Still alive! :)

Hello everyone, hope you all had an amazing weekend!

This weekend was very interesting for me. It was crazy fun, scary and breathtaking. Shawna and I decided to go meet up with one of the other Lt's and a friend and travel together to Garmisch, Germany to see the mountains. We headed out on Friday but didn't get to their military base until 7 PM or so we decided to just hang out there for the night and head to Garmisch in the morning. We got up early and saw a few sites near their base and took off. Garmisch was an amazing city with moutains surrounding it. On Sunday morning we all decided that instead of spending money on skiiing we were going to go hiking up one of the main mountains there. Our original plan when we started was to walk the trail half way up the mountain (about a 3 mile hike) to a pub that was built on the side and looked over the city.

Things were going well until the guys and Shawna decided to take a different path and try making our own trail and adventure up the mountain. At first things weren't so bad but after awhile the mountain got steaper, the snow started getting thicker and the weather got colder. I kept saying that I didn't think it was possible to get there, so I quickly became known as the debbie downer of the group. Many times the guys (or even I a couple times) would loose footing and slide back down the hill until a tree caught us...I know I tend to exagerate things but trust me when I say that I thought I was not going to see my family and friends again. I asked Shawna if she thought we would die today and she chuckled at me and said we would be okay. On the way up that girl stuck right behind me and even let me go first (it was easier to climb in the new snow rather than following someone's tracks because it was slippery). Many times she would help boost me and keep telling me how close we were...pretty sure I thought she was the most amazing person that day.

At one point up the mountain Shawna asked everyone if we could have any meal and drink when we got up to the top of the mountain, what would it be? The guys all named elaborate meals and fun exotic drinks and when it came to me, I paused and said "All I want right now is Mustard." The other guy said, "You are telling me that all you want when we get to the top is a packet of Mustard...you are crazy!" Shawna laughed and said, "No, that is what she calls Josh." He asked why and I said that one morning I woke up, looked at him and told him he was going to be my Mustard. He then asked if I was his Ketchup? :)

After 3 1/2 hours of hiking we reached a part of the mountain that the trees became VERY thick and the snow became unbelievable deep (4-5 feet). I looked at Shawna and told her I was soo cold and didn't know how much further I could go. She said that we were almost there. At that point one of the guys made it past a tree and said "Holy crap, we have a ways to go." I couldn't hold it anymore so I asked the guys if we could turn around. The leader looked at me and said, "Gretchen, I know you can do this and I have been on a lot of hiking trips and I am not turining around until I get to the top." I took a deep breath and explain to him that I knew my limits and I was starting to shut down, my mind was doubting and my body was becoming more weak and cold. I then just said that I would go back alone but knew that was what I needed to do. It was stated very strongly that that wasn't an option. I asked Shawna to come with me but she too wanted to get to the top. After trying a few more times to make it further (it took a long time to travel even 10 feet with the depth of the snow) one of the guys said to the other that they didn't think it was possible to make it to the top and it was best to turn around. So we did.

We started down and I spent a majority (at least 85%) of it on my bottom. It was a lot of scooting and sliding. It was soo steep that you could sit on your butt (in brand new fresh snow) and slide until you were caught by a tree or rock. At one point there was about a 200 ft drop...and as I was sliding down I was whited out by the snow...pretty sure that I thought I would hit a tree going that fast and die. When I finally stopped I looked up at one of the guys (who had already made the sled down) and pretty sure I took a deep breath just to make sure I was still alive.

After the hike, we all went to another military base nearby and used their gym to shower and get warm. We all had a lot of laughs about the hike and I apoligized for turning us around. I was forgiven and they admitted that it was the smartest option.

So I will be the first to say that I am soo happy to be writing this blog. I will try to post some pictures to show you the magnitude of the mountain but the pictures don't even justify it. Today I am the most soarest.....my bottom is black and blue and am unable to sit unless I put a ton of cushioning under me.

I am sure at this point of the blog, Josh is laughing at me because he thinks I tend to elaborate details of certain events. Not this time Mustard :)...just trust me.

Heard Josh' voice for the first time yesterday. He is doing well, he starts the busy part of his training today. He has not made it all the way downrange yet but he told me they leave for there in just a couple days. He is still very excited. I actually met with one of the wifes to talk and I got to see pictures of his Platoon and the people he will be working with. I heard very great things about his Platoon Sargent (his right handed man) and heard his Platoon is a group of amazing guys. I even got to see the equipment he would be using to do his route clearance missions...I had never seen the machines before. The pictures were unbelievable to see...it really touched me and I thought that he is doing work and reaching people that no one is able to reach. There were soo many pictures of Iraqi children and the troops were throwing soccer balls, flip flops and candy to them....in the background of a few of the pictures were large herds of camel. The scenery was gorgeous and I even saw the coolest picture of a flinstone house (looked unbelievable) that Saddam had built for his children.

Lastly, the bestest news ever came this past week! Joelle told me that she was going to come see me since the tickets were soo cheap now. Shortly I found that all the Cressman girls are coming. I pretty much freaked out and am still in a little bit of a shock. They will get here next thursday! Jen and Jessica will stay till about Monday and Joelle is staying all the way through Thursday. I am soo lucky to have them in my life! :)

I am off to the defax to eat lunch with some of the Lt's who take off for deployment tomorrow. I will keep you all posted with the adventures that Shawna will be up to this weekend. I miss you all tons and tons!!!

Josh did tell me that emails are great to get, so even if it is random do send them....and I can tell you that it is soo great to hear from friends and family!

Love you all!

Gretchen