My Yellow and Blue Brick

Here they are, the treasured Yellow Brick. I also got a Blue Brick for completing the 34 mile swim challenge while I was here. It is just a regular brick painted yellow and blue but when you think about how much work that it took to get them, they mean a little more than a regular brick. I guess that they symbolize finishing something that you started.

The Globe & Laurel Restaurant

Last Friday night a group of us went out to eat at the Globe and Laurel Restaurant. It is owned by a retired Major from the Marine Core. He is the gentleman with the tie in the middle. It is full of tradition and history. He is a super nice guy, and food was good. The things on the ceiling are police patches from police departments all over the world. We also met a couple that sat behind us that was very neat. The couple always comes to eat at his restaurant on December 7th of every year. December 7th is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. The man was a retired FBI agent and his wife was at pearl harbor on that morning of the the attack. It was a neat experience to say the least.

The Saturday Adventure!

Today we started off in the cafeteria trying to figure out what to do on our last Saturday here. Catalin stated that he had never seen any ocean and that was all it took. Off we went to the Atlantic Ocean! After looking at the atlas and using GPS we ended up in Ocean City, Maryland. He was truly amazed by the Ocean. The largest body of water that he has ever been to is the Black Sea. He wanted to know what the date was, and stated that he would remember this day. Then we had to go to his other favorite place, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. He says that Krispy Kreme is one hundred percent American and he loves them. It was a neat day just riding and talking. Once again I was reminded about how easy it is to take things for granted.

Where are my Teenagers?

I had some down time today and was on the church website looking around. I was looking at the pictures from camp and remembering the fun times that I had whelping some of you guys with paint balls. I do miss hanging out with my teenagers and keeping them straight. What you guys don't realize is that when I'm keeping you guys straight, you help keep me straight. It's almost over and I'll be back before you know it, driving ya'll crazy. And where have you been Kris Barrett? Kris Barrett? Kris Barrett??????????????? Don't make me call some of my people to come looking you guys!!!!

The Yellow Brick Road

Well we did it!!! It was snowing the whole time, pretty cool. Here is a before and after picture. These two guys have been my running buddies. We have run all the challenges together except for one. Mark is from Michigan and Terry is from Illinois. Today was a neat day, how many people can say that they have run 6.1 miles in the snow. See ya,

The Yellow Brick Road

Well tomorrow is the Yellow Brick Road. It is a 6.1 mile run and obstacle course. The weather is suppose to be about 35 degrees with a rain / snow mixture, I can't wait. Things here are pretty good but everybody is ready to come home. It has been a great experience so far, as long as I make it through tomorrow. Ha, Ha!!! Today in Stress Management class some of the guys really opened up and we talked about how we can try and put some of the things that we have learned to use when we get back home. It was neat to hear about how we as officers need to make sure that our family is our priority and our actions need to show that as well as our words. It was a good class today.

Where is Kris Barrett????? I know you haven't quit checking on me at this point in the game? Well, Tonya I love you and can't wait to see you. Jamie and Jacob I can't wait to get home and see you two as well. I love you, Daddy

The Weekend!

This weekend on Saturday we went to a couple of places in the DC area to kill a little time. We walked through Chinatown and walked through Union Station. Tonya, you will have to just look at the pictures from Union Station. Because if I take you there when you get up here, we'll be broke. Ha, HA!!! There were a lot of shops and stuff at Union Station. Sunday, I spent the entire day typing my last paper. It turned out to be 12 pages, I'm glad to get it done. I sat in the lounge area and talked with the Chaplain from San Diego for about two and a half hours on Sunday evening. I enjoyed hearing about his ministry and talking about the things from Grace Place with him. He was blown away by the shoe ministry. He said that it gave him some ideas for some of his work in Mississippi. All in all it was a good weekend. Everybody around here is ready to get home, people have enjoyed the stay but we are ready to see family and friends. Talk to everybody soon.

