Today was filled with lasts, but tomorrow will be filled with beginnings.

I think I'm actually leaving this time. I don't think that I can get myself into anymore shenanigans in the next 12 hours before I leave for my plane. I shouldn't have said that... because now I'll probably find someway to get myself in trouble.

This has been a hard day. I have been waiting for tomorrow to come for sooooooooooo long, and now it's almost here. By all means, I am not scared. I have far more advantages than many are afforded on their first tour in Iraq or Afighanistan. I am, however, incredibly overwhelmed. Right now as I type this, I look at the piles of things that are still waiting to be packed (pat on the back to me for procrastinating this long...). It's unreal to think one minute I'll be in Minnesota, the next I won't. It's not like it's the the first time, nor will it be the last.

Today I found myslef acknowledging my lasts. My last time driving my car. My last time taking a shower in my own shower. My last time wearing civilian clothes. My last time to eat my favorite ice cream (gone fishin by kemps... it's delicious! you should try it if you haven't) Although today was filled with lasts, but tomorrow will be filled with beginnings.

It is an adventure that I am really looking forward to. I don't know what Iraq has planned for me yet, but whatever it throws at me, I will catch. Maybe not the first time, but definitely the second.

I ask that all of you guys keep me in your prayers as I start the first leg of my new adventure. I can't wait to tell you all everything I've learned and encountered!

<3 Jacki