Mom and Dad and Angel.

So, last month, my dear family came to my island for a brief visit.  We tried our best to keep everyone busy and happy and even squeezed in a typhoon.  Unexpected weather, FTW!

Regardless of the sog late in the week, we still made it around to a few of our favorite places, LIKE:

THE BEACH!

AND KATSUREN CASTLE RUINS!

AND THE AQUARIUM!

AND COCOK'S SPA (the K is silent)!

We had a really great time just hanging out and showing them around our daily lives.  Next time we see them, we'll be back in the U.S. for GOOD :)  YAY!

P.S.  I will add pictures from the Birthday Ball and the Most Beautiful Dress Ever soon.  And not like how I said in my last post I would update soon.  Actual soon.

Typhoon Chaba:

Thank you for coming while my parents are visiting.  At least we have two or three days of sun - and enough time to get our toenails prettified.  Pictures soon.
xoxo-Andi

I Am A Terrible Blogger.

Three things:

1.) Dude, work has been stressful the last few weeks.  Everyday, I come up with a new reason to join the ranks of the Okinawa Unemployed Spouses Club.

2.) Birthday Lunch Pictures

It was really windy.  Also, pardon the excessive boob-age.

Oh, Akira.  My Japanese twin.

The other third of the ARA trinity was there, but she refuses to be placed on the internet.

3.) My family is coming to visit me!!!!  Yayayayayay!  And I think I have sprayed and wiped my entire house with Windex Multi-Purpose Cleaner.  WOOO!  Cleanishness!!

X is for XXX (that's 30, you pervert).

(I wouldn't have thought of this if it weren't for the fact that I own Chicago XXX, which is really just another tribute to my parents being the best parents ever...)

------------------------------------

Today my parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary - WOW!  I can't help just saying WOW! when I think about it.  Thirty years, two amazing kids, I don't even want to try to tally how many moves...  And they are still going strong.  I love it and I know just how very, very lucky I am.  I can't wait to see them in a few weeks when they come to visit and we can celebrate together

My mom is probably he only person who reads this blog daily, so go ahead and wish my parents a happy anniversary (and please don't mention that it is also my dad's 50th birthday).

Really, Really Guilty Pleasure.

I've never listened to KISS.  I know that they have the song about Rock & Roll-ing all night and Party-ing every day, but beyond that, I really couldn't tell you. 

But, for some strange reason, I love to watch Gene Simmons Family Jewels on A&E.  I really don't know why.

I always feel guilty when I am watching it because I know about 80% of it is scripted.  At least 80%.

If Matt comes home while I am watching it, I will immediately change the channel.  I'm embarrassed at how much I love this show.  Any time I flip through channels and I see it, I will watch it, regardless of how many times I've seen the episode.  The dynamic of the family is so strange, so different from my own, but seems to work as smoothly as my own.  From all that we can tell as the reality sitcom audience, there is a genuine love between Gene and Shannon.  Nick and Sophie are pretty well-adjusted, although a bit more beautiful than your average family (or perhaps that is my love of Hebrew dudes showing...).

Anyway, I fell like I just needed to get this out into cyberspace, to admit my guiltiest of guilty pleasures so that maybe I can work through it.  And get over it just in time for Growing Up Twisted.

Vacation, Part 4: D.C. and West Point.

Okay, okay...  I know.  I never finish things.  I promise to be better about that.  And I'll finish the alphabet I left off on over a year ago.  But really this time.

So, after a lovely sunny stay in Florida, Matt and I flew to D.C. to see his very pregnant sister, brother-in-law and nephew.  We got to see their beautiful new house for the first time and taste tested several flavors of Wegman's Ice Cream.  Carrie is the ultimate hostess and I always love staying with them. 

After our brief stay in D.C., Matt and I took Carrie's car and drove through five states to be at Andrew's graduation from West Point Military Academy.  How flippin' cool is that?  The commencement speaker was ...  President Barack Obama!  Pretty neat.  Super-pretty neat.

If you squint really hard you can see itty-bitty President Obama with his hand on his heart.  --->

Now, let me just state for the record, that, despite my disgust towards Glenn Beck and the fact I can barely wait Fox News without screaming, I am a conservative Republican, through and through.  But hearing Marine One fly by, watching the caravan drive into the stadium and seeing the leader of the free world walk out was pretty doggone exciting.  I got chills.  Gosh, I love America.

Also, let me tell you first:  I paid attention to the President's speech.  I really, really did.  But, for me, it was not as interesting as the fact that I had just told my mother-in-law about photo-bombing, and she thought it was a hysterical concept.  We took turns photo-bombing each other and other people.  It was pretty awesome.  But we were paying attention.  Most unfortunately, all of those fun photos are on her camera.  I got this one, though:

<---Sorry ladies, he's all mine.

