Day 348: I'm HOME!!!

(Photo courtesy of Jake Lowary & The Leaf-Chronicle)

Day 333: That JUST HAPPENED!

Yes, "shake n bake!" Another earthquake just happened!

Day 328: Pottery

Yesterday Vince and I decided it might be our last chance to hit the bazaar together, so we headed down there for a couple hours. I've been wanting some pottery since I first laid my eyes on the cute little venue, so I finally picked up a couple pieces. I'll have to take a picture of the ones I bought when we get home. Aren't they all so pretty?

Day 327: Earthquake

It happened again! Last year we had a huge earthquake in the middle of the night that freaked me out. We hadn't had any rocket attacks yet, so that's what I thought it was. My whole room shook like crazy and everything fell off the walls. The same thing happened this time just over in the Hindu Kush mountains. I thought it was a helicopter taking off, but the vibrating got stronger and stronger and wouldn't go away for what seemed like the longest time. About an hour afterwards I saw reports on the CNN news from Kabul. The guys said he's from California and has never felt anything like it. I just imagine those pictures of California where houses fall into giant pits and slide off hillsides and start huge fires. Luckily we don't have any mansions to fall into holes, but I do have a little shack that might disappear if a whole did open up! EEK!

Day 311: Long Time No Blog

Okay, so I'm sure you've guessed by now that I'm back in Afghanistan. Since coming back over here it's been a whirlwind of getting things ready to ship home. I also left my camera back there at home, so I don't have any pictures to share. I mailed three big trunks home yesterday too. Two of those were my scrappin' supplies. I feel totally lost without all my crafty things around me. I have just four days left to move out of my room and into the tents on the other side of the base. I'm really not looking forward to that. The buses only run once an hour at night, so it's really going to be annoying having to plan my day around a sparse bus route. I'm already working 12-14 hours a day. I'm exhausted, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Day 274: She Gets Me

O-M-G! Look what Chelsea did! We totally ransacked Hobby Lobby yesterday with our coupons. I'm so proud! :-) I love having someone in the family that I can go on and on to about how cute buttons and ribbons can be. She gets me!

Thank You, Liz

P.S. Thank you for this, Liz! You're an amazing woman and blog buddy! HUGS! (Check out Liz's blog here. She has a SUPER CUTE class coming up.)

Day 268: Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

Someone needs a hair cut and has way too many toys... Ahhh.... much better. I just wish she'd sit still for the picture.

Day 267: Back to School

Remember when I took Sam to school last year? She's still making goofy faces when I snap pictures, but other than that she looks SOOOO different from her picture last year. She's taller than me now! It's hard to believe. Picking her up from school is one of my favorite things to do when I'm home. Popie drove us to school this time, so I played photographer on the way.

Look at all the crap she has to bring with her. Today she took FOUR bags!

And my jet-lagged super model passenger pose:

Day 266: Little Camel

Check out the little camel I brought back.

Day 265: Flowers

Vince sent me flowers today in every shade of PINK! Isn't he the sweetest? I miss him so much it makes me feel sick.

Day 264: I'm Pooped

I feel like I'm time traveling when I go through so many time zones. It really makes me so sleepy. I hear it takes one full day to adjust for every hour difference you change. If that's the case I'll spend my entire R&R sleeping. I'm so glad I have this world clock feature on my iPod. I feel like I don't even know what day it is any more. I'm POOPED!

Day 263: Kuwait to Germany

Ugh! It was so hot and humid in Kuwait this morning. Between the super cold tents we slept in (for three hours) and the hot wet air outside I just couldn't stop wheezing. It made me a little nervous, but I had my inhaler on hand. The aid station isn't manned 24/7, so I really had no choice anyhow. We all had to meet back up in the morning to get information on our flights and the customs process. After the meeting I went to Subway for something to take along with me including these ketchup flavored chips.

During the meeting they asked for volunteers. Of course no one wanted to, so stuck my hand up and made my way to the sign in sheet. I found out that I'd volunteered for "push duty". That meant that I was directing traffic in the customs area and on the air plane. That's not too bad. I thought it might be for something more awful. They rewarded the volunteers with first class seating on the plane later, so it was well worth it. It was during my customs inspection that I discovered all the little notes that Vince had hidden among all of my things. After customs we made our way through a long maze where they kept us in confinement for hours until it was time to load the buses headed for the plane. The bus ride was super long and cramped with no bathroom, but once we got on the plane I quickly fell asleep. In no time we were in Germany where we all got off for a couple of hours while the plane refueled, changed crews and restocked. I also refueled with a semi-yummy "hot dog".

