Back to the 'stan

Yep. It's cold here.

This is my Bhut after a night of wet snow.

So, in case you didn't already know, I'm back in Afghanistan fulfilling my service obligation. Leaving the family was pretty tough, but I felt a little better this time because of several reasons - primarily because I knew where I was going and I had a pretty good idea about the job I was going to perform as it was essentially the same thing I did for a year on the last tour. Additionally, I was definitely more excited about being on just a 6-monther vs the 365 our family endured from '09-10.

The only surprise awaiting me ended up being serendipitous. See, I was expecting to go to Kabul again and work out of a camp in the downtown area - one I had spent some time at before. After leaving Manas AB, Krygystan, my wingman and I arrived at Bagram AB and shuffled our hundreds of pounds of gear from the fixed (airplanes) terminal to the rotary (helicopters) terminal. Thankfully, we were able to sneak on to a couple of UH-60 Blackhawks that flew us straight to a compound not far from our new home. Upon arrival, we waited just a couple hours before our predecessors showed up to drive us to our new home for the next six months.

I spent the next day settling in to the office (I would be in temporary open-bay billeting until a room opened up in 4-6 weeks) and the next evening my boss' boss shook my world a little by advising me that he really needed me at Bagram instead. I was really enjoying the setting and getting comfortable with the turnover but that doesn't really matter much in the military - so I saluted smartly and found the first trip to Bagram.

A few days later, the office dropped me off at Kabul International Airport and I was able to make it to Bagram that day. Interestingly enough, whereas a room was at least 4 weeks out for me in Kabul, the new team I was joining already had an available private room open for me! That improved my situation greatly and so here I am, at Bagram Airfield, engineering the future for the Afghans once again.

Highlights of the last 3 weeks

The top left picture is of the kids in a model of a space shuttle at a museum here in PCB. The top right is a work of art. The finished picture can only be seen when a light is on and the shadow becomes the rest of the piece. Can you tell what it is?! Bottom left is David and me being silly. Bottom right is Hannah raising the sails and me driving the boat on a sunny winter day when David was home from training.

We are Alive and Well

I just got an email from a friend from college whom I haven't spoken to in quite a while. The subject line of the email was "Rachel, are you still alive?" After I laughed, I read the email and she pointed out that we had only posted a couple of updates on our blog in the last year. With David deployed again, I think that the usefulness of the blog will present itself again and we will use it a little more often!

The picture on the top left is Hannah Joy caught red handed getting into an itty bitty spiderman tackle box! Top right is Andrew and his friend Andrew, both in Cub Scouts now. Bottom left is Andrew and our new pet, Goldie. Our neighbors moved, and she needed a home. Bottom right is beautiful Elizabeth.

Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg

Dear Mark,

Today I am announcing my intention to defect from the facebook nation.  Please do not consider this a personal attack or even a statement regarding your creation.  Rather, I have come to the conclusion that facebook has outlived its usefulness (when comparing benefits to costs) in my life.  Don't worry, I do not intend on subverting the facebook culture by trying to convince my 391 friends to do the same - each of us must make our own choices in life; this one is mine alone.

Standing back and looking at the facebook phenomenon I cannot help but to be completely impressed at what you have done.  Connecting over a half billion people in the world is a feat that may not be rivaled in our lifetimes.  I applaud you and your efforts.  I have a profound respect for your business model, and I've even adopted one of your own corporate mantras (with credit given to you, of course) - "Fail harder".  I hope that you find much more than financial success in your endeavors and that you reach a point of true fulfillment in your family life and in your faith; after all - you can't take it with you.

Sincerely,

David S.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Distance

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

Hogwash.

I'm currently far from the woman I love most, and the limitless temptations surrounding me and the many other Type-A males in the same position are only increasingly facilitated because of the distance.  See, the distance is merely a facilitator for growth or decay.  Some choose to grow, others do not. Regardless, the choice to grow is often the by-product of a heart that understands that thru Christ, all things are possible.

As I mentioned, the temptations are fairly limitless - even in a training environment.  Today we have media and images freely available that are a magnet to a wandering eye.  Additionally, the mind itself is constantly seeking some satisfaction and infidelity can occur without any notice given to peers or passersby.  This, Christ said, was equal to the physical sin.

The shame shreds self confidence as a sinful life lived internally gradually moves outward, breaking through the masquerade.  Soon, there is nothing left and the mind is exposed.  Relationships crumble and reputations are built.  The "A" may never be visible, but its burden on the broken family will be impossible to ignore.

On the contrary, there is a moment when God calls to satan and says, "Consider my servant....(fill in your name)...he will not be shaken."  Although the struggle continues in the mind, the successes of overcoming temptation taste sweeter than the greatest fulfillment imagineable.  This success develops into a deep longing for the wife of one's youth and the joy unspeakable that comes with reunion - on God's terms.  Then, the soul is not lost (as before) with nothing to show for it in the end, but freely shared.  This is a great hope.

So, in reality, distance does not make the heart grow fonder.  Distance does, however, facilitate the growth or decay of a heart hanging in the balance.

Holding tank headaches!

