Coming Home

Last entry from Iraq

I have been lookin back at all of my blogs that i have put on here and i can not believe that it has been a year. Like i have said before, it has but it hasnt seemed like a year. A lot has happened through out the year and so very much has changed. Most things has changed for the better, a lot of us younger soldiers have grown up, and i think all of us, family included, have all grown in a different direction from this deployment. Some relationships have failed while others have only grown stronger. God blessed my life and i have stronger bonds with those who went through this deployment with me. I just wanna say again thanks to yall for being with me, mom and dad, thanks for believing in me and praying every day for me. I know three years ago yall thought this wasnt the right decision that i made, but i dont hold that against ya, just your protective instincts. But, God has made me a better man and in turn brought our whole family closer together. He does work in crazy ways. Thanks to my brothers for believing in me and helping me out when the time was needed.
Erika, what can i say, one thing i do know is that God has a plan for us and we are following it. Through out this whole thing i have learned a few things. There is no way in hell that i would want to trade places with you. I would rather be deployed to a combat zone than do what you do every day without me. For you who are reading this imagine what life would be like if your other half wasnt around every day for a year but you kept living your life everyday doing the same thing, going home everyday, waking up in your bed, but you dont have your husband or wife there. just think what you would be feeling. i know most of us have been apart for a few weeks, but not a whole year. Erika, you are the strongest, the most courageous person i know. I love you with all of my heart and then some. Just a few more weeks and you can finally let down the strong front you have been putting on and we can finally go back to being us, together again.
Thanks again to everyone who has been with me and thanks to God for blessing me, keepin us all safe, and for the friends and family that i have.
From Iraq, this is my final blog, I love you all and so damn glad to be seein yall soon
justin

a few more weeks

i cant believe that we are under a month left on this deployment. it has been a quick but very long year. it is a bit odd to say that there are only weeks left and not months, but i kinda enjoy saying weeks. i am thinkin that i should be back in oregon around the middle of april and back to enjoying a normal life away from the army. though i am sure i will not be able to escape all that the army engraved in me through this past year but just hope that all will be well when i get home. if i dont get to say thanks to all that has prayed and encouraged myself, erika, and my family through this whole ordeal, i say thanks and may God bless you all. it will be nice to see all of your faces soon.

back from leave

oh, i much i miss being in hawaii with erika. wich one do i miss more........i guess i better say erika. two weeks in hawaii with erika was a much needed break from all that we both have been through that past year. we didnt even miss a beat, i guess that is what happens when you are trully ment to be with someone, you can be away for so long and when you are back together is almost seems like you have never left. this picture is taken in wainaie, i dont know how to spell it. we traveled the whole island and ate the plate lunches off the road. then we spent a week in downtown waikiki, and alot of relaxin on the beach, playin crib and throwin back a few drinks. all i can say is that i enjoyed every minute of it and being with erika, well i dont know how to put it in words. Then i had to get back on the plane and fly 30hrs back here to the dessert. it took about a week to get used to being back, everything and anything reminded me of the previous two weeks. now we have a little under two months and i will finally be back in hood river. i cant wait till that day comes.

Could this be Iraq?

Hello all,
i pray that the new year has been good to yall. I know it will be for me, we have about three months to go then i will be back in the states on American soil. This picture was taken yesterday morning and when i see sights like this one, sun rise, sunset, or just through out the day, it is hard to believe that a place where bad stuff happens everyday that it could be so beautiful. It is times like these that i know that God has truly blessed my life being here and i know that he is around. If you didnt know i was in iraq, you would pry never guess that this picture came from this place.

Happy New Year

just wanted to tell everyone Happy New Year. hope everyone had a great time and got plenty to drink and is not hung over too bad this mornin. congrats to brian and danielle(hope i spelled that right) on gettin married. We sure sent out last year in a bang, littereally. we had six mortars launched into the VBC. not to sure of the extent of the damage. so hope everyone will have a good year in 2010 and i know i will because i will be at home at the end of this year and kick 2011 off with erika, sorry i wasnt there babe for it and our anniversery(7), plus all the holidays, but there will be next year.
love you all and take care

Merry Christmas

just wanted to wish everyone a merry christmas hope yall have a good one and santa brings all that you desire. most of all, enjoy each other and appreciate all that god has given all of us. so from half way across the world, you all are in my prayers and i love you all and merry christmas

