The Many End of Year Adventures of Dan and De

Hey everyone! So I have a fair amount to catch you up on! Can you believe it?! Our holiday season hasn’t been super boring. However, I haven’t been that great at documenting it on camera. What can I say? You win some, and you loose some. So, I have some good stories, but I don’t have great photos. Sorry. It is what it is. To be honest, it’s taken all I have to keep my head above water, or so it seems. My energy level has taken a dive with all the holiday stress, but hey- it’s a learning curve. Dan’s been handling me and my lack of abilities beautifully, he’s simply amazing and makes me rest even when I don’t want to. Have I mentioned how amazing he handles the fact that I’m chronically ill, even when I don’t want to admit it to myself?

Anyway, Thanksgiving was spent with Dan’s side of the family, which was wonderful. His mom cooked and the food was amazing. Compared to my family (There’s four of us when it’s just the immediate family, and by four I mean it’s mom, dad, Dan and I.) Dan’s family is HUGE. He’s the youngest of four, and while his brother is in Texas, there’s still a crowd. So it’s always fun. We got to catch up with some family from out of town and see our young niece. All in all, a very successful Thanksgiving.

Two days later we embarked on our Christmas gift from my parents. Yeah- being an only child has it’s perks and Dan is now experiencing some of them. 😉 We went on a family vacation. It was super enjoyable. We enjoyed some time on the beach and while we weren’t always around one another, we did get to enjoy some family activities. My grandfather and step-grandmother even joined in on the family vacation. In the end, we all agreed that it was the most relaxing vacation that we have ever taken. Though, it probably had something to do with the fact that we all came and went as we pleased, we were all adults and there was PLENTY of food.

Dan out on the beach.

Loving the beautiful views.

Went for a walk out by the water.

Once we got back, I barely had time to breathe, okay or that’s what it felt like. Because a few days later was the Army vs. Navy football game. Now, if you know us personally or read the blog regularly, you’ve figured out by now that Dan is in the Navy (for now at least). But this year, he had a special opportunity to go and volunteer at the game itself! Please understand that out of the two of us, I watch this game religiously, he could care less but yet because he is the service member, he gets to go volunteer and gets the free seats at the game! Yup, that’s how unfair life is. I must admit though, on game day, I wasn’t too mad since I had a party with some girlfriends and he got to freeze his butt off out in the cold. 😉 Dan ended up coming home early, and we lost the game (first one in 15 years- just saying) but it was still a really fun day, and I’m hoping to have another football party next year since it was so much fun. 🙂 Who knows, maybe it will become a tradition for us.

So the game was on Saturday, and then on Tuesday we were gone again, so this was a week and a half after being home I think, if that. We had to go to New Jersey this time. Can you believe that? What is in New Jersey you ask? Dan’s Command Christmas party. Yup, we had to drive there for that. Now, military events tend to scare me. There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance and formality, so I tend to try to look nice, be quiet and mind my manners. It works well. Especially since at this command I’m the wife who is really sick and my husband stays home and takes care of me. Dan and I don’t really know anyone here and we won’t get the chance to know anyone since Dan isn’t really working here, it’s just how this duty station will go, no big deal but it does make these type of events more awkward.

Before the Christmas party though, Dan had mandatory training. This left me in the hotel room all day. Part of me didn’t mind this since we had just been on vacation, had a football party and then driven to New Jersey, I needed the rest- all the rest I could get. I’m learning that I can’t do all the things I want to do anymore. My body likes maybe one big event per week and that’s about it, after that I need lots of sleep to keep up. However, there also wasn’t any food around. So this created a major problem for me. By the time we got to the party, I was struggling to stay my perky, well mannered self. In fact, at one point I’m pretty sure one of the other couples heard me say to Dan that I was going to eat my arm- oops. Oh well, they would have been in the same boat if all they had was a little bit of Starbucks early that morning too!

Luckily Dan and I sat with his division, or basically people he knows and because I go wherever Dan goes, I somewhat know when I’m not in the car. I also got to meet some of their wives, which was a nice change of pace for me. Unfortunately the food left much to be desired for us and caused me to become physically ill. So Dan and I had to leave early. However, we still made the most of the evening by going to Outback Steakhouse for “real” food.

