Fun in Iraq

Aren't self-portrait pictures the best?  This was before the Hash Run last Sunday...it was blazin' hot (go figure...it is July in Iraq!) and ended up being a fun time (at least for me because I drove the "beer" truck).  It has been a long 6 months out here, but I have had a lot of fun.  I can't say that I will miss Iraq, because I definitely won't.  When I leave here in about a week, I will be happy as a clam.  But, it will be a bit bittersweet because I will not only be leaving Iraq, I will be leaving this unit.  Because when I get home, I go to a new unit.  The people I have worked with in the past three years have been awesome.  I have made some amazing friends and I know I will keep in touch and see them again in the future.  

Operation Baking Gals, The Roundup

I wrote a while back about the article that was written on Operation Baking Gals where I was interviewed.  Well, I have finally gotten a chance to sit down and write a post that thanks all of the lovely ladies that took time to send me a package!  If you haven't checked it out yet, please look into Operation Baking Gals and if the mood strikes you, participate.  Baked goods are the best thing you can get in the mail while deployed...I know from experience!

These treats were from Audrey.  The cookies were so good...you can never go wrong with chocolate chip!
These cookies and drink mixes were from Martha.  Everything was delicious, but the lemon shortbread cookies were my absolute favorite!  They turned out perfect!
These cookies were from Patricia!  They were all so good and these were the cookies we "modeled" with for the picture for the article (too bad you can't see the picture online...only in the actual paper).
I don't know if Mary knew that snickerdoodles were my favorite cookie of all time, but it made my day to get these in the mail.  And it was easy to share them since they were individually wrapped!
This is the first of two pictures of goodies from the creator of Operation Baking Gals, Lyndsay!  So much good stuff, but my favorite was in the second picture.
Lyndsay has perfected the art of mailing cookies with these little vacuum sealed packages.  It was a toss up between the cut out cookies and the biscotti which was my favorite on these!
These gems are from Susan.  Holy cow...there were these mochachino bars that were to die for in here!  They tasted like tiramisu, only in bar form.  SO GOOD!
This package was from Courtney.  So many yummy treats (and she included the recipes!).  I can't wait to make the oatmeal struesel cookies when I get home.  The chocolate chunk macadamia nut cookies were a hit with everyone too!
Suzanne sent these awesome brownies...all individually wrapped.  They lasted about ten minutes once I put them out on the table we place stuff out to share.  They were great!
Finally, these were from Karen and her daughter Kayla, who added a great picture she colored for me of Winnie the Pooh!  These were so tasty and the cinnamon coated lucky penny cookies were my favorite.  The No Bake Cookies reminded me of my sister...she loves those!

So that is the wrap up!  A special thank you to all of these lovely ladies!  The Marines and Sailors of my unit were so appreciative and enjoyed the goodies so much!  Thanks again and if you have the ability, please consider participating in this group.  You can make a huge difference in the lives of those deployed by just baking a batch of cookies!

Less than two weeks!

This is the face of someone who knows that she will get to leave Iraq in less than two weeks...happy, don't you think?

Hashing

Happy 4th of July! Sorry I sort of fell off the face of the earth the past week or so. Things have been super duper crazy here and since I am in the process of getting ready to head home in a few weeks (less than three!) I have had little time to do stuff. However, I did get my hash name. I participate in Hash runs here and hope to continue when I get home. If you are interested in finding out what Hashing is, check out here. Well, my name is "Sleazy Bake Oven". I love my name! After you are named, you are covered in flour and beer (or near beer in our case)...hence the above picture. It is a rather interesting tradition, but fun none the less. I totally smelled like bread when it was all over! :)

I hope that everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! Have a drink for me!

Operation Baking Gals

Have you heard about Operation Baking Gals?  If you haven't, you need to.  They are a great group of people who like to send service members treats.  And lets be honest, as a deployed service member, this is a group I can whole-heartily stand behind!  I was privileged to have been picked this past round to receive said baked goods.  I have a post with all of the goodies coming soon...however, I had to share this article with you first.

I was contacted by the founder of Operation Baking Gals and she asked if I would mind being interviewed for an newspaper article about the group.  Of course I said sure and then I realized it was the newspaper from the town where I am stationed in NC!  The article ran today and you can read it here.  

If you want to participate in Operation Baking Gals, just check it out here.  Speaking from the receiving end of this group, it is a very appreciated!

Sandstorm Extraordinare

A few days ago, we had the mother of all sandstorms.  To express how bad it was, these photos were taken at 5 pm.  Seriously, it should have been very bright and sunny still.  It was that dark because of sand!  It was super windy and the sand was so thick you could barely see anything outside.  The color in the photos is exactly the color it was outside.  It came on top of us so quickly and stuck around for a while.  This was probably the worst sandstorm we have experienced since I have been in Iraq.  So of course I need to take advantage of this photographic opportunity.  The picture above is of me and my lovely friends Andy and Luke.  Please note Luke's pained expression (he is the one on the left).  It was horrible being out in that sand for even a few minutes!
This picture is from the side of our work building.  It was so bad when I went out to take this picture I didn't even know what I was taking a picture of!  It isn't blurry, it is just the sand that is dulling everything around.  I did brave the sandstorm to go to dinner that night.  What I will do for food!

