random things cont...

9, or 10, or whatever number I was on before...
I go through swings of severe loneliness, depression, concern, apprehension, and looking forward to, all related to this deployment.

I figured out that I'm going to leave my truck in Idaho in the care of some very good family friends. The majority of the rest of my stuff will be in a storage shed somewhere. I hate packing, so if you want to come and shove some of my junk in a box for me, I would love the help!

I need to stop cussing... Yep, I'm willing to bet that 99.99% of you have never heard me even come close to swearing, mostly cause I only do it when working for the Army. I'm not the person who constantly vomits 4 letter words, I'm quite selective about it actually. However, I'm in a culture which lends itself to baser things at times, dealing with things that occasionally need highlighted, cussing does a decent job. And some Soldiers and situations tend to need to be cursed at more than others. But I'm going to stop. Today. I'm not even going to think them. I expect better from myself. Bet you didn't even know I cursed, did you?

I had a ton of mail waiting for me when I got home, including 3 wedding announcements. I fully expect that more than half of my close friends of the female persuasion will be married by the time I get home.

It's going to be easy to live the Gospel over there in relation to the big things (no sex, drugs, drinking) but it's going to be more of a challenge to find the quiet time to ponder life and the gospel, to really read my scriptures and pray the way I should.

I've set a lot of goals for this deployment.
Save money
Pay off all debts
Stop finishing people's sentences for them
Be more of a self starter
Develop more internal motivation
Learn Spanish
Learn more Arabic
Read one Church and one Secular book at a time
Don't waste time watching dumb movies or playing games
Go to the gym for an hour 4 times a week (come back ripped, make girls drool, I'm gonna be almost 28, and no job or degree when I get home, I'm gonna need some help...)
Learn my Army job better than I do now
Grow closer to God through constant prayer and having a song in my heart
Read my scriptures everyday, and if I have a day off, for several hours that day
Memorize scriptures that mean a lot to me
Don't worry so much about the people at home and where we're all going to fit into each others lives when I get back, it's in the Lord's hands, and there's not a thing I can do about it.

These are just a few of the goals I've set. Ok, they're most of them, but I've bitten off quite a bit here. I'm going to focus quite a bit on improving myself. Last deployment I wasted my time watching movies, sitting on my cot, and playing computer games. I blew money on stupid stuff because I was bored. NOT GONNA HAPPEN THIS TIME!!!! I'm going to buy 3 possibly 4 things this whole time I'm gone. A camera to take pictures with, a laptop to email friends and family, (and to update my blog of course) which will also be used in school the next time I'm actually allowed to go to school, and a motorcycle. Possibly a road bike, but that's up in the air. Oh, and I'm going to get into rock climbing when I get home.