Update from Brian

Hello All,
Its been a long time since I've typed up something, so here we go. About 23 days from now, we'll be waiting on Aidan to grace us with his presence. It seems like it went by so fast for me, but I'm guessing its seemed alot longer for Kate. I'm basically keeping my nose to the grindstone here, trying to stay out of trouble and have so far managed to not anger any of my 3 bosses at all. (Why is it, we all always seem to have 3 or more bosses?) I have included a couple of photos of my living space (very cramped section of tent as you will see) and our little chritsmas tree here in the office. I HAVE NOT INCLUDED ANY PHOTOS of me, sorry folks, but I've dropped close to 25 pounds[NOT BY CHOICE] (Down to 170 from 195), and I'm in absolutely no mood to have a picture of skinny old me to haunt me for years to come. So you'll have to wait until I can get home and eat for 3 days straight, and by the time Aidan shows up I should be bulked up enough.

There are plans in the works for at least the round robin with Aidan this summer in New York and Mass, maybe even Vermont. If we miss Vermont, not to worry, I'll be running the Burlington Marathon, May 2010 (they wouldnt let me out early to run it this year). I recently received a letter from Aunt Jeanie with Photos of Olivia and Gracie, they are both looking good! I expect a photo of Tori's little man, so some break out the camera and help me (although i'm sure there are photos in abundance).

I've also gotten tons of packages from everybody and they've been great (I'd be about 160pounds without them). I'm working my way through some letters of thanks to everyone, so bear with me. THe 16-18 hour days kinda make ya wanna crash as soon as you can, so there isnt much spare time outside of work and sleep. The work is neverending and demanding. But its not too bad all in all.

Katie and I are going to be trying to plan out our next 3 years which will either see both of us in advanced civil schooling (Katie=Med School/ Me= Law School) It all depends on a few of the programs the army has to offer and if either of us get accepted. Otherwise we'll be testing the civilian waters come 2011. Alright, i'm out here, but I'll be talking to alot of you soon when i get home.

Brian

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! We hope that each of you enjoyed the holidays and we want to wish you a happy, healthy new year! Now that I know that these photos arrived to Brian safe and sound, I thought it was time to share our newest glimpses of Aidan with each of you! Enjoy!

Thanksgiving!

While we were sad that Brian was unable to spend the holiday with us, I enjoyed a wonderful visit with my Aunt Karen and Uncle Wayne Barnes over Thanksgiving. They drove in from Santa Fe, NM on Wednesday afternoon just in time to meet me for an ultrasound (more on this with pictures in the next post!), then we headed out and had a catfish dinner at Texas Roadhouse. On Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a great meal at The Range Restaurant in Salado, TX. The Range is a quaint restaurant with excellent food (family owned restuarant run by a husband and wife team trained at the culinary institute of America - a rarity in Central Texas!!) housed in a restored historical physician's home and office from the 1800's. We did end up eating in the basement (or as we termed it, the "dungeon") but we were eventually joined by another party and enjoyed our meal. Aunt Karen and I hit up the Black Friday sales for a little bit Friday morning and managed to pick up a small Christmas Tree and fresh wreath for the front door. I suppose it is time to change out the fall decorations for the Holiday ones. We also got a chance to explore Austin on Saturday and checked out the eclectic shops on South Congress, toured the flagship Whole Foods Store and watched some live music while eating appetizers at Eddie V's. The BEST thing we discovered was a cupcake vendor selling their wares out of a "silver bullet" trailer in a vacant lot on South Congress. They were the most delicious cupcakes I can remember eating - my favorite was the one that was like a hostess cupcake (with cream filling!) but REAL. We also got a chance to drive through the Annual "Holiday in Lights" display that the post puts on. It took quite a while to get out to Belton Lake, but the displays were great. I think my favorite was the whale, however I think Aunt Karen and Uncle Wayne enjoyed the tunnel of lights. I hope you enjoy some photos from Thanksgiving that Aunt Karen was kind enough to email me to share with all of you, and I hope that you were all able to enjoy as wonderful a Thanksgiving Holiday as I was.




Uncle Wayne and I in front of our House



Aunt Karen and I in front of our House



The "Belly Shot" (for all of you who have been asking!)



Aunt Karen and I at the Range in Salado



The three of us following Thanksgiving dinner

Aidans's Room

Aidan's new room, and me with the crib!

Slideshow # 2

Follow the link to see slideshow #2 of Brian's unit in Iraq....

http://www1.jp.dk/flash/Irak/

Chicago!

I realize that I owe updates on recent events. Bear with me as I attempt to separate the last few weeks into a few posts! I traveled to Chicago two weeks ago for work ( To attend the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Annual Meeting and Conference), but got to spend some wonderful hours each day with some of my best friends, Caroline and Colleen. It was great to see and spend time with them both! They also got Aidan some pretty neat stuff, which I'm sure he's going to love wearing! I have included a few pictures from my recent trip, I hope you enjoy!



The bean, reflecting the Chicago skyline



A close up...



Colleen, Caroline and I at the bean sculpture!

Link to 2-7 media slideshow

Hi everyone! We hope that you all are doing well. Below please find a link to a slideshow/ commentary that highlights the work of Brian's Battallion, 2-7 Cavalry. No footage of Brian, but you can see the Forward Operating Base (Fob) in the initial sequence of photos and learn a little more about the day to day life and work of the soldiers. Enjoy!


http://www1.jp.dk/flash/Hougaard_irak/