Care Packages, Care Packages Everywhere!

I have been remiss in posting about care packages recently, so this is a three posts in one kind of post.  The first care package is from my lovely friend Christine.  She sent me a package at Easter as well.  This package included some of my favorite Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers, some super wonderful shampoo and conditioner, and some financial magazines.  It was a very thoughtful package and I am looking forward to getting to spend some time with her on one of my stops of my cross country road trip in a few months.  Thank you Christine!
The second care package is from my lovely and wonderful friend Pam.  Pam and I have been friends for eight years and she totally knows me, which is evidenced in this care package!  It not only included some yummy homemade cookies, drink mixes, beef jerky and yogurt raisins, it also had a bunch of girly stuff too!  The pedicure stuff (to include nail polish, yeah!), the Bath and Body Works travel size bottles and the magazines are all so me.  And she also gave me a gift certificate for my new Kindle.  Totally awesome and sweet care package.  Thank you so much Pam and I hope we can see each other soon!  
The final package is from my Soldier's Angel, Molly.  This is the second care package I have received from Molly as well.  Molly and I have emailed throughout my deployment and she is such a great lady.  This care package was full of yummy food from a little store near her house in Texas.  I shared most of these goodies with the Marines and they were finished in no time.  Thank you so much Molly for all of your support this deployment and for such wonderful goodies!

A funny thing happened on the way to the...

...bathroom.  But I'll get to that story in a second.  First, I have been in "hiding" the past few days.  Well not really.  I have just been hostaged by my newest electronic addition.  I buckled and bought a Kindle.  I got it last weekend (finally!) and have been reading like a crazy lady ever since.  I am currently addicted to the "Twilight" series.  I am on the last book and don't want it to end!  I never thought I would like these books, but I am totally a Twilighter now!  I can't wait for "New Moon" to come out in theaters!

Second...it is freakin' hot here.  Like today it was 119 degrees.  And I still feel the need to run outside.  Because I am insane.  Totally insane.  And you don't sweat outside when you run.  And then you come inside and you sweat your entire run in about five minutes.  Gross.  I miss humidity.  Seriously.

Finally I am just sick of Iraq!  I have about five weeks until I go home and it can't come fast enough.  I am still having fun and enjoying myself, but I miss home.  I miss my house, my cat, my family.  I miss my kitchen and good food and weekends off.  Okay, enough whining.  I'll be home before I know it.  Now onto the story.

The picture above is of a gecko.  They are EVERYWHERE here, especially at night.  They scurry around outside the buildings and apparently they eat bugs.  I don't really care about that.  I just think they are creepy.  Even though they are only about four inches long or so, I freak if they get too close to me.*

I woke up the other morning and stumbled to the bathroom.  I was still half asleep and walked up to the sink.  I looked down and there was a gecko in the sink.  I don't know about you, but things like this affect me more when I am half asleep and can't process it quickly enough.  My heart started beating in my chest a million miles a minute and my hands started to shake.  I do not do well with creatures.  At.  All.

Knowing that geckos will play dead when they are "threatened" **, the thing just sat in the sink.  I looked around for something to capture it with.  As much as I don't like creatures, I can't even fathom killing them either.  Don't try to make sense of it...anyway, they only thing I could find was a tampon box.  I dumped the tampons out and then tried to convince the gecko to get in the box.  And yes, I talked to it trying to convince it to get in the box.  Whatever.

The gecko wanted none of the box.  Nothing.  It started to move around and try to get out of the sink but the slope of the sink kept it from getting out.  Finally it went down the drain.  It was butt end up and the tail was within my reach.  I said a prayer and reached for it.  All of a sudden, the gecko disappeared down the drain and part of its tail remained in my hand.  Once my heart started beating again, I dropped the tail part in the sink, shuddered a lot, swore, scrubbed my hands, made sure the tail went down the drain and then left the water on.  I was going to "assist" the gecko down the drain.

I went about my business of getting ready and the water continued to run.  About five minutes into this, I turned around to grab something.  When I turned back to the sink, the gecko was in it again.  And of course, this surprised me and I yelped.  Then I just felt guilty for having the water run, brushing my teeth and washing my hands all while it was being covered in the water!  I turned off the water and tried to capture it in the tampon box again.  Well, this time it launched off the tampon box and off the sink onto the floor.  After more talking to it, I finally was able to corner it, get it in the box, allow it to play dead, and take it outside.  I don't know who was more traumatized by the entire event...me or the partially tail-less gecko!***

*Please just try to forget that I am a Marine Corps Captain currently deployed to Iraq when you picture me screeching and running from a four inch gecko.  This does not do good things for the image of the Marine Corps.  :)

**I guess a six foot tall girl swearing and freaking out "threatens" a four inch gecko.

***Did I mention they are four inches long?  I did?  Okay, just want to make sure you realize how ridiculous it is that I am afraid of them.  Because I totally am!

Yeah for concerts!

A few nights ago, "Stars and Stripes" hosted a concert here and it was the first one I went to.  It was outside, so it was HOT (even though it was after dark), but it was a great time and and I am so glad to have gone.  So, want to know who it was that I saw in concert?
Country singer Joe Nichols!  It was so cool.  I stood in line for about an hour to get my picture taken with him and get an autograph.  It was totally worth the wait.