No more boxes please...

Our soldier is coming home! Well, not immediately, but he has asked that we not send anymore boxes. He said it's not that he didn't appreciate them...but if we send them now they either won't get there before he leaves for Kuwait OR they'll get there and not get TO him and he'll have to go hunt them down. He said even if he chose not to go find them out of inconvenience the Army would FORCE him to go find the boxes before he leaves which could result in a huge headache for him.

So no more boxes because he's leaving soon!!! Hooray!!! The word on the street is that they should be back in O'ahu in mid-February...which means they'll probably leave Iraq by late January or early February. We'll keep you posted as we know more. Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts and reminding him how loved he is while he is gone. Keep the prayers coming and we'll all see him soon! Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving and Christmas

As tempting as it is to send him TONS of candy...don't. He emailed me and said no more candy...he has enough. I think I might've gone a little overboard at Halloween. :-) I thought he'd share, but I guess he missed that lesson in kindergarden. What he did request is books and magazines...just any sort of reading material. (No hard backs...too hard to transport.) He said they are on the move pretty much all the time now...so he can't carry much with him...so reading material is best. So there ya go! Email me if you have any questions. Happy shipping! He'll be home in 4 months!

Getting closer!

Well, Mom and Dad spoke to Nic and he said that the higher-ups from the unit that will replace them in Iraq are now over there getting briefed and caught up to speed on what's going on. So that's an EXCELLENT sign! He thinks that they should be back on US soil by mid-February and hopefully home to Kentucky by mid-March or thereabouts. So we're counting down! It's bad to wish our life away, but we just want him to be home safe and sound as soon as possible.

He told Mom the other day that he thought he was going crazy because he could smell a cheeseburger. So I'm going to include in my Halloween box some hamburger-shaped gummy candies. :-) Remember he's going to need extra support at Christmas as it's hard to be away from family and friends when he knows we're all celebrating. So if you could send him a Christmas card or something I'm sure it would mean the world to him.

Remember on his new address to switch out the PFC to SPC since he's a specialist now. :-) Thanks all folks!

Just pluggin' along!

Sorry for the delay in writing. It's safe to assume that no news is good news though, for the record. :-)

Nic was promoted to specialist a couple of weeks ago. He's very proud of himself and super happy for the pay increase as it just sits earning interest in his bank account waiting on him to come home to it. haha. They did a little ceremony over there where the commanding officer (I think) comes up to each promotee and rips off their PFC tags and replaces it with the new SPC (specialist) tags.

He's well over the hump now. Just 7 months to go now!! He told me in an email that he wanted to make sure I know how much he appreciates all of our boxes and cards we send him. He said it's hard to show via email how much he loves them, but he said it makes his week when he gets them. So keep up the good work people! I'm still updating the movie list with anything anyone emails me to add to the list.

I am also adding to his boxes each month a DVD with pictures and videos of Miles so that Nic won't miss a beat. He can see him growing just like the rest of us. Starting with month 2, the one I just sent out, I added a place at the end of the DVD for video messages from family members. So if you'd like to do one let me know and I can explain to you how to do it with your digital camera OR we can meet someplace and I can video you. I'm happy to do this for you so just let me know. :-)

That's all for now. I promise when I get back to work I'll be better about updating for you. Thanks for reading.

Doing fine...bored.

We talked to Nic last week. He's doing just fine. Thankfully he said he's bored. :-) That's what we like to hear. I know he'd rather be doing something, but we're thrilled to hear he's bored. He is not in Taji at the moment, but he couldn't tell me over the phone where he was. He said not to worry it's no where exciting, but it's not Taji.

That's really it for now. He's bored so not much to tell. Keep the cards and good tidings coming. I really think they keep him in good spirits maybe more than we all realize. So thanks!

Halfway there!!

Well, first sorry for the delay in posting anything. We've had a bit of an interruption in our daily schedule and his name is Miles. :-) I've spoken to Nic once and emailed back and forth. He's doing fine and things are going like they usually do. He hasn't had any special requests for care package contents so I guess we're doing a good job on that front. He was very excited to remind me that he's halfway done with deployment...and I was also VERY excited to be reminded of that!

