Out With The Old, In With The New

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HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! It is in Japan anyway. It's hard to believe 2008 is over. Now to remember to write 09 instead of 08 on everything. =) Anyway, it's been a year of changes, that's for sure. Some good, some a bit harder. I am looking forward to this year though. Even if it is just for the mere fact that I know we only have 8 more months of deployment. The end feels like it's a little more in sight. It's no longer next year. It is this year! And R&R is just that much closer, as is our big trip back to the states. Granted they are the same time, but still. I'm going to continue/get back on track with my weight loss. Now that the holidays are over all the holiday goodies won't be such a temptation. =) So I am excited for this year. I hope you all are too. I hope it is overflowing with fun, laughter, good times, and blessings for all of you! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

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I hope everyone has/had a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! We love and miss you all tons! Thank you for all the gifts, cards, emails, etc. It has been a rough holiday season for both Ben and I, and I will honestly admit that I'm glad it's over. With our anniversary, Thanksgiving and Christmas all within the past month or so, it hasn't been easy. I knew this would probably be the hardest part of the deployment, and I wasn't looking forward to it. But I some how made it through. I have been very blessed with some wonderful friends which made it all a little more bearable. I spent Christmas Eve at the branch president's home with some friends, and had Christmas dinner at my visiting teacher's home with some others from the branch and the missionaries. So I was taken care of. It's still not the same as being home with family or even here with my husband, but at least I wasn't alone. I came to a realization, I guess you could say, this year. Each year we talk about the Nativity Story, but we often don't talk about what happened in the Book of Mormon at the same time. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied of Christ's birth, and then the Nephites saw the signs. So it wasn't just in the Bible lands that people knew of Christ's birth, and I think we often overlook that. Or at least I do. So that has been a great reminder for me. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

If We Were Elves...

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Harlem Globetrotters

One of the great things about living overseas with the military is all the people that come to perform for us for free. Tonight it was the Harlem Globetrotters. It was so much fun. And it was even better being a deployed spouse. They had seats reserved for us right behind the team and afterwards we had a group photo taken with the guys (as soon as I get a copy I'll post it). Plus I got a mini basketball which I was able to get the team to sign. It was pretty sweet. The pics aren't the best, as the lighting wasn't that great in the gym, but I did a little photo editing so you'll get the idea. =)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been crazy busy lately. It's nice because it helps time to pass quickly, but at the same time I kinda miss not having to do anything all day. I FINALLY started working at the elementary school. That helps to pass a lot of time and it's fun. So far the only classes I've worked with are Sure Start (Pre-K) and the class below that (I'm not sure what it's called). Wednesday I'll get to work with the kindergardeners though. My first day was on the 21st. I worked a half day that day (Friday), worked full days Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, no school Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, and then a half day today and I'll work a half day this coming Wednesday. So that alone keeps me busy which is good. The dogs don't like it much as I make them get up early and lock them outside, but oh well. Then I have Young Womens activities on Tuesday nights. I had a Mary Kay class last week, and another one this week. Go me! We've had vet appts for the dogs. 4 appts in the past month --> pre op, operation (they got their dew claws removed finally!), got the stitches out, and then vaccines today. I think it's fair to say I'm tired of the vet now. We should be done for a while now though. Yay! It's a hassle to take them both up there when I'm alone. It's not as bad when Ben's here to help me, but they are getting awfully big and strong for me to take them on my own. I'm so glad the ladies that work there are so great and help me out. Anyway, after writing it all down it doesn't look that busy. It's not a lot of different things, just lots of the same. Whatever helps the time pass though, right?!

Thanksgiving at Disneyland

My friend Sherri and I decided to go to Disneyland for Thanksgiving instead of cooking a big meal for 2 people. Her husband is deployed with Ben, and they don't have kids either, so we decided to go play. It was so much fun! Even though it was cold and rained off and on all day, we had a blast! I only wish Ben had been there with me. He said we can go when he get's back though. =) Anyway, here are some of the pics. I've got more on MySpace and Facebook if you want to see all of them. Sherri took most of them. I was the smart one that remembered my camera, but left the memory stick in my computer. Duh on me! So she took all the day ones, and then her battery died so I took the ones of the Nighttime Electrical Parade with the camera on my phone. Since it was still midweek and not a Japanese holiday, it really wasn't very crowded which was really nice. We got pretty lucky when it came to waiting in line for the rides. We had some great timing and were able to ride just about all of them. A couple were closed and it was too cold to ride Splash Mountain, but I think we did just about everything else. I even went on the roller coasters, and I'm not a big roller coaster fan. I will admit I had my eyes closed part of the time on Space Mountain. But it was dark so no one could tell. I kept waiting for that big drop but it never came (thank goodness). It was fun though. Then Thunder Mountain was cold. Rain + Roller Coasters = Cold. It started raining while we were waiting in line, but didn't know that until we were already going. Oh well. It was fun. I totally understand why it's "The Happiest Place on Earth"! =)

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!

