TSgt Royston Wilson, TSgt Rosanna Wilson and their daughter.

My son and his wife are both in the Air Force.

They left Abilene, Texas in May 2009 to go to their new base in Florida and left behind a son, daughter and a Mom.

Royston and Rosanna are both being deployed overseas. He is going to Afghanistan and she is going to Iraq. They will be there for a year. They have two children here in Abilene, Texas, and I will be taking care of them while they are away. . We are really proud of them but will miss the so much.

I just want my son and his wife to come back safe. We do appreciate what our military guys are doing for our country to keep us safe over here. God Bless them.

- Martha Brasher

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Posted by: Salute to Troops
Filed under: Salute to Troops

Lindsay Sprick overcame a big obstacle on her way to self confidence.

Have you heard about the Morning Sunshine Contest!?

Robin's new book "Morning Sunshine: How to Radiate Confidence and Feel It Too," is coming out on September 10. In it, she shares tips on how to cultivate confidence in yourself and encourage it in others.

To celebrate the release of the book, each week, we'll ask "Morning Express" viewers to share their confidence-boosting tips through iReport and e-mail.

This week we are asking: What is the biggest obstacle you have faced (or overcome) on your road to self confidence?

Today's winner is iReporter Lindsay Sprick.

Lindsay says that she grew up fast when she was diagnosed with an auto-immune skin disease at age 11 that left 80% of her skin looking dry and cracked like a desert.

She faced a lot of ridicule from her school classmates, but says that she learned to smile in the face of pain, and to keep up her confidence.

She says, "You can’t let people make you feel bad for things you can’t control. Be proud of who you are and who you want to be! Love yourself and you’ll see that happiness is just around the corner."

Tell us! What is the biggest obstacle you have faced (or overcome) on your road to self confidence? Share your answer via iReport or email.

Posted by: Morning Sunshine Contest
Filed under: Morning Sunshine Contest

Royston Wilson is serving in Afghanistan while his wife, Rosanna Wilson, is serving in Iraq.

My son, TSgt Royston Wilson, and his wife, TSgt Rosanna Wilson, are both in the Air Force. They left Abilene, Texas in May 2009 to go to their new base in Florida and left behind a son, daughter and a mom.

Royston and Rosanna are both deployed overseas. He is in Afghanistan and she is in Iraq. They will be there for a year. They have two children here in Abilene, Texas and I will be taking care of them while they are away. We are really proud of them but will miss the so much.

I just want my son and his wife to come back safe. We do appreciate what our military guys are doing for our country to keep us safe over here. God bless them.

- Martha Brasher

See all of your Salutes here.

Upload your Salute to Troops at iReport.com!

Posted by: Salute to Troops
Filed under: Salute to Troops

SGT Joseph Merritt is a Human Resource Specialist with the 2nd Battalion 10th Group Special Forces.

Hi, my name is Shaune Merritt. I'm sending a salute out to my wonderful and amazing husband SGT Joseph Merritt. He is currently overseas fighting in the Iraqi Freedom War. He is stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.

SGT Merritt is a Human Resource Specialist with the 2nd Battalion 10th Group Special Forces. You are very missed and thought of every second of the day. You’re doing a wonderful thing serving your country and your family. We truly appreciate it all.

On October 8th, we will be celebrating our one year anniversary and that stinks that you wouldn’t be here to celebrate it. But I love you and miss you very much and can’t wait for you to come home. Your babies miss their daddy and can’t wait to come home and give you kisses. You’re an amazing husband and son and I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Iraq might have you but we have your heart. Don’t let your guard down and come home safe.

- Shaune Merritt (and Carla Kennedy, his mother)

See all of your Salutes here.

Upload your Salute to Troops at iReport.com!

Posted by: Salute to Troops
Filed under: Salute to Troops

Julie Schleppegrell is a soldier and a mother and is looking at a life of Army service.

In August of 2006, Julie Schleppegrell set off from Minnesota for basic training. After basic training and AIT, the family was reunited at Fort Bragg, NC where they still reside.

