Weekend 19 of 27

Things got a little nutty around the office last Saturday. The guys started playing baseball, lacrosse, and floor hockey with these cardboard tubes we have around and these little stuffed animals. It was hysterical!!

This is what happens on a Saturday afternoon when the bosses are out of the office for a meeting

The shenanigans continued at dinner when Blake and Kyle made fangs out of our plastic forks. It seems little silly now, but was amazingly funny at the time.

Weekend 18 of 27

Me on one of the balconies of the palace. You probably cant tell but way in the background to the right is Baghdad International Airport and the tower.

Daily reminders that we did not build this place.

I thought that after about 18 weeks i should probably show y'all how I live. There is a cubicle wall that splits my room in half (the other half is vacant since my roommate redeployed back in August).

The foot of my bed with my wall locker closet and drawers. And the awesome rug from Kristen!!

My bed with my lovely Vera bag to keep me company. Yep. That's it. That's my space.

Weekend 17 of 27

The lovely care packages I received while I was gone for a week to Qatar! Thank you to my amazing friends and family who have sent me such wonderful treats!

The Victory Over America palace. It sits just a short drive away from the palace that I work in. It apparently was one of the first targets of OIF in 2003.

Here is a short explanation of the unfinshed/bombed palace with French cranes that will probably sit there forever.

"It was then that I learned that the whole area we now refer to as the Victory Base Complex, was a retreat area for Saddam Hussein and high ranking members of the Ba’ath Party. Multiple palaces, including the Victory Over America Palace and the Victory Over Iran Palace, and the Ba’ath Party Headquarters are situated on artificial lakes. The area of Camp Victory known as strawberry hill is actually the product of moving dirty to create these lakes.

Victory Over America Palace was still under construction when the US issued its final ultimatum to Saddam and his sons on March 17, 2003. The cranes we see today were originally leased by French company by the Iraqi government for the construction of this palace. As the story is told around here, the French government demanded that the US disassemble and return the cranes after its bombing campaign began on March 19. The US kindly informed the French that they were welcome to come and retrieve them themselves, so here they sit 7 years later."

(taken from http://meganktlynch.com/2010/09/07/victory-over-america-declared-saddam-this-missile-believes-otherwise-replied-america/)


A cool photo from the Naturalization Ceremony with the Vice President back on 4 July. The rotunda of the palace. My office sits behind the American flag.

A cool photo of the sunrise on 1 Sep beginning Operation New Dawn.

Weekend 16 of 27 part 3 of 3

The ice skating rink at the Villagio.

On my last night in Doha I went on the Dhow Cruise. The Dhow boats are the old wooden fishing boats that were used to collect oysters. Now they are a dinner cruise tourist attraction.

The Dhow Cruise is the Doha harbor.

Me in front of the Museum of Islamic Art.

The downtown Doha skyline. What was so cool about this city was that all of the buildings had lights that were blinking or changing colors, the city really did look alive.

The Doha Sheraton. It is all the way out on the futherest point before you leave the harbor. Must be amazing views during the day.

I had a really restful and relaxing 4 days in Doha. Now, back to work...

Weekend 16 of 27 part 2 of 3

More fun at the Villagio. Every single person in this mall was beautiful. There was so much to take in... unbelievably amazing smells everywhere.... it was kind of like sensory overload.

The entrance we came in.

Yep... just your run of the mill average high end mall. If your high end mall had a canal running down the center with actual gondolas for actual gondola rides.

Yes, I stopped at the Starbucks (had to get my Starbucks Qatar mug). And yes, there was a Sephora directly across from this Starbucks. It was lovely.

Small amusement park inside the mall (there was also an ice skating rink and really, really expensive cars outside)

Me at the amusement park.

Weekend 16 of 27 part 1 of 3

This week I went to Doha, Qatar on my 4-day pass. There is an army camp there when all the folks deployed overseas can go on pass. They organize tours to some spots around Doha or you can hang out at the USP building and eat at little restaurants or watch movies, or.... sit at the coffee shop on the internet all day, like I did. There is also a pool and a Chili's!

My first meal at the USO... mmmm, it was tasty.

Driving around Doha... there were a lot of parts of it that reminded me of Los Angeles. Green grass and palm tree lined streets with hugemongous houses.

The drive from the camp into Doha was pretty beige.

More beige suburban Doha. There is a TON of construction on the outskirts of Doha.... like condo buildings that go on for blocks.

Me with Krispy Kreme (mmmmm) sitting at a fountain in the Villagio mall (more on this next...)

Weekend 15 of 27

No pictures this week. Just more of the same at work. I have been going to the episcopal/lutheran service at the chapel on Sunday afternoon and this weekend I was the reader of the lessons. I have never been the reader at church so this was huge for me. Luckily there are only about 15 people that attend the service in a very small little room with an altar and a podium so it wasn't that intimidating. I really love having that hour on Sunday afternoon. It feels homey.

Weekend 14 of 27

This week I had to go back to the IZ in Baghdad for a conference USF-I was having with the State Department. I always love a good field trip.

Another Blackhawk ride. Another view of downtown Baghdad.

This is Sheila. She is an Air Force civilian employee working protocol in the IZ. This is us with Air Force birthday cake. Happy Birthday Air Force!

Sheila and me with the staff at the conference center and the team from the Center for Creative Leadership that facilitated the conference. Such an awesome group of folks to work with!

Me. In the helicopter. With my IBA. And my awesome perscription sunglasses.

Weekend 13 of 27

Florida football!! Thanks mom for the Gator beach towel! Love it. Another Sunday, a second trip to the pool. The pool opens much earlier in the morning now and the temperature was more refreshing and less burning. It was beautiful. Plus there was pretty much nobody there so it was lovely.