One of my friends posted this "survey" on myspace, and I thought it would be kind of fun to fill it out seeing how it's our anniversary and all. And you all thought you knew the hulse family.... ;)

*1-What are your middle names?Michele & Vern *2- How long have you been together?Married 3 years today, known each other about 4 *3-How long did you know each other before you started dating?Can't say we really "dated". But we met the Fall semester of '04 and were engaged June of '05. *4-Who asked who out?First date I asked him. *5-How old are each of you?Both 23 *6-What are your astrological signs?Aries & Cancer *7-How tall are each of you?5'8" & 6'0" -ish *8-Who's mother do/did you see the most?My mommy *9-Who's siblings do/did you see the most?Mine, but talk to his regularly too *10-Do you have any children together? Just our puppies! *11-Do you have any pets?Yup, the big babies *12-If so, what kind?2 dogs *13-What's the hardest on you as a couple?Being so far apart- Deployment stinks! *14-What do you both do for a living?He is a brave Soldier for the US Army; I sell Mary Kay and Substitute Teach at the Elementary School *15-Is that what you went to school for?Ummm, no. But we are both going back to school for Business. *16-Did you go to the same school?Same college- GO BRONCOS! *17-Are you from the same hometown?Same state, but not hometown *18-Do you live in the same town now?Technically, no. *19-Who is the smartest?I say he is. There's nothing he can't do. *20-Who is the most sensitive?We are both pretty sensitive, but probably more so me. *21-Where do/did you eat out most as a couple?Lots of places... one of our favorites is Johnny Carino's though. *22-Where do/did you shop the most as a couple?Right now, the PX. Back in the states, Walmart. *23-Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?Japan *24-Who has the best group of friends?We have a lot of the same friends *25-Who has the craziest exes?Considering I don't have any exes... *26-Who has the worst temper?He does. *27-Who does/did the cooking?Depends on what we're having. He is an amazing cook though. *28-Who is more social?Depends on where we are... Overall, probably me *29-Who is the neat-freak?Me. He can handle the mess a little longer than I can. *30-Who is the most stubborn?That's a hard one. We can both be pretty stubborn. *31-Who hogs/hogged the bed?Let's just say he likes to take his half out of the middle. *32-Who wakes/woke up earlier?Usually him. I'm not a morning person. *33-Where was your first date?The Marching Band Banquet/Award Night *34-Who said I Love You first?I honestly don't remember. I think it might have been me, in more of a jokeing way though... *35-Who has the bigger family?My side. *36-Do/Did you give/get flowers often?He does like sending me flowers, and I like getting them. =) And he gave me permission to buy myself some for our anniversary since he's not here to get them for me. *37-How do/did you spend the holidays?Usually with family. This year is going to be different though due to deployment and living overseas. =( *38-Who is/was more jealous?I am. That's probably not a good thing.. *39-Do/Did you have little pet names for each other?Not really. *40-How long did it take to get serious?That's a funny story... remind me to tell ya sometime... *41-Who eats more?Usually him. *42-Who sings better?I do. He doesn't like to sing. *43-Who's older?I am, by a couple months. *44-Who does/did the laundry?Usually me. *45-Who does/did the dishes?Again, usually me. *46-Who sleeps/slept on the right side of the bed?That would be me again. *47-Who snores?I think we both do, but not as bad as the dogs. *48-Who's better with the computer?Definatly him. I am technologically illiterate. *49-Who drives/drove when you are/were together?Back in the states, he usually drives. In Japan, I drive. *50-Who picks/picked where you go to dinner?He usually makes me decide. *51-Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?Depends on what we're disagreeing on. *52-Who named your pet?Ben named Smokey, I named Misty *53-Who kissed who first?Our first kiss was when we got engaged, and it was kind of a mutual thing... *54-Who's taller?He is, except maybe when I wear my heels... *55-Who wears/ wore the pants in the relationship?Ummm, never really thought about it. And I'm not gonna put what Ben said. *56-Who has more tattoos?He does. *57-Who eats more sweets?He does- that boy loves his candy! *58-Who cries more?Me, by far! *59-Who has the older car?It's both of ours. *60-Who has bigger dreams?We both have pretty big dreams, heading in the same direction. *61-Are you two still a couple?Seeing how we're celebrating our anniversary today, I'll let you answer that one. ;)

New Calling

I received a new calling today. Well they sustained and set me apart today. I am the new 2nd counselor in the young womens! I'm excited! We've only got 5 young women in the branch (4 of them being seniors in high school so they'll only be with us til probably next summer), but they are a great bunch of girls. Honestly I'm surprised I didn't get this calling sooner, seeing how I went to girls camp and everything with them back in June. I knew it was coming though. I usually have a pretty good idea about a calling before they actually talk to me about it. So I really wasn't surprised when the branch president's counselor asked to talk to me last week. The other two sisters in the yw's presidency are more than excited to have me in there too. They are such neat ladies, and even though we've already been friends for a while, it's going to be great to get to work with them and get to know them better. For the time being, I still have my primary calling too. I know it's like "her husband is gone, let's keep her busy." Seeing how we have a small branch and not many people to go around, it's understandable. So I teach my primary class 2nd hour, then go to young womens 3rd hour. The primary president, who has become one of my really good friends, is sad to lose me but sometimes that's the way it goes. I feel like they needed me in there to help get ready/present the primary program, and now that that is done I'm needed somewhere else. That's just how I feel though. I'm not sure if that's God's reason, but that's what it feels like. As I was being set apart after church, I got the feeling that I'm starting to understand why I'm here, in Japan. I've been struggling with trying to understand why I am in this foreign country so far from my family and friends while my husband is deployed. It's not easy living alone in a strange place, and I've asked on many occasions why didn't Ben deploy from the states where I could still be close to family and somewhere familiar. I think I'm starting to understand though. There's something I was supposed to teach these primary kids (whether I did or not is up for debate, but that's another story). There's something I'm supposed to help these young women with. I was meant to meet these wonderful ladies who have become such great friends and what feels like life savers at times. One of my visiting teachers has become like a second mom to me and some of my really good friends have become like sisters. If I'm having a rough day I know they'll be there to listen and let me cry. I've only been here 7 months and already they have done more for me than they will ever know. Ok so that doesn't exactly explain why I'm alone in Japan, but I think it explains why I'm in Japan. God has a plan for each of us. It may seem crazy and not make a whole lot of sense at times, but He knows what he's doing. All we have to do is put our trust in Him, and we'll get to where we need to be. Doesn't always mean it will be easy, but that is how we learn and grow.

