Bierman Adventures

Introducing Austin Joseph Bierman

2012-02-12T20:21:00.001+09:00

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Everyday Life

2011-10-09T17:44:00.000+09:00

It has been pointed out to me that for someone who doesn't work, & doesn't have kids (yet!) that I am one busy girl! Half of the time I don't remember what I've been doing, but I know I'm busy. Between PWOC (our women's Bible study), worship practice, squadron spouses, & serving on the board for our Yokota Officer's Spouses Club (YOSC) some weeks I have a meeting or two everyday. Don't get me wrong, I love to stay busy and I know that I got that from my Momma. Sometimes I wonder how I'm going to squeeze all of this in and keep the house up when our little man gets here. I know it will all work itself out, but I get a little overwhelmed just thinking about it every once in a while.

In other news, I can't believe that our little man will be here in a little over 3 months!!! WOW! I was talking to my friends Karen & Lynn this week and said something about being shocked that he would be here in 4 months, and they quickly pointed out that it wouldn't even be that long. I guess with all of that counting in weeks I lost track of the months. Where has the time gone? I am so excited that I get to see my family in a couple of weeks, & they can see my baby bell in person. It just loses something on Skype. =)

24 Weeks!

2011-09-29T10:35:00.000+09:00

Ok in my effort to do better at blogging, I figure I should do a post even if I don't feel like there is really something big to write about. For someone that doesn't work, this has been one busy week for me! I had meetings on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday along with a baby checkup. Thankfully today is a change of pace, and to top it off Kenny should be home from work around noon & will be off the rest of the day and tomorrow! I love getting to spend some extra time with that man. The weather has been amazing here this week, so I think we'll head into Tokyo today to do some exploring.
We got a good report at the doctor yesterday for our 24 week check-up. Baby Boy Bierman is doing great! Everything looked good from our 20 week ultrasound, and he has a great heart beat. That is my favorite sound in the world!
Well, that is really it for today. I decided that I had to write something, or I'd slip right back into being a slacker. =)

2011-09-23T16:01:00.000+09:00

Japan has had one heck of a rough year! Since March we have had a 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, nuclear disaster & a couple of typhoons. Oh & don't forget the hundreds of aftershocks we have had & continue to have since the big earthquake. Thankfully, we here at Yokota have been kept safe.
I just wanted to note that Americans & most other countries in the world for that matter, could learn a lot from the Japanese people. Throughout all of this, they have maintained order & respect for people and their property. There have not been the robberies and murders like there are when hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters hit places in the US. It is so sad to see thieves in the States prey on people when they have just lost loved ones & almost everything they own. The world should step back and learn a few things from the amazing people of Japan.
That's really all I have to say. I just wanted to give some props to this country that I am temporarily calling home. Don't get me wrong, I love America & look forward to the day that we live there again. I just wish we could bring a few things like this back with us.

Our lives since April...

2011-09-19T14:33:00.000+09:00

Well, once again I am beyond behind on my blog, and a LOT has happened since my last post in March. The absolute biggest thing that has changed in our life is that we're pregnant!!!! That's right, Baby Boy Bierman will be making his debut in January. We couldn't be more excited. This child is truly a miracle & blessing from God. I could do a whole other blog post on our road to finally being pregnant, but I'll save that for another day. The timing could not have worked out better when I found out that I was pregnant. I had a trip back home planned already, so I got to tell my family in person. It was so much fun! I bought a cute little onesie here on base that said "Made in Japan...with American Parts" and had it wrapped up to give Mom & Dad to make the big announcement. There was definitely lots of hugging & tears involved in that process.
I had a wonderful & hectic trip at home in May/June. I got to spend lots of quality time with my family as we were all living under one roof! Yep, that's right, all 9 of us (we missed you Kenny!) were at Mom & Dad's house. Bek & Ben were getting ready to move to Birmingham and had already sold their house, so we were extra cozy. While I was at home, we ended up having my Mimi & my sweet nephew Hayes both in the hospital. It was such a blessing that I was able to be at home to help out my sister with the kids & whatever else I could do.
August came around, & Kenny and I got to go on the vacation of a lifetime! We went to Hong Kong, flew to Sydney and cruised to the New Caledonia Islands, then back to Sydney for a few days. It was amazing! What a great way to spend our last kid-free vacation for a while. It was nice to have Kenny home & away from work for a while. He hadn't really had a chance to stop much since Thanksgiving last year, so it was a well deserved break for him.
Unfortunately, I have to throw some bad news in here too. Living as far away from family as we do definitely has some drawbacks, & we had to experience the worst kind in August. We had just returned from vacation to get the news that my Mimi had passed away. Ellen Jane Wightman, Mimi, passed away on August 17, 2011, at the age of 92. Mimi was my mom's mom. Those of you that know me well, know that Mimi holds a very special place in my heart. It was extremely hard for me to not be able to go home to be with my family at this time, but it just was not possible. It warmed my heart to hear of the love & support that my family got from our friends back home. My friends here in Japan comforted me the best they could. We are going home at the end of October, & I know that it will be bittersweet for me. One of the first things I have always done, is go to see Mimi. It is going to be hard not getting to see her, but I know that she is in a a better place and is no longer in any pain.
That about brings us up to date. September has been pretty busy here at Yokota so far. We kicked off our women's Bible study ministry for the year as well as our spouses organization. This past weekend we celebrated the United States Air Force's 64th birthday at the AF Ball. We had a great time, but I have to admit that my feet & back were killing me by the end of the night! Now we are just focusing on getting ready for this baby! We are also looking forward to a whirlwind trip to Seattle & Little Rock at the end of October.
I will try to do better at blogging, especially with this little one on the way. I know that I have said that before, but really I'm going to try!

A New Normal

2011-03-27T13:03:00.000+09:00

Strange as it may sound, things are starting to feel normal around here. Granted it is a totally new kind of normal, but it is normal nonetheless. The active duty member are still working 24/7, there are a lot of people who have left the base & many of the places on base are closed or have shortened hours. We seem to have settled in to some sort of routine. Thank goodness! Yes, it's no fun having husbands that are working 7 days a week, but this is still nothing compared to the loss that so many people have experienced. We were fortunate enough to have a very normal Saturday night. Kenny had to work all day, but he wanted us to do something with friends when he got off work. So we called up our dear friends the Miners, and asked them to come join for dinner. It was the first time we have gotten to fire up the grill in a while. We had a great, relaxing evening sitting around the table eating, talking & laughing. It is so nice to feel somewhat normal again. Things in Japan are going to take a very long time to return to normal. But, I am so thankful for our Yokota Family that is adjusting together to make our own normal.

Thank goodness for friends!

2011-03-20T19:28:00.000+09:00

I would be lost without my friends!!! I am so lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing group of women here in Japan. Since the day that the earthquake happened we have all rallied around one another to help each other through this. Last night was a very needed break from everything going on. My friend Gabbi is a Pampered Chef consultant here. She had a party planned with someone that chose to take the voluntary evacuation, so she called me and asked if I wanted to have the party here. As you know, I'm never one to turn down a party, so I gladly agreed. It was very last minute, but we had a great group of about 10 girls here. One of our friends showed up with her "Earthquake Margarita Kit" and it could not have been better timing. We had a great night talking, laughing, eating and relaxing. We all agreed that is was just what we needed! With all of our husbands working so much we have leaned on each other a lot. I can not imagine being here without my friends.