Here are some pictures from International Night on Wednesday evening. That is Catalin from Romania and Balia from Africa. International Night was a cool night, all the international students had some things from their cultures like food and drinks. It was a neat evening. The 5.4 mile run went ok the other morning. It was long and cold, and my knees hurt all day. But I'm tough and I'll survive. You know the old saying "If it doesn't kill you it will only make you stronger." I was not feeling very strong on Wednesday evening!?!?!? We have this week almost over and only two more weeks to go. Jamie and Jacob I love you and be good for mommy. Tonya I love you and I can't wait to see you in a week and a half.

Hello Everyone!!!

I hope that everyone is doing well. Thanksgiving break was nice to be back at home with the family. We are on the down hill slope with everything up here. Everyone is finishing papers and assignments for next week. In the morning we run our second to last challenge run. Tomorrow is the "Journey to OZ" 5.2 mile run at 8:00 am, the weather is calling for 34 degrees. Sounds like it is going to be a great morning for a brisk jog. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Today in Stress Management the topic was Spiritual Wellness. It was one of the classes that I have enjoyed the most so far. I think that some of the stuff that we talked about, may be some of the reason that I'm here. I talked with the Instructor after class and got a lot out of our discussion. He has had some of the same struggles that I've been dealing with. For him he has been thinking about getting out of the FBI and becoming a Pastor but for now feels that he can do ministry here. It was a good discussion.

Chris I hope that you get over the "buck fever" before it warps your mind too bad. Jamie and Jacob be good for mommy, and Tonya I love you.

Thanksgiving Break

As I've been home on Thanksgiving break I've reflected on the experience so far. Without a doubt I'm thankful for my family, friends and God allowing me to have this opportunity in my life. Many times we get so caught up in our busy lives we forget about the real things that are important, and how blessed we really are. Everyone of my teenagers are more blessed than they realize. We many times look at what society says is important and we in America are very materialistic. 25 years from now you guys are not going to care about what you got for Christmas this year, but you will remember the love that your parents and close friends showed you. So as a challenge to my teenagers this holiday season, look at your life and make priorities about what are things in your life that are REALLY important and what are not. And we'll talk about them at some point around Christmas.

When I go back, I'll have three more weeks and I'll be home for good!!!!!! The time has flown by.

I hope that nobody ate to much turkey.

The Naval Academy

We went over to the Naval Academy the other Saturday to look around. Navy was having it's last home football game and this was the Navy Cadets marching to the game. Pretty Cool.

Married for TEN YEARS!!!!!!

That's right, today was Tonya and my 10th year wedding anniversary. If you would have asked me a year ago or two what we would be doing to celebrate our ten years of marriage, me spending 11 weeks away from her probably wouldn't have come to mind. Any way it has been a good ten years and we have two wonderful children together. I haven't always done everything right but she sure has been good to keep me around this long. Thanks for not running me off after the "tie licking incident" on our first date. :) Tonya, I love You and Happy Anniversary.

Check this out!!!!!!!

Yesterday evening the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team was doing some training in the area of the track. Pretty Cool huh!?!?!?!? I thought the guys from the youth group might get a kick out of this one. They wanted me to go up with them but I had to go and eat so I told them that I'd catch up with them later, yeah RIGHT!! See ya, Brent

Pentagon Trip

One of the ladies in my section was able to line up a Pentagon Tour. It was pretty neat to take the tour, they have over 23,000 employees that work in the building on a daily basis. The one picture is of where the plane hit the building. That is the only section that was not fixed. That is why the block of concrete is black from the fire. It was a very interesting trip.

Wednesday of the 7th Week

Hello All,

The weekend with the family was great. I played go fish with Jamie and Avery, wrestled with Jacob, and went out on a date with Tonya. It was nice to be home. I gave a guy from Malia, Africa a ride to Charlotte on my way home and way back to the Academy. It was interesting to hear and learn about his culture. This morning we had a 40 minute circuit training for our challenge called "Winged Monkey Assault". It was a pretty tough course, I was dead when I finished. Everybody take care and I'll talk at ya later.