Lost

This is a couple days late, but I had an eye opening experience on Sunday. I didn't come up with it on my own, and actually it was one of the testimonies that was borne in Sacrament Meeting that really got me thinking about it. So I'm heading to church Sunday, only to find that the only way I know is blocked. For those who don't know, I have to drive off base for about 30 minutes (on a good day) to get to church. Up until I got my own car, I would always ride with the Relief Society president, so I only know how to get there one way. Well up until a certain point, and then there are a couple different ways I can go, but that's not the point. Anyway, so I leave the gate and see the road I need to take is blocked off. This puts me into a bit of a panic. I don't know how to get to church without going up this road. I know there is another way, I just don't know where it is. The worst part of this whole mess, I had someone following me to church. So not only was I lost, but I had the family behind me lost too. Well after turning around a few times, and going down a road I was praying would take me where I needed to go, I did find a road I was familiar with. I know none of you have driven in Japan before, but one of the great things about the roads, is they all eventually lead to a main road. Needless to say, we were a little late for church. Not too bad though. We just took the scenic route. =) So here's where the realization comes in... My path to church is like our path back to Heaven. We know one way to go. Granted there are many ways I could get to church, there is one way that I am comfortable with. There is one way to get back to Heaven. Just as my friend showed me the way to church, Christ has shown us the way to eternal life. Sometimes we may get off that path, and end up somewhere unfamiliar. In Japan, that's not hard. And really, it's not that hard to get off the straight and narrow path either. Sometimes we have to stop and turn around. Other times we keep going, and hope it takes us to where we want to be. But we don't have to do it alone. We have our helps along the way. In Japan, I have road maps and friends to call. We have the same spiritually thinking. We have the scriptures and such as our map and we have prayer as our phone call. I guess what I'm trying to say is, sometimes on our path to Eternal Life we get lost and/or sidetracked. But as long as we don't lose sight of what we're going towards, we will get there. It may be a bit of a scenic route, but if all else fails we know that we can turn around there will be people there waiting to help us along the way. It also gives us more of an incentive to do what's right, as we never know who might be following us. So there's my analogy of of the roads in Japan to our spiritual journey. Hopefully it makes sense. =)

Yiruma Videos

Ok, I figured out how to post some videos from YouTube. They are just on my sidebar, but that way you don't have to go searching for them. Now you can all enjoy his music just as much as I do. =)

Twilight & Yiruma

Some of the sisters in my branch have put together a monthly book club. We choose a topic or a book, read it, and then get together and discuss it while eating goodies. It is soooo much fun. I've gone almost every month since we moved here. Anyway, our book for October was the Twilight series. This is the first time that I have read any of them. Oh My Gosh! I am totally in love with these books! I read all 4 books in less than 3 weeks, most of the time just reading in the evenings. Keep in mind the shortest one (the first one) is 498 pages. It took me a little bit to get into the first one, but once I did I couldn't put it down. I was literally up all night reading it. I don't remember the last time I found a book that I wanted to do that with. After finishing the first one, I couldn't wait to read the second. So I went to the PX the next day to get number 2 and they didn't have it. I seriously wanted to cry. So I had to wait an extra day before I could start it. I went down to Yokosuka the following day with a friend and they had it there, so I bought 2 and 4. They didn't have 3 there, but they had it here, so I still got it. I was so excited. I had thought about asking for the other 3 for Christmas, but after reading the first one, I knew I couldn't wait that long to read the rest. And honestly, I'm about ready to go back and read them all again. That's how much I loved them. There aren't many books that I want to do that with. I mean I just finished the last one yesterday, and I'm ready to start all over. I completely understand why people are so in love with these books. They are an easy fun read. I do have to say though, that the last one, Breaking Dawn, is my favorite. It's one of those where you want to just keep turning the pages. It is 756 pages and I read it in about 2 nights. I never read that fast! Ben on the other hand, can read books like nothing else. So I was pretty proud of myself to think that I could read as fast as my husband. =) Anyway... those of you who haven't read these books I highly recommend them. I know some of you have, and I'm sure you would agree with me that they are fantastic. I've only met one person who hasn't liked them. We'll just say we had some interesting discussions at book club...

