YAY FOR MY BLOG.

Today we surpassed 3 million visitors to the site. This is awesome, seeing how we passed 2 million two days into the month of July. Thanks to everyone who has visited the site, read my blog, commented, interacted with me, etc. over the past year and a half that this site has been in operation. It’s been pretty fun running firestormlive.net.

Also a quick but heartfelt thanks to the folks I received email from in the past 24 hours. Folks from Lakeside, my parents, Jude 2 forum folks, and dear friends all flooded my Gmail inbox with well wishes and news of what’s going on back home. THAT’S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE. KEEP IT COMING…I will do my best to get back to everyone individually.

EXCITEMENT! I am about to go on my first video shoot in 12 minutes. We are going back to the Embassy (the former presidential palace, and the complex where everyone lives and conducts most of their business) to shoot some holiday greetings. (Saying the word shoot feels weird, because it’s wartime yet I am still referring to a camera.) It’s neat getting to have folks come on camera, say who they are and where they are from, saying happy holidays to loved ones, and then being able to send those out to their respective local TV stations.

This morning we heard gunfire being exchanged kinda far away. It sounded pretty intense….it was going on for about 25-30 minutes. Interesting how already after only one week of being here, hearing explosions and gunfire are the norm.

Also this morning I rode in the back of a Humvee to work. Call me youthfully ignorant, overenthusiastic or whatever, but I actually considered it fun to ride in the back by myself, in a heavily guarded area, with fires burning in the background, gunshots going off, and all the while realizing I am in the safest place I can be in Iraq. What an experience already. And there are 173 more days left of it!

The Seahawks game will be broadcast this Sunday on AFN Sports at 1:30 AM local time. With me and my roommate being from the Northwest, you bet your gosh darn rear end we’re staying up to watch it.

That’s it for now. Aloha, baby.