Friday of the Sixth Week

Hello All, yesterday we heard a presentation from the Police Chief of Virginia Tech and the Lt. Col. of the Virginia State Patrol about the Virginia Tech Shootings in April. It was very informative and once again the facts that the national media portrayed was at best a pour representation of what happened. The Chief of Virginia Tech called in two SWAT teams to be on stand by once they found the first two victims and from the time of the initial 911 call officers confronted the suspect within 12 minutes. I can't drive from Granite to Lenoir in 12 minutes that's unbelievable. Of course the nation media was on a campaign for a different story than what actually happened. It was a very tragic event, but reason for the presentation was for us to try learn from happened. There were a lot of things that went very good up there that was never told in the rescue of the students. Several students were very brave in their roles during the event as well.

I'M HOME THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited about seeing my family, church family and even my old dog.

Wednesday of the Sixth Week

Hello Everyone, today was a good day all the way around. It was only about 34 degrees this morning for the four mile run. I ran it in 41 minutes and a little change. For me that is a little over a ten minute mile and OK for a Clydesdale like me. I worked on a group project with some guys, ate lunch and then went to the Wednesday bible study that one of the guys is doing. Today there was only four of us for the study, but it was still good. Later in the day I typed a one page paper then went and swam 1.5 miles. I ate supper and then went and heard from Bobby Smith the Louisiana State Trooper that was shot in the face and blind.

It was like listening to a very good preacher, you knew what he was saying was the truth but it was very hard to hear. He talked about his incident, his struggles with being to prideful to ask for help and the things that helped him to get through his pain and new found darkness. He talked about our emotional cups and when they get too full who do we pour them out on? The people that love us the most, our family. And how we take our families for granted and even though we don't say it, how we love our jobs more than our families! We would never say that but many times we do say that with our actions and not our words. This is going to sound funny when I type it, but tonight a blind man may have helped me learn how to see. I hope that I don't forgot the words that I heard tonight. Tonya, Jamie and Jacob I love you.

Tuesday of the Sixth Week

Hello Everybody, things here are going well. I think that my PT instructor is trying to kill us or something. He loves these things called circuit drills, and it will flat wear you out. Or at least it does me. This week has seemed sort of slow, it may have something to do with the time change. Tomorrow morning at 8:00 am we will do the Munchkin Run, which is a 4.2 mile run. I think that the weather is forecasting that it is going to be about 27 degrees. It should be interesting to say the least. Tomorrow night we hear from a gentleman by the name of Dr. Bobby Smith. His speech is titled Visions of Courage. He was a Louisiana Trooper that was shot in the face and it caused him to become blind. I've heard that he is good speaker. I'll let you know first hand tomorrow.

I saw that Justin has qualified for the state regional in track, that is awesome. Good luck Justin and do your best with the talents that God has given you. I understand that half of my youth group is on this basketball team, you guys keep giving your best as well.

Jamie and Jacob I love you!!! Listen to Mommy and your teachers and I'll see you again soon. Tonya I love you - more!!! For everyone else, the "more" is a high school sweetheart thing.

The Weekend with the Family!!!!!

The weekend was lots of fun. Jamie and Jacob believe that they can fly the jet behind them, Jacob said that riding in a tank looked kinda fun, and Jamie thinks that she could shoot the Grenade Launcher behind her if you just let it warm up a little and gave her a minute or so. It was very cool to get to hang out with them up here, and let them see what some of my world has been like for the last five weeks or so.

Things are going well for now, came back to the Academy after they left and swam a couple of miles, and worked on a paper. Classes are going well and I'm learning a lot of good stuff that I believe I'll be able to put to use some day. This week we run 4.2 miles on Wednesday for our Yellow Brick Road Challenge. It's called the Munchkin jog or something like that. I hope that everybody at the Grace Place is doing well, I sure do miss my church family. It won't be long and I'll be back to keep Kris and Nick in line. Kris, I'll have to get you some photo's of all the deer that just walk around up here. In the evenings they just walk out all around eating grass, when I see them out, I never seem to have my camera with me. Anyway I hope that game night went well tonight and you guys kept Susan and Junior in line. Take care and I'll see everybody real soon.

