Linda's (from Indiana) Journal

i got here to Fort Knox about 12:10pm and Jared met my sister and me at my hotel shortly after. we went to lunch, then my sister took Jared's truck and headed home. we had a nice drive and stopped at a nice outlet mall on the way. we only did a little shopping and then headed here. i met Jared's girlfriend and she seems very nice. she comes from a long line of military personnel and was in the Army herself. now she works for a company that does military work. Jared and i spent quite a bit of time together and he was very happy about me bringing venison jerky and no-bake cookies. we went to his house and hung out for a while. he has been living with 3 other guys and they are like family, and their families are like family. i met BJ's wife, BJ's parents and his wife's Mom. i met all the guys before. BJ and Jess are secretly married (long story there that i'm not exactly getting )the other 3, including Jared, have girlfriends. Jared and Becky took me to see the Christmas lights in a big park. it was really nice, but i got so hot and so hungry i was ready to jump out of the Tahoe and run to the nearest restaurant without a coat. i know this has nothing to do with REI, but it is my journal. i did look up their house on total view and taking some off because i think the value of the home is too high, i would say they have been living in a house worth $170,000-$180,000. i don't know the market by any means, but i was curious to see what it's worth. the owners are putting it up for sale since the guys are moving out. deployment has changed a little, but what is new. Jared showed me where he will be and all you see are mountains. not my idea of good real estate. he and i talk about who/what to study concerning war and he studies a lot of tactical stuff. while my sister was here he told us about his experiences learning to keep people alive until the medic can get to them. he also told about his experiences in war, etc. now i know why he doesn't want to be an officer, although i hope he changes his mind. he's so ready to go and i'm hoping i don't break down tomorrow when i say goodbye. i usually do pretty good as long as no one else is crying and i know Jared won't be. thank goodness for that! i'm rambling, i know. i've been up since 4am and i'm so tired i can barely think straight. it was a very nice day with my son. hopefully he will be back on leave in August. have a great weekend!

I am glad the weather allowed you to go to see Jared before he leaves. I know that means a lot to you. It was great that your sister got to go along with you. I know you two had fun on the way down. Coming back will be harder, but you may appreciate the time to just be by yourself.

Kind of odd, the secretly married thing, since they draw more money when they are married and the spouses have benefits, too. But, I suppose they have their reasons.

Are those no bake cookies the chocolate with the instant oats in them? Yum! I learned to make those when I was in Girl Scouts a couple of years ago. They are yummy! Haven't had them for forever.

Take care and drive safely on the way home.

Karen

You and Jared are in my thoughts and prayers. I'm know that regardless if you cry or not he knows how very much you love him. Again I'm wishing I had the right words for you right now.

Good going with the cookies even though you were wearing part of them when you were making them LOL!

Talk to you soon.

Hugs,

Lea

thanks for stopping by my page. And I wanted to say stay strong but if you cry it is OK he is your baby.. Best wishes and hugs from me

thanks for stopping by. it was a very special trip for me and the time alone on the way back was a good thing. that secretly married thing is odd to me too, but maybe they enjoy the "game" of it some. who knows? kids can be so "funny" sometimes. yes, those cookies have the oats in them and they are gluten-free. yippee! the trip home was good but i am totally exhausted. trying to play a little catch-up and hopefully get a call from Jared before he boards the plane. hope all is going well with you.

thanks for stopping in. you may not think you have the right words to say, but sometimes words aren't really necessary. the support is far more important to me, and i know you are here for me. thanks. Jared was thrilled with the cookies and my Army sweats are clean and look fine again. i wish my crazy cooking habits could get me out of cooking forever, but i won't hold my breath. how are things going with REI on your end?

thanks for stopping by. yes, Jared is my baby, even if he is over 6'2" and a "big boy" now. we really gave him a hard time on Saturday about some nicknames from his younger days. it was a special time for me and for him. thanks for your support.

