The News...

These past months have been a whirlwind. Let's recap... We traveled by minvan some 3,000 miles from Jacksonville NC to Seattle Washington. Which was the time of our lives, we absolutely loved it! So we could then jump on some planes, to go from Seattle to Okinawa Japan. Then we lived in a Japanese hotel for 3 weeks until we could move into our estate! Our mansion if you will, shrunk about in half from our home in the states. Bought two used cars so we could learn to drive on the opposite side of the car and road all the while being told that we are considered 'professional drivers' by local standards! 2 days after moving into our home, school started. Not any ole' school, MIDDLE SCHOOL for 2 boys and our last and final year in elementary school for K80! That alone will cause any mom to crawl under the sofa never to come out! Did I mention that the government furniture is FANTASTIC! The whole family jumped full force into Boy Scouts. Caleb started the swim team, which is a 40 minute drive to the pool and back 3 days a week. Katie was elected Student Council President. Seth started band... trumpet, loving the practicing at home! I joined a women's Bible Study and became a MOPS mentor mom for our church. Mark works an average of 10-12 hours a day, his life hasn't changed too dramatically unless he leaves a base after 7pm at night. (That is another story for another blog entry!)

So yes there is LOTS of news to tell, but the best of all is we have been selected as the "Marine Corps Family of the Year 2010" by the National Military Family Association. We are deeply honored and humbled by this award. It was a huge shock and we are blessed beyond measure to receive this distinction.

NMFA history is remarkable :this organization was founded by military wives in 1969 who wanted their widowed friends to be properly cared for.

Their mission is honorable: To fight for benefits and programs that strengthen and protect uniformed services families and reflect the Nation's respect for their Service. (LOVE IT!)

The NMFA has many programs that benefit military families. My favorite it Operation Purple Camp aka OPC! This program has enabled our children to attend a traditional summer camp for the past 3 years. What a tremendous blessing! Ya'll know how much I value summer camp and love the experiences kids have while attending. However... I wish my children never qualified for this camp. In order to attend OPC the camper's parent must have been or will be deployed within so many months of the summer camp. We qualified 3 years in a row, telling you Mark's deployed A LOT! I am forever grateful of the experiences my children have had at summer camp through OPC, but I love it MORE when Mark is home, in our country and in our home. With that said... OPC is looking for donations large or small in any amount to help support sending military kids to summer camp. Think back to all the fond memories you have of summer camp, share that joy with a military child this summer... Donate today! For more information on OPC or to donate click here!

Life is busy for everyone, sorry it took me so long to 'share the news'! This being Veteran's Day weekend take a moment to give thanks to God for the blessings our Nation has... Freedom from tyranny, Freedom to chose our elected officials, Freedom to worship the One True God, truly the list is endless. Then take it one step further and call the Veterans you know and thank them for their service. You truly never know how much that will mean to them. They need to know their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families are not forgotten and are sincerely appreciated.

Day Out w/ K80

What do girls do when boys are camping! We go exploring.

K80 at the Pineapple Park. It was delicious, samples galore and the tram/cart ride was so fun!
At the Butterfly Garden, she was scared out of her wits! Butterflies scary... she's hilarious!


This picture was taken at the beach we found we pulled over to see on our way home. I just love it... so natural, so free, so very sweet.

Just a snapshot of a local getting ready to go fishing.

The sunset... it's simply beautiful here. The rolling waves sooth the soul.

Saturday Morning Cartoons...

It's Saturday morning here in Okinawa and look what's playin' on AFN (Armed Forces Network, out TV programming!)... Powder Puff Girls. Not exactly the cartoons my kids were looking forward too, but it's all we got!

Hope your Saturday starts better than ours...

I think I may institute our home a PPG Free Zone!

Pages from a Menu...

Here are just a few pages from the menu of a restaurant we recently fell in love with! Granted we didn't necessarily eat what we are showing you, but believe the food was divine... definitely a place we'll revisit again and again over the next 35 months! Enjoy... bon appetite!

Monster Snail...

Look what greeted Mark this morning just outside our front door! It's a huge snail... Gross! Things might be bigger in Texas, but I've never seen a snail this large before!

Escargot anyone?

Weird things you may or may not see everyday!

The photos below are in no particular order. They are simply snapshots the kids or I have taken over the past couple of weeks. I'll do my best to explain what they are... some are weird; others just part of everyday life on Okinawa.

The Ryukyuan people are known for ancestor worship. This is a family tomb. Sometimes there are several lined up (Mark's says those are like an American cemetery), in other areas they are just scattered all over the landscape. They range from beautiful and exquisite to old rundown and unkempt. These are found on the side of a twisty old country road that we take often near our home. Look at the color of this drink, it's Melon Soda. It's very popular over here, tastes pretty good too. The locals make eating at a fast food restaurant a pleasure. They serve their drinks in glass glasses and fries in ceramic bowls. It's so quaint. This particular place is called Mos Burger! The kids loved it, we loved it, it's our new favorite fast food place! Their burgers were soooo yummy w/ just a hint of local flavor.
This is a local farm. Many of the farmers cover their crops to keep them safe from all the bats. I've seen uncovered crops lined with lights to scare the bats away. I can't wait to hit the local farmers market next week... it's harvest time.

