anniversary (take some caffeine for this one)

No, this isn't my wedding anniversary in case you were wondering. Nine years ago I arrived in Great Lakes, IL as a Navy "recruit". I showed up with longer hair, no facial hair, no tattoos, no money, no car, no wife, no children, no education, no real knowledge of anything outside of Nebraska, and no credible experience with life. Nine years later, I have a beautiful wife and two loving children, two "luxury" cars (hence, still not much money), about half of a bachelor's degree, five tattoos, I've traveled Europe and now the Middle East, after being arrested twice (including Navy shore patrol once)- I consider myself quite street saavy, and unfortunately, I have to shave twice per day. I'll give you a brief accountance of the last nine years now...

After graduating Recruit Training Command (and getting meritoriously advanced) in January of 1999, I headed to the much more enjoyable climate of San Diego for all of my sonar basic and technical schools. I was overwhelmed here - I have never had to memorize so many numbers in my entire life. Even now, I wish I could forget them and clear my head for some information that I will actually use. Being a sonar technician is a lost art... I think during the Cold War, it would've been the most exciting job ever. It's not that I want an escalation of submarine threats to emerge, but I would surely be a lot busier and more involved if it should. I bought my first car in San Diego as an E-3 from a shady dealership on the "Mile of Cars". I had an 18.99% interest rate (if I recall correctly) on a 1993 Honda del Sol. Yes, it was a "chick car", but since they first appeared on the market in 1992, I believe, I had always wanted one. It was a good car. When it was time to "choose" orders at the end of my training, I remember desperately wanting to go to Japan. Well, "Needs of the Navy" ordered me to the USS Deyo DD-989 out of Norfolk Virginia.

I drove the del Sol to Norfolk in May of 2000 only to my surprise that my ship wasn't there. If I had arrived a week earlier, I would have been with the crew as it visited New Orleans for Fleet Week - definitely a good time. Looking back, I'm glad I wasn't there, or else my tally of involvement with the law would probably be three instead of two. In case you haven't figured it out, I was a young, dumb, and stupid sailor just trying to fit in. On the Deyo I completed two six-month Mediterranean deployments and finally decommissioned her in 2003. Honestly, it's sad to think about it. I will never be on a Spruance class destroyer again; no one will. I made the best friends of my life there. For one, Brian Miller, who was my old roommate and got in trouble with me a lot; and two, Jason Farmer, who was only on the ship for a short while. Brian was unique because you know that old saying or whatever where people say: it sucks working with your roommate because you see each other all day and then you see each other all night, and you just get tired of each other. Or even the fact that most people don't get along with their roommates at all. Brian was the exception to that. We were thick as thieves. We did everything together when we were roommates. We'd take turns ordering Denny's take-out while recovering from the night before. He was supposed to be the best man in my wedding, but the "Needs of the Navy" sent him to Iraq. He is still Gabriel's godfather though, and he'll always be a best friend. Jason amazed me more than anything - it could be a number of reasons why. When he got to the ship, I was senior to him and he "worked for me". Not really. We worked in the same workcenter and I was the supervisor. He was the only one I never had to get on about not doing anything. You could always find him doing what needed to be done. He needed no direction. It appeared that he already had planned out the rest of his life. Sure, he complained about things, but it was the same stuff I complained about - usually our boss, Jim. He was a whiz with computers, but wasn't a "nerd". He was actually in the Navy SEALs program until some sand or something scratched his cornea and he got booted. We're still good friends to this day, and he is the godfather of Kaeleb. Always a best friend.

I met my wife, Jennifer, about a week into my course of training that would eventually send me to St. Mawgan, UK. One of the best things about her is that she always wants to be around me. I never thought I had that magnetic of a personality, but hey, who's complaining? Not me. I remember the day Lord of the Rings part 3 came out in the theater. (I'm a huge LotR geek, by the way) I asked her last minute if she would want to go with me to the midnight showing of the film, and without hesitation she made the hour-plus drive from North Carolina to come see me. I still don't think she likes the films, but bares with me as I'm always reminding her of how super badass they are.

I was stationed at Royal Air Force Base St. Mawgan in April of 2004. I can't say a whole lot of good things about this place based on my experience. RAF St. Mawgan is in the "West Virginia" of England. County Cornwall is the very southwest county in England... farmland. Everyone else called it the West Virginia - it kind of reminded me of Nebraska. More than anything, I renewed my interest in soccer, and became an avid supporter of Newcastle United. Newcastle is an unfortunate club who always seems to be lost in "midtable obscurity". To all you non-footballers, that term means that they are traditionally one of the most average clubs in the English Premiership. They never fare any better than 6th or 7th place, but never worse than 14th. I didn't travel nearly as much as I'd liked to. I did make it up to Liverpool a few times to visit some good friends, and then to Gillingham once to go to some big club, which turned out to be a dive. I also appreciate a good lager (warm or cold) more than I ever had before. November of 2004, Gabriel was born and I was extremely happy to be able to make it back to the States for that event.