Finally, about a week later we come to Christmas. Can you believe all this? I told you we’ve been up to a lot. Just before we were to leave to spend Christmas with my parents, we met up with Kevin, my friend from college and now Dan’s good friend. He was in D.C. for training so we did dinner and dessert at a different location. Dinner was at an awesome restaurant that sounded like a family Pizza place but totally wasn’t, instead there was white table clothes, people in business attire, and a wine bottle art piece in the middle of the restaurant. The food was fantastic, but pricey, so we decided to take dessert elsewhere.We ended up at a pub that had coffee, specialty drinks and some awesome desserts. It was fantastic! At the end of the evening, we had to take Kevin back to the metro, which wasn’t a big deal- but here’s where things get interesting. Dan put his wallet on top of the car (something he NEVER does), put his coat in the back and then got in and drove off.

As we get on the on ramp to the highway, we hear a thud, and figure we had run over something. Dan asks what the sound was and Kevin says that something is laying in the road. Dan continues driving. We drop Kevin off and say we’ll see him later and then we head back home. Luckily, I have to use the bathroom so Dan starts looking for a place for me. When he finds a gas station, he decides to fill up and this is where things go south, fast. I come out of the restroom only to be half scared to death by my darling husband who informs me that his wallet isn’t in the car or on his person. We then realize the horrible reality before us, the thud we had heard on the on ramp was Dan’s wallet! We’re 45-minutes away, and we have no idea if the wallet is there. The wallet has all of Dan’s personal information, government ID’s and Christmas money we were given. Yup, this is really happening and it could only happen to us. Then the worst sinks in, we can’t visit my family if Dan doesn’t have his driver’s license, which is in his wallet.

So we decided to take a risk and go back to see if we could find it amongst the on ramp. But which on ramp was it? We text Kevin who’s phone was about to die and we begin to pray. Luckily Kevin has an awesome memory and could help us out and we between him and ourselves we remember where we were. Now time to backtrack. Dan gets off the on ramp and pulls off to the side, and against all odds we spot the wallet! Even more amazing we found all the cards and documents untouched including the Christmas money! God is so good! It was truly a Christmas miracle. Needless to say, Dan is making copies of everything in his wallet.

Now, Dan and I spent Christmas with my family. So it was just the four of us, which means that it was pretty quiet. We played a lot of games, had some great food, went to Christmas Eve service. However, our favorite part was confusing my father about his Christmas present. We bought him a creeper for his garage to help him work on his cars. The box was over half my height and just a big rectangle, he couldn’t figure out what it was, and we didn’t allow him to see it until Christmas Eve. I kept telling him “it’s something on your wish list.” To which he would reply, “I didn’t know I had a wish list.” And then I would sing, “I know what you’re getting for Christmas…” over and over again. Needless to say, it was fun. Mom enjoyed getting in on dad’s fun too since she knew what we got him, and she knew what her main gift was (mom doesn’t like surprises, though I still got her a small surprise- a Mr. Tea man who relaxes in her mug for her loose tea, yeah it’s funny) and could enjoy teasing dad. All I can say now is, sorry dad but you’re too easy to pick on.

Mom and dad spoiled us as always, we didn’t get as many material gifts this year but- as you read above, we got a vacation. A fully paid 5 day vacation. I got memories and my parents got us an ornament from the vacation for our tree, which was super sweet. It was also nice to collect memories over things.Hopefully it’s something we’ll consider doing again.

As we are going into 2017, Dan and I are excited for what’s to come. However, 2016 was a truly unique year for us. In 2016 we:

• Celebrated our 2nd year of marriage.
• Moved back to the United States
• De got a PICC Line put in and taken out
• De’s had a roller coaster in health
• Dan has been busy in college
• We took our 1st family vacation
• Dan was in one of his best friend’s wedding
• We went to my college best friend’s wedding
• We’ve been able to spend more time with family
• Dan got to see the Army vs. Navy game in person

Hopefully 2017 will bring on many fun adventures. Thanks for sharing in our life with us! We love you all and wish you the Happiest of New Years!

 

 

 

When the Going Gets Tough

Hey everyone! It’s been a couple weeks since I started my IV treatments, so I figured I’d let you in on how things were going. 😉 Plus, I have a great story for you. Life here has gotten even more boring, if that’s even possible. But that’s okay, Dan’s been doing his best to make the mundane bearable for the both of us- especially since we’re two extroverts trapped in our house.

