Hello everyone, sorry it has been sooooooo long since my last post I hope you haven't given up on me. A lot has happened since my last post. We've been through combat training in Virginia, at which time access to the internet was extremely limited so I was not able to post then. With the passing of hurricane Alex the weather got extremely nice, and temperate. Not too cool and not to hot. It was perfect no humidity... it really helped during that time, though not as much for over here in Kuwait. More on that later. In other news, my wife Shanon gave birth to our baby girl Lauren Kayla on saturday August 14th, at 2:51 pm. I was able to come home for 5 days to be with her through the labor and delivery of our beautiful baby girl. It did make leaving a little harder though. We have some great pictures and as soon as Shanon gets them uploaded to Yahoo! I will make a public foto album and provide the link here.
I did arrive in Kuwait as of the 19th of August, and let me tell you it is hot here... it like a furnace...or standing in front of a cooking oven with the door open. I've been acclimating as much as I can as quickly as I can.
It is about 4:30 in the morning over here. I am going to head back to bed for a couple hours before I get up for breakfast. Will write more later.
take care,
john
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Friday, July 30, 2004
Processing time...
One of the things you learn when you join the military is how to be patient, and how to deal with downtime, and inconvenience, and .... I'll stop there. We have arrived safely at our processing destination and have been going through the mobilization stations. The main things are medical issues. Everyone gets a top to bottom review and visit with the doctor. This no doubt takes a lot of time on its own, much less when you have a substantially larger group like we have. All is good though I can't complain I have had some time to take it easy off of my feet, waiting in line.
CBS2 has a video of our departure day on the internet. Go to this URL http://wbbm.dayport.com/launcher/6562/?tf=video_player.tpl
Click on the link in the right hand window, you may have to scroll down quite a bit. It is titled Chicago says goodbye to Navy Reservists or something like that. It might not be up there for ever, I would imagine they would take it down after a week or so.
Thanks again for the emails I have been getting. I will write back when I have time.
Take care,
john
CBS2 has a video of our departure day on the internet. Go to this URL http://wbbm.dayport.com/launcher/6562/?tf=video_player.tpl
Click on the link in the right hand window, you may have to scroll down quite a bit. It is titled Chicago says goodbye to Navy Reservists or something like that. It might not be up there for ever, I would imagine they would take it down after a week or so.
Thanks again for the emails I have been getting. I will write back when I have time.
Take care,
john
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Oops
I almost forgot. The Labor process has started and Shanon and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of our baby girl. She should be here within the week. Pray that she's safe and healthy.
Sorry for missing this in my first post. It's really the best news yet.
I'll keep you updated
john
Sorry for missing this in my first post. It's really the best news yet.
I'll keep you updated
john
Time
It seems there is never enough time. This appears to be a recurring theme in my life, as I am sure it is in many others. Today is the day we began the activation process. I am now an Active Duty Sailor in the United States Navy. Temporarily that is, until at the most July 25th 2005. Life as an Active Duty sailor isn't much different than that of a reserve sailor, just that the lines are longer.
We say goodbye to our loved ones. Shanon I love you I know you will read this. I am heartbroken that I have to leave now, at the most one of the most important times in our life, and in our marriage. God has allowed this to happen, because He believes that we are strong enough to handle it. I love you, and we will get through this :)
By now most of you should have my email with contact information and list of things. If anything please drop me a letter or a post card, or an email. I will be able to check them, and I hope I will be able to do it often enough to have regular communication with you all.
I'll post more from my interime destination.
Take care.
john
We say goodbye to our loved ones. Shanon I love you I know you will read this. I am heartbroken that I have to leave now, at the most one of the most important times in our life, and in our marriage. God has allowed this to happen, because He believes that we are strong enough to handle it. I love you, and we will get through this :)
By now most of you should have my email with contact information and list of things. If anything please drop me a letter or a post card, or an email. I will be able to check them, and I hope I will be able to do it often enough to have regular communication with you all.
I'll post more from my interime destination.
Take care.
john
Saturday, July 17, 2004
UGHHH
A lot has happened since I last posted. We are counting down the
days left. There are 9 complete days. We have been
trying to get things in order around the house, but it always seems
that there is not enough time. We'll get'er done though.
:-)
Lauren is really active lately and hopefully she will come soon.
Shanon and I both hope that she comes before I leave so that I can see
her and hold her. We've got the car seat ready for her, and have
started the stockpile of diapers and baby wipes. If you would
like to send us some of that stuff please email me, and I'll give you
our mailing address :)
The laptop is in order and completely upgraded, I've got 768 MB ram in
the old toughbook, and a replacement Cross Penabled Digitizer pen,
which increases the accuracy by 10 fold, and I can notice the
difference.
I am working on getting a cell phone for Kuwait. I have a sim
card and a phone number and will email it to those I have on my email
list. I can take free incoming calls if you want to call and say
HI! Obviously I can't post it here but if you want to get my
Kuwaiti cell number and I did not email it to you , send me an email at
it3wildes@yahoo.com.
I still have to pack, which is typical for me because I wait until the
last possible moment. I'll be spending a lot of time doing that I
imagine over the next week. I am still coming to grips with the
fact that I am going to be gone for the better part of a year.
How does one do that. I mean it's not like our 2 week Annual
Training where we have an end in sight. I mean the end is next
year 2005, needless to say I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am
going to miss out on a lot of stuff over here during the next
year. Hopefully when I get back things won't be to hard to adjust
to, and I'll be able to get back to some sense of normalcy.
