Mark's First Post

Hey All,

I hope you are doing well. This is my first post on here. I have finally gotten around to doing it. Angie has done a great job getting this thing set up and moving my emails onto here as posts. I guess we can say this is about par for the course as far as Angie doing the lion's share of the work. Some things don't change. I love you, Babe.

And before I continue let me just say that Angie does it better than I do because I have just wasted five minutes trying to figure out how to get what I wrote in word onto this stupid blog. grrr. Ok. The trick, FYI, is click "Edit Html." Whatever that means. (Ang, thanks for the tip, not.)

My folks sent me an email that include Brian’s first letter home. They scanned it for me. His letter just made me crack up. It sounds like he is doing pretty well. Morale seems high. And I am happy to hear that he is feeling well about sticking it out through the end of Beast. Anybody can do it if it’s something you want to do it. You just have to want it enough to stick through the stupid stuff- standing along walls for hours waiting for pee tests, etc. He’ll be good. And plus, like I discussed with my mom, after I left, West Point got a lot easier.

Alright so I just had an idea to write what I’m sick of and what I’m grateful for. I’ll do this every month or so and see how the list changes throughout the year. This might get fun, this might repeat for 2 or 3 months and I’ll quit. We'll see. So enjoy it while it lasts.

First, things I’m sick of: (and I think some of these might just be opposites of what follows.)
I am sick of sweating, walking outside and getting hit with a wall of hot air, sand (on and in everything, in my eyes, mouth, and lungs when I run), working every day, having to talk to Angie at really retarded times in the morning before work so that it’s night time by her. That’s about it. Not too bad.

Alright I think it’s time for a list of things that I am grateful for in the US that I miss (not family and friends, etc.):
I miss tap water, grass, green, rain, being cold, my car, looking for flights on Orbitz, making phone calls at will, hearing Spanish, checking the refrigerator for food, sleeping in on the weekend, (rephrase- having a day off), Burn Notice (I’m sure Brian is feeling my pain here), wearing some of my favorite cloths (Wisconsin shirt, brewers shirt, etc. (If you want to know the rest just of my favorite cloths, just check out Angie on a Saturday), Water (lake, river, ocean, anything would be nice), and beer.

Things that I like about it here:
-This chicken salad, which is basically like chicken in a deviled-egg-tasting sauce. Yum! (Alright this list is getting hard to write.) Ok. I like that I am able to talk with Angie, Family, and post things on blogs at night. Not everyone who is deployed can do that. I still have my health and my faith and trust in God is complete like it has never been before. (It's pretty awesome, you should try it.) I have my family and those I love are all healthy and safe. I’m gona stop now because that’s really all that matters and I am grateful for all these things.

If you're reading this, I hope all is well with you and I am probably thinking about you regularly. If not, it's probably because you aren't writing me emails or on Facebook and I have forgotten about you. I'm kidding, but I would love to hear from you.

Oh and P.S. This isn't directed at anyone, but please dont get the passenger window on my car broken into. I appreciate little things like that.

P.P.S. I'm not in a mood to edit so I hope nothing was too poorly written.

Take care. I love you all.
Regards, Mark