...you electrify my life.

I sort of figured that this might happen...start a blog, and then never have time to use it. I guess that has a lot to say about my deployment though -- I just finished my tour in Iraq, and looking back now I realize that every ounce of free time was spent with friends. I don't think i've worked in many jobs where I spend a chaotic day at work and then want to spend the nights with those same coworkers. Iraq was different. I wasn't expecting to find life-long friends, and I wasn't expecting it to be so hard to leave. But it was hard, and that says everything about the people that I met there. I came to Iraq, leaving my home and family. But yesterday I left Baghdad feeling like I had left my heart behind. No checklist or predeployment training could have prepared me for that.

I read a quote once that said something like ...."As we move through life, the force of fate creates events that we only appreciate when we reflect on our existence." I've spent 6 months reflecting on my existence, and I leave feeling like I have a better handle on what I want out of life. I will always only look back on this deployment fondly. Not to say that parts of it weren't hard -- because it was challenging for me -- but I feel like I was handed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it was up to me to figure out what to do with it. This opportunity was more about relationships then anything else. The people I have met have made me a better a person -- I've learned that life is short, so I have to make the most of each moment I have with those I love. I need to be better about following my dreams, no matter how lofty they may seem.

At the end of this life I want to know that i've loved my family and friends with all my heart -- that i've seen the world and appreciate what it has to offer, and that i've left this place even just a little bit better.

I know i haven't done this well, but I guess that's what second chances are for. So thank you Baghdad for a second chance, and thank you to those friends that taught me how to love and dream. You mean everything to me.