So, the first week of IV treatment was rough. Really rough. I had to get used to the routine of getting the main antibiotic out of the refrigerator about an hour before I needed to actually inject it so that it could warm up. Also, the treatment itself just seemed to completely wipe me out. But thankfully, I have alarms on my phone that help me out with this, and Dan helps me schedule things around my treatment times.

Now it’s been a couple weeks, and my energy level is still low, but it is improving. I no longer sleep ALL day. So that is a praise. I’m still having a lot of symptoms, and I’m not back to where I was when I first saw this new Lyme doctor, but I know he’s on the right path. I think it’s funny that I have to go backwards (or at least it feels that way) in order to go forward. Hopefully as the weeks continue to go by, I’ll continue to improve and maybe one day I’ll feel like a real human again.

Well, now for the good stuff. 😉 I have a great story. To understand why this is funny, you have to grasp how I do my IV injections. First, I have to sanitize my hands (duh, it’s IV stuff), but then I have to “pop the seal” of the syringe. I was told I could feel it “give way” and usually, I can- at least with most of them. But not my antibiotic. So, I was trying to get used to this new “giving way feeling”, on my second day- but this particular syringe was super stubborn, until it wasn’t. All of a sudden, the black cap comes off and antibiotic comes spewing out like water out of a fire hydrant and it shoots straight up and begins to hit my ceiling! I realize what is happening, and stop it but not before 1/4 of my medication is gone.

At this point, it is dripping down on me, my coffee table, and praise God- my CLOSED mac. I can’t clean it up because my hands are sterile and I have to get my antibiotic, or what’s left of it, in my body. But two things are going through my mind. 1. “Oh my gosh, it’s dripping from the ceiling! It’s actually dripping from the ceiling!” 2. “…. That’s supposed to be going IN my body right now. What do I do?” So once I realized that I couldn’t just scoop it up and put it back (it doesn’t really work like that), I got myself together (chuckling at the sight of all of this) and called for Dan. Dan thought I was kidding! It took me calling a couple times for him to come save me from being dripped on. It was a mess. Once I was done, I got to clean it all up, but I really wish I could have had a video on to have caught my reaction. Oh, and the cap on the antibiotic landed in front of the coffee table- Dan found it on the floor somewhere.

Anyway, on a more fun and less “sick day” kind of note, Dan and I did have a visitor, two actually. My mom came in for about a week and gave Dan a much needed break from taking care of me. It was really nice to get to spend time with her, and she was a HUGE help around the house. She made us meals and froze them, and even got things set up once she left that people are now bringing us meals to help us out since I don’t have energy to cook (and I can’t lift more than 10 pounds) and since Dan is still not feeling quite right and is tired, he hasn’t been up for cooking either. She also helped me clean my house (something I physically just couldn’t do thanks to my IV kicking my butt) and took me out a bit since I was tired of my four walls (THANKS MOM!) It was a great week with her.

Then the weekend came, and my friend Kevin was in training for his new “big kid” job in DC (he’ll be working in NC but training was in DC). So during the weekend, he came to visit Dan and I. Kevin is essentially like my brother, and Dan really enjoys talking and hanging out with him. It was a great weekend. The boys got to talk games and Pokemon Go, and Kevin and I got to catch up and remember some fun times back in college. Honestly, our time was too short but hopefully he’ll be back up this way before too long for some more training and we can get together again.

So there you have it folks, another glimpse into our everyday life. It’s gotten pretty boring for us. We’re just going through this medical adventure the best we can, and we’re trusting that God has a purpose and a plan for this crazy mess. It’s been very hard for us at times to see the bright side, but we continue to lean on each other and ultimately the Lord as we progress. Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for us through this, it has not been a short journey, nor is it anywhere near over. I realized recently that I have been sick for over a year now. So Dan and I are truly grateful for those of you who continue to faithfully lift us up and build us up and we ask that you continue to pray for us. Sending all our love.

Until Next Time,

De

 

 

 

 

 

While Dan’s Away, De Will….Wait…

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a couple of weeks since I last let you know what’s happened. To be honest, all my days blur together and half the time I barely know what day it is. It’s kinda like a weird version of groundhog day. When I get to talk to Dan (which hasn’t been much at all) he says the same thing. He usually doesn’t know what day it is or what time it is for me (the lovely challenge of deployment and different time zones). So between the two of us, not a lot of exciting things has happened. But I’ll give you a short update on life abroad. 🙂

Currently I have been busy with work, meal planning, and working on things around the apartment. I’m actually waiting for some photos to show up so that I can finish hanging photos on the wall which will be the last major touch to making this apartment into a home. 🙂 I mean, I still have to finish the guest room, but I have till August to get that fully finished, and I’m working on ideas for it right now. Work has been a great distraction for me, I have a ridiculous routine for each day after work, and I have found that the weekends tend to be the hardest. Last week I skipped my long run, really I just took a week off of training to give my body some much needed rest. This week I’ve been feeling better than ever, or rather I was feeling better than ever.

