16 All over again!

That's how I'm feeling...I'm excited, nervous, scared...all the same things I felt when I was 16.  Why?  Because I'VE GOT MY LICENSE!!!  Yesterday, after losing 5 hours of my life that I will never get back because of a newcomer's orientation, I was able to take my driver's license test!  I have to admit going into the test, I was pretty sure I would fail.  Corey kept telling me that it was easy and just common sense, but then on the way to Camp Foster, he kept pointing out new signs and telling me wierd, random driving rules here in Okinawa.  Luckily, one of the girls I was standing in line with had a copy of all the street signs.  We were able to cram a few of them into our memory before we sat down.  Once I was done with the test, Corey drove me over to the safetly building where we got to stand in line again while they checked my paperwork and made my license!  I don't have a car to drive yet, but Corey already has one claimed for me.  Hopefully we'll have the car soon and I'll be able to post a few pictures of it for everyone! 
This weekend is our trip to the aquarium...look out for an update!

Attempt #2 = SUCCESS

Konnichiwa!

I made it safely to Okinawa yesterday afternoon, just as I thought my butt couldn't handle another plane ride. I got my luggage got to see Corey! We drove back to his sponsor's apartment where we'll be staying until we can get my area clearance fixed and get into our base housing. His sponsor lives off base and this place is beautiful! I'll have to take some pictures and send them. Yesterday all I wanted was a shower, and after I got that we just bummed around the house. I had slept the entire way from Alaska to Yokota, so when I woke up in Yokota is was early morning in Japan. It really helped, because I wasn't tired until later that night and my sleep schedule is already good.

This morning we woke up early and headed out to a small pankcake house nearby the apartment. We went with Corey's sponsor Kevin, and his friend Kim. It was a really tiny place, but the food was delicious! I was boring and stuck with strawberry pancakes, but Corey wanted to try something new. So he picked Anko pancakes. It was pancakes with the red bean paste on top. He said the bean paste was a little too sweet for him, but he's glad he tried it.

Then we went to Kadena to hit up the new two story BX and commisary. We bought Corey some new running shoes (thank goodness he finally realizes his old shoes just aren't cutting it!) and grabbed some food. After lunch we decided we wanted to get a few movies from the BX, so we went back upstairs only planning on buying a few movies. However, we ended up buying ourselves a nice little investment we call the Wii. We've been wanting one, and we saw it there, so we went ahead and got the console, a couple extra contollers, and a few games. We're calling it our "Yay we're finally both in Okinawa" gift to ourselves!

Now we're back at the house waiting for the Wii controllers to charge so I can kick his butt in some of the games! I'm sitting at the dining room table looking out the sliding glass door and I can see the beautiful ocean! The weather is perfect right now, and I'm already in love with Okinawa all over again! Next weekend we're planning on going to the aquarium and seeing some more spots up north. I'll update more soon!

Attempt #1 = FAIL

So I guess I was joking when I said my next post would be from Okinawa.  Instead I write from the hotel room in Seattle!  Last night was interesting to say the least.  After I checked in for my flight, I went to the gate to start the 5-6 hour wait until we boarded.  Throughout the night, everyone from our flight made it up to the waiting area and started to prepare for the very long flight ahead.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 0120 on the 25th, so most of the kids were running around crazy and the parents were letting them (I think in attempt to get all of their energy out so they would sleep on the plane) .  Our boarding passes said we would begin boarding just after midnight, so I tried staying awake the whole time so that I could sleep on the plane.  They started boarding half an hour late and started with the families.  Once the families were one, they would load from the front to back of the plane, so a bunch of us were getting ready to follow.  Well, time passed...about 45 minutes actually.  They announced that our boarding would be delayed by half an hour because they needed to clean the plane.  So we waited some more.  Then they announced it would be an hour because of mechanical issues.  So again, we waited.  The families returned from the plane and everyone started finding spots on the floor or chairs to sleep...and I joined in.  It was around 0100 and I just couldn't stay awake anymore.  I was woken up by an announcement saying they were delaying our flight by 24 hours and that we all needed to go back and get our luggage, return to the ticket counter to get a hotel voucher, and try again tomorrow. 
We all groaned and made it down to the baggage claim as nicely as we all could.  Getting our bags took forever...remember there were families with three or so kids, so some people had like fifteen bags to get!  As we got our bags, we made it up to the counter where we were given our hotel vouchers and told where to meet the shuttle.  Eveyone seemed to be working nicely together until it was time to get on the shuttles.  Where there were obviously lines for each hotel, of course there were the people who would run ahead and get on the shuttle in front of everyone.  A few of us kind of teamed up and managed to get all of our luggage onto a shuttle and finally made it to the Holiday Inn.  Checking in took about half an hour and I was SO RELIEVED to finally put my bags down in my room. 
I was given a pretty nice room with two full sized beds, and meal vouchers too.  I was worried about getting ahold of Corey so he would know not to go to the airport to pick me up, but luckily I caught him on skype.  It was about 0430 when I checked in and spoke to him, so he was getting ready for bed and I was beyond tired.  I finally got to bed and enjoyed some very needed sleep in a very comfy bed.  Tonight we're all supposed to be back at the airport by 2200 to re-check our bags and wait AGAIN in the gate area.  I'll probably just spend my day bumming around and head to the airport a little early to beat the rush.  That way I'll get another good seat in the waiting area and a place to plug in my laptop (there were only two or three places to do so).  Cross your fingers that attempt #2 goes better!  I'd like to be in Okinawa soon! 