I don't want to leave out my family and friends back home in this post. I have been so overwhelmed by the love & support both from Yokota and at home. Your prayers, support & encouraging words are helping to carry me through this. Please continue to support Japan!

Where do I start?

2011-03-19T15:25:00.000+09:00

Wow! Where do I start to describe the last 9 days of our lives here in Japan?!? Friday, March 11, 2011 started out just like any other Friday for me. I spent a couple of hours having Friday morning coffee with my girlfriends, then Kenny had a small break from lunch so I met him for lunch as Santa Sushi. (Yes, that is the real name of the restaurant. It is one of our favorites here!) After lunch, I met back up with some of the girls to do a little shopping at the BXtra. On my way home, around 2:00pm, I decided to stop at the salon here by my house to see if they had any openings for a pedicure that day. Just my luck, they had one right then! So of course, I took it. I had my Kindle in my purse and just sat in the massage chair relaxing while I was getting pampered. Around 2:50pm as she was painting my toenails I began to realize that I was moving more than just the massage chair was moving me. We all stopped and just looked at each other kinda like, "Oh crap, we're having an earthquake." So, at first it really wasn't a big deal. We get little tremors here in Japan a lot. Well, then it kept going and getting stronger by the second! At this point the Japanese ladies working in there told us to get outside. The humor to the situation is that here I am barefoot with the toe separators on my feet trying to run outside. I'm sure I looked a little strange. The shaking felt like it lasted forever!!! I've heard different reports that it lasted 2-5 minutes. The buildings were all swaying, and I'm not going to lie...I was scared. Once we stopped moving, we thought it was all over & went back inside. They finished up my toes & I went next door to pick up my dry cleaning. That is when the 2nd big one hit. I had been frantically trying to call Kenny, but the phone lines were all jammed. We had no clue what was really going on. As soon as the 2nd one finished, I went straight to find my friends Lynn & Mindy who live across the parking lot from me. Kenny had been trying to find me too, but he didn't know where I was. He had talked to Lynn, so I knew that he was ok. Once we felt it was safe to go back inside, we all went to Lynn's house. I finally got ahold of Kenny & he told us to turn on the news because a tsunami was heading straight for the coast of Japan. We learned that the earthquake that we had just experienced was one of the largest in history! At the epicenter it was a 9.0, & they estimate that we felt it as a 5.1 here at Yokota over 320 miles away from the epicenter. WOW!!! The second one that followed about 30 minutes later was somewhere close to an 8.0 I believe. (I could be wrong on that one.) We immediately knew that life in Japan had just drastically changed for us. Since last Friday we have had close to 500 aftershocks or new earthquakes. Some have been small enough that we don't notice them, and some have woken us up at night. None of them have been nearly as strong as the first two!

We were very fortunate to have no damage here on base, & everyone was safe. Praise God! Unfortunately the rest of Japan was not so lucky. The area near Sendai is completely devastated by the earthquake & tsunami. The rest of the night we sat glued to the news to try to understand what was happening, & if we were safe. We have been & continue to be very safe here at Yokota! We have zero radiation in our air, we have power, water & food. We are truly blessed!

Immediately, our active duty members went to work. Planning, organizing, making sure everyone was accounted for, etc. Yokota Air Base is now the hub of military relief efforts for Operation Tomodachi, which translated means Operation Friendship. I could not be more proud to be a part of this community, & the work that we are doing to help our wonderful host country of Japan. It has been amazing to see how the AF & our sister services our working together to bring aid to our friends here. Our military members are working around the clock planning, flying, doing search & rescue, delivering relief aid, & many other things. They are working extremely long, hard hours. Kenny has been working on average 14-18 hours a day. There is no such thing as a weekend here at Yokota AB right now. Everyone is working 24/7.

This week has been a whirlwind to say the least. I have not had time to sit down & write it all out until now. I have been staying busy cooking meals & baking cookies to take to all of the guys working with Kenny. I have also had the opportunity to volunteer with the Red Cross some on base. I am surrounded by an amazing group of friends here. Since all of our husbands are working around the clock, we have had a lot of girls nights. We have laughed, cried, talked & sat in silence together. We have been scared, shocked, and felt a peace that only God can give us. I know that God is in control of this.

Kenny & I have made the decision that I will stay here in Japan unless they government does a mandatory evacuation of Japan. This is our home. We are here together. I can not imagine leaving him here right now. This is where I belong. This is where God has placed us, & He has a purpose for us to be here. I ask that you would please pray for the people of Japan who have lost everything. They have lost loved ones, their homes, their cities. Please pray that they will be able to cool the nuclear reactors. Please pray for the military doing the relief work. Pray that they will get the rest they need to do their jobs. Please pray for us, the families here, that we will remain safe. Pray that we know how to support our spouses the best way we can.

I know this post is a little all over the place, but to be honest the last 9 days have been a little all over the place. Know that we appreciate your thoughts & prayers. I will keep you as updated as I can either here or on facebook.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-15T08:57:00.000+09:00

Well, it's probably a good thing that I've never really been a big Valentine's Day fan....this was the 1st of many Valentine's Day that Kenny was gone for. The beauty of being an Air Force wife is that I definitely was not alone! Kenny is only gone for about 1 month, so I'm one of the lucky ones. Last week, several of my friends husbands left for a 4-5 month deployment, so it's pretty easy to keep my little one month in perspective. This weekend we all kept super busy together! We had 2 baby showers & a Work Widows Valentine's Dinner. It was so much fun!!! Then last night Lynn, Mindy & I had a dinner & movie night. It was a perfect, low key night. I hope you all have a great week! Remember to say a prayer for our troops who have to be away from their loved ones on Valentine's day.

A Quick Getaway!

2011-01-31T21:24:00.000+09:00

We love Yokota Air Base! We have such an awesome network of friends here. But even with all of that, it is nice to get away from here every once in a while. The problem is that when you live in Japan, there aren't very many places that are close & cheap enough for an overnight trip. EXCEPT...the awesome military hotel in downtown Tokyo! We love the New Sanno!!!! It is a very nice hotel that we get at a great price! Well, last week, I was able to convince Kenny to take a day off during the week so that we could go to Tokyo without the weekend crowds. It was just what we needed! On our walk to the hotel from the train, we noticed a new winery that has opened a tasting bar right next door to the hotel. After we dropped our bags off, we went back for a wine tasting. It was great! It is Kenzo Estate Winery. Their vineyard is in Napa Valley, but it is a Japanese company. We got to meet Kenzo himself & his wife while we were there. They were so nice! After the wine tasting we went back to relax at the hotel. We then treated ourselves to a 4-star 5 course dinner at Wellingtons. One of the restaurants in the New Sanno. It was delicious!!! They have a regular menu as well the course menu that changes monthly. We went there when Mom & Dad came to visit & just had to go again. We are so lucky to have the New Sanno to go to for a quick escape from the base.