Now in my quest to find out more about these Twilight books, I stumbled across a musician known as Yiruma. He is an absolutely amazing piano player from South Korea. I'm trying to find a way to post a video or sample of his music, but I can't figure it out at this moment, so I'll have to get back to you on that one. In the meantime though, go to YouTube and search for Yiruma. My two favorite songs are "River Flows In You" and "Kiss the Rain". "River" is one that is considered Bella's Lullaby (those of you who have read the first book know what I'm talking about). It is absolutely gorgeous! I even found some sheet music for these two songs, and some others, and printed them out so I can play them on my flute. I made a copy for my friend too, and she'll accompany me on the piano. No idea who we'll play for, but it's gonna be beautiful anyway. I told Ben I'm going to learn to play the piano just so I can play these songs, and my friend said she'd help me out. =) That's how much I love his music. I downloaded some of his music, but I want to find an actual CD. I think I'm going to have to find a music store out on the economy for that. I've looked online, but they are pretty expensive. But I know his music has been released here in Japan, so I'm hoping it will be cheaper out on the economy. That will just require me to go do some exploring out side the gate. Oh Darn! =) So in short, I love Yiruma's music. It is so peaceful and relaxing, and anything that can get me to relax as much as this does, is something pretty special. Just ask Ben. It can take a lot to get me to relax when I'm really stressed out, but this seems to do the trick. It just makes everything alright, even if just for a short moment.

Decorating

Even though my week was crazy busy, I did find some time to do a little decorating for Halloween. It's really nothing special. But seeing how Halloween is in a week, I wanted to do something. I've had a hard time finding things I liked, as the selection here isn't big at all, but I did find a few things while I was down at Yokosuka. So now I'm feeling a little more in the Halloween spirit. =)

The front door

My pumpkins... I found these "accessories" at Yokosuka. They are like Mr. Potato Head pieces for pumpkins. Way cute, and no where near as messy as carving pumpkins. It comes with the 3 different sets, so you get to mix and match to make your faces. They had a set that was puppy dog faces too, but I liked the monster ones better. =)

Smokey had to check and make sure they were ok.

Then for bookclub Wednesday night, I made these eyeball cupcakes. Everyone got a kick out of them. And they are so easy and fun to make.

So now that I've got my decorations up, I guess I should decide on a costume. Again, not a huge selection, so I'm gonna have to get creative. I'll let ya know what I come up with. =)

Flu Vaccine

Despite my busy day, I did go get my flu vaccine. Notice I didn't say shot. Oh no, I got the nasal one. I thought they usually just gave that one to kids, but nope. They didn't give us a choice. I even asked. I would rather have the shot, than stuff up my nose. One of the guys tried reassuring me that after I got it, I wouldn't want another shot again. Ummm, No. After getting it, I would rather get the shot. I would rather my arm hurt for a day or two, than have that nasty stuff dripping down the back of my throat. I hate that feeling. And 8 hours later, I still have that feeling. Nasty!!! Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it. So hopefully it works and I don't get sick. I don't know how bad flu season is here, but I'm guessing it's not good if they have specific dates set up at the schools and community club to give out the vaccines. Who knows though. It's a wait and see kinda thing.

Don't Be Fooled

They may look all sweet and innocent, but don't let that fool you. These two are driving me crazy! I'm sure a big part of it is just them adjusting to Ben being gone too. They are constantly wrestling and chasing each other around the house. (Which is kinda funny since all the floors are tile so they slide all over.) They are extremely protective. They don't like people walking past the house outside, and hate it even more when I have company over. Don't get me wrong, it's good that they are protective, but barking at the neighbors when they walk out their door to their car seems a little excessive. I have to lock them outside when people come over. They've started snapping at and trying to bite people too. That concerns me a little bit. For example, I took Misty to the vet Friday because one of the nails on her dew claw had grown into the pad. So I took her up to get it taken care of. That didn't go over so well. It took me and the vet to hold her down while the tech clipped her nails and cleaned up the wound. She tried biting both the vet and the tech's faces. We had to muzzle her so she wouldn't bite them and do any serious damage. And I know, they don't like their feet touched. That's not the point. I took both of them in yesterday for a check up so they could be released from quarantine. (Yay! We no longer have to worry about that!) I hate taking them to the vet. It's even worse when I have to take them by myself. They are both really strong, and I have a hard time controlling both of them at the same time. Luckily, there weren't any other dogs there at the time which made it a little easier. But being the pains they are, when we went back to the exam room, we couldn't keep them in there together. The vet was trying to check Smokey but he didn't want to cooperate and Misty kept growling and getting in the way. So I left Smokey in there with the vet and stood outside the door with Misty. When he was done, we switched and I stood outside with Smokey. As I was talking to the receptionist, the vet comes walking out holding Misty's harness and leash. Dumb girl slipped out of her harness. So I left Smokey with the receptionist and went back and put Misty's harness back on her. Then as we were walking out to the waiting room, Misty tried biting the vet's feet! What the heck?! My little timid girl sure has found her mean side. I have to leave them outside when I leave the house too. Otherwise they sit there and whine and climb in the window and get on the couch as soon as I lock the door. First, with them climbing in the window, I'm afraid they will knock the TV over. When I come home, they like to see who can get closest to the edge of the window, which is behind the TV. Yeah, not gonna be very happy if they knock that over. Second, I hate the dogs on the furniture. I don't even let them sleep on the bed with me anymore. Ben got them in the habit of getting up on the bed at night, but being the mean mom I am, I don't let them do that anymore. I hate sleeping in dog hair. That's just me though. They still sleep in the bedroom, just on the floor at the foot of the bed on their pillow. So maybe part of their problem is I don't spoil them like Dad does. I don't let them sleep on the bed, I don't feed them scraps off my dinner plate, I'm just so mean! I'm not going to reward them for misbehaving and driving me crazy though.

