It's finally here! Tomorrow (Friday) is packing day. We don't know what time they are coming but supposedly it's tomorrow. I think we're as ready as we can be for now, I'm sure we'll come across last minute things that need to be taken care of. I have a feeling these last few days are going to be very long but soon they'll be over. I think I am just anticipating when we can check into the hotel. That means that we'll have everything taken care of, be out of the house, and just be biding our time until the 14th.
As a heads up I have canceled our Vonage phone number so we are no longer reachable by phone. Our internet gets shut off on Friday or Saturday as well. So for the few days until we check into our hotel (let's hope they have free wi-fi) we'll be unreachable. If for some reason you need to contact us you can email but we won't see the message until the 4th.
Okay guess that's all I have to report.
~M
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
41 Days
As the title suggests we have 41 days left on island. Here are some pictures from our recent outings. In no particular order; kite flying, Soap Box Derby race day (yes I totally forgot to take pictures of the actual cars, oh well. Got some cute pictures of our Monkey), Easter gift from Great Grandma Bryan, and our last trip to the Beach followed by a trip to our favorite burger joint.
Coming up Paul has a Mess Night so we get a chance to get all dolled up. After that it's pretty much all hands cleaning, down sizing, and organizing for the move. Starting June 5th we'll be living out of a hotel until we fly out on the 14th. We are getting our Vonage phone turned off at the end of May, when we get phones in CA we'll make sure to give everyone our new numbers.
I suppose that's about all I have to report. Enjoy the pictures.
~M
Coming up Paul has a Mess Night so we get a chance to get all dolled up. After that it's pretty much all hands cleaning, down sizing, and organizing for the move. Starting June 5th we'll be living out of a hotel until we fly out on the 14th. We are getting our Vonage phone turned off at the end of May, when we get phones in CA we'll make sure to give everyone our new numbers.
I suppose that's about all I have to report. Enjoy the pictures.
~M
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Okinawa in Review
Coming to the final leg of our Okinawa journey. I am relieved that it will soon be fading into the rear view of our lives. Granted we did have quite a few experiences here that would have been difficult on our own. Seeing Hong Kong at Christmas was a treat, and Taiwan was a stressful/fun trip.
On Okinawa we saw almost all there was to see here. Temples, castles, ruins, beaches, mountains, and caves were all available to us. I still sort of feel like we skimped out on taking advantage of our time here.
In the end though, we are all just ready to get back to the States. Terra needs the socializing of kids her age that can understand her. Mary and I need the same to be honest. We are trying to think of ways we can be more active in the community here, and we have a few things on the block to try for sure:
Here is Terra singing "Twinkle Twinkle" shortly after we moved into the Okinawa house:
On Okinawa we saw almost all there was to see here. Temples, castles, ruins, beaches, mountains, and caves were all available to us. I still sort of feel like we skimped out on taking advantage of our time here.
In the end though, we are all just ready to get back to the States. Terra needs the socializing of kids her age that can understand her. Mary and I need the same to be honest. We are trying to think of ways we can be more active in the community here, and we have a few things on the block to try for sure:
- See if we like the Unitarian community in Oceanside and maybe get involved
- Become a member of a local homebrew club and try to get back into the swing of things with brewing.
- Check if there are any friendly knitting groups around town that are active
- Adopt a dog if our house will allow it
- Whatever programs allow us to be involved at Terra's school we will get into
That's the plan at least, hopefully things work out.
Finally, here is a wonderful reminder of the time that has passed here in Okinawa while we've been here.
Here is Terra singing "Twinkle Twinkle" shortly after we moved into the Okinawa house:
And here is Terra singing "Twinkle Twinkle" now, just 60 days before we leave island, almost three years later:
Friday, March 21, 2014
Happy Saturday!
This morning Terra and I both woke up in a good mood. Makes the whole day pretty great when it's started off on the right side of the bed. There's not too much going on really, typical weekend cleaning but today I threw in some baking too. Terra has been asking for Banana Bread, can't deny her that! I made Banana Crumble Muffins instead of a loaf, they didn't turn out as wonderful as the reviews raved. Oh well. Spread anything with Nutella and it's amazing.
Later I'm going to make make some bread. I just have to wait for the maintenance man to come and see why we don't have any hot water. The electronic box that is located in the stairwell controls the hot water, the screen is blank. No matter what button I push, I can't seem to get it to turn on. It's not like I actually know which button is the "power" button, it's all in Kanji. In the past whenever we had to change the temperature or mess with the box at all, we got lucky and pushed the correct buttons. We still have kerosene outside in the tank so that's not the issue. Hopefully it's a quick fix because I've got bread to make (the recipe calls for warm water...DOH! I can heat some up on the stove!) and dishes to wash.
Last night we were watching Kiki's Delivery Service and Terra comes up to me "I want a hair cut. I don't want long hair anymore." She decided about 6+ months ago that she wanted long hair like Rapunzel. Good thing for us Paul's clipper set came with a nice pair of sharp scissors! I think it's adorable however one day I would like to see Terra with long hair.
Paul should be home from Korea soon, in about three days I think. I'm going to bake him a belated birthday chocolate cake with a layer of caramel in between the layers. Frosted with Cream Cheese frosting. I hope it turns out, unlike the muffins.
