Welcomed Home...

Dear Friends,

It is good to be back...although a part of me feels as though much of my brain was left in Kuwait. I was welcomed home last Saturday by Kate and a bunch of my friends here in WA. Life right now is very "free" and easy-going, but I'm just trying to ease back into life here in the states...realizing that a year away can require a small transition period. Luckily the Army has a great system in place designed to give us exactly that...a down period after deployment designed to maximize time with family. This last week has been a lot of briefings, attempts to get settled, and plenty of time with good friends. Kate was able to go to her friend Ali's wedding in Maryland this week, and I was lucky enough to be able to go to Cushman Lake for some amazing Labor Day Weekend camping. The best part was probably jumping off a huge rock into the lake ...enjoying the cool water and the amazing scenery. It was really surreal...it was exactly what I needed...time spent out in God's creation with some brothers.

I apologize if I haven't been able to call some of you back. I've received a ton of phone calls this past week (warranted considering how long I was gone and awesome to feel loved too), but I haven't had a lot of down time yet. My hope is that these next two weeks will be a lot easier since I'm over the initial hump of getting back in the swing of things. I'll try to return all your calls soon...I look forward to catching up. Bye!