I Miss Walmart

I've decided one of the hardest parts of living overseas is not having a walmart. I went to do some grocery shopping today at the commissary. They don't have blue or purple jello. All I want to do is make a rainbow jello salad next week when I have the other spouses over for dinner. It can't be a rainbow with out blue and purple! And actually they only have like 5 different flavors of jello total. Walmart has like 20! Ok, maybe not that many, but you get the idea. So I guess it will be a fall colored jello salad with red, orange, yellow, and green. Then later I went down to the PX to get some batteries. I need a watch battery, and another one like that for a remote I have. Did they have them? Of course not! Although they do finally have the deodorant I like. It's the first time I've found it anywhere in Japan since we moved here. And even though I don't need it right now (I just bought some more a week or two ago-before they had the one I like) I bought one anyway. Knowing the PX here, they won't have it when I do need it. So yeah, I miss Walmart and being able to do all my shopping in one place. It drives me crazy having to drive all over post and off post over to the housing area just to get the things I need.

Camel Crossing

Ben sent me these pics last night. I can't say I've ever seen camels just strolling down the middle of the road.

It's common to see camels there. The Kuwaitis herd them and whatnot. It's just not very often you see them wandering down the road alone. I told Ben he should get one and send it home and we'll keep it on the back patio. He just laughed. I'm sure the dogs would LOVE that, not to mention the housing office. It could be fun though... =)

Pics from Kuwait

Just a quick update on Ben... He is doing well. They are getting settled in, and into a routine. He emailed me some pics last night, so I thought I'd share a few of them.

A really big tent.

The office where they work.

They work on the border of Kuwiat and Iraq. I know these are pics looking both ways, but I don't know which side is Iraq and which side is Kuwait.

They have a mamma kitty, some kittens, and a dog that live out ther with them. I'm assuming this is the mamma kitty.

It gets so hot there, that the birds litterally fall out of the sky dead from the heat and dehydration. So if anyone knows how we can send Ben some ice so the heat doesn't kill him too, I'm open to ideas. =)

The ceremony that officially put them in charge. That's not the whole unit, but Ben is standing in the center back right behind the flag. It's kinda hard to see his face though.

So that kinda gives everyone an idea of where he is. It's the middle of nowhere. Kinda like Ft. Irwin. =) And actually, some of the guys that he worked with are deployed to one of the check points or whatever it is near where he works. So here he thought he was getting away from the stupid people at Irwin, but he was just changing units and deserts. You gotta love the military!

Family Pictures

About a week before Ben left, we went and had family pictures taken. I was finally able to go pick them up today. I'm really glad we did them, even though I wanted to start crying right there in the middle of the store when I saw them. I had some really good days last week, but the past couple days haven't been to great. I'm really missing my hubby right now. He's only been gone two weeks, but I'm already tired of sleeping alone. As much as I hated Ft. Irwin, I wish we were still there and that he was just working down at the airport in Victorville where I could go stay the night with him. It probably doesn't help that yesterday was the first day that I haven't heard from him since he left. We've talked every other day. I haven't heard from him today yet either. I'm sure he's fine. I'm still missing him though. Anyway, here's the pics we had taken...

This is my favorite.

After 3 years, we're still in love as much as ever!

The photographer was awesome! We had so much fun!

Not my most favorite picture of me, but it works.

My better half- I miss you Ben!!!

One Week... But Whose Counting?

It's been one week since Ben left. It was probably one of the hardest weeks of my life, but I survived. Not by much some days, but I made it through nonetheless. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. They are really appreciated. Ben finally made it to Kuwait yesterday. Yeah, I know, a week after he left. I don't know why they had to leave so early. They left Monday morning and flew down to Okinawa. They were in Okinawa until Friday night, basically just playing around. Friday night they flew to Thailand, and ended up being stuck there until late Sunday night. The plane was having problems, so they had to have a part and mechanic flown in to fix it. They finally left Thailand Sunday and after about an 8 hour flight flew in to Kuwait City. Then it was a couple more hours on a bus to the camp where they will be living. So it was a long day for him. I got to talk to him last night for a couple hours. He has internet in his room so we were able to instant message each other. His connection really isn't the best, but it's better than nothing. He's going to work on getting internet from the local people instead of the military, and that should be a better connection. We're just not sure when he'll be able to get it. I told him even with a crappy connection at least we get to talk. 50 years ago we'd still be waiting on snail mail. But other than that, he seemed to be in good spirits for the most part. He was just really tired and exhausted. It had been a long couple days, and trying to adjust to the time change probably wasn't helping much. He is 6 hours behind me. So where it's noon here now, it's only 6am there. Hopefully he ends up with a decent work schedule so we can talk at a decent time. I was up until almost 1 this morning talking to him. Not that I mind. I love the times I get to talk to him. I think we've talked at least once every day since he left. Might not have always been the longest time, but we got to talk. So that has helped too. As for me, I'm doing alright. Some days are better than others, but that is to be expected. I try to find ways to keep myself busy. I've gone out shopping a few times, gone out with friends, had dinner with friends, just things to keep my mind occupied. I've been going to work out most days too. That really helps. It feels good to be getting myself into a workout routine again. My goal is to lose about a hundred pounds by the time this deployment is over. And at 2 pounds a week it shouldn't be a problem. The scale has already started going down. Yay!!! If I've got it figured out right, I should be the size I was when we got married when he comes home for R&R in 6 months or so. Then I'll be even less than that next September when he's home for good. I can't wait to see the look on his face! I think that's what motivates me the most. Anyway... I haven't found a job, but I'm thinking about it. They need substitute teachers at the schools and pay about $100/day. I could pretty much pick and choose the days I want to work, and if nothing else it would be money for me to spend when I go out and play with my friends or save it for a plane ticket home to visit. I haven't decided though. I don't know how comfortable I would be doing that. Even though there was a time when I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I don't know though. I guess I could give it a try, and if I really don't like it I don't have to do it. We'll see though. So that's what's going on in our lives right now. We made it through the first week, and am now counting the days until he comes home. 354 days... but whose counting? =)

