New Job

Jordan is going to be doing something new. Every other week he is going to be working construction. He'll still be doing his other job too, every other week, but this rotation I think will help keep him from being bored. Construction is definitely more his style than an office job.

He also talked to his dad, yesterday I think, for those of you who have been asking.

Happy Memorial Day

This holiday sure means a lot more now that I have a soldier serving overseas. Jordan and his unit are never far from my mind, but today especially is a day to remembering our military. Happy Memorial Day! I hope you take a break from your hot dog grilling to pray for our soldier!

Jordan's doing well. He started his job this week, and he said so far he likes it. It's a little boring, but he has a TV in his office (yes, Jordan has an actual office!). He said he watched the Indians baseball game today. Sounds like he's working really hard!

For those wanting to send Jordan care packages, keep in mind that he has minimal space at the moment. Until they move into their pods, try to keep material goods to a minimum. Food and little things are welcome, toiletries especially, but he told me to limit the books and things like that.

New Address

I was wrong, we did get Jordan's new address today, he called back with it just now. I am not going to post it online, so if you would like it, email me at haley@onlyinternet.net and tell me who you are and how you know Jordan, and I'll send it to you.

Landed Safely

Hey, I don't have a whole lot of information today, but I do have the most important information: Jordan has landed safely in Iraq. He was so excited because they got to fly in on Blackhawk Helicopters! "I just had probably the best experience of my life!!" They are going to be in tents for a little while, until their living pods are available. Once they get their pods, we should get their address. He also wanted me to know that he has a Pizza Hut on base, but he wasn't sure if they had 5 pm Wednesday night buffets! At least he won't be completely deprived of pizza! He also said the chow hall was terrific.

Welcome to the Desert

Well, it is 6:35 am and I just got off the phone with Jordan. I was literally dancing in my bed when I heard his voice! He said it is HOT!!!! He was sweating just sitting around! It was about 91 degrees when they landed in the middle of the night...if that tells you anything.

He wants you all to know he's "safe", and that he misses everyone. Right now he is not at his final destination. They are going to stay where they are for a short amount of time, though he couldn't tell me how long, at least not over the phone. They will do a bit of training, then move on to their final destination for the year. (Sorry I have to be so vague, that's kind of what I was getting at the other day.)

One of the first things he did though was to brag that he got to see Ireland! They landed there for a bit yesterday and he was able to get out of the plane for about 20 minutes. It has always been my dream to go there, in fact that's my choice for a honeymoon trip, but he wanted to go to Italy, and was pretty set on that. Silly boy, I knew he'd come around to my side eventually hehe. He said even the airport was completely green, and he looked out the window from the plane and the countryside was just beautiful. Sigh. It's not fair! He wasn't supposed to go there without me!

Landed

Just a quick note to everyone: They have landed safely at their destination. I haven't talked to Jordan, but my FRG leader just emailed me to let us know we are activating the phone tree tonight. I'll let you know if I hear from him personally.

4 Day Pass

Well, he's gone. I just returned from the airport. Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch soldiers cry? Not just Jordan either, some of the biggest, most intimidating men ever were red faced and teary. Sure makes it hard for a emotional gal like me to not bawl her eyes out.

Jordan had a magnificent time these past few days. "Glorious," to use his word. It was hard to see everyone he wanted to, and if he missed you, he's probably pretty upset about it. It was rough, being pulled in 50 different directions, when all you want to do is relax. Imagine working harder than you've ever worked before, away from home, and not hardly being able to sit down on your vacation. It was rough on him, but he was definitely not ready to leave home. "It needed to be about 13 months longer!" as he told Burrows (one of his best buddies) today. Still, he'll be home between 90 days and 6 months for 2 whole weeks, which he is pretty dang excited about.

One thing I must mention: I try to be as careful as possible not to give specifics on here. Where they are going, what they are doing, etc etc. This will become even more crucial once they leave for overseas in a few days. I cannot tell you where he is going, at least not yet, so please don't ask. Once we get his address, I can release that to you, but I won't post it on here, if you want it, email me, let me know who you are and how you know Jordan. He definitely wants mail, but I can't just give it out to Bob in California who may or may not know Jordan. I'll give you as detailed information as I can about how Jordan is doing, but more than likely it will just be how he is feeling, not his activities. Chances are even I won't even know what he is doing on a daily basis. We have to be extremely careful about what he tells me, the Army does censor our conversations. Our phone calls can be cut off at any moment, our letters torn to shreds, our emails deleted, if he reveals something he shouldn't. I have to take the same precautions, on here, in my emails, even talking to you personally. If the wrong person were to get a hold of the information, it could mean big trouble to the soldiers. One innocent blog may not seem harmful, but the "bad guys" can look at many blogs and start putting the pieces together. Don't get angry if you ask me something, and I change the subject or just don't answer you. I'm not withholding information just for the heck of it, or because I don't like you. I'm doing it to protect our soldier, and the other soldiers in his unit.

I know most of us are pretty upset that he's gonna be gone for so long, so in order to cheer you up, I decided to post a picture that is so terrifically Jordan that you can't help but roll your eyes and laugh hysterically. We were in my room watching TV in our pjs, and he wanted to go downstairs for some water. I told him to put some real clothes on, so he didn't freak out my roommates. I looked up, and this was what I saw:



Guess that will teach me not to leave my laundry laying around.