Home for Christmas!

Well, this year is one of the first years that I have ever really felt like I was going "Home for Christmas"! It is kind of wierd too, because we don't really even have a home this year. I get to go back to Pahrump to spend Christmas with Brenda, Emily, Mom, Dad, Caleb, Lauri, Nanny and then a day or two with Justin and Katie. I am very excited. I may have previously mentioned that I have only spent 3 days (not even nights, just days) with any family in the last 3 months. This will be a wonderful time for me. I can't wait to get there!


I am currently sitting in the Pensacola airport and while spending many hours in an airport isn't usually very high on my list of things I like to do, today, it is quite pleasant. I actually left on an earlier bus than I needed to in the hope that the airport would have free wi-fi and it paid off! I have been sitting here for 3 hours researching some exciting topics, video chatting with the family, downloading stuff and just enjoying the internet. Now, I decided that since I have a little longer before they start boarding my flight, I would post a pre-Christmas blog real quick!


Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post at this time. I should have some after Christmas and hopefully I will get the chance to post again shortly after Christmas. We will be living down here then and should have internet at the apartment very soon after moving in. I am sure you will all be waiting on literal pins and needles to see my pictures, but, until then, you will just have to wait!

I survived Boot Camp!

It is true! After 53 days of misery, I finished boot camp and was allowed to see my beautiful wife and daughter for a few wonderful days. (My parents were there too, but I couldn't figure out how to incorporate them into the "beautiful" statement.) My boot camp was only 53 days, I believe it is usually 60 days, but God blessed me there by getting me into what they call a "PUSH" division. Basically, they only do graduations at specific times and they try to have full graduations each time. (This is all what I gathered from the small amount of information that I heard, it may not be 100% accuarate) We were fortunate enough to be put into an earlier graduation group than some of the other divisions that arrived at the same time and therefore, they "pushed" us harder to prepare us in time. I was thankful for this, because the hardest thing about boot camp for me was being separated from Brenda and Emily for so long. I was allowed a total of only 3 phone calls during this time and one of them was the night before graduation. The first one, Brenda had jury duty so I didn't get to talk to her. That leaves only 1 time in 53 days that I was able to speak to my wife! That was extremely hard on me!

Things are much better now. After arriving in Pensacola, I was told I was allowed to have my cell phone and my computer, so I had Brenda ship both of those items to me. The phone was a life saver, being able to talk to Brenda and other family members everyday keeps me happy! I am living in a barracks with about 600 other guys (3 to a room, 6 per bathroom). This is quite nice! I was in a room with 65 other guys during boot camp!


Here is a shot from out side of our barracks, you can't really tell, but all the barracks are shaped like H's. If you look up "NATTC, Pensacola, FL" on Google earth, you can get a pretty good view of the shape of the barracks and the lay of the land.

It is a pretty small room, but the beds are comfortable and we have a ceiling fan!

It is not fabulous, but far better than boot camp! I have been able to take some runs on the beach and while I don't have any breathtaking pics of the beach, I do have a few to give you an idea of where I am. I also took one of a swampy looking place that I thought was cool.







As you can hopefully gather from the tone of this post, things are looking up for us! I do ask for your continued prayers regarding getting B and E moved down here with me and regarding getting a good final duty station after school. Just to ease your minds, if you haven't already heard, we have rented an apartment here and Lord willing, B and E will be driving down with me after spending Christmas with my parents and then the 3 of us will live together down here. As I said, please keep praying! THANKS!!!