New Approach...

Dear Friends,

I've realized recently that a picture can speak a thousand words...so with that said I am going to try to post more pics and videos. This week you'll get to meet some of my friends out here in Washington. This Friday we had a Christmas in July party at my buddies Wes' and Charlie's house (they live 3 houses down the street from me). It was complete with a white elephant gift exchange and a game of "4 to a Couch" (way too complicated to explain in writing). Anyway, this is the guys and I celebrating our victory after the game.

Below are pictures of two of my roommates who are deployed. The first, Isaac, is a helicopter pilot and the second, Eric, is Special Forces. You can pray for both of their safeties.

In other news, my commander is telling me that they are going to make me the new Mortar Platoon Leader. That is, for the most part, good news since it means I'll be a PL right away. Also, the weather has been beautiful this week. Those in Georgia should be extremely jealous.

I Love Washington

Dear Friends,

I arrived back home in Washington yesterday, and I was greeted by temps in the 70's and a sun-filled sky. Although these perfect weather days are short lived here, they are some of the best I've ever known. The roommates are all doing well. Saturday night we went to a fair in Olympia (a town South of Ft. Lewis) where I almost lost my lunch on the infamous "Zipper" (just imagine a ferris wheel where the seats flip upside down). It was great just to be around these guys again. The ministry I'm a part of here at Ft. Lewis is also still growing rapidly. There is a huge need for these soldiers to hear about Jesus. I know God is going to be challenging and using me here in the coming months, and I am excited to be back here for that specific purpose. My "Army" job, however, is still not too rewarding. My unit is still on vacation for the most part since they only recently got back from Iraq. I'll keep everyone posted on when that area of life picks up. That's about it I think...did I mention that I love Washington?

First Weekend In GA...

Dear Friends,

My plans for Florida this weekend were foiled by nature. It turns out that thunder storms were threatening our Southeastern coast this entire weekend. I didn't feel like driving 4.5 hours to the beach if it wasn't going to be sunny. As a result I am spending my first weekend in GA despite being down here already for over a month. It's giving me some time to hang out with the other LT's down here from 2ID outside of class which is a good thing considering that I'll be working with most of them for the next 3 years. Speaking of class, tests are becoming considerably easier now that we are learning to use the newest computer systems for computing firing data for mortars. The newest systems are literally just beefed up palm pilots with touch screens and Windows software. I can come up with information in about 30 seconds where as it used to take me about 2-3 minutes to do the same thing by hand (with no where near the accuracy).

Anyway, I won't bore you with anymore talk about mortars. I'll be mortar-qualified in less than a week, and then I finally go home to Washington. That's the bottom-line!

4th of July...

Dear Friends,

I was able to spend the 4th of July weekend with friends and family in Chicago. All my friends from high school (minus 1) were there which has been a rare occurrence in the past few years. Now, however, I am back in Georgia for 2 more weeks of Mortar Leader's Course. We're dealing almost completely with hand held computers which do all the work we had previously learned to do by hand. To say the least, it is much easier. All you do is plug in the data, and then you get the answer. It makes me appreciate technology.

I'm hoping to make it to Florida this weekend and soak up some sun at the beach. We'll see if that actually goes through because I'm already visiting Atlanta on Friday. Anyway, I'm pumped to return to Washington soon so that I can enjoy that beautiful West Coast summer! This Georgia weather is ridiculous...humidity is so high that you sweat if you just stand outside. Laters!