Another year gone by....

This is the time of year that I become very sentimental. I am heading back to StL this coming weekend and am very much looking forward to seeing or talking to as many people as possible. Its been an eventful year. I have seen and done many things. As I look back over the years, I would never have imagined living the life that I live right now. Last year I posted "A year of Firsts" (see myspace). I thought now as good as a time as any for another list of adventures.

- Finished my trip around the world by flying from StL to San Diego. I had flown from Norfolk to Azores to Naples to Souda Bay, Greece to Bahrain, to Diego Garcia, to Singapore, to Tokyo, to LA. This completed the circle.
- Learned to control helos on and off the flight deck. Very Challenging.
- Worked with Night Stallions, helos that fly our special forces in and out of battle in the dead of night with no lights.
- Got my first apartment by myself...and furnished it completely. I had my seabag and about 12 boxes...no furniture.
- Traveled to Guam
- Traveled to Philippines to meet the ship.
- Attempted Humanitarian Aid off the coast of Burma (Actually we did circles for a month waiting to do nothing)
- Traveled to Thailand (Payetta and Bangkok) Missed all the protests though.
- Completed a Hull Swap. The USS JUNEAU swapped out with the USS DENVER. I am now on the USS DENVER and the USS JUNEAU was decommissioned on Oct 30, 2008.
- Traveled to Tokyo for five days and had a vacation with Tony on his way through.
- Climbed Mt. Fuji. Eight hours of agony. Old saying goes "He who climbs Mt. Fuji once is wise, to climb it twice is to be a fool." Something I will take to heart.
- Traveled to the Philippines again (We go there as much as we do Okinawa).
- Saw a live Amphibious exercise of an amphibious attack off the coast of South Korea. There were AAV's, C-130's dropping things out of the sky, helos, explosions, F/A 18 flybys. It was awesome.
- Traveled to Hong Kong. Did lots of shopping.

God has truly blessed my life. I have great friends at home and am having great adventures abroad. Live life with no regrets. The more I learn to follow Jesus the more I realize just how blessed I am. Looking forward to seeing everyone when I come home for a while. I have missed you all.