A Quickie

A quick post to share with the internet world! I was fortunate enough to get more photos from Phil this morning! YIPPEE!!! I know so exciting! Not only has it been 12 weeks -- THAT'S 3 MONTHS PEOPLE! -- but I also get two new pictures to stare at for hours, haha.

First up is an photo from on top of a mountain that Phil and his soldiers had to hike up to try and locate a little downed remote-controled airplane. You can see for miles! Isn't it amazing?




Next up, and my favorite of course, is a photo of Phil being a daredevil as usual :P He wanted to take a picture at the top of the mountain... and of course had to stand with his back to a sheer cliff wall. Guess he isn't getting enough IED action :P (which I am VERY happy about!) Isn't he handsome? And he told me he was going to give a big smile, but the soldier who took the photo went a little early :P Still a cute one though!



That is all for now! I am hoping to get more photos soon!!

Night Ops

So, I did something random tonight and hopefully a bit inspirational for at least once person.

Back story: I have recently watched Amelie and Happenstance, both with the leading actress being Audrey Tautou. Both movies were wonderful and inspirational! There was one scene in Happenstance that got me thinking though. It is the scene of the simple pebble toss and the monologue that the "Destiny Man" tells the pebble tosser. At the end he says,


"Listen to me, there's not a gesture, even the most insignificant, that can't change the world. That man there decided to lie to his mistress like he lied to his wife on the simple toss of a pebble. You see, every detail, every gesture, as slight as it may be reveals an infinity of truths and thus has an endless repercussion and grandiose effect. You only have to piss in the sea to make the ocean rise. Don't they say the beating of a butterfly's wings over the Atlantic can cause a hurricane in the Pacific? So feel free sometimes to do something stupid, random, and ludicrous. That stupid, random, and ludicrous act can upset the order of the world."

It got me to thinking if I could do anything so stupid, random, or ludicrous and I actually thought up an idea! I looked online for inspirational quotes and wrote on over 40 post-it notes the ones that I thought most people could relate to or get help from.





Then I folded them up, bundled up, hooked up Bella, and went out for a walk at 2am. As I walked around the streets I would slip a post-it note under random windshield wipers or stick them behind random mailbox flags. The full moon helped light my way as I walked around with Bella and placed my notes. Before I would place one, I would try and get a feeling on whether or not I should place one at that house or this house. Mainly I felt a lump in my gut of nervousness and giddiness. It was a rush at times to try and sneak up quietly to the cars and stick a little pearl of wisdom onto their windshield. Other times it was too easy to just place a post-it inside of an opened mailbox.

Then once the notes were all gone I turned towards home. I walked in thought for most of the way, trying to picture what most people would do with their note. I am assuming 90% will read it and throw it away, 5% will just crumple it up immediately and toss it, 2% may read it and look around to see who had left it before they throw it out, the other 2% will read it and contemplate it for a minute or two while the place it in a pocket or purse, and then there is that final 1%... I am hoping that the 1% will take their note, read it, contemplate it, and find it so perfect for that point in their lives right then that they will take it inside and place it some where they will always be able to see it. I am hoping that they will be touched that a random stranger was thinking of them and reaching out in their moment of need.

Just to be able to touch one persons life, isn't that what we all want??

1,000 Words

Who was the first to say, "A picture is worth 1,000 words,"? Did they ever think it could be worth more than that?? And cashed out in smiles?? That is how I feel every time Phil sends me pictures from AF! I just simply melt and for a split second I feel like I am standing right next to him in that single instant before the camera flashes and freezes the moment...


...Then the spell breaks and I am back in my living room in TN, looking at a picture on a computer screen. And Phil is on the other end of that computer screen, sitting in his little plywood room in AF. Thousands of miles away...


But for that brief moment I am happy beyond belief! And every time I look at the photos I get happy all over again! So here are some brand new pictures that Phil sent my way that I would like to share with you all :) (You can click on the images to makes them larger)


Here is Phil standing on the edge of Alexander the Great's farthest fortress... Or what is left of it that is :P ~sigh, so handsome!~




This is Phil's PSG re-uping at FOB Gardez :)




Phil wanted to show me what the Afgan's have set up for a Wal-Mart... But hey! They also have RadioShack and Target! Looks like they might even have a Home Depot over there!