After the ceremonies and sufficient family time, we hopped back in the car to drive back to D.C. to catch our last domestic flight - back to Travis AFB.

Vacation Part 3: Florida

I am working my way through vacation, but we still have at least two more chapters.  Please bear with me.

Let me start off by saying the weather in Tampa was so much more pleasant than I was expecting.  We got to spend lots of time at the pool without feeling all sweaty by the time we got back home. 

One of the first things I did when I got home was to go to the ladies meeting at church with my mom.  I go with my mom to the ladies meetings every time I'm home and it's like going to visit with 10 awesome grandmas.  I got so many hugs.  You have no idea.  It was awesome.

On Friday, Matt and I took Mom on a road trip to Gainesville to check out the University of Florida.  It was nice to just walk around campus with Mom while Matt did his research.

We went to our second baseball game in a week at Tropicana Park.  We picked blueberries and we go to see my grandparents.  We spent lots of time at the pool.  It was wonderful and relaxing to just be with my family.  I can't wait to get back :)

Vacation, Part 2: Arizona.

Returning to Arizona always brings me a feeling that I never really thought would be possible. It brings me a feeling of coming Home. I always feel like I'm telling a bit of a fib when people ask where I'm from and I say "Arizona," but I suppose that's a story for another time.

We spent about a week in Tucson - hitting up The Gap (I went at least twice and touched absolutely everything in the store), relaxing at home, seeing old friends and making new ones. Mom and Dad-in-law took us to Tubac, AZ one morning for some Arizona centric shopping. It was like the Sedona area without the red rocks and the vortex-kitsch. It made me wish I had more spending money and more luggage space. And more spending money.

We spent Mother's Day in Phoenix doing something all mothers would love - going to a Diamondbacks game. Matt scored a sweet "Los D-backs Beisbol" tee shirt to support our Mexican brothers. Or maybe just to piss people off.

From there, Matt and I drove up to Flagstaff, probably my most favorite place ever. After a morning of Brandy's amazing Eggs Benedict, we decided to if anyone remembered us at church. We were excitedly welcomed home by Pastor Paul and made plans to meet for breakfast the next morning to catch up. I love our church family.

Crystal met us for dinner at Fratelli Pizza (a.k.a. the best pizza in the world, ever) and we spent the night at a casa grande she scored for the night. Hot tubbed it up in the cool, dark Flagstaff night. Amazing. Perfect. Best ever. (E-mail me those pictures, pls, Crystal? You know the ones I'm talking about... :D)

We bummed around the hometown for a while that day then early the next a.m., we hit the road to catch our flight to Tampa.

Vacation, Part 1: Getting There.

Well, due to a tiny hiccup in the government in Kyrgystan, Matt's return home was delayed about a week. Which was lame because: A.) It had already been 8 months, for Pete's sake, B.) We had tickets to fly to the US on vacation four days after his actual return date. Four days is apparently not enough time to tell Marines, "Hey, we've got resources to help you, don't be stupid." Because of the extended transition time, we had to cancel our tickets and Travelocity basically put us out $3800. (That is a story for another time, but needless to say, Travelocity is now on THE LIST, along with Best Buy.)

We needed another cheap way to get back to the States. Enter: the Secret Society of the AMC Flights. Pretty much everyone in the Military community knows about AMC Flights. Ask anyone exactly how they work and maybe one in one hundred can tell you. Basically, when there is a training flight or a flight taking equipment somewhere and that flight has some extra space, military members and their families can hop on for either really cheap ($30ish) or free. This was to be our vacation savior.

There is a lot of waiting for spots on flights in your desired general direction, lots of layovers and lots and lots of uncertainty. But there is also lots and lots and lots of Free Flight-ness. Which, I guess makes up for it.

The first leg of our trip back home was a commercial charter from Okinawa to Iwakuni to Yokota Air Base. We had to arrive at the Kadena Air Mobility Command (AMC, get used to the acronym, you'll read it a lot in the upcoming posts) at something like 4 in the morning. And then we had to wait a few hours to find out if we were able to get on the flight. Then we had to wait a few hours to get on the flight.

When we got on the plane, we noticed that the seats in the middle of the plane were cordoned off with caution tape. We knew we were in for an exciting vacation. Apparently, the plane cleaners had opened the emergency exit over the wings and now those doors were inoperative. Awesome. Equally awesome? When the plane took such a deep dip, less like turbulence and more like Chester fell asleep at the wheel, that the oxygen masks several rows in front of us came down. Waaay awesome.

Fortunately for us, the rest of our travels were significantly safer. We spent the night at the amazing lodge at Yokota (full sized fridge, dish washer, etc for $41), flew to Elmendorf AFB the next morning, got to see the midnight sun in Alaska, then got to Travis AFB by 6am Sunday morning. Which we learned was not a good time to get a ride to the airport in California.