Jared is on his way to his flight. in fact he may even be there by now. i had hoped to hear from him by phone, but we did get a few text messages sent. he is ready to get to Afghanistan, as most of the soldiers are. i am ready for him to be home and safe. we had a very nice visit and some good laughs, especially with my sister. he told a couple more stories from the first time he was in Iraq. the story i can remember i would rather not know about and the one that is okay, i can't remember. duh! at least he is talking about that first tour a little, although he doesn't say much about any of it. i met his roommate Steve's girlfriend yesterday and said goodbye to the family of another roomie. we took everything out of Jared's room and he sent me home with some personal stuff. i'm not quite used to that because he usually leaves it all with his Dad. i have his truck, his handgun, his cowboy hat, his expensive camera and the stuff he got when he graduated from EOD school. makes me feel kind of weird. i went out in 6 degree weather and tied a yellow ribbon on a tree for him and won't take it down until he is back and his tour is over. i didn't get upset until i got in the car to go home and then i got a little choked up when i was talking with Chuck about him last night. this time seems a lot harder than before, but i think it's because it's Afghanistan and now he is a bomb tech/team leader. if you are interested, you can look up 703 EOD on facebook and it shows their unit and Jared is in some of the pictures. he's the tall thin blonde with the crazy dishwater blonde hair and poochy lips. i am totally exhausted so i won't do much with REI today. i have to do laundry and try to rest a little so i can make it through the rest of the week. i will need plenty to keep my mind off all that Jared is doing and experiencing, and REI is just the thing to help me with that. i hope you all are getting the deals you want.

i have always wondered about Skype and now i know. i got a phone call at 6am this morning with an OK area code and i didn't recognize the number. it really threw me. i answered, but i couldn't hear anything or anyone so i hung up. then i get another call a few minutes later from the same number. i answer and hear like a synthesized voice on the other end, but i can't understand anything. so i say i think you have the wrong number and hang up. then i get a text message that says "it's your son JARED!!!". oops. he was calling through skype. so now the girls and i are all set up on skype. we've been talking to each other and then Jared just called and i got to see him as well as talk to him. my video wouldn't come up on his end (that may be for the best ). anyway, it was really nice to see him and hear his voice. the signal was very delayed, but i still could talk to him. he is in Spain right now and it is in the 70"s. he has all ready been to the PX. he didn't sleep much on the plane, but hopefully he will tonight. he is 6 hours ahead of us EST. i've spent all morning messing with that, but now it's time to get to work. i have to work on a few things here at home, but i will be working on my contracts too. kind of going back and forth with them. yesterday was Desiree's 30th birthday. i always call my kids (except when i can't call Jared) at the time they were born on their birthdays. Desiree has always warned everyone at work that she will be getting a call at 9:10am on her birthday and it's her mom calling. she wasn't able to answer the phone yesterday so i sang Happy Birthday to her as her message (very off-key). i got to talk to her a little last night and then this morning on skype (once she got her sound working. i'm lousy at reading lips.) now let's get working on things to get some deals!

What a beautiful way to honor Jared with the yellow ribbon your tied for him. You certainly do have my support as well as many others on this site. Glad Jared was happy with the cookies.

Getting out of cooking isn't that easy and it won't likely get easier LOL!

All is well thanks and thanks too for the helpful info you sent.

It's good to know that you and your family are enjoying skype and get talk to Jared.

Lea

great talking to you this morning! thanks for stopping in and always lending your support.

i think i am totally exhausted from all the travel and stress of late. i probably should be resting more but it's hard to right now. we are working on the garage so we can get Jared's truck inside, along with our vehicles. we haven't heard from him today so i would guess he is in Afghanistan or close. once he flies in, then he, his team (a team is the Team Leader and 2 others), his buddy and his team and one other guy will be flown to their actual destination. Spain was 70 degrees but they are going into a very cold area. i hope they have plenty of warm stuff. i know Jared took some special long johns with him. working on my rental contract. it is so tedious and slow, but i want everything in there and i want it easy to understand. i use print big enough to see, but try to keep it as small as i can too. i still have too many pages to get through, but i prefer not to leave anything to chance. got to talk to Lea this morning. i ran errands and planned on calling her when i got home. i saw she had called me and left a message so i had to call her back. Christmas is so close and i never seem ready. are you???

