Time....

Well as of Friday my time table has changed yet again!  So this will be my last weekend with Dylan and Rose for sure.  At least I think I am sure=)  Today Rose, Dylan and I went to the Olympia Farms market.  It was a good time. It turned out that today was the Saint Martins College Dragon Boat Festival in the Olympia Harbor, so we got to watch some boat races and enjoy the beautiful plants that the farmers market had to offer=).  Yesterday was a pretty good day too, Dylan and I got to spend the whole day together and that was just the most amazing friday I have had in a very very long time.  Dylan made my day yesterday, when I was feeding him breakfast he pointed at me and said DADA, man does my boy know how to make his father teary eyed.  After that we went out and did some shopping. Dylan and I stopped at a jewelry store to see if they could help me attach the cross my father wore on his dog tags during his tour in Iraq to my dog tags.  They were very friendly and more than happy to help me. Once they got it on there I asked them how much I owed them, they told me it was there honor to help me out and told me it was free.  I was so surprised.  I dont really expect that stuff anymore seeing how we live in washington  they are a bunch of hippies up here but it really made my dad knowing people still appreciate all the things us soldiers do for this country.  So if you are from the lacey area or you are going to visit up here and you need some jewelry go check out G.L Kluh jewelers in the south sound shopping center. Yesterday I also got to make some phone calls, one to my best friend Ben which is always great to talk to and also to one of my favorite cousins Mallory who is the most out spoken person I have ever meet but she always helps me through things which is great.  Well I hope everyone had an amazing week and weekend as I had and am having.


A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier....

Danny

Roller Coaster Known As The Army....

If you know anything about the Army you know there word means nothing! Unless you have it in writing dont believe a word they tell you.  As of know my deployment date as been pushed to the right again! So i get another week with Dylan and Rose which is great but I feel like my emotions on a roller coaster.  Im ready to go and I get into that zone and they tell me nope wait your not going for another week.  So i have to get out of that zone of getting my mission done and now back to family mode.  But at the end of the day I am so happy I am able to sit here and watch Dylan play.  So I will quit my bitching and go enjoy my boy for another day=)

A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier....

Danny

Almost there....

Today my team leader ( Charlie ) and my team mate Danny left for Afghanistan,  I'm kinda pissed I am not with them today but I know Ill meet up with them in a week or so.  So they left and now we only have like 7 people left from our platoon. So you can say we are not doing much at work but at times we are.  Now let me tell you about last night.  Last night I cooked my final Italian dinner here in the United States.  I posted that on Facebook and I think people took it as I was leaving today but rest assured  Im still here in Washington.  Back to dinner, Yes I made dinner=) Rose and I had two of our neighbors and there kids over last night.  I had made a cheese platter with three different types of cheeses and a spinach dip for a pre meal appetizer.   The meals actual appetizer was bruschetta.  I made it a little different yesterday though, instead of mozzarella cheese i used extra sharp provolone and man was it delicious!! Rose preferred the old way but i told her it was good to get cultured in different things=).  The main course was Penne Alla Arrabiata.  Man was it good!! I sure am going to miss cooking not really the clean up but i will miss the cooking=).  Thats it for today going to enjoy the precious days I have left with Rose and Dylan.


A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier....
Danny

Waiting Game....

Sorry I havent been on in a couple of days nothing really exciting or note worthy is happening.  Im just spending as much time with Rose and Dylan as I can before I leave in a couple of days.  Hopefully Ill have more details for you later on this week.


A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier....

Danny

Glass Case of Emotions....

My emotions went through a roller coaster today.... I have been preparing for this deployment since 2009 when I joined the Army, and since the beginning of this year my deployment date has changed daily. Today was no different, when I got to work today my platoon sergeant decided to tell me I was going to leave on 4 flights earlier than I was suppose to. I was so happy! I know it meant i was going to leave pretty soon but the way I look at it is the sooner I leave the sooner I get home and out of the Army. Well I called Rose and told her the news she was pretty calm about it which is amazing because she is the calmest and most level headed person I have ever meet so i know she would take the news well. But go figure typical Army no more than 45 minutes later I got told I was off that flight and back on my original flight. I had to call Rose again and tell her nope I am not leaving on that flight Im back on my original flight. I know I should be use to the constant changes but to be honest I just really want to leave and get this journey started, I feel like Rose, Dylan, and I are just in a very long lingering goodbye and that is really hard. But at the same time I love all the extra time with my family.

A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier....

Danny

D-Day is drawing near....

Well today was not very exciting... went in earlier than normal because I was suppose to go through a driving course that I have now done three times! That lasted about an hour and they figured out that I did not need to do it so the platoon called me back for a lay out of our bags we are taking with us. I was a little nervous because I had a lot of stuff and I was not sure how it was all going to fit because they unit gave us a black pelican case for our lap tops and personal things as a carry on. But this weekend they decided to tell us that we could not have a carry on. If you know me you know I love photography and my camera goes with me along with my laptop so I was in the dilemma on where to put my pelican case. Luckily my buddy Danny showed me how to get it in my ruck sack by putting it inside my IoTV. Yes its funny his name is Danny too! You will probably see an read about Danny a lot seeing how he is on my team. Any who I included this picture of the lay out and then what it looked like after I packed it. Also there is a picture of Dylan trying to climb on me while I am typing this! Well Im off to go play with Dylan!

A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier.....

Danny

Before I Go....

While sitting on my couch after putting my son to bed and watching my wife put together her new sewing machine I got this idea that I should blog about my experience over in Afghanistan. Well to be completely honest it wasn't the first time I thought of doing something like this. When I was in basic training I read a book about a soldier that has the same job as I do and I thought the dude sounded and acted like a little girl and wrote a horrible book. At that moment I thought I should write a book about my army experience. Well I started jotting down things every time I went to Yakima. Then when my unit went to NTC (national training center) at Fort Irwin, California I kept a journal the whole time. Well i was going to do the same but I know my self and I doubt i would be able to write stuff down and save it the whole deployment so I thought a blog would be better. Also now that the deployment is nearing i have been trying to figure out how I am going to keep my family and friends up to date on whats going on during the 9 months that I am gone and this blog seemed the best way. So I will keep this up to date as much as I can from now till I leave and as much as possible when I am over there!

A Soldiers Son Turned Soldier......

Danny