Who Is That Masked Man?

Hi all and welcome to my BLOG.

I haven't written lately because of all of the training we have been doing as well as getting ready to move north from Kuwait. We do get some time to ourselves to wonder around and check things out. As you see in the picture, we do have a couple of creature comforts from home like a Burger King, Subway, Starbucks, and Baskins Robbins (My personal fave). The army does try to make it more homey on FOB's, so that you may forget for a little while that a war is going on around you. I will be leaving to go north to Iraq soon and then I'll have my own place to call home with my roomy. I have my next post after I get settled in there and I should have better access to Internet also.

Again, I thank all of you for your support and Sarah thanks all of you for being there for her during this time. Take care and I will talk to you all later.

Dan

Now This Is What I Call HOT!!!

Hello again everyone. I hoped you enjoyed Sarah's guest writing on the last post. It is a little tougher to get on the Internet here in Kuwait and I asked Sarah to do it for me and she did a wonderful job. She is a little more wordy than me but, I like her that way.

Now for the update............IT IS HOTTTTTTTTTT! Did I tell you it is hot? Well it's hot like an oven hot. But it is a dry heat (LOL). I am getting used to it already so now I just have to deal with the sand and other great things about the middle east.

As you see in my picture, my living arrangements here are cramped but cozy for now. We are in big tents and mine has about 40 guys in it. As I said earlier, the Internet sucks but, at least I can get on. They do have some things like home here in Kuwait, like there is a Subway, Burger King, Steak Escape, and a Starbucks all on post. I will try to take pictures so you all can see what they look like. The mess hall food is a lot better than in Oklahoma. Tonight I had Steak and Shrimp and it tasted like Steak and Shrimp, AMAZING!

Well, it's getting late here so I will let you all go. I will update when I can until I get to Iraq and to my own Internet connection.

Take care everyone and I'll see you in the funny pages.

Dan

Off to the Sandbox

Hey Everyone! I'm writing for Dan since he's now left for Kuwait and then on to Iraq. His leave went by so fast. He came home on July 23 and both of us left for Fort Sill, OK on August 1. During the 8 days he was home, we attended my brother's wedding, which was a huge success, had a ginormous BBQ at our house for family and friends, (I think we had at least 50 people over), ate at all of our favorite places, and celebrated our anniversary early. We also had guests come and stay with us from Germany. There was so much to do!

When we arrived in Lawton, OK, we rented a car and drove to OK City to see the memorial. It was a very somber visit. The memorial has been done really tastefully and truly honors the victims and survivors of the blast. We weren't able to see the museum, but we both want to go back so we can go through it. It chonicles the timeline of the blast, the investigation, the arrests, and the trial. We just arrived too late to see it. If Dan demobolizes at Fort Sill, then we'll go back. Dan sat on a bench and reflected on the last few months. He said that "this is why I'm going to Iraq. It may have been here, but terrorism is terrorism." I'm sure it was a poignant moment for him.

We came back to Lawton for dinner. We had steaks at a local steakhouse. They were so yummy! During dinner we heard about the bridge collapse and we were in shock! What a tragedy. We then drove back to the base and sat in the parking lot for awhile to talk before Dan had to check in at 10:00.

August 2 was the ceremony. It was 20 minutes long, but it was worth it to be there. All the top brass from the MN National Guard was there. I got to meet other people that Dan is deploying with. The Hawaii Family Readiness Group was there and they gave candy leis to all the soliders. It was really nice. People from MN were discouraged from coming to Fort Sill, but there were many people there from Hawaii.

Dan left for lunch and then we met up afterward. We couldn't leave the base, but he showed me around. Fort Sill is like a city of it's own. It huge! They have their own post office, bowling alley, bar, movie theater, etc. It's not a bad place to be. The weather is the only downside. The dewpoints were very high and the temps were in the 90s. The heat index was around 100 everyday I was there. I can't imagine marching with an extra 40 lbs of weight on me in this weather. Yikes!

We had our last dinner together at the Burger King on post. It was quick, but nice to spend any time we could together. I dropped him off at the barracks after dinner so he could attend some meetings. I went back to the hotel. Dan called about an hour later and I drove back to post. We spent time talking in the car and ended back at the Burger King for some coffee and soda. It was good to just be near each other.

I dropped him off for the last time at his barracks and we said goodbye. There were just a few tears and I went back to the hotel.

It was a whirlwind tour while he was home, but it was so good to see him and have him close. Just five more months, and he'll be back!

