What am I thankful for? Quite a bit...

So it's that time of year again where everyone is supposed to act extra thankful for the blessings they have in their lives. I am just as thankful as always, although I have to admit that life is a bit sweeter after just completing a deployment. I still find it hard to believe that I'm back in Italy and my biggest concern is whether or not it's going to rain today.

In the past two weeks I've had about 6 panic attacks during which I feel like I left my weapon somewhere and can't believe I don't have it, but that's my only complaint about being home. My hands are just missing the comfort of holding a weapon all the time. I will be perfectly fine eventually.

I also have to comment on the fact that it feels like I never left this place. We were standing in formation for PT a few days ago, and someone commented "did we really go on a deployment? It seems like we never left." It's a very true statement. The past year seems like a dream....an exceptionally lengthy dream.

So anyways, here is a short photo list of the things I am thankful for this year.

I am thankful for:

Having a roof over my head that does not leak water EVERYWHERE

Helicopters, which flew me out of my COP and started my journey back to Italy. They also flew us to random horrible locations for missions, which was much more enjoyable than walking(except for the one instance when a rocket was shot at a Chinook full of our guys...)

My M240B machine gun that was my weapon for 24 months of my life(unfortunately only half of deployment). It taught me how to push through the suck, and carrying a heavy machine gun just feels good once you get used to the weight. My machine gun(her name was "Black Betty") was a loyal friend that never quit on me, provided tons of fun times, caused me to lose some of my hearing, and made me feel like 100% man while shooting her. I will absolutely volunteer to carry the M240 again in Ranger School.

Photo opportunities like this one. This was back in the glory days of our deployment when you could sit out in the open on the OP without being the subject of sniper fire, machine gun fire, and RPG's!

EOD guys who would gladly dig a tiny hole in the side of a road and dig until they found the explosives buried underneath. I am slightly claustrophobic, and laying in a hole with explosives near my head would scare the crap out of me. The Air Force EOD teams with us would go out on almost every mission, and they never complained. I know that myself and my entire company is thankful they were deployed with us.

Having a mailbox, and never again having to hope and pray for a white helicopter to show up and hopefully have mail inside of it.

Finding all of these before they could be buried in the ground and detonated while we walked over them. I will admit that we were all upset to be going out at 1am on July 5th(we had just stuffed ourselves on the 4th after cooking out steaks and chicken, and everyones' stomachs were hurting), but finding this cache made it all worth it.

Never having to eat this for breakfast again. Sure, it doesn't look all that bad. The proper name of this is "Filled French Toast"(all 230 calories of it!), so it is basically stale bread with french toast-flavored filling. Yummy. I was very happy to open it and not find mold, since roughly 25% of these were moldy upon opening. It's a sad when opening up your breakfast and NOT finding mold makes for a great morning....there are just some parts of deployment I will NEVER miss.

The dogs of our deployment. The first one is Lola, who got pregnant and had 4 ridiculously cute puppies. The second is No Ears, who we picked up from the Afghan police in our valley. You know that certain dogs are special when our platoon sergeant(who is about as strict and serious about following rules as they come) told new guys that "if you see a wild dog on the COP, let someone know so they can be shot. But you do not mess with Lola and No Ears." Those two dogs could always cheer up someone's day. I miss them.

Not having to rely on a monkey for entertainment. You know you're bored when an entire platoon will show up just to look at a monkey that one of our interpreters picked up.

Never having to cross another river and hope to God that some random Taliban fighter did not get smart and decide to camp out next to the river and wait for us.

Not having to wake up, walk outside my tent, and see the same God-forsaken hill every stinking day. Hill 2311...I hate you so much.

Not having to sleep in this place. We eventually surrounded this location with a 5 foot tall sandbag wall, because staying there meant getting shot at. Every day. I will never forget laying in my cot and seeing the wood 3 feet above my head splintered from bullets.

Sunsets...which honestly seemed more beautiful in Afghanistan than anywhere else I have ever watched one. Another note on sunsets...they signaled that it was our time to go to work in the Valley. About 75% of the missions the 2nd half of my deployment were conducted at night..the Valley was ours during darkness.

Not having to sleep with rocket launchers next to my head. I don't think an explanation is needed.

Snow, which still caused the occasional "snow day" during deployment! On the downside, it also led to extra guard duty when visibility was so low that the OP couldn't see the valley floor.

No longer having to deal with the emotional roller coaster caused by receiving REAL beer in the mail, only to have to sit and watch it poured out. So frustrating(but it smelled sooooo good!).

Friends, who can make or break your entire deployment.

My sensationally beautiful fiance! She has always been supportive of me and willing to listen to anything I talked about while I've been away. I've put her through enough worry-filled nights to last a life time, and I plan on making it up to her as best I can for the next 70 years or so(80 would be nice too).

And last, but always first in my heart: my family. We've come a very long ways from the days of just my mom and dad and my 3 brothers, but every single one of them spent the past year emailing me, sending packages, and caring for me every day. I really do have an awesome family, and I can't wait to go home for post-deployment leave!

Happy Thanksgiving!