2011, A Year in Review

Naha, Okinawa, Fall 2011

2011 was a crazy, busy, challenging, rewarding, unbelievable year for us. I'll be honest, on January 1st, I didn't have high hopes for this year. We had just gotten back from an amazing vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN with our group of 21 family members. It was a great way to end 2010, in the mountains on Christmas, in the snow with everyone together. But we knew what was coming...David and I would be moving to Japan in the coming months and my brother would be leaving on another year long deployment. It was very bittersweet. But here it is, Christmas again and I'm surviving my first holiday season away from Mama and Daddy. But just barely.

So what have we been up to this year? Let's take it by the month.

January: I had moved back to Vernon for the last couple months in the US because our house had to be packed up. David was finishing up his tour at Navsciatts. He re-enlisted this month for the third time. Our new EAS (end of active service) is January 2015! We also got good medical news for me.

Baton Rouge Temple, February

February: David joins me at Mama and Daddy's, all of our worldly possessions are either in a storage unit in New Orleans, or headed out over the Pacific to our new home in Okinawa, Japan. (Or in the 4 suitcases I've over packed. Oops) We spent Valentine's Day on a trip to Baton Rouge, LA and Biloxi, MS including a stop at the LDS Temple in Baton Rouge.

Seattle Temple, March

March: We say goodbye to America, our dog, our families and our truck. On Fat Tuesday in New Orleans (I'll let you imagine the chaos!) I get one a plane for the first time and fly from NOLA to Texas, then on to Seattle. We spend 4 days in Seattle, and LOVE it. We're definitely planning a trip back there. We also stop at the LDS Temple in Seattle! We've decided to make it a goal to see a Temple and a Bass Pro Shop in every state together before we die. Gotta love us Southern Mormons. On March 11, 2011 we leave Tokyo, Japan 2 hours before the earthquake. We didn't even know it was happening until hours later when we get to our friends house in Oki and turn on the news. Japan is overwhelming at first, but thankfully, we have our friends here to help us settle in.

April: We are official residents of Japan. We have a house, each have a Japanese car, and have somewhat successfully learned to drive on the "wrong side of the road" (Which now feels "right" and I'm going to have to learn to drive like an American all over again in 2 years!) We've learned how to count money in Yen! I also gain a sister-in-law and nephew this month when Matt and Callie get married!!

May: We've settled into or new LDS Branch here, and the building a little different then what we're used to. And by a little different, I mean it's LITTLE! But it's so neat to see the English Book of Mormon and Hymnals sitting next to the ones in Japanese and know that the Gospel of the Lord is growing and lives are being changed. Also this month, I start meeting with new fertility doctors and we're hopeful something will work. Typhoon Season starts next month, but we've already gone through our first one. Just like a Northwest Florida hurricane except more wind, less rain and thunder.

David's Honda SMX, after the accident.

June: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US! It's lucky year number 7, but on the way out to dinner to celebrate (in the middle of a small typhoon) we are in an accident. Thankfully no one is hurt, but David's poor car is looking nasty and our reservations at Arin Kirin had to be cancelled. Bummer.

Okuma, July

July: David has been a Marine for 8 years now! I can't believe it's been that long since Mama and I sat on the Parade Deck at Parris Island, burning up in the SC heat! He turns 27...which is also hard to believe, since I met him when he was 14. We spend a weekend at Okuma, a resort on the northern tip on the island and we try our first round of Clomid, which works but we don't get pregnant.

August: Lane gets her drivers license and even out here in Japan, I spend the day crying. She was 6 when I got mine and I wasn't allowed to drive home because she was in the back seat freaking out and scared I'd wreck, so I returned the favor. I'm sure she loves that reminder. We try our second round of Clomid and wait for the results.

September: Ahh...football season! Which for us folks in the Japanese Time Zone means SEC and ACC football comes on at 4am Sunday. Thank goodness for DVR. I turn 26, but we'll just skip right over that. And the day before my birthday, I GET PREGNANT. This month I swore I wouldn't test like I had previous months, but on the 26th I couldn't shake the feeling. So at 5:30am I call David, who is driving to work, crying hysterically because for the first time in 7 years, there are two lines. Four more pregnancy tests and 2 doctors visits later, I am confirmed 3 and half weeks pregnant.

