Latest Update...

Hey everyone-
I wanted to check in with all of you and let you know that things have been very busy and that is why you have not seen anything from either, myself or Jayson. As said in the last post, Jayson is home in NC. He is finishing up his duties with the Navy and then is off to have some well deserved personal time. He continues to work on the project while he is back in the states though. He has been interviewing several wives of Marines. The stories they share, with their truth of their men and the real life that they have to adjust to, is very intense.
As you can imagine, there is a great deal of stress and anxiety that they will experience in their readjustment to life here. And the wives, having not been through or seen what their husbands have, have to adjust from a blind perspective, but out of love, they push through with tears! Can't wait to give you more details later.

Some of you know this already, but my sister is in Iraq now. She is on the Lincoln for the Navy. Her daughter is here with our parents and her fiance patiently waits to hear from her every day. So it is not only the wives, it affects all of our loved ones!
Here is an amazing image that she sent me:)


ps...if you are reading this site frequently or even if this is your first time, please comment every chance you get. This will optimize our blog and make it more accessible for people who may be looking to relate to something like what we are offering!

So much going on!

Hi everyone-
I have been way too busy for my own health. I apologize for not updating all of you on the events with Jayson and his project. He should have left Iraq on Saturday, the 10th of May. I have not spoken to him yet, but we agreed to speak tomorrow, which I am really looking forward to. I can't wait to get a decision from the judges on the art board! I will keep all of you posted and I can't wait to see Jayson and start on this amazing book!

Contributions to the development of this book are appreciated....please contact me with any inquires in regards to how to help...

Art Show Update...

Final selections for the upcoming art show that everyone has been helping us with, will be on June 14th! Everything will be dropped off for viewing next week! The anticipation is so uplifting!

Count Down!

Hi everyone-
We have only 4 days until Jayson can return home. You can only imagine how relieved and excited he is! He will be able to spend time adjusting and unwinding from the Navy. His enlistment will be up shortly after his return and as of now, there are no plans to re-enlist. Keep posted, he will be able to communicate more when he returns!

For Military Wives and Girl Friends

I wanted to offer something special to the women who are supporting their men from afar.
I started taking these images of military wives and girl friends for friends of mine and the response was huge!

"He told me that he felt like I had given him a piece of my soul and then he cried"

What an amazing thing to hear and feel while you are distanced by war. I would like to offer my services at a discounted price for military wives and girlfriends.

Please Contact me if you are interested or know some one who is:

Jessica Lee

When you live your life like this it hits you that you're really not living a life at all

My last day in the city wasn't particularly different from all the other days I had spent out there. Everything becomes so repetitive, bland, and so indistinguishable from the previous day. Time and any sense of progression loses its effect on you entirely. You don't feel like your moving forward in life towards any particular moment, certain date or anything really at all. Everything becomes so patterned from one day to the next. At times you get reminders, of how much time has passed. it comes in the form of the simple and mundane things that occur, in fleeting moments, such as thinking about the last time you took a shower, looking through a case of movies and seeing ones that you have already watched previously or it being hamburger-hot-dog night again with no buns or bread to eat it with.



And then the day finally comes and you find yourself leaving and moving on to something else, but you find its nothing new, its all the same. The only thing that really changed is the way in which you do it. Now I am taking a shower everyday and eating three meals but these days end up all become part of the previous pattern. I am eating with the same people and waking up next to the same people. Even when I am on the internet or phone I have the same people sitting next to me. None of it is any different then before. The sights, sounds and smells all remain the same. Its just now I am doing it in a different bed, on a different schedule, and at a different base.



I think of having been out here for six months and it shocks me, if people stopped counting the days, I would surely lose all track of them out here.



When you live your life like this it hits you that you're really not living a life at all. Where am I going....What am I doing...I ask myself this constantly....



On the last evening I was loaded into a truck with 15 other guys from the company. We had just been out that day at a checkpoint for five hours and immediately following our return, we went right back out again. It was quiet on the ride back. For the most part, you could see, the Marines sitting next to me felt relieved. They were getting all their contempt out for the Iraq people by throwing their arms out the truck and flipping people off, yelling "fuck you" indiscriminately to the people we passed by on the street below. I turned around and saw other Marines waving to little kids out the other side, some were taking pictures. I over heard one Marine talking to another about how sorry he felt for him because he didn't get any combat experience during his deployment. He wished him luck in finding it in his next one. I hope he finds what he's searching for.

Help for the art show...

If this is your first time visiting this blog and you are interested in helping, we need help with money to pay for printing and framing for an upcoming art show that Jayson's images will be entered into. If there is left over money, this money will be saved for producing the final product, the book. For more info of where to send money, please contact:



Jessica Lee

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have:)

Leaving Iraq!

There is a date set, that Jayson will be coming back home. For now, the date is the 10th of May. He will be returning home to, North Carolina, and then coming to San Diego, where he will spend time with family and friends. He will then be enrolling in school in Los Angeles,to seek out his dreams! It's been long awaited Jay!

Jayson's Most Recent Work