Frank's Q & A #4

these pictures are beautiful, I know they are things you see on a daily basis but,really they look awesome....maybe one day we will see them in a book (?)

Thank you it would be so cool to put these in a book but who would buy it? LOL

Great pictures Frank. Thanks for sharing. What kind of camera are you using?

I use a Canon Xti SLR Digital Rebel and I Love it!!

Awesome pictures Frank!! Tell my hubby to get on the ball and take some photos like these!! Stay safe! :)Carrie

I'll let him know to get on the ball Carrie! LOL

How do you afford Lightroom on a military budget? Good pics!

I have an excellent answer to your question but I have a strict rule of not answering questions to people that don't leave their name so if you would like an answer to you question "Anonymous" please leave you name. :) Thanks for the compliment though I'll take those any day (even from "anonymous").

Keep those questions coming folks but please leave you name if you want your questions answered. ;)

Pictures, pictures, pictures.

So I've been over here for almost 5 months and well I'm almost halfway there! Woohoo!! I've taken quite a few pictures (About 700 Ha!), but really who's counting? hahaha Well I've been editing some of my pictures with a new program someone recommended it's called Lightroom and I have to say I love it! So I'll show you my work so far... Enjoy! :)

Hello There!

I know I haven't posted anything since my birthday and to be honest nothing much has changed around here in Afghanistan. It's still dusty, hot, and most just plain BORING!! My daily routine is terribly boring to say the least and really who wants to read about some soldier doing the same thing day in and day out? Not me! Which is why I haven't really updated at all for over 3 months. I see the same view everyday that even my pictures are boring to me because I tend to get very similar shots whenever I take pictures so that's pretty much stopped for the most part. I say it's boring but don't think I'm complaining it's a good thing that it's so quiet and boring in this area because last we had heard in the spring was that we were going to be in a hot zone here in Southern Afghanistan and we were going to be in the middle of a huge fight. Eh now it kinda feels like a big build up to the Superbowl Halftime show, it was all talk and glitz and when we got down to it, it fell flat and fizzled out. So here I am in my boring place with the rest of the guys day in and day out work 12 hr days, sweat, get dirty and get in an occasional water fight with whomever walks by our work area and have a little fun there. I get to live vicariously through people right now on Facebook and I get to see what exciting lives they are living! Hahaha Nah but it's nice to know that life goes on back home and that I may not feel it but I'm making a difference by being here so people back home can enjoy their every day lives. Thanks for checking in and I will update sooner than 3 months I promise. I leave you with some of the pictures I've taken lately.

It's my what day?

As I contemplate my 34th birthday I have come to realize that really it's just another day. Another day added to your life, another year, and another decade in the works. Being part of the military adds an interesting dynamic to this, for example my first birthday spent in the military was when I turned 28 in basic training, two years later I spent my 30th in northern Iraq, my 32nd was spend in northern Afghanistan, and today I'm in southern Afghanistan with almost a month down in my 3rd full deployment. There's no dinner plans over here, no parties, no phone calls to get (unless you actually call back home) it's just another day really. I don't like the fact that I'm away from Renee and the kids but as a husband I couldn't ask for a most amazing supportive wife while I'm over here and I'm so thankful for that. Renee and the kids are the best present I could ever ask on this day, I am truly and rich man and I thank God for such an amazing blessing. I don't lament being over here, after all nobody has forced me to join the military and I love my job in the army! It's not all glamorous and exciting but it's important and I know it's making a difference even if it's not always evident. So if my math is correct I will be deployed again on my 36th birthday but I pray that hopefully we will get a longer break than a year (I hope). I thankful to be able to serve but I'm more thankful to be able to take care of my family even if it means that I have to sacrifice being away from them a year at a time. I love you baby and all my Special Ks.

Starting a routine.

When you're deployed you develop a routine, you go to work, you go to the gym, you talk to your loved ones and so on. As for me I'm working the graveyard shift from 11pm to 7am so I get to see pretty much the dark side of nothingness. It's no so bad actually I find it to be peaceful but eerily quiet at times. Seriously there's nothing making any sounds out here at night! I guess that's a good thing right? So my routine consists of getting off work and eating breakfast (dinner for me), talk to Renee for a while on chat (since skype is pretty slow and frustrating right now!), go to sleep for about 6-7 hours wake up, watch whatever TV series I maybe into at the time, go to the dinner (breakfast), go the the gym for about 45 min, shower and go to work right after grabbing a light snack for work overnight. Pretty exciting huh? Ha! Once you get into a groove it makes life easier out here, you know what you need to do and that makes more bearable when you know what's coming next. As for work well things are pretty slow right now but I would imagine as we begin to fly more and have more missions things will pick up at work. Overall we have a pretty good team in our shift, we all get along pretty well and we are all very mellow, well all of them except for me when I get all wired up on coffee. Haha!

In one of these past morning walking back from work I made it a point to take some pictures so you can get an idea what I'm looking at over here. I find this place very beautiful in some ways but I'm quickly reminded that there are very dangerous people out there and that I can't forget why I'm here. Enjoy the pictures!

I will try to upload more pics later, the internet is way to slow to upload them on here for some reason.

It's been one week....

since I left Renee at a hangar and boarded a bus in the wee our of the morning to begin my 3rd full tour overseas. Deploying is never an easy thing and even though we are deployment veterans like many other military families in todays military that doesn't make it any easier for us. Yes we know how to cope with deployments very well and as for me I find myself getting in the deployment mindset very quickly, of course I'm sure it's also the same case for Renee only she has to deal with the questions the kids ask such as when is daddy coming home? Why can't we talk to him? Is daddy ok? I'm very blessed to have such a strong partner in this situation. I am also thankful that we have such a caring church family that will do just about anything to take care of all of us! (Thank you Grace Family)

As for me over here well... it feels like i never left this place sometimes! I feel like I went on an extended mid-tour and now I'm back again to do the job I'm supposed to get done. Of course the scenery changed some but pretty much it's the same thing. I've found that some of my buddies here share this view as well, it's all very odd to say the least. I won't bore you with the details of this place but I will say that it's very desolate and sad but I hope we can make these people's lives better somehow.... Anyway I don't have many pictures of this place yet I've been running around trying to figure out where things are but I will post some pictures soon.

What Looms Ahead....

Deployments are a big part of the Army in this day in age and since I'm a card carrying member of the great US Army it's my turn! In the next few weeks I will spending as much time as possible with Renee and all the Special Ks. I will cherish every moment, every laugh, every tear shed, and everything else I can cherish with them. It's not that I don't all the time, it's just a simple fact that I know I will be missing a lot of little things in my kids lives and really to any parent it's the little things that you remember most. My blog has been the last thing in my mind in these last few months but I have a feeling this will be a good outlet for me. I will be able to share my journey to Afghanistan with all of you 3 or 4 readers (Ha!). We will see what this deployment brings for me and for my baby and my kiddos here at home. Stay Tuned...