Dan will update again once he's settled.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Waterlogged

Hello again everyone and welcome. I hope everyone has had a good week and all is well. This week has been a down week here. Everything has left to go over and all of the training is done. Soon I'll be home for 9 days and I can't wait for that.

I did take another PT test this week and I passed it with flying colors. I did 72 push-ups and 70 sit-ups and 2-miles in 16:03. Not my best time on the run but I did better in the other two than last time. I am feeling more fit now than I can ever remember. Now if only these last 10 pounds would fall off I would be a model or something :-)

We also got to go to the pool again yesterday. We cooked out and hung out all day long. I did get a little red, even though I reapplied my sunscreen like 5 times. It was very relaxing to be by the pool, but I did get waterlogged and pruned by the end of the afternoon (I know, it must be rough for me. lol).

Well, It's time for me to go to formation and find out what is going on today. Everyone have a good weekend and my next post will be after my block leave is over because I will see most of you in that time frame.

Gettin' Ready

It's Monday and do you know where Dan is? I'm right here in Oklahoma and getting ready to be home for 9 days.

Yesterday was our battalion picnic and we also got to have beer!!! It was hot and it tasted so good. There was volleyball, swimming, a dunk tank and did I mention the beer? It was a good time had by all who attended (which was everybody - Hello still in the army here - didn't have a choice - lol). Today I started packing up my personal items in preparation for next week. I sure collected a lot of items over the past 3 months but I think I'll be able to fit it all somewhere. After I'm done with that we are going to see a movie. I think we'll see "Live free or die hard" and then have dinner at the mall for a change of pace.

Everybody have a good week and I can't wait to see all of you when I get home. It will be very busy so if I don't get to talk to everybody, do stay in contact via e-mail.

Take care all

Dan

11 Days and a Wake-Up

Hello again, its me. I hope everybodys week is going well so far and the rest of your week is just as good. Things here are winding down. I'm very excited to come home on block leave in 12 days and so is everyone else here.

We did get a fun day yesterday though. Our First Sargent reserved an outside pool for the whole company to go swimming and have a cookout. It was a beautiful day outside. about 92 degrees and a slight wind. Everyone, including myself, had a blast. It felt good to not wear my uniform for most of the day and to sit out and get some sun.

We also have been playing volleyball for PT. Its a nice change of pace from running all of the time. The solders from Hawaii are pretty good and are a challenge to play against. Go figure, they live on a beach, they have played a few times I bet(lol). On Friday we have a battalion run in the morning. This is where we form up and run in a group and have somebody call out cadence to keep us in step. It will be a short run from what I've herd so that's good because running in formation hurts my feet(too much stomping, not running). Then our whole platoon is going to the bowing ally to do some team building that night. We were going to do it tonight but we just had some people come back from the FOB and they are going to diner together to celebrate being out of the FOB like my group had a picnic.

Well, time for me to go again. Dinner is calling and you all know how I hate to miss a meal. Take it easy and I'll talk to you all again soon.

Dan

Happy 4th of July

Hello everybody and happy 4th of July to all of you.

We were given a little more freedom this past week and I have been able to do some things other than army training. On Sunday, my platoon went to Lonestar Steakhouse for, you guessed it, steaks. It was a fun evening for all. the Twins were on the TV, I ordered the T-Bone and I had an ice cold........ice tea in my hand.(Still no alcohol allowed)

On Tuesday I got to go to concert put on my Army Entertainment. Trace Atkins was the headliner and Joe Nickels opened for him. It was a good show, as country shows fair. I got to sit in the sun, listen to music, and have an ice cold.......ice tea again. It was almost like being home, just with out Sarah, my normal clothes and my car to drive me there(we took a bus).

Then today we all got to sleep in because the concert ended at 11pm. then we had a BBQ for lunch with chicken, beef, and pork ribs. It was very good and I think I ate too much. Then I went to see Transformers at the mall. I thought I was a good movie. Lots of special effects and "Guy" type of things to keep me interested.

Tomorrow it is back to the grind of Army life. It was nice to have a little more freedom to do so things that I took for granted before this deployment. Now I look forward to coming home on block leave and spending lots of time with Sarah. I need my "Sarah" time you know.

Well, it's off to bed for me. Again I thank you all for the support you all have given me so far. I look forward to talking with everybody again soon.

Dan

P.S.) Be sure to look below for new pictures from time to time.