"There are 12 months..."

"I don't need to have the plan in hand, I don't need to have the end in sight, All I need to do is follow you, wherever you lead and do what you ask me to. 

Trusting you, Lord, with all my heart, following you all my days; whether I can or can't understand, I'll acknowledge you in all my ways. 

Though I am pressed on every side I am not in despair. My faith in you will carry me through though I may not see where You're leading me. "


-The Plan, Steve Green


Today was my first opportunity to substitute teach at a local English school.  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.  The eagerness of the Japanese children to learn my native language is so inspiring and humbling!  All of these children are coming to this English class after a full school day.  I was tired but a couple of kids were seriously starting to glaze over by my later class... I asked if they would all stand up... Then I took them through the 'hokey pokey' moves without actually singing the hokey pokey. It was fun! They were laughing to each other in Japanese, probably saying "What is this crazy gaijin making us do now?!".  After that, everyone perked up and we all had fun for the rest of the night!


It has been such a blessing to just show up at Yokota and have a job essentially waiting for me here... You can't take that literally but I do believe that God has us right where He wants us.  It's such a beautiful thing.  


So there you have it for now! Much love!

We're here! :-)

Hi everyone,

We made it to Japan safely, as I'm sure many of you are well aware of.   It's been quite a whirlwind getting here and settling in.  We are still waiting on ALL of our personal belongings.  As soon as I begin to worry about this or that, God provides.  How silly of me to always be thinking ahead and planning when I know very well that He is in control and He is taking care of and interceding for us always.  It's such a relief to trust in Him.

The military allows us to borrow furniture for up to 90 days while we're waiting for our things to arrive.  That includes sheets and kitchen supplies.  It's safe to say that we've easily gone without a microwave for over a week, which is quite a triumph in my opinion... :-) (We gave ours away because the voltage/wattage is different in Japan and we have one from the military that is on our counter in it's box, all taped up, so if we need one, it's there...)

The Aviator is so happy to be in 'operational' Air Force and finished (for now) with AETC (Air Education & Training Command).  Everyday is another opportunity for him to get closer to completing the in-processing list which brings him a day closer to doing his real job... :-)

We are absolutely loving the culture here.  The Aviator has been here before when he was younger but I get the feeling that it's still as exciting for him being here now, for the second time.  He's much better at ordering in the language than I am.  I get so nervous!  It's very humbling to go in to a japanese grocery store and not have a clue to what you're looking at... :-)   I was telling my friend, Chelsea, that it would be fun to bring an interpreter in with us someday just to get a general idea of what's being offered in the meat department.

The base here is huge! We are so excited about all of the wonderful things they offer here.  We're looking forward to going to Kyoto and climbing Fujisan.  I can't even list all of the things we are doing because there are so many! :-)

Happy note: Congratulations to my wonderful sister and her husband on the birth of their first child, Kellan! Selfishly, I'd hoped he would've been born while we were staying in Reno, but of course, babies know best! :-)

I'll post pictures soon.  Waiting for our back up hard drive to get here... :-)

April 2010-June 2010

Here's a shot of Brit and I from her visit back in March! The kind curb-attendant took this photo for us! Miss you friend!

Yowzers... I can't believe how long it's been since the last update. Unfortunately, these pictures uploaded in the opposite way I was hoping for them to so I will start with what's been happening lately. The Aviator went to SERE in May and got home in the beginning of June. He's terribly glad to have that part of training over with! And I am even more glad than that to have him home... While he was gone I was blessed to celebrate my 24th birthday with my 'Irish Twin', Jessica and my Mommy! We had a splenderific time touring downtown Little Rock and enjoyin southern-fare. I had to treat them to Shakey's Frozen Custard before they left so they'd know what they would be missing! We found a fantastic coffee shop in Cabot, AR that serves fresh cinnamon rolls. You can't go wrong with a yummy, warm cinnamon roll! They were fantastic! The coffee was not so good but that's OK. Not everyone can be perfect like Starbucks... :-)

We finished the trip off with some fishy food from The Flying Fish in Little Rock.

After they left town, I had a week of downtime that I spend with close friends and crafting. I've found a silly-love for stamping and making my own cards. Dork. It's WAY less expensive compared to buying a $4 card every time you need to celebrate something with someone, especially when you have 4+1 sisters and brothers-in-law! I've also started an etsy store. As if I need to keep myself more busy... I've learned how to make ring slings for carrying babies up to 35lbs. Dax has been asking me to make one for him ever since! So if you need a nursing cover or ring sling, just check out the shop at www.caco522.etsy.com.

Outside of The Flying Fish. The last mini-group photo for who knows how long...

My darling friend Laura sharing her birthday party with me and my family! This was seriously one of the best birthdays ever. The only thing that would've made it better would've been having the Aviator home... :-(

Jess and I on the Little Rock Trolley. Photo credits to Mommy! ;-) Yes- I am a Suns fan. Thank you to my awesome MIL for the impromptu Suns-Love shirt!

The Cinnamon Roll that changed everything... And the coffee that changed everything back... Ha ha!

The next week, Aviator's Mom came to visit me for about 4 days! It was so nice to have so many wonderful people opt to spend time with me while the Aviator was gone. It was a welcomed distraction! I am always down for some quality 'girl-time'. We did a tiny bit of shopping, cooking, and of course eating... :-) Susan was able to accompany me to my follow-up doctor's appointment for my left wrist. Turned out that I had a silly little ganglion cyst down in there with my wrist bones. It was sitting right up against the central nerve of my hand, which explains all of the pain I was having. The doc showed us the MRI scan and there it was, plain as day! So surgery it was! I couldn't believe it when on Wednesday he said they could do it as soon as Friday AM! Susan was leaving on that day so I opted for the following Monday because Aviator would get home the Saturday after she left. Everything went smoothly, of course, but the pain medication they gave me upset my stomach, of course. :-) The below picture is what I got when I laid down to rest the day after surgery and my stomach was turning. Before I knew it, Penny hopped up and stretched out beside me and took a deep sigh. It was like she knew I wasn't feeling well. Very sweet!