MICHAEL J. DURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, and children of all ages; tonight I have heard from a True American Hero!!!!!! Michael Durant was AWESOME. For folks that don't know he was the BlackHawk Helicopter Pilot that was shot down in October of 1993 in Somalia and was held as a prisoner of war for eleven days. I don't have the time to tell you the story of the event on the blogger but he went through step by step what happened before, during and after the incident. He related what happened to him and what was learned into things that everyone could get something out of, from war to being a better father. We saw the actual crash site photo's of the helicopter and the video of him in custody that was taken by his captor's, trying to get him to talk on camera about killing innocent people as an American soldier. WOW!!!!! Can you tell that I'm pumped up??? It was Good stuff.

Tuesday Night

Well in the Morning we run the "Lion's Leap" as a part of the Yellow Brick Road Challenge. It is only 3.1 miles so it shouldn't be too bad. Tonight we watched the movie BlackHawk Down in the auditorium. It is a motivational movie for me. I knew a guy that was a Ranger over there for the conflict. He never talked a lot about it, but just enough. Tomorrow night, the BlackHawk Pilot that was taken as a hostage, Michael Durant, is going to speak to us as a session about BlackHawk Down. It should be very interesting to hear from him, about the incident and his time as a prisoner of war.

I still miss everybody a lot. It was good to hear from one of my teenagers beside Kris. I was beginning to think that Kris is the only one that knows how to work a computer. Good to hear from you Nick and tell Nathan I said hello also. I hope that Nathan and Lacey are keeping the store straight.

Everybody be in prayer for Tonya and the kids as they come up here to see me this weekend. Red told me tonight on the phone that the van got hit again today. I think that she is trying to completely wreck it so I'll have to trade it when I get back!?!?!?!?! I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all.

Pictures from DC

Here are some of the pictures from sight seeing at the monuments in DC. The top picture is the Washington monument, the middle is my friend from Romania taking pictures of the ducks and the bottom is the Lincoln Memorial. I have Monument and Duck story that is funny and meaningful all in one. I'll tell everyone about the ducks when I get back into town. I think that I learned more on this one day adventure then the whole week of class. Throughout the day my friend from Romania was telling me about the history of the monuments we were seeing. And at the end of the day he said something powerful. I told him that I was impressed with his knowledge of World History, and he stated that History is important because you cannot find the future until you know about your past and where you have come from. This made me think about how many times we seem to only live for today and forget about looking at the past to help us go toward the future. I miss everyone and can't wait to see my beautiful wife and children this coming weekend.

The Police Officers Memorial

On Saturday we did some sight seeing again. We went back to the Police Officers Memorial in the day light. I took some better photo's and just looked around a little more. And yes, that is a World Wrestling Entertainment Truck in the back ground. I was going to run up to the guys in the truck and give them a big Rick Flair Yell!!!!! Lucky for them they were all inside setting up for the event. It is probably for the best, they might have wanted me to perform in the show or something. :)

Ending of Week Four

Hello All, we are coming to an end of week four. This week has not been to bad. I'm still just staying busy working on finishing the book that I'm reading and doing some papers. Me and the guy from Indiana are going tomorrow night to see Joel Osteen in Balitmore. Saturday I'm going to a White House tour and mess around in DC some, then the plan on Sunday is go to morning service and then work on papers all day!!!! Big fun. I've gotten more comments from my youth leaders but the teenagers are still slacking on me!?!?!?!? Any way, Jessica thanks for keeping Tonya straight this weekend. I know how she is when she is in public without her husband. :) Well everybody take care, I'm only about one and 1/2 weeks from being half way done. Jamie and Jacob I love you and be good this weekend.

Monday P.T.

Today was a normal Monday except my PT instructor tried to kill us or something. I knew that I was in for it when he said, "we'll go and run four sets of stairs and be done, I don't care how you get to the top just keep going and get up there." Something about this seemed to easy?!?!?!?! He called it the Garage, because after we ran over to it; it was the four level parking garage. The mission was run to the top and do 15 squats, run to the bottom and do 15 push ups, then run to the other three corners with stairs and repeat this process. By the third set of four levels of stairs my legs were on fire. But you know the saying if it doesn't kill you it only makes you stronger. TJ, I thought that when they finish the parking deck at CCC&TI this would be a good one for the BLET students!!!!!

