out for a week

hey everybody, i appreciate you all. i will be out for the next week, as i finally get to go to the range. im glad im done with arabic, though i am for from fluent.

today was awesome, i went kayaking with some buddies, ill post pics another time, and then to the beach. i am wore out, but having fun with some good guys helps out a lot around here. after the range this week Kimberly is coming in and we are heading to DC. i am very excited to see her again, and i know this week will fly by.

by the way on youtube you can search for the video “mountain high” the song is by delirious, it has been a real comfort to me of late, but the vid is very sad, and very good, i recommend it. i also found clips to a documentary that came out in 04 called “ears open, eyeballs click” the movie is about marine corps boot camp and the clips are like going back in time for the guys around here. if you want a glimpse of what we did, check out the different clips.

love you guys, and will post soon.

adam

ar-mee

in case anyone ever thought languages were not important, in modern standard arabic the word “ar-mee” means drop, in Iraqi arabic it means fire, as in fire your weapon.  so in the beggining of the war our interpreters were telling our troops to say ar-mee to iraqis with weapons, so the iraqis began firing, and were of course killed.  if i told an iraqi to drop his weapon, and he fired it (regardless of the direction) i would kill him.  no one was in the wrong, not the iraqi, not the service member, but at the end of the day someone was dead.  war sucks.

arabish

so at one point in my life i thought i was pretty good with languages, you know i thought i picked up on them pretty easy, and could usually get my way through vocab no prob, and then i went to this tactical iraqi arabic class.

good news

hey, hey, hey,  i got good news.  it is saturday, and we have the whole weekend off (which is how active duty Marines usually act.)  so i’m chillin like a villan.  im about to go play golf (of course by play i mean get beat at.)  and then i think we are going to the beach.  my buddy shawn bought a laptop, and somehow we are boggarting somebody’s wifi, so i should be able to post a bit more often.as for training, this last week i spent a couple of days at a class called “command Post of the Future”  it was pretty sweet, i learned all kinds of good intel.  this upcoming week i get to go to a week long Arabic immersion course.  i’ll be speaking Arabic in no time.  the next week ill get to go to the rifle range for real, very excited.  then that weekend (the 30th) Kimberly comes to visit, we are going to go up to DC for the 4th, (i would have come home but we arent allowed to go more than 450 miles out, kind of random i know.)any way i got some goog intel on where i will be staying in the HotBox, check out this link  http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/fallujah-imagery2.htm just to the east of fallujah you should see a small lake with a big “wall” written next to it.  that is called Baharia, that is my house, yeah i have a lakefront villa. check around that same site for some satellite images, pretty sweet having a big wall and all.anyway holla at me to let me know the link worked.  ill write soon.thanks for your prayers,adam 

innards

so fri night shawn and i had to move barraks.  that kind of stunk, but in stead of being on the 3rd deck we are now on the 1st deck (very excited about that.)  the weird thing is that my old unit (an infantry unit i was with for 3 years) is in the barraks i live in now, so every now and then i walk outside and see one of my old buddies.

sat morning we had a battalion (a group of just over a thousand marines) hike.  it was 6 miles without our heavy packs, shouldt have been to hard except for my spilling my innards all over the place late fri night and early sat (2:00am.)  of course we got up at 3:30 and i was still spraying and praying.  in the end i did not have to go on the hike, shawn said it was a good one.  it is hard when your boys are out there bustin there humps and your not.  marines arent taught that it is ok to be sick, but it happens.  im sure ill get mine in the end.  someone tell Kimberly that im never eating Chinese food again, because i think that is what got me down.

i get to see kimberly in just twenty days, im very excited.  i will be back in texas in july ill be there from july 28th through August 5th.  i wont make church on the 28th, because i have to drive in on that day, but i plan on being there the 5th.  i look forward to seeing you all very soon.

if you get a chance check out the song by Delirious? it is called Mountain High.  i think it is on their album “world service”

i pray that the Lord would bless you all for your friendships.

adam

still here

yes, im still here at camp lejeune.  and yes life still sucks.  and yes i still want to go home.  in fact if any of you ever hear me speak about going active duty, or you hear me encourage someone to join the military you have my full permission to kick me in the adam’s apple and redirect me to this post.

pray for shawn and i.  we are both pretty down right now.  we are trying to focus on our time off coming up on the 4th of july, that is going to be awesome, kimberly and i may go to d.c.  (if i am not an expatriate by then.)

we are both having a hard time getting in the word, i just dont want to.  im not sure what the deal is, but devotional time just seems difficult right now, and it is not something i want to “work” at.  i was pretty sure Christianity was supposed to be freeing, but the other day i opened up to Jer. 29 on accident, and the great “Word from the Lord” that i got was just as depressing for me as it must of been for the original audience.  the Lord litterally said not to listen to false prophets who say “it is going to be ok” and “youll be home soon”  rather the Lord promised the Israelites they would be stuck in Babylon for 70 years… yay, what fun, the Lord said to them to plant gardens, settle in, and plan for the welfare of where they were.  yes the Lord promised that His future plans for them were great (29:11-13) and no im not planning on being gone for 70 years, but the here and now…they still suck.

i hope you dont all excommunicate me, but i thought i’d be real for a minute.

adam

yeah,

so i didnt go to the range after all, it is probably better because i need to get a new perscription for my eye balls.  either way, ill get my chance eventually.  i love you guys, and i appreciate your prayers.

ill holla later,

adam

rifle range

hey everyone,

i want to say that i miss many of you.  im kind of by myself in terms of friends who are an encouragement.  i like all the guys, but there are few who “get me.”  it makes me appreciate all of you so much more.  shawn and i are split up for now, but he should be here thursday morning.  (like flying out at 0030 kind of morning.)  anyway i made it safely to Camp Lejuene North Carolina, where i should be hookin and jabbin over the next 2-2 1/2 months.  next week we are going out to the “The Rifle Range” as in the rifle range where we shoot for score.  we shoot from 200, 300, and 500 yards from iron sights.  the m16 aint your daddy’s huntin rifle.  in all honesty 500 yards is the easiest for most marines because you get to lay down and get stable.  at the other yard lines you sit, kneel, or stand.  in any case it should be a good time.  fun, relaxing, and it sets the stage for bragging rights over the next year.

so i hope to post again soon.  Kimberly and i appreciate your prayer.

adam

ps. if you want to email me i will be able to keep up with my new email a little more often hit me up at adam.copeland@usmc.mil

going away party

some of our very best friends threw us a going away party a few weeks back. the Lord has been so great to us by blessing us with amazing friends. we are so thankful for all the Lord has given us. we had friends from all over, lubbock tx, cabot ar, and even vancouver ca. check the video above to see some of the “raw footage.”

check out buddy