News.....

Just wanted to let whoever still reads the blog know that the time has come to stop sending care packages. I will be leaving my FOB ( Forward operating base) somewhere in the next fifty days. I want to thank every one for the many packages I have received as well as the thoughts and prayers. Feel free to continue sending the thoughts and prayers, because even tho I will be leaving soon I am still not out of the woods. I will also be away from my FOB for a few weeks. My roommate and I decided to volunteer to go with our Civil affairs team to another FOB to do some work. If nothing else it is a change of scenery and it will get us out of here for a few weeks. I am kinda looking forward to it. Hope to see everyone soon.
Love
Jeff

Updated pics of the house!

Hey ya'll...just wanted to give an update of things here at the home front. Since closing on the house, I have been a busy little bee working on the first of many projects in the house. The entire house is wallpapered...very tasteful wallpaper, but none the less, wallpaper. So Jeff and I decided that we would start with one room and get going on making the house "ours." The living room and dining room would be the starting point, since these are the rooms that people would most likely be in while visiting the house. I have never taken down wallpaper before, so I wasn't sure what I was in for. It actually came down in full sheets, which I was thankful for. Uncle Steve knows someone for every home improvement here in Charlotte County, so he was able to get Kevin, a drywall guy, in to help refinish some of the walls and replace a few pieces of drywall for us. Once the painting was done, Uncle Steve and his two friends, Kenny and Tim, came and helped put new chair rail up in the dining room, replace switches, plugs and ceiling fans and Kenny replaced our whole electrical panel for us as a housewarming gift. Needless to say, I couldn't have done this without them! Here are some pics!

The Porcaro House

Had to show off my pride for my husband...the bows say "SSG Jeffrey Porcaro; Our Soldier, Our Hero"


This is the living room before...this is coming in the front door

This is the dining room before...there was a large mirror on the wall that was GLUED to the wall and wallpapered around. While Kevin was helping, he cut the mirror down and replaced the drywall for us...he is a great guy.

Here is Taylor (Moke & Dawn's daughter) helping me out with the walls.

This is the AFTER...view from the front door to the kitchen

The dining room after. The light fixture will be replaced soon.

Living room and new curtains

The new fan that Jeff and I picked out...it will match our decor once we move furniture into the room after the floors are done in 2010.

Dining room...yes, I hung the pictures and sheers!

Just a little something....

So we had a reporter from ABC news here a few weeks ago. She was mainly covering stuff about the interaction between the women we have here in the PRT and the women out in town. Being a Muslim country women are pretty much only good for having children. The new government is trying to change that. Any who, as a side project she wanted to do a story about military tattoos. At this point I am sure those of you know what tattoos I have are probably wondering which one could possible be related to the military. And this is the point where you discover that I got a new tattoo while I was home on leave in September. I don't remember who started saying it, but when we were at Camp Atterbury someone started saying "That's Zabulshit" when ever something stupid was going on. (The province I am in is Zabul province for those who have not been paying attention). Well the dumb shit just continued when we got here, so Zabulshit was still being used. So I decided that I was going to get my military tattoo done when I was home on leave and I decided to get Zabulshit on the back of my arm. I wanted it on my forearm but for some reason Shelly objected to it, still cant figure out why. So the reporter was here and she mentioned what she wanted to do and one of my wonderful buddies decided to throw me under the bus and told her about my tattoo. So I showed it to her and she said she wanted to use it. A few days went by and I assumed she forgot, well apparently to be a reporter you need a good memory, because she came and found me so she could take the picture. So she took the picture and wrote down some stuff and told me it would be on the ABC news website. A few days went by and I asked her when she would have it up, she said she still had to write it and submit it. So I gave her my e mail address so she could let me know when it was going to be up. She left, and a few weeks went by and I never heard from her. I kept checking the web site and I finally stumbled on it by accident. Still have not heard from her, but here is the link. Might have to copy and and past...not sure how it will work.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Afghanistan/slideshow?id=9269824

Long story short: I managed to get into the news while I was over here and all it was for was having Zabulshit tattooed on my arm.
Much love to all, take care and I will see everyone soon.
Jeff

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I got to talk to Jeff today on Skype and he was doing well. He actually got a Thanksgiving dinner so it made it feel more like a "special" day than just another day in Afghanistan. This time of the year is proving to be especially difficult for Jeff and I. The holidays are something that we have always spent together, and now that we are in our new house, we should be celebrating our first Christmas together there, waking up together on Christmas morning. Please remember to think of Jeff and all of our service men and women this holiday season. I know that it will help Jeff out tremendously to have comments and messages left on here for him to read. Remember, if you want to get a box to him by Christmas (hopefully), please send it out by December 4th. Sending love to all and thanks for all of the blessings in our life.

Christmas Boxes to Jeff

Hey guys...sorry I haven't update lately. Not too much going on. I know that everyone is getting more and more busy with the holidays coming up. I subscribe to the Army Times (a newspaper that discusses things going on with the military) and it suggested that you send out boxes to loved ones in Jeff's area no later than December 4th to get there by Christmas. There will be an increase in mail and boxes and since the mail is not picked up every day for Jeff and the rest of the guys, this should give about 2 1/2 weeks for the boxes to travel. I just wanted to pass this along to those of you sending boxes Jeff's way. Right now Jeff is pretty stocked up on goodies and things that he needs and he doesn't have any ideas for Christmas gifts. If you are wanting to send him something, please remember that he will have to pack everything up to ship back to the States, so don't send anything too big. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and take time to really give thanks for all the blessings that we have in our lives. Love to all!!!

We Own a Home!!!!

Just wanted to post a pic of The Porcaro house! The closing happened on Monday the 2nd...and after a slight delay (come on, after all the issues, did you really think the closing would go super smooth?), I was able to sign mine and Jeff's life away for the next 30 years! So even though I didn't sign the papers on the 30th like I thought, everything worked out and we are getting a little money back too...which will help in the painting of the living room and putting in new tile.

All of our stuff was moved in on Saturday the 7th with the help of Uncle Steve, Kenny, Tim and JB. They have all helped with some repairs at the house prior to move in and JB is putting in a new back door for us and Tim will lay the tile when all the painting is done. Without these guys, I would be lost! Uncle Steve really outdid himself this week when he decided to "trim" the palms and Beugonvilia bush...I came over after work and they were all gone! He has another friend coming to pull out the stumps for us. The house has a whole new look! Can't wait for friends and family to come visit...mostly, I can't wait for Jeff to get here and make the house a HOME!!!!

Please check this out....

This is just a little something I wanted to share with everyone. Just copy and paste the link. (I hope it works) Not sure if anyone has heard about this or not. Matt was here with us for a few months and he was a really great guy to work with. And as you read the article and his four page resignation letter (the link for that is in the fourth paragraph, is says "four page letter" in blue) you will also see how incredibly intelligent he is. I remember picking him up from Logman when he got here, he rode in my truck and you could tell right away that he was a really nice guy. As you read the article you will see that he is very brave as well, and not just for his recent actions in speaking out about the war, but as a Marine officer serving in Iraq. Just wanted people to read this as food for thought.
Jeff


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html?hpid%3Dtopnews