Random thoughts

It's getting closer to going home, and while time seems to fly, the wait gets more and more unbearable each day. I can't help but to keep thinking "we should be home by now." To the American public, 15 months (3 months longer than the normal tour of 12 months) doesn't seem long, but to the Soldier, those few extra months seem like an eternity. When we found out that we got extended to 15 months, I recall someone saying, "This extension will help some people, and it will hurt some people as well." The latter has been proven true, as the pressure of being deployed has gotten to some of the Soldiers. It makes you think, "Only if we didn't get extended."

But beyond being extended, life does go on here in the desert. The feeling of longing and want constantly possesses your inner being, and you can't help but to consider the psychological effects being gone starts having on you. For me, although I am going home soon, I can't help but to worry that my return home isn't permanent, rather, it's just a short visit home. When you've been out here so long, you start to think that this is what life is all about- the sand, the explosions, the death. It's hard to imagine that there's a real world beyond being out here. However, the worst psychological effect I have being out here is wanting the feeling of being close and intimate. I want to cuddle with my wife and hug my daughters. I want to hold my wife's hand and play games with my daughters. I want I want I want, but nothing will beat the feeling of actually coming home. When I used to watch redeployment (coming home) ceremonies, I used to envy the passion the families used to show the Soldier coming home after a year at war. I'm excited to see my family have that same passion. I'm excited to come home, stand in formation, and watch my wife and kids from afar celebrate my return.

Meanwhile, I wait to go home while the war is constantly around me. The only thing I can do is try to stay as safe as possible for the next few weeks. Not too long ago, a rocket landed dangerously close and seriously injured one of the troops. But I know my fate (and the fate of my comrades) is in God's hands, so I'll continue to trust in him.

Captain's Log

If you've been following this blog since it's inception, you may notice that I've made some changes. Since early 2005, I have had over 100 posts, but I've deleted over half of those, leaving the posts that I believe the viewer should read the most.

When I started this blog, I was a Second Lieutenant serving in Iraq. I was literally brand new to the Army and while reading through my old posts, it made me realize how much I've learned through the years. The thought of knowing that one day, I'll look at my Captain years thinking "wow, how much I've learned since then" scares me. I know there is still a long road of experiences and learning ahead of me, and the leader who I am today is a modified leader of who I was 3 years ago. Regardless, I think you may be interested to read a few tales I had to tell as a Second Lieutenant on my first deployment.

I've been a Captain for a few months, and the experience has been incredible. I was reading through an old post of how I dreamt about being a Captain, and it made me remember how much I'm lucky to be where I am at. I also realize that I would have accomplished nothing without the power of God. God has helped create me into the man I am today, and for that I am always thankful.

My first deployment to Iraq was about 3 and a half months long as a Second Lieutenant. I'm currently rounding out the final two months of my second deployment, which thus far has been about 13 months. Being away from my family has at times been unbearable, but with the strength of God, we're making it through. My family and I have decided that the military is definately a career for me and we have been enjoying the benefits that come from leading a military lifestyle. Just recently, the Army offerred me a $25,000 bonus to stay in the Army longer (a bonuse which was offerred to Captains in my year group), and I gladly took the bonus. With that, it's helped my family and I meet many of our financial objectives, in particular paying off our high amount of credit card debt.

While reading through my earlier posts, I reminisced about my pre-Master's program era in which the anticipation was very nerve racking. Well, I am pleased to say that I'm on the latter part of my Master's program and shoud be finished with it by the fall of '08 or spring '09. Susan is also continuing her Bachelor's program, and we've recently decided to pull Ali from the public school system in exchange for homeschooling. We believe this is the best way we can raise a well rounded child with a deep emphasis and balance of education and Christianity.

As for the Iraq situation, as I expect to go home in a few months, I can say with certainty (in my perspective of actually being on ground) that we're winning the war and we are continuing to do make significant progress in Iraq. In my opinion, the only thing holding us back is that it's corrupt with media and politics. Progress can be expedited and Iraq would be a much safer place for Coalition Forces and civilians with more troops. Of course, liberal politics and media wouldn't allow for that to happen so I guess it causes us to often be stuck in a stalemate. Yet, we still remain to be a nation where 1% picks up the slack for the other 99.

That's me and my perception in a nutshell. I hope you enjoy my blog.

My sweet family!

Well, I got good news that I might be going on R&R much sooner than I anticipated. That's good, because I really need a break from being here. I was trying to hold out until as late as possible, but my mind needs a rest from being out here. It's hard to ever just relax, and try to pretend that I'm at home. The only time I really find peace is when I'm laying in bed at night, and sleeping. At least with sleep, I get 8 uninterrupted hours of remembering what it's like to be home. That's another reason why I know I need to go ahead and go on R&R soon; my mind is always on being home, and every night, I dream that I'm home with my family. I get so disappointed when I wake up, and I can't cuddle with my wife, or wrestle with the kids.

