Merry Christmas From Kandahar City

Hello all,

It is now official, Mark and I only have ONE address and it is in Washington State! Feels great to have all of our belongings finally in one house. A friend (B.K.) and I left on the 15th and made the drive in my car (with the remainder of my belongings) out to WA. We stopped in South Dakota to visit an old friend that we met while studying abroad in Ireland for a day and then continued on our trip.

B.K. and Chip in South Dakota

Chip and I at Mt. Rushmore

We made it out to WA in 3 days which was pretty good! We had a small delay in our trip due to a snowstorm at one of the mountain passes, but at least the town we got stuck in- Coeur D'Alene, ID, had some fun stuff to do for a day to keep us busy. Once we made it home to Yelm, WA, that was when the troubles of the trip occurred. I went to do a load of laundry in the morning and we went to the grocery store to get some food for the day and when we got home, the wash machine had flooded on the second floor and thus we came home to water pouring out of the dining room chandelier on the first floor and and inch of standing water on the second floor. I called the landlord, placed a garbage can under the chandelier (which was 1/3-1/2 full by the time it stopped raining in the dining room) and soaked up pails of water off the second floor. A man came by later with a shop vac and hopefully there will be no water damage when we return back in January and the carpets are all dried out.

Onto the news and pictures from Mark! His R&R time (2 weeks of leave) is coming up quick! We are both getting quite excited. It will be great to have him home for a little while! He has been under the weather a bit the last few days with a runny nose, fever, and congestion. It has been going on for several days now and yesterday the Battalion Commander finally made him go get checked out at one of the medical centers at a different post. There, he had a 100.1 fever and was told it probably was a virus. He was happy to get to sleep at that post for the night where it was a bit warmer and said he is feeling a bit better today. He also sent some photos of him in Afghanistan for the holidays.

Mark is 4th from the right in the front row and looking very bald these days!

He stated that they have a Christmas tree at their post that is all decorated. Our family support group had sent holiday ornaments with a family picture in them to each soldier and I also know that the 3rd graders of Ms. B sent some holiday decorations as well that Mark put up. Enjoy the photos and have a blessed holiday season!

Love,

Angie

Christmas Packages

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Well it is that time of year. Snow and ice is here to stay in WI, college finals, getting ready to drive/move out to our house in Washington, and of course the hustle and bustle of Christmas time. I have two more final exams to take, the LAST two I will ever take in my life (which feels awesome) and a kitchen to pack up before Wednesday morning. Both my mom and Mark's mom will be coming down on Tuesday to help me figure out how to fit everything in the car. That should be a fun little game to play (not), especially considering the high temperature on the forecast is 14 degrees and a low of 0. I'm just grateful for the extra help! On Wednesday, me and B.K. (a wonderful friend), will be starting our road trip out to Washington in my car, with car top carrier and a bike- going through the mountains in the dead of winter. Got to love it. Please keep your fingers crossed that the interstate stays open and that we don't have to use our tire chains through any of the mountain passes.

Now onto Mark...

He sent me a photo from this September when the Afghan elections were being conducted. He was working with the ANP at one of the election stations at the time. They kept a pretty crazy sleep schedule he said. Below is the photo someone took of him sleeping in the truck. Not too comfortable looking!

I don't even want to know how his neck and body were feeling after a few days sleeping like this.

I also have some pictures to share from the wonderful Brown Deer 3rd graders Holiday Supply Drive. What a wonderful turnout they had! Ms. B's class did a wonderful job and the soldiers in Mark's unit will love it! They collected enough items to fill FOURTEEN huge care boxes!

Ms. B and the 14 boxes gathered from the supply drive

Below is a picture of some of the items that were gathered in her classroom before they were put into the boxes. Not only was I amazed at all of the items they gathered and were really touched by all of the generosity that was shown, I LOVED the bulletin board she put up in the classroom.

The sign above Mark's picture says "Getting to know LT Mark." The two maps point out where the students are and another map pointing to where Afghanistan where Mark is. Below the map of the US is the letter Mark wrote to the class. It truly has been a wonderful experience for Mark and hopefully it has been for the students as well.

Mark also sent a picture of him SMILING! Can you believe that! They somehow got him to wipe off his serious, stern face and exchanged it for the smile that I fell in love with back in high school! Mark said it was a wonderful night that they all got to laugh, share, and relax with some good company. They even shared their wonderful night (and photo) with one of the Afghan ANP (in the middle of the photo to the right of Mark).

