Pictures of Jordan and his buddies

These are a bit more Jordanish than the last set.


The one on the right is Carter, but I don't know who the one on the left is.




A few artistic shots he took.




They are pretty crowded in here. But hey, it was better than that awful tent.




Anybody else he looks extremely emo in this picture??


He says this is his favorite picture ever taken.


Apparently Carter attacked him right when he was taking a picture.

Pictures, but they aren't too exciting

Here are some new pictures, unfortunately not as excitingly Jordan as the last batch.

They got their combat patches about a week ago.

He likes to take pictures of helicopters...they aren't Blackhawks like I thought...Brandon corrected me.

This is the pod he lives in...much more comfortable than the tent!!!

New Email Again

Hey, Jordan got a new email.

Jordan.Wall@iraq.centcom.mil

More pictures!

I like this one!


He sent this one to make me cry.


Jordan and Blackledge--I'm really good friends with his fiance.


Iraqi Sunset


Another one to make me cry.


Whoa--not so flattering Jordan.


Think he misses me?

Pictures!

The girlfriend is not happy about the cigarette in his hand.


This is Knepper, one of Jordan's friends


What I believe is a blackhawk, not sure, he didn't send an explanation with this picture.

Long time no post

Sorry guys, work has kind of taken over my life lately. I haven't really had the time or the energy to write anything. Plus, there isn't a whole lot of new stuff going on with Jordan at the moment.

First of all, some idiot civilian contractor accidentally cut the internet feed on base. Therefore, do not worry or panic if Jordan does not return your emails for a few weeks. They were hoping to have it up by the end of the weekend, however, they now have NO idea when it will be up and running again. Feel free to keep sending him emails, he'll get them once it's back up, just be patient and don't worry if he doesn't get back right away. I'll try and let you guys know when it comes back up.

He said it is super windy there, and surprisingly humid. There is a large man made lake there (not sure how it doesn't dry up though), and apparently, that makes it really humid in the tents at night. Jordan said it was so windy today. He was sitting in a chair out on guard, "looking pretty" (his words, not mine) when a huge gust of wind blue a Coke can into the back of the chair. He said it felt like it hit his butt like it was flying at Mach 2, when in reality it hit the chair, not him.

Just a side note, before I get off here, we are not engaged. Not publicly anyway. Yes, I did go wedding dress shopping the other day, but we did not buy anything (though I did find a dress that I am absolutely in love with!). Jordan told me to go ahead and plan the wedding, as we are going to get engaged on his leave. It isn't really even a question anymore, as much as just making it official. We both know it's coming, and wish it would come a lot sooner! I got quite a few congratulations on Wednesday, so I thought I'd let you know what was up, in case you had heard through the grapevine about it.

Jordan's New Toy

Jordan called me the other night extremely excited. Apparently, his new job requires him to go back and forth all over base. Therefore, the Army has given Jordan his very own Humvee. As if Jordan isn't a reckless enough driver in a NORMAL vehicle. Imagine him in a huge armored monster!!!! Maybe this is one reason to be glad he's not driving on our streets! Haha!

Sorry for the short message, but there isn't a whole lot of news right now.

Care Package Tips

Hey guys, I know several of you are probably thinking about sending Jordan a package for his birthday. I sent my present out today. I thought I'd take this time to give you all a few tips about sending packages to him.

First of all, you are going to need customs slips. You can get these at the Post Office, just make sure you ask for the ones that are for packages over 7 lbs. These are white and about the size of half a sheet of paper. They have smaller green ones, but the nice lady at the PO (the only PO employee I've ever had be nice to me) told me that for APO addresses the white ones are a must! She also gave me a little bit of advice. If you are sending liquids, make sure to put a towel or something in the box in case the container breaks. Also, use the flat-rate boxes, that way you never have to worry about how much postage is going to be. The postage costs $8.95 per box.

Something I discovered today: Target sells huge rolls of bubble wrap for relatively cheap! I was thrilled when I found this, not only does it keep my presents safe, but you know as well as I do that Jordan is very easily entertained. Haha! I can picture him driving his tent mates crazy!

Enough about packages...I know you are all wondering how Jordan is doing. He's trying very hard to get settled in. The Army is making that difficult, as they keep changing jobs on him. He finally got settled into his office job (he did one night of construction and they changed him to just office work). But this week they decided to change him to another admin job in another office. I'm not sure what either of these jobs entailed. He liked his first one, and I liked it because he was at a computer all day so we could email back and forth. He isn't sure if he'll have access to a computer at his new job. He was supposed to start that job yesterday, but they held off. Now today apparently they have moved him back to construction for a week. So confusing! It wouldn't be so bad except with every job change, his hours switch too. When he works in the office, he works days, but construction is at night. I guess working at Pretzels was good training for his crazy hours!

Where's Jordan?!?!

Hey, Jordan FINALLY sent me some pictures, this is his unit...try and find him :) He is wearing gloves. (Kind of like Where's Waldo, only harder because everyone looks exactly the same!)

Attack on Jordan's Camp: Our soldiers are OK!

Hey, I wanted to let everyone know, in case you were watching the news, that Jordan and everyone in his unit is ok. It may be a few days before he can get word to us directly, as sometimes during attacks they shut down the internet and phones. As soon as I hear from him, I'll let you guys know. There is no reason to worry, I just wanted to get word to you that something had happened, in case you saw it on TV. I've included an article below so you can have details on the event.


U.S.: 6 Inmates Die in Iraq Jail Attack
Attack on U.S. Detention Facility in Iraq Kills at Least 6 Inmates, Wounds 50, Military Says

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD Jun 9, 2007 (AP)

An apparent rocket attack Saturday at a U.S.-run detention facility in southern Iraq killed at least six detainees and wounded 50, the military said. No American casualties were reported.

The attack was launched against the internment facility at (Jordan's Camp), the military said in a brief statement. Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said the center appeared to have been hit by rockets.

The U.S. military oversees some 21,000 inmates at (Jordan's Camp) in southern Iraq and Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport. Military officials won't provide a breakdown of how many prisoners are at each facility but say the majority are at (Jordan's Camp).

Diplomatic tensions also rose, with the Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoning the Turkish charge d'affaires and calling for an immediate halt of cross-border shelling into northern Iraq, saying such actions "undermine confidence between the two nations and negatively affect their friendship." The statement was the first government confirmation of the shelling.

Turkey has been building up its forces along the border with Iraq and scattered shelling has been reported while its leaders debate whether to stage a major incursion to pursue separatist Kurdish rebels who cross over from bases in Iraq to attack Turkish targets an operation that could ignite a wider conflict involving Iraqi Kurds and draw in the United States.

Mahmoud said the shelling had started large fires and caused serious damage, but gave no other details.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, confirmed the meeting between Mahmoud and Turkish charge d'affaires Ahmet Yazal, but denied it was a "protest."

An American soldier was killed Saturday by small-arms fire in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, the military said. The death raised to at least 3,502 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

"6 inmates die in Iraq Jail Attack." SALAHEDDIN, SINAN. 09 June 2007. ABCNews.com. 09 June 2007. http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3261923

New Email

Jordan has a new email address. He asks that we start using this one instead of the old one. He will probably still check the old one, it just may not be as frequent.

Jordan.Wall@bucca.iraq.army.mil

Leave Dates

Hey all...I am super excited this morning. Want to know why? Jordan emailed me his leave dates! This is another one of those things I'm not going to post on here, but if you want to know, feel free to email me, call me, or ask Denise (I called her this morning because I was so excited!!)

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.