Feeling like a princess

I saw this and thought it was way too funny not to share. No wonder I feel like a princess ;)

New House (Part one)

So as most of you know Justin and I moved into a new house off base just over a month ago. It's been great. Not far from base, about a block from the seawall, and right across the street from a great Turkish restaurant and a coffee place.

Our move was a whirlwind. Justin was TDY when the movers came so I unpacked as much as I could. When he got home it was straight back to work, unpacking in our spare time, while trying to spend some time together before he left again….this time for a deployment. In between all that, we managed to get in our awesome trip to Taipei. All of that is to give my excuses as to why there are still boxes in the house and why I am just getting around to posting pictures of the house (and why the house pictures will be posted in at least two parts … because there are still boxes and messiness in all the parts that I didn't take pictures of!!)

So here is our house.

This is the game room/extra room. That door to the left leads into Justin's bathroom. This is on the first floor. Other than the garage, it's the only thing down there.

On the second floor is the kitchen, living room, and one tiny half bath. Here's a picture of the kitchen and bathroom below. Living room and upstairs to follow!

Isn't that the tiniest sink you've ever seen?? :)

Different Cultures

There have been many great things about living overseas (traveling, adventure, BEACHES!) as well as not so great (the lack of mexican food and Wal-mart spring to mind!) But one of the things that I hope to take away from this experience is just how different cultures can be. For instance, before our recent trip to Taipei, I researched some of the Do's and Don'ts of their culture. Did you know that you never EVER point to a tombstone? Or whistle at night? Both are seen as an invitation to ghosts. You should never give a friend your umbrella but should "rent" it to them (for like NT$1 which is about 30 cents) because the word for umbrella in mandarin is very similar to the word for break up. Funny how things work.

During one of our last days in Taiwan, Justin and I hopped on a train and headed in search of a small (in comparison) town with one big Buddha.

Three hours later we arrived in Changhua City. After gazing at the Buddha, we grabbed a

cab back into town. I must add that being that far away from the usual tourist sights, english speakers were a rare commodity. Luckily to find the Buddha, we were able to show a picture in the travel guide and POOF! we were driven directly there. The ride back however, was a little more difficult. Finally "CHOO CHOO!!" was able to drive home the point that we wanted to go to the train station!

Anyway, back in town, while waiting on our train we walked around and found a little dumpling place, pointed to a picture, hoped it was edible and ordered. As we were eating we heard music begin to play down the street. Like an ice cream truck coming. We waited and watched in amusement as people from everywhere began to come out with bags of garbage. Yup. That's right … people deliver their garbage to the garbage truck! We even saw one older lady on a second floor put hers on a crank and lower it down to street level where someone else took it in for her. I think if our garbage guys knew how good other garbage guys had it, we'd have a strike on our hands!!

I know that was random and kind of silly, but I thought it was just a perfect example of "Everyone has their own way of doing things"

Taipei 4/2011

As we prepared for Justin's rapidly approaching deployment, we decided to take some time for ourselves and take a trip. We searched around and picked Taipei, Taiwan. After only an hour and a half flight on China Airlines, we arrived in busy, bustling Taipei. It had a great mix of modern conveniences, shopping as well as touristy things, and temples. I think we made a good pick!

This is one of the temples right in the middle of Taipei. You can see a Buddhist monk knelt in prayer.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous as well. This picture was taken in the park surrounding the Chiang Kai Chek memorial. It almostlooks fake!

It was crazy to see the amount of food everywhere. There were markets filled with lots of food on nearly every street (a lot of it unidentifiable!) I have no idea what this really is, but Justin was brave and tried it. Some kind of gelatin/lime drink.

I guess this is Taiwan's version of escargot?? We didn't try that!

We took an awesome Gondola ride over tons of tea farms to the top of a mountain where we were able to partake in a tea ceremony. Definitely a cultural experience I will never forget.

When we went in search of the Maukong gondola, we came across the Taipei zoo. From what I've seen so far, typically the zoos in asia are kind of sad but this one was amazing! Complete with pandas!

And last but not least, one big Buddha!

My derby player's card

Here is my player card for derby. As you can see, I decided to change my name. Introducing:

Babblin' Bruiser #7

Proud Air Force Wife

Unless you've been under a rock, in a coma, or in a deep state of denial, you've heard about the tragedy that is occurring on Mainland Japan. First a massive earthquake, then a devastating tsunami, and now a nuclear disaster. Of course no matter where in the world I was, my heart would be heavy for the people of Japan in the wake of this tragedy, but living here - on this tiny island of Okinawa - this literally hit close to home. The Japanese people are so sweet and polite. Giving and good natured. Humble and respectful. And even during this time of devastation have shown the ability to thrive to survive yet not resort to looting and violence as we as Americans have sadly almost come to expect in the wake of a disaster.

While I can do very little to help, though I wish I could, I am so proud to say that Justin, his squadron, along with the rest of our American Military Forces are doing all they can to help the country of Japan and it's people. It's not often (never) that I get totell (and rarely that I even know) about Justin's job. But this time, the Air Force posted an article online so I think that makes it fair game, right?? :) Here is a picture of Justin's plane (MC-130H Combat Talon II) taking off from Kadena heading to the mainland to deliver help. If you'd like to read the article that talks about this particular flight, here is the link http://www.353sog.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123246559

While I have no idea of the specifics of what Justin and his squadron are doing, I know it's important, and I know it's needed. I can honestly say that I am a proud Air Force wife. Actually, I'm just a proud wife.

Now, with all that said, I've had several people ask me if this nuclear mess will affect us here on Okinawa. I'm obviously no expert, but everything i've read (and it has to be true if I read it on the internet, right??) says that we should be perfectly safe. I don't think most people realize just how far away we are from the nuclear plants. Its about 1200 miles. And right now the area of concern is about 30 miles around the reactors. So we have about a 1,170 mile buffer zone. AND even if the wind does carry some of the radiation this way, by the time it reaches here, it should be dissipated enough that it wouldn't be harmful to humans. Less than what you would get with one x-ray.

Here's a little map to show you where we are in relationship to everything. We are that tiny little island next to the big blue arrow.

Stay tuned for more updates. Big things to come. The movers come in exactly one week to pack up our things and we will officially say GOODBYE base housing, and HELLO new house!! WOOHOO!!!

One more!!

Okay, so remember I said we had three teams under our league, The Kokeshi Roller Dolls? Well here is our official "Shisa Slammers" photo!! All of the girls on my team are so great! It's a good thing that I absolutely love every girl on my team since we spend 6 hours a week together skating and bumping into each other!

If you are looking for me among all the awesome-ness that is my team, I'm front and center!