Sunset over St. Andrew's Bay from the cockpit of our 1976 Irwin 28 MkIV

Rachel piloting the Irwin through the Gulf swells - that's Panama City Beach off her right shoulder

Hannah asleep in the v-berth, Rachel asleep on the starboard settee, and A&E watching a movie on the port settee

Rachel and the kids at the drop-down table after night fell

In case you aren't aware, we decided that one sailboat wasn't enough so we spent some savings on a craigslist post for a 28' sloop just a couple up the miles from our home.  The boat is overall in great condition considering the price and the age (1976) but there were some maintenance things that needed to be taken care of and the toilet holding tank was at the top of the list.

The Irwin smelled even after a good airing out, new dehumidifier, clean carpets, and washed seat cushions.  All that remained to clean out was the flexible holding tank which more than likely held sewage from when the boat was first commissioned 34 years ago.  The problem is that you can't just dump that stuff overboard - you have to either find a dumping station at a marina or go three nautical miles offshore to be legal - guess which one I chose. . . 

So, we left at around 2 PM and returned by 8 PM and although we didn't sail a whole lot, we returned with an empty holding tank and some valuable experience.  See, the marine head on this boat has several "Y" valves which allows me to dump my toilet into either the holding tank or straight into the ocean or dump my holding tank into the ocean or a deck cap for dockside emptying.  It is complicated and messy so we've decided that the six hour jaunts just to legally empty our holding tank are not worth it.  We will be replacing the entire marine head system with a Thetford 155 Porta-potty with removable holding tank.  Yes, we'll have to empty it every time we are gone for more than a few hours but we can empty it into any toilet rather than specific dumping stations.

I hope it all works out!  I'm sick of telling my two year old, "no, you can't go potty".

Pictures!

Civil Engineering squadron, a few of them, at the Ball. David is standing next to his boss, Lt. Col. Gilpin
Two of my very sweet neighbors, Kim and Jen, and me.

My handsome, amazing husband (and me)!

Precious Sisters!

We can't leave out David's 33rd birthday. We had strawberry shortcake with ice cream.

David and Hannah on Sundae's bow one lovely September evening.

Bidding a Fond Farewell to mediocrealaska.com

A very much alive scorpion David found on the back patio--our first an only one so far!
A Great Egret breakfasting in our alligator pond

The first of many deer to walk through our backyard area. This one has a small rack, but I chose the worst picture to display it.

Well, all good things must come to an end. Remember when David changed the page to http://www.hoffssoul.com/ a little more than 6 months ago? That was because the something was going to happen to whoever the site provider was. Whatever it was happened, so now you will always have to go to the above address to read our blog. Not that anyone would want to read it lately! It has been way too boring! I apologize for not updating it in the last two months! We used to do a lot better!

One thing that happened was that we now get our internet through our phones--Droids. This is great except that we have to tether them to the computer and click a couple things on the phone and the laptop to get up and running. I haven't quite gotten used to the change, but am just about there!

Well, there's lots going on! Home educating our children is going well (most days!) and God is opening my eyes to how to teach the kids, what to teach the kids, and how to be more organized and do it all better all the time. Bread-making is going well! We'd been in a slump with loaves not turning out well--they were not fully cooked in the middle and had a hole in them--but the last batch turned out perfect! It turns out, I needed new yeast! We have all been healthy, praise the Lord! No colds or illnesses in the time we've been here. I am working on a time-consuming sewing project. Curtains for the living/family room! I have one out of six panels done for the 3 wonderful windows in this room. We are making friends and enjoying the beach and the sailboat! Also, the base and the base marina have quite a few activities to keep us busy, so that is always nice to hang out with neighbors and other sailors/boaters.

The Air Force celebrated its 63rd birthday last weekend. We participated in the festivities by attending the Air Force Ball that Tyndall hosted over in Panama City Beach, which is nearly an hour away. It was at a lovely beach resort and they were offering a discounted rate for rooms for the weekend, so we decided to take them up on their offer and see the PCB beaches and the resort pools. The gulf was crystal clear and the pool was perfect. Andrew even caught a tiny hermit crab, which we all played with and then let go back in the gulf. The kids had a great time and we did too.

I know a few months ago I said I would keep everyone posted about any bear sitings. Well, I've been terribly guilt-ridden over not reporting my most exciting encounter right away! The bad part is that I caught the bear on video, not photos, so, of course, it's too long of a video to put on the blog. I think I can put it on Facebook, though. I will try and you can see the big, black bear for yourself! The day after Labor Day I went on the back patio with some particularly potent blueberry pomegranate tea and I hadn't been there long when I heard crashing in the forest. I strained my eyes to see through the trees and bushes, but never could see the thing, though I listened to it for close to ten minutes. Then, it finally cautiously came out of its perfect camouflage, nose in the air, sniffing my tea, I assume. Did you know that bears can smell food from a mile away? Well, as he approached, I slowly placed my Bible over my tea cup, just in case he should get any ideas about climbing over my fence! He rooted around in the grass at the edge of the woods and then walked back towards the corner of my fence. I had decided I would get up and get the camera while he was at that corner which blocked us from one another's view due to the playset and a supporting column of the patio. He was moving too quick, though, because as soon as I had taken a step he was in view and looked right at me. He immediately turned around and walked away, but did not immediately go back into the woods. He walked around the fence to the alligator pond behind our house for awhile before going back in. I don't think it was afraid. It just very clearly did not want any kind of confrontation with a human. As prevalent as black bears have become in this area, there have been no reports, that I know of, of any bear attacks.

We welcome any comments or questions! We will do better keeping you updated on us and our life! God bless!