a good deal (so good, he whispers it to her) on movies and we walked out with 6 movies for just 8 bucks. I got W., Revolutionary Road, Major Movie Star, the Duchess, and Secret Life of Bees. They’re not always the best quality (some have english subtitles that just rhyme with what the actors are actually saying, others are fuzzy, and some are filmed in movie theaters), but at these shops you take what you can get and hope for the best.

After a long day, I came to Foliente’s room to borrow his computer and skype connection for something I’ve been reluctant to mention, and still am going to keep to myself for the time being. I will say this – God works in amazing ways and He’s got his hand on something that I could never have dreamed of. I did get to talk to Craig on skype and it was awesome. It made my entire day so much better! Forget sweeping dirt from the dirt and pulling guard shifts.. I got to spend like an hour talking to Craig and actually seeing him on the webcam! I also got to call my mom and aunt tracy from the skype. I was going to call Mammaw and my Dad, but I had to pay to call actual numbers (if you talk through internet it’s free), and I didn’t have much of a balance. Skype is still awesome, but it did make me miss Craig even more. It’s almost torture to be able to see him and not reach out and hug him. = ( I miss him tons.

All my missions up until now have been cancelled, but it looks like I might get out for a small deal tomorrow. I’m hoping so! I’ll head back to Baghdad soon, but I’d like to get out on at least one mission before I leave.

Numb

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:00:41 +0000

I’m handling everything pretty well or so it seems. When I left, I feared that I’d be occupied 24/7 with missing Craig and my family and friends. Although I think about them a lot, I’m not in agony over being gone. I’m not crying myself to sleep because I wish I were with Craig watching a movie. I’m not completely lifeless because I’m daydreaming about being at home with my family or eating out with Amanda. The only explanation that I can come up with is that I’m numb. Numb to the pain of being gone. I got this theory from my book – New Moon (second in the twilight series). It’s pitiful, I know… to have a book tell me how I’m feeling, but it’s true. It’s like I’ve subconsciously blocked out the feelings of loneliness and missing home. Maybe God turned off those feelings to help me cope, I don’t know. Although I think about home and Craig a lot, I’m not miserable and I’m glad for that. When given the choice of pain or numbness, I vote for the numbness. I just hope I don’t develop a pattern of being numb and have it take over as my primary coping mechanism. It’s working for right now, but I hope that once I get into the groove of things I don’t need it anymore. I almost started crying when I was explaining my numbness theory to Adam and Brian, and that gave me hope that I still have feelings. Adam said that’s kind of how he feels too, being away from Leslie. I was worried at first that I wasn’t feeling what I should feel. Then I realized that I had just gone into a numbing mode. To cope with these first few months of being away I just have to be numb to it. When I really force myself to think about how much I miss Craig, it makes me miserable. So, I try not to think about it. When my mind starts wandering to Craig, I try to distract myself because I know it’ll only make me sad. I miss him terribly, and I’ve only got to talk to him twice since I left the states. We’ve talked a total of 15 minutes at most and I can’t wait till I get to Baghdad and can talk to him more and for longer periods of time.

My friend, Amanda, is helping me so much. She’s constantly sending me e-mails, letting me know all the details of her life and keeping me in the know. I feel like I’m home when I read them. We didn’t stay in touch as well my last tour and when I got home I felt so awkward because I spent a year playing catch up to what I missed. This time, me and Amanda are like Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, keeping each other in the know about our daily lives. It’s the simple things I like hearing about – her school applications and her new computer, her weekend, who she saw and what they were wearing… I love that girl.

My friend, Brittani (deployed with me last time), is also giving me updates. She’s a Texas State Trooper and I love hearing from her and what she’s doing. B and Amanda are both keeping up with the blog and that makes me feel so good, like they’re really interested in what’s going on with me. I have amazing friends.