God Bless you and Jared and your family ....and big thank you for all he is doing for our country. Isn't Skype awesome!!! So great technology can bring us together!

Thanks so much for commenting in my journal a while back when I came "back" only to disappear again (at least from the journal not the real estate!) So great to hear from you and my apologies for not writing again sooner. I have finally updated my journal and I know postings will be fewer for awhile until I can have some more time to post!!

So excited he'll be home for Christmas with you guys. Awesome!!!

Merry Christmas and we'll catch up on real estate after the holidays!
Cheers!
Louisa

thank you for stopping by. i have been wondering about you so much, but i know with a new baby plus REI you are really busy. yes, i now love Skype, except when it's down (like yesterday). Jared won't be home this Christmas but i'm praying for next Christmas. not sure if he's in Afghanistan yet; i hope to hear from him on Christmas Day somehow. it's hard to imagine what all he has to do to get settled in there. for all i know he'll be living in a tent. not my idea of fun. i will check in with your journal today. glad to see you are back, even if just for a moment or two. Merry Christmas to you and yours too!

the holidays are so close. i went to lunch with my sister and my other sister's son. he is moving to Port St. Lucie, FL in January. mmmm, wonder who he'll be near??? my sister and her family are heading to AR and OK to see my Dad, then my kids. she has always thought of them as her kids, so at least they all will be together. i'm taking a break from traveling for right now. no word from Jared yet, but hopefully everyone will be able to call/skype their families on Christmas Day. it's been warmer today so i was able to wash my filthy car. i had to take my REI car magnets off but need to wash them and get them right back on there. i am still working on that rental contract. i haven't had much time to work on it, but i'm making myself do a little each day, if nothing else. i think my option contract is a bit shorter; i'm so hoping!!! hopefully we will have the garage cleaned out enough today to get Jared's truck in the garage. having a 3-car garage is such a blessing, especially now. i want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas!!! i probably won't post for a couple days, but i hope your Christmas is all you could hope for and more.

I hope you read this even though you aren't going to be posting because I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to you!!!!

I'm so glad we got to talk yesterday. I enjoy our conversations and bouncing ideas and thoughts of each other.

WOW! You have a nephew moving to PSL? Is it the warmer weather bringing him this way? Well if he has any questions about the area he is welcome to get in touch with us.

I hope you get to talk to Jared on Christmas day. If you do please tell him Denny & I wish him a Merry Christmas!

Lea

Sorry I haven't posted here for I few days. I HAVE been following your posts tho.

I am so glad you have already heard from Jared. How amazing and what a blessing technology is!

I got the book we talked about. I am enjoying it very much and picking up some good tips. I had been tempted to buy it a couple of months ago and didn't. Glad we talked about it, that pushed me over the edge. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Girl and Merry Christmas!

Karen

.....Just wanted to stop by to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday (12/25) and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

i did read this. yes, my nephew is moving to PSL in January. i'm not sure just what is bringing him that way. i think he has a friend that lives there and he decided to move south instead of to Las Vegas. he's young and trying to figure out his path in life.

we haven't talked to Jared at all, but hopefully he had a Merry Christmas. thanks.

thank you for the good wishes.

thanks for stopping by. glad you got that book. i think it is the best on L/O's myself. thanks for the good wishes.

thanks for stopping in and thanks for the good wishes. i believe 2011 is my best year yet!

