My brother leaves tomorrow (Sunday) for Afghanistan. Please keep him and Kelly in your thoughts and prayers. I have his address if anyone wants to send him anything. An encouraging word goes a long way. He's in a group of over a hundred and has made several close friends. Send him something he can share. (Mom has sent him food from Sweet Potato Sweets. It was a big hit!) He has a computer and phone and he'll be communicating with us as much as he can. Please let him know on Facebook or email that you are thinking about him. (I have his email address too.)
Kelly is full on in nursing school. She's in the quarter system that goes year round with no breaks. (no spring break or anything). She has heavy schoolwork and class schedule. It's keeping her busy which is good, but please pray she does well without Pete as well as in school.
Also pray for Mom & Dad.....
Saturday, February 20, 2010
PR!!!
Yeah!!! I set a new PR in the 5k!!! 27:58!! I was so surprised and very excited!!! I wrote a race report on www.bonitarunningclub.com. This was the first race of the season. I hadn't run much this week. My back has been killing me lately. It's fine when I'm standing, walking, and running, surprisingly. Sitting and lying down is torture! I haven't slept well in a while. I thought it was just a pulled muscle or something. I sleep on heating pads every night. Aleve hasn't helped at all. I tried Doans' back pain relief, but that gave me a serious itchy rash. Tylonel doesn't help. Ibuprofen helps a little. (I'm going to the doctor on Thursday) Anyway, I wasn't expecting to have a good time today. I wanted to finish as close to 30 minutes as possible. My previous PR is 29:14. I set a goal for this summer to beat that. I never expected to do it on the first try! And by 1 minute and 16 seconds!!! GO ME!!!!! Tim (my fast runnin' buddy) came in second (overall). I ended up in 5th in my age group. Which was good because I'm 29, the oldest in my age category (25-29). This will change this summer! Anyway, I was ecstatic!!! Here's some pictures... Oh, and somehow I got bib number 1!
Someone named Jessie who dressed like a penguin....
Chic Fil A cows....
Amy, me & Tim, members of BRC
Someone named Jessie who dressed like a penguin....
Chic Fil A cows....
Amy, me & Tim, members of BRC
The video Wes shot this morning is a huge file and is too big to load. (85mb) Tim is editing video together from our camera and from WTOK to post on www.bonitarunningclub.com. check there in a few days... Wes got video of me finishing... I freak out when I see the clock and when I realize I beat my PR, I start to cry! :) Awesome day!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Indiana Trip Days 3-4
Tuesday, we woke up to snow. No big surprise! It hadn't snowed that much overnight. Just a couple of inches or so to cover everything (that wasn't covered) again. We went to the base around 9am.
Dad took better pictures of snow and the Camp Atterberry signs (another post). They packed up into this big hanger thing like sardines. There had to be 500 people in there. The announcer and speaker said they were surprised at how many people came because of the weather. (If you gonna drive 10 hours to get there, you're gonna go, no matter what right!?! Lots of people flew there I'm sure.) They had to delay the ceremony by 10 minutes because people were still trying to find a place to park and get inside. There was one set of bleachers on one end and chairs set up on either side of the podium. We sat on the top row of the bleachers in the far corner. (dad's got a picture of it.) It was about 20 degrees outside, after about ten minutes, I was sweating. We shed our jackets, but I kept getting hotter. There was no ventilation. I had to stand up and fan myself. It was sweltering!! Once everyone sat down and the ceremony started it got better. I recorded most of the ceremony on our little HD camera. (Posting later) Pete was sitting with us because he had a bad cold and didn't want to cough and sneeze while standing at attention. We learned about Pete's group. He is a member of PRT Paktika. PRT stands for Preventional Response Team. Paktika is a region of Afghanistan. There are a dozen or more groups (all named PRT ___) Each group has over a hundred members. Here's a few pictures.
After the ceremony, we walked to the PX while the traffic was heavy getting off base.
My pants legs and boots after traipsing through the snow... :) FUN!!!
Dad took better pictures of snow and the Camp Atterberry signs (another post). They packed up into this big hanger thing like sardines. There had to be 500 people in there. The announcer and speaker said they were surprised at how many people came because of the weather. (If you gonna drive 10 hours to get there, you're gonna go, no matter what right!?! Lots of people flew there I'm sure.) They had to delay the ceremony by 10 minutes because people were still trying to find a place to park and get inside. There was one set of bleachers on one end and chairs set up on either side of the podium. We sat on the top row of the bleachers in the far corner. (dad's got a picture of it.) It was about 20 degrees outside, after about ten minutes, I was sweating. We shed our jackets, but I kept getting hotter. There was no ventilation. I had to stand up and fan myself. It was sweltering!! Once everyone sat down and the ceremony started it got better. I recorded most of the ceremony on our little HD camera. (Posting later) Pete was sitting with us because he had a bad cold and didn't want to cough and sneeze while standing at attention. We learned about Pete's group. He is a member of PRT Paktika. PRT stands for Preventional Response Team. Paktika is a region of Afghanistan. There are a dozen or more groups (all named PRT ___) Each group has over a hundred members. Here's a few pictures.
After the ceremony, we walked to the PX while the traffic was heavy getting off base. Depth of the snow.... We were walking on the plowed road which was covered with black slush.
Outside the PX, snow piled up on the tables...
Outside the PX
Dad went into the barracks with Pete (only men were allowed.)
Us after the deployment Ceremony. Pete doesn't leave the country until Sunday.
On Wednesday, we headed home. In the post with Dad's pictures, we took a lot of pics of barns and things we saw on the way home...