He said the rumor (so don't hold your breath) is that they'll start breaking down their unit in December for a return home in February or March. We had expected a March return so a February would be delightful! Like I said though, this is the rumor mill...so take it with a grain of salt. Either way we're over the hump and on the downhill slide now.

He did say his group (I suck at knowing if it's his "unit" or "team" or "squad" or whatever else) was hit with an explosive. He said everyone was alright, but one guy got pretty shook up. He wasn't injured seriously, just rattled pretty good. He said it went off right in front of him, but he was fine. (Can we all thank God for that please?!)

Dad said he talked to him and he had just gotten finished with latrine duty. Sounds horrendous right? Well, I'm sure it was, but not as bad for Nic as it could've been. His job his time around was to carry the blue stuff to dump down in the commode part. He was doing just that when he heard yelling outside. He ran out to see what was going on and the hose had come loose and the one of the other guys was covered in latrine contents. Dad said Nic walked over and handed the guy a towel he had on him and said "You can keep that." :-)

All seems to be going okay though. He's very excited to get home for many reasons...but one is laying next to me asleep at the moment. He's a very proud uncle...and we couldn't be more proud of him back. So keep the cards, letters and packages coming...he appreciates them very much and it keeps his morale high when it's hot as hell and just miserable in general.

Spoke to Nic today.

Nic called this morning at 6:30am. He said it was supposed to get up to 111 degrees today over there. He was not looking forward to that at all, but he said it's pretty typical these days...and it's not even August yet!

He also gave me some tips for care packages. I sent him one and he said what was good and what was not so good. He doesn't have easy access to a microwave...so microwavable foods are not ideal. He said no Skittles or M&M's...they come in the MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and they're sick of them. I apparently have also burnt him out on Laffy Taffy...so skip that at least for a few months! :-) He said Fruit by the Foot and snack bags of Cheetos/Doritos are always welcome. Also, sending him new release DVDs aren't always a good idea. They get bootleg copies of them all the time so they've usually seen them before we can get them sent to him. So stick with classics or movies that have been out for a while. Oh, cookies are always welcome...cookies of any kind.

So there ya go...that's all I've got for now.

The latest...

We haven't heard from him since Father's Day, but he seems to be doing fine. Mom said when he called on Father's Day he said he was going to call the Guiness Book of World Records because he was sure it was the hottest day in the history of the world in Taji. :-) He and Armanderez were unloading a truck and he said when they got finished they were dripping with sweat, and not just from their skin, their clothes were completely saturated with sweat and dripping. He said it was nasty.

From what I gather (I haven't heard from him personally for a while.) he is doing fine and they're in Taji doing patrols and manual labor. So at least he's not in Sadr City! We'll keep you updated as we hear more...but keep the cards, letters, packages coming. I don't think we can even understand how much it means to these guys when they get mail. So thanks for taking care of our boy.

Need a pick-me-up!

Nic has called us a few times since Mother's Day. He called Dad yesterday and talked to him for a little bit. Dad couldn't tell if he was tired b/c it was late in Iraq or if he was down so we hoped it was just that he was tired. Well, he called me this morning and he is definitely down. It was only 3pm there and he sounded very down. So if you are thinking about sending him something in the near future now is the time. Anything you can send will be appreciated...even if it's just a card with a nice note would be great. He just needs to be reminded that we all think about him all the time and that we're very proud of him.

If you need his address please email one of us (listed to your right) and we will get you his address ASAP. Remember, if you want to send him a box use the "Flat Rate Box" at the post office. It's $8.95 to mail a box stuffed as full as you can get it regardless of the weight. So that helps on postage. :-) Feel free to email any of us if you have any questions as to what he likes, needs, wants, etc. We're happy to help! Just send him some love however you know how.

Nic called yesterday.

He called to tell Mom and I "Happy Mother's Day!" He sounded tired, but relieved. He said they were done with Sadr City, at least for now, which was probably the best news I heard all day yesterday. He didn't know how long they would have to rest, but he did say they would get at least the rest of the evening off to relax and rest up.

He wanted me to make it clear that the photos that the NY Times photographer took were NOT as peaceful as they appear. He said the one of them taking cover behind the stryker was very scary. The rest of his squad were either crying or out of control with rage...but the three in the picture just let their training kick in and tried to stay calm, cool and collected. He said people were screaming, crying, and things were blowing up all around them. He said it was very much like Saving Private Ryan (which I can't allow myself to watch right now) only it's real and he's in the middle of it.