that is my theme for this coming year. i need it and i'm sure there are many others who do too. we have not heard from Jared at all, not even for Christmas. i would think the Army could do better than that, but who knows what is going on. we're all waiting to hear from him and it's hard, especially during the holidays. we had a very nice lunch Christmas Eve Day at Chuck's dad's house. 18 people were there and everything went so smoothly. i even had food i could eat (gluten-free). Christmas Day was nice too and we had a few people over here. in the evening we drove all over looking at Christmas lights and i love to do that. in Broken Arrow, OK there is a Bible college named Rhema and they add lights every year to their display. it is a beautiful display of lights and even Chuck had to admit he's never seen anything like it. my kids took their kids this year and usually go every year. yesterday we ran a few errands and then home to rest. we're both exhausted and can't seem to catch up on our rest for some reason. we were going to look at a HUD house yesterday that came in my email, but when i checked the zip code we decided against it. the house itself looks like someone had started a rehab, then couldn't move forward with it and lost the house. i was very disappointed because the price was great and it looked like a decent place, but that zip code is not where we want to be day or night. we also checked on the REO we made an offer on that sold way above what it should have. there is a full dumpster in the driveway and it's been full for months now. the windows are gone and boarded up. the back of the house looks worse than before it sold. we are very disappointed to see that nothing good is happening with that property. Chuck thinks maybe they ran out of money all ready. no way of knowing for sure, but i hate to see it go downhill any further. i've been working on my contract little by little, but i think it's multiplying as i type each paragraph. it's getting a little scary. every time i think i've made headway with it, i look and see i still have way too far to go. it's a very tight rental agreement and i want to make sure i've got just about everything possible covered. then i can feel good about assigning it back to the seller because i have him/her covered. if everything is covered in the contracts, then there shouldn't be any questions or misunderstandings. gotta watch that perfectionism tendency though. i will keep plugging away at it until i have it the way i want it. hopefully my option contract will go much smoother and easier. i hope everyone had a very special Christmas.

this morning i had to run errands and this afternoon i'm working on my contract. i want to have this one finished tomorrow. hopefully i can spend most of the day tomorrow working on it and get it typed completely, then proofed. i can't stand mistakes in contracts! no word from Jared as of yet. at least my daughters and i use Skype each day to visit. it's wonderful to see the kids and grandkids. now i can keep up with their growing and not feel like i'm missing out so much. i read "The Law of Success" this morning on self confidence and it gave me a much-needed boost. i do recommend buying the one off the infomercial as was recommended to me by a fellow DGer. it can be very helpful.

I hope your son is doing OK and I hope you are doing well also.

When you have time Linda take a look at our video we sent in for the send me away contest. The link is at the bottom of our post.

God Bless You and your Family.

Steve

thanks for stopping by. yes, i'm sure Jared is doing great. i'm just not known for patience.

i did watch your video. so glad you made it. way to go! i hope to do it next year, but i may have to practice a lot. i'm not sure how i'll do in front of the camera. can't wait to hear about more of your deals.

another decent day of weather here. i hope i don't get spoiled. ok, i really don't mind being spoiled at all. nothing from Jared again today. i am sure we went through this both times he went to Iraq, but it's been 2 years. i remember he was in Kuwait for a while, but i think he did get to contact us while he was there. hopefully he didn't have to go right out on missions as soon as he got there. he would love it if he did. i have worked most of the day on my rental agreement. i got it all typed up and proofed, so now i just have to make some corrections and i will do that before the day is over. i looked at the option agreement and i'm not sure i even want to get started on that. but, "The Law of Success" was talking about procrastination today so i will do it no matter what. the sooner i get it done the sooner i can make some money.

i am done with my rental agreement. i had to make a couple changes to it and got that squared away, plus simple corrections. whew! what a relief. i have started my option to purchase agreement and it should be a lot easier. i got quite a bit done, but Chuck took off work at 11:30am and will be home for the next 4 days, so i won't get as much done. he seems to require a lot of my attention. i got an email from a prospective T/B so we'll see if anything happens with that. i am going to send her my T/B spiel and the information sheet. so many people are looking for an easy in and they don't want to do the work required to own a home of their own. we did some running around today getting last minute groceries and running a few errands. now it's back to work for a little while, then for the most part i want to enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend. this is the last one until Easter and i have to really get in gear, so i want to enjoy what is left. no word from Jared yet and i hope to hear from him by the end of the week. i wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!

Linda how did you manage to squeeze a post in there?

not sure what you mean, unless you are referring to my gabbiness. gotta get it out somehow. thanks for stopping in.

It was nice to talk with you this morning. THANKS again for your BRILLIANT thoughts and ideas - Love it!

I'm glad to hear you are making progress with your purchase agreements. You pay attention to detail.

Happy New Year to You, Chuck, Jared and ALL of your family!!!!

Lea