On totally different note, I was blessed to chat (typing style) a little bit back and forth with Mark this afternoon. He is doing well and is getting excited for his upcoming leave. That seems to be something he brings up every time he writes or we are able to talk. I can certainly tell how much he is looking forward to it. In addition to that, he shared a little bit about getting to try some Afghan food. He said it was absolutely delicious and described eating some Afghan rice, some amazing bread, and some really good chicken which he thinks was some kind of rotisserie style chicken.

He also said that he got to talk with one of the Afghan interpreters for nearly an hour just on a personal level. He even shared with him one of the many brownies I sent- which the interpreter did enjoy. They each shared a bit about their family, thoughts, and work. The man has been an interpreter off and on since 2001 and originated from eastern Afghanistan. Mark said that the interpreter expressed to Mark his gratitude for him and the other soldiers being there and Mark expressed his gratitude for the interpreter's work. Mark realized that though they are from two different cultures and parts of the world, they had lots of similarities. Mark reiterated to the interpreter his belief that he thinks the majority of the world is interested in safety, peace, and a good future for their children. The interpreter certainly agreed that he shared that same interest as well.

Hearing that helped me to feel and understand how blessed and fortunate we are to live in this great country and how proud I am of Mark for trying to bring those same blessings and fortunes to the people of Afghanistan by training their police force to be able to provide public safety.

Love,

Angie

Mark's Job with the ANP

Greetings All,

I have more pictures to post to give everyone a better idea of Mark's living arrangements and a little more about Mark's new job. Though these pictures are not Marks, I am Facebook friends with a fellow 1LT (R.F.) working with him. The pictures in this entry are from R.F.'s Facebook album so first and foremost- THANK YOU R.F!

View from inside the tent- all the guys sleep on cots

Outside view of the tents

Arial view of their "home base"

Mark said he has been "loving" the new job. He does say that not having showers and not being able to talk as often sucks.... but otherwise it has been great. Temperatures in the evenings are dropping and Mark said he had to use all three layers of his sleeping system (bag). He did say that they did just get heat for their tent. Evenings are in the upper 20s and low 30s and during the day is has been in the upper 50s and low 60s.

So as I said in the last post- Mark is now working closely with the Afghan National Police (ANP). Mark is mentoring an ANP Colonel. The Colonel (and thus Mark's job) is responsible for ANP development. Together they will be coordinating training sessions including first aide, communication, etc for police in the entire Kandahar Province. Mark said he is looking forward to mentoring the Colonel. Mark also states that he can understand if the Colonel is a little hesitant to work with someone new- Mark said he will have been the 4th person to have mentored the man since their unit arrived last summer. Mark said the Colonel is in his 40's and seems to be very nice. He has been offered to a Afghan Lunch with the colonel in his office in one of the upcoming days- consisting of fish. Yeah, fish from the river.... the same river that the locals get their water from, bath from, and ultimately where all the sewage goes. I am hoping and praying he doesn't get cholera!!! Mark said he isn't really looking forward to the food part- knowing the fish will still have the head and scales on it and still look- well- like a fish! Pictures to come of that if Mark takes any- and he said he might.

Picture of ANP in formation

In other news, there was an evening that they had a BBQ. Where they got the hamburgers and hotdogs they cooked out... I'm not really sure. Mark did say he had a little 24 hour bug that set in that evening that knocked him back a bit on the 1st. Vomiting and diarrhea... hoping he used the Pedialyte I sent him that day to help keep him hydrated at least. He wrote in an e-mail that he got a bunch of extra sleep and felt much better the following day.

I talked with him a bit tonight on the webcam- first time in a while. It was definitely good to see his face. His spirits are high and he said he might have enjoyed shaving more than the shower that he got. He has been sharing often that he is looking forward to his fast approaching R&R and I know he has been counting down the days. I can't wait to have him home.

Another small update about the 3rd graders that have been writing him from Brown Deer. The class held a supply drive for the school for a week in November. The teacher just sent me a message today saying that they have collected 12 boxes of care packages and have sent them out in the mail today. What a treat for Mark and his unit he is with. I'm sure the package and the letters from the kids will be well accepted.

Love

Angie