I left England on May 2nd of 2006, and got married four days later. Thank you to those of you that could make it. I do not fault anyone for not being present. I know it was not a good time to get married and expect people to be there with it being graduation time, and finals, and all of that. Jen and I honeymooned to St. Thomas. We had an amazing time while still getting sunburned to the point of agony. Ensure your bottle of sunscreen says 5 hour protection... NOT SPF 5.

I returned to Great Lakes, IL in June of 2006 to become an instructor. My arriving in Great Lakes was topsy turvy because my original orders got cancelled and shifted to Norfolk again... and then changed again to go to Great Lakes. I honestly did not want to go back to Illinois. I saw that nothing good could come out of it. I noticed I was totally wrong about four months into my tour. I really, really enjoy instructing. I'm not sure if it's because I'm teaching sailors right out of boot camp, or if it's the environment where I can tell sea stories that have meaning behind them, or if I'm just happy because of my good life. I can't figure it out. I was one of the lead instructors for the Navy's brand new school called Surface Common Core. I teach maintenance, linehandling, first aid, and CPR. I think since it's such a diverse curriculum, it never gets boring - I really enjoy it. In March of this year, Jennifer and I had our second boy, Kaeleb.

And that brings us to now... Baghdad. I volunteered at first, but then got turned down, and then my command submitted my name again (involuntarily), and here I am. Nine years in the Navy, and I've gotten a wider range of qualifications than most people will get in an entire career - I'm a Surface Warfare Specialist, Undersea Surveillance Specialist, Master Training Specialist, and if I'm lucky out here, I can get my Fleet Marine Force qualification, and maybe my Expeditionary Warfare qualification. I doubt that will happen, as I'm not that lucky. I'm a relatively smart person, but I can't figure out how I can finagle(sp?) that.

Nine years... wow. Jennifer and I have decided that we are getting out of the Navy when my current enlistment is expired. Yes, I said "we". No, Jen is not active duty. She is in the Navy with me. I don't want to be away from my family any more. I missed Gabe's birthday on the 13th. Yes, I cried of course. He's getting so big and smart - I just don't want to miss that development. Sonar Technicians are seagoers... our job is at sea, not on shore - so I'm guaranteed to go to a ship again, and do more six-month deployments. I figure that if I do 20 years in the military, I will do at least five more sea deployments, and probably another tour over here in the Middle East. That's at least three years of family time I can't get back. I love serving my country, but I love my family too. There's only two ways that I'd talk to Jen about possibly staying in the Navy - either I make Chief in the next two years, or I get selected for an officer program. If I can just change my uniform to khaki, I'll try to make a go of it. As it stands now, Jen and I are currently looking at and pricing homes in the mountain areas. In particular, Colorado, Utah, and (yes, Darby) Idaho. We want to relax and get away from things, and have a yard for the kids and our mastiff. We want to live somewhere that won't break our account, and will provide us with terriffic scenery. I had always thought about going back to the East Coast where Jen is from (North Jersey), but I would like to live closer to my family, and because she loves me so much, she's agreeing (right now). The other problem is finding a job. I've decided to follow my Uncle Tim's advice and get the bachelor's degree that will come easy for me. I need to find an interesting occupation in electronics now while I work on my Master's in something else!

On my ninth anniversary (almost sounds like that "Days of Christmas" song), the mailman brought to me a load of packages. Pam and Tim: I received your package. Thank you for all that Fruit by the Foot! I haven't had it in ages, and it's delicious. The puzzle was interesting. I'm going to take it to work and hopefully watch the officers struggle (No offense to the relatives who are officers). I made short work of it, but I noticed it was an "easy" one, so I'm not bragging. I also received two packages from a church group in La Vista, NE. Thank you! I think that group has in their mind that I'm actually living in the desert with no sanitation system in place. I received well over 400 wet wipes to take a "shower" with. Thank you again, but these are not necessary. I have a quality shower facility that allows me to take showers every day (not always hot water). This means a lot to receive things from people I've never met. I can never repay you. Perhaps I'll write a letter back. Finally, I received all of my guitar gear. I took a picture of it, but I can't upload it until tomorrow apparently due to the bandwidth issues. I already have sore fingertips from holding unfamiliar strings in incorrect postions. I'm working on it! I don't have a release date for my debut album, but if I don't stop typing and start practicing, I never will. Thanks for your patience in reading this...errrr..... YOU CAN WAKE UP NOW!!!

-C