De La Hoya

One of the people I worked with was Oscar De La Hoya, the world champion boxer.

It was an amazing journey with De La Hoya and crew. We got stuck out at a small Forward Operating Base (FOB) Justice which is near the Kadhimiya Shrine in downtown Baghdad. Justice is Joint Base with the Iraqis, so it is relatively safe. Kadihimiya is a site with loads of history, look it up if you are interested. JSS Justice is a FOB with lots of great guys (and less than 5 gals) and one of my favorite places to visit. I miss the Just-Us Crew!

I did not sleep that night, because I was on the phone trying to figure out what time a helicopter could come and pick us up.

The pictures on this post were taken while waiting for the helo the next morning.

While waiting, Oscar turned to me and said something in spanish. He asked if I knew what he said. I said no?! He said "You have a beautiful heart." Exhausted, moved, and knowing my day was just starting huge tears came to my eyes. Oscar gave me a big hug and there was a true understanding of why we both were standing in Baghdad waiting on a helo. It was a moment I will never forget.

“For those with a big heart, even impossible tasks become possible.”

~UNK

Forever Changed

Okay, so it has been forever since I posted on my blog. I know many of you enjoy the updates even when they are sporadic.

I have been home from Iraq for about a month now. I will never be the same for the experiences I had and the friends I made while I was down there. I am so blessed to have been with such wonderful people everyday.

My Iraq Besties, CPT Morgan and SSG Foster

Sherwood, Nemo and the Beav (me) we all have aliases and fake beers

Toe pop, with Fetrow

Many people fixate on the fact my job was to escort entertainers and the other "famous" people I met.

For me the most "famous" people I met hail from small towns and cities throughout the USA, they are soldiers, selfless servants carrying out a mission only few are brave enough to do.

The boys of Loyalty

G1 Family

“Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives”

~Siegfried Sassoon

Running with Ralphie

Okay, there is no one named Ralphie my life. You all have seen The Christmas Story, right? I felt like the kid who got his tongue stuck to the frozen pole. I was so bundled up when I went on my first outside run since all the ice and snow, I could hardly more. Luckily, I only bundled my top half, I felt like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. I had 4 layers on to include my new Under Armor Tactical long sleeve undershirt. That baby was toasty, next time I will not need to bundle up as tight. Here is too good health and cold weather.

"Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success."

- Juha "the Curel Vaatainen

Bittersweet but Thankful

Bittersweet, and thankful rarely find themselves in the same sentence, but those two words sum up my feeling about Thanksgiving this year. I went to two meals one at my friends Julie and Marty's and then to Lisa and Jay's house. I am so thankful and blessed to have such wonderful caring friends, that take such good care of me. The night was packed with good food, good conversation, and loads of wine. :) Have I mentioned I have wonderful friends.

Now for the bittersweet feelings. The day after Thanksgiving, I felt blah. I missed my friends, I missed Thanksgiving's past, most of all I missed the wonderful memories. Last year, I spent Thanksgiving in the airport in Okinawa, pondering life, and preparing to start a new chapter in my life. When I got home to Zama, I went to Quail and Sal, reheated Thanksgiving dinner, talked, drank car bombs, sat on the balcony smoked cigars, and shed a few tears. The 2 years prior to that I spent with Scott and Allison. In 2007, I had just arrived in Japan and they were gracious to have a perfect stranger over. By 2008, we were family, and my sister was even there. Man, this is when I miss them the most. Someday, I will be back.

When I was at Julie and Marty's we were talking about family holiday traditions. When I started to talk about Thanksgiving at my Grandma Nanny's and the pinata, one of the people in the room asked if my family had hispanic origin. I laughed, the answer is no, I am not sure how the pinata became a tradition. Oh how I miss those, loud, crazy Turkey Days with my big family.

I have come to the realization that the path I have chosen will rarely take me to a time and place where family gathers and old friends are near, so now I look at Thanksgiving in a different way. I like to see what people prepare, what their traditions are, do they make cornbread stuffing, or sage stuffing? What is the dessert? Is it a dinner or an all day event. All these things are interesting and make me thankful for all the diverse, wonderful, people in my life.

"I feel extremely lucky, extremely grateful, and a little bittersweet, too."

Wentworth Miller

Surprise! Your Basement is flooded.

