Roller Coaster Time :)

I know it has been awhile since you have heard from me but I do have an explanation.

Last Thursday I went to pick all three Cressman sisters up at the airport....(I am pretty sure I will always call them the Cressman's even though only one still holds the last name). Our adventures began and I took them back to Baumholder to get them registered to come on base. We stayed in Baumholder that night before venturing off for the weekend. In a matter of 4 days we traveled to the Neuschwanstein Castle (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=neuschwanstein+castle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=LZKqSd_bDIGW1QX_j8zXAg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title), Garmisch, Munich and Stuggart. We had soo many great talks and car rides and at the end of the trip I could not believe how fast the time went. I have told some stories but the highlights of my weekend was first night in Garmisch. We stayed up and all talked about the end times. It was a very interesting discussion but it really made me think how much worrying I do at times and much time is wasted. Earlier in the day I had been thinking about different things regarding Josh's deployment and time and everything came together that night and I got this urge to knock off some of the crazy thoughts I allow to be put into my head. The other thing that we talked about was praying. One of the girls talked about how she finds herself at times becoming resistant to prayer and she defeats it by praying herself to sleep at night. I just loved that thought and since then I have been praying every time I lay down...even if it is just for a nap. The best part was that when she said "Yeah sometimes I feel bad because it puts me to sleep but then I realize how much comfort it brings me and that okays it." :) I laughed.

The 2nd best part of the weekend was our hike to the Pub up the mountain. We stayed on path and made it to the pub at 11:30. 2 1/2 hours later we walked out from the pub and the entire haze had cleared up and we were able to overlook all over Garmisch. It was breathtaking....the hike down went very fast. We ran all the way down and passed tons of children and families who had the right idea and were pulling sleds behind them. A few times we found ourselves jumping into the snow to avoid kids who were bombing the hill...it looked like waay too much fun. Next time we WILL bring a sled with us. :)

Joelle and I got to spend a few days together in Baumholder before she left. It was soo great to just be with her and spend the whole day together. We talked about lots of fun things and future plans for when we grow up and get big....a few nights we had Shawna over and had a little too much fun just being silly together. Definately needed that visit from the Cressmans...they really were my angels!

A couple nights ago Josh tried to call. I had just got off the phone with my older brother (who was just getting his 31st birthday day started). I had such a good conversation with him and walked away from the computer smiling ear from ear. I sometimes forget how amazing of a family I have and talking to him brought me back to how lucky I was to have him as my older bro (and how much I look up to him day to day). Five minutes later the house phone rang. I was able to get 2 minutes of clear talk in to Josh until everything went "kurplunk." I started getting very frustrated and telling him I couldn't hear him. I asked him to call my cell phone but he said it cost too much. I spent the entire next day figuring out how I was going to get my phone working again.

It's still not fixed and I am still trying to figure things out but I wanted to let you all know that Josh called at 5:30 am this morning :). After him not being able to hear me on the house phone it took the hit and called my cell phone. He is doing very well and I am afraid that he is enjoying his job a little too much. He is running route clearance missions and told me that yesterday their mission turned into a 15 hour mission because some of their equipment did not cooporate. They are keeping him very busy but just talking to him I knew that there is no where he would rather be. He told me he is trying to take more pictures and is going to start taking more pictures of the Iraq children. He says he doesn't need much sent to him but for anyone who is interested in sending something he said that the Iraq children always follow their vehicles and they throw parts of their MRE (meals ready to eat) to them. He asked me to tell people that if they wanted to send something to send packaged candy to throw and flip flops for the children. If you want to throw anything in for him...his request is beef jerky.

Josh's Address:
FOB HAMMER
B Company, 40th EN BN, 2nd BCT
FOB HAMMER
APO, AE 09308

Best news ever though is that I start work tomorrow. For all who don't know I will be working at the clinic on base (just a 5 min walk) as a Clinical Nurse. I am looking very forward to it and can't wait to start...I have already packed my lunch...(perhaps that explain how excited I really am).

Also, I thought since Josh isn't have to write emails that I would post something he wrote up when he got to Kuwait. Some of you may have read it but I know that my family may not have had access to it so I wanted to post it. It is this thing that you just say 25 random things about you. So here is Josh's 25 things.
1. I'm the only one who can call my sister Dan-Dan
2. My wife makes the best guacamole in the world
3. I actually like chick flicks, but I complain to Gretchen anyway.
4. I've learned all of my patience from women (Gretchen, sisters, mom)
5. I am going to name my first daughter Jocylin (spelling?)
7. My mom makes the best beef stew in the world.
8. I finally got brothers at the age of 24 (with no thanks to you Mom and Dad, I had to go get them on my own)
9. I've lived in Germany for a month and have not went over 100 mph on the autobahn. Thanks Gretch.
10. The walls in my home will probably be pink when I get back from Iraq. Thanks again Gretch.
11. I'm a tree hugger
12. I'm going to own a wienriemer soon
13. I get really pissed off at technology (i.e. my german cell phone, laptops, etc.)
14. No other woman could understand/put up with me the way Gretchen does. She's my best friend.
15. My Old Man is my biggest role model
16. I ony read non-fiction books (I don't really know why)
17. I love coffee and tea
18. I'm a morning person... all the way. I wake up early for no reason.
19. My favorite movie is 'Cool Hand Luke'
20. My favorite book is 'Wild at Heart'
21. Jim and I can talk about anything no matter how long its been since we've spoken or seen one another.got to go.....finish later

Hope you all have an amazing week! I will be in touch very soon! Miss you all very very much!!

Sincerely,

Gretchen (and kinda Josh :) )