October:  I spend the month waiting for cooler weather...but it never comes. We are having a hard time keeping the baby a secret, but we're still so early that we want to wait a while longer. We told our parents right away, but waited until 7 weeks to make it "Facebook Official". The original plan was to wait until 8-10, we almost made it.

Little June Bug at 9 weeks!

November: Morning Sickness, enough said. But we also see little June Bug for the first time and it's perfect. Finally, on Thanksgiving we enter the second trimester. We also spend our first Thanksgiving away from home, but with great friends and good food. David even goes Black Friday shopping with me! I also accept a calling as our Branch's Primary Secretary, which I am LOVING!

Growing SO fast! Here's June Bug at 13 weeks!

December: Finally, the cooler weather is here and the morning sickness is almost good. Aside from being away from family, this is a pretty great month. We see June Bug again, and it's SO much bigger now. It was moving so much, and we saw it's little fingers and toes and brain and spine...it's amazing to see a perfect little baby and think that it's inside me. We're starting on the nursery this month, since David has time off, and he'll be really busy from January until March. We also celebrate 9 months on the island this month, which is hard to believe. It really has flown by. Matt is finally home, safe and sound and I'm incredibly happy about that!

Marine Corps Ball, November

This year has been amazing, and I can't tell you how excited we are for the next one. We've been blessed beyond measure and we're so happy. We hope your family has been just as blessed, and will continue to be happy and healthy through the year to come.

Thank you so much for all your love and support through this year, and all the ones before. Y'all really do mean the world to us.

An Okinawan Drive

Here's a video we took while we were driving from MCB Camp Courtney to Kadena AFB the day after Typhoon Mufia hit. Enjoy! And I hope you don't get sea sick.

It didn't take us nearly as long to get used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road as I thought it would. Because you're driving from the right side, it's only natural that your body is towards the inside lane. So it's easy to remember which lane to drive in. For me, the hard part to remember is that your blinker and windshield wipers are switched in Japanese cars. I am forever turning on the windshield wipers when I want to make a turn. Also parking lots can be tricky, because there's no real lane and especially if there is no one else around to remind you which side you should be on.
But by far the hardest part of driving in Okinawa is navigating the roads. Two things totally drive me insane-first, there are rarely any street names or signs. Some have numbers, and sometimes they are posted, but usually not. And secondly, the road numbers change for no reason. For example, if you start out on 74 and stay straight you'll end up on 85, with no idea how it happened, then 85 will turn into 23. I know! Completely confusing. But the island is small, and it IS an island, so if you go too far you'll just hit water and turn around. After five months I feel pretty confident that I can get almost anywhere on the island. I've been from one end to the other and back. It's only about 70-ish miles but takes several hours with all the winding, narrow roads and the speed limit of about 35 mph (50kmh). But getting lost and going exploring is so much fun!

Five Months Later...

My last post was written on March 12th, from the West Pac Lodge where we were staying until we got our house here in Japan. To say I've been slacking would be an understatement! So much has happened in the last five months we've been here, but somehow I managed to completely forget about this blog. Partially because our computer hard drive had to be replaced and I left my old laptop in the States. But no more excuses, we fixed David's laptop and I got a new one!

What's been happening since we landed here? Well, there's no way I could write about all of it, so I'll just make a list!

• Moved into our house on McT. I don't hate it, I don't love it.
• Bought my car, a Diahtsu Terious, complete with rhinestones on the steering wheel.
• Bought David's car, a Honda SMX.
• Crashed David's car, totalled it, but he's still going to drive it until the JCI is up in a couple years.
• Started new fertility meds and became serious about having a baby in the next year.
• David turned 27!!!!
• Celebrated 7 years of marriage. Seriously. I know. SEVEN years. Where did all that time go?
• David started and completed Sgt's Course with a GPA of 95!
• He also earned his green and brown Marine Corps Martial Arts belts!!
• Made tons of new friends, and love our new Church Branch.
• Went on a mini-vacation to Okuma
• Had 2 super typhoons (Songda and Mufia) and one not so super typhoon.
• David had a trip to Korea planned-but it was cancelled.
• David had a trip to San Antonio planned-but it was cancelled. (See a pattern here?)
• David was told he'll be going to Afghanistan soon.
• We're starting our Temple Prep classes on Thursday to be Sealed!!!

And those are just the major events of the first half of 2011. Maybe (hopefully) from here on out I'll be more diligent about keeping up with the blog.

-Jodie

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...(Part 2)

We made it!

