Looking Back..

So, as of yesterday, we officially have fiber optic connection! That means I can finally get some pictures uploaded! I've been totally slacking off all month on the photo taking because, let's face it, there hasn't been that much to photograph. Mostly, I've been pretty busy trying to get the house unpacked and organized. :)

Anyways, here a few pictures from the move itself. I didn't take many pictures, so enjoy those that I do have!

Light..

So call me a dork or whatever you want, but PRAISE THE LORD - there's a light at the the end of the tunnel! I am ALMOST finished with the front rooms. (playroom and living room). I still need to decorate, yes, however, I've got floor space and nearly everything put away!! After this today, I'll move back on into the kitchen and then onto our room. I need to tidy up, but I finished the girls' room yesterday.

Tomorrow, the internet company will be here to install our internet which means pictures for you guys and normal speeds for me! YAY!!! :)

That's all for now. I'm having issues with stomach pains today, so I've had to cancel a thing with a friend, but at least I'm still able to clean.. I can't believe it, I actually feel like we're starting to have a home here and not a disaster!

An Update of Sorts..

So I know I haven't posted on here in a while. Sorry about that guys. (Thank you for reminding me Brandi.. :) ). We've basically been in the process of moving for a little over a week now. While moving in, however, we don't have access to regular internet. I've been using my cell to check facebook and my email, but not much beyond that. We have a data card that the internet company gave us to use until our FO can be installed, but it's still fairly slow as it runs on 3G.

So to update all of you.. For those who aren't on my facebook (ok, really, who is that?!).. The Blue Ridge pulled back into Yokosuka last Friday, bringing Tim along with it. :) After an excruciating 2 or so hours of standing outside with Molly (she didn't want to be put down), one of Tim's first classes came out and got me. So we got a semi private reunion in his work center. Probably better than in front of everyone - if you know us, we're a fairly private couple. Homecomings are a bit different here (MUCH less crowded and not everyone comes off together.. Not to mention, no uniforms either), and it's not like everyone else is distracted by their spouse coming off the ship. So not having to hug and kiss him in front of everyone was actually pretty nice. When we finally got to leave (there was a problem with hooking something up on the ship, so it was a looonnnggg time before we actually got to leave), I got to bring him home. It's been wonderful having him home - no matter how short or long it's going to be. We've already gotten into a regular routine, but we all know that won't last. Especially with a forwardly deployed ship.

Living out here has been amazing. Although, honestly, I think the trash is the hardest part. (worse than our only 5 closets.. Yes, that's the ONLY storage we have - 5 closets). Your trash is separated basically into 5 different pick ups.. And before you throw anything away, you have to clean and dry it. fuuunnn times. haha It's been tough to get used to, but it's not as bad as I was thinking it would be. :) I just wish I could figure out the group resource day (more like bulk items pick up). We have trash pick up 4-5 days a week, and every day is a different pick up (although burnables are twice a week). I'm getting used to it, but I'm always sooo unsure if I'm throwing things in the right place.. hehe We have a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji on clear days, although part of our gorgeous view is now being blocked by a house being built next door.. It's a bummer, but it won't take away from the water or Fuji.. lol :)

Kadie had a field trip to the Kanazawa Zoo yesterday, and we had a lot of fun going to that. Pictures from it will be coming along shortly. :)

That's about it here. We're settling in, and I'm trying really hard to get everything done. I want the front of the house organized and clean by this weekend. We'll see if it happens, but it's what I want. Then I can tackle the bedrooms...

Life in the Lodge

It's taken us long enough, but we've finally settled into a routine in here.. I'm sure any of you in Yokosuka are feeling bad for me right about now. (lol) We've been in here so long that we've got a routine. Life has become fairly normal to us living in here - although we still hate it in here. Anyways, apparently, I do have allergies here and they've hit me hard over the past week or so. Hay fever sucks. Plain and simple. I didn't have the energy to really clean up for the past couple of days, so I finally got around to that. Of course, afterwards, I was bored, so I snapped a few pictures too..


Remember how many times I've told you how small our kitchen in here is? Yeah. That's it. Nothing else to it. There are two "burners," except that one of ours doesn't work, so really, there's one. Don't you love all my prep space??? Everything we have for the kitchen pretty much fits in the cabinets, but there isn't much. That black blob off to the left is our fridge AND freezer. It's a mini fridge. Isn't it wonderful? ha..


Anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I hang dry a LOT of our clothes. Lucky for me, that's normal practice in Japan.. However, there really aren't a lot of spaces to hang in this room. I could get the kind of hangers the Japanese use (kind of like a square of clothes pins to increase the amount of space you can use on one hanger), but then I'd have to hang in the bathroom, and it's not like there's a lot of circulating air in there. So I have to be creative. This is the top of Molly's crib in here.. It's covered with a bunch of the girls' clothes.. Just waiting to dry..



The fan.. Oh one of life's better inventions.. LOL In case you don't know, it's gotten warm here. FINALLY. However, living in a room with two windows side by side (one of which will only open up about two inches) doesn't provide a whole lot of circulation. Today, I was forced to open up our door and leave it ajar just to get some air flow in here. Then, the wonderful woman stopped by with a fan for our room. (after I requested one of course). Oh how great it's been. Even on the lowest setting - it dropped the temperature in here by like 10 degrees within minutes! YAY! I think I want one of these for each of our rooms - in the humidity that is ultimately coming, I think being able to circulate the air will make it much more livable.

So while I was snapping a pic of the fan, it occurred to me that I never showed Tim a picture of Molly's bear. I told him what I did to it, but never showed it. So hun, here ya go. Molly's bear wearing your shirt as a dress. (Everything is just folded, you can still wear it when you get back). For the rest of you, Tim left behind a couple of shirts including the uniform shirt he had put on the morning before he left. We are all big on smell here, and the shirt still smells like him. To help Molly cope with his departure, I took a bear that we all made at BAB while we were at Disneyland and fashioned the shirt to fit like a dress on the bear. I think it's cute, and it's helped Molly, she sleeps with it every night. Even better is that she can hear Tim talk.. Of course, as SOON as I pulled this off the crib, she can toddling over screaming "DADDY! DADDY!!!" And squished its paw so she could hear him talk. She was happy, and started to take off with it.. Please ignore that the picture isn't in focus in the slightest bit. I was working with too slow a shutter speed because I wasn't trying to get a picture of her originally!

Last, but not least (or maybe least.. Why would I leave it until last if it wasn't least)?? Remember that Sakura tree that I'd been following since we got here? It's outside of our window, and I've watched it from the blossoms getting ready to bloom, to blooming, the blossoms falling off, and now it looks like this..

Gorgeous and green. I love it just as much like this. :)

So one thing I didn't think of that I probably should mention.. On Monday (yesterday for me), I had my appointment with housing to start our paperwork. Thanks to Golden Week, it'll be over a week before we can move, but hey, at least we have a date and a light at the end of the tunnel. That's ALL that's important to me as far as that goes. :) Tomorrow is Cinco De Mayo, and at first I was a little sad because it's not like good Mexican is all that easy to come by. (Although there is a fairly good place off base, it's a little pricey, and I'm sure it'll be crowded tomorrow). Anyhoot, the FRG is having a last hoorah party (woo hoo, almost the end of the deployment here) in honor of Cinco De Mayo.. Looks like the girls and I will be getting Mexican food either way! (not quite sure how great it's going to be, but hey, we won't be sitting in the lodge eating Mac & Cheese! :P

-Sarah