Letter From Nate

Work was good today, and after work I rushed to get Autumn from daycare so we could go home and eat before rushing to her swim lessons. Lexie made mac & cheese w/ big pigs (hot dogs) in a blanket. My 2 root canals are hurting so bad that I took a Vicodin (which didn’t help at all) and I couldn’t even chew on the mac & cheese w/out wanting to jump out of my skin b/c of the shooting pain. So, I just chewed my food on the right side of my mouth. I know there is going to be some level of pain (b/c I had some with my root canal last year) but this is an excruciating and acute pain if I even barely touch the two teeth. I called the dentist earlier today to ask if that was normal and he said yes but if I am still feeling it this weekend to call on Monday.

We rushed over to Autumn’s swim lessons, and it was great b/c it had been raining and there were only 3 kids in the class instead of 5, so she got a lot of one on one time. This is my view of her through the fence (since we aren’t allowed to be in the pool area). She is doing good but still tries to keep her head above water instead of putting her face in the water. Luckily we get to watch them inside the pool area tomorrow!

We got home and she wanted to play w/ the big umbrella I brought (just in case it started raining again). I can’t help but think of the song, “I’m singing in the rain…”

We came home from the swim lessons and Dad was showing us his new cycling shoes he bought the other day. He splurged and bought himself some shoes, a bicycle, padded butt pants, etc. I am so glad that he would actually spend money on himself, b/c he never does that.

The kids were enthralled w/ watching Superman (the one w/ Christopher Reeves). Autumn was so into it that she started yelling at the TV, “Save her! Help her, Superman!” They crack me up.

We got the following letter from Nate today, which was a fun surprise.

June 28, 2010
Mom & Dad,

Holy cow! This place is crazy! It is way more intense than I thought it would be. Mom, you could hear over the phone, but as soon as we got off the bus, it was totally non-stop. We hardly got any sleep that night, & really not much every night since. We have to get up at 4:45 & it always feels like I just fell asleep 5 minutes ago. My shoulder still hurts. Some days are worse than others. It always hurts the worst in the morning right when I wake up.

We have 2 MTI’s (Military Training Instructor, we call them TI’s) over us & they are intense, but I feel extremely blessed. I feel a lot like I did on my mission as far as this is where I’m supposed to be. As a missionary, I knew I was in the right place, & that my mission president was the right man to lead me. I feel the same way about them. There are so many other flights (training groups) that have really mean instructors that aren’t as good as ours. We are ahead of all the other flights that got here at the same time as us. It is such a daunting thought to remember I will be here for 2 months. It’s almost depressing.

I feel I have acclimated better than most since I have the mission experience, but I feel this is harder. My shoulder is the worst part. I just keep telling myself that I won’t always feel good or be 100%, but I still have a job to do & I’ll have to just push through it. I am getting my shoulder checked tomorrow, so we’ll see what they say. We have to wear a satchel over our left shoulder, & I know that’s not helping.

There are 60 guys in my flight. It’s huge! We’re all just figuring out how to work things & people are really stressed, so there are a lot of them arguing and cussing. On the flip side, though, there are a lot of cool guys that aren’t so up tight, which makes things a lot more bearable. It’s hard to be yelled at by the TI’s all day & then your wingmen when they aren’t around.

My bunk mate is Evan N. He’s from ______ & I know him from my recruiter’s office. He is also a PJ hopeful, & we’ve become good friends. We laugh a lot & have to hide that from the TI’s! Ha ha! It’s really good to have a friend. There are other guys that are my friends, too, but I’m closest to Evan.

When I’m in my bunk at night, I read my Book of Mormon every night before I go to bed. After the first or second time I did that, he started reading his Bible. So we both sit there with our flash lights, him in the bunk above me, & both read. It’s pretty cool. One of the TI’s took notice that I’m religious & has had me comfort a guy when he was crying & missed home & then made me “chapel guide.” So, people are noticing. But I’m not getting any crap for it, which is surprising, but nice.

I realize this letter is totally random & I’m jumping all over the place, but I’m just trying to get all my thoughts & info down. One of my TI’s looks like a ninja turtle. He is buff and about my height, & both TI’s demand excellence. The Air Force core values are: Integrity first, Service before self, & Excellence in all we do. I’m sure Dad loves that. It’s weird to always wear ABU’s (Airman Battle Uniform…equivalent to BDU’s) & to think that I’m not considered a civilian anymore.

We have about 5 minutes to eat our food at meals. From the time we sit down to the time we drop our trays off to get washed. I’d say 5 minutes is the longest I’ve had to eat. Mom would freak if she saw how fast I eat.

The first day here felt like a lifetime. I thought it would NEVER END! But the days are starting to go by faster. Going to church was SO great. It was so refreshing to just sit & sing & listen & relax. Now it’s back at it, though! Ha ha!

I can’t wait for 8 weeks to be up. Graduation can’t come fast enough. As soon as I graduate I only have 1 rank between me & staff sergeant! So I could be an NCO by the time my first commitment is up. We’ll see how I feel after 8 weeks though…

K, I gotta go study my chain of command so I can pass my end of week 1 test. I love y’all sooo much. I miss you, I miss great food, I miss smelling good. I actually want letters now more than I did as a missionary.

Love always,
Nate

We decided that we should write him a letter, so we got out the paper and then coloring pencils for the kids so they could make him a card w/ drawings and then Lexie & I wrote out what they wanted to say to Uncle Nate. We sent three separate envelopes just to make it more fun & special for him instead of just getting to open one letter. My hand kept cramping b/c I haven’t written a “real” letter in so long…I usually just type up any letters I need to send b/c I type so much faster than I write. But, there’s just something magical and exciting about a hand-written letter versus a typed up letter.

The kids decided that they needed Papa to make them some smoothies. They both have to pull a chair up to the counter so they can “help” him. I love that they both covered their ears b/c they thought it was too loud.

Dad makes the best smoothies. My favorite one is the strawberry daiquiri mix w/ 7-up, ice, and a few pieces of watermelon all blended together.

Dad was going through the mail and handed Lexie & I a little booklet and this was the cover of it. It was a booklet all about sweating. We both started laughing and wondered, “What the heck?”

This was a picture on the inside next to one of the articles. It was really funny, but we found out there were some awesome coupons (like $1.25 off) for deodorant on the back of it so we were happy he gave them to us, b/c we will definitely use them.