Anyone want to take a guess what kind of fur this is?? Phil told me that is was really nice and soft. He was tempted to buy one before he found out what it was made of..... It is cat fur.... Lots of cats :(



Hahaha! This is the famous "Afro" camel and his little baby camels :) Aren't the babies so cute?? Phil told me that while on a mission he watched a man drive some camels and one had a baby in tow. Not really "in tow," more like carry it, hehe. The baby camel was too small to keep up with the adults, so the man had placed the baby camel on the back of it's mom. So cute! Unfortunately Phil was not quick enough with the camera to get that picture :P



This is a sunset at a random hillside. Phil took this while he was thinking of me.... Makes me miss him even more. I love you Husband!! And I miss you terribly!!



I hope you all enjoyed these wonderful photos! :D Hopefully there will be more very soon in the future.

Evan Casebere

Hello to my two followers ;)



So, it was Sally's birthday party last night and we all went out to a little bar in Nashville that she loves. While there we meet a lot of people and there was a large family that was celebrating the marathon being over. We chatted with them while listening to a gentleman sing. Some started dancing. And one of the gentlemen asked the singer if he could borrow his guitar and mic for a bit and play a song that he had written a while back.



This aspiring singer/song writer was, I think anyway, amazing! He played the guitar very well and had a wonderful singing voice. The song itself is very sweet and beautiful :) I grabbed our friend Amy's camera and recorded it for him. Figured he could use it for promotional items or something. It is very funny right around a minute in when his Aunt-in-law, I believe, comes up to "tip" him! Hahaha!



So please enjoy the video and song! Also, he told me that this event actually happened, so even more special!



"Birthday Fool"



P.S. Evan is trying to come up with a title for the song as well. The one I put is what I think it should be called. Please post a comment with your thoughts and I will pass them along :)

Phil

I miss him....


<3


...That is all for tonight

Truly..?

Is it true that prejudice still exist in this world..?

I worked Friday night and man was it every busy! I actually walked about with over 80 dollars in tips!! That hasn't happened in..... Forever! Since last year to be exact when I had to stay till 0100 to finish closing up the store... Even though we did close at 2000 that night. Walked away with around 100 bucks that night :)

Anyway - Back to my topic - So Friday night was busy, had a lot of tables, at least 4 at a time if not more. A white couple walked in - rednecks to be exact - and sat down at a two seater that was on the left side of the cafe. They were happily facing each other for the first half of their meal, just sitting and enjoying their sweet teas and salads waiting for their main course to get finished cooking.

Then a black family walked in to the cafe. They had six people total so I sat them on the right side of the cafe at one of our bigger tables, it was enough to fit them and the little baby girl they had with them - she was so precious! I took their drink order and headed over to the drink station to fill it. As I walked past the white couple, I noticed them eyeing the family that had just walked in and then they quickly whispered to each other. I tried to think nothing of it and just went about getting the families drinks... But as I was walking back over I watched as the white man took his chair and deliberately placed it so that his back was to the black family and the woman shifted so that her back was to the family as well.

Now, I may be over-analyzing this situation... But to me it looks like the couple was trying to shun the family. I just can't seem to understand how there is still prejudice in the world now. I guess growing up in California has lead to me believing that everyone is created equal no matter what gender, size, color, wealth, etc. Is the South truly that different? To me it is a foreign world in so many ways - this incident being a major one.

Here's to a start!

Hello all!

So, I have been trying to find the perfect website to host a page that would be dedicated to my life as an Army wife... But alas, nothing good has come up that I feel that I can handle. My friend Taryn sent me a link to her blog on this site a couple days ago and I have to say that I do like the way hers looks. It has led me to sign up and start this blog at 3am on a Thursday night.

My blog is going to be called "A Pair of White Rainbows." It is thus called because on the day that I got to walk down the aisle and marry the man of my dreams, i.e. Philip, I also got to wear a pair of brand new white rainbow sandals as a nod to my roots back in Southern California. Since then, I have been wearing those sandals as much as I possibly can... Of course I could not wear them too often as we did have several months of temperatures that did not reach above 15 degrees Fahrenheit. But now that the sun is shining almost everyday and I also have pulled them out of a packed box, I am wearing them as much as possible. Those sandals are going to be able to tell a life story! I am looking forward to it!

So here is to being able to make this blog a success.
Here is to being an Army wife.
Here is to walking in a pair of white rainbows.