What happens when you wish hard enough!!!

Today while teaching math I completely lost my students attention because it started SNOWING!!! Its been going all day long and we actually have SNOW!! You can't see the mountains at all and it shows NO signs of stopping...snow day?!??!

The Great Flood

Hello family and friends. It has been a week since my last entry but the time has gone by quite quickly. Refering to the subject line above...this is two fold: I am rapidly learning another aspect of my profession that I never expected to be a part of the Infantry. Fortunately I'm taking to the challenge and enjoying the never ending problems that keep presenting themselves. I however, cannot explain to you these issues just yet...yeah for operational security! Secondly it has been raining here for the last three days at about an inch a day...no drainage systems equals me skipping stones in water puddles the size of ponds in the desert. I'll post pictures when I can. It was nice to talk to most of you over the last couple of days. Love you all. RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!

TurNANkey

Our family celebrated Thanksgiving together this past weekend in Cincinnati. During dinner we had some fun with Brandon's picture! As requested, we served Brandon one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer;) He also had the honor of becoming TurNANkey with the smoked turkey that Mark spent hours cooking and injecting with juices (DELICIOUS!) Ashley and Lily made sure that he got some love, too. We love you and miss you, Nan!

Tax Dollars and Bottled Water

Many people throughout our country have been asking why our defense budget is so high. Please put the word out that the majority of our money is being spent on bottled water. That's right, the free stuff you get from streams and toilets. Since we are in the middle of the desert...literally...everything is shipped in and out daily. So, personally I am consuming about 8 bottles of water a day. There are over 5,000 people here...I'm not good at math so the answer is a lot of water bottles. Well this has been my "good morning" messege to the US. Enjoy. P.s. there is a program called "vehicle exchange" which offers discounts on American made vehicles and BMWs...about 1k-5k off depending on the model. Sparing you all the details and getting down to business, Chris put a down payment (refundable in full if he chickens out) on his dream Harley today. It's a beautiful bike, Harley Fatboy Lo in all black denim. So here's to buying a toy you can't play with for a year (but at a damn good price). Cheers.

Pictures, Yo

Far left is an image of us playing the Kuwait International Invitational. As you can see the course is primarily a sand trap but fortunately the browns (our unique version of greens) are easy to read. Today's match left Fulmer in the lead with 13, Brandon with 8 and Chris with 6. The scoring is similar to that of Bocce Ball in that the closest to the pin (typically a 1.5 liter water bottle) earns a point. The next picture is Ranger Elmo. This is him holding his boarding pass to get back on the plane in Germany. Elmo is currently sleeping and still fighting the jet lag. The next picture is (Right to left) Chris, Brandon, Andy, Randy, and Mark. We are staging for our first flight out of El Paso. We only sat there for 6.5 hours. It was a lot of fun..seriously. We are in the process of trying to figure out how to post video. Nothing Further; Spartan 4, out.

Elmo adventures...

From my conversation with Nan last night...Mark, there is a shout out for you in here!

[11/17/2009 10:17:34 PM] Brandon Andrews: i keep trying to post a picture of elmo

[11/17/2009 10:17:39 PM] Brandon Andrews: but the connection sucks

[11/17/2009 10:17:56 PM] Nichole Meurlin: that's ok. i'm happy you're taking pics. we can see them sometime along.

[11/17/2009 10:18:17 PM] Nichole Meurlin: we'll take lots of pics with elmo this weekend when we're home

[11/17/2009 10:18:33 PM] Nichole Meurlin: what have you done with elmo so far?

[11/17/2009 10:19:45 PM] Brandon Andrews: he's been with a flight attendent

[11/17/2009 10:19:48 PM] Brandon Andrews: chillin on a plane

[11/17/2009 10:20:03 PM] Brandon Andrews: attacked a security car at the germany airport

[11/17/2009 10:20:13 PM] Nichole Meurlin: hahaha

[11/17/2009 10:20:14 PM] Brandon Andrews: held my boarding pass to get on the plane

[11/17/2009 10:20:55 PM] Brandon Andrews: he's held my rifle, hung out with a chupakabra and eaten in the dining facility

1 Great Adventure 2 Bravo

Let me set the mood for you: So as I sit here listening to George Thorogood's, "One Bourboun, One Scotch, One Beer", I wish I had all three in front of me. I think it would make the operational environment so much more welcoming. But the fact of the matter is that I have none of the afore stated pleasures at my fingertips or worse, my lips. Chris is to my left deep into a book and as you can all tell I'm procrastinating. Today I drove two hours south of my current location to do a recon of a vehicle movement and upgrade process. Well I ended up getting stuck on the post there for 2 hours due to a dust storm. Quite an uneventful day. Yesterday we purchased two collapsable golf clubs and cylindrical practice "balls" and devised a brilliant game as you can imagine. Once again, once we can upload pictures I will. Nothing further; Spartan 4, Out.