We spent the day sleeping and exploring the base on foot. Pizza Hut for dinner, sleep by 9, then shuttled off to the airport to catch our flight early the next morning. When we finally got to Tucson, I was happy to see my in-laws, happy to not be waiting for flights and happy to finally be home again. Gotta love the military lifestyle.

What Do I Have To Say?

I've been mulling over that question for a while now, trying to figure out what you, my dear audience, might be interested to hear. Do I bring up the work situation? Probably not. More on what I've been reading? Perhaps. Molly did the cutest thing...? Maybe not.

Truthfully, there's just not a lot to say. Matt is where he is. I chat with him and see him somewhat regularly. I'm somewhat unsuccessfully keeping busy. This includes watching more Nickelodeon than I would like to admit, doing less reading than I would like to admit, and eating meals that I don't even want to think about, much less admit.

I am heading Stateside soon, for a few brief weeks, including my 26th birthday (and my Grandma and Grandpa's 70ths, my dad's 49th and my parent's 28th [right?] anniversary). I am eager to see my family and spend time not thinking about things and certainly not going to work.

I will keep you all updated as life progresses, trying to update more frequently and certainly more interestingly.

M is for Matt.

(... or Missing Marvelous Marine Matt)

I met Matt my first night away at college. This is my journal entry the night I met him after InterVarsity:

afterwards, the girls i had been hanging out with were going to someones room to watch a movie, but i didnt want to, so i found another girl who was going back to Reilly Hall. Her name is Kelly and shes in room 737. all the way at the top! Well, she was having some guys from intervarsity help her with her computer, but one of them Matthew wanted to go back to his room to put his big impressive bible away. so we went to the "smart people's dorm" (honors - cowden) and walked around there for a while. and do you know what i noticed?!?! Matthew looks strikingly similar to elijah wood. it was crazy. he even sounded like him a little too. crazy!!

And a week later when I saw him again:

ok there were like a ton of people in the elevator and one guy was asking some scientific question
"how do you tell how old a black bear is?"
and i said:
"by how many candles there are on his birthday cake!"
and matt said "hey thats a really good one!"
(matt is the guy that looks like elijah wood for those of you who dont remember)

(It's obvious I won him over with my stellar sense of humor)

I got butterflies every time I'd see him around campus and every time - oh my goodness - he recognized me. He remembered my name... He asked me to get lunch with him, to sit by him, to meet his friends. I was nonplussed when he told me he wasn't looking for a girlfriend his freshman year of college. But I was thrilled when he asked me to "make it official," and be his GF. October 6, 2002. At 10:38 pm. (Don't tell my mom he was in my dorm room that late...)

I've been so blessed to find someone to complements who I am so completely. He is the extrovert to my introvert, the socks I have to pick up, the one who adds adventure to my life. I love him so so much and I hate being without him right now.

J is for Jacki (My Mom).

I am going to try not to make this sound like an elementary school "My Hero" essay, but I can't make any promises.

My mom is my best friend. I'm not really sure when this happened - it might have been when I graduated high school and left for college or a year later when my family moved from Arizona to Georgia... I guess I really can't pin point any one time or thing that led to this, but here I am today with a best friend who couldn't be any more like me if we tried. We have the same freakin' genes.

My mom has B+ blood type. My mom has a "Be Positive" lifetype. I love my mom. She has the best sense of humor (strangely similar to my own...) and she has an immense bay of knowledge of all things. My mom was a Military wife for 24 years, which led her to sometimes have to be mom and dad. My mom supported my dad's career and allowed him to support us.

One of the strongest memories I have of my mom is when I was diagnosed with diabetes. Alone, in a clinic I had to break the news to my mom over the phone. She said, "If we were still in Phoenix, I would be getting in the car to be with you right now." Those heartbroken words ring in my ears when I think of my mom's love for me, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I knew it was true and I knew whatever to took, my mom was going to be there for me whether it was physically or prayerfully because of her love for her moldy little pickle.

My mom is amazing. Anyone who knows me knows my love for my mom. She always makes me laugh and is there for me when I cry, or even more comfortingly, or when we cry together. I hope some day (SOME DAY, NOT SOON) to be as loving, thoughtful and supportive as my mother is for me.

I love you, Mom.

Family Visits.

The Orrs came to visit last week and we had a really, really nice time. We took lots of pictures, many of which are posted on my Picasa. We kept busy busy busy nearly the entire week but still didn't do all the things we had tentatively planned.

We went to: The Aquarium, Katsuren Castle ruins, American Village, three different Starbucks, several 100 Yen stores, China Pete's, Shuri Castle, Kokusai Street and also watched a full season of Survivor. We sure know how to party. And I'm sure I've forgotten something.

