Welcome 2009!
Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! It is well into the 1st day of 2009 here in Baghdad. We have today off so I had a chance to sleep in this morning.
My room was overflowing with care boxes...remember from the video of my room? I can stand in the middle and spread out my arms and touch the walls. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but trust me it's not too far off. Needless to say I needed to find a way to unpack some of the boxes. So yesterday when I had a chance to swing by the PX, I picked up a plastic three drawer organizer. Just an easy, cheap way to give me some more storage area in my room.
When I was talking to my brother Erik on Christmas, he asked if I needed anything. I told him I probably wouldn't need any resupplies until March :) The care boxes have been such a blessing. I got rather used to getting mail almost daily, and the disappointment of 3 days straight of no mail is hard to take, but I'm reminding myself that every week can't be like Christmas ;)
Since I don't need anything for the time being, I thought I'd tell you about a donation program sponsored by Gulf Region Division. We have construction projects all over Iraq, and GRD and its three Districts all have donation programs. We collect items that are then donated to Iraqi children and families. The GRD items are given to children and families near our construction projects, or along our travel routes. Donated items are also given to the schools.
Items you can send include school supplies, clothes or shoes (new or gently used), toiletries, and toys (soccer balls, Frisbees, etc.). The program here at GRD is called "Enduring Impressions." Things to avoid sending include religious items, items with the female form (i.e. Barbie), toy guns, electronics, and excessively worn clothing.
If you're interested in sending some items the mailing address is:
Enduring Impressions
Donations GRD G3
APO AE 09348
We have Reconstruction Liaison Teams that hand out the items collected here at Division. I will try to periodically include pictures of some of the trips they make.
Also, to give you a sneak preview, the 5th anniversary of GRD is coming up January 25 and the traditional gift for a 5th wedding anniversary is wood. Our plan is to collect pencils during 2009. The goal is one for every minute GRD has been in creation. Are you ready for this? That would be over 2 million! Someone asked me the other day who was going to count all those pencils. I think I came up with a work around...we're going to request that people write on the boxes the number of pencils in each. Should hopefully simplify accounting :)
To wrap this post up I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the photos from Christmas in the DFAC. I talked about the 'ginger'bread house made of PopTarts, the elephant and the Baby Jesus carved out of a carrot. Here is the proof that these things did exist and were not part of some weird Baghdad-version Christmas Carol delusion., brought on by excessive eating! :)
I'm also including a blue-bearded Santa Claus, a puppy with a cauliflower head and pineapple body (I'm calling it my cali puppy...and next to the Baby Jesus it was probably one of my favorites) and some other holiday cheer. Like I said in my earlier post, you have to give our DFAC workers kudos for creativity. They decorate with such a genuine desire to make things nice for us. It's hard being away from family and friends but their decorations sure brought a smile to my face and a few good joyful laughs.
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2009. Please continue to keep us all in prayer. Many things are beginning to change here as the new security agreement is going into effect today. 2009 will definitely be a time of change and transition for the nation of Iraq and for the United States too.
Love, Nicole
My room was overflowing with care boxes...remember from the video of my room? I can stand in the middle and spread out my arms and touch the walls. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but trust me it's not too far off. Needless to say I needed to find a way to unpack some of the boxes. So yesterday when I had a chance to swing by the PX, I picked up a plastic three drawer organizer. Just an easy, cheap way to give me some more storage area in my room.
When I was talking to my brother Erik on Christmas, he asked if I needed anything. I told him I probably wouldn't need any resupplies until March :) The care boxes have been such a blessing. I got rather used to getting mail almost daily, and the disappointment of 3 days straight of no mail is hard to take, but I'm reminding myself that every week can't be like Christmas ;)
Since I don't need anything for the time being, I thought I'd tell you about a donation program sponsored by Gulf Region Division. We have construction projects all over Iraq, and GRD and its three Districts all have donation programs. We collect items that are then donated to Iraqi children and families. The GRD items are given to children and families near our construction projects, or along our travel routes. Donated items are also given to the schools.
Items you can send include school supplies, clothes or shoes (new or gently used), toiletries, and toys (soccer balls, Frisbees, etc.). The program here at GRD is called "Enduring Impressions." Things to avoid sending include religious items, items with the female form (i.e. Barbie), toy guns, electronics, and excessively worn clothing.
If you're interested in sending some items the mailing address is:
Enduring Impressions
Donations GRD G3
APO AE 09348
We have Reconstruction Liaison Teams that hand out the items collected here at Division. I will try to periodically include pictures of some of the trips they make.
Also, to give you a sneak preview, the 5th anniversary of GRD is coming up January 25 and the traditional gift for a 5th wedding anniversary is wood. Our plan is to collect pencils during 2009. The goal is one for every minute GRD has been in creation. Are you ready for this? That would be over 2 million! Someone asked me the other day who was going to count all those pencils. I think I came up with a work around...we're going to request that people write on the boxes the number of pencils in each. Should hopefully simplify accounting :)
To wrap this post up I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the photos from Christmas in the DFAC. I talked about the 'ginger'bread house made of PopTarts, the elephant and the Baby Jesus carved out of a carrot. Here is the proof that these things did exist and were not part of some weird Baghdad-version Christmas Carol delusion., brought on by excessive eating! :)
I'm also including a blue-bearded Santa Claus, a puppy with a cauliflower head and pineapple body (I'm calling it my cali puppy...and next to the Baby Jesus it was probably one of my favorites) and some other holiday cheer. Like I said in my earlier post, you have to give our DFAC workers kudos for creativity. They decorate with such a genuine desire to make things nice for us. It's hard being away from family and friends but their decorations sure brought a smile to my face and a few good joyful laughs.
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2009. Please continue to keep us all in prayer. Many things are beginning to change here as the new security agreement is going into effect today. 2009 will definitely be a time of change and transition for the nation of Iraq and for the United States too.
Love, Nicole
oooh! You are such a rock star! I've heard you're kicking bootie in the contest... (I have spies) and here you are... plugging our 5 year anniversary pencil drive on your blog... meanwhile on my blog... all I talk about is my last glass of wine before my return from R&R - I've really got to work on that...
ReplyDeleteSee you soon, my sweet!