Where are my teenagers, the only one that has been keeping up with me on a regular basis is Kris. I know that you guys haven't forgotten me this early???? I would hate to have to come back and start doing PT for our Youth lessons! I'm sure I could find some scripture that would relate like building your house on the rock. I heard from Tonya that Jarrett has injured his leg again. Man, I'm sorry to hear that and I'll be praying for you and the knee.
Well, I better go for now. Tonya, Jamie, and Jacob I Love you guys very much and I can't wait to see you when you come up here in a couple of weeks.

Sunday Warfare!!!!!!

This morning we had a new Chaplin for the morning service. He is from Reno, Nevada. The music he picked was more up my alley. It was more contemporary, and several of the songs we sing at The Grace Place. His message was from Matthew Chapter 7, when Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus used the parable of building your house on the rock or sand. The Chaplin talked about when our storms come where is our foundation at, because the storms will come. I enjoyed the message but I sure do miss my church family.

Tonight, Tonya called while she was with the youth group. I sure did enjoy talking with my teenagers and some of my crazy youth leaders. Sometimes I think that the youth probably help keep the leaders in line, with guys like Junior and Brad running around. I do miss everyone, but I know that God has a plan. It is my job to seek his face and stay focused on his guidance.

Tonya, Jamie and Jacob I love you and miss you.

Photo's

Here are some more Photo's from the Marine Corps Museum and the Air and Space Museum. The plane below traveled more than 2,000 miles per hour when it was in use. It could travel from LA to New York in a little less than one and a half hours!!!!!! Pretty Cool Huh!!!

To the Moon Alice!!!!!!!

Well I got out and did some more site seeing this weekend. Although this may look like I'm just out goofing off, I'm actually on a Class Mission. I'm on the Newsletter staff for writing the Session newsletter, so I had to go suffer through all of this to get some photo's for our Newsletter. Somebody had to do it, so I stepped up to the plate and took one for the team. This is at the Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport. They had all kinds of planes, and spacecraft. They had the actual plane that dropped the first atomic bomb, "Enola Gay". This place was huge.

Thursday Evening

We went to the Hockey game in Washington last night. Catalin was amazed at how big the stadium was. It was fun seeing him with our America culture. We were on the Metro train and the lady came over the loud speaker and was telling about the next stop, Catalin looked over at me and Keith and stated "was that English?? What did she say?" I laughed a lot at his sense of humor. The hockey game was fun, but I think I enjoyed hanging out with him and Kieth more than the game. I learned about about how police are different in America than in other countries. Catalin and I were standing in the breezeway letting him eat his first America Pretzel, and he stated "It is true, America is the land of the free." I asked him what he meant, and he said look at everyone they are doing what they want to do. His country was under the control of Russia for a long time he says, last night was a learning experience. The picture above is of Catalin and me.

I miss my wife and kids a whole lot, but it really seems to be speeding up a lot.

Trade Tower Memorial

This is between the library and cafeteria in a courtyard at the Academy. I think that I've got this video thing worked out!?!?!?!? I love and miss everybody.

Police Memorial Service

Tonight was the Police Memorial Service. It was very cool, I felt like royalty riding into DC on the Bus. When we got to DC a group of Police Motorcycles picked up the buses and escorted us into down town with lights and sirens. There were a lot of guys that read names from there departments and you could tell that it was emotional for them. I traced a name off the wall from a friend of mine that died in the line of duty. It was a neat trip. I'm trying to put a video of the bag pipes playing on this blog, not sure if it is going to work or not.

Tuesday Evening

Hello All, Monday and Tuesday have flown by. Finished all my classes, did some laundry, ate supper, and had a Newsletter Rep. meeting all on Monday. It was about 8:30 pm before I slowed down. Today was about the same way. We had PT on Monday and Tuesday and I've come to the conclusion that our PT Instructor is warped in the head. I think he gets to much enjoyment in watching us about to die. Tomorrow morning is our second Yellow Brick road challenge run of 2.6 miles, I'm sure the muscles in my legs are going to feel great in the morning.