So when you all make your plans to come out here (I know you all are making plans, right??) make it for more than a week if at all possible.

Let me know if you want more info about any of these places - my brain is a little mushy right now. I'll try to update more later about the trip.

Valentine's Day.

We went up to Nago for Valentines Day and stayed at the fancy pants Mariott... Woohoo... Probably my favorite part (well maybe not) was not having to take my ID out every five seconds for every single thing. That was awesome. I also got a lovely pair of Roxy sandals to replace the ones I got last spring that have been falling apart pretty much since I got them. They were not Roxy.

Since we got home, we have been preparing the house for the arrival of our first guests. Mom and Dad-in-law are visiting for a week starting Saturday. The house is nearly cleaned, a daily agenda has been formulated and a grocery list is in the works. I have about seven different lists pertaining to this visit. Lists keep me sane.

Also, my boss is an idiot and I'm not afraid to say it on the world wide web. You DO NOT tell someone "Well, I said I liked you, its just every other Officer's wife that is a horrible person." Uh-uh. Try not being so stupid once in a while. I told her I'd met some crappy E-wives, but never let that influence how I felt about new wives I've met. Every person is a new beginning and every person is different, regardless of their education level, socioeconomic status and ESPECIALLY who their husband is. Okay, I'm off my soap box.

Off to the 100 Yen store and Starbucks.

Random update.

After every episode of American Idol this season, I have said, "That's it. No more. I am never again watching this show." Only to be sucked back in, in hopes of an actual good episode the next day or next week. I can't wait for Hollywood week to be over and to get into the actual show.

Meanwhile, I have been at a crossroads. I am contemplating getting a Master's degree or possibly changing jobs to something more challenging. Something with less drama in the office. Something without bosses who demean me and are totally condescending. That's enough about that. Just pray about it.

Things are picking up and becoming significantly busier soon. Jim and Dena will be out here for the last week of February. In a few months, Matt starts his work up. Ahh, exciting.

Also, Molly is good. She will be 2 in March and she is very smart and very sweet. We love her.

The Update: Letter to the Family.

As most of you know, Matt has been here in Japan for the past two weeks getting things ready for the arrival of Molly (our dog) and me. Molly and I flew from Tucson to Seattle with the assistance of my mother-in-law, Dena, on Tuesday, and then off to Japan on our own on Wednesday/Thursday. We flew from Seattle to Yokota AFB, on mainland Japan in about 12 hours. I was able to go to Molly and walk her around a bit before our 3 hours from Yokota to Kadena AFB on Okinawa. I was relieved that Molly did not seem traumatized in the least when we stopped at Yokota. She is such a good dog and I feel very blessed that she was able to make it here with us. She even made friends with some Corporals at Kadena before I was able to pick her up, Thursday evening. She is such a wonderful, resilient pup!

I want to thank you all for your prayers regarding our housing situation -- they were answered mightily. After picking Molly and me up from the airport, Matt was able to take us back to our 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom on-base house! It came with a washer and dryer, fridge, oven, dishwasher and garbage disposal. And Matt had gotten me a beautiful food processor! I can't wait to make Hummus! Woo! It is more space than I could have dreamed of, and frankly, I'm not quite sure how we are going to fill it. This afternoon we should be getting some government "rental" furniture for the spare bedroom and living room. There will be plenty of space for visitors, so make your reservations soon!

Friday, Matt took off of work to get some housekeeping details taken care of and to show me around the island. I got a cell phone (very similar to my Chocolate back in the states - only hot pink) and we picked out our first pieces of real, non-IKEA furniture. Matt picked a lovely bed and dresser set out from the Base Exchange. We will be getting all of our belongings from the states delivered to our house on Saturday, June 21. I cannot wait to see all of the wonderful things we own that have been in storage since December! It will be like Christmas.

Well, I think I am going to leave off with the chronology and just let you know some other various things. Tomorrow I will be getting my Driver's license here. Okinawans drive on the Left side of the road so this will take some getting used to. Fortunately, no one drives too fast around here, so I'm not too worried about it. On the side of the roads all over the place there are drink vending machines. Apparently, Okinawans love drinks because you cannot drive for any distance without seeing one. There are many Coke machines, a few Pepsi and lots of Coffee machines. Some machines even have heated drinks. Matt's favorite drink so far is "Miracle of Grapefruit," which I tried today, but don't like nearly as much as "Bikkle," which reminds me of an orange creamcicle.

The food here is good even though I have not eaten out a ton. Matt is in heaven with all the sushi. Most places we are able to just point at the menu to order and don't seem to have to many problems communicating. The people here are very kind, very understanding and very used to dealing with Americans.