Natalie, MSgt Bridges, and I at the pool.

Yummy, yummy, Nutella and ritz crackers. Just another afternoon snack.

I also had my first ever Thai (torture) massage. It felt really good on back, but I really mean is that is hurt really bad but I know it was good for me. The lady found abotu 10 knots in my upper back and neck which were incredibly painful. In fact frmo the first moment she touched my neck until the hour was over I felt like I wanted to die and cry out loud. She also stretched and twisted my body around which I did not like so much, but i know I need it.


This weekend John organized an impromptu near-beer tasting for us in the kitchen. Meaning we were all wasting time in the kitchen and we were talking about the different brands of non-alcoholic beer and John decided to have a tasting. Here I am with my near beer and my orange soda chaser because I think the near beer tastes like crap.

Natalie with Blake and John smiling big like her after drinking the nasty beer-tasting crap.

Weekend 12 of 27

I wasn't able to take any pictures at the Change of Command or during the week because it was so ridiculously busy. We had been planning for this since pretty much the day I arrived and I knew even before I got here that this would be the biggest thing I would ever work on. And it certainly was.

I have more photos that the official photographers posted, but Ill have to post them later. To read an article about the ceremony, check out the link.

http://www.usf-iraq.com/news/headlines/lion-6-out-austin-assumes-command

Anyway, our responsibilities were much greater than just the change of command ceremony itself, actually that was pretty much the easy part. Our trip planners had to manage the travel, lodging, logistics, and itineraries of the Vice President, the US Ambassador to Iraq, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the US CENTCOM Commander, and two 4 star generals and their staffs. Each of the DVs had meetings and meals with top Iraqi military and political leaders and with each other. My team was responsbile for General Odierno's award presentation, an awards ceremony for about 20 individuals, General Austin's promotion ceremony, the Change of Command ceremony... and all of that was on one day. We also had a Senior Leader Conference the next morning with 55 senior leaders from USF-I and the US Embassy in Baghdad. Needless to say, we were not without things to do.

Natalie and Blake around 11pm the night before the Change of Command folding programs that had to be re-pritned because the outside printer messed up the first batch. 600 in English, 200 in Arabic, no problem. They were our heroes!

MSgt Bridges printing seat tags for the hundreds of DVs that were attending that had reserved seats.

MSgt Bridges asleep on.... oh no, thumbtacks! Someone wake her up, quick! Sorry, it was late and everything is funnier here. But we are awesome, and we made it!

Weekend 11 of 27

There are a lot of general officers here... and I see most of them everyday hosting their meetings. One of the ones that MSgt Bridges and I really got along with was Brigadier General Pat Higgins who was the Commanding General of JFSOCC-I or the Joint Forces Special Operations Command Component-Iraq. Otherwise known as the top Special Ops Commander in Iraq and primary advisor to General Odierno on special operations. He is an amazing officer with some crazy stories. He was in Grenada in 1983 and most recently worked with an old wing commander of mine in Germany setting up US Africa Command. His tour ended this week and he had his change of command. MSgt Bridges and I attended and had to get our picture with him!

More office shenangians...

Like I have said before, sometimes we just need a break from the office. Walking across the building to the kitchen usually provides a nice escape. The guys in there always have some amazing dessert in there. Here for instance, pineapple upside down cake with Natalie and Blake...

... and with MasterChief Lofton.

Weekend 10 of 27

Sorry there aren't really that many pictures anymore. The novelty of being here has certainly weared off but I have been trying to still take pics just to show what's going on.

I think I have mentioned before but on Thursdays we (some folks in the office) head to a different DFAC further away for a change of pace we like to call Mexican Thursdays, as they serve mexican food and especially guacamole!

Here is Natalie, Kyle, and Blake on the way to Mexican Thursday!

This week we had another large conference (about 50 senior military leaders). My team is responsible for the room rsvps, room setup, refreshments, and slides.... as you can see here. We get the briefings frmo each respective agency, print out a hundred bazillion copies, and then wait for the agencies to make last minute changes so we can reprint :)

Another person goes home. Here we are at a pizza place on base for Casey's farewell!

As a side note, I attended church for the first time this weekend. They have a Episcopal/Lutheran service on Sunday afternoon with communion and everything so that is fantastic for me! I love it!

Weekend 9 of 27

My mother-in-law has been absolutely wonderful and diligent in her weekly theme boxes. They are such a treat to get and everyone in the office loves the snacks she sends. She made this amazing Gator football and weekend countdown calendar... all sorts of SEC fans left me little post-its on their games to taunt me but I took them down because I don't care about their teams :) Go Gators!!

The last couple of weekends in August we hosted photo calls for individuals to come have their picture taken with General Odierno. He was so gracious and always stood out in front of the flags until every person had their picture taken. Over three Sundays we had over 600 people stand in line for their photo. Alison and I had our chance too.

Weekend 9 was DCI World Championships for my bro and the Madison Scouts. Even though i still haven't seen their show (anyone want to send me the tour dvd?) everyone who saw it said it was amazing... I read the liveblog from Semifinals and the DCI expert who was writing it said Madison's show was the consistent crowd favorite and brought back the Madison of ole. They placed high enough to march in Finals this year and finished 10th. I haven't been able to talk to Chase at all since I left his house after he graduated from high school back in June. My mom was able to catch both him and I on skype on her phone at 4 in the morning my time so I could talk to him for three minutes before he had to be back on the field for retreat. I couldn't help but cry. I am so amazingly proud of my little broseph!!