Worst.Blogger.Ever.

2011-01-19T15:21:00.000+09:00

So, I was just noticing that I haven't blogged since August....That definitely earns me the title of the Worst Blogger Ever! So, since there is no way I can possibly post all of the pictures and every detail of all the things we've done since August, I'll give a quick recap & try to add a few pictures. I promise to do better!

September: I spent all of September at home in Arkansas. It was awesome! I loved spending time with my family & friends. Kenny even took some time off work & met me there. It was the perfect timing for a trip home. I got to go to a Razorback game, the lake, and and OU game with Kenny. We love college football at our house! We also had a retirement party for Kenny's dad.

Caroline & I at the lake

Kenny & his dad at the retirement party

October: We started the month off by leaving Arkansas & going to Seattle for a week. One word...GORGEOUS!!! Neither one of us had ever been there before, and we loved it! Kenny had to go there for some training, so I got to tag along. We celebrated our anniversary a little early with dinner at the top of the Seattle Space Needle. Such a fun night! It was nice to have a relaxing night there with him because he was going to have to be gone on our anniversary. Probably our favorite thing that was did was drive through Mount Rainier National Park. It was breathtakingly beautiful! We also got to take in a Mariner's game. We like baseball at our house too. Probably the best thing about going to Seattle was that Kenny & I got to fly home to Japan together. It's such a long flight to be on by yourself. I loved having him there to lean on to fall asleep. =)

Kenny & I at Mount Rainier

November: We've decided that while we can't be with our families for Thanksgiving, it is a great time to take vacation. We went to Saipan for Thanksgiving. It is a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the Northern Mariana Islands. Saipan is a very important historical sight from WWII. My Pa (my dad's dad) was actually on the island during the war before being on the 1st ship into Tokyo Bay after the bombing of Hiroshima. Kenny & I had a great time taking in the historical sites & relaxing by the pool and beach. It was probably the most relaxing vacation we've ever had!

The view from our Thanksgiving dinner in Saipan

December: Well in case you don't know... I LOVE Christmas!!!! Spending time with family and friends, decorating, the smells, the lights & most importantly, celebrating the birth of Christ! Unfortunately, I had a nasty cold that lasted about 3 weeks which put a little bit of a damper on the fun. But, we still had plenty of fun! We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas day with our Yokota family. We are so blessed to be in a place where we are surrounded by such great friends! God has definitely taken care of us!!!

Kenny & I at the base Christmas tree lighting ceremony

Amanda, Me, Michelle, Melissa & Lynn at the 36th Christmas party

And now here we are in January. I thought things were supposed to settle down after the holidays?!?! They definitely haven't! We have been so busy, but I love it! We just went snow skiing with a group from base. We had such an awesome time! Our dear friends the Miner's were on the trip with us. We had so much fun laughing and skiing our way down the slopes. We definitely made some lasting memories on that trip!!! Kenny & I are hoping to hit the slopes one more time this month before he has to go on a trip for all of February. It is so beautiful here in the mountains of Japan! We love getting out of the city and into the mountains here. It makes us feel a little more at home without so many buildings around. But don't worry, there are still millions of Japanese people around to remind me that we aren't in Arkansas anymore. =)

Whew! I think that about sums up the last several months. I know I missed a lot, and I'm sorry. I will try to do better!

Friendship Festival

2010-08-25T15:47:00.000+09:00

The past few weeks have been pretty busy here at Yokota! This past weekend we had Friendship Festival 2010. It is a yearly festival where we open up part of the base to the Japanese nationals. We had a static display of about 30 planes. The C-130's did their thing with some airdrops & the helos flew around some. We sold tons of food & had bands playing the whole time. Oh did I mention that it happened to be one of the hottest weekends of the year!!!! There were about 140,000 Japanese people on base for the festival. Kenny was the Air Boss for the show which means he worked a lot to get ready for this thing! We really had a good time, but I was glad for it to be over so that Kenny could have a break.

In super exciting news....I'll be in Arkansas one week from today!!!!! I can't wait to hug & kiss on my family! It's even more exciting because Kenny gets to join me for a week there & then we are off to Seattle for some training.

I'm going to try to attach video for the 1st time, so we'll see how this goes. It is some video of personnel drops that the C-130s made during the festival.

The Air Force Family

2010-07-30T16:09:00.000+09:00

Yesterday when Kenny came home from work I hugged him a little tighter, sat at the dinner table talking a little longer, sat a little closer to him on the couch & cuddled up to him a little closer as we went to sleep. Four C-17 crew members from Elmendorf Air Force Base were killed into an routine training flight. They were training for an air show that was to take place this weekend at their base. I am so saddened for the families, friends & Elmemdorf community. I can not even imagine what they are going through. We truly are a family in the flying community. In some way everyone knows everyone. We have friends and family that fly on C-17s as well as other aircraft all over the Air Force. I know Kenny's job has some inherent risks, but the reality of those risks hit me yesterday. Our time here on this earth is not guaranteed. Remember to tell the ones you love how much you love them. Please join me in praying for the families of these 4 crew members as they mourn the loss of their loved ones.

Blah...

2010-07-29T16:32:00.000+09:00

In my effort to do better about blogging, I figure I should do it even when I don't have anything fun to report. So here goes...this past week definitely was not the best week we've had here in Japan. I was sick with a summer cold for about 9 days & Kenny was on a trip that kept getting extended. It just kinda sucked! Kenny's trip was supposed to be a 7 day trip that turned into an 11 day trip. Oh well, at least he's not deployed! As you know, I tend to be quite social, so being sick in the house for that long with Kenny gone was brutal for me. I was so bored & lonely, but didn't feel like doing anything. Thankfully I'm feeling better now & my hubby is home!!! Glad that week is behind us and we can move on!

They are shutting down the power on our side of the base on Saturday to replace a transformer that was destroyed in the flood we had about a month ago. So what did a few of us girls over here decide we should do with a day of no power???? We're heading to IKEA!!!! Kenny decided he'd rather stay here to catch up on work (his office is on the other side of base). I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to go spend a day at Ikea with us.... =)

That's all I know for now, nothing much right? It's almost time for me to start the countdown for getting to go to Arkansas!!! 32 days, but I'm not paying much attention to that yet, ok maybe I am! =)

PCS Season

2010-07-21T16:00:00.001+09:00

Well, it's that time of year here at Yokota....PCS season. It is a very bitter/sweet time around here. For those of you that don't know PCS means Permanent Change of Station. It means while we are sad to say "bye" to friends, we are happy to welcome new friends to our Yokota Family. A lot of people move during the summer in the military, so that kiddos can get the new school year started at their new base.
I've had the pleasure this week to get to show 2 of our new families around Japan a little. Eight months ago I never could have imagined that I would be comfortable enough in Japan to show new people around! I've had so much fun getting to take them around. I got to take one family on the train to Tokyo yesterday to teach them how to navigate the JR (Japan Railway) system. The 1st time Kenny & I took the train by ourselves, I thought that I was going to have a nervous breakdown!!! Now, I get around on them pretty darn good, & can even teach new people a thing or two. Today I got to take the other family to Joyful Honda for their 1st adventure eating off base in Japan. (Yes Mom, we had some gyoza!) The 1st time Kenny & I went to Joyful Honda on our own, we got lost on our way back to base! I thought for sure we were never going to make it back, but thank goodness we did.
After having the crazy experiences of Japan on our own, it's funny now that I am the one showing people around. It's fun for me to see how far I've come in such a short amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I still get a little confused at some of the bigger train stations every once in a while & driving off base is always interesting, but I know enough to get by. I'm so thankful for the people that took us under their wing when we got here, & I love that I now get the chance to give some of that back to the newcomers.