So there ya go. He just wanted me to make sure you all knew the truth about the pictures. :-) He's truly a hero and he's back in Taji safe and sound right now. So we can rest easy for a little while.

Birthday time of year!

In case you didn't know, Nic's birthday is May 16th. So if you would like to send him a card or something for his birthday you should probably get that out ASAP. Things take about 2 weeks, sometimes less to get there. :-) Just thought you might like to know. I know Aunt Pat's already on top of it without even mentioning to her. hahaha. (Love you, Aunt Pattycakes!)

No word since he called to tell us about the NY Times. He was headed back to Sadr City that day so he'll probably call in another week or so. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for all your love and support.

NY TIMES!!!!

Nic called this morning to let us know that he's famous. :-) (his words) His picture is on the NY Times online. He's been in Sadr City, where all the chaos is. He said he's been shot at pretty much every day and that things are just crazy there. He's heard bullets whiz past his head and ping off things when they ricochet. He said no US soldiers have died in Sadr City, only Iraqi soldiers, which is a relief to me. Below is a link to the slideshow where he shows up on slide #8 and another link to an article. When you get to the article scroll down to the orangey picture and click on it to enlarge it. They've taken cover behind the Stryker while being shot at. So these photos were taken in the thick of it.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/18/world/20080418SADR_8.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/world/middleeast/18sadrcity.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Enjoy!!

We haven't forgotten about you!

We haven't been posting because there has been very little word form Nic. He did make it back. He called us all (me & Brad, Mom & Dad, Zac & Nikki) after breakfast the first morning he got there (2am). He said he had been awake for 3 days due to having a hard time catching a Blackhawk from Baghdad to Taji. He had to stay awake to make sure he heard his name when it was called because when it was he had to run out to get in line to get on the helicopter and he was always the last in line and was told "You'll have to catch the next one!" So finally after 3 days he made it back to Taji. He got some sleep, got up for breakfast and called us to tell us he was going out on a mission and would be gone for a long time.

He logged onto myspace, but none of us heard anything from him and he hasn't logged on since 4/14...so I'm thinking maybe he got online on base in Baghdad or something while they were out on their mission. Zac said that Nic said they were headed to Sadr City for a month. So that's all we know and we'll definitely post when we hear from him. Go ahead and keep sending your goodies. He'll be pleased when he gets back to be reminded how much we love him. He told me the trip back was the worst trip of his life because he knew what he was leaving and knew what he was going back to. So I'm sure he's going to need all the pick-me-ups he can get.

He's leavin' on a jetplane...

don't know when he'll be back again...

He left us this morning at the airport. We all met (Mom, Dad, Zac, Nikki, me, Brad, and Evaline) at the airport to bid him adieu. It was difficult to say the least. Mom cried, I cried and Brad said Nic even got choked up. So it was very rough, but it's what a soldier does. So he's headed to Dallas (hopefully he'll have better luck this time around) and from there onto Germany (I think) and then to Kuwait and then to Baghdad and then to Taji to get back into the mix.

Keep the letters/cards/boxes coming...I'm sure after being home for a while he'll really enjoy some care packages and well wishes. Also, as a side note, he doesn't have time to look at photos on myspace or on here...so if you take GI Nic pics, burn them to DVD and send them to him in a card or package. He can watch those on his XBOX whenever he has time. He said this would be much more convenient. He has 45 minutes online at most and he said he barely has time to reply to people...so keep that in mind. :-)

Thank you so much to those of you who had time and were able to visit him while he was in. It meant the world to him and to us as well. That's all I've got for now.

THE MAN HAS ARRIVED!

Well, he finally, after many calls, flight changes, flights, and hours of waiting and rain drops, is home! We greeted him at the airport, but his flight got in early and he surprised us...so his sign that Mom made for him wasn't as proudly displayed as we would've liked and we didn't have time to get our flags in hand, but by God he's home and we're thrilled to see him! He is happy to be here and we're ready to enjoy the next 18 days! Woohoo!!

