An Adventure for Sure!

Helllooooooooo, Darlings!

Well, these past few days I've had the opportunity to go out with some of our teams and take photos of them. Most of them are of the Soldiers getting ready for missions etc. I do have to admit, I've been able to get in some of these pictures, too! YAY! I think you'll laugh at some of them.

This one is of me putting a gunner's harness on. (Why they only got me with a weird face - I'll never know.) The Convoy Commander let me ride in the gunner's hatch to take some photos. Granted, I also had to be aware of my surrounds and scan the area for any kind of threat, but IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

Here's a picture of me sitting on the little webbed seat swing that, surprisingly, fit my bottom. The actually gunner jumped up and took a photo of me. He thought it rocked that I was up there. Then, he had to complain that the driver was going extra gentle on his driving because I was up there. Bah - I didn't care. It was a sweet deal.

Then, the gunner got my camera again and took a picture of me coming out of our vehicle. I don't know if you can notice, but I'm wearing my glasses and my eyes are a bit puffy. The night previous, I guess, the mosquitoes had a field day on me and decided to bite me on my eyelids. I had to spend an hour just trying to get the swelling down in my eyes. It was horrible!

Okay... I'll end here for this mission. I hope you read the next blog though. It's pretty stinkin' cute! Today we had our "Race for the Cure" (Cancer Run) and a lot of people wore the shirts, but others also got into it! It was a great morning. I'll see if I have time to post it on here a little later.

A Brief Hello

One of my favorite memories of being overseas:

It's funny - I felt more at home on a camel than I did on the back of a horse! I guess that's my ancient bloodline going all the way back to the "Land of Father Abraham" making me feel like I've lived here all my life! Even though this picture was taken in Kuwait about 6 months ago, it's still one of my favorites that I wanted to share.

AND, if you've already seen this picture - pretend like it's the first time you're seeing it. It's more fun that way. :)

Get a Clue!

Honestly people - when you see a ring on someones finger... DO NOT COME ON TO HIM/HER. It's irritating as all get up! Seriously! Sad to say, I get upset and end up being a complete "not nice person". Ugh...

Okay, so here's the little story. I'm sure I shared this on here earlier today, but I thought I'd share it again.

Soooooooo - we arrived here on Thanksgiving day, and after getting my things to my room, I headed out to chow. My battle buddy and I sat down and commenced to eat. Some guy sat down by me and then proceeded to ask me questions, then asked for me e-mail, then asked for me to take him to my country and to join the military... blah, blah, blah. Then, seemingly enough, several times during my time here I've been asked to move to another country to marry; and have even been asked to marry and move here to Iraq. Oh boy!

So, would you like to hear how I met my "husband"?

- We were introduced back in college. ROTC together.

- We "married" December 22, 2009.

- His name is Sam. Works for the "Government".

Translation?

- In college I was introduced to the military by taking ROTC classes.

- I enlisted on December 22, 2009. I guess you can say that's a type of marriage - a "binding contract" for a specified amount of time.

- The name "Sam" - came from "Uncle Sam"... Get it? Married to the Government. He works for the Government, too.

Well, I think it was pretty witty.

Anyway, that's the story.

Have a nice day! :)

It's a Boy!!!!

First, let me clarify - I'm not pregnant, and I have not been pregnant. This is not about me.

I'M AN AUNTY... again!

My brother Keoki and his lovely wife, Foeata, had a baby boy on the 6th at 1022 PM. Or in military time: 2222 :) I heard he was 20 inches long and 8lb 9oz or something of the sort! Man alive - by the time I see him he'll probably be soooo big!

When I get a picture, I'll see if I can post it. YAY!!!!!

One love!

P.S. His name is Paenoa!

Hello Darlings!

Okay friends and family -

I know, I've been slacking on what to put on here. But, honestly, what am I supposed to put on here that doesn't compromise things. Besides, half of you might not know what I'm talking about anyway. Sooooo, am I forgiven? :)

I thought I'd put a few pictures on here and write a little description about them. Not sure what I'll put on here, yet, but here we go!

Here's the American Flag flying on our post. 01January11

We flew flags for some friends and family members. Here is one of my favorite people folding the American Flag.

A brother to two of our guys died that morning. We flew a flag on his behalf. A few days later, the brothers were on their way home with the folded flag from Iraq.

Me with some of the cleaners. They strung "Christmas" behind us.

Some of the Fiji Army came and sang Christmas Carols to us. Oh the beautiful sounds of Polynesian voices! YAY for brown people!

A Bit Sad....

Sad news -

One of the most amazing people I've ever met in my life passed away this past Monday. I am so heartbroken and sad. I can't mourn with the rest of my friends who's lives she's touched and loved. Oh the heartache of being alone.

"Oh, What a Beauuuuuuutiful Morning..."

Well my friends - it's another beautiful day in Hawai'i nei!

I am loving my time away from everybody and everyone! (No offense)

Last week was my week to chill out with my brother Keoki and help him with school.

Last night Foeata and I went and got a pedicure done. (Don't judge.) It was actually really nice. But it was soooo weird when the lady was working on my feet - I couldn't help but laugh a lot because it tickled!

This coming week, I am off on my own to do various fun and adventurous things. For example: go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, go to Hickam and get some goodies, make my presence known at the Post Office, get my passport done, buy a bunch of books, etc.... AND, most importantly - GO TO THE BEACH!!!

