Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Kathi

2nd Lt. Christopher E. Loudon
22 years old from Brockport, Pennsylvania
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
October 17, 2006


2nd Lt. Christopher Loudon graduated from Slippery Rock University with a Baccalaureate Degree in Environmental Health in 2005. Upon graduation, he entered the United States Army on September 9, 2005. He received his commission as an Infantry officer and was assigned to 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas. He deployed to Iraq in July 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

2nd Lt. Loudon’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Ranger Tab.

He was KIA in Baghdad, Iraq when an IED detonated near his vehicle. Also killed with him were; Corporal David M. Unger, 21, of Leavenworth, Kansas ;Corporal Russell G. Culbertson III, 22, of Amity, Pennsylvania and Specialist Joseph C. Dumas Jr., 25, of New Orleans, Louisiana.

He leaves behind his parents, Randy and Susan Loudon ; his wife, Jacey Loudon ; a daughter, Isabel Loudon ; two brothers, First Lieutenant Nicholas Loudon ,and Jonathan Loudon ; his paternal grandmother, Florence Loudon and his maternal grandfather, Everett William Campbell.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
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Happy Anniversary to Me!!

It began 1 year ago. I entered the blogging world with this. And 145 posts later here I am. I have not posted much over the holidays because not much is going on. And I am been really busy over at Face Book catching up with old high school friends, old Army Friends and friends from Karate.

I also joined LA Fitness this weekend and signed up to work with a trainer. Had my first training session yesterday but had to cut it short. I guess you need to eat more than I had before working out. I got dizzy and nauseous. He said that those were the first symptoms of low blood sugar and that I should drink juice before I work out. You learn something new every day!

I will work with a trainer 2-3 times per week for the first couple of months and then I will go to once a week for the rest of the year.

On other news, my brother and Shay did get to open their presents on Friday and the ham arrived. Unfortunately, I still have not received the box that Shay mailed from Fairchild. I went to the post office on Friday and they checked in the back just in case it was there and I did not get a notice in my mail box. Nope, nothing. They ran the insurance tracking number and all they can say is that it was mailed from Fairchild and ha snot arrived here. Poor Shay is upset because she had it insured for only $100. The clerk said $50 or $100 and she thought that was all she could insure it for. I am still hopeful that it will arrive tomorrow. I did find out that you have to wait 21 days from the date of mailing before you can file a claim. I remember a Marine mom telling me once that renters insurance with USAA covered the loss of mailed stuff (laptop) for her son. I will be contacting them on Monday just to be sure. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Back to work tomorrow. I work 3 days and then have 4 days off (again). I bought so much new Christmas stuff that I want to go through all of my old stuff (lights and yard decorations) and get rid of stuff that I don't need. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that I went to Target and Walmart and bought a bunch of new stuff. Animated Grazing Buck, 2 Doe's, a blow up Santa, blow up ornaments and gift boxes, and swag lights. I also found one of those light contraptions that allow you to connect multiple lights and then play it with music to have the lights dance to the music. I hope to have fun next year.

I am going to put my Queen Sleeper sectional on Craig's List today. Costco has a couch and love seat set that I want. The sectional is comfortable but we never have used the sleeper part and it makes it difficult to change furniture in the house. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas one and all

I wish you all a very VERY Merry Christmas. I wish I could get into the spirit of the holiday. It is just too difficult. I tried, honestly I did. I bought presents for everyone, I wrapped them and shipped them off. I was okay with the fact that my Shay was not going to be here with me this year (the first one) because I had her for over a month just a couple of months ago and we had a great time. Really, I WAS okay with it until everything went to hell.

First - Shay is upset because the box of gifts that she sent home has not arrived yet.
Second - Shays flight kept getting delayed. First it was 15 minutes here, 20 minutes
there. In the end it was 4 1/2 hours late getting to Seattle.
Third - My brother ordered a honeybaked ham and it did not arrive.
Fourth - The gifts that I sent actually did not arrived. I thought they had. My
brother thought he had them. But the boxes that he got just had the dogs
stuff and a couple of extra things for Shay. The HUGE box is still at the
post office waiting to be picked up.

I was so anxious about Shays flight that I could not go to bed until I knew that she was in the air. So, around midnight EST I got the text message that the plane was in the air. Off to bed I went. Then around 1am I got the call from her that she landed in Seattle. Good. Now I can sleep. Then had to get up at 530 to take hubby to the airport. See, he is going to Reno to spend some time with his son and his father. Back home I re-racked with the dogs for a couple of hours.

Things are better. Shay is with my brother and they are cooking dinner. The ham still has not arrived so they are having steaks with scalloped potato's and green bean casserole. Shay is baking cookies and they are going to the movies later. Sounds like a typical Christmas at home to me.

I promise you this, no matter what I have to do, I will be in Seattle (or the area) for Christmas next year.

Hubby and I went out to dinner last night and then drove around looking at Christmas Lights. Some were so so but one was out of this world. You had to get out of the car to walk around the yard, walk around the house, look in windows, and talk to Santa. And they had popcorn popping and music playing. It was pretty cool. I want to go back tonight and take some pictures to share. Until then I leave you with this little video I took with my cell phone.

