An end in sight!

So, it's been officially announced that sometime in mid-August I'll be returning home. That means I officially have less than two months left in Iraq. I'm glad it's finally coming to an end. The deployment hasn't been as day in and day out dangerous as previous ones, but it's still choppy out there. Lastly, it's obviously terrible missing home. After this deployment, I never again will have to miss countless major events in my life! 

We're about to celebrate 4th of July here. Last 4th of July was spent in the heat of Louisiana at the Joint Readiness Training Center getting ready for this deployment. One year later, here I am.  However, at least I know that I'm close to the end and not just in the preliminary stages.

What else.... Planning some weekend trips, BBQs, and such for when I get home. I'm certainly looking forward to going to the Gorge and seeing Dave Matthews Band with Shayna. Anyways, time moves slowly when you have so much to look forward to in life!

Justin's in Iraq - Again!

Hi Everyone,

First off, I think this is a great way to keep up with everyone that I don't necessarily have email addresses for. So, I'll try and update this a lot. Facebook isn't a great mechanism for lengthy life summaries, so let's give this blog a try!

Today was the Army's 235th Birthday, which I celebrated by drinking 2 Budweisers. Normally, U.S. troops are absolutely not allowed to drink, however this year and I think last year, U.S. troops in Iraq were allowed to drink on the Superbowl (2 beers - highly controlled), this year I was on R&R in America though. It was a good treat for me and my troops.

One of the biggest challenges in Iraq is the heat obviously. There are very few ways to avoid it in the summer. However, one proven way is the A/C unit. My A/C unit was recently replaced, which I think has my room down to a frigid 68 degrees. After a long day, that feels awesome. Another funny thing is that the heat is so tremendous that there's no need to even turn on the heat in the shower, even the cold water is really hot (courtesy of the water tanks being exposed to the sun).

I spend most of my free time during the day either reading at my desk, writing Shayna, exercising, or watching a TV show before bed. Right now though, the World Cup is showing on the Armed Forces Network. Which means my evenings are spent watching soccer when the time is available. Some days though there is very little free time. In my experience in my previous two deployments, there are busy days and there are slow days but most days are slow days. And, you know what? That's a good thing. A slow boring deployment is a good thing.

Two days ago (on Sunday), I had a Company Commander's Symposium with the Brigade Commander, Division Commander, and some other random folks. It was a pretty cool event because it brought together in one room every Company Commander in my Brigade (about 30-35 of us) to talk about things in Iraq, the Army, and the next few months. We concluded the Symposium with a good dinner, cigars on the lake adjacent to the Al Faw Palace, and watched some other Captain wiff a golf club into the lake. The latter actually was probably the most memorable portion of the symposium.

Overall, things are slowly slowing down here. The one thing that I wish would hurry up is when I get home. I can't wait to make up for lost time with Shayna and the rest of my family and friends in America!
   -Justin

Jumping on the bandwagon...

Welcome to our blog! Lately it seems like just about everyone has been writing blogs, and I love reading them. With Justin gone, and so many changes going on in our lives, we thought a blog would be a great way to keep friends and family updated. (Okay, "we thought" is a little bit of a stretch. I thought it would be great, and Justin is amazing and goes along with all my ideas like a champ!)

If you're reading this, chances are you know all about our lives up to now, but for the few who don't, here's a quick synopsis:

Justin and I met in early 2009. We hit it off immediately...I actually came home after our first date, called my mom, and told her that I was done--Justin was the one for me. From that moment until the day he deployed, we spent every day together getting to know each other more and more, and just enjoying life. Then last July Justin and I took a trip up to Victoria. While driving around our first day there, Justin decided he wanted to go to Butchart Gardens. It's a gorgeous place with 7 different "styles" of gardens inside. We were almost through the entire place, and with no more gardens to turn to, I turned around and saw Justin down on both knees, his hands on my hips, and he asked me to marry him. Without question, it has been the best day of my life, thus far. Here's a photo from a few seconds after I said yes:
Since then it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Justin is a Captain in the Army, as most of you know, and deployed as a Battery Commander to Iraq on September 12th of last year. Such a tough day.
I have to say, I don't know how couples and loved ones coped as well with war without the computer technology we have now. I have been lucky enough to be able to skype Justin almost every day since he's been gone. It's so surreal seeing his face and realizing he's away in a war zone. It's been incredibly tough with him gone, but we did have an amazing time when he came home for two weeks at the end of January. We took a trip to NY to see our jdate billboard (see the www.justinandshayna.com wedding site if you haven't heard about that), meet more of Justin's relatives, and spend a lot of quality time with each other.

Since Justin first deployed back in September, there have been a lot of changes:

• I started a new job as a clinic manager at a private Speech and Language therapy clinic
• My high school volleyball season has come and gone and is starting up again in a couple weeks
• Justin has had his battery go from three different bases in Iraq to finally settling at Liberty
  
• We both turned a year older...although Justin is the only one looking 30 in the eye next year!
• Ben and Eva had a beautiful baby girl, Rachel. I know Justin's very excited about being an uncle
• One of Justin's best friends, Mike and his wife, Kim, also welcomed a baby girl, Lauren
• I moved us from the condo into a house in Tacoma...I of course got Justin's skype approval of the place first.
• His redeployment date has changed about a billion times
• Perhaps the biggest change is that Justin has decided to get out of the Army next year. He's been doing nothing but Army since he started at West Point, so while this is probably a big shock to most, it's a decision he's made and I love and support him. I may be a little biased, but I think Justin will be amazing no matter what he does in life.

Also...wedding, wedding, wedding. We are getting married October 24, 2010 in Seattle, WA. I've been quite the proactive bride-to-be, or have at least attempted to do so. As a result, pretty much everything is planned for it already. We will have a Jewish Military wedding, in a very funky area of Seattle called Capitol Hill. I can't wait! Justin has been great about letting me pretty much make all the decisions and been there when I have needed his help. (But hey, let' be real, what's he going to do, shake his finger at me on skype if he disagrees with something?!) I kid, I kid. It's been a joint effort--he's been there in spirit. :)

Of course, I'm forgetting a ton of things...as you can see it has gone up and down and all over the place. We are looking around August for Justin to come home, and it can't come soon enough! He's my best friend, the love of my life, and nothing is the same without him here. I have to say, I am beyond proud of him, and admire everything he does. Justin is an amazing Officer who is on his third deployment and truly fantastic at his job. I can't imagine doing what he does every day, and I am continuously impressed by him.

Here is Justin on the left, with another Battery Commander, Tom, and our friend Jay:

Justin will be writing his update soon, so keep your eyes peeled!