If you are in Virginia (Hampton Roads/Beach) then you need to get in your car, drive to 21st street in Virginia Beach and check out the holiday lights on the board-walk! A few friends and I jumped into my van and checked it out last night. The cost is $10 per vehicle (less then 15 passengers) and you get a cd of Christmas music (er, and ads for McDonalds) to listen to. Drive slow! They have all sorts of lights, it’s really beautiful! My son (he’s almost 3) got a HUGE kick out of it!
We’re here in Virginia now! It’s cold (around 65 degrees I think) and I’m completely surrounded by boxes. I’m slowly unpacking, but it is taking awhile. I’ve got a ton of things to add to the blog, but I have to re-find all my notes – I’m completely unorganized at this point!
I’ve signed up for cable and internet through Cox. But I went through some sort of liaison company who really annoyed me. I will writeup about them in a little bit
Our house is really neat – except that the stairs to the loft we have are killing me. The back door needs replacing and whenever Xander wants to go outside I have to run back down the stairs and let him out (and then back in). The door is getting replaced on Monday I think. I’m not used to the stairs at all. Haven’t lived in a house with stairs in a few years.
Xander is being REALLY whiny because he’s out of his element, he’s making me a little nuts. He refuses to play with his toys in his room, he’s just up my butt. I have to get emailing playgroups and getting out I suppose. I’m just so tired – which isn’t good. I’m being lazy and contributing to his misery I guess. Blah …
But, the positives of the house is the SPACE and storage! There are three bedrooms AND a loft. So, the loft is the office now and the 3rd bedroom will be the guestroom/craftroom. The kitchen is a little small, but there is a huge pantry and lots of cabinets. There is only a one car garage, but our yard is big enough for our shed this time. We just really need to price a fence since there is a little river thing running through the backyard. The dog is on a chain, but I can’t really chain up the kid – lol. So, we’re here – we’re sorta happy. Just really (really!) need to rent out our house in Jacksonville, Fl. BEFORE the bills start rolling in … sigh.
Sgt. Antwan L. Walker
22 years old from Tampa, Florida
2nd Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division
May 18, 2005
Sgt. Antwan Walker was excited about coming home from Iraq to celebrate his 23rd birthday with his family and friends. His mother, Andrea Pringle, was busy planning the party when an Army official unexpectedly came to her house.
She said he told her Thursday that her son was killed the previous day by a bomb blast in Ramadi. The Department of Defense hasn’t publicly confirmed his death.
Sgt. Antwan Walker, known as Twan to his friends and family, joined the Army in 2000. Pringle said her son joined to earn money for college.
“Twan had a lot of goals in life,” She said. “He was very ambitious and very smart.”
Sgt. Walker had been in Iraq for about a year. He called his family often but didn’t want to talk about war. Instead, he talked about starting a real estate career and his three children.
“He was such a good dad,” his mother said. “All he wanted to do was make a good life for his kids.”
In April 2005, Walker wanted to talk about the fighting. He told his mother five soldiers he was traveling with were killed. His phone calls became more frequent after that.
Pringle said she had days when she couldn’t eat or sleep because of her worries. But she never forgot to give her son her support.
“I always told him I’m proud and be safe”.
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 blog, you can go here.
Soldier’s Angels is doing Project Valour IT – a project that provides voice activated laptops to wounded military members. Every cent raised for Project Valour-IT goes directly to the purchase and shipment of laptops for severely wounded service members. As of October 2007, Valour-IT has distributed over 1500 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country.
Project Valour IT was begun back in 2005 when a wounded soldier, Charles “Chuck” Ziegenfuss, wanted to return to writing on his blog. His injury prevented him from doing so. A fellow blogger, “FbL,” contacted Chuck and the two came up with the idea for the project.
Soldiers Angels has been collecting donations for laptops and is currently running a fundraisor to help support the project!
If you would like to help out this AWESOME cause, please consider donating!
Entries here have been few the past week or so. I’ve been crazy busy getting ready to move! We’re moving up to Virginia on Saturday (I think) so there is a lot to do and zero time to do it.
Hubby is safe and home now. He’s been helping me pack, helping me with the child and going just as crazy as I am. I’m trying to hang out with as many friends as I can before we leave – but it’s super hard since a few of them are leaving Wednesday for their own Thanksgiving plans and not coming back until Sunday, which is after we are already gone. I hate leaving.
There’s one of my issues with the Navy though. You make friends – Big Navy moves you. But what can you do? Exchange addresses (both email and “snail” mail), send emails/letters, send photos, send holiday cards. It’s a small world, I will see them again.
I am an etsy seller that makes bottle cap and scrabble tile necklaces. I