December is half way gone

december is half way gone and we are almost into the new year. in all of my previous years i never would have thought that i would bring in the new year in a different country and never would have thought that country would be iraq. but we all embrace the idea and it will be something to talk about many years down the road. i feel bless in alot of ways, being here at the JVB has led me to meet some pretty cool people. this past month has been pretty exciting month. the hooter girls were here, they were nice to look at, real nice to look at, but once they opened their mouths all i wanted to do was to tell them to shut up. they were pretty anoying and that is an under statement. next we had arron tippin arrive here, though he didnt stay with us he stopped by and we got some photos with him and he had a concert which was enjoyable. that guy was pretty cool, down to earth and you could tell that his sole mission here was to be with the soilders. if yall didnt know he was an elite soilder back in his day so he new what we all are goin through. then i got to cook dinner for the WWE wrestlers and that was un-real. seein these guys on tv for most of my life then haven them right in front of me was exciting. i made them some fried rice with chicken and vegies with buddha belly's and they ate it up. vince was here and so was john cena to name a few and i got pictures with them both and they were pretty low key guys and vince seems to not like vegies, he didnt eat a single one. then kid rock came to town and put on an awsome show. i always wanted to go and see him in concert and i got to go for free and to see him here in iraq was amazing. he put on a pretty kick ass show and alot amercan patriot songs. then last weekend we had a cook off with the navy for the "army vs. navy" and i heard that the navy had the best cooks in all of the military, but that was the case till they came head to head with the guys from the oregon national guard. we wooped up on those guys, all three judges voted for our plates. so to beat the navy in a cook off has to be the highlight so far of this deployment.
every day that goes by here means that i am one day closer to gettin back to my life with erika and family and freinds. i can not wait till that day comes. though being away from loved ones for so long this in ways had tightened bonds with ones that i though couldnt be tighter and has grown my faith in God in ways i thought not possible.
i am not too sure how many people still follow my blog, i know i dont write too much too often, but for those who still do, thanks for all the support and prayers you throw our way over here and thank you

facebook link

hey yall,

click on my facebook inbox link below and a video should pop up then click on it to watch it. just a little something that sfc humphrey put together of our time from georgia to now, hope yall enjoy it.

not to much goin on here, meetin some pretty cool people, i will put a picture on here to show ya who i met. never would have thunked that i would have met the governator.

besides that, just the same ol day, finally gettin into a workout routine and my leg is excellent. no problems what so ever. i ran a 7k obsticle course a couple of weeks ago, i finished it in 52 minutes so that was a good metal boost for me and also to see what my leg could take. if you go to http://www.xdogevents.com/ and click on the scramble in the sand it will take you to some pictures and i am in one of them, look kinda goofy though, but when dont i huh. you can also watch a special that is goin to be play on GAC around dec. 9-11, dont know the exact times so check your local times for broadcast, and i should be on there.

hope all is well with everyone and nov. is flyin by so that is awsome, it is always one day down and one day closer to gettin outa here, it will be nice to step foot on american soil. and also leave is comin up in a couple of months and it is very much needed.

God bless you all

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5 MONTHS TO GO!!!

well, it is november and this marks the half way point of our deployment here in iraq. though i have gone pretty much since last april. lets see that is ..................seven months ago. i am ready to get away from this place. last month marked the first full month that i have been on duty here in iraq, due to the unfortunate events of my leg. every thing is gettin kinda old. we do the same stuff day in and day out, this is one of the reasons i got outa cookin in the first place. i do miss the quiet time at home and actually sittin on the tractor with my own thoughts. the high stress of workin in a kitchen enviroment and being a person in charge is started to take its toll. we had a pretty big party here and we had alot of cookin to do. though i like the high stress enviroment from time to time and the challenge of gettin everything right is taken head on, i would like quiet time and the comforts of home and my wife erika. the little things in life is what i miss, i encourage everyone readin this to take the time and reflect on all those things that you might take for granit and enjoy them and charish them, those are things that we soilders do miss and cant wait to get back too.
on a more exiting note, it is november and it is always one day closer to leave and also HOME. i can not believe that i am goin to be thirty this month and it marks erika and mine seventh aniversery(i think erika, let me know if i am wrong). it will also mark the tenth year that erika and i have been together and man has it flown and i cant believe that she has put up with my shit for that long. last week craig morgan and chris young were here on a GAC and stars for stripes concert and it was awsome to go to. it was bout and hour or so long and it was an hour to hear music that took you back home where we all were used to hearin the songs played while drivin in our rigs or bein with the ones we love. it was a great stress reliever and much needed. the day after the concert we took the GAC film crew around the JVB and our chews plus we got interviewed and so myself and my buddy garibay will pry be on tv. i think it is goin to air on dec. 9 or 10 around six. so "check you local station for time and brodcast." i will post some pictures from the concert here sometime. well......duty calls and i hafta go and get to work, i am makin shrimp w/noodles and vegies with a form of buddhabellys. i hope all is well with everyone, continue prayin for us all over here and also for the guth family as they are dealin with their loss. love you all and take care

takin a shower in the nude!!!