Sorry!!!!!

2010-07-15T15:45:00.000+09:00

Yes, I'm still here! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted! I got behind when my parents visited & then just felt too far behind to catch up. This is my attempt to get going again....

We had a great time with my folks here! I'll post some pictures later. After their trip, Kenny was gone for 3 weeks, and then it was time for the 4th of July. We had a great time with our Yokota Family for the 4th. Although, I did seriously miss the lake & my family!!! I think it was the hardest holiday for me to be away from my family since we've been here. I love summer & the lake so much, it was hard to not be there with them. But, we made the best of it & had a fun cookout with our friends.

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on around here. I'll try to do a post with some pictures later, but I promise I'll do a better job of blogging. Have a great week!

Congratulations Kenny!

2010-05-19T17:34:00.001+09:00

I love bragging on my husband, and this week I get to. On Sunday, Kenny finished his masters degree!!!!! YEAH!!!! On top of working as much as he does, he has been doing his homework on the weekends. I am so proud of him! I'm also excited because this means that our weekends can be spent doing things other than homework now. =)

Company's Coming

2010-05-11T19:47:00.000+09:00

Last week Kenny & I had our 1st house guest in Japan. We had a lot of fun, but I was very anxious about having a guest in our house that a.) I had never met before and b.) she speaks little English. Kinda long story as to how this came about. My brother-in-law (Ben), well his Dad has a friend that is a retired Japanese colonel. He & his daughter, Mari, came to visit. Colonel Watanabe stayed with David's brother Mark & his wife Cheryl, and Mari stayed with us for a few days. We had fun, but there were some definite language barriers at times. One of the words that I use most often doesn't translate to Japanese very well....I still can't figure out why they don't say "y'all" over here! =)

This week is jump week here at Yokota. They have brought in about 70 jumpers to jump out of the C-130s for the crews to practice dropping people & for the jumpers to practice. This was the first time that I've gotten to watch Kenny in action, and to watch people jump out of the planes. It was pretty cool to see the 3 planes coming in & then watch them jump. I'll add a few pictures that I took of the drop.

The most exciting thing we are looking forward to right now is that Mom & Dad are coming to visit!!!! I can't wait to show them around & introduce them to our friends here. We're planning a busy trip for them complete with a few days in Tokyo, Kyoto & Nagano! We'll be sure to take a lot of pictures.

Here come the planes! (Kenny is one of the navigators on the 1st one)

The Beginning of the Drops (Yep, those are people!)

The 2nd Plane getting ready to drop

Coming in for a landing! Total they dropped 60 something people!

Blessed...

2010-04-21T15:39:00.000+09:00

There really isn't much new to report from Japan. We've been pretty busy lately, but mostly just with everyday life. The past couple of weeks I have been reminded how truly blessed I am by my friends here in Japan. In the short time that we have been here, I know that we have made some great friendships that will last a lifetime. God has been so faithful to us to provide these relationships. One thing Kenny & I were really needing were some more married friends that we could do stuff with, & we have 3 couples here that we love to do things with! Kenny gets along with the husbands just as much as I get along with the wives. It will be a very sad day when we all move on to our next assignments.
We have a major praise at our house right now, Kenny was cleared to fly again this week!!!! He found out yesterday & is flying tonight. =) He was taking some medicine for his stomach that had him grounded, but they have gotten a waiver that will allow him to fly while taking the medicine. Yeah!
Another spot of excitement for me right now is that my parents will be here soon!!!! I can't wait for them to come to Japan & see our life here. It will be so much fun to show them around & watch them walk around with the wide-eyed look that I know we had when we got here. I have them practicing using chopsticks at home because when you go out to eat here, there are many places that all they offer is chopsticks. I didn't want them to go hungry while they were here. I'm sure I'll have some fun stories & pictures to post after their visit.

Springtime in Japan

2010-04-13T18:54:00.000+09:00

This is our first Spring in Japan & the weather has apparently been as odd here as it has been in the States this year. It has been unseasonably cool & we've had more rain than normal. We have had a few absolutely gorgeous days though, and on those days Kenny & I have gotten out to enjoy our home.

In case you don't know this already, the Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC were a gift from the Japanese. They are native to Japan. Our base is covered with them & they have been absolutely beautiful while they've been in bloom. Amazing!!! The flowers have started to fall off of them & when you look outside if you didn't know better you would think it is snowing! It's really cool to see. I wish you could all be here to see it.

Wouldn't you like to drive by this every time you leave your house? I got to!

Kenny took off of work on Friday & we went back to Showa Park. They have transformed the park in to a beautiful flower garden. It was so fun to just spend the day walking around looking at flowers. They also have a Japanese garden set up complete with bonsai trees.

I loved this Japanese Maple bonsai tree!!!

Beautiful Japanese Cherry Blossom

Just some of the flowers at Showa Park

Other than that, we haven't really been up to a whole lot. We are super excited that my Mom & Dad are coming to see us soon. I can't wait to introduce them to our friends & let them see the country that we will be calling home for the next few years. I'm sure there will be some entertaining stories from that trip! =)

I've added a few pictures here, but for many more check out my facebook page!

I'm Still Here!

2010-03-29T18:04:00.000+09:00

Don't worry, I'm still here! The last month has been a kinda hectic, but great. I got to spend 3 weeks in Arkansas with my family & friends. I'm so thankful for the time I got to be with them. Kenny was with me at the beginning of the trip. We spent the few days he was there spending time with our families & enjoying Arkansas! We surprised Bek's kids for lunch the 1st day, and they were so excited to see Uncle Kenny (I was an afterthought at this point). It was so fun to see the looks on their faces!!!

Once Kenny left, I began the tour of Little Rock to hang out with family & friends. Mom & I even escaped to Branson for some shopping one night. It was so nice to actually go into stores that sold American sizes! Ha!

Some of the big highlights of the trip were that we got to host a baby shower for one of my dearest friends, Lyndsey. Baby Amelia will be joining us in less than a month! We literally had people from all over the world at the shower. Lyndsey came in from Atlanta, Laura from Dallas, Jennifer from Benlomond, Me from Japan & Kambry from London. It was so fun to see so many of my lifelong friends in one place! The next day I got to be of the dedication of my newest niece, Caroline. I'm so thankful that Rebekah was able to schedule it when I would be home! I would've been so sad to miss that. And last but certainly not least, we got to celebrate my Daddy's 60th Birthday! You would never look at my Dad & think he is 6o. I have been blessed with the best parents in the world!

