Here I am!!!

Phew! Sorry it's been so long but it's hard get good access out here. Well in September I got to my temporary home in Afghanistan.. Least for the time being. And let me tell you it wasn't easy getting here! We got to Kandahar in July safely and waited there for our new FOB to be ready. For the time being I was able to work at the hospital there and work in the Medevac and trauma sections in addition to working at our sick call location. It was truly amazing to work in the role that we got trained in; going out to the flightline and performing compressions, holding pressure over a wound etc. I love my job.
Well it came time to leave and we found out that all the medics minus me and my Doc were going to one FOB and I was going to a completely different location than I thought. So right before I was going to leave, I performed a vehicle inspection and noticed lubricant leaking from the rear axle of my vehicle. So I drove over to the repair yard only to find out I didn't have ALL the paperwork needed to turn my vehicle in for repair so I had to come back the next day. On my way back to park my vehicle... I had an accident. Suffice it to say my vehicle tore the roof off another vehicle and dragged it a few feet without blinking... It happened so fast I looked before I turned but the vehicle was small and in my blind spot so when I rounded the corner and with the position the were in at the intersection... wow. Thank GOD no one amazingly was hurt. My vehicle had a few scratches. I called Steve crying; It was my first accident ever! And, the first time I had done anything even slightly wrong in my military career. I was scared I would lose my "stripes." But all was well... my commander and platoon sergeant came flying down there and stood by me... Phew!
Well. So into the shop it goes. A week goes by and it's still not ready. My doc called and said he needed me down at the FOB now so they put me on the next convoy. Turns out since I was licensed, I had to drive on the convoy! Yikes! Let me tell you I know the road was considered relatively safe but I was still nervous. It's a big truck and that was a bumpy road filled with crazy drivers that cut you off. White knuckle all the way!
Obviously I made it. I got settled into my room with my room mate and started working at the aid station with the other medics that work down here. Well it came time to go get my truck. I got to fly on a Helicopter! It was pretty cool but a short ride. It was nice to be back where I could get a cup of coffee and go in a toilet that flushes (simple pleasures). When we went to leave I did a check on the vehicle again, tied down the spine boards, filled fluids, air pressure, latched things down; Check. We got a good bit down the road when we went over a pretty big bump and the hood flipped right up. What the H? What else could truly go wrong? Well once we got that resecured we got back on our way; albeit slowly as my vehicle refused to go faster than 35 mph. Sigh... I still love it. Well I made it safely to the FOB. More updates later!

The final countdown~

Well this is it! Only a few more days before I leave for my deployment! I'm as ready as I'll ever be I suppose. I've always known this day would come and have been kinda looking forward to it. I know I will gain some valuable experience and I love my boss. I'm going to miss my honey so much. Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversay! I can't believe we've already been married been married 1 year and come this November it will be 3 years we'll have been together. Sadly I won't be back then yet either. It's good that he has been through this and understands better than anyone I know. My mid-tour leave should be around January so I can't wait to be back and see everyone!
Steve had his surgery today to correct the shrapnel injury to his right ankle. Thus far he is doing good. Just sleeping alot and still pretty numb. He was in alot of pain and will be when the nerve block wears off completely. I hate that I half to leave him so soon after his surgery and when he can't drive or really do anything much for himself. I've stocked him up on tha man food essentials and about a month's worth of cat food so hopefully he will at least be good till his sister in law can come by. It kills me so much that me, being medical, have to leave when my husband needs me. Of all the times...
Well I will post again before I leave and depending on our internet capability as much as I can when I get there. Love to all~

Double Stuff!

Thought this was priceless. Needless to say our little Oreo has put on a little weight and has now gained a new nickname. Time to find a little treadmill. :)

New News

So Steve and I just got back from leave in AZ. I had an amazing time with the family playing with Riley-bug and my little peanut (Ivy). I got to see my grandma too and spend lots of time with my sisters! This was all time well spent as I just found out this week that I am deploying next month. I was going to have surgery but it turned into a "wait and see" and now am medically deployable... and have a laundry list of drugs. Sigh. At least I'll be with my Doc. He said he will keep me close and take care of me so now I can look at the silver lining. I have wanted to deploy. I get to see parts of the world that not many people get to see. Plus, and it's a big plus, the money is a nice bonus. Steve and I plan on taking an Alaskan cruise. :)

Steve has surgery on the 19th to try and correct his ankle and will be in a full leg cast for a couple weeks. At least I'll be here for the surgery and for the first week before I leave. Hopefully this works!After I leave his brother and sister are going to take care of him thankfully. I will update this more I promise!

Again. Time for more Pictures!

It's not how it looks... ok it is.. I taught them how to scrub baseboards for mommy's birthday. :) They had fun and wanted to do more!