Merry Christmas

Wednesday Hero

To the Men and Women of the United States military, and all the armed forces around the world, thank you for everything that you do. And to those who are laying their heads down tonight in a foreign land, away from your loved ones, thank you so very much. Stay safe, you're in our thoughts and our hearts. Merry Christmas.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People LivedThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

The Christmas Gifts Have Arrived

Well, I know that the gifts have all arrived at my brothers house. I just hope he can keep the dogs from opening them. Now, if I could be as sure that Shay was going to make it over the mountains I would be a happy camper. I convinced her not to drive, too dangerous. But now it looks like there might be problems with her flight.

The Northwest (Seattle) is being hit with the biggest snow storm in history (I Swear). Flights at Sea-Tac have been cancelled and some are not even being rescheduled. You can read all about it here. I have tried to call Alaska Airlines but all I get is a busy signal. Now, when I check out this site, I get word that the flight is curerntly scheduled to be on time. Even the same flight for today is listed as being on time. Please say a prayer with me that she gets to go home for Christmas. I am ok not having her with me as long as she is able to be with family. But I will be totally depressed if she gets stuck in Spokane for Christmas.

Another Christmas Past Post

****Stupid me! I have been racking my brain trying to figure out why I could not change my font or colors and why my pictures were not posting so that I could see them. I accidently just hit the Compose button at the top right side and wala, it is fixed. I had been posting in the Edit Html mode.****

I am posting some more pictures and a story about this Christmas. I remember this one very well. This was the year that our parents woke us up like at 3am to open presents. See, my father was in the Navy and he got the call to report to the ship. He was on the ship that helped other ships and there was another ship that needed repairs. I am thinking that this was 41 years ago. That would make it 1967. Or, it might have been 1966.

Our mother went all out this year. She made the fireplace out of a book case that she turned around. And the stars are made out of a heavy duty foil. We had them for years. We lived in Navy Base Housing and every year Santa would make his rounds. And that Christmas Tree! I loved that tree. We had a color wheel that was behind it and would shine red, blue, green and orange on the foil tree. Each limb was in its own paper sleeve and I remember the sound that the limbs made when you pulled them out. That was the sound of Christmas to me. Them you had to put them in the wood pole. I always hated it when you had an extra limb. That meant you missed one and now had to find the hole. Not as easy as it sounds. I would love to find a tree like this again.

I hope you enjoy my blast from the past of Christmas Memories.
In this one it is me and my brother with Santa. Notice the addition of the stockings on the fireplace?
This is later on Christmas Day. I was playing the piano I got. I see my brother got a basketball and hoop. I also got a big bike. I mean BIG.
I am a happy camper. I got confirmation that the box of gifts I shipped to my brothers house arrived at the post office yesterday. Because of the snow (Yes, Seattle has been dumped with snow) he was not able to get them yet. At least I know they made it and that Shay and my brother will have presents to open on Christmas. I told them they need to call me and let me be on the phone when they are opening them.

I am off today and need to start cleaning the dogs room and will then be outside doing the yard. Yes, it needs a quick mowing because the dogs hate it when it tickles their bellies. Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and a better weekend!

Wednesday's Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Melinda

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christian P. Humphreys
28 years old from Fallon, Nevada
6th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force 49
November 15, 2008


A funny, nice guy who loved to fly. That's how Christian P. Humphreys is remembered by his friends. "He was a great guy, always happy and had a joke," said Sean Whitney, a flight medic. "We used to play with our paintball guns in the cornfields behind his house."

Humphreys flew with the Fallon Naval Air Station Search and Rescue Longhorns from June 6, 2004, to May 5, 2006. He left the Navy and joined the Army as part of the "Blue to Green" program to become a helicopter pilot.

Humphreys, along with Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donald V. Clark, 37 years old from Tennessee, was killed when their OH-58 Kiowa helicopter crashed while on a mission over Mosul, Iraq. As a rescue crew chief, Humphreys was in charge of the operation behind the pilots. He made the decisions when to deploy rescue crews out of the helicopter to assist injured people, and he also took care of the equipment.

"He was a funny guy, a nice guy, a lot of character," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Schmidt. "The guy was always entertaining, always had something to say, but like everyone here, he displayed the professionalism in saving lives."

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christian P. Humphreys leaves behind a wife and parents.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Amazing!!!!

I got this in an email yesterday and I knew I had to share it with you all. I can't believe this was done by a teenager!!

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa ..
For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.

It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos. (all angles) of the rock.

I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.







Here is the Artist. His name is Ray "Bubba" Sorenson.

Pass it on.

You may be only one person in the world, but
you may also be the world to one person.

Wednesday Hero

Spc. Jonnie L Stiles
38 years old from Highlands Ranch, Colorado
769th Engineer Battalion, Louisiana Army National Guard
November 13, 2008


Louisiana National Guard spokesman Maj. Michael Kazmierzak said Spc. Jonnie L. Stiles had been serving as a gunner on a Humvee doing route clearance when and IED detonated near his vehicle in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He said the job typically involves checking roads for bombs and insurgents.

Stiles' wife, Launa, said that he was nearly killed last month when a suicide bomber blew up a military vehicle in front of his. She said he was still able to rescue three other soldiers and returned to duty before his 30-day recovery period was finished.

"He was strong and really cared for his men," she said.

Stiles was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and graduated from Littleton High School in Colorado. He served in the military for 17 years, first joining the Marines and then switching to the Army in 1999. He served three years at Fort Carson, left the Army and then returned as a member of the Colorado Air National Guard in the Summer of 2007.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.