Journey to Okinawa

I'm writing this as I sit in the Seattle-Tacoma airport waiting a few more hours until my flight boards. It has already been a long day, but I still have a day of travel ahead of me!

Yesterday was full of tears and goodbyes. I spent one last day with Heather before I left. We started the day with a delicious breakfast at Flying Stary (I'm gonna miss that place!) and followed that up with an argument with the post office lady. Once we were all worked up and angry with the post office for ripping us off, we decided we would relax with a movie. We had been wanting to see Valentine's Day and there was only one theatre in town showing it, so we joined a whole 4 other people to watch it! It was cute...definitely glad we saw it.

After the movie, we decided my old roommate, Chris hadn't been bothered in awhile and he needed it. So we drove over to his apartment and made him be social for a little bit. Thats when somehow, we convinced Chris to bake a cake for LOST night. Chris honestly can't remember the last time he baked a cake, so we were a little worried, but still promised to at least try it!

I went out to dinner with my parents and then my aunt, uncle, and cousins came over to visit for a bit. I was convinced by Matt, Heather, and Chris to watch LOST one more time with them, so I headed over to their house and was pleasantly surprised when I saw a yummy looking cake on the counter. Chris had done it! His next task is to make a decorated cake...although I doubt that will ever happen. It was hard enough to get him to do this one!

Today was an early wake up to head out to the airport. My parents drove me, and we met up with my aunt and uncle. More tears, more goodbyes. I lucked out and slept the entire way to Seattle, and once I got my bags, my cousin Joy picked me up! Thanks goodness too, because killing another 6 hours in the airport wasn't something I was wanting to do. We spent the afternoon going to the Supermall (not so super, but we did get her bed frame), picking out her couch, and walking around another mall which was much better than the "supermall". I was introduced to a frozen yogurt that is tangy and tastes just like regular yogurt...so good! I wish I had gotten to spend more time with Joy...it had been 20 years since I had seen her! But if we ever visit, she says she'll take us out to the Space Needle and show us around more.

Now I'm at the gate waiting with a bunch of military guys and their families. It seems we're all ready to get on the plane and just have this long flight over with. Stay tuned...my next update will be from Okinawa!!!

An update on Corey

Corey has made it safely to Okinawa and so far he's liking it! We've been able to skype a couple of times, though the time difference always has one of us yawning during those chats.

He's staying with his sponsor this week in his off base apartment. This past weekend, after Corey caught up on his sleep a little, they went out and gave golf a try. He says they weren't very good, but he really enjoyed it and I think he's going to keep it up and try to get better!

Yesterday Corey started the check-in process at so far it looks like he's going to be a Utilities platoon commander. He also got a few shots yesterday, one being the anthrax shot. He says his arm burned a little afterwards and is still stiff. Today he will be going to the housing office and seeing what kind of housing will be available for us and when we'll be able to move in. I think this week he'll also be getting his Japanese driver's license and getting a car! I don't think he has his camera with him, so as soon as I get over to Okinawa I'll get pictures of everything.

So far that is really all I've heard from him. As I hear more, I'll update more!

Red, Black, and White Party!

"I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world." -Thomas A. Edison

Last night I was blessed enough to have a group of my family and friends come together for my farewell party! The theme was Red, Black, and White (my favorite color combination, of course) and everyone was kind enough to wear the colors for me!






The food also went with the color scheme. Heather, Gabby, and I made spaghetti for dinner, and Matt made his yummy cheese bread to go along with it. There was red punch, red and white jello with blackberries in it, and cupcakes (white with black dots, and red with white dots...those reminded us of the Nintendo mushrooms).