Love the Cheesy Smiles and the happy Kids! They just love posing for the camera!

Family Pics! First was one Ivy wanted for John the second one Mom wanted to get taken for Grandma McGee (Mom's mom) 90th Birthday.

Meanwhile back at the Wright-Clark Residence...

Well so as of late we've been pretty busy. Steve is finally getting all his medical issues straightened out and has a surgery scheduled on for his ankle. This is much welcomed as he is constatntly twisting his ankle and falling. Last night was the final straw... he fell in the bathroom after twisting his ankle and cut his head. The cut was small but head wounds like to bleed... thankfully I had my aid bags and put on some steri-strips. I'm getting put the barrage again too. I have to go see another neurosurgeon before I deploy to see if I ( once again ) am going to have the surgery. YIKES!! When is enough enough??? Seriously, 3 opions and 2 cancelled surgeries and all the while I'm in no less pain but more is asked of me? Heck we got a deployment coming up and with low numbers medic-wise I know I'll be going surgery or no. So geez lets go! Grrr.... Venting over...

Ok so we've been getting ready for deployment (well, just me not Steve), packing bags and such. Goodness what a pain! It's expensive preparing for deployments having to buy all the stuff you think you may need or may not have have access to for at least 6 months. I bought a little LCD TV and also packed my Wii and DVD player and a bunch of games and movies. Of course the staples such as stationary, hair stuff and nice sheets were sent in my tuff box too. Those left in April tho. Steve bought me a Kindle to keep me happy. Oh my goodness... I love this thing. I gotta go to a book store to find more things to download!

Right now I am reading: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It's a classic. Or at least should be. Next on the list: Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters. Hmmm... loving the show True Blood...

Not too much else so it's random picture time!!! The picture with the thumbs up is myattempt at artichoke and orange roughy. It actually tasted good!

My Man of Steel!

Ahhh.. Fond memories. My lovely man of steel is gracing the screen once again. Oh how I've missed my boyfriend Superman (the real one; Christopher Reeves). No one can ever hold a candle to his style and that curl. And Jennie not matter what you say.. at the end he smiles at me. I saw it with my own eyes. Yes ladies and gentlemen... I have a crush. These movies are true classics of our time. The man has style. I mean no one else has so many cool points to spare that he can wear his undies on the outside of his tights and still look stylin doing it! Must be the cape! Thought I'd share my rant!

Almost put on the side of a milkjug

I promisse I'm still here! I have been so super busy lately. I've been packing my bags and working long days at my unit packing all our quadcon's and milvans to get them ready to be shipped to Afghanistan. I can't wait till we get all these things to the railhead and on their way! But I will this weekend I finally have time to update! So I'll be back soon!

Family times!

Well it finally feels like I am nearing the piont of being settled in... Finally. I know I have posted my true goings on in awhile so I will be playing cath up in the next few days. I could never had gotten this far in this short amount of time without my family being here (that and the extra time the Army gave me off)! Jennie and John helped tremendously by helping move stuff around and unpack things. Generally it was such a pleasure having my family here. I was a little down in the dumps about this move given the fact that we will only be here for 4 months as our unit is deploying soon.I really like our apartment too!! I had so much fun though playing with Ivy and Riley which I of course have to show off. Riley has picked up Ivy's penchant for being a ham. Loving it. Ivy is still posing it up as usual so nothing has changed there. Pre-warning. I love taking pictures of the kiddos and my family.

Ivy and I on the night she left. She kept hugging me and saying "I Know.. I know..." such a cutie!

Oh the irony....

I thought I had outsmarted my stomach. Hear me out. Many of you know my adversion to wheat and greasy foods. But as of late I really have not had much of a problem... I mean the occasional cookie, sandwich... nothing much. But I must have taken it too far by combining the two. Oh me... Chinese food. How I used to love thee. We can no longer be on speaking terms. You have simply made my life unbearable. With my lack of gallbladder (deplorably named "dumping-syndrome") and my body's dislike of all things wheat... it's simply not meant to be. Your white rice can keep me from visiting the porcelain throne after an all night sweet and sour chicken binge. But I digress... I'll skip that part now and divert straight to the bland and blanche. But feel no remorse. I shall move on somehow... I'll pick my battles... Chocolate chip cookie dough anyone?

Back to the pictures

Well while I am sitting here waiting to mve into my house, I thougt I would get back into my tradition of posting some favored random pictures. This one that I am about to post is one of my favs. Whenever it pops up on my screensaver it puts a smile on my face and makes me long to be home.
For anyone who doesn't know this is my nephew Riley. He is such a cutie-patootie! At this point we were camping and I believe he had just woken up wondering where his daddy was (bathroom). Can't wait to go camping again! More pics to come!