Tomorrow evening we are all going to D.C. for a special service at the Police Officers Memorial. It should be very neat experience, but probably a little sad. Many guys will be reading off names of there friends or coworkers that have been killed in the line of duty. I'm sure it will be a very sobering event. On a lighter note, my room mate is going to take me and my buddy from Romania to a Hockey game on Thursday evening. Catalin and myself have never been to a Hockey match and it should be a neat experience. Classes are going well, the Stress Management class may be my favorite. Some of the discussions have gotten pretty deep so far and been very thought provoking. The instructor is a FBI agent and I think that he is a minister also. He may be a good resource for me! All in all things are well, hopefully I'll get some good pictures from the Police Officers Memorial Service tomorrow night to post on here. Tonya, I love you and miss you more and more each day. Jamie and Jacob I miss and love you guys bunches and bunches.

My Sunday

Today was ok, but I sure do miss home!!!! I went to the service this morning at the Chapel, the music reminded me of days of old. I sure did miss the praise and worship music and having Dawn set the stage for the message. I did enjoy the message, the Chaplain preached on not losing your heart or focus as a believer. He did a good job and had a great story that really made you connect to his message. I then did some homework, watched a little football and got to talk to Tonya, Jacob, Kris & Nick while they were at the colletsville park. I enjoyed talking with you two knuckle heads a lot. Then me and a guy named Mark from Michigan went and ran four miles. I then went and swam a mile and a half, and as I was leaving the pool one of the guys from North Carolina was hitting the heavy bag and asked me to hold it for him. This turned into me sparing with him and me hitting the heavy bag also. This guy is a Captain with Charlotte Meck and he is a workout machine. When we did the body fat his body fat was 5%!!!! Do I need to explain that when we finished the boxing workout, I was worn out!!! I'm going to do a little more reading and then probably go to bed early. Tonya, I'll try and get you a picture of my pretty face in the next day or so. I love you guys bunches.

National Firearms Museum

We also stopped by the National Firearms Museum and looked at guns. They had everything from old to new. I thought that this was cool, this was the pistol that Clint Eastwood used in Dirty Harry and Magnum Force. It is neat to be up here with other cops because today my wife and two kids would have gotten very bored very quickly. But I sure enjoyed the site sighting.

Tonya, Jamie and Jacob, I love you guys!!!!

Site Seeing on Saturday

We went to a couple of places today. The gun show was ok but we didn't stay there long. Todd did lock the keys in the car so there we were breaking into his patrol car in the parking lot with a wire coat hanger. Boy are we super high speed Law Enforcement officers or what?? The guy in orange is Todd from Kentucky, and the guy in blue is Keith my roommate.

We then went to the battle field of Manassas or known in the South as the battle of Bull Run. It was cool to walk the battle field and see how the North and the South fought at the particular battlefield. This is a picture of General "Stonewall" Jackson. This was the battle that General Jackson got his nickname "Stonewall" Jackson because the opposing Union General made the statement "There stands Jackson like a Stonewall". I thought this was pretty cool, but I get into some of the history stuff.

Video Problems

I've been trying for two days to get a video to upload, but for whatever reason I can't seem to make it happen????? Things here are good, today. I'm doing homework, assignments, and trying to stay ahead of the due dates for work. I think that I'm going to go to a gun show in the area on Saturday with my room mate Keith and another guy from Kentucky named Todd. Todd is a class 3 firearms dealer so if I see some really cool fully automatic weapons I could purchase it through him!!!!!! Don't worry about the money Tonya, we'll talk about it when I get back. Ha, Ha just kidding. Sunday, I'm going to go to the chapel here at the academy for a service at 9:00 am. I think that the chaplain is from Seattle that is doing the service. Later in the day me and a guy from my section are going to go on a 3 or 4 mile run.