Next stop.... U.S.A.!

Day 262: Afghanistan to Kuwait

Well, I just made it to Kuwait. I've only completed the first leg of my trip back home for R&R, but I'm already sick of traveling. At least we can unload our heavy and bulky body armor here. They even have a McDonald's, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut and donut shop. I haven't eaten at McD's in YEARS. I just never was at the top of my list, but I was drawn straight to it here.

P.S. It was 135 degrees here today!

Day 258: Hello Card

Cardstock: Bazzill; Pattered Paper: Scenic Route; Ribbon: American Crafts; Button: Creative Cafe; Floss: Karen Foster; Cardstock Sticker Strip: Scenic Route; Alpha Stickers: Paper Trunk; Border Punch: Fiskar's

Day 257: Scrap Strip A2

And one more made with scrap strips....

Day 256: Scrap Strip Mini

I had a ton of little scraps, so I just HAD to make another scrap strip card. After cutting two A2 card bases from a sheet of 12x12 there's always a strip left over to make a mini.

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Ribbon: American Crafts; Flowers: Prima; Button & Gems: Craft Supply; Floss: Karen Foster

Day 255: Butterfly in Lemonade

I just loved the butterfly from the card a couple days ago so much I made the card in Lemonade (Basic Grey).

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Ribbon: American Crafts; Flower: Prima; Floss: Karen Foster; Button: Etsy; Brads: Basic Grey; Gems: Craft Supply; Butterfly Die Cut: Making Memories Slice

Day 254: Happy Birthday, Vince!

Day 253: Butterfly in Eva

Just about EVERYTHING in this card is from Liz. I really hope she likes it!

Day 252: Celebrate Card

Celebrate Card

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Scenic Route; Ribbon: American Crafts; Buttons: Basic Grey; Floss: Karen Foster; Border Punch: Fiskar's; RubOn: Scenic Route

Day 251: Thank You Card

Thank You Card

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, RubOn: Scenic Route; Ribbon: Craft Supply; Buttons: Creative Cafe, Basic Grey; Floss: Karen Foster; Marker: Stampin Up!

Day 250: Mini Cards

Mini 3x3 Cards

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, RubOns, Chipboard: Scenic Route; Ribbon: American Crafts; Floss: Karen Foster; Buttons: Basic Grey, Etsy; Alpha Stickers: Paper Trunk; Border Punch: Fiskar's

Day 249: Happy Birthday Card

Day 248: Thank You Card

Day 247: Hi Card

Day 246: My Turn

I figure that I'd better post a card since Vince is starting to hog my blog. That sounds like a good scrapbook layout... "Vince the Blog Hog". He always gets more comments than I do too. He says I'm jealous... :-) Anyway, I've started to make a collection of cards for the lovely Liz. She's a super awesome sweet lady that has "adopted" me for my deployment. Now that gives Vince something to be jealous about. Neener! Neener! Neener!

Day 245: Poker Card

Vince is on a roll. He made another card. He even takes the photos for his cards. He thinks he's sooooooo professional now. His head is getting huge. I have to remind him that he's not a big deal like me until he gets published too. LOL! Wait 'til he reads this.... :-)

Day 244: Man-Crafts

Even a man will start to craft out here. It's THAT boring! :-D

Day 243: Embellishment Jars

Okay, so they're not really supposed to be embellishment jars, but Vince made it so. They had (Renuzit) potpouri in them originally. The tops are cut out to release the scent, so Vince fashioned fun fabric under the lid to keep my little buttons from falling out. I really love them! Aren't they the cutest!?

Day 242: Free Hugs

Look at what Vince made...

Day 241: Laugh Out Loud Card

Man, my mojo is really working this week. I always feel more inspired when I have bright fun colors to work with though. They just make me feel good. I used my Slice to make the heart on this card. I made the photo corners by cutting a square in half for both pieces then used my corner rounder for the scallops before off-setting and adhering them to the card.

Day 240: Congratulations Card

I'm in love with these little flower buttons and this paper.

Day 239: Happy Birthday... DAD!

Day 238: Cupcake Card

Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday, so I felt like making a cute cupcake card. I drew it in pencil directly onto the patterned paper and cut it out before applying it with dimensional adhesive.

Day 237: Love Ya

I made this card for Vince a couple of nights ago. The lace cardstock is really a glittery red, but I didn't have anything to really go with it, so I flipped it over and used plain ol' white. I think it "goes" much better now. I adhered little green stickers to the blue flower, and I drew a border and sentiment on the tiny tag by hand. I drew a fresh scrap-sketch for a challenge last night too, but I need to go over it with a marker before I can take a picture. Are you ready?