It wasn't long after the reunion that her company was scheduled to deploy. Julie did a 15-month tour in Iraq and the time away was very hard on her and our family. There is an amazing strength in military families. We all pull together in the hard times. Everyone in our family puts in their fair share.

Julie has returned and is now a Specialist (E-4) Active Duty with the 18th ABN Corp. She is looking at a life of Army service.

She is an exceptional mother, attending school functions and bringing the children to special events put on by Child and Youth Services (CYS),  Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR), and Army Community Service (ACS) here on Fort Bragg.

- William Cody Schleppegrell

See all of your Salutes here.

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Filed under: Salute to Troops

Sgt. Jonathon Nelson is returning from his third deployment to Iraq with the marines.

We are so PROUD of our son, SGT Jonathon S Nelson. He is a helicopter mechanic and is returning home from his third deployment to Iraq with the marines.

He left us as a 19-year-old boy and has become an amazing 24-year-old man. He has completed his five-year enlistment and will be discharged on August 22, 2009. He has decided to return to college.

We will see each other in December as school starts two days following discharge and he is staying in San Diego (we live in Wisconsin).

We love you and THANK YOU, Jonathon, for GIVING to your country. We pray every day for the safe return of all our military. God Bless America.

- Joan Nelson

See all of your Salutes here.

Upload your Salute to Troops at iReport.com!

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Lcpl. David Dlugosielski celebrates his 24th birthday on September 9th, 2009.

Lcpl. David Dlugosielski, 2/8 echo (marines), based in Afghanistan (Helmand Valley) since May 2009, is celebrating his 24th Birthday on September 9th! We want to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and a safe return. He is originally from Macomb, Michigan.

David, you have been through it all... now let's get through the rest!! WE ALL LOVE YOU and miss you madly!

- Judy Dlugosielski

See all of your Salutes here. Upload your Salute to Troops at iReport.com!

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Me and my fiancé are both in the U.S. Navy both stationed at NAS Kingsville, Texas. Jeremy Stack is a Corpsman 2nd Class and I am Brenda Acevedo, a Engineman 3rd Class. I will be getting out of the military one month before our wedding that will take place in January 2010 and Jeremy will continue his medical career, while I finish school (thanks to the G.I. Bill).

I am writing because Corpsman have a high rate of deployment. In fact, he is on the deployment list for his clinic as we speak. When he does go overseas, (hopefully later than sooner) I just want to tell him I love him and wait for him with open arms.

In 2005, he went to Iraq where he received a purple heart for injuries due to an IED explosion, but he is okay now. I am very proud of you Honey Bunny. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you!

HM2 (FMF) Jeremy Stack is a very loving caring person who is extremely inquisitive. I love his enthusiasm for all things. He has great morale, and I see his importance within the military and his positive persona. – Brenda Acevedo

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News Correspondent Richard Lui

The debate over health care reform could be heading in a new direction. Democrats are considering going at it alone. That would mean trying to pass it without Republican support.

Caution: Relations between Dems and the GOP could get toxic.

Democrats want to use a process called reconciliation. It would only require 51 votes in the Senate to get a health care bill passed. Normally, a bill would require 60 votes to be passed. Also, with the reconciliation process, only 20 hours of debate would be allowed, no filibuster would be allowed, stamping out opposition debate.

Some Republicans might call the use of this process an underhanded move, and suggest that their efforts to hammer out a bipartisan solution unappreciated. Some Democrats would say their efforts to discuss major issues, even the public health plan option, are going unappreciated.

This is not the first time the reconciliation move has been discussed. President George W. Bush used it for major tax cuts. President Bill Clinton rejected reconciliation when he was trying to get his health care bill passed.

During the congressional break, bipartisan debate continues fervently in town halls across the country and in DC on health care. Democrats are trying to appease conservative members of their party to stay on board with the President, while wooing moderate Republicans.

