Army: First Blog From Afghanistan

So here it is, my first blog from Afghanistan, now that I have internet in my room.

I don't have much for you all, mostly because this whole past week and a half has been a blur.  I've been in Afghanistan for about a week now and most of my time has just been spent learning my new job and getting to know those who work around me.  I actually have an NCO who works specifically for me now.  The work has been easy because the outgoing unit is still here so there are two people working every job.  But that also makes our work space very crowded and there isn't really enough room for everyone at once.   But it is fine, because once the unit we are replacing leaves, things will get much more difficult.

I also have plenty of amenities.  There is a pizza hut, burger king, and I think popeyes right next to where I live.  The board walk has lots of electronics and food (there is even a TGI Fridays), but I am avoiding spending money on junk for now.  Soldiers spend there paychecks on a lot of crap around here.  And everyone has old school prepaid cell phones.  Unfortunately, they don't have many girly product options, like soaps, lotions, chap stick, body spray, make up removing clothes, etc, so feel free to send that sort of stuff if you would like.  

Yes, everyone has cell phones here. Even me!

Aside from that, everyone talks about deployment goals.  People say that during deployments, they want to get buff or learn a language, or something along those lines, so here are my goals:

Spiritual: I want to get in the habit of praying every day, and not just for my food. I am not usually good about praying and I know that it is probably the best way to love people.  To just sit down and pray for the people I can't always talk to whenever I want, and rely on God to take care of them and me.  To do this, I have actually started a prayer journal so I can keep track of my prayers and after the deployment is over, I can see which ones God has answered.

Mental: I want to complete my real estate courses online.  This should be a pretty easy goal.  I haven't gotten any farther into it since I left, but that was because I didn't have internet.  I am hoping to get my next lesson done this weekend.

Emotional: I want to learn to be a better wife to my husband.  The most honest thing I can say about this time is that we are likely going to grow apart.  That's just how it is.  It's like going from being married and sharing every aspect of your life with someone, to something less than dating, where we can talk for short periods of time almost daily, but can't even be in the same room together.  This will be emotionally taxing.  While I was at NTC, I felt terrible because I felt like I was single, not like a wife.  (Not for any other reason than I didn't get to talk to my husband much and I felt like I wasn't really able to share my life with him).  So, I want to have realistic expectations, but I also want to find new and more creative ways to be a good, loving, respectful wife to my husband while I am far away from him.

Physical: So don't laugh, but I want to get a six-pack this deployment.  Mostly, I just want to tone my muscles, but my measure of success is a six-pack.  I already have a pretty flat tummy, so I figure it's not that far off.  Plus I have always had good core strength.  But we will see!

That's all I have got for now.  I am hoping to keep you all updated on my goals as I continue through this deployment!


Also, I think I am going to cut my hair.  It seems like the perfect time!