We have 84 days until we move! We finally received our plane ticket information and we're going to be flying out on June 14th. Crossing fingers that there are no Typhoons to impede our great exodus! I've been on a mission to use up all our pantry items, that's why I've been baking so much lately. See when people PCS off island they pass on their unused pantry items, cleaning supplies, alcohol, and pretty much anything they can't bring back or have room for. Co-workers and friends of course help out but then are stuck with more items they know what to do with. We STILL have some cleaning supplies left over from when my friend left two YEARS ago. Back in January I accumulated more pantry items from another friend that moved. Since we really don't have anyone to pawn our left over items on I'm trying to use them all up as best I can. Sure Paul can bring what's left over to his work, single Marines are notorious for accepting anything they don't have to spend their measly paychecks on. I'm sure we'll have some laundry detergent and some non-perishables to donate to their cause. In the meantime it's kind of fun to see how long before you can go to the grocery store.
Later I'm going to make make some bread. I just have to wait for the maintenance man to come and see why we don't have any hot water. The electronic box that is located in the stairwell controls the hot water, the screen is blank. No matter what button I push, I can't seem to get it to turn on. It's not like I actually know which button is the "power" button, it's all in Kanji. In the past whenever we had to change the temperature or mess with the box at all, we got lucky and pushed the correct buttons. We still have kerosene outside in the tank so that's not the issue. Hopefully it's a quick fix because I've got bread to make (the recipe calls for warm water...DOH! I can heat some up on the stove!) and dishes to wash.
Last night we were watching Kiki's Delivery Service and Terra comes up to me "I want a hair cut. I don't want long hair anymore." She decided about 6+ months ago that she wanted long hair like Rapunzel. Good thing for us Paul's clipper set came with a nice pair of sharp scissors! I think it's adorable however one day I would like to see Terra with long hair.
Paul should be home from Korea soon, in about three days I think. I'm going to bake him a belated birthday chocolate cake with a layer of caramel in between the layers. Frosted with Cream Cheese frosting. I hope it turns out, unlike the muffins.
We have 84 days until we move! We finally received our plane ticket information and we're going to be flying out on June 14th. Crossing fingers that there are no Typhoons to impede our great exodus! I've been on a mission to use up all our pantry items, that's why I've been baking so much lately. See when people PCS off island they pass on their unused pantry items, cleaning supplies, alcohol, and pretty much anything they can't bring back or have room for. Co-workers and friends of course help out but then are stuck with more items they know what to do with. We STILL have some cleaning supplies left over from when my friend left two YEARS ago. Back in January I accumulated more pantry items from another friend that moved. Since we really don't have anyone to pawn our left over items on I'm trying to use them all up as best I can. Sure Paul can bring what's left over to his work, single Marines are notorious for accepting anything they don't have to spend their measly paychecks on. I'm sure we'll have some laundry detergent and some non-perishables to donate to their cause. In the meantime it's kind of fun to see how long before you can go to the grocery store.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Three months and three days +/-
This is so exciting! Paul got his Port Call information. Tickets have not been locked on yet but it looks like we'll be leaving Okinawa by mid June. Just a little while longer and I can start booking temporary lodging and possibly a rental car. I'm so excited and can't wait for the move. In California for my birthday! Should I have a desert party or a beach party? Or maybe we can have a house warming party! Whatever we decide it can't come soon enough.
~M
~M
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Earthquakes
So this morning at about 5am we were woken up by an Earthquake. Come to find out there was a 6.7 quake off the northwest coast of Okinawa this morning. No damage here, just a little shaken nerves. That's not really something you'd want to wake up to.
It looks like more quakes are in our future too, just in case you haven't been told Paul finally got orders to Camp Pendleton in southern California. We'll be about an hour south of L.A. and about that far north of San Diego. It's not where we wanted to get stationed but the idea is warming quickly. To be honest I'm quite excited. There's so much to do in that area of the country and I've never been west coast except for short vacations. I'm looking forward to hiking in the canyons and exploring the nearby desert. Most likely we'll be living in a town called Oceanside and just like it's name, we'll be right by the ocean again. Even though we'll be so close to the ocean I am thoroughly looking forward to not being on a small island.
Let's see, what else is new? Oh, right now we live on the side of a small mountain. At the top there is a great park with hiking trails and beautiful views of Ishikawa and Onna. Every time we've walked up there in the past, we thought the park was closed. Much to our surprise it's not. Saturday after a filling breakfast we walked up to the park and did some hiking. Terra did great and we can't wait to go back to hike more trails.
So that's about all on our end. Counting down and getting things in order before the move. Researching cars, school, and rentals in Oceanside. Living and loving life. Here are some pictures from the hike.
~M
It looks like more quakes are in our future too, just in case you haven't been told Paul finally got orders to Camp Pendleton in southern California. We'll be about an hour south of L.A. and about that far north of San Diego. It's not where we wanted to get stationed but the idea is warming quickly. To be honest I'm quite excited. There's so much to do in that area of the country and I've never been west coast except for short vacations. I'm looking forward to hiking in the canyons and exploring the nearby desert. Most likely we'll be living in a town called Oceanside and just like it's name, we'll be right by the ocean again. Even though we'll be so close to the ocean I am thoroughly looking forward to not being on a small island.
Let's see, what else is new? Oh, right now we live on the side of a small mountain. At the top there is a great park with hiking trails and beautiful views of Ishikawa and Onna. Every time we've walked up there in the past, we thought the park was closed. Much to our surprise it's not. Saturday after a filling breakfast we walked up to the park and did some hiking. Terra did great and we can't wait to go back to hike more trails.
So that's about all on our end. Counting down and getting things in order before the move. Researching cars, school, and rentals in Oceanside. Living and loving life. Here are some pictures from the hike.
~M
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