here i go...

disclaimer: i wrote this on the 25th but our internet sucks and i had to republish it tonight. i'm staying busy and have a hard time getting sleep so hitting the bed is taking priority over trying to find an internet connection. enjoy the short blog below.


so i've made it to good ole ft. dix. after nearly a week of briefings and last checks on our deployment packets, not to mention plenty of overkill on power-point presentations (zzz), we held our mobilization ceremony. the whole buildup toward deployment had me feeling pretty down, and i'm sure i was in denial until the last minute. the idea that i won't be home nor will i see my family and friends for a year still hasn't fully sunk in. it's crazy. but the ceremony helped alleviate most of my dread and worries. going to iraq still isn't at the top of my vacation "to see" list, but hearing the army band and seeing everyone send us off helped seal the deal in my mind. i must roll with the punches and make the best of what i have to do. the hardest part was trying to keep it together while i said goodbye to my family & friends. the real emotional hit was delayed until the next morning when i had to kiss my wife/best friend one last time before boarding the plane. emotions were high and i'm sure the mere two hours of sleep didn't help.

pics

so i hope to take lots of pictures while overseas... especially since that will be my job. in addition to writing these blogs and updating you about what's going on, i hope to show you.
to see pictures check this sight:
http://picasaweb.google.com/riskitall
not all of them are mine so far, i'm still just testing out this picture sharing thing from google.

and for video i'll probably use youtube.com and just copy the link and post it in my blog.

enjoy,
kevin

Why?

So I can keep in touch with family and friends about how I'm doing in Iraq & what's going on in my head. I consider myself fairly big on communication and love staying in contact with those close to me. If nothing else... this will be a great place (Myspace free) to post my random thoughts and unusual humor to help me relay what's going on in my head. This will hopefully be useful while I'm in Iraq and will most likely see/experience things foreign if not life-changing. Writing about such things will, I hope, help keep me sane in getting it out. Too many Veterans (mostly men) keep their thoughts/emotions inside and years down the line still have PTSD. My goal is to return from overseas to my wife and life as close to the care-free person I left as.