1 Great Adventure part 2

Well everyone, the adventure has begun. (Unfortunately the internet bandwidth in my current location is terrible thus rendering it impossible to post any pictures; I will try again later once everyone is asleep.) Until then, here is an update: Flight one took us to New Hampshire. The crew kept telling us the whole flight how we would be welcomed by some local military supporters with food and sweet drinks; we started to get a little excited; then landed; got up; promptly told to sit back down (we were behind schedule). 40 minutes later we were in the air for another 6.5 hours. Once in Germany I walked around for a bit, checked out the Soldier centric gift shop, then got back on the plane for another 6 hour flight; this time to Kuwait City. Kuwait city is spectacular from the air and one of the largest cities I've seen. I equate it to Bangkok (approx 2xAtlanta). When we landed we were loaded on to buses for a two our drive to Camp Buehring (sorry if the spelling is off but the connection is so slow that I fear Googleing the name because I may lose my work). However, I have completed most of my required training here in Kuwait already so that I may facilite the movement of the rest of the battalion in to the training area and later in to our Area of Operations or AO as we refer to it. For the majority of the followers of this adventure, it should be a lesson in military accronyms (your worries are correct and there will be a quiz worth 75 points (upon my return) for who is the most "non-military, military savvy person.") A little background on military terms (Suggestion: get a piece of paper and draw a family tree): Division=6 Brigade Combat Teams (BCT); Brigade=6 Battalions; Battalion=5-6 Companies; Company= 3 Platoons; Platoon=3-4 Squads; Squad= 2 Teams; Team=5 Soldiers; (Do the math)...ok so now that you have a beautiful drawing I am in 1-36 Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. My job is S4 which is a staff position designed to support a battalion logistically. This comes as a challenge to me because I am not a logistics officer...I'm a "You shoot at him from here with this group of guns, I'm going to take this other group of guns from the side and shoot him from there" officer; also known as Infantry. It's no secret that the Army is leaving Iraq within the next year...its not an overnight thing and I'm going to a place that I get to control what goes where and when. I'm excited, I love my job, and thank you all for you support. Spartan 4---OUT!

Deployment Day

Ok these are in reverse order as you can tell, but...We started out our morning at Dennys for breakfast!! Then had to take a shot of Elmo with all this supplies, its a lot for the little guy to carry, next we have Brandon carrying 2 out of 3 bags. Don't let the picture fool you he was struggling!! I had one bag, the size of a back pack and I thought I was going to fall on my face! The last two are the final minutes before we said our goodbyes. As you can see we are both all smilies, it was a great morning and we said goodbye on a positive, happy note. His plane should be taking off any minute now, I'll keep you updated as I hear from him.

Bus 1 to Flight 1

Brandon and Chris are on the first bus to the first flight of their journey.

A Last Minute Must

You can't deploy without going to BDubs!!! Today Brandon, Chris, Randy, Megan, Kim and I went to BDubs to get the guys some wings and much needed beer before their flight tomorrow. All three of those wonderful boys are leaving together tomorrow. After BDubs we came back to our house and watched Bolt (yes the cartoon). Favorite quote..."Ring ring, Who is it?, Destiny? I've been waiting for your call!" I have a feeling the boys will be saying that one a lot!

Everything packed...to include Elmo

Here is wonderful image of all of the items that you saw thrown everywhere in my dining room, crammed in to two bags. Elmo is waiting for the big trip and for those of you who know what the Daniel Boone hat is and its significance...it will be making an appearance once I arrive in Iraq.

CHANGE!!! I no longer know what my address is going to be. I will post it once I have confirmation. For everyone who is new to this...welcome to the ARMY! This is what Ashley and I deal with daily. I cannot tell you where or why, just yet, but I will when I can. Do not worry!

Here's the phone number that you should be able to contact me at ( I haven't finished setting up the account but it will be established by 11 November): 706-948-4084. Just dial as you would with any other call.

Stow Away

Brandon has a very long packing list. He added me to the list and tried to get me into his ruck sack. Kala was very upset that she was not inlcuded in the list so she decided to make her way to Iraq in Daddies duffle bag! To cute! Packing is well on its way to being finished. No idea how Brandon is going to carry the 200-300 lbs of stuff hes bringing, but he'll figure it out quickly.

ELMO!

You may have quickly glanced at this page, saw the bright red fuzziness that is Elmo and wondered...what the heck is going on here? Let me tell you...Lilian's first love is Elmo and we thought her Uncle Nan needed an Elmo, too:) So, on Wednesday morning, Lily and I went to our favorite place to ship items...PakMail...and mailed Nan some love in the form of a fuzzy red friend. Elmo arrived at Brandon's house in El Paso on Friday. (Thank you, FedEx for your speedy delivery!) We'll take plenty of pictures of Lilian and Elmo stateside and Brandon will document his journey with Elmo in Iraq. Keep reading for more updates on Brandon and Elmo's adventures;)

Picture descriptions:

Lilian giving Elmo some love before putting him in the envelope.

Elmo strapped in Brandon's vest.

Brandon called to tell us he received the package and sent us the picture of Elmo in the vest. Jeffrey and I were drinking whiskey sours that night and thought Brandon should see what we were up to...via a picture with Elmo.

Packing for the big trip

As you can see to the left, this is no small task. A few weeks ago I was allowed to pack up a box full of stuff to ship out early. So of course I crammed in the essentials; my xBox, nice pillow, sheets, DVDs, and hangers. (Hopefully they make it there in one piece.) I'm in the proccess of packing the items that I can carry on the plane with me, roughly 400 lbs of crap. Should only take me about 3 hours to do! Well, I hope you enjoyed the first part of the journey.

Uncle Nan

Life as a blogger begins! Brandon came to visit us right after Lilian was born. Here are some pictures from that visit...

Welcome!

Welcome to The Nan Chronicles! Our Nan is embarking upon a great journey in his life and we are all here to support him. Let this site be a place where we can upload photos, share stories, and offer love and support to one another. Once I get things up and running, I'll let you know how you can contribute, too!

-Nichole