Outside the PX, snow piled up on the tables...
Outside the PX
Dad went into the barracks with Pete (only men were allowed.)
After the ceremony, we left the base and headed to Best Buy so Pete could buy a computer. Then we headed to Indianapolis (30 minutes away). Pictures from downtown Indianapolis. Nice city, reminded me a lot of Atlanta. Not much too it. Really nice mall. Not that many tall buildings. It was busy though. Still snow everywhere. We passed Lucas Oil Stadium. (Basketball & Minor league hockey) While we were in the mall, we met Jacques Demeres' son. His dad coached the Red Wings, Lightning, and The St. Louis Blues. He also coached Montreal and won the Stanley Cup. He's now a Canadian Senator. Cool stuff.
Us after the deployment Ceremony. Pete doesn't leave the country until Sunday.
On Wednesday, we headed home. In the post with Dad's pictures, we took a lot of pics of barns and things we saw on the way home... Pictures from Dad's Camera
From the Indiana Welcome Center with 5 inches on the ground....
Random things we saw on the way. Dad took a lot of pictures of dilapidated and snow covered barns.
A tree outside our hotel room.
Our car on Monday morning. We parked on the side of the building so the wind was blocked. There were cars in front of the hotel with much more snow. (The shopping center we walked to is in the background.)
This is the parking lot at Walmart, before it was plowed.... 
Parking lot... The snow was really coming down hard!! 
Walking into the store....
more barns
Ice covering the sign
Pete's barracks
Pete's group (PRT Paktika)
more barns
Dinasour land (I think this was in Kentucky)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Indiana Trip..... Day 1-2 BLIZZARD!!!
This is sooo cool!!!! Driving up to Indiana was cool. We took turns... There was little snow on the ground through MS and AL. Once we got past Huntsville, it was everywhere. Then after we got into Kentucky, it started to snow again.... And it never stopped! It snowed all the way to Indiana. We stopped at the Indiana welcome center... there was about 4 inches on the ground... The lady at the welcome center said we might get stuck up here.........
In our hotel... nice and warm inside....
Meanwhile, outside... our car got covered overnight... (never stopped snowing btw)
We had all day Monday to do whatever we wanted... We couldn't do much. After breakfast at the hotel, Dad and I went trekking in the snow. I didn't have adequate shoes, so we stayed in the road. We walked to the hardware store and to Sams. Later, we drove to the outlet mall, but barely... it was pouring snow! I learned why people turn out their windshield wipers sometimes.... they'll freeze to the window and you won't be able to use them if you don't.... I didn't bring any shoes worthy of snow-trotting. We had to hunt down some. Not real easy. I was just going to get some walmart ones, but they didn't have any. Ended up getting some from the Columbia Outlet store... Nice shoes but I hardly ever wear boots and they rubbed the crap out of my ankles! (ankle-chaffing.... a first for me!) Anyway, they are worth it, because now my feet don't get cold or wet... :) We drove back to the hotel and thawed for a while, then trekked out . Here's a picture of the height of the whiteout....
Hwy 65. FUN!!! Lots of cars in the ditch! If they're abandoned, the cops put police tape around them and move on. They come back and identify the owners later if they haven't gotten them already.
hotel parking lot
me & dad walking around...
this is Walmart's parking lot (before it's plowed)
got my snow boots on!! Now I can make a mess! :)
Dad's snow angel!
walmart parking lot - after plowing...
more pictures to come... Tomorrow(Tues) morning we are going to the deployment ceremony. Then we'll take Pete off base for a while. I think we're heading to a mall north of hear, near Indianapolis. It's supposed to snow a good bit tomorrow as well, but not as much as today. (It started snowing last night around 7pm and stopped around 6pm tonight. Almost 24 hours straight. I'm pretty sure there's more than a foot and a half out there).
In our hotel... nice and warm inside.... 
Meanwhile, outside... our car got covered overnight... (never stopped snowing btw)
We had all day Monday to do whatever we wanted... We couldn't do much. After breakfast at the hotel, Dad and I went trekking in the snow. I didn't have adequate shoes, so we stayed in the road. We walked to the hardware store and to Sams. Later, we drove to the outlet mall, but barely... it was pouring snow! I learned why people turn out their windshield wipers sometimes.... they'll freeze to the window and you won't be able to use them if you don't.... I didn't bring any shoes worthy of snow-trotting. We had to hunt down some. Not real easy. I was just going to get some walmart ones, but they didn't have any. Ended up getting some from the Columbia Outlet store... Nice shoes but I hardly ever wear boots and they rubbed the crap out of my ankles! (ankle-chaffing.... a first for me!) Anyway, they are worth it, because now my feet don't get cold or wet... :) We drove back to the hotel and thawed for a while, then trekked out . Here's a picture of the height of the whiteout....
Hwy 65. FUN!!! Lots of cars in the ditch! If they're abandoned, the cops put police tape around them and move on. They come back and identify the owners later if they haven't gotten them already.
hotel parking lot
me & dad walking around...
this is Walmart's parking lot (before it's plowed)
got my snow boots on!! Now I can make a mess! :)
Dad's snow angel! 
walmart parking lot - after plowing... 
more pictures to come... Tomorrow(Tues) morning we are going to the deployment ceremony. Then we'll take Pete off base for a while. I think we're heading to a mall north of hear, near Indianapolis. It's supposed to snow a good bit tomorrow as well, but not as much as today. (It started snowing last night around 7pm and stopped around 6pm tonight. Almost 24 hours straight. I'm pretty sure there's more than a foot and a half out there).
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