Yokohama Baystars

Saturday night I got out of the house and went out with some friends. We went down to Yokohama and went to a baseball game. Probably wasn't the smartest idea since it had been raining off and on all day. The only reason we went was because my friends had company in town and they wanted to go. So we went. The weather was alright to start, but after about the 2nd inning it started pouring. So they called a rain delay and we sat there for about 45 minutes getting soaked. We had our umbrellas and everything, but they didn't really do much good. We were still sopping wet. At first we just sat there laughing. Not sure why, but we did. My friend's son didn't like getting wet though. He was mad and just screaming and crying. It was actually really cute. Anyway, we waited around for a little bit, but then decided to leave. We were wet, the kids weren't happy, and in all honesty I just wanted to get home and talk to my hubby. So it really wasn't worth the $18 for the ticket plus all the train tickets, but oh well. At least I got out of the house for a while.

It kinda reminded me of going to a Boise State Football game. Granted the football games are much better. (Yes I saw the BSU game over the weekend) The Japanese really get into the baseball games. I have no idea what they were saying while they were cheering, but they got into it. They even have young men who are "cheer leaders". Plus they have a "band". Ok, so it's just trumpets and a drum, but you get the idea. Once the rain started, right on que, everyone got out their ponchos and umbrellas. It was like one second everyone's enjoying the game, the next it's a sea of blue and white ponchos. I thought it was kinda funny. I think the best part though was as soon as they called the rain delay, the first song they played over the PA system was "Raindrops keep falling on my head..." You gotta love the Japanese!

"New" Car

Ok, so we've actually had the car for over 2 weeks now, but I just finally got around to taking some pics of it to post. It's a '91 Toyota Cresta, which is basically the Japanese version of the Camry. It's nothing spectacular, but gets me where I need to go. Plus we only had to pay $250 for it. Heck, the insurance and everything cost more than the car did. But hey, we have a car now. No more walking up and down the hill. (I still need to take pics or make a video of that just so y'all can see what we're talking about when we say "the hill")
There she is! I need to wash it. Maybe if tomorrow is nice like today was, I'll do it then.


Yes, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. It would throw me off when we first got here, but now it throws me off to see the steering wheel on the left side. I joke with Ben that he'll have to do all the driving back in the states so I'm not driving on the wrong side of the road. =)

I think we mostly just payed for the stereo. It's got a fairly new radio/cd player in it. Definately worth more that what we payed for the car.

And there's the license plate. The kanji means "Sagamihara" which is the area we live in. The "500" is for the type of engine it has. The "Y" means we are American. Then the numbers are just numbers. I know, so much info in such a little space.

All in all though, I miss driving my sportage. This one is nice, but it's not my kia. I can't wait to go back to the states so I can drive my car again.

he's gone

it's so hard to say that... he's gone... he's been gone less than 12 hours and i already feel like a huge part of me is missing. the house feels so empty and quiet without him here. as of right now, i'm not sure how i'll make it through the next 12 months. i know it's not going to be easy, but i sure hope it's not as hard as today. today has been rough. i pretty much woke up crying, knowing that today was the day we'd be saying goodbye, and it really hasn't stopped. i know the nights and weekends are going to be the worst. i'm used to him being gone during the day while he's at work. it's going to be about 5:00 when i'm expecting him to be home and he doesn't walk in the door that it's going to hurt. and also bedtime when it's time to go to sleep and he's not there to hold me. ben i miss you!!!

YUCK!!!

so we have some workers from housing over here right now. we have mold in the ceiling in the living room. yuck!!! i had noticed what i thought was mildew or something on the ceiling so i had ben check it out and clean it up. as he was wiping it up with a cloth, he put a hole in the ceiling. lovely right?! so then it started dripping, and we've had water dripping onto the floor. thank goodness we don't have carpet. plus it was starting to stink. we've been so busy the past few days that we haven't had time to call and have them come look at it. but we got home from the dr today and it smelled so bad that i made ben call. the workers were here within half an hour. now we have a hole cut in the ceiling and are waiting for someone else to come over. the air conditioning repair guy or something. they couldn't see it leaking anywhere so we're not sure what's going on. who knows. hopefully they get it fixed soon though.

He Leaves...