I'm always worried that the kids will have forgotten about me by the time I get home, even for R&R. However, I'm constantly reminded of how much they love and miss me. Let's take Ali for example; I have become concerned because she doesn't talk on the phone with me as much as she used to. However, I know I can't expect too much out of a 6 year old, and every time we talk, she always tells me that she loves me and misses me. Every now and then, I can hear the excitement in her voice about what we're going to do when I come home. She's excited that I'm going to the daddy and daughter things we used to do, like ride bikes, or my personal favorite, wrestle. Just today, Susan wrote me an e-mail about how Ali was flipping through channels, but stopped at CNN where she saw some story about troops in Iraq. Ali gets so interested to see what her daddy is doing in Iraq, and it just warms my heart to know that she's probably watching the channel in hopes to either see her daddy on TV,
or to get a better understanding of why the soldiers are in Iraq.

I'm sure Kirsten is going to be in shock when she sees me, and she'll probably be upset when I leave again. Since she's only 2, she has no real understanding of elapsed time, so she doesn't understand that I'll only be home for two weeks. She might not be so friendly to me at first, but I know once I get the talking, and do all the things I do over the phone with her, she'll be excited that her daddy is home. For example, one of the things we like to do in our family is ask a question that goes like this: Who (insert verb phrase) (insert noun)? Whoever is around will throw up their hand and say "Meeeeeeeee!" Shortly before I left, Kirsten caught on to that, so whenever I talk on the phone to her, I say, "Who loves daddy?" and she'll say "Meeeeeeee."

And for Susan... I know most people think the first order of business once arriving home is reunion sex, but that's not what drives my longing emotion for my wife. I mean, don't get me wrong, I will certainly be excited to have reunion sex, but I can't wait to do all those things with my wife I've taken for granted in the past. I want to be in the car holding hands or cuddling up on the couch and watching TV. I want to take my wife on a date and just treat her like this is the first date.

I certainly miss my family, and right now my mind is on the fun I'm going to have with them shortly. I'm too excited!

Iraq

Wow... this is what it's like to be in Iraq again. It's not bad at all though. I get to talk to my wife almost everyday, and we send pictures back an forth. Life isn't bad, although I really haven't done much yet. Haven't really "worked" yet, but I'm sure my work is soon cut out for me. I just hope these soldiers don't get complacent.

Back in the mideast

Well, I'm back in the mideast, but I can't give you my current location. Hmmph, to think, when I started this blog, I was in Iraq, and I'm back in this part of the world again. Sucks, I miss my family, but hey... life could be worse. My time on the computer is limited, so when I get the opportunity, I'll blog more. I just want you all to know what'sup with me!

Captain's Board

Well, I got an e-mail today telling me that I need to start getting ready for the Captain's board. If everything goes well, I'll be promotable by January, and I should be a Captain before this time next year. Thinking of all this is just so exciting! To tell the truth, I have dreams of the day I'll pin on those Captain bars... as cheesy as it sounds!

My mom lost custody of her 3 teenage kids yesterday, and it's tearing her apart. My mom had been in a custody battle for the past year, and it was amazing that her ex-husband (the stepfather I grew up with) never had a custody issue until my mom requested a rise in child support. Everything was going great for my mom. The only thing was that her ex-husband (Clog), kept using my 15 year old half sister since he knew she wanted to stay with him. Well, the psychiatrist recommended the kids stayed with my mom, but my sister wrote a letter to the judge that seemed to threaten herself. It seems pretty obvious that Clog coached her through this. Well, the judge and psychiatrist felt that the kids need to stay with Clog in order for my sister to not do anything harmful to herself.

I've been in an emailing battle with my sister all day, because I felt that she and her dad cheated their victory. They didn't concern themselves with the welfare of my 14 year old brother and 13 year old autistic brother. Instead, I feel they cheated and now they got what they wanted.

Other than that, life is life. Ali's birthday is tomorrow, and we're going to the a hibachi resturaunt for lunch. She's gotten quite a few gifts already. What a lucky girl! Well, I'll update you all soon!

Davis Family Vacation

Here is a picture narrative of the Davis Family vacation during June-July 2006.

We kicked off our vacation by going to our hometown of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We had a great time hanging out on the beach with our friend Anthony. Here is a picture I took, which looks like it could be in a postcard.

One day, we rented a pontoon boat and took some friends and family with us tubing and we went to Crab Island in Destin, Florida.



We then went to Disney World and stayed at the the Magic Kingdom resort, Shades of Green!


We stayed at Disney World for 4 DAYS! We had a blast, and here are pictures of us at MGM, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom.







Disney World really smoked us. It was amazing how it was supposed to be the "Happiest Celebration on Earth", but at the end of the day, we were hot, tired, and cranky. We needed a break, so we went to see my dad in Virginia Beach. We went fishing with him in Yorktown.




We ended the trip with a quick visit to my grandpa's house (WWII vet).



Our trip ended with a two day trip from Virginia back to Louisiana. Well, that was a picture narrative of our vacation!