NEW new address for Aaryk!

His address has changed slightly, it's now-

Spc Aaryk Drake

#5934

B Co 407th BSB, 2nd BCT, 82nd ABN DIV

APO AE 09378


Mail sent to the old address WILL get to him, but it will be delayed a bit.

The packing and moving stuff to storage is going wonderfully, thanks to my friend Alicia who flew out from Phoenix to help with all of this! More later when I'm not quite so tired!

April 26

Yesterday Brian called me from MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) where he went to take his physical anc choose his career. He chose 94F Special Electronic Devices Repairer. When I talked to Aaryk yesterday and told him, he said, "Oh, I work with those guys!" Bravo Company is the Motor Pool and the other mechanically oriented jobs. In addition to the smaller things (like night vision goggles) they also repair and maintain Generators and the like.

Brian took his oath and was sworn in yesterday, but he doesn't leave until April 26. He's going to be selling some of his furniture and stuff to help pay his bills until then, and the folks and I are helping with some of the bills so he doesn't leave too much in debt.

He'll be spending much of this next couple of months getting ready for Basic Training. If it's like what they did with Aaryk, the recruiters will meet with all the guys who are going and they will work out together to prepare for their PT test, they'll learn some basic skills like the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) and such.

He'll be doing his basic training at Ft. Jackson SC and then headed to Ft. Benning GA for his AIT (Advanced Individual Training). AIT is where he will learn the skills for his specific job. From there, he'll have options on what do do next based on his MOS and the needs of the Army. If they have an opening for a 94F as a paratrooper, he could choose to go to jump school, things like that.

If you want to email him, his can reach him at ramza_the _drake@yahoo.com.

Update on everything and everyone!

Well, pretty much anyway!

I'll start with Brian. He took the ASVAB again and scored BETTER than he did three years ago! He scored in the 99th percentile. Today Sgt. Walter took him down to get his physical and he will choose his MOS (Military Occupation Specialties). He called me last night to get all kinds of info for his paperwork. Where we've lived, addresses for references, that sort of thing. His enlistment is moving along nicely.

Aaryk is hanging in there. Ash Wednesday was the first 'good' day he's had since he got there. He was able to get off of work early to go to Church, and have a basically relaxing evening. Oh, and breakfast the next morning so wonderful after fasting for the day! I don't remember if I already mentioned that he'll be going back to mechanic work soon. They are getting their last clerk shortly and when he arrives, Aaryk will be the extra guy. I had to mail him his coveralls, and he is really looking forward to getting out of that office. Right now he's trying to get a complete inventory done so that the new guy (who will be in charge!) doesn't inherit a mess.

He reiterated to me again how much he enjoys reading emails, getting letters, and care packages (especially ones with 5lb bags of Jolly Ranchers!). So, if you have a moment, would you drop him a quick email? It really does brighten his day.

The folks were down this week for a couple of days and helped me get a lot done here. They brought a couple of skids and big pieces of cardboard to use in the storage unit, and we took a load of boxes over. We also got all the 'big' stuff I wanted to bring to their place in the Suburban. That vehicle was packed to the gills when they left, and that will make my trip up so much easier. I'll have a couple of tubs, my computer, some clothes, and Percy.

On the down side, Tuesday evening I was getting ready to go out and I when I got in my car the clutch went out...again. When I was up at the folks' place last month, I had the exact same problem when I was leaving their house. The clutch goes all the way to the floor and stays and I can't shift. Shifting was really hard for a day or so before, but it was hard to tell if that was just the cold or not. I had it looked at in Chicago, and they fixed it. It was fine until this past Sunday when it started getting hard to shift again (but that's when our cold front came through and so I wasn't sure if it was really broken again). By Tuesday night it was totally out again. The sad part? The warranty had just run out about 1000 ago (somewhere on the way home from Chicago). I'm hopeful with it being the same problem that they WILL cover it still, but they certainly don't HAVE to.

I got a rental car today, since Alicia is coming in to town tomorrow to help me with the packing/moving/cleaning. The nice thing is, it's a 4-door and will be MUCH easier to get boxes into and out of!

It has been very interesting to see God at work through all this. In Chicago, I was about an hour from the folks' place is all, so they were able to come get Percy and I. This time, it's much better to have happened now than on the way to get Alicia from he airport in Raleigh, or closer to when I need to be out of housing. I was able to get the rental with a large military discount and put it on a credit card that I wasn't sure had enough room. He is certainly taking very good care of me!

Oh, I can't forget Percy! He's doing great, he is such a mellow, well-behaved young dog. Here's a current pic of him-



As ever, thank you all for your prayers and your support. We couldn't do this without you!

