Special moments in 2011

April

I officially retired from the United States Army after serving more than 21 years. My friend LTC Darren Blagburn and my beautiful fiancé set up a party that included my family and friends here in Boise and those from out of town.

My mother and I before the ceremony

Me and my girl on my last day wearing a uniform



My brother Will makes a toast

My family

My retirement gift from my Cynthia and my friends

Me and LTC Darren Blagburn

Me and Cynthia

August

Cynthia and I ran our first race together called the Boise Foothill XC12k it was so fun to run with her.  You can see it on her blog at http://rundreamlaugh.blogspot.com/2011/08/foothills-xc12k-race-recap.html

Then we ran the Project Athena 10k

We rounded out the month with a great run called the Dirty Dash at Bogus Basin. I got to meet Cynthia's very awesome sister Elisa whom I had never met before and run with one of Cynthia's friends Linzi.



Me, Linzi, Cynthia, Dash (our mascot) and Elisa Our team name was the "Dirty Booty Chaser's"

December
It was Vegas time with my brother Will, Tiffany his wife, Jason my cousin, and Bill and Tiana.  Cynthia went to run the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon and I went to support her and play a few slot machines, haha. There was speculation that we would get married but that was not in the cards. Maybe 2012 will tell a different story.

Cynthia and I on the strip!!

Will, Tiffany and Cynthia

Jason, me and my little brother Will

I am excited to see what new adventures will happen in this coming year and I hope that all of you will stick with me and continue to support my endeavor to get information out to our Veterans and Soldiers. No matter what your stance is on the war and in politics let us not forget that it’s the Soldier that bears the responsibility of being faithful to our United States and its citizens.

I hope my stories will help another Soldier realize that they are not unique in their experiences and writing is an outlet that can be powerful not just for the person writing but for those that read it. I challenge you to open that door maybe just a crack and peek in then write about it. This page will always be an outlet for my fellow Soldiers old and new to express themselves without fear of being judged.

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives, and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday”

-inscription on John Wayne’s Headstone