Hopefully having the laptop and cell phone will help keep the shock of
change down to a minimum and make the whole trip seem like an extended
consulting gig or something like that :)
Take care,
john
days left. There are 9 complete days. We have been
trying to get things in order around the house, but it always seems
that there is not enough time. We'll get'er done though.
:-)
Lauren is really active lately and hopefully she will come soon.
Shanon and I both hope that she comes before I leave so that I can see
her and hold her. We've got the car seat ready for her, and have
started the stockpile of diapers and baby wipes. If you would
like to send us some of that stuff please email me, and I'll give you
our mailing address :)
The laptop is in order and completely upgraded, I've got 768 MB ram in
the old toughbook, and a replacement Cross Penabled Digitizer pen,
which increases the accuracy by 10 fold, and I can notice the
difference.
I am working on getting a cell phone for Kuwait. I have a sim
card and a phone number and will email it to those I have on my email
list. I can take free incoming calls if you want to call and say
HI! Obviously I can't post it here but if you want to get my
Kuwaiti cell number and I did not email it to you , send me an email at
it3wildes@yahoo.com.
I still have to pack, which is typical for me because I wait until the
last possible moment. I'll be spending a lot of time doing that I
imagine over the next week. I am still coming to grips with the
fact that I am going to be gone for the better part of a year.
How does one do that. I mean it's not like our 2 week Annual
Training where we have an end in sight. I mean the end is next
year 2005, needless to say I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am
going to miss out on a lot of stuff over here during the next
year. Hopefully when I get back things won't be to hard to adjust
to, and I'll be able to get back to some sense of normalcy.
Hopefully having the laptop and cell phone will help keep the shock of
change down to a minimum and make the whole trip seem like an extended
consulting gig or something like that :)
Take care,
john
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Playing Catch Up
Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days. Things have been busy at the Wildes' house. Shanon is hanging in there, the baby is growing leaps and bounds. I got my new laptop in the mail and was able to sell my old one on eBay. My new laptop is a Panasonic Toughbook CF-18, a convertible laptop that becomes a Tablet. Using the tablet is quite amazing, and I must say that it takes some getting used to but once you do, you will wonder what you did without it.
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. If you know anyone who serves in the military even if they are a normal "weekend warrior" reservist, please take the time to thank them for their service, I know they'll appreciate it.
john
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. If you know anyone who serves in the military even if they are a normal "weekend warrior" reservist, please take the time to thank them for their service, I know they'll appreciate it.
john
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Good news
With all the negativity and worry that surrounds being recalled to Active duty, having to worry about a reduced income and losing your job ranks up there close to the top. Even though there are laws that technically protect your job until you get back they do not require the company to support you while you are gone, and rightfully so. So it came as an answer to prayer when I found out the details of Aon's Military Leave policy. Most companies go so far as to support your transition to active military service by giving you the difference in your pay compared to your military base pay for 30 days. I'd rather not go into details, but I can say that Aon's policy has gone above and beyond to make sure that my family and I are taken care of while I am away. In the age of cost cutting and greedy corporate scandals, the fact that Aon is extending the benefits that they are speaks volume of their concern for their reservist employees. Special thanks go out to my direct supervisor Delores Stimpson for her help in this time, and her challenging me in my personal and professional life. I would also like to thank my team members on the ARS-IT PMO for their support and encouragement.
john
john
Monday, June 28, 2004
Photos
Since I cannot post photos here on blogger.com, I have created an account over at Yahoo!. Click here for Photos You will see the public albums that I have made available. Not all photos will be public. If you want to see all the photos you have to have a Yahoo! account. I know it is a pain, but Yahoo! has the best services out there in my opinion their IM client is awesome, they have 100MB free email, and unlimited storage for their photo albums. Get a Yahoo! id and then email me at #######@yahoo.com with your Yahoo ID then I will add you to the list to view all my photo albums.
cya
cya
Welcome to my Blog
Hey everyone,
This... is my blog...or web log. Soon I will be taking a trip away from home, and unfortunately at the worst possible time in my new family's life. For some background, I serve in the United States Navy (reserve) and was recently married to my beautiful bride Shanon (yes that's with one N) on May 22 2004. We are expecting our first child (a girl ;) in the middle of August 2004. While I am away I will be posting here details of my expriences. Due to security restrictions I will have to be somewhat vague. This blog will serve as an outlet to all of those who I cannot directly contact all of the time, to let you know how I am doing, and what you can offer prayers for me on. If there is one thing that I am certain of it is that God is with me, and has allowed these circumstances to take place in my life in order to grow myself, and Shanon. We will not run from these tough times, but instead will embrace them together even though we are apart. Please remember us in your prayers, as almost every facet of our life is affected by this. Thank you for your support, I hope you will check in often to see how things are. I will post as often as I can.
john
This... is my blog...or web log. Soon I will be taking a trip away from home, and unfortunately at the worst possible time in my new family's life. For some background, I serve in the United States Navy (reserve) and was recently married to my beautiful bride Shanon (yes that's with one N) on May 22 2004. We are expecting our first child (a girl ;) in the middle of August 2004. While I am away I will be posting here details of my expriences. Due to security restrictions I will have to be somewhat vague. This blog will serve as an outlet to all of those who I cannot directly contact all of the time, to let you know how I am doing, and what you can offer prayers for me on. If there is one thing that I am certain of it is that God is with me, and has allowed these circumstances to take place in my life in order to grow myself, and Shanon. We will not run from these tough times, but instead will embrace them together even though we are apart. Please remember us in your prayers, as almost every facet of our life is affected by this. Thank you for your support, I hope you will check in often to see how things are. I will post as often as I can.
john
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