...Monday. Yup, it's less than a week away. He got the final go ahead from his surgeon today. Do I need bother saying I cried when I heard that? Yeah I knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier. Heck I would cry when he would leave to go work at the airport in Victorville for a couple weeks while we were at Irwin. The only difference there was I could drive an hour and a half and go visit him whenever I wanted. So being apart really isn't anything new for us. It's just never been this far apart. Anyway the next few days are going to be busy with getting things packed and ready to go. I'm doing my best to stay strong. As long as you don't ask me how I'm doing, I'm ok. Once you ask that, the tears start coming. We'll be ok though. This is all supposed to happen this way for a reason. Once I figure out what that reason is, I'll let ya know.

good news, bad news

i mentioned in a previous blog that ben has had numbness in his right arm since his surgery in june. we were able to get in and see the neurologist at yokosuka (the naval base about an hour from here) to see if we could find out what is going on. what it looks like is due to the position he was in during the surgery, the nerves just got pinched or aggravated or both. the good news is that the numbness should go away in 3-6 months. the dr gave him some exercises/stretches to do that should help. so you're probably wondering, "what's the bad news?" the bad news is there's no reason for him not to deploy with his unit next week. it's looking like a week from today he will be on his way to kuwait. we go see his ortho surgeon tomorrow, and he has the final say in if he's ready or not to go, but he should be ready. ben's able to use his shoulder for weight and stuff. we went bowling friday and other than some tightness from the muscles not being used much he had no problem throwing a 16 lb ball down the lane. anyway, as much as i hate it, it's starting to sink in that my hubby is leaving. i'll admit i'm not ready. it's a lot sooner than i was planning on him going. i knew it was going to happen, i just didn't think it was going to be this soon. 12 months seems like such a long time. granted he'll be home for r&r in 6 months, but still. and we've been apart before. the only difference is i won't be able to drive down the road for a quick visit now. but i'll let ya know what the dr says for sure tomorrow. i have a feeling it's not gonna be what i want to hear though.

caught in the rain

we've had a lot of rainstorms/thunderstorms lately that seem to come unexpectedly. today was no different. i was walking home from my dentist appointment this morning and got caught in the rain. it litterally took 30 seconds before i was soaked. lucky for me my neighbor happened to drive by and gave me a ride the rest of the way home. this isn't the first time we've been caught outside either. ben got home from work early one day last week and we decided we were going to try to hurry and mow the lawn before the rain started. he had just finished the back yard (and our back yard isn't very big) before it started to pour. i took these pictures last week, but just to kinda give ya an idea of what i mean when i say rain...

so maybe "raining" is not the right word... how about "flooding" anyone?!

3 Days, 3 Appointments

I'm not a big fan of the dentist. Never really have been. And Ben's been after me for a while to call and set up an appointment to just to just go in for a routine checkup/cleaning. I'll admit, it's been about 2 years since the last time I saw a dentist. That's how much I dislike it. And it didn't help that while we were at Irwin I had to go off post for the dentist. Here I can go to the clinic on post. Anyway, I finally gave into my husband and called Thursday to set up my appointment. Lo and behold they had an opening for the next day. So I go in Friday and it ends up just being filling out some paper work, doing some xrays, and the dentist taking a look at my teeth. So nothing serious. They don't do the cleaning or anything Friday though. I have to set up another appointment for that. We talk for a little bit, he gives me a slip of paper saying I need to set up these other appointments (I needed to get an old filling replaced too), and I head up to the front desk. Apparently things are pretty slow at the dental clinic because the receptionist was like "how about 730 Monday morning?" So I accepted that one, only to have to go change it later. Ben had failed to tell me about a pre-deployment briefing that I was supposed to go to with him Monday morning. So while out running other errands Friday afternoon, I stopped back in and changed it. Guess what, they had an opening for Monday afternoon instead. Come Monday I was back in the chair, this time getting my teeth cleaned. Still not my favorite thing, but I survived. After that was over, I received another slip of paper saying I need to schedule another appointment to get my filling replaced. I bet you can't guess when that one was set up for! Again I made my way down to the dental clinic this morning. I'm sure they are getting tired of seeing me by now. I know I'm getting tired of seeing them. Pretty much as soon as I walked in the door and checked in they were ready for me. They didn't waste any time getting me back there. It would have been nice to have a minute to catch my breath since we still don't have a car and I had to walk down, but it was all good. I was able to do that while they got everything set up. My dentist is a nice guy. He's a bit older and has been doing his job for a while. Doesn't mean that I like what he does though. But he does do it well. He didn't waste anytime getting me numbed up. I can't remember what he used, but it's a newer anesthetic. It works great! Granted he could have used a little more. He said he only used about half a dose, so I still felt some of the drilling, but nothing too terrible. The whole process didn't take too long, and afterwards they did another xray. This time they did the panoramic one to see how my wisdom teeth look. They had to do it twice because the gal who was doing it for me didn't have something set quite right or something so the xray machine got caught on my lead vest. So they fixed everything and did it again. It worked that time. The dentist was in with another patient at the time so I had a seat in the waiting room while he finished up. He came out a short time later and we went over the xray. Guess what, I get to go back to the dentist to get my wisdom teeth out. It won't be here though. I'll have to go down to the air force hospital where Ben had his surgery to see the oral surgeon there. So I'm not sure when that will happen. My dentist here is going to look into it and give me a call. We don't know how the whole referral process works, if he sets it up or if I do. We're going to push to get it done before Ben deploys though. And since we don't know exactly when that will be, the sooner I can get it done the better. I'll keep you updated on that though. I'm looking forward to my husband taking care of me for a little bit the way that I've been taking care of him for the past little while. It will be a nice change. =)
Speaking of taking care of my husband... He's hanging in there. The smallpox vaccine has just wiped him out. He was saying that it hit him a lot harder than a lot of the guys at work. It's starting to get better though. Slower than he would like, but still better nonetheless. His shoulder is getting better too. I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but for about the past month and a half or so he's had problems with his arm going numb. He talked to the dr about it last time we were there and Ben got a referral to go see the neurologist. He got that appointment set up today, and we head to the Naval hospital Monday. There we'll see if we can figure out why his arm and hand have been going numb. It's possible it could have happened during the shoulder surgery, but we don't know anything right now. So that's something else to keep everyone updated on. I guess that's one way to see Japan though. Having to travel everywhere for various dr appts. I won't complain too much though. It gives me a reason to get off post and out of the house, and to spend some time with my honey before he leaves for a while. Right now I'll take whatever time I can get. =)

i love technology!

