The calm before the storm..

...sand storm, that is!

Well hello everyone!! Most everyone reading this, I will see in the next week whether you know it or not :) And I couldn't be more excited!

There has been quite the lull in my posts for multiple reasons. The most debilitating was the crashing of my hard drive. I was SO upset!! I think it fell off a foot locker (box at the end of a bed about a foot high, most resembling a chest) and it messed it up. BIG TIME. I was running a bunch of programs and they started running real slow, so I restarted the computer only to have it reboot to a gray screen with a flashing question mark. No good. So I called Apple to report the issue and see what my options were....after talking to them for hours on the phone and crying to one poor customer service guy about how I had less than two weeks to get this issue fixed and I was leaving the country and how my computer was my main source of communicating with my family...I was advised to call the company who installed my new hard drive this past July. I did, and they said that it would be no problem and that the repair was most likely covered under warranty! This coupled with the check I would receive from Apple for the hard drive failing left me coming out on top!! My computer was gone for 5 days and I got it back the day before we left for the field for 5 days and there was no way that I was going to take my newly repaired computer out to the field! So, another 5 days of no means to post...

Now, I am sitting in my rack--eyeballs hurting because I'm so tired--but also so excited. My mom is sitting in a hotel less than an hour away only waiting for the sun to come out to come get me and take me home!! Oh, home!! It brings a tear to my eye. I miss home. This whole experience the past two months has made me appreciate everything that I have had the past 23 years, and I just want it back.
Tonight, the girls from 1st platoon celebrated our 'thanksgiving' together with pizza and coke :) we played spades and shared about each other. It was a really great time and I honestly enjoyed myself. I talked with my bunk mate tonight after everyone left our 'house' (see photo) about how our platoon has the most bonded females out of everyone. If you haven't lived with 50 females with NO personal space, please do not even try to understand. Everyone has something to say ALL the time. There are some people who I really can not comprehend how they can have that much negativity before breakfast! It's like they wake up angry at the world. But, tonight, we really bonded and it was good for us. I finally shared with the other girls (my battle, White, has already been knowing) about Clare and my story, which I think completely shocked them, and we all really had a good time hanging out.
Tomorrow by this time I will be in MY bed!

I would write more, but I am too anxious to even talk about feelings. That will have to come another day!! :)

ps one week from tomorrow I'll be on a plane to the Middle East.