It has been a while since I have posted about my past deployment to Afghanistan so I decided to take some time to revamp one of my letters home. I added a few extra details and I hope you enjoy reading it.

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The letter originally sent home in September 2010.

I just wanted to send another quick update from Afghanistan.  We have been starting to wind things down.  One of my top priorities for this week was cleaning out my desk.  I realized how much good food I have accumulated from all the care packages everyone sent and have been trying to eat as much as possible.  This sadly isn’t too difficult since we don’t have cooks anymore and it seems as though the Forward Operating Base is slowly running out of food.  No worries, I have enough food to last me until I leave and will still have a great stockpile for the new team. (Eventually, we did get cooks, but they rationed our food. I always left hungry and I am a small girl, most of the guys on our team were starving. Luckily, there was food sent from family and friends, somehow we made it through it)

Another thing I have been working on is trying to get more documentation done so our replacements can know as much as they can in our short turnover with them.  We know that we will miss some stuff, but we are hoping to be able to clear up as many problems as we can to make the transition smooth.  Our replacements should be here soon. I am looking forward to being back in the states.  I don’t have the official date that I am leaving yet, but I might be home by early Nov.

I can’t wait to see my husband.  I won’t get to see him until Thanksgiving, but I’m looking forward to some downtime in New Mexico with friends. (My friend picked me up at the airport and was so busy working on a welcome home sign she lost track of time and was late. She made up for it though a week or so later by throwing a surprise welcome back/birthday party with another friend. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I was totally surprised and felt very loved.). I also am looking forward to seeing everyone who is still at Holloman.  A lot of my friends have already left to move on to bigger and better things, but I can’t wait to see everybody else who is still there and to make new friends in the short time I am there. (People kept running into me at work saying, oh you are the new Lieutenant, I had been gone for over a year and there had been so much turn over that most people did not know who I was.)

Another exciting thing that is coming up is my birthday.  Last year, I “celebrated” my birthday learning Dari all day and then going to a Mexican restaurant with my new Provincial Reconstruction Team.  I hope this year is more memorable (See note above, it was). Not to say last years wasn’t, they made me wear a sombrero while everyone sang happy birthday and then the waiter shoved desert in my mouth, but didn’t mind that he missed and got it all over my face, but at least this year I don’t have a deployment awaiting me shortly after. Sorry, I don’t have any pictures.

I guess the good news, is that I have started aggressively working out again.  I have been mainly running on the treadmill. It is hard to run outside because of all the rocks.  I have made my way up to four miles.  3.75 yesterday, 4 today! So that is kind of exciting and a good accomplishment.  I guess I could run farther if I ran slower, but four miles is good enough for me right now.  I also have been working on push-ups and I am slowly getting better.  I will definitely be ready for the Physical Fitness Test (after returning home from a deployment Air Force members must take a physical fitness test within 60 days from returning home, I took my test in December with no issues passing).