Day 236: Hey Card

I'm really on a card kick! The border on this card was part of a pre-cut set of border strips. I think they're from Bazzill. Marie sent me the ribbon on this one along with a package of SU! cardstock. She's an SU! demonstrator, so check out her site. There's always a special of some sort going on. Her hubby is deployed over here somewhere. She has her hands full with the little ones at home, but she still manages to do it all. She's even a fellow veteran (Air Force), so you gotta love her!

Day 235: Birthday Girl Mini

I had a ton of tiny little strips of paper left over from my projects, so I came up with a few sketches that allowed me to use little strips and bits. The one below is a mini (3"x3") card. I think I'll make an entire set with the strips of paper and ribbon leftovers as I go along. My notebook is filling up with scrap cards like this. Maybe I should do a sketch challenge. I haven't done one of those in a while... Anyone interested?

Day 234: Hi

I think I have a new love for craft cardstock (I ran out of white) and Cosmo Cricket, but I am growing a little weary of my corner rounder. I made the scalloped border with it by taking off the guard. It's the only punch I can find. I know that I brought a few other shapes, but I just can't find them. My room is only 6x8 after all!

Day 233: Queen Bee

The night shift was pretty boring at the Aid Station as usual, so I've started to bring my craft supplies. I picked this pre-printed piece of chipboard because it reminds me of Debbie. (I miss you, D!)

Day 224: Marcia's Birthday

Here's the card I made for Marcia's birthday (one of my coworkers). She turned the big 2-5! Birthdays are always crappy out here, but Vince and I tried to help a bit by baking a batch of chocolate cupcakes complete with creme cheese frosting. It was from a box, but after being here for over seven months now even boxed mix is a little bit of heaven.This picture was taken during the sun's peak on a big piece of concrete by a bunker. It's the best I could do. I actually made two other cards as well. (Can you believe it?!) I even had the Making Memories Slice sent out here. I love it! It came with one design card, but I couldn't resist ordering another one. I also ordered a couple of border punches and the Basic Grey Lemonade collection. I'm addicted to the 6x6 pads now. I really want the Eva pad along with the buttons and brads next. Mmm... my mouth is watering!

Happy Birthday... Lilly Belle!

Oh, I miss her so much! She's TWO today!

I'm Okay

I'll upload more pictures as soon as I can, but wanted to let you know I'm okay. P.S. Happy Father's Day! I love you, Dad!

Day 193: Range Day

Today we took a field trip on a couple of helicopters out to a firing range in the middle of nowhere...

Here's a picture of Vince all decked out as we waited for the birds to pick us up. We were supposed to be on the same flight. They didn't have the number of seats they originally planned to have, so we were split up.

The flight didn't take too long. Vince had the camera, so I didn't take pictures until we arrived. That's the military compound in the background. That means we're OUTSIDE the fence! Yes, I was a little nervous when they said, "Start marching!" and pointed toward the check point. I didn't think they were serious, but they were.

I didn't notice we were even at the range until we were nearly upon it since it wasn't the run-of-the-mill range I'm used to back home. They had fashioned pieces of plywood to wooden beams and placed them out some unmeasured distance from a small berm that we fired behind.

The worst part about this range was that there was neither shade nor bathroom in sight, though I think that piece of scrap is a porta potty remnant. Of course... the men had no problem turning their backs to the crowd and just whippin' it out. There were at least 25 kids out on the rocks getting closer and closer. We had to keep an eye out for them. I found it ironic that usually kids are warned about strangers, but in this case it was quite opposite. One of the Afghan military personnel eventually went out there with a stick, and they scattered. They weren't afraid of our guns, but they ran like the dickens when that guy waived a twig in the air!

This is Vince inspecting the backpack after he melted it a tad with the hot barrel of his rifle. We usually would have sandbags to prop up our weapon for the "supported" position, but as I said before... this place had nothin'. Finally, long after we'd been turned into human lobsters, the helicopters came back to pick us up. This time Vince and I were on the same helicopter seated directly across from each other. The scenery was amazing once again, and this time I captured some pictures to share with you. I only wish I could have taken you along. I've never seen such a heavenly place. Between the capped mountains lay rolling desserts cut only by wild winding rivers surrounded by the most beautiful and serene oasis. It's a place untouched by Walmarts & MTV. Herds of camels and goats checkered the landscape. Miles of Tuscan-esque rock walls separated perfectly rowed gardens of lush greenery. And not a single power line, smokestack, or cell phone tower was in sight.