Josh Called

Hey, everyone. Josh called me this morning at about 2am. He's doing well. They weren't as busy this past week, so he's been kind of bored compared to normal. He said that they only went out on two missions, one of which he was the only CA (civil affairs) person on the mission ... that means he basically was in charge of the mission, from what I understand
He's making new friends with the Infantry soldiers there. Most of the guys in Infantry he's getting to know are stationed in Alaska currently, but he said there's one guy that's from Indiana. They get along well, and he's enjoying getting to know them and spending time with them.
They've all taken up hunting. Apparently there is an abundance of wild cats, dogs, and foxes around the bases that get into their rooms and tear things apart. I told him to leave our cat alone when he gets home, and he said not to worry about that. :)
His team has a new team member, and they all get along with this new guy much better than with the guy that used to be on the team. The stress level is down by far, and everyone feels more relaxed and works better together, which is good. When the team leaders were switching members around, Josh said that there were two other team leaders that wanted Josh on their team, but his team leader said no and kept Josh where he was. When Josh asked why he was told that the other team leaders can see that he gets his jobs done and doesn't cause trouble, that he's the only one there that has no bad reports against him. He still seems kind of surprised, but I am extremely proud of him. He's doing so well over there.
They haven't had any more attacks on them, which is very good. Hopefully, they won't have to face anymore, either.
Josh said that at one of the bases he stays at, they have a "pet" eagle. The eagle was shot with a shotgun, and they've adopted it. He said it's very skittish still, but I think that's understandable. He also said that there are some really big, really ugly spiders over there. To his disappointment, he hasn't seen any camel spiders yet, though; and he has yet to see any scorpions.
Overall, he is doing quite well. He's getting very excited to come home for R&R for a little while. In fact, he talks frequently of getting to see everyone again. Please keep him and the people around him in your prayers. He's having a hard time sleeping at night, so prayer for that to be resolved quickly. He has not been able to get things straightened out for Active Duty yet, but he will soon hopefully. Please also keep that situation in your prayers. We need him to get it all figured out soon; otherwise, he will have nothing to do when he comes home (no job, no insurance, etc.).
As I hear from him again, I will update y'all more as to how he's doing.


Waiting for him,
Ariel

Little Update

Hey, everyone! Josh sent me an email Friday afternoon saying that he wasn't going to be able to call this weekend because the phone lines were down (happens a lot over there), but apparently they were fixed because he called this morning (Saturday morning) at about 2:30! He's doing really well, but they're still extremely busy. I doubt that he'll be able to call next weekend because they're so busy right now. He didn't really give me a ton of updates because we just kind of chatted about what's going on here and there, and I gave him some updates on things that have been going on around here. He hasn't been able to get things figured out with switching to Active Duty yet because their schedules are so hectic, but he's working on it. There shouldn't be any problem with him switching over and having order to move somewhere by the time he comes home after the deployment, and he did say a while ago that he is going to request one month home after the deployment before we have to move (which means everyone should get to see him before we move ... as long as we're allowed the month home). Other than that, not too much is going on. He misses everyone here, and he can't wait to come home for R&R. Things are going to be extremely busy during R&R, but we will make sure we get around to visiting everyone while he's home, so don't worry! :)

Well, that's about it! Keep him in your prayers and thoughts, and feel free to send him a little email of encouragement or something if you want (bigmanjosh2005@yahoo.com). He probably won't respond because he doesn't have a lot of internet access, but I'm sure the thought would be appreciated!

Now for a little update on my end ... I am almost 30 weeks along in the pregnancy, which leaves about 10 weeks (two and a half months) left! Pretty soon little John Allen Anthony will make his appearance! I am already getting things around in the nursery -- the dresser, changing table, and crib are all assembled and ready to go (well, there's no mattress or bedding in the crib yet). I also painted and put together letters that spell "John" to hang on the wall, and they have been put up, too! I'm getting extremely excited about all the baby things and getting everything ready for my son, and I cannot wait to hold his tiny body in my arms and look into his precious little face and tell him how much I love him. He is extremely active lately -- making my belly dance and twitch when I least expect it. I adore his little twists and turns and kicks. He's already stolen my heart! Please keep us in your prayers as he has started to drop already. My doctor said that everything is fine, but he is dropping a little early. Hopefully he will just stay put for now until his daddy can make it home to welcome him into the world! I have attached some photos of what's finished in the nursery. You can view the baby registry by going to www.babiesrus.com and searching for Ariel Anthony from South Bend, Indiana (I am the registrant, and Josh is the co-registrant). On the registry is the full themed set for the nursery as one of the items.