The rest of my time was spent hanging out with great friends in Little Rock. I loved it!

Eventually, it was time to come home and surprisingly...I was ready! Japan is my home now with Kenny. I never thought that I would feel as comfortable & settled as I do here. God has blessed me with an amazing husband & some awesome friends here that I wouldn't trade for anything! Don't get my wrong, I have days that I get "homesick" and I always miss my family terribly, but I love my life here. I think we all know that for this Little Rock girl, that is truly an act of God. He has been so good to me.

Wow, I think I've rambled enough for one day. I'll try to post some pictures of my trip to Little Rock in the next couple of days. I'll also try to be better about keeping up with my blog. We are looking forward to spring weather here in Japan, & the blooming of the cherry blossoms. I hear they are beautiful here on base! Definitely pictures to come of that! Have an awesome week!

One Week!

2010-02-25T16:32:00.000+09:00

I am so totally excited that I will be on my way to Arkansas one week from today!!!!!!! I can't wait to see my family and friends. I also can't wait to have some BBQ, good pizza & Mexican food! Sounds like I have my priorities in order right? =) Originally I was going to be going to AR while Kenny was going to be on a 3 week trip, but his plans changed. He is now heading to Texas for training on Sunday. The class he is going to finishes up the day I get there, so he has taken a few extra days off & will be in LR for a few days too. I get the best of both worlds, Arkansas & my husband at the same time!

I get to be home for my Dad's 60th Birthday (Bill's getting old)! I also get to be at my sweet niece Caroline's baby dedication. I hate missing out on the big things that happen with my family, but that also makes me so much more thankful for the times I will get to be there. While I am glad to be coming home, it's kinda funny because I'm a little sad to be leaving my life here for a few weeks. I know that I will miss my "Yokota Family". God has truly blessed us here!

Speaking of people getting older....we had a big birthday at our house this past weekend. Kenny hit the big 3-0!! We celebrated by having a party at the house with some of our friends. I don't know when the last time was I laughed so much. We had about 10 girls piled around the table just talking, laughing & eating while the guys played darts & hovered over the food in the kitchen. We had an absolute blast!

Well, that's about all I know right now. Please pray for traveling safety for Kenny & I this coming week. He will be flying to TX on Sunday & I will leave for AR on Thursday (technically Saturday & Wednesday in the states). I have never been on that long of a flight in my life & I'm a little nervous about doing it by myself. Pray that I can sleep some on the plane. I usually cant, & that will make for some brutal jet lag if I don't. Have a great week! I hope to see some of you soon!

What a weekend?!?!

2010-02-17T20:46:00.001+09:00

This past weekend was probably the best one we've had in Japan so far!!! Kenny & I took our 1st trip while living in Japan, and we went snow skiing. We drove the 3 1/2 to 4 hours to the Nagano prefecture. It was absolutely gorgeous there!!!!!!! Once we saw it we knew exactly why they hosted the 1998 winter Olympics there, amazing! We got to see the ski jumps that were used in the Olympics. I never realized how steep those things are; I'm thinking the ski jumpers are nuts! We stayed in Hakuba at a little hotel called Monkey Rider, more of a hostel than a hotel, but it was a great little place. There was a pub down the street called the Cherry Pub that was super relaxing & had great food. Most of the people in the area spoke English. It was nice to actually understand what was going on around us. =)

1998 Nagano Olympic Games Ski Jumps

Our Motel - Monkey Rider

On Saturday we took to the slopes. It was then that I realized it had been about 9 years since the last time I snow skied....not as easy as I had remember. Give me a water ski & I'm good to go, snow skis are a different ball game! But we still had a blast! This Arkansas girl had never seen that much snow in my life! The weather was perfect in Hakuba. There was at least 3 -4 feet of snow everywhere, it was great. After skiing on Saturday, we met up with some of our Yokota friends who were up there too for a relaxing dinner.

Kenny & I after a long day of skiing

We opted not to ski on Sunday since we had both survived Saturday in relatively good condition. (My 1st time to ski in 9 years & Kenny's 1st time to ski since his back surgery). We drove back to Yokota & enjoyed a lazy day. The guys were all off work on Monday for President's day, so several of us loaded up to go sledding on Mount Fuji. Unfortunately it rained on us most of the time that we were there, but we still had fun.

Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture - Japan

Overall we had a great weekend getting out & exploring this beautiful country that we live in now. While we miss home, we are enjoying the opportunity to see parts of the world we otherwise wouldn't have seen. That's not to say that I am not super excited to be heading to Arkansas for a visit in 2 weeks!!!!! =)

Ready or not here we go....

2010-02-11T20:30:00.000+09:00

This past weekend Kenny & I went on our first adventure by ourselves. We figured, go big or go home....so we went to Tokyo! We haven't been since we moved here (other than driving through on our way from the airport). So we pulled up this awesome website called Hyperdia to find out what trains to take & took off. The Japan train system is relatively easy to navigate, the website tells you what lines to take as well as what time the trains leave & how long it will take you to get from point A to point B. We printed off our train times & took off to the Fussa station (the train station outside the Yokota gate).
Our ultimate goal was the New Sanno Hotel, which is a beautiful military owned hotel in downtown Tokyo, for dinner at the Japanese restaurant there. Tokyo is divided into "districts". We first got off the train to explore a little bit of the Shibuya district. Shibuya is known for it's shopping! Unfortunately, all of the shopping is in Japanese sizing....that translates to not fitting a 6'2" American male & 5'8" American female. =) But, I was able to find a Starbucks! The most overwhelming experience in Shibuya was being in a crosswalk with literally THOUSANDS of other people going 6 directions at once...it was crazy!!!

Tons of buses outside the Shibuya train station

Starbucks! Luckily part of it was in English!

We left Shibuya to head to the part of town where the New Sanno is. It was nice to go to the hotel to have a little piece of America. They hotel is nothing to write home about on the exterior, but was beautiful inside. We are looking forward to staying there when my parents come to visit in May! We had reservations for dinner at the Japanese steakhouse in the hotel. It was possibly one of the best meals we've had since we have been in Japan.
Overall our first trip to Tokyo was a success! We didn't get lost once!!!! I'm sure there will be much more to come....

Kenny at dinner, they put these lovely aprons on us while we ate

Sushi appetizer that came with out dinner, the yellow thing is egg...interesting to say the least

Beautiful artwork behind our table at dinner

Here lately...

2010-02-04T19:35:00.000+09:00

There hasn't been a whole lot new going on here in Japan lately. Tomorrow I'm heading to Yokosuka to go shopping with some girls. Yokosuka is one of our naval bases here in Japan. It's just nice to leave Yokota every once in a while.

Next week Kenny & I are taking our first trip since we've been here. We are heading to the mountains to go skiing! I'm so excited. We are going to Nagano!!! I love the Olympics & am super excited to see where the were here in Japan.