Funny story - the other day, Foeata told me, "Wow, Pili, you're really white!" (Have to love the people who don't sugar coat things.) Yet, it was true, I am very fair skinned. I was putting my clothes on the other day, getting ready to go to school with Keoki, and I gasped... I am REALLLLY white! I knew I was fair, but the way the sun hit my skin - oh yeah... I'm white to the MAX. Needless-to-say, I'll be hitting the beach this week! And, hopefully getting a massage, too. Oh the joys of being in Hawai'i! :)

Alright my dear friends and family. I might update this post later with the more DETAILED version of my Pedicure Adventure and, perhaps, may even share a few pictures.

One love from the islands~

Happy Love-Love Month

Well friends, I was attempting to find a stark black background that had some kind of "Death to Valentine's Day" on it... but decided against it. Mainly for the reason that it doesn't exist. :)

Some of you may know that Valentine's is not my favorite "holiday". None-the-less, just like the sun rises, Valentine's Day and the month of February will always "come to pass". Ha! Yet, another overrated and commercialized holiday to "boost" the economy. (Don't get me started on that.)

This year, I'm going to try and do something a little different. I am actually making a bunch of

Valentine's for our living area. Let me clarify... not just my chu, but our entire "pod" living area. That is... approximately 165 Valentine's. Phew! That's a lot! Man alive, I'm not sure how I'll be able to make each one unique. But, I'm hoping that this will get me in touch with my inner child when making Valentine cards and giving treats to others were fun and given with unselfishness.

Unselfishness - you know... I guess that could, in essence, be the "spirit" of Valentine's Day. Letting other people know that they are thought of, appreciated, and loved. (Even though I don't dare say that I particularly "care" of some of them. At least in a small way, I can say that I love everyone... but I would just "love" to see some of them stuffed. Oh... I said another mean thing, huh? Blah)

Anyway, I'm grooving to my "Colbie Caillat" station on Pandora and hope to finish at least 20 more Valentine stuff today. (I'll be putting them on the doors, and will make some letters that spell out "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY" and hang them from some of the cargo net hanging on the walkways of some of the chus.) Hopefully I'll be able to take pictures and them post them on here after the damage is done. :)

Okay - I'm going back to letting the creative juices flow! (Oh! No I'm not... going to the gym instead.)

One love!

Oh, and if anyone is serving here with me reading this blog.... PLEASE DON'T BLOW MY COVER! Thanks!!!!

P~

A Little More Thoughts and Adventures

I apologize for this blog entry. It will be a compilation of e-mails and journal entries from this last little while. I will apologize, also, in advance if my excerpts of my entries don't flow or make sense. I don't have much time to update this, but I've had requests to do it, since I haven't done so in over a month. So, without further adieu - happy reading.

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"Being here in Iraq has been one of the greatest times of my life. In all honesty, I love it here. I like the work that I am doing, and feel very blessed to be here working. I do, however, wish that more people would just leave me alone – let me be, and not think that just because I am nice, means that I am interested in anyone. I am not weak for being nice... I am finding my balance in being nice, not trusting, and keeping my heart locked. Trust me, there's NO ONE here that I care about in the "romantic" sort." - Let me explain. I got asked to move to another country by someone who told me that "even though we're far apart, a lover's heart never grows old." Gag me with a spoon.... PLEASE! (I know... that was rude of me.)

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"- I got to go out on a mission this past Monday, the 10th. I got to go with... a... PSD team to ...a settlement. We took two UN PSO to an IDP settlement. There were 950 families living in that settlement area. It sort of reminded me of the Philipines. Run down, dirty, poor living conditions.

The children were really cute and it was nice to be able to get a picture taken with them. SGT Abrams took my camera and took some snapshots of me with the babies. They were sooo cute. I'm thankful Abrams did that. He said that I am always behind the camera, so it would be nice for me to be in the front this time. So true.

The school that most of the smaller children attend is a two room school, two bathrooms, a itty bitty play ground with no electricity. (We used our flashlights to view the inside of the rooms.) On the walls were drawings that the students did. I even recognized a pokeymon character on the wall. J Not to mention, the awesome paintings of Popeye, Bert, a Smurf ... I wish I could have done more.

The pictures I was able to take that day are being put on a CD and given back to the two UN PSO's that we took out with us. (Hence, a RECON.) There were sheep there that were eating the trash – riffling through the rubbish piles. Live chickens running around, pecking at the moistened ground looking for food. The random dog, wagging its tail as we walked by. The horses that pulled a flatbed and person in the rear. The simplicities of life that many don't realize or understand, however, I was blessed to view a bit of it."

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"Nothing exciting, however, at work, I wrote 16 letters and typed 3 brief e-mails within 3 ½ hours. It took me a while because my hand was cramping. I wrote so many cards because I was responding to the many letters and packages that I received during the holiday season. I wanted to write and express my thanks for the letters/cards/packages. Although I should have written sooner, I was hoping to get my little newsletter done and be able to print that out, and perhaps some pictures as well, to send to people. Obviously that didn't pan out. So! Hence, the hand cramps and letter writing."

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"Karaoke: We got there at 2245. It usually closes at 2300, but we ended up staying for longer that than. The first song that I ended up singing after a while was: "I Can't Make You Love Me", by Bonnie Raitt. Man, what an EMOTIONAL song! I didn't expect my emotions to hit me at the end of it. Carter was there, and he said "P! You killed it! Freakin' nailed it. So much emotion."

Honestly, I only picked that song because I knew the words and the tune to it, not because of what the message was. SSG Fink ended up welling up with tears and told me I almost made him cry. That it was one of the most emotionally songs he's heard sung. I guess Suell also got teary eyed. Seriously, I got teary eyed and started to let it out a little when I was done. It was such a relief and a sad moment at the same time."

Here are a few fun pictures