It's a Hover Round... we take this crazy tight side road to church and to get to other parts of the island (saves us 10-15 minutes off our commute). I was driving home from Kadena the other day and discovered this extremely elderly woman climbing this steep hill on her Hover Round. It was hilariously scary!

Here is the beginning of the crazy road shown above. I don't know if you can tell how narrow the road is... but two cars are supposed to fit down here! I also passed a semi on this road earlier this week, I practiced my Lamaze breathing techniques!

Kids are the same no matter what country they are from... I love this photo, because I know what happened right after I took it. Two boys started fighting, all the others gathered around and cheered on the underdog. I didn't get to stay to see how it turned out, my light turned green and I had to keep moving. If you notice many of these kids carry what look like hard or solid looking backpacks. Those cost about $100 each, but they have a GPS tracker built into them. The parents can look anytime on line and see where their children are, which is very important. The local children ride public buses to and from school or they walk, there are no school buses around here.

Out driving around I found this store, I believe it's a "fancy smanshy" lighting and interior design shop. I also knew my son would love this photo... just had to do it!

I think I shared with ya'll before about these stickers, but in case you have forgotten. The green and yellow stickers that look like a book are placed on the cars of all drivers who have had their license for less than a year... beginner drivers! The upside down tear drops (orange and yellow) are placed on the cars of all elderly drivers (I do not know who constitutes elderly but Mark almost slept on the sofa for trying to get me one!) This car scares me... they are both old and new!

Everyday in Okinawa is a new adventure filled with the unexpected.

I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we do...

Okinawa Style...

I know you may not enjoy the song, but it is Miley Cyrus, she's great if you are like 10! Moving past the music the sights on the video are excellent, photo shoots taken all over Okinawa. So sit back and enjoy the view we see everyday! It truly is beautiful...

Adjusting to Okinawa...

Yeah, it's really hard to live on an island when the beaches look like this! The water is so clear on this particular side of the island. This is the Pacific Ocean side, this is also the side we live on! It truly is amazing the difference in the water, the colors and the clarity. Breath taking is what it is!

We've been asked at least 3 times a day since we arrived on the island "How are you adjusting to Okinawa?" Truth be told nope not yet, but we are learning the roads, the traffic and are actually remembering to stay on the left side of the road! That a lone is a HUGE accomplishment. You wouldn't think it would be hard to do, but habits take over and there you are driving down the road head on in the path of another car. Don't worry we haven't had that many close calls, we usually figure it out when the kids yell at us!

We did discover that you can watch TV in the van while you are driving it. One day the fam was doing a bunch of running around the kids were bored off their gourd and I turned on the TV. Star Wars is HUGE over here, and so is the Clone Wars. On the Japanese station was the Clone Wars cartoon. The kids loved watching TV while we were driving down the road. We haven't done it since, because we the drivers go get distracted, but it does help waiting for someone in the parking lot for what seems like hours on end. Caleb wants to join the swim team, his first practice is next week. He actually has tryouts on Monday and then a week of practice to see if he likes it. I hope he does, but I also know it will bring long days for him and much more driving for me. I know it will be good for him and he's very excited about it. He is also in chorus in school. He came home the first day of school to inform us that he is the only boy in the chorus program. I asked him if he wanted to continue, he said and I quote "Oh Yeah! Mom it's gonna be great!" (He takes after his father!)

Katie is soooo hungry for a fabulous girls program. I really wish I could find one. We went "interview" a GS troop and I was less than impressed. I've been praying for a solution, but I am still having reservations that I was having for the past couple of years. Pray that God brings to us a wonderful program that will provide the leadership and fun that Katie is looking for in a girls program. She is loving all the kids in the neighborhood and walks to school everyday w/ a herd of kids. Seth has signed up for band in school. He so badly wanted to continue with his guitar but the school doesn't offer strings, so he chose brass. When he was asked by the band instructor what instrument he wanted he chose the French Horn, no particular reason mind you. "Just wanted to try it!" He's a crazy nut! I remember being told that the FH was the hardest instrument to learn, good luck Seth! Both boys are already active in Boy Scouting. We found a fantastic troop, it's a bit of a drive but it's by far the best troop on the island, the leadership is top notch.

As for me...I signed up to take a framing class. It starts tomorrow. I should learn how to make my own photo mats and frames. Once I take this class I can be "set free" in the framing studio to do my own work. The class is 4 weeks long (once a week), that is a start right. I also know I'll be getting really involved in our new church. This weekend we joined Koza Baptist. It's really close to the house, the preacher is a retired Marine (Mark loves that!) and it's a very very active church. Tomorrow night Katie and I are going to Koza to learn about their Christmas production, we would like to audition and see where they need help. I've always wanted to get the kids involved in productions/plays at church... finally we can do it! Seth also wasn't to audition, so we might be really busy really soon!