We had our first snow a couple of days ago. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures, but before I do I have some good news....I'll be home for a visit 1 month from today!!!!!

View from our balcony (the netting is put up by the base to keep the birds out)

And I obviously didn't take this last one, but I think it's a pretty cool picture! It's a C-130 flying in front of Mt. Fuji...

What day is it?

2010-01-26T12:24:00.000+09:00

I just noticed something...I think it's a little funny that my last post says it was on Monday, January 25 when I actually posted it (as well as this one) on Tuesday, January 26 here in Japan. Just a random thought.

Field Trip Thursday

2010-01-26T09:41:00.000+09:00

My friend Amanda & I have started a new tradition that we like to call "Field Trip Thursday". We load up and venture out of the gates. We are trying to go somewhere new each week. Our first trip landed us at Costco. A little slice of America for us here in Japan! We laughed a lot!! First things first, we had to get a membership. It was 4200 yen for a year (about $45 USD). As we were trying to overcome the language barrier to fill out the membership form, somehow they came to the conclusion that we only needed 1 membership. I tried to get my own form, but they weren't having it. So we turn in our form, take our pictures and I now have a "Costco Wife"! Haha! Once we were members, we were ready to go shop. As we were roaming the aisles we came across a scale that quickly reminded us we were in Japan. It was the smallest human scale I have ever seen! It wasn't even big enough for my whole foot to fit on it!

This picture doesn't quite capture all of it....my foot was hanging off the back as well as the top of the scale. After this we continued shopping. We made a great discovery...the Japanese know how to grow some strawberries!!! They may be the best strawberries I've ever had. We've even made a return trip to buy more already.

Our first trip was definitely a success! We left base, found our destination & returned all without getting lost! I'm sure there will be many more funny stories to come of our field trips! Sayonara!

Everyday life

2010-01-13T20:35:00.000+09:00

Nothing much new to report here in Japan....I feel like we are really starting to settle in here. Kenny is busy & in more than full swing with work. He just started a new job that will be a lot of hard work, but ultimately should be very rewarding for him. He has also just started 2 of his last 3 masters classes. He's hoping to be finished by May! I'm so proud of him!
I am in the process of applying to be a substitute teacher at the DOD schools here on base. It will be a good way for me to work some, but still have the flexibility to enjoy Japan life. I have been able to get involved with the women's ministry at the base chapel. The new Bible studies just kicked off last week. I am getting to do Beth Moore's Esther study. Super excited about that!
I can't say enough how much God has blessed us with some good friends since we've been here. I don't think I would be making it if it weren't for a few of the girls here.
Oh, and get ready Arkansas....I'll be there most of March!

Ringing in the New Year!

2010-01-04T22:11:00.001+09:00

Wow, I can't believe it's 2010! Where does the time go? We had a blast ringing in the new year with some of our new friends! We are so thankful for them. It was Kenny & I along with 3 other families. There was tons of junk food, games, music & more junk food!

We've been trying to get out & experience Japan more. This weekend our friends the Miners took us to Showa park. It is a huge park with tons of Japanese gardens, playgrounds & all sorts of other things to do. It used to be a military base, if that helps you understand how big this place is. Since it is so big, we rented bikes to ride around the park. Well, the Japanese people did not design their bicycles for my 6'2" husband...It was hilarious to see him on that thing!!! He was either hitting his knees on the handlebars, the bell or trying to peddle with his knees outside of the handlebars. At one point, we had stopped to the the Miners' girl (and us) play at one of the playgrounds. We were getting back on our bikes & there was a Japanese family pointing & laughing at Kenny trying to ride his bike. Unfortunately, I was too busy laughing & trying not to fall off of my own bike to capture this on camera. Hopefully there will be another opportunity for this!

Here is my 1st attempt at adding pictures to a post....let's see if this works

Lora, Amanda, Me & Hillary

Kenny & I with the Japanese drummers

Me, Amanda & her girls on the "rolly slide"

Kenny & I at Showa Park

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T18:32:00.000+09:00

Well, Christmas night is winding down here in Japan & just getting ready to start in the states. Other then being a little homesick a few times, we've had a great Christmas! On Christmas Eve I cooked a traditional Christmas meal. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green beans, green peas & 2 pies! I was exhausted!!! This was my 1st time to do all of the cooking...luckily, I've had one of the best cooks out there to teach me. Thanks Mom!!! Overall I think I did pretty good. I was a little concerned we'd have a Griswald moment & the turkey would go kaput, but it didn't it was great! We had Kenny's friend Do & his family over for dinner. It was so fun to have other people around.
After they left we cleaned the kitchen & I got started on the traditional Greene family Christmas breakfast....scaled back slightly for just the 2 of us. It included homemade cinnamon rolls, egg casserole & baked fruit. YUM!!!! This morning when we were eating breakfast I realized the good thing about being in Japan...I no longer have to fight my Dad & Rebekah for the gooey cinnamon rolls in the middle of the pan! =)
Since we went to Hawaii on our way here, we didn't do big Christmas presents with each other this year. But Santa did bring me the complete series of Gilmore Girls on DVD & a Netflix subscription...both of which will be great when Kenny has to go out of town.
Tonight we went to have a Christmas dinner with some of the singles in Kenny's squadron. It was nice to hang out with some of our new "Air Force Family". I am so thankful that we got to celebrate the holidays with our real families before we left Little Rock though.
I guess that is it for now....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Can't sleep...

2009-12-17T00:29:00.001+09:00

So it's 12:30 am here in Japan...after laying in bed for almost 2 hours trying to go to sleep I figured it was time to get up for a while. It's incredibly frustrating to be so tired, but can't get to sleep. Unfortunately, this has happened the past few nights.
Things are still going well here, although this week has been a little tough for me just thinking about Christmas coming up. I absolutely love the holidays! Spending time with family, cooking, buying gifts for people, Christmas music, the lights, the smells and most importantly the ultimate reason why we celebrate the birth of our Lord & Savior! It just doesn't feel quite like Christmas yet to me. Yes, we got to celebrate the holidays with our families before we left Arkansas, but I've still been pretty sad thinking about not being with them next week. I know Kenny & I will have fun. It's just a little tough that this is my 1st Christmas in all my 29 years to not be in Little Rock, Arkansas with my family. Please pray that this time will be a smooth transition for me & that I will be able to enjoy the holidays.
Other than being a little homesick at the moment, everything is great. Kenny is slowly starting to get into the swing of things at work. He won't really start getting busy & flying much until January. So it's kinda nice to have him easing into it, that means he's home a little more right now. =)
Well, I guess that's all for now...