**Please note that if you cannot view the photos in the email update, then you will have to access the blog directly and view the actual post. There should be a link near the bottom of the email update that you can click into**

Heard From Josh Today :)

Hey, everybody. I just got off the phone with Josh not too long ago. He's doing well and is still extremely busy. He was very curious to know how everyone here was doing, so I gave him a few updates as I could. I'm sure he'd love to hear from anyone. If you want to email him, then his email address is bigmanjosh2005@yahoo.com . He is now a gunner (the person in the vehicle that sits up in the turret), and from what I understand I think he's enjoying that position. He's really excited about coming home for R&R and getting some home-cooked meals. Celeste, get ready to make him some lasagna! :) He can't wait to come home and see everybody for a little while. Anyway ... all in all, he's doing well and is staying pretty busy. I talk to him maybe once a week for a few minutes if I'm lucky, and his emails are few and far between (don't expect an email back from him if you send him one). Please keep him in your prayers as he is on missions constantly. He misses and loves everyone!

Waiting for him,
Ariel

Hey Everybody

Hi Everyone

this is Josh. Just wanted to let everybody know that i am going to be busy the next couple of weeks since the Iraqi elections are going to be coming up here soon. We are keeping really busy since the past 6 days we have been doing missions like crazy. the past 2 days we have been out almost every moring about 430-5a.m. and we haven't gotten back until like 10p.m. which has sucked alot. but we have been getting alot done! I hope you all are doing well and are keeping busy. I know that the time here is going by pretty quickly.


Be Home Soon....

Another Update

I just talked to Josh on the phone. He's doing well. His last email to me said that he was sick, but he's feeling better now. I asked him what he needs in care packages, and he said nothing right now ... which means everyone please wait a little bit to send him care packages. He also asked that we don't send calling cards or candy right now. He has so many calling cards that he's giving them away to other soldiers, and he has gotten so much candy that there's not room for it in their little room. I'll let y'all know when he needs more stuff and what he needs. Wayne and Celeste, keep your cell phones by you for the next several days because he is going to try to call both of you. The area code will be 1-30something on his calling card. Basically, answer you phone no matter what the number is; otherwise, you'll miss a call. And you can expect him to call sometime between 1a.m. and 10a.m. Sorry, that's about as far down as I can narrow it because that's when he calls me. Overall, he's doing well. He's just tired and busy as I've said in every post previous to this. I don't know when I'll talk to him again, but I'll update y'all whenever I do. Have a good one.

Waiting for him,
Ariel
p.s. It's a boy.

Update

Hey, everyone. Josh emailed me this morning. He's doing well, but he's been extremely busy lately. Apparently, they've been trying to get some business going for the people over there, which has kept them running around like crazy. He said that he hasn't been feeling well lately, so please pray that he feels better. His stomach has been funky from what he says, which is no good when you're out on missions constantly. Also, he said that he's been having problems with the vehicle he's driving, and he said he wanted to take a hammer to it (I advised him against this lol). He hasn't had phone access for the past couple weeks, and their internet connection just came back after being out for a couple weeks (which is why he hasn't called and didn't email for a long time). He has very limited internet access, and I assume he won't be able to post on here himself for a while. I'll keep y'all updated as much as I can. Again, Josh won't find out the sex of the baby until I talk to him on the phone (which the soonest will be this weekend, if he can find time but don't count on it), which means y'all won't find out for a little while still. Be patient and don't bug me about it! lol :) Have a good afternoon, y'all!

Waiting for him,
Ariel

Short Update

Hey, everyone. I got a very short email from Josh this morning. He's doing well but has been extremely busy, as usual. He won't be able to call me until this weekend at the earlier apparently, which means y'all have to wait longer to find out the sex of the baby. Please, don't pester me about it. I'll tell you after I talk to Josh. It's only fair.

Waiting for him,
Ariel