I'll take some pictures of our home soon. We still do not have our household shipment, so our house is pretty bare and boring. So hold tight, trying to make a home outta nothing ain't easy. Right now it's still just a house. All in all we are adjusting, and loving our time here. Can't believe we've been here a month already. Yep, yesterday was a month, our one month anniversary. Looking forward to the next 35 month on the island.

Streets of Okinawa

Sad to say we arrived over 10 days ago on the island of Okinawa and I have yet to post on my blog. I should be flogged but thankfully none of you can find me to do it! So lets begin from the beginning...

We arrived under the cover of darkness. Our amazing sponsors drove us to our hotel room. It was filled with goodies, lots of food! Yeah US! We hit the bed not too long after and the next 10 days have been a whirlwind of chaos, fun and sleep!
I'll recap for you in true military form:

• Had a housing meeting, told us to wait a week and see if they have anything for us!
• Still sleeping in hotel.
• Hotel is a Japanese hotel, everything is in Japanese... did you know none of us speak or read Japanese! More on that later.
• Went to the commissary, about killed us getting there we took all back roads and then were asked. Do you remember how we got here? Ummm NO!
• Went to take the drivers test! I panicked and felt like I was 16 all over again. Thankfully we passed the test!
• Went to the newcomers briefing that would explain life on the island to us and explain the "ropes" for us newbies! They took a 8 hour briefing and told it to us in 4 hours! They talked faster than a speeding bullet. What did I take away from the briefing... suicide kills, don't do it. Be very cautious of the waters they are super dangerous, and oh the scuba diving and snorkling is some of the best in the world. One more thing, don't drink and drive. They told us that about 500 times... okay I got it.
• Found my friend who was lost since elementary school... we haven't seen each other since HS. She just happens to be stationed here w/ her husband and kids. Perfect, and instant family! LOVIN' IT!
• Bought two cars in less than 24 hours. Talk about stressful... the steering wheel is on the wrong side and you are NOT allowed to test drive cars here.
• They gave me a drivers license and a car within 24 hours... in a foreign country where they all drive wrong! This make NO sense to me at all!
• Got stung by a jellyfish... should have listened more at the briefing, those waters sure are dangerous!
• Finally got some sleep, we are officially on Okinawa time.
• Got lost twice...
• Went to church twice, two different ones. Think we may have found a church home... going back next week to check it out again. Yeah, we really need to get planted somewhere.
• Boys went to Boy Scouts... loved it. Now looking for a troop closer to our home, not 45 minutes away!
• Kids swam in hotel pool too many times.
• Ate out toooooooo many times but WOOW it all tastes sooo delicious!
• Japanese TV stinks, especially when it's all in Japanese. Although the kids think Disney channel in Japanese still rocks. I am now insane... you'll find me w/ Mickey Mouse ears living in a shoe box on the corner rocking back and forth singing "won't you be my neighbor!"
• I would post more pictures but the internet will not allow me to do so. Check out our photos on Facebook.

This is a picture of us driving down the street. You can see the crystal blue water ahead. That's the China Sea... where sea creatures lurk to sting cute ladies named Colleen.

Until next time... we'll be snorkeling and cruising the streets of Okinawa in style, praying we don't get lost again!

Service Star Giveaway!

I love this military spouse blogger, I've never met her but she's wonderful.

She calls herself "the Mrs."Her writing is like reading an autobiography accept she has 3 boys, her husbands a pilot and they live in the country but other than that, we are like the same (but different).

Any hoot, her mom has such pretty items on her Etsy shop. I've been oooogling over her Military Service Stars for over a year now, and she's giving another one away. Maybe this timeI'll win, put in a good word for me when you enter will ya!

If you want to enter to win one of these beauties click on the link and do what she says to do! And remember to mention my name so I get entered again! Wouldn't this look so beautiful in my new home in base housing in Okinawa Japan.... HINT HINT HINT!

http://tryingourbest.blogspot.com/2010/06/blue-star-giveaway-from-blue.html

I got a Cruiser for Okinawa!

I've always wanted a cruiser (motorcycle type), but I am satisfied with this two wheel bike for the time being. From everything we've heard about Okinawa it's a beautiful place to ride bikes & everyone rides.

What were we to do? Mark and I didn't have a decent bike. The one mountain bike we had we hated to ride. It was so uncomfortable. All of the kids have outgrown their bikes so we had a family meeting and came up with a solution. Mom and Dad got new bikes. We bought one boys bike. They will share the old adult mountain bike and the new mongoose mountain bike. Katie inherited Seth's old bike. So all in all we purchased 3 new bikes. I have to say mine is the purdiest! It has a comfort seat, shocks and a purdy basket to put my flowers, milk, bread or possibly even my camera for those rides around the island. A picnic lunch sounds delicious doesn't it.

We took a long ride today with the kids, the weather couldn't have been more perfect. 75 degrees, Carolina blue sky's and a soft wind filled with the smell of Cherry Blossoms! My ride was smooth and effortless, just the way I like it. Even stopped at Dairy Queen for our first ice cream cone of the season. Mark led for a while and while I was picking up the rear images of "The Sound of Music" bicycle scene kept running through my head. Wish I had taken my camera we were certainly a sight to see, Caleb only ran into a minivan once! But don't worry we all had helmets on!