Summer Evening Treat

The best dessert? S'mores and stories around the firepit.

The End of the Season

The blackeberries are becoming scarce as there are just a few sunny evenings left for me to enjoy with Pepper. Our evening walks have become one of the favorite parts of my day.

Appreciating the Mornings

There are days that getting out of bed seems like an impossible task. Days I absolutely do not want to go to work. This is new a new experience for me.

This week's goal: trying to find an image of beauty each day. There has to be something amazing out there each day. I might not share it with you, but know that I am looking for it.

Today, it was standing at the edge of the harbor with my friend Rachel looking out over the boats before heading off to church.

9/11 Heroes 5k

(click the pic for an article on the run)

A good friend and colleague MAJ Rachel Park came up to Seattle from El Paso for the weekend. She is someone who knew me from before my multiple deployments. She remembers me from when I was a rockstar at my job. It was nice to get to spend time with someone that knows who I really am since I feel like I have lost that after this past year.

While she was here we ran the 9/11 Heroes 5k up in Mercer Island on Saturday. Just saying, my morning trips to the gym 5-days a week are paying off.... (click the image to get more info)

Happy Birthday!!!

Welcome to the world Kelsea Quinn. All 7 pounds and 10 ounces!

I cannot wait to see all the adventures that these little perfect feet are going to take you on...

One Year Ago Today

Nearly 80 NATO troops wounded in attack in Afghanistan
By Ernesto Londono, The Washington Post Sunday, September 11, 5:51 PM

KABUL — Two Afghan civilians were killed and nearly 80 NATO soldiers were wounded after a truck packed with explosives hidden under firewood rammed into the entrance of a military base in eastern Afghanistan, military officials said Sunday.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attack. In a statement on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the militant group said Afghans became the biggest victims of response to the attacks.

“It will remain a permanent stigma on the face of Western democracy that America and her allies martyred tens of thousands of Muslims under the pretext of this ambiguous and murky event,” the statement said.

The bombing in Wardak Province happened at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, amid heightened alert in Afghanistan over the possibility that extremists would use the anniversary to launch spectacular attacks.

NATO said in a statement Sunday that the explosion damaged the perimeter wall ringing the base and a maintenance facility, but protective barriers around the site “absorbed most of the explosion.” NATO officials said 25 Afghans and 77 foreign soldiers had been treated for “non-life threatening injuries.” The base that came under attack is controlled by U.S. troops.

The attack was carried out in the same province where 30 NATO troops were killed last month when the Chinook transport helicopter they were traveling in was shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul held a commemoration ceremony for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks early Sunday.

“What happened here in Afghanistan and in the United States 10 years ago has joined our two nations forever in a common cause,” Ambassador Ryan Crocker told attendees, according to a summary of his remarks provided by the embassy. “Afghan soil must never again be used by elements that would use terror to attack the people of America, Afghanistan and the international community.”

Special correspondent Sayed Salahuddin contributed to this report.

 

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I watched all this happen. It was my day to be the OIC of Operations. As I monitored different sources of intellegence, I saw the initial 9-line MEDEVAC request for this event. Then, not yet knowing what had happened, I watched the number of patients grow exponentially. None of us had ever seen an event of this size. US Military aircraft and medical teams were launched from all over Afghanistan to respond.

 

I sat painfully behind a desk awaiting mission authority to launch our crews. Mission authority was never given. Our MEDEVAC unit was one of the few units left in the entire region that was still eligible to fly after this event. Already on alert, our teams were ready for whatever else might come.

Stevenson, WA

 

Hello Burdines!!!!

Still Growing

During this last year I did things that I never new I could. I saw things that I never want to see again. I had only my knowledge and my gut instinct to rely on. I saw the worst of humanity for a solid 12 months. 

 

While I may not have been the one pulling the trigger, I have forever been changed by the things I have done and saw.

 

I have a lot of recovery ahead of me. There is a lot for me to learn...about what happened, about my anger, rediscovering who I am, about coping. This process has started. It is slow, but it has started.

When I first returned home, my leadership was very patient with me and demonstrated that they understood that I came home changed. I feel like this has changed. I can't really put my finger on it yet, but something is going on...

 

I don't feel like I am part of the team. But after Friday afternoon's conversation, I think there might a light at the end of the tunnel (and this time it might not be the oncoming train that keeps hitting me).

 

I don't believe I will be able to return to who I was before this past year. But I believe that the person that I am learning to be will be even better. Before this past deployment, I was leaving behind small footprints. My goal is to take what I am learning and use it to help fellow Army Nurse Corp Officers. I am going to be leaving behind bigger footprints. I am going to get better and I am going to make a difference!

Rodeo

I could not believe that Brooke had never been to a rodeo. Growing around horses I just assumed she had been to one. Well, yesterday and today there was a small town rodeo not far from where we live. I think my favorite part was watching the 8-year-old ride the mini bull. Oh, and he RETIRED from sheep at the age of 7...

Looks like she had a good time!