I thought that this was cool, a guy who is a Lieutenant with the Indiana State Patrol came up to me tonight and asked me if I'd like to go with him to listen to Joel Osteen at the end of this month. He said he had an extra ticket and just thought that I might like to go. I'm not the biggest Osteen fan but I think that I'll go and hear him. To all my youth, you guys stay on the right track, you know that I know people that can come check up on you!!!!!! Thanks for all the comments from everyone on the page, when I check it, it is like getting mail from home. :) Jamie and Jacob, I miss you guys and be good. I love you Tonya!!

Middle of Week 2

Hello everyone!!!! I've been trying to up load a video for about the last thirty minutes and for whatever reason I can't seem to get it to work right now. This week has been a lot busier and seemed a lot faster so far, that may have something with the fact that I was off on Monday??? Well, on my drive back to Quantico, Tonya called and let me know that she had "wrecked the van a little". This event I missed by about three hours. Some of you guys are not praying hard enough!!! Ha, Ha!! I weighed in at 2% under the body fat % and as of Tuesday I've lost about 34 pounds so I was happy with that so far. My room mate says that operation Slim Jim is now in effect, no more operation Grande' for us. However we did go and eat ice cream last night, because I had it on the brain. Today I went to an hour lunch time service that one of the guys in the session put on called "can a cop be a believer?" There was only about 10 of us out of 303 but it was cool to sit and talk about serving God and serving the profession of Law Enforcement. I closed the group in prayer and we all went our separate ways for the day. I'm missing everyone, and kids be good for Mommy. Tonya watch out for the trees!!! I love you all, B.

Friday of 1st week

Hello everyone, thanks for all the comments this week on the page and emails. They have been helpful and special to know that people are thinking and praying for us. I had to keep Red happy so here it is. :)

Day Five

Today was a little boring. We had a meeting in the auditorium for about two hours dealing with the Behavioral Analysis unit of the FBI and how they can help local officers. It was pretty interesting on the services that they can provide. Then the rest of the day was open due to my classes starting on Thursday. I went and swam a 1/2 mile and then ran four miles. I was a little tired after the PT but hopefully it will make me sleep better. My room mate and I went out scouting this evening and found the National Marine Core museum on base and it is free and really nice. We did a quick walk through but we are going to go back when we have more free time to spend there. I thought about my father-in-law and him being a former Marine. I think Roger would enjoy see the museum. Tomorrow classes start and I'm ready for it. It has been a couple of slow days getting started and I'm ready for the daily routine. The digital camera thing is not quite as easy as I was hoping. The FBI is a little strict on just walking around video taping the facilities. There are new agents here and many of the folks in the National Academy with me work Narcotics back home, so I can't just walk around videoing stuff due to the blog page being set up so anybody can view it. But I'll get some more stuff video stuff and put on here. Tonya, I enjoyed talking to you guys on the phone today, I love ya'll and I'll talk to ya later.

Day Four

Hello Everyone, today was some of the same getting started stuff. We had photo's for the yearbook, an orientation in the library and the they went over the fitness challenge called the yellow brick road. It consist of multiple runs starting with a 1.8 mile and ending with a 6.1 mile run over obstacles at the end of academy. It should be pretty cool. If you complete all the runs and the last run called the yellow brick road you receive a yellow brick with your session number on it. It is kind of like the trophy for your hard physical work. Also I'm going to try and get a blue brick for swimming 34 miles while I'm here. I went and swam 1/2 mile today in the pool instead of running. It took me 32 lengths to get to the 1/2 mile mark. Tomorrow I'll have to swim and run. Sounds fun doesn't it? Tonight we had a section social at a spot called "The Grove" which is just some trees and picnic tables around a fire pit. While we were hanging out two of the guys started playing the bag pipes while I was on the phone to Jamie and Tonya. Tonya asked it I was about to cry, of course I said no but a lot of the guys were just standing quietly listening. For the folks that don't know, it is tradition that when an officer is killed in the line of duty Amazing Grace is played on the bag pipes. I know a lot of the guys were remembering funerals of Brothers in Blue when they started playing Amazing Grace. Jamie and Jake, I love you and be good for mommy. I love you to Red!!!