After everyone had enjoyed some food and drinks, we voted on the most creative outfit. My dad won because he colored his hair bright red for the evening! After the voting came the "Christina Quiz" that Heather created. It was so much fun seeing everyone struggle to remember little tidbits about me. Amazingly enough, when we got to the the question about my favorite color, my dad got it wrong by saying purple...come on now, everyone was wearing red for a reason! Gabby got the most points in that game, and won a nice prize bag that Heather had put together.



The rest of the night was spent hanging out and bringing up old stories. Heather and I had gotten some great use out of her Cricut earlier in the week and made little old fashioned movie popcorn boxes for the favors. We put some of our famous cakeballs in them and included a magnet to let people know about this blog (the magnet was also made with the cricut...such a good investment!)

It was such a fun night, I will definitely miss times like this when I move.

North Carolina Trip

I recently took a trip out to North Carolina to visit Corey and get some things done before we move. We planned my trip for a week, but I ended up staying to two and a half weeks!

When I got there, Corey still had a littl over a week of Engineer school left. That meant some of my stay would be with him at the BOQ...with little to do. The first couple of days we tried to get his orders fixed, and get my ID. It took longer than we thought because of the wonderful snow storm in DC shutting down the systems. We did get those done in time to spend the weekend with Erik, Claire, and the kiddos! The first night we got there, it snowed and the power went out. That made for a very cold night! When we woke up we discoverd a few inches of snow on the ground, so of course we had to play in it! We spent most of the weekend bumming around the house trying to stay warm and relax. Since that Sunday was Valentine's Day, Corey took me to see Dear John (totally not as good as the book!) and then we enjoed dinner with the family.

The next night we met up with an old friend of mine from high school! It's been years since I've seen him, and he has since gotten married and had a beautiful little girl! We went to a Japanese buffet and caught up on the last four or so years. After dinner we headed back to Camp Lejeune because Corey had class the next day. I spent the next few days cleaning his room and trying to organize him as best I could while he was working on things for class. I was supposed to fly out Wednesday the 17th, but when we woke up that morning to head to the airport, we decided that it would be smarter for me to stay a little longer until we got more accomplished. It was a good thing too, because we were finding out there was so much more to get done than we had assumed!

Corey graduated from school on Monday, March 21! After his graduations ceremony, we packed up his room and loaded everything into his car...in the rain. Thank goodness he was done with school, because the next couple of days would have us driving all over Camp Lejeune trying to turn paperwork in and having everyone tell us we needed to go somewhere else and get yet another thing singed or changed. For Lent, I decided to give up coffee and to also work on being a more patient person....I should've picked a different year to work on patience.

I'd have to say the worst part of the trip would be when we went to TMO and were all excited to set up our dates to pick up our stuff for the big move! We started the government move class, started filling paperwork out, and then found out that they wouldn't move our stuff from two different locations. The poor lady went all over the office trying to find a way to help us, but there was just nothing she could do. Corey and I tried to stay as calm and patient as we could be, and made the decision to both fly back out to NM, and Corey would drive all of my stuff to North Carolina so that they would move everything for us.

Once we got TMO figured out, we went to get my overseas screening done. We figured since nothing else had gone our way, this had to be the one easy thing. Boy were wer WRONG! We got the packet and were told that since I live in NM, I would have to have my papers filled out there. Corey's brother Erik was kind enough to see if he could get us in at Cherry Point to speed up the process. Once again we were told it would be easiest for us to do it in NM. Disappointment was starting to be a regular feeling for us at this point.

Saturday the 27th, Corey and I flew back to Albuquerque pretty unmotivated. Sunday morning we went to breakfast with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and then everyone helped up load up the big truck Corey would be driving back to NC. Once everything was loaded, and Corey had rested a little, he was off. It was a three day drive, but he made it safely to Erik's last night. I felt so bad that I couldn't go with him, but I had to work on getting my overseas screening done. Turns out I will be doing that on Friday since that is the only day they sign off on those here.

Today marks a week before Corey flies out to Okinawa. We're crossing our fingers very tightly that everything will get done in time. If not, I will be making tons of phone calls and begging a whole lot of people to get things done on my own. In three weeks, I'll be getting on a plane to join Corey in Okinawa! I can't wait to be over there with him and just be done with this process! One good thing about all of this....I think I'm already a more patient person!

I'll leave you with a few photos from the trip!