I has been raining hard for the last week and when I say hard, I mean hard. I grew up in Oregon, so I know about rain, but boy this past week has been wet. Yesterday, I went down in my "dry" basement to switch out a load of laundry. There was a bit of standing water against one wall. I thought it might have come from the dryer. European dryers are condensers. Which means after each load you have to empty out a small bucket of water. You don't want to get me started on that. I would LOVE an American dryer. I cleaned up the little bit of water and blamed it on the dryer.

This morning I woke up and went downstairs to transfer laundry and there was about 3 inches of standing water against the same wall. To say the least I was bummed. I bailed to water into a bucket, all the while thinking this is a guys job. There are just times when it would be nice to hand the honey do list over to someone else.

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow."

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Poland Trip

Recently, I joined the American Spouses Club (ASC). I thought it would be a great way to meet new people in the area, so even though I am not a spouse I joined. My friend Lisa would say it's about time, she had been asking me to join for the past year.

One of the trips the ASC goes on every year is a Polish Pottery trip. Polish Pottery is beautiful high quality pottery, and is also a rite of passage for military families in Europe. You can walk into most homes and know if the family has spent time in Europe, by the pottery around. Of course this doesn't mean everyone, but a majority, not all people like the design of the pottery. I personally like it, so I had no problems spending money.

Before it was cleaned and put away

Probably some Christmas presents in the mix

It was quite the weekend. We left at about 1145 pm on Thursday night. 24 of us made the 10 hour (one way) trip in a tour bus. We arrived Friday morning and started to shop. We visited the factories on day one. Each factory has an on-site store. We shopped all day until our feet hurt. Then had a wonderful dinner and stayed in a beautiful little hotel, called the Blue Beetroot www.bluebeetroot.com/rates.html. We all drank good wine and got pampered, I had a wonderful foot massage.

Poland is a very poor country. I felt thankful for all I have when we walked the street and drove around the countryside. There is so much history there, I hope to go back.

In the morning we woke up loaded the bus and were off to shop at the little shops that dot the streets of Boleslawiec the town where all the factories and shops are located. We headed back to the bus late in the day to head home. We had intended to stop for dinner about 9 pm, to our dismay the restaurant we had planned to eat at was closed. We all reloaded the bus and drove on. At about 10pm, we stopped at a McDonalds. As many of you know, I do not like Mickey D's. I had a large water and a little kids meal thing of apples. It was just enough to fill my stomach enough to sleep the rest of the way home.

Cleaned and put away

After unloading the bus, I made it home about 4 am this morning (Sunday). It was a wonderful weekend. Not only do I have beautiful new pottery to show for it, I also made new friends.

Tonight's Dinner

" A moment last all of a second, but the memory lives on forever" ~ Unknown

Is the grass really greener?

Today, I updated my blog with places I have been over the past few months since my keyboard has been out of commission. Ok, Allison, my math orientated friend, it has been more than a couple months, try 7. ;)

As many of you many know I have a big adventure coming up that I will post more about when it is final. If you don't know what I am talking about and you would like to know just email me. I will let you know what is up.

With this next new adventure and at that, any new adventure, I believe we naturally take some time to be introspective and look at our life. Which brings me to the title of this entry. Is the grass really greener? Do you know what the other side looks like? I would say it is tempting to look for answers on the unknown other side, but it is better to find them right where you are.

A few weeks back I was chatting (online) with an old college friend and he was a bit shocked to find out I still live overseas. The last time we talked I was in Japan (where he still thought I was) and now I am in the Netherlands. He typed something that I have thought about since that day. He typed, "I bet the people at home think you are crazy. I bet they wonder why you don't have 2.5 kids, a husband, a dog and a house." I chatted back and said yeah, you're right, people probably wonder what I am doing, moving to a new country every few years, no husband, no kids, no house. Then I wrote maybe in time, right now I am happy with what I am doing. We chatted on and said our goodbyes to the tune of catch up with you in two more years on here and both signed off.

So, what does this all mean? The grass is green, on my side of the fence, and it is a great place to be. I love what I do, I love working with military families, living in Europe is awesome, having wonderful supportive friends all over the globe is grand, having a family that supports my dreams is admirable, and having the confidence to follow my dreams to make the best life I could ever dream of is the best feeling.

When I look over the fence and see wonderful Families with the 2.5 kids, husband, dog, and house, I think some year. When it is meant to be it will be. Until then I will live in the moment, continue to grow and most of all do it with a smile, at least most of the time.

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

Harriet Tubman