After a nasty evening in Dallas...

we heard from Nic this morning. He is scheduled to fly home now on flight 1912 to Louisville and will arrive at 10:45pm. Again, any night owls that would like to greet him at the airport feel free to come and hang out with us. We'll all be there with flags on! :-)

Last night he was well taken care of. The USO (I think) put him up in a hotel and bought him dinner and fed him all day yesterday and will do the same today. So he's doing fine, just ready to get home. He's looking forward to a beer and some good breakfast. Probably not together...

Damn you mother nature!

All flights to Louisville have been cancelled and it appears that all flights to Lexington have also been cancelled. So, although we haven't heard it straight from the horse's mouth, it looks like Nicholas will be spending the night in Dallas with all the severe weather surrounding him and the airport. The good news is, if you want to look on the bright side, his leave gets extended one day because of all this nastiness. So he SHOULD be home sometime tomorrow. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Here's the skinny on Nic's arrival.

As of Tuesday, March 18th at 1:25 pm he is on flight 1912 from Dallas-Ft. Worth arriving in Louisville at 10:45. He was originally supposed to land at 1:25 and then bumped to a flight arriving after 5. But for now he's on flight 1912 departing at 7:45 and arriving at 10:45. So for any of you Louisville night owls who would like to greet him at the airport...the Conley's will be there with signs in hand. :-) So feel free to join us!

Cave Run on Easter Weekend

NIC'S COMING HOME AND IT'S TIME TO GET THE BOATS OUT!!!!

The last couple of weeks we've been tossing around when to get the boats out and open up the cabin for the season. Because the weather's breaking and Nic is homeward bound, we folded like cheap envelopes (no arm twisting required) and decided to get summer started on Easter weekend.

The tentative plan is to head on up after work on Good Friday. I figured just about everyone has to work, so we'll more than likely head up later that day. Anyone can catch a ride up if they want, just let us know.

Be sure to bring the suntan lotion and we'll set it on the windowsill to thaw.......don't forget your hooded sweatshirt either.........

ITS TIME TO HIT THE LAKE!!!

Nic's Coming Home!

We talked to Nic yesterday and he is COMING HOME on March 17 or 18th! He will be home for 18 days. Of course, he will have to return the week before spring break. Bummer! But it will be great to have him home. We were getting a little nervous because we had not heard from him for about a week. 2 or 3 days is about my limit. We're not sure what he will want to do while he's here, but we'll keep you posted on parties or cookouts. It would be fantastic to have a big crew there at the airport to welcome him home, but we don't expect people to come out at 3 a.m. if he happens to arrive at that time.

Nic has been "breaking bread" with the elders of the town. He said his team leader asked them if they were hungry and, of course, they said, "Yeah!" Nic thought he would tell them to go get an MRE, but instead, he told them to go in this house. When they got in there, the company commander was there and he said, "Sit down, boys, and take off your helmets!" Then they had dinner with the elders of the town. He said it wasn't that bad, except he didn't eat the fish. Chicken and rice. So that was a great experience. We continue to caution him about getting too chummy with the locals, though. The news is not good about "friendlies" in Baghdad.

Be sure to look at Kathy's GINic pix! They are great! Thanks to all for the boxes and cards. I know he feels so loved and appreciated. Speaking of boxes, though, hold off for the next few weeks because they probably would not get there before he leaves.

Stay tuned and we'll keep you "posted"!

Johnda "Army Mom"

New GI Nic Pics courtesy of Kathy Hogg.

Well, sorry Kathy, but I'm a dingbat when it comes to PicasaWeb photo slideshow creation. :-) I can do it on Photobucket, but I think I'd have to download all your photos and then re-add your comments...and your comments are too good to chance screwing up. So below is a link to Kathy's public photo album of GI Nic pics. Enjoy everyone! If anyone else has any they would like to have posted please let me know. :-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/kathy.hogg/GINicGoesToSeniorDayAtRuppArena

PS - GO CATS!

Word on the street.

I bet you all thought we forgot about you, huh? :-) Nope...just not much word from Nic lately. I did hear from him yesterday. It was a very quick email and he just basically said he's been really busy on missions and unable to get online much. When he does get online he only has 45 minutes and he has sooooo much to reply to from where he hadn't been on for a week that he couldn't get to everyone. So...he's doing fine and he seems like his spirits are up, which we love to hear.