So on to the latest development and probably the only exciting news I have to share with you. Last night after cleaning my bathroom, I bent down to pick up my computer (which I had placed on the floor to be able to listen to music) and my back went out. Yup, that’s right folks, I’m 23 going on 92 right now. I ended up at medical and got a shot for pain and a follow up appointment for this morning. This is also when I have to admit that recently I’ve been having dizzy/lightheaded spells and I have almost passed out a couple of times. So my doctor has decided to do a bunch of blood work on me, but we’re both fairly certain that I’m simply anemic. So there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, it’s just somewhat frustrating. I’m must upset about the fact that I couldn’t go to work today and the fact that I have to let my back heal a bit before I can run (I REALLY hate it when the doctors tell me to take some time off, slow down or not to do something). Don’t worry though folks, I am listening to the doctors advice and I have people here who are looking out for me.

In fact, last night when I threw my back out, Heather came down and took amazing care of me. She even drove me to medical. She then made dinner, got me ice-cream and even made sure I had a heating bad all flattened out and positioned in the right spot on the bed so that I could lay on it. Ya’ll, she even plugged it in for me since bending over wasn’t possible. Yeah, I have some amazing friends to say the least. When I told my co-workers, two of them were worried and asked if I needed a ride to medical or any food. So while I am in a little bit of pain and I’ve been a little scared about the almost fainting thing, I am definitely taken care of and I’m perfectly fine.

Overall I’ve come to realize that while Dan is away, I will wait. I feel like my whole life is revolving around waiting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m living my life, but without Dan my life feels really boring. I have my routine and I like it. 🙂 However, I am counting down the days until I am able to watch the ship pull back into port. Only…several more months to wait. Luckily for me I have amazing friends who are becoming like a family for me here.

For those of you praying for Dan and I, thank you. They mean more to us than we can say. I don’t have a lot of news on Dan since we haven’t been able to communicate much. Please continue to pray not only for him but for everyone who is out at sea and for those of us who are left behind. The Lord has been faithful and Dan and I are both in good spirits overall. We love you all and miss you more than words can say. I promise to keep you updated and hopefully next time I’ll have something more fun to tell you. 🙂

That Giant No Good Hard to Stomach ‘D’ Word

Deployment. It’s tough, it’s raw, it’s real and for us in the military world, it’s unavoidable. However with that said, it changes us and makes us grow. I’m not going to give you a post about how awful deployment is and how hard it is- while it is awful and it is hard I want to share my heart with you. I’m not here to bring you down, make you feel bad that your loved one is home with you and mine is gone, or be depressing. Instead I want to give you a glimpse into what my journey through this deployment has been like. Mind you, Dan hasn’t been gone that long- but already I’ve been learning a few things for what it’s truly like to live alone. So bear with me as I bare my heart to you.

1. Once Dan left, the house got quiet. Eerily quiet. This makes living here harder. I have actually scared myself into thinking someone was in our apartment. The front door was locked AND chained, all the windows and doors shut and locked, oh and did I mention we live on the 5th floor and that there’s like this net around our balcanies so nothing falls out or comes in? That logic however didn’t occur to me at 3am when I woke up to use the restroom.

2. Beds are cold. No seriously, Dan is ALWAYS warm. So when I crawl into bed at night and he’s no longer beside me, I get colder than I am naturally. It takes several minutes and sometimes frantically moving under the covers to attempt to gain some warmth. However, I have acquired a body pillow. ‘I named it “Damillow” and he calls me… nothing because it’s a pillow’. (If you get it- awesome. If not- you need to watch more How I Met Your Mother). While this helps matters- it certainly doesn’t come anywhere near replacing Dan. 🙂

3. The house stays cleaner longer and food goes bad a lot faster. This one is pretty self explanatory- only one person, so not a lot gets dirty and I’m such a neat freak that it if something is dirty, it doesn’t stay that way long. I have also noticed that grocery shopping and cooking in general are very difficult tasks when I’m the only one eating. I love cooking for friends, but just me… it’s a chore and normally I just find something small. Who has time to make a 3-dish dinner anyway? That being said though, when I do take time and cook, it lasts SO MUCH LONGER. So I guess that can be counted as a win.