i love how easy the internet makes it to keep in touch. i've been talking to my cousin kira over the past few days. and even though we're on opposite sides of the world, i love how easy and fast we can talk. it wasn't that long ago when all we had was snail mail. now i can sit and talk to my brothers or grandpa through instant messaging almost like we were sitting across from each other. granted it takes a little longer since we have to type everything, but you get the idea. i think i would go crazy if i had to sit and wait for a letter in the mail, especially being in japan. it takes longer for everything to get here anyway. so to be able to type it out, click send, and have it there is a blessing. yay for technology!!!

poor guy

part of ben getting ready for deployment is the less fun part of getting all the shots/immunizations. over the past week, maybe two, i don't know how many times he has been stuck with a needle. he's had to get the japanese encephalitis, anthrax, and small pox that i know of. none of which are very fun. he had to get the anthrax one day and then small pox the next. i sure hope i never have to get either. his arms just hurt and all the side affects are just not fun. then on top of that he's been passing kidney stones again. he had his annual physical a couple weeks ago and they found blood and protein in his urine, so the tested it again a couple days later, did some xrays, and other blood work and couldn't find anything. then like a day or two later he passed a stone. he took it into the dr and was like "see!" needless to say the dr apologized for not really looking at his medical records before. so they sent that stone off to have it tested (yes he kept it and took it in with him) and he's going to have a ct scan done next week. i wish we knew what was causing them. he's passed more since then too. i feel so bad because there is nothing i can do about it. hopefully we get some answers soon.

friends

one of the great things about the church is you meet some really great people and make some great friends. i think i've gone out pretty much every day for the past week with people from church. we had book club one night, went to lunch one day, went to the pool one day, played bunco one night, we had a game night for fhe monday night, went to ebina yesterday, and just lots of fun stuff. it's been great to get out of the house. granted it's always hot and humid, and you go outside and just start dripping which is disgusting, but i get bored sitting at home all day. so friends are great. i don't know what i would do with out them. and i'm starting to see more of japan and learn my way around. i think i've pretty much figured out how to take the train now. it's not too bad. it's just a matter of getting to the right line. it can be a little confusing. i've decided the worst part of living in japan is not speaking/understanding the language. i can deal with most everything else. the driving can be dealt with, the train isn't too bad, the food is still kinda questionable, but overall it's great. i'm slowly learning the language. it's not easy though. i know some key phrases, but still wish i knew more. i need to look into taking some japanese classes and see if that helps. but until then, i'll keep going out with my friends that have been here longer and know more than i. =)

grrrrrr!!!!

it really bugs me when people don't tell us stuff that we have to know or do. we took the dogs up to the vet today for a pre-op appt to get their dew claws removed. we had the surgery and everything already scheduled for next week. we get there today, keep in mind it's a 45 minute walk since we don't have a car, only to be told they can't do the surgery until they are done with the quarantine which is october 5th. apparently it's japanese law. also turns out that we are supposed to take them in for a check up once a month while they are on quarantine too. no one bothered to tell us any of that! we knew they were on quarantine til october. that much we knew. the monthly visit and no routine surgery we didn't know. the whole surgery thing is frustrating since ben will more than likely be deployed by then which means i'll be taking care of the dogs on my own, and as much as i love them, they can be quite a handful. grrrrrr!!! with something so routine as saying you have to come in once a month, how can you forget to tell someone that? needless to say ben wasn't too happy when we left. as we were leaving though, one of our friends that works there pulled up from getting lunch. so we talked to her for a bit and she was going to talk to the vet and see if they could figure something out. so annoying! stupid vet people...

orders

so i got the news yesterday that pretty much every military wife doesn't want to hear. after a long day of not feeling well and cleaning house, ben came home from work and told me he has orders to deploy. his unit leaves in about a month. granted he won't be leaving with them, as the dr has told them he's not going until his shoulder is better. we're not going to send him over and him screw it up even more. so his orders will be amended, but basically it's as soon as the dr gives the ok, he will be leaving. even if it's just for a couple months. that is unless by some miracle we can keep ben here until april, he will reenlist and we will head back to the states. as nice as japan is, we are both ready to return to the states. so that's what i'm hoping for. that i can keep him here until april and then we'll move back to the states. if he has to deploy he has to go, but i would much rather keep him here with me. he promises he'll be safe and not come back dead, but no one can ever be 100% sure of that. all we can do is hope and pray that everything turns out ok.

Happy 4th of July!

so lately i've come to realize just how good we have it in america. not that japan is bad, but we really are truly blessed to be american citizens. with all of our many freedoms, it's no wonder that so many people want to come to america. it really is the land of the free and the home of the brave. there really is no better place to call home! i hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday. and if you get a chance, thank a soldier for protecting our country and allowing us the freedoms we often take advantage of.