So I had surgery on Monday the 7th. On Friday the 11th, Jeff and I got up bright and early, and took off for dallas to meet up with our dear friends, the Goads. This trip was originally planned to be the 'last-hoorah' for a while. It was a wonderful and relaxing time with great food everyday and hilarious adventures like this Donkey... :-) He liked his chin being scratched... It was nice to love on a horse-like creature for the first time in a couple of months! He was SO sweet! His name was Nip and his brother's name was Tuck.

The 4 of us visited the Sixth Floor Museum at the Texas School Book Depository. The entire time we were planning this trip I kept hearing about this 'Six Floor Museum'. So to tell you the truth, I had no idea what this was going to be about. I was imagining it being named to indicate how many stories of museum there was... Not the case. I quickly understood what this was all about when I saw the "X"'s sprayed on to the street in front of a grassy knoll... Yup. This museum was situated on the sixth floor of the Depository, where JFK was assassinated from. It was very eerie to think that Oswald had been there plotting the assassination. It was a very neat museum and very educational. It seems to me that JFK was a neat guy and I can't imagine being around in a time of assassination. Sad.

After our trip to Dallas my Dad and youngest Sister, Hannah flew in to visit us! Their flight got in right after I got my stitches out and moved in to a removable splint instead of a plaster cast... Yuck by the way! :-)

This is a photo of Hannah and me in the Arkansas State Capital Building.

We had a wonderful trip with Hannah and my Dad! When their visit came to an end, we all were dropped off at the airport together. The Aviator and I had a flight to catch to Philadelphia and we all got to hang out in the same terminal and have lunch before our flights which was quite a treat!

When we arrived in Pennsylvania, we immediately began getting ready to hit the beach in Delaware! It was WONDERFUL! I absolutely L-O-V-E the beach. And by beach I mean 'ocean'. :-) Not Gulf... We spent the entire weekend with our toes in the sand!

So now we're getting ready to hit the road for Japan. We have a long road trip ahead of us. We are looking forward to the drive across this beautiful country of ours. We'll have our crazy flexible dogs with us and I'm sure that they'll sleep the entire way... :-)

My next blog entry will probably be from Seattle. And the one after that will probably be from Yokota. Sayonara! :-D

Double Trouble!

Prom '04 & my 18th birthday, her half-birthday... We're exactly 6 months apart...

It's finally here! The time has come and Brit is on a flight from Dallas to Little Rock!! Words can not effectively describe how excited I am!

Every girl needs to have a best gal-friend. Brittney and I have known each other for many years, starting all the way back in early Elementary school-aged Sunday School at Grace Brethren Church in Simi Valley. We didn't talk much in those days but in tenth-grade we reconnected at Simi High. She was the most thoughtful and caring person I'd ever met, remembering my birthday and bringing me a cute jewelry box full of bubble gum for a gift!

Throughout the years, we've shared many passions including photography, surfing, skateboarding, and messing with our hair! :-) She is now a very talented and professional hair designer at P!ay Hair Lounge in Simi Valley, CA. Whenever I was having a bad day or getting ready to leave for Management classes at In N Out University, Brittney was always eager to freshen up my do just for fun. When I moved to Phoenix in 2007, she inherited my good 'ole 9' Long Board. She still puts that thing to use! When I first told her about the Aviator, she wanted to call and quiz him on why he should be so lucky to marry me... (I still think I'm the lucky one (-: ) Sure enough, she did. And obviously he passed the quiz... :-)

This is the second time B has come to visit. I know I'm super blessed to have all of these wonderful "air force" friends but there is nothing like a home-grown best friend.

We are going to go get our toes done as soon as she lands. :-) Woo hoo!!

This picture is super old. It makes me laugh because people always thought Brit and I were twins... You can see that our upper-lips have run off together... Ha ha!

My Maid of Honor. :-)

98 Days

That's right!

98 days until we hit the road/skies for Japan.

:-)

For the first time in a very long time, the Aviator and I have been enjoying the pleasures of TV and cable... They came with the house! We love watching movies on a TV versus the laptop... It really does make a difference. We are excited to buy a TV and Blu-Ray (SP?) player when we get to Japan in July. It's been nice practice these last few months to have to think about how any purchase decisions we make will affect us in Japan. Will this plug be compatible with their outlets? No. Don't buy it. Will they have newer and more exciting products in Japan? Yes, so we'll buy it there...

I'm excited to be gardening again. I know we'll only be in this house for a little over 3 months but if there is a flower bed, there needs to be flowers in that bed. :-) I bought Primrose, Snapdragons, and Rosemary in addition to a clearance pot of Tulips last week. Then I had to clear the bed. Check.

Then I got a sinus infection... That put me on hold for a few days.

Now that the flowers are planted, this place definitely feels like home... :-)

I would post pictures, but again, it's not working... Poor you!

February... wait March?

It's already more than half way thru March of 2010. Where does the time go? :-)

To say that I'm thankful for Spring is an understatement... I'm elated about Spring! I've honestly never lived somewhere that has 4 Seasons. I enjoyed the Winter here but it was darn cold for this California/Arizona family!

Last week we took a mini-road trip to Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas. It is absolutely beautiful up there!

I would upload some pictures of our trip but for some reason blogger isn't letting me do it! Bad Request apparently... It might be that my computer is almost 6 years old and it might just be out of date... poor little thing... :-(

Let's Say Thanks!!

This is super easy to do. You never know what a few kind words can do to brighten somebody's day!