Japan - Week 1 =)

2009-12-08T14:53:00.000+09:00

What a week! So much has gone on this past week, I don't even know where to start. On Thursday, we had our first experience eating off base....we went to Joyful Honda (and no, it's not a car dealership) with a group from base. It is a huge Home Depot-ish, pet store, Wal-mart etc type place. They also have a grocery store & food court. We only had time for the food court on Thursday, but that was plenty interesting! Kenny & I were walking around looking at pictures on menus, & I found something that looked like postickers (which I love) so I decided that's what I wanted. We went to the counter, pointed at the pictures of what we wanted & paid with our Yen. It was fun!
After Joyful Honda, we went to the car dealership to officially purchase our car. We got to pick it up on Monday!!!! It is so nice to have a car now. I tend to have minor issues with the blinker....it's on the right side of the steering wheel, instead of the left side. So needless to say I turn on the windshield wipers quite often. =) But at least I haven't pulled a Kenny yet, he was loading the car at the BX while I was walking to the post office. He was going to pick me up there. He got there & told me that I had missed a "Silly Situation" as Will would call it. He got in the car, only to realize that he had gotten in on the wrong side of the car. Instead of getting our & walking around the car, my 6'2" husband crawled through the inside of our compact rental car to the other side. I was crying I was laughing so hard by the time he finished telling me about it. =)
Friday was a huge day....we got our house!!!!! We also got our household goods. Such a blessing. They moved all of our stuff in & we were 90% unpacked in a total of 2 hours. It is so nice to have our furniture and all again.
Saturday & Sunday were not so fun for me....Kenny & I had both been fighting a bug of some sort, and it got the best of me on Saturday. I spent most of the weekend in the bed with fever, chills & aches. No fun. But I have the best husband ever! He took such good care of me while doing his best to organize the house at the same time.
Fortunately I am feeling better now, not 100% yet, but better. Monday we got our new tv, tv stand & car. We are starting to feel normal again. Ben's Uncle Mark took us back to Joyful Honda to look around more & to another mall called Mori-town. They had a really cool grocery store. We bought some food to experiment with for dinner tonight.....
Overall things are going well for us in Japan so far. They are having an inspection on base this week, so there isn't much going on by way of social activities. I still haven't really met any friends our age yet. Please pray that we will meet some new friends soon.
That's all for now...I'm sure there will be more to come soon!

In-processing

2009-12-02T14:05:00.001+09:00

God has really been taking care of us! With the exception of 1 thing, everything has gone extremely smooth for us. We get to move into our house on Friday, and they can deliver our stuff on Friday!!! If they couldn't, we would have to borrow furniture until they could. We are so ready to get settled in our house. We were only guaranteed a 2 bedroom place, which only has 1 bathroom. But we are getting a 3 bedroom with 2 bathrooms!!!!!! We are so excited about that.
We are really ready to have a vehicle! We've done lots of walking. It hasn't been too bad so far, but once we move to our house on Friday, we won't really be within walking distance of the BX & Commissary. We have found the car that we want to buy for me, but there is one little problem. They only take cash or yen. Having the money is not the problem, but we are having trouble getting the cash out of the bank. We think we have it figured out....I'll keep you posted! We will be taking our driving tests tomorrow to get licensed to drive in Japan...on the other side of the road. =) We are hoping to rent a car on base for the weekend so that we can run between our house & the BX/Commissary to buy the necessities that we did not move with us.
Tonight we are getting our 1st home cooked meal since we've been here! We are very excited about that! My brother-in-law's uncle & his wife are here too. Cheryl is a teacher in the DOD schools here at Yokota. They are having us over for a late Thanksgiving dinner. Yum! They have been extremely helpful to us so far by driving us a few places that were a little far for walking.
It's been a long week of in-processing for Kenny & just kinda waiting for me. I think we will both feel better once we get settled in our house. We are ready to make Japan our home.

Japan!

2009-11-29T05:17:00.000+09:00

We have made it to Yokota Air Base! Our trip here yesterday went exceedingly better than we could have ever imagined! We were in the upstairs of the plane....that's a HUGE airplane!!!!!! I've never been on a plane that big before. We were lucky to be in a exit row, so we had tons of leg room. The airlines in the US need to take some lessons from Japan Airlines! It was the best flight I've ever been on. Once we got to Japan we easily got our luggage & through customs. The airport was not nearly as crowded as we had anticipated. Then it was time to find our bus to bring us to Yokota, which with good directions from the base we went straight to.
Probably the worst part of the day was that we had to wait 2 hours before the bus left (it runs on a daily schedule) and then it was a 3 hour bus ride! Needless to say we were tired of sitting!!! We got here, got checked into the hotel on base & got some dinner.
Now, we are experiencing the jet lag at it's best! We were both awake at 4:45 am! Not my idea of a good time.
Today we are going to try to get our local cell phones & figure out the lay of the land a little. I'll keep you posted!

The Big Adventure!

2009-11-26T09:38:00.000+09:00

The last few weeks have flown by faster than I could have ever imagined! We had a lot of fun getting to see friends & spend as much time as possible with our families before we left. I am so thankful for the wonderful relationships God has blessed me with!
As is typical with most things....they never go quite as you have it all planned out in your mind. Well, getting ready to leave Arkansas was no different. We left on Sunday morning, so on Friday mom & I began washing clothes to get everything packed back into our 3 suitcases each. When I got home that night I put a load of whites in & went back downstairs. Mom & Dad got home about an hour later and the washing machine had stopped, with clothes & water inside. Front loading machines are great until the door is locked with your clothes inside & you are moving to Japan! I didn't realize they were stuck until Saturday morning. Mom & Dad decided to not tell me until then. Fortunately, through some tag-team effort we were able to figure out how to get the door open & drain the machine. Rebekah was great to help me finish the laundry at her house!
Our last night at home was spent with our families. Kenny had dinner with his Dad & his wife. Mom & Dad took me to Faded Rose followed by a stop at Copeland's for cheesecake to go. We then went to Rebekah's house for a good game of cards. (Ben was gone too, so it was just the 4 of us.) Just like old times!
We are having a blast in Hawaii!!! There will be pictures & a post to follow on that later.
We will be leaving here on Friday morning to head to Japan. This will be a long day for us! About a 9 hour flight, a 2-3 hour wait in the airport, then a 3 hour shuttle ride to the base. Please pray that everything goes smoothly for us...that we will get all of our luggage, find the shuttle, and somehow overcome the language barrier.
More to come later!

3 Weeks...

2009-10-31T06:51:00.000+09:00

So I'm sitting here at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel having a great little getaway with Kenny. (He had to come here for a meeting for work.) I love being here, and I am having a blast. At the same time though I am filled with a whole other mix of emotions. We only have 2 more weeks left in Arkansas, in the United States for that matter. I wish that I could push pause on life right now. The exciting news is that Caroline Elise Lowery joined our family on Monday!!! She is absolutely precious. I am so thankful that I got to be here to see her, and that I got to spend some good quality time with the WHO. Hayes even told me that he is going to move to Japan with me.
This coming week we will begin saying our goodbyes to friends & family. I get a little teary eyed just thinking about it. While this will be hard, I know that God has such great things in store for us! I am totally excited about our new adventure, but scared to death all at once.
If you think about us, we would greatly appreciate your prayers as we are beginning this new chapter of our lives.
I know this post is a little random, but most of my thoughts seem to be random these days. Sorry! =)

What a year!