love the title dont you? i finally get to take a shower with out haven a bag over my leg. yes, it is the small stuff that get soilders through their boring day sometimes. we dont get much here, so the little things mean the most. i am also off of my anti-biotics so we will see if the infection will come back, lets all pray that it dosent. the last time i stopped takin my pills it took about ten days for the infection to come back so we will see what happens. i also got to go on my first walk/jog today for the fist time in about two months, so it was really nice. besides all of that not too much going on here, just livin, cookin, poopin, and sleepin. it all goes somewhat in the order. hope all is well with everyone and will write again soon

a new blog

hello again from iraq,
today started out a great day, first off the chicago bears got their first win of the season and it was against the super bowl champions. that goes to show that last weeks lost again the packers was a fluke. and speakin of that crappy team, who did they lose to, the bungles. that's right dad, your team lost to the bungles and next they will lose to the lions. better luck next year.
the other main reason why i am writing, erika just informed that she is starting a new blog. it will be about the both of us, what is going on in our lives and this blog will continue long after i get home and be with the one i am sapposed to be with. i encourage you all to check it out, she just started it yesterday so we need some followers for the blog. the sit is www.moorebrook.blogspot.com so check it out, and dad you can stop crying now that your team lost.

let it rain

so tonight we had water fall out of the sky. and then the night sky lit up, but it wasnt from getting mortar attack it was lightning. thunder and lightning in the desert with alot of rain. it was nice to feel the rain fall on your face. i had to stand out there for a couple of minutes just to get wet and enjoy the rain. felt just like a bit like home.
the leg is doing pretty good, still there and still working. not too much exciting going on here just the rain tonight. i finially got my tv working in my room so i get to yell at it tomarrow night when the bears play. it will be nice watching the bears again.
better get to bed now it is getting late, till next time

back from the hospital AGAIN

hey all
thanks for your all your prayers, i do appreciate them. well, so what ended up happening was that an infection set in where my absest was. they were thinkin that maybe they didnt get all of it when they went in the first time, but they are not too sure. then during my stay there, the infection was going down pretty fast the first couple of days then it stopped. then i started getting another absest. this one was a superficial so it was right under the skin, so they did a local anestetic and cut my leg open. it was only about an inch to two. they got all the crap out and the next day i didnt have any more redness or swelling, so that's what was keeping the infection goin. so now i am finally back at my houch, a week later. i will be on anit-biotics until my cut heals up. that will pry take about two weeks or so, then we will see what happens. so it is so nice being back from the hospital, even though the staff there are great. i am pretty much like family with them now since i am down there so much. so pray that this dosnet return so that i can start gettin my leg back in shape. i just wanted to say thanks again for all of your prayers and support, they do mean alot to me and thank you so much to my beautiful wife for keeping everyone updated on my progress, i love you erika, will talk to you all later

Blog malfunction

Also, a quick FYI - for those of you trying to post a comment and are having difficulties, hit "post comment" one more time after you get an error message. I'm looking into it, not sure why it's doing that, but the comment will post the second time.

Update on Justin

For those of you trying to reach Justin, it may be a few days for he is back in the hospital on base. Justin was experiencing sharp pains similar to the initial onset of MRSA, so he went back in to have it looked over. He had a swollen bump at the top of his scar which turned out to be infected slightly, so the doctors drained it and put him on antibiotics. They also sliced a two inch gap to allow it to heal properly. Justin is in good spirits, considering, and I hope to hear from him in a couple days. I'll keep you all updated if Justin is unable to get to his computer. Respectfully submitted, Erika.

a total let down

well, about almost two weeks ago i was off my crutches. last monday i got my stitches taken out. thursday i was sapposed to go to physical therapy and they were going to take me to the gym and show me my new workout rutine to help strengthen my leg. notice how i said "were". well i wokd up thursday mornin with more pain than usual and a bump on my leg, right where the absest was. so i went to my doc and he thought it could be scar tissue but to be safe he sent me to the ER, where i had my surgery done, to go get looked at by my other doctor. he saw it and messed with it, which which hurt like a sum bitch, and he also thought it could be scar tissue. so they did blood work, took xrays, and a cat scan and all came back negative. everything was were it was spose to be. well, these past few days, pain has increased, bump is a bit bigger, not by much though, and it hurts like hell to walk again. today i decided that i should go back to the doc and ask for crutches. he also put my on some meds just incase if it is an infection. so ya, almost back to square one again. laid up in bed, elavating my leg and using crutches. it was a total moral buster to go from thinkin a full recovery was in the near future and now CRUTCHES
totally sucks. but oh well what can you do huh. i hope all is well with everyone reading this, i thank god for havin you all in my life everynight
love you all and take care

dinners

here are a couple of plates that we have put out. the salmon is my famous pistachio salmon that everyone loves. the guests that i cooked this for loves it. then the other one is a pork loin with vegetable melody, garlic mash potatos and a apple sauce. i will put more dishes up here as soon as my leg lets me back in the kitchen to cook

add another scar to the body

here is my new scar. well it hasnt healed completly yet, but it will get there. things are gettin better, the infection is pretty much gone, i am almost off of the anti-biotics and i am goin to physical therapy. right now the therapy consists of me stretchin my leg out. it does get painful at times, my knee is what is bother me right now, but oh well just as long as i get back to normal.

i heard today that they weighed the absest that they took out of my leg and it was six ounces. i guess that is pretty damn big. so i just wanted to show everybody me new scar, i hope all is well and thank you all for your prayers