What do you think of reconciliation? Smart move or the wrong move? Let us know what you think about the ongoing fight over health care right here, and we’ll share your comments later on Morning Express with Robin Meade.

Posted by: News Correspondent Richard Lui
Filed under: Your Money • Your Turn

By Writer Keith

If you haven’t heard yet, Morning Express with Robin Meade has a new Facebook page. And I can tell you one thing: Writer Keith likes this. It’s a great way for us, the entire show team, to hear from you as the morning goes on. Plus, it gives you a way to hear what is going on in the world of news, sports, and entertainment. It’s a way for you to talk with other viewers and many mornings your comments could make it on TV. You can even see if Robin is coming to your city to sign her new book (which actually comes out on my birthday, September 10th. Coincidence? I think so.)

Please keep your status updates to things like 'Making spaghetti for the kids.'

Now I am sure many of you have already signed up for Facebook. It’s a great way to catch up with old friends you may not have seen in years. I’ve found all sorts of people I had forgotten about from high school and from middle school (more on that in a bit). If you are still on the fence and are reading this blog, why not join? It don’t cost nothing. So if you are new to the site or an old pro that needs some reminders, I wanted to go over some stuff I’ve noticed about what people post on their “wall” and other benefits of the site. Some good, some not so good.

1) Please do not post status updates that are WAYYYYY too personal

Sure, posting stuff on the site can be fun. “Alyssa is making pizza,” “O’B is driving to New Hampshire,” “Max is cruising the freshman dorms.” But sometimes, people seem to air a lot of dirty laundry on there. Do I really need to know about all of the problems you are having with your significant other? “John says he knows why divorce is so expensive ... it’s worth every penny.” “Mary thinks her boyfriend better sleep with one eye open. I know about your affair and I know where the crazy glue is.” I have had to block some people off of my list because of them venting about divorce, break-ups, infidelity, everything. Folks, let’s just keep it to making spaghetti. And please don't write about how drunk you are. Your employer, or future employer, will see it.

2) Old pictures: It’s a two-way street

Many of us have had the moment: Looking at old pictures and cringing because of the crazy hairstyles and fashion. Well now they can be posted for the entire world to see on people’s Facebook photo album. At first I thought it was funny. I saw some old pics of classmates from St. John’s elementary and middle school. The amount of big hair and claw hairstyles (that big poof that teenage girls used to do with their bangs) made me laugh out loud. But then a picture from my junior prom hit the web. Now the fashion wasn’t too bad (except that I weighed about 110 pounds and had the same 7 ½ hat size), but I thought I had all pictures of me destroyed from that dance. I had fun, but my prom date was a disaster. To put it in perspective, the prom was the same night as the OJ Bronco chase. OJ had a better night.

3) Do you really need to do that many polls or invite me to a game?

Many people like to do these polls or top 5 lists. Who are your favorite bands, do you agree with such and such policy. These are fun…every once in a while. There are some people who do 10 of these a day, clogging up your wall. Do you need to spend that amount of time every day letting people know that you would choose King Kong Bundy and Courtney Love as your body guard? And please: No more invites for fantasy games. If I want to join something I will. Please don’t ask me to hide a body from your Mafia War fantasy world.

4) Tips from other people and keeping up with things back home

Facebook has been a great help for me with getting tips for my new baby. It seems about 800 people on my friends list have had a kid within the past 3 months. In fact, three of the women from my high school class and two guys from college had a baby the same month as mine. So we all get to watch our kids grow at the same rate and give advice and empathize with each other.

It can also help out with tough times back home. Things you may have never heard about, you’ll hear about. A classmate of mine from high school recently passed away. I won’t go into the details, but it is always tough to lose someone you know at such a young age. Thanks to the website, I was able to keep up with the details and send thoughts and prayers to those who were closer to my classmate than I was. I am not sure if it helped, but I know it didn’t hurt.

Well that’s it. What are some of things you like/dislike about Facebook. You can post your comments on the blog or on our fancy new show Facebook group.

Posted by: Writer Keith
Filed under: Facebook • Morning Express crew