Good morning, everyone.  I am fueling my day with a cup of Black Rifle Coffee Company’s CAF as we begin this Thursday morning.  This coffee is pretty good; I .  I know BRCC was in the news recently for their statement regarding hiring 10,000 veterans, sparked by Starbucks’ campaign to hire 10,000 refugees.  (By the way, I am all for hiring both! I think any nation should work adamantly to reduce its unemployment numbers and if our nation is a landing place for refugees who are starting life over because they cannot go home or no longer have a home to go to and veterans seek a new occupation outside of public and military service, it’s ok to help both demographics.)

Life, as always, has been crazy busy.  I’m killing it (or at least trying to) with the Fighter Diet Challenge and now that I’m in Week 5 I am starting to see more improvement.  I am down 3 3/16″even without being 100% focused on the diet aspect of the routine.  Seven more weeks to go so please expect more updates as I continue this journey.

Yesterday I agreed to participate in an upcoming engagement called She Went to War, being hosted at the Chandler Public Library on March 11th from 10 am to 12 pm.  This event will be the first time I will be on a panel outside of Arizona State University and provides me with a unique chance to talk about my applied project, the role this blog has played in my life and sharing my experiences with family and friends, and learn from fellow panelists about different ways to open up conversations regarding military service.

For those who have followed my blog for awhile, you know February is tough since Feb. 2nd is the anniversary of Captain Brock’s death.  Your patience when I take times from writing to breath and find quiet time in my life is greatly appreciated.  Awhile back, I realized I inadvertently mentioned my father-in-law’s death and Captain Brock’s death occurring on the same day and I realized why.  For me, I was in Iraq at the time and I was notified February 2nd.  I can still recall sitting down at the computer in our recreation center and trying to comprehend this information and losing my composure completely when I went to my supervisor’s office to tell them I needed to go home.

I know if we were not married at the time, my unit likely would not have granted me the opportunity to leave to be there for my husband, his mother, and sister in their time of need.  For all the ways the second deployment served as a disappointment in my life, my unit’s response to get me home is one of the best examples of leadership I found in the Corps.  I was a mess trying to figure out what to do with my gear and rifle and they coordinated the logistics to expedite my homecoming.  Below is the start of that journey home from OIF 5-7 (when I was serving at Camp Al Asad, Iraq).

I must leave you now to go to work but thank you as always for your viewership.

Sincerely,

Cheryl