Blog
Who Is Your Person?
November 23, 2024 No CommentsEach year on Memorial Day, I dress the kids up in red, white and blue and we go to the Moultry Chapel Cemetery in West Township for the ceremony and service. One year I gave the speech. One year my dad gave the speech. This year my brother will give it. Each year during the […]
Read MoreFamily First
November 23, 2024 4 CommentsIf you know me, you know I LOVE being a mother. In fact, when I was working at the Pentagon and only had two children, they were conducting the background interviews for my clearances. Following a day of interviews as I walked the man to the exit door he turned to me and said, “You […]
Read MoreBombs and Earthquakes
November 23, 2024 2 CommentsIt took me until today to understand why when people asked me the question, “Well is it what you expected?” My answer was always “No.” I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about Resolute Support Headquarters, Kabul, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan in general – but it just wasn’t what I imagined. Today I […]
Read MoreA Priceless Gift
November 23, 2024 2 CommentsWe rounded the corner of yet another of the cement/shipping container buildings as a peal of thunder sounded following some lighting we’d began to notice. I turned the group of 10 of us as encouraged everyone to just head back to the gym. We’d been walking for 45 minutes and while we hadn’t completed the […]
Read More“You Have Everything Here” – One Month Down
November 23, 2024 2 CommentsI celebrated my one-month mark in country by trying to avoid work at all costs. There are many people that get sucked into an uneven work/life balance, but here in Afghanistan the military makes it especially easy to work around the clock. The funny thing is that when you look back on the day you […]
Read MoreToday
November 23, 2024 No CommentsIt doesn’t matter if you’re in a war zone, children shouldn’t die. Today a suicide bomber woke up, strapped a bomb to himself and went to stand in line with other Afghans that were waiting to register themselves in order to vote in the elections later this year. Today a mother woke up and fed […]
Read MoreSo What Am I Doing Here Anyways? (Part 2)
November 23, 2024 No CommentsLet’s talk about my role. Many of you already know I’m a Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Navy. That means my role in the military is to tell the story – to support media seeking to embed and report on operations, to answer questions from the media and to produce content that shares what […]
Read MoreSo, What Am I Doing Here Anyway (Part 1)
November 23, 2024 No CommentsNow that I’ve been here on the ground for a few weeks I feel like I’m up-to-speed enough to describe what it is that I’m doing here for those of you who’ve been asking yourself, “What on earth is a mother of four doing in Afghanistan 17 years into a war?” I can honestly tell […]
Read MoreIt’s Never Too Late To Get In Shape…Until It Is
November 23, 2024 2 CommentsWell here is some interesting news. I’ve learned in what proved to be a very hard lesson that a person shouldn’t plan to deploy to Afghanistan and then begin their healthy eating and hard workout routine. Word to the wise, if you are going to deploy to Afghanistan do yourself a favor and get in […]
Read MoreMy First 24 Hours in Afghanistan
November 23, 2024 No CommentsI’m not sure what I expected, or what you would expect if all of the sudden you found yourself in Afghanistan, but I’m pretty sure you’d be surprised upon landing here. After traveling around the world with multiple stops and starts, last night I arrived in country. That’s right – boots on the ground in […]
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