Seoul Train

YOU NEED TO SEE THIS FILM! I don't care who you are or where you are from. This is the most eye opening and important documentary out there today. Rent it, buy it, find it on Ebay. I promise this will move your heart in ways you never thought possible. No movie on the market will make you feel the way this one hour MASTERPIECE will!

http://www.ironweedfilms.com/films/seoultrain

Continuing the Countdown!

So since today is May 1st back in the states, I am officially 3 months out from leaving Korea. That's right, 90 days people! I am so excited about that I can hardly wait. Anyway, I don't have much else to say right now. I will try to think of more to write later.

Until Next Time...

Happy Birthday April Babies!

So April is always a special month in my family. Even before I got married and had kids there were at least 3-4 birthdays in the month of April. Now there are like 7-8. So I want to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIEL!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMA!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT LU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!

and last but not least...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!!!

I love you all and hope you enjoy your wonderful day!

Until Next Time...

Fear and Anxiety

Germany is right around the corner. The next milestone in my life, in my marriage, and in my responsibilities as a father. Holy Shit that is a lot of pressure. Its on my shoulders to pull this family through the biggest change we have ever had to face.

Since I have been in Korea everyone has heard me say how much closer me and my family have become. I think the biggest challenge will be keeping it that way and not going back to our old habits. For me personally my two biggest challenges will be my hobbies and money.

I have a habbit of getting into a hobby, spending a lot of time and money on it, and then never doing it again. So in my case, the two things that distract me the most from my family go hand in hand. So...

I have started training myself now not to get back into that habit. I have two hobies right now and I have told myself that is it. No MORE! haha. I am serious. I play guitar and I play video games. Now of those two the only one I need to keep in check is the video games. I play WoW, COD, Rock Band/Guitar Hero, and Street Fighter. THAT'S IT! NO MORE! haha.

So with all that said I think the biggest thing will be communicating with Amanda for the next several months, finding out from her what it is I need to change to make this family more successful, and then training myself to make those changes. Wish me luck!

Until next time...

Selective Memory...

What did you have for lunch yesterday? Shit I can't remember either.

One of the biggest issues I have had since I have been in Korea is remembering what other people tell me. Amanda and I talk on the phone at least once a day, but most of the time its several times a day for sometimes hours at a time. However, most of the time I can't remember what it was we talked about. Does that mean I have a bad memory?

I think the answer is no. I think this happens to everyone. It's called selective memory. You remember the things that your mind thinks is important and everything else just goes in one ear and out the other. Now I am not saying that 95% of what my wife says isn't important. I will give you an example of what I mean.

I have been to Disney World 4 times in the last 10 years. Now going to Disney World is a pretty big deal and something that most people would remember for the rest of their lives. But can I remember every detail? No, not at all. I remember going, I remember when I went, and I can remember certain things in detail that I consider to be special moments. I remember them so well in fact it as if it happened yesterday.

My memories are a win/lose situation for me right now. They are what keeps me going everyday, but when they get really intense and I start thinking about them in detail, I get depressed. Two stuck out in my head this week and almost put me in tears a couple of times.

One memory was of my leave trip home...All four of us were on the bed playing around and we were all jumping on each other...laughing and tickling each other. The other was of...well a really great Valentine's day present I got the first year Amanda and I were married...I will just leave it at that.

I guess the morale of the story is...we are always listening, we just might not always hear you, but we never forget the stuff that matters in our hearts. Sometimes it is okay to forget things, just means that you are making room for the real memories.

Until next time...

8 Down...4 to Go!

Yay! With a little bit of luck and a lot of praying I will be home 4 months from today. I am not sure yet exactly when I will get to leave Korea, but if I get approved for the day that I request it will be only four short months from now.

The crappy part of all that is that I am missing a lot in those 4 months. Both Gabriel and Lily have birthdays this month which I will miss. Also, and probably the killer for me, is I am going to miss Lily's first steps. Amanda tells me that she can stand on her own now so it won't be long before she is walking.

I talked to Gabriel on the phone yesterday and he told me he wished I was going to be there for his birthday. It breaks my heart that he misses me this much. Outside of what I have already been doing (praying, keeping myself busy, etc.), all I can do is hope that the time goes by a little faster.

A blog post...from another blog....

My good friend from back in Alabama interviewed me for her blog site. I think it turned out really well so please take a minute to head over there and check it out...

http://blogs.babycenter.com/momformation/2009/03/30/daddy-wears-combat-boots-a-fathers-perspective/

Until next time :)

Moving Day...

So if you remember back to when I first got to Korea I was temporarily placed in a small room in a building by myself until a room in one of the full barracks buildings was available. I was only suppose to be in that room for like a week and it ended up being almost a month, forcing me to move all of my things instead of just what I brought in my suitcases.

Well due to some construction it would appear they are going to completely remodel our current barracks and are forcing the six of us that live in there now to move to a different building on the other side of the base. Stupid I know, but what are you going to do about it. Anyway I had my internet moved over to my new room yesterday (I am the first one moving; last one in, first one out) and I am suppose to move the rest of my crap today.

DON'T YOU KNOW IT IS FREAKIN RAINING OUTSIDE! We haven't seen rain in months, and outside of a light snow a few weeks ago, we have had nothing but sun since December. Isn't that just my luck?

Anyway I just had to vent. I got a full weekend of stuff planned between the move, a few tours tomorrow and hopefully a trip to Seoul, I should be able to keep busy till next week at least.

Until Next Time...