That's all for now, but we'll keep you posted. Thanks for checking back.

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

And you can view the new slide show I've added. I think it's easier to look at this way rather than me adding them in each post. So I've started a slide show. As Nic posts pictures on his myspace I'll steal them and load them into a slide show, which will always be at the botttom of the page. So enjoy! Also, if you'd like to email me some GI Nic pics we can do a slideshow of those as well. Happy photographing! :-)

A little note on phone cards.

Nic suggested that if we send him phone cards to send the AT&T ones. I think you can buy them at Walmart. He said they're the easiest to use and take less time dialing and getting through all the crap to just make a call. So for future reference, AT&T is best if sending phone cards.

Thanks again for all your support. It means the world to him and to us as well.

Nic posted a couple of pictures on myspace.

This is Nic and his roommate, Armanderez posing in what appears to be their barracks (not sure about that though).

Here is Nic on patrol, freezing...notice the gloves. And you thought it was always warm in the desert!

Update - Shipping and Lists

If you want to mail Nic a care package, but don't want to spend a fortune on shipping you can use the post office's Flat Rate boxes. If you get these boxes you can stuff as much stuff as you want and make it as heavy as you want without paying more than the flat rate. The box I used was $8.95 for the shipping and it fit everything I listed in another post below. It weighed 5 pounds, but still didn't cost me more than $8.95. You will only need to get the box, which is free, and fill out a customs form to send with it and then you'll be all set. It's a great deal and such an easy way to send Nic goodies. If you have any questions email me.

Also, if you send Nic books please email me and let me know so I can add it to the list. We know we can't completely avoid duplication, but if we can prevent it we will certainly try. Thanks again to everyone who has sent him anything.

New GI Nic Pic

I think any of us who ever lived in Ashland or the surrounding area can understand how serious this photo is. EUPHORIA being demonstrated!

News from Nic.

I got an email from Nic. He said he received our boxes and gave me a "mental high five" on the candy. So for future reference candy is a BIG hit. :-) He loves reese cups, but I wouldn't send him all reese cups because I'm sure he'd like some variety. The games and movies made it to him safe and sound.

He did tell me that he's being trained to drive the Stryker.

For those of you who don't know what that is I have posted a picture. He said he's not sure why he's being trained unless the current driver goes on leave or gets injured. He said it's a very sweet job...all he has to do is drive...no more dismounting. He's kind of like the getaway car driver. :-) So while I hope nothing bad happens to the current driver, I would love it if Nic got to remain safely in the armored vehicle. He's very excited about it!

So that's the latest update.

What's kickin' with Nic...

I got an email from Nic yesterday. He said he finally did some cool stuff. He said his squad snuck up on a guy's house and "stacked up" against the wall...except him because he got to kick the friggin' door in! He was really proud of himself because it only took one kick. :-) He said it was straight out of movie and that it was really awesome. He said he was really feeling great and proud until they found out the guy whose door he kicked in was innocent. He said his little girls and wife were really scared so he gave them some Fig Newtons. hehe. That's the Nic we know and love! He said it made them feel a little bit better and that they gave the soldiers some bread and that it was actually pretty good darn good bread. He said that luckily the mission wasn't a total loss because another squad caught a guy, a neighbor I think, who had all kinds of insurgent contraband.

Mom talked to him on the phone and he said that while tensions were high and guns were pointed at the innocent family they were securing the property and had to kick in a gate at the back of the house and were surprised to hear "Baaaaaaah, baaaaaah" (goat talk) upon their entry into what they lovingly called "the petting zoo". There were goats, chickens, cows and who knows what else back there. (I hope I got that right, Mom!) :-)

Anyway, he's doing really well and he seems really happy to be actually doing something now. It seems to me that he feels a lot better now that he's being productive and making a difference. While I hate that he's in harms way, I'm glad he's feeling good about what he's doing and most importantly that he hasn't forgotten that there are innocent people over there who are people, not just animals. I think that's evident since he gave the family fig newtons to make them feel better. I love that he cares about them as people...that's a true soldier in my opinion.

Okay, well that's all I know. :-) Check back for more.

Blog from Nic's myspace account.