4. Staying busy helps. Before Dan left I created two lists. A to-do list and a Bucket List. The to-do list had about 14 things on it when we started. Almost a month into deployment, I have about 3 things left on the list. Oh, and two of them I’m just waiting on photos to come in and someone to help me move something. So basically, I’m down to one thing left. Did I mention I still have several months left to go? So what shall I do once these last three things are off the list you might ask. Simple. I turn to the bucket list. Not everything on the list will get done I’m sure (ex. Climb Mt. Fuji- I might wait for Dan on that one) but the list has definitely been growing. At least I’m not wasting any time and I’m using the time I have to grow myself and do things that I’ve always dreamt of. I’m definitely seeing myself grow up a bit- but don’t worry, I’m still as bubbly as ever.

5. I miss having my own identity. Don’t get me wrong, on the base I’m known as the “Sign Language girl” or the “One who talks with their hands” or “the one who does that sign language choir” (not kidding- I’ve heard that one). However whenever it comes to me doing something with the cars or going into the commissary I’m suddenly “Dan’s wife”. I miss being De. I miss being known for me, not for what my husband does, who he knows, or where he works. For once I’d like to just be “De the one who lives overseas because her husband is the Navy” without any attachment to the base, the command, or even Dan. (I love my husband but I don’t hold his job title or his rank and I hate it when people thing I should or even worse that I do. )

6. Netflix, Amazon Prime and Pandora might be my best friends. No seriously, even as I’m writing this I’m listening to Pandora and thinking about the fact that when I’m done; I’m going to be watching Netflix. These things help with the quiet I talked about earlier. I also get to watch all of the “girly” shows and movies I want. While this is a nice “perk” I miss watching “The Big Bang Theory” with Dan in the evenings and being able to quote lines to him and crack up laughing together.

7. Countdowns help but can also be a bit depressing.My lovely friend Jamie made me a beautiful paper chain (which is a bit off due to the Navy changing dates and not being able to discuss exact dates with her). I love my paper chain so much. (Remember the photo from my last post?) It is now draped around my entire living room- over furniture, it’s on part of the floor and some if it is even beside me here on the couch. The colors are so bright and cheerful, which brings color and happiness into my little apartment. I find so much satisfaction in ripping a link off every evening just before bed. However, the chain wraps around my living room… it wraps around my living room. I don’t think I can emphasize that enough. IT WRAPS AROUND MY ENTIRE LIVING ROOM! And I only get one link a DAY.. not an hour, not a minute, but a day. While I think I see the progress, it’s still too early in the deployment to really know if time has actually passed or if it’s just stopped altogether. Nonetheless, I love having something to remind me that there is an end. It might be a world away, but there is an end.

8. I’ve become a Facebook addict. Since moving to Asia,I have used Facebook more than ever before to communicate with family and friends. It makes it so much easier to chat and see photos. I love it. However, I usually limit myself to about an hour a day on Facebook because it’s not real life. I’d rather spend my time living my life than worrying about how everyone else is living theirs. That being said, I now have messenger on my phone and it’s ALWAYS on the background. Why? Dan can message me at any time without warning. Usually I only get to talk to him for mere minutes. And yes, I have missed a message or two- and guess what, at least one of those was the last message I got before the internet went out for him for a couple of days. It is an emotional roller coaster that I don’t have the luxury of getting off of, so I keep my phone on loud (except at work where it’s on vibrate and in a spot I can normally hear it), and I check often. It doesn’t matter what time it is (Dan likes to wake me up around 4:45am my time) or what I’m doing (he’s also becoming infamous for interrupting my morning runs) I will take a second (if I’m able) and respond to my husband. I just never know how long he has, or if I’ll hear from him again later that day or if I won’t hear from him for several days.

9. I’m stronger that I ever knew. Never in a million years did I think I would be in the position I am in today. However, I’m doing it! I’m by no means perfect, but I’m pretty proud of how I’m handling things. Do I miss Dan? More than words can accurately describe. Do I break down because he’s not here? Nope