But as we were driving to the West Pac in our sponsors car, we heard the news of the quake and tsunami that hit Tokyo. We were lucky enough to have left Tokyo about 5 hours before it hit, and the only affect on the island was a small tsunami that didn't do any damage. Please continue to pray for those affected, and those trying to rescue people.

First off, let me start by saying that our flight path and experience was completely different from our friends who PCSed here a few months ago, so please know that yours might be different too, but here is how our's went down:

We left Seattle at 215am and landed at Yokota AFB about 10 hours later. There, we got off the plane and went inside the passenger service center for 2 hours. Inside there were phone booths, although I don't know how much it would cost to call home, not many people were trying to. They had a charging station, restrooms, and a single restaurant. They also had a very small exchange counter where you could purchase snacks and a few travel needs. If you left the seating area to go get food, you had to go through security to come back in, but it was easy and quick. No yen was needed here, as we were on base. They did tell us that the next stop would be Iwakuni and that the layover would be 2 hours and we would NOT deplane, so you might want to plan accordingly and purchase some snacks and drink from the vending machines before getting back on the plane.

It took us another hour to get to Iwakuni, where they said we'd have the 2 hour layover. We were actually there for only about an hour. From there, we flew another 2 hours and finally landed at Kadena AFB on Okinawa at 2:30pm, local time.

The process from here was much easier then I had anticipated. We deplaned and went through customs, which was basically just getting our passports stamped. Once again, make sure you have your passport!!! We then got our luggage (we waited at the claim for about 45 minutes before ours came out!) and found our sponsor. Luckily ours was a Marine that David was friends with years ago at Camp Lejeune so we found him right away. If you don't know your sponsor there are people there to help you. We loaded up in the Marine's car and came here to the Westpac to check it.

All in all, it was so much easier and smoother then I thought it would be. After talking to my friend who came here on a commercial flight, I can safely say that the AMC flight was much more hassle free. And we didn't need yen until we got here, so I'd get some just in case, but it's not a huge issue if you don't get any in Seattle. I'll make a post about the Westpac and the first few days of being on the island later. Until then, take care!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...(Part 1)

Yep, we are FINALLY on our way to Okinawa. Only two months late, but what PCS isn't complete without some sort of set back. It's 1:20am and I'm writing this from a bench in SeaTac airport. Our plane boards in just less then an hour. So far, the trip from Northwest Florida to Seattle, WA has gone very smoothly. (Knock on wood!) We were able to fly from New Orleans to SeaTac on Monday and site see around the Seattle area for the last two days. I have several pictures that I'll share in another post. I'm hoping to have time next week while waiting on a house to update more.
But now we're here, and in less 18 hours we'll be in Okinawa. It seems surreal. We found out about this PCS over 7 months ago, but that fact that we're down to mere hours is a bit overwhelming. Here's a little about how the entire process works:

When you arrive, you'll check in at AMC counter (Air Mobility Command). It was on the 4th floor and very easy to find, just follow all the young men with buzz cuts and seabags! As far as luggage goes, we had a slight ordeal, but nothing major. You're allowed 2 checked bags and 1 carry on each. The checked bags can be up to 70 pounds, but anything from 71-100 pounds will cost you an extra $112. Anything over 100 pounds isn't allowed at all. Unfortunately David's seabag was 96 pounds, but the wonderful lady at the counter let us rearrange some bags and get them all under the allowed weight. At this point make sure you have your orders, military ID, and passport. As I was researching I'd heard conflicting things. Some say passports aren't necessary unless you plan to travel off the island while there, and others say they are. They did ask for mine, so I was glad I forked over the $150 to get one. You'll get a sheet of paperwork to fill out with the service member and dependents name, social, date of birth, and rank. I should also add that David had a garment bag that they let him carry on in addiction to his backpack.

Once the bags were checked, we went through security, which was exactly like any other security screening at the airport. After that we went on the search for yen. But wouldn't you know the exchange hours are 5am-5pm. There may be other currency exchanges in SeaTac, but we never did find one. I suggest getting yen as soon as possible, since know we'll have to wait until we arrive in Okinawa to get any. My friend who just got there said she didn't "need" any yen, but it's convenient to have for the layover.

I'm still not sure where we're sitting on the plane or even how long the flight will be. (I'll update that in the second post.)

So...that's about it until we get one plane. Next time you hear from me I'll be an Okinawa resident!