2009-10-20T22:20:00.000+09:00

One year ago today, I married my best friend! In some ways it seems like this year has flown by but, in other ways it has been a long year. I told Kenny that if we made it through all the craziness of this year, we can make it through anything!!!! For those of you that don't know...Kenny was in severe back pain when we got married. He ended up having surgery in January, 3 days after our reception. The surgery postponed our original move date of March. The same day he had surgery, my Mimi fell. I had him in surgery & her in the emergency room. Not a good day to say the least! For a while we thought we were losing Mimi, but she is doing very well now. After we got through all of that, we helped keep Bek's kids for a week while they were out of town. This summer Kenny went to Hawaii for a week, came home for 5 days then had to go to Alabama for 6 weeks. All of this time they kept telling us that we were moving about every 2 months. Once Kenny got the clear to fly again (6 months after surgery), he got crazy busy at work. I don't think he's stopped much since then! Finally, the movers came about 3 weeks ago, & we are Japan bound in 1 month!
Like I said, it has been a crazy year, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I can't imagine having gone through this past year without my husband!
I love you honey! I am so incredibly proud of you! I can't wait to see what the next 50 years have to bring us.....

6 weeks....

2009-10-12T23:51:00.001+09:00

Wow, now that is a crazy thought for me...I'll only be an Arkansan for 6 more weeks! Things have settled down quite a bit for us since the movers came. We have just been hanging out at Mom & Dad's house wondering what we should do. Kenny calls our apartment here "the dungeon". The folks have been gone some lately, so it's been kinda nice to take over the upstairs & dream of the day when we can have a house like this.
October has been a fun month of memories for me this year. Remembering the day that Kenny officially proposed to me, going to register with my mom & sister, & coming up on the 20th our 1 year anniversary! It was a crazy whirlwind last year, but we wouldn't change a thing!!!
There will be more to come soon as we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the latest addition to the WHO. Baby Caroline will be here by the end of the month, & I am so excited to meet her!!!

What a week!

2009-10-01T04:52:00.001+09:00

It has been a hectic week so far for us! On Friday we packed our suitcases to move to mom & dad's house on Saturday. Do you know how hard it is for a girl to pack for 2 months?!?!? Saturday & Sunday we moved Sasha out to Roland & finished getting the house ready for the movers. First thing Monday morning the movers showed up to pack our house. It was absolutely amazing!!! There were 4 of them & they totally just did a divide and conquer. They did in 5 hours what would have taken me a week probably. By 3:00 our entire house was pack up in boxes. They came back yesterday morning to load up the crates. By noon yesterday everything we own, except for the suitcases we packed, was beginning it's journey to Japan!
The movers were great! I'd heard several horror stories about them coming, but everything went perfect as far as I'm concerned. Let's just hope it's all in one piece the next time I see it!
We will now be in the downstairs apartment at my parents house until we leave on Nov 22! We are extremely thankful for them letting us stay here & borrow one of their vehicles since we're down to 1 car.
God's timing has been perfect as always with everything. We sold the house & the truck at just the right time. He is good!

Moving Ahead

2009-09-15T09:52:00.001+09:00

Great news....we closed on Kenny's house today!!!!!!!! This is a huge relief for us! Now the only major thing we have left to sell is the truck, & we pretty much have it sold. We should have everything complete on that transaction by the end of the week. God is good! Everything happens in His perfect timing.
We have movers coming to our house on Monday, Sept 28 to begin packing our house. They will have everything out of here by Sept 30. We will be moving to mom & dad's house the weekend prior to that. We are so thankful to have a place to go live!
After so many delays, it is crazy that this move is finally happening. Ready or not, here we go!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T23:00:00.000+09:00

Well, let's just say our weekend didn't start out quite like we had planned....we were supposed to have closed on Kenny's house Friday, but that didn't happen because of a mistake the appraiser made. Unfortunately, Kenny had ripped off the roof over the laundry room before I got a phone call that the roof didn't have to be repaired. So we spent what we thought was going to be a relaxing Friday night replacing that part of the roof, thank goodness my dad was able to come help Kenny!!! I just kinda sat & watched. =) Now we are scheduled to close on 9/14 because the buyer is out of town this week.
The rest of the weekend was much better! I got to go cheer my HOGS on to a win (Kenny even went & cheered too, but he was keeping a close eye on the OU score. Too bad they lost. lol) After the game Dad, Kenny & I went to meet mom at the lake! I'm going to miss that place!
In other news....we think we have sold Kenny's truck which is a huge relief to us! We don't want to be sitting on that one when we leave. Also, Kenny got his official orders last week. That means now we will set up our official days that the movers will come pack up my house & we will buy our plane tickets! After all of the delays it's looking like this move is really about to happen in the next couple of months!
Have a great week everyone!!!!!

Just got an update....Kenny & I found out today that the movers are going to come pack our stuff at the end of THIS month...not a huge deal, but it is 2 weeks earlier than we had thought. Thank goodness we can stay in the downstairs apartment at my parents house until we leave Nov 22.

Japan!!!!

2009-07-30T09:50:00.000+09:00

Well, we have official word...we are for sure still heading to Yokota Air Base in Japan! We have to report there by November 30th. I am full of so many emotions it is tough to explain. I am more than excited about the new chapter of life we are starting. I'm extremely sad to be leaving my family & friends. I'm nervous about all of the changes. But most of all I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for Kenny & I! With Kenny by my side the leaving will be much easier. We will probably leave Arkansas about a week before the 30th. I am so thankful that our move will come after the arrival of my newest niece Caroline!!! And we will get to celebrate Thanksgiving & an early Christmas with family. I'll post more as I know it....

Kenny Can Fly!!!!

2009-07-23T06:10:00.000+09:00

Well, we have been waiting on the edge of our seats for this one at our house...Kenny just got cleared by the Air Force to start flying again after his back surgery!!!!!! This is a huge thing for us. Had he not been cleared, we would have been looking at different career choices which is a little scary. But as always, GOD IS GOOD! Now Kenny will have to get current on the C-130 again which will take a couple of weeks. Then they will start working on getting our move turned back on. As far as we know it is still Japan, but in the military world that is always subject to change. I'll keep you posted!

Home

2009-07-02T22:38:00.000+09:00

KENNY'S COMING HOME TODAY!!!!!! I'm so excited! He's been away for 7 of the last 8 weeks. He was in Hawaii for training for 2 weeks, home for a week then off to Alabama for 5 weeks for a school. I am so incredibly proud of my husband & what he does. He has been running & doing push ups & situps for this class all of 5 months after his back surgery! He's amazing!
While he was in Montgomery, I got to go see him & then drive on to see Lyndsey, one of my dearest friends in the whole world, in Atlanta! It was great to see her & spend some her & Matt. God has truly blessed me with some of the best friends ever!
Now we are looking forward to spending the 4th of July at the lake with my family. Home away from home! Just a quick little update in what's been going on with us....there will be more soon. Have a great holiday weekend!

New to Blog-land!

2009-05-27T23:11:00.000+09:00

Well, since my sister decided to switch to this, I thought maybe I should to. Our lives aren't too exciting right now, but I'm sure I'll have plenty to fill people in on once we move to Japan!