Shout out!!!

Hey guys I was just checking the blog page because Tonya had said that Jamie had written me a response on it. I love seeing Jamie's messages. But I was suprised and encouraged by Nathan and Kris. Just seeing that you two knuckle heads are keeping up with me was very cool. And Kris I have been hanging out with you two much. Nathan thanks for the note, it meant more than you know. The last week or so I've been over whelmed with the love shown to me and the family. Well I'm going to go for now, take care everybody.

Day Three

Hello Tonya, Jamie, and Jacob. I have a few hours to kill before my section goes to the section dinner tonight. I'm probably going to take my big ol' country biscuit eating self out to the track and jog a mile or two before supper tonight. Day Three has been ok, just more orientation kind of stuff and getting classes switched around. My section leader is a FBI agent from Atlanta Georgia and he is a nut. He is a very funny guy and our section has been laughing like crazy at this guy. He has made it fun so far. Well I guess that I'll go for now but, I love you guys and I'll talk to you tonight on the phone. Love, Daddy.

Sunday - Day Two

Sunday was a busy day, getting oriented to the place. I’ve had supper with a guy from China on Saturday evening and spent some time with a guy (Alfred) from Hong Kong. He said that Hong Kong has 7 MILLION people and his department is only about 27,000 sworn officers. I felt like a little fish in a big pond. I had breakfast with a Major from Miami-Dade Police Department. He is the Commander of the town of Miami Lakes, which is about the size of Lenoir. The neat thing is that he owns some property in Jefferson, NC and we talked about getting together when he comes that way some.

I caught myself today several times looking at my watch, and wondering what Tonya and kids were doing. The experiences here are going to be great I can already tell, however I can already see that it is going to be tough to be away from my FAMILY. I’m getting a new understanding for how those guys in the military do it. I feel confident that I’m going home, I can’t imagine leaving and somewhere in your mind being the fact that you may never see them again. God Bless our troops, for the sacrifice that they make so we can live in America.
Tonya, Jamie and Jacob,,,,, I Love you very much I’ll see you guys soon!!!!

Saturday - Check in

Saturday was cool but a little rough. Leaving at about 7:30 am was hard because it was the first time that I was going some where and I knew that I was not going to be back in couple of days or so. The drive was great, and I had no problems what so ever. I checked in and by the time that I had gotten to my room, my roommate was already there. His name is Keith, and he is from South Bend, Indiana. For anyone that doesn’t know that is Notre Dame Country. He is a cool guy and the SWAT commander for his department. We have things in common with firearms interest and tactics, etc. He is very laid back and I think that he and I are going to become good friends.

Well on the first phone call back home, Tonya informed me that she had just gotten back from the hospital with Jacob and he had gotten about six stitches to the fore head from a fall. Hopefully girl, you have gotten that trip out of the way. Shane was very helpful took her and him to the hospital. It’s cool to have good friends that you know will help take care of the Family. Well that’s about all for the first day.

The Gifts!?!?!?!

The video shows the gifts that they put so much thought into!!! Read the below post to understand completely. :)

The Journey Begins

Well, today was my last church service at my church, The Grace Place Community Church, before I leave next Saturday morning. It was a lot more difficult than I was anticipating. Joe surprised us and had my family and I as the main prayer object this morning. Anyone from the group that wanted to pray for us could come up and pray with us. It was a very special time, and it meant a lot to Tonya and I. You loose touch with how much you love and care for people until you feel like they are not going to be in your life for awhile. We had lunch with some old friends. And then we went to Jessica's house for a Student Team Leaders Meeting and some of the youth and some other couples were there and all yelled "surprised" when we walked in. It was pretty cool, they gave me a bag of gifts that they picked up for me. Of course they put notes on the gifts explaining why I might need them. It was very entertaining, for whatever reason I think that they believe that I have a problem with gas or something????? Today was a nice day. Oh and by the way, I don't have a GAS problem!!! That's Kris Barrett!!