Brian

After having asked for prayers for Brian last week, I can now give you more information on what he's been up to.

He got let go from his new job in January because they'd wanted some one with more experience (even though they knew he had none when they hired him). In order to pay some of his bills he tried to sell his dining room set. The end result of that is that he got scammed and ended up in even worse financial shape (although he does still have a very nice dining set for sale!).

So, he finally decided to look into the Army again. Back during the spring of his Senior year, he had talked with a recruiter and had taken (and done VERY well on) the ASVAB test, and got cold feet just before he would have actually signed up. So now, he went in on Thursday to talk to them, and Friday got the paperwork filled out. He has to retake the ASVAB, and they will be getting him the GED test as well, so that's a move in the right direction at the very least.

It will still be several weeks before everything is done and he actually enlists, and while I am concerned about him going in to the service during wartime, this is something he considered prayerfully and we all believe is a good decision.

Please continue to keep him in your prayers during this time, and I will keep you all posted on how he's doing here as well.

Camp Taji

Camp Taji is the base where the 2nd BCT is located. I thought some of you might like to know a little more about it-


Camp Taji

GlobalSecurity.org

Graduation!

Ok, so, this is what passes for excitement in my world at the moment, but we had a great time at his last puppy class yesterday. Percy didn't even seem to mind the graduation cap on his head! (Sorry Aaryk, your dog likes dressing up!)

I have nothing but praise for the class at PetSmart, and I intend to write the store manager and let him know what a great experience we had as well.

Time for a cute break

I saw this video and just thought it was too cute!



Bunny Steeplechase!

The Pup Scout

Isn't he ADORABLE?!?!

I took Percy in for a bath and nail trim at PetSmart and they put a bandana on him when they brought him out. It just made me think about Cub Scouts.

"I, Percy, promise
to do my best
To do my duty to Dog
And my Home
To play with my people, and
To obey (usually) the voice of my Mom"

Packages Arrived in Iraq

I mailed a care package to Aaryk on 1/30 and Alicia mailed on on 2/1. Aaryk called me today to let me know that he got them both today!

So it looks like about a week for cards/letters and just slightly more for packages.

He was very appreciative of all the goodies!

He has specifically requested music at this point. I'm looking into finding an iPod for him, since I just put all of our CDs on my computer in iTunes. It will also run all of our Audible audio books, and he's looking forward to those as well. I'm sure he'd appreciate music CDs as well.

Don't forget, you can also email him at aaryk.drake@us.army.mil, he likes receiving email too! Oh, and he can receive pictures or other attachments at that email. I've been sending him a few pics and funnies that I knew he'd like.

Smokey Day

I'm sitting at the computer, eating my lunch, and when I glance out the window it's almost foggy outside. Except that it's not fog, it's smoke. Not to worry, they're doing some sort of maintenance controlled burn in the area is all (if you've been out here, it's in the wooded area on the other side of Knox from my house). It smells wonderful, reminding me of many a campfire I've sat around.

But it's probably not good for my sinusitis. :( I've been fighting that since I got back from Illinois last week. Mostly I'm tired and my throat and chest hurt from all the coughing. So prayers for a speedy recovery would be appreciated. I've got a lot to do in the next few weeks to clear housing, get everything into storage, and make the move up to Illinois. I gave my 30 day notice today, and my move out inspection is Friday March 9.

I heard from Aaryk a couple of nights ago, he's still putting in very long hours, and although it's not as cold this week, it is now raining. I also got a call from the Lt's wife of A Company (Aaryk's in B Company) that they had their first casualty last week. Staff Sargent Sanders was out with a convoy and I don't know if they were attacked or came across an IED. Apparently, everyone is notified when anyone in the Battalion is killed. It's a little overwhelming for me right now, and I didn't even know Sgt. Sanders. Would you please remember his family and all the soldiers in the 407th in your prayers?

One last prayer request, and forgive me for being vague, but Brian could really use some extra prayer support right now too. I'll let him fill in the details if he wants, but he did ask for extra prayers, so I know he wouldn't mind me passing that request along. He's okay and all, just has some issues and decisions to be worked out.

Well, that's where we are now. Thanks for all the prayers, cards, and packages! Aaryk got the first card (from my folks) in about a week. I'm still waiting to hear on how long it takes for packages though. I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

Update on the Camp Lejeune Ballerinas

Back on Jan 20th I wrote about the Camp Lejeune Ballerinas and their need for donations for their spring recital. Part of that post was about the voting for the best Milblogger on the VA Mortgage site, and how A Soldier's Perspective was going to donate the prize money to the ballerinas if they won.

Well, thanks to all who voted, they DID win! Here's the article about them presenting the money to the ballerinas- Bloggers donate online win to ballet class