"Well... now I can say I've actually done some work for the army. It's nature is... classified :) Heh not really, but I probably shouldn't blog about it on Myspace. I just find it funny that, after being in for a year, I am finally getting paid to DO what I was trained to do.

When I'm out on foot patrol, I don't see anything that makes me feel alienated. Or rather, I don't feel as if I am a thousand miles away from my home. This place is like any other... it has roads, power lines, houses. All the signs are written in Arabic of course, but... hell you can see that in America, too. My peers seem to think that I have been desensitized to new cultures. I told them that all I saw at a certain village we went to, was a run down, trashy place. It looked a lot like Flatwoods, KY. No offense to whoever lives there. I haven't been there in years so maybe it's better than when I knew it. but yeah... it looked like Flatwoods. There was trash everywhere. The children came up to us, begging for candy, sunglasses, our watches, ANYTHING they could get. So you get the picture. That pitiful picture I just tried to paint for you should, hopefully, commune my initial analysis of this village.

But there is, indeed, something spiritual about it. While we were there, they started praying over the loudspeakers. And what was once the sound of a culture that I saw on the news as a hateful one, was a soothing psalm in Arabic. And though it may forever be obscure to me, I cannot but be aware of it's effect."

I felt this was very comforting...so I thought maybe you guys would like to hear it straight from the horse's blog. :-)

Suggestions for Care Packages

He loves candy. He loves cookies. He loves movies. He loves to read. He said he would read anything. Now, I'm guessing just by using common sense that Nicholas Sparks and Danielle Steel would not go over well...but John Grisham, Dean Koontz and similar authors would probably go over great. We've started a list down below on the right-hand side of the page to keep a running list of movies he's received so we don't duplicate. If you send him DVD's please email one of us and let us know or post a comment so we can add it to the list. If you're sending books please let us know that also and we'll start a list of those as well. You could send him magazines as well.

Our care package this week is going to include: Homemade peanut butter cookies, some cream candy, a few DVD's, some XBOX games, some candy bars, Doritos, and some conversation hearts (just for funsies). Now you don't need to send that much stuff, I just couldn't stop buying things. He will be 100% thrilled with any packages he gets and thrilled that you took the time to put it together.

Some tips: Movie Gallery & Blockbuster sell previously viewed movies and you get them for cheap. I got 4 for $20 the other day. This is a great place to buy DVD's for him and Walmart always has cheap DVD's too.

-Em and Brad

XBOX games n' such.

Unfortunately when we sent Nic (AKA "the roaming gnome of Kentucky")his XBOX we did not include an a power converter for him to use in-line with facility power over there. The results of not using an adapter ended up with a well-done XBOX and a kicked breaker for the whole barracks.

Mom and Dad bought a used one and sent it to him to replace the toasted original. In addition to movies, he probably might want used XBOX games as well. Also, I think he's got a Zune so I bought a 1 GB memory stick and put about 200 songs on it. If you do this, be sure not to put any iTune purchased songs as they are write-protected and only work with iPod/Phone and not the Zune.

If anybody wants to get together one weekend and get some stuff together to send, let Nikki and I know and we'll make it happen. Maybe make a day of it or something if nobody's busy. (That never happens, right?!?!?)

ZAC + NIKKI

GI Nic Pics from Kathy Hogg

Kathy posted this link in the comments, but I wasn't sure how many of you would see it so I'm reposting it here. Go check them out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kathy.hogg


Thanks Kathy!!

Salute To Nic!

Nic has been promoted to Private First Class! Be sure and update the address you may have to reflect his new rank. Instead of PV use PFC! He has always been first class in my book!

Welcome!

We're so glad you found us! This is a blog that is devoted strictly to Nic. We'll update you on what's going on with him, what he needs, what he wants, and anything else we can think of to keep you in loop about your favorite soldier. The posts will be from anyone in the Conley family. If you have something you'd like to have posted (GI Nic pics or whatever) let us know and we'll make sure it gets up on here.

Also, if you do not have his address please contact on of us and we'll get it to you ASAP. He loves getting mail of any kind and he loves peanut buttery things...so if you're sending a package if you include something with peanut butter in it you'll score big time! :-) So anyway, stop by often and we'll try to update as often as we can.