http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Pilgrim/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Pilgrim en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:23:42 +0000 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:23:42 +0000 Lot's has happened since my last blog. Eli is doing great. He is almost 6 months old now and steadily catching up with all the other pudgy babies. He was he most troublesome baby in the womb but I think he got all his mischievousness out while he was in if you know what I mean. He is the sweetest most agreeable baby now. Of course I know that as I write this I am probably jinxing myself b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-319386.html March In Like a Lion Out Like a LambI first heard this expression in grade school used to describe the transition of weather from winter to spring that occurs in March but more than anything else this year this expression accurately describes our month of March.In Like a LionThe lion got a head start during the last few days of February. Laura had actually been feeling much better. This gave http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-261364.html Jan 2 2008 The Girls Move in TogetherWe moved the girls into the same room on New Year's Eve with no intention of staying up late ourselves. We've been battling a cold for the last week. As it turned out we rang in the New Year trying to get the girls to stop waking each other up. Selah the little one would wake up and cry because she was in a new room. Then Jaeden would wake up and cr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-232306.html The Hot Baths in Budapest are the best. 8 full body massages. You can't beat that. We went two days in a row. My other vibrant memory from Hungary happened when we were out at a club dancing. They played older music and everyone sang along while they danced. The knew the words even if they didn't know what they meant. I'm telling you you just haven't lived until you heard a room full of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-244377.html ComplicationsLaura has been having some complications with the pregnancy over the last few weeks. It started with a migraine that lasted more than two weeks. It was probably stress related which makes sense. I was supposed to be going back to Iraq for a few weeks to testify in a murder trial. Thankfully I was excused by the judge. While the migraine was in full swing she got an infection t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-244372.html This is a response I wrote to a middle school student who wrote me as part of a school project. Her project was to write a letter to a person whom she felt was an example of a good citizen. In her letter she asked me to give her my definition of citizenship. After I wrote this I realized that I should have just pointed her to Teddy Roosevelt's speech Citizenship in a Republic which is much m http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-215716.html Okay I'm sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. I'm back in Alaska now with my family. I got back on November 30 but before I get into all that let me catch you up briefly on October and NovemberOctober ltYawngtNothing happened in October. The new Concerned Citizen Program which was started a few months ago seems to be working very well. We are paying Iraqis includi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-230946.html Don't Go To Florence on a Monday Everything was closed on a Monday. Who would have guessed. Well the only thing I really wanted to see in Florence was Michelangelo's David and the Medici Chapel. The Chapel was open but David was not and since we stayed an extra day in Rome we had to cut down our stay in Florence. Oh well I'll see David some other time. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-207878.html I know it's not time for a new blog entry yet but I really felt led to write this one. I promise no bad news. In fact there's no real news in this blog just some thoughts that I wanted to share with you. Also bear with me for a moment. I am sure yoursquove probably heard the following story from 1 Samuel 17 a million times but Irsquove added my own little twist to prove a point4 A http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-208844.html Down TimeWersquove had a couple of long missions this month were we had to wait around at another FOB for several days. Those missions arenrsquot hard. I actually enjoy them because they give me plenty of time to read. I got some good pictures of us living out of the trucks like gypsies.Happy 30th Birthday to MeSeptember 10th my birthday came and went like any other day here. Nothing s http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-202101.html The Italian Soccer ChampionshipI've never lived in a city that won a major sports championship like the Super Bowl or World Series but I've seen the celebrations on TV. Usually a there are huge almost riotous celebrations in the streets all night long. The next day the city sends people out to clean up and it's all over. Well two full weeks before we arrived in Rome the Rome soccer team http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-207866.html What Day is TodayOk I have no excuse for the huge gap between this post and my last. We have been busy true but not so busy that I couldnrsquot keep you all informed. Probably the biggest thing that has kept me from writing is the monotonous nature of this war. Everyday is just like the last. There are no weekends here. No holidays. Everyday is the same. I have a really bad habit of missing http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/blog-148524.html One Saved Three BaptizedA couple of weeks ago a good friend and Christian brother Hugo came up to tell me some good news. He had a twelve hour guard shift with another soldier named Justin. Justin was blatantly searching for the faith that he had lost several years earlier. Hugo has was with me in scouts and sat in on many of the bible studies that I led while there. He told me that he http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-204154.html Back With a BangWell I made it back to FOB Iskan after cooling my heels for a few days at DFW and Camp Ali Al Salem Kuwait. I sat out for a couple missions and then got right back into it and helped capture some bad guys on my first mission back. We raided a bunch of houses and the funnest part of that mission was that I got to breech several doors and a car window with my shotgun. By bree http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-192464.html Server CrashSorry republishing this old blog and bothering you all with another email. Travelblog's server crashed and the lost many blog entries. I had to recover the blog and republish it for it to get back on the server.BIAP and the Parable of the Vineyard WorkersJune opened up in tent city at BIAP Baghdad International AirPort. Our unit had been having trouble getting guys out for leave o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Anchorage/blog-172356.html Laura's Pregnant Whoo Hoo Oh and by the way I'm in Kuwait on my way back to FOB Iskan.Brief Recap of JulyI spent most of the month on convalescent leave. Normally I would have gotten 14 day of con leave but since I spent a good chunk or my RR going to doctor visits they gave me 30 days off. They wouldn't have had anything that I could do on Rear D anyway. Physical therapy took up a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Kuwait/blog-187089.html Sorry I'm a little late posting this. I'll post the blog for June in a couple days as soon as I get it written so stay tuned. There's some big news in that one. RR Leave Rapidly Approaching I was scheduled to go on RR in May but I gave up my slot to another soldier who really needed to go home in May. My new leave slot is 15 days during the the first few weeks of June. This more than anythi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-172700.html Bad News I know I promised you big news in this blog. Well I wonrsquot disappoint but I wish I could. I had no idea how much news I would have to give in this blog and how bad it would all be. rdquoMedicrdquo I walked into the gym the day before yesterday and saw a friend of mine a medic on one of the cardio machines. I nodded and said hello to him but that was all. I didnrsquot wa http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-154345.html A buddy of mine recently sent me this question. Hey Tony I was wondering if there was any particular items you recommend getting for deployment. I thought perhaps there are some useful things i'll need that aren't necessarily general knowledge. Thanks I started writing a response to this and it got to be so long that I got to thinking. I'm sure there are a ton of guys out there that have sim http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-152458.html March was an interesting month. The first significant thing that happened was that I hurt my knee doing PT Physical Training. It didnrsquot seem too bad so I finished my workout. Bad idea I was at sick call the next morning. Doc told me to rest it and stay away from lower body PT. My squad leader sent me back to sick call a few days later and doc put me on a 10 day ldquolight dutyrdquo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/blog-148958.html