Okinawan Life - Thus Far

Well, we have officially been in Oki for more than 3 months, and I am officially slacking on this blog! A lot has happened since I last wrote. We are finally all moved into our house and for the most part unpacked. The stuff that isn't unpacked we really have no idea what to do with. Our last house was roughly 1600 square foot and this house is maybe 800? So ya, we brought too much stuff! I was a little hesitant at first about the house we are living in, but it is growing on me! They just painted the outside of it so it looks a lot nicer now! We both learned how to drive! We bought another car for me. It's a lot smaller than our Terrano. I got a 2000 black Nissan Cube! I love it! It's the best car I have ever driven! I am all pro at driving now, even off base! The roads off base are a lot more narrow then on base, so it's almost a necessity to have a small car. I'm learning my way around the island fairly well too. 

Matt is liking work so far. It is very different than being at WP, but I think he likes the change. Everyone from the squadron is awesome! It's a lot different than being attached to a cop squadron, where there is nothing but drama. Everyone here is laid back and just likes to have a good time. It's almost like a family away from home. I've become close with a few wives here, and I'm sad to say they will be leaving me soon!! :( I will definitely miss all of the adventures we have been on, including going to Tokyo! I usually don't do the whole spur of the moment trip thing but we did it and I'm glad that I went! It was a lot of fun! We went to Disney two of the days. It rained one day, but was pretty nice the 2nd day. It was definitely an experience, a very tiring experience. 

I'm hopefully going to start school in a few weeks. I'm going to attend Penn Foster for Medical Assisting. It's an associate degree and will hopefully help  me with my dream of becoming an RN. Everything for the most part is online and it's on my pace. I'm pretty excited about it! Once we get back to the states I will be able to finish it with a 200 hr externship in a doctors office or clinic. Than hopefully, start work and go to school for my RN! 

Well, not much else is going on. I promise to update more often. Maybe next time, I will have something more exciting to talk about! 

<3 Jen

Our New Home!

Well it has been almost a month since we have been in Okinawa and things are finally starting to settle down. We moved into our house on Monday and now it's just getting things unpacked and put away. I have met some new amazing people and that gives me hope for the next 3 years. Not that I don't miss my ladies back home (because I do so much!), but atleast I won't be lonely! Last Friday I was privileged enough to be invited on a helicopter tour of the island. We flew in an HH-60 and were all strapped in. We got to fly with the doors open so the view was just spectacular! I took the pictures at the top on the flight. I have some great pictures from it. It was truly an amazing experience! I got to witness the beauty of the island first hand and I am so excited to call this home! Hopefully this summer we can get dive certified and go out and explore the reefs. In 2009, Okinawa was voted 2nd best diving in the world (the first was the Great Barrier Reef). There is a lot to do on the island. There are tons and tons of beautiful beaches and I hear the fishing is great! The weather has been okay since we have been here. Only a couple days so far it has been extremely warm. The worst is yet to come though. In July and August is when it's the most humid. It rains a lot. May is the start of the rainy season. Hopefully no major typhoons hit the island this year! Although I think it would be an awesome experience minus the damage haha! Well that is all I have for now. I need to go finish some laundry! Oh fun!


♥ Jen

Welcome to Okinawa!

Well it is official! We finally made it to Japan! Everything has been moving in such a fast pace that I finally have a chance to just relax! We are still living in temporary housing but hopefully soon we will have a house of our own! And we bought a car yesterday! It's a '95 Nissan Terrano. They dont have them in the US but I would say they are equivalent to a Pathfinder. We both got our license yesterday too! The test was extremely easy.. now the true test is actually driving. They drive on the left hand side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car! It's very different and will take a while to get used to! We are going today to get our cell phones! They actually have iPhones here so that is what we are getting I think! The weather has been so so.. today is actually NOT rainy! The rest of the days we have been here it's rained during some part of the day. I got to talk to my mom today which makes me happy! We talked for about an hour. I miss my family and friends a lot but I'm not too homesick yet. I'm sure that will come at a later date. I've met some pretty cool people here so far so hopefully I won't get too homesick! But I am going to go do some laundry. It seems like that is what my days consists of lately! I will try to write soon!


<3 Jen

The Trip from Hell (so far)

So last Tuesday, we left for our trip to Japan. And it has been less than pleasant so far. It started when we got to the airport. We were supposed to be traveling on United. Well, since we are traveling with our dog, we obviously have his kennel. Apparently United doesn't except XL kennels so they wouldn't take our dog. After about an hour of my husband yelling at the guy at the counter and a different airline later, we booked a flight on Frontier. They actually accepted our kennel dimensions. The only problem was we weren't scheduled to leave now until 4:05 pm! Our original flight was supposed to leave at 7:40 am.. a big difference! So we go home and then come back.. everything goes smooth through security and such. We say bye to family and then get on the plane. We fly to Denver, and Denver is under a Winter Storm Warning. It took about an hour longer to land because of the storm. Once we got off the plane, we realized that our next flight to Seattle was delayed due to weather. After boarding the plane two separate times and then deboarding again, our flight gets cancelled. In fact, not just our flight but the whole entire airport shut down. There was a good 5,000 people that slept in the airport that night. We spoke to someone at the desk in the airport and rescheduled our flight to Seattle for the next day, except our flight wasn't due to leave until 9:30 pm. That put a strain on us because our next flight to Japan was supposed to leave before our flight arrived. So regardless, we booked a hotel room that was 30 miles away from the airport (which is a $60 cab ride one way). The next day, we woke up to find out our new flight to Seattle was delayed!! Are you kidding me? So there was a definite NO that we were not making our last flight to Japan. So we had to check with Matt's boss to make sure it was okay that we were going to be a week late (seeing as how the flight goes out once a week). So here we are in Seattle for an extra week, which to some might seem like a good thing. And was have had fun so far site seeing and such.. but now our main concern is getting on the next plane. There isn't a pet slot open for this weeks flight so we aren't sure what we are going to do yet! It might come to that I have to stay in Seattle for another week BY MYSELF! That equals me not happy!! Oh well.. I have faith that the Lord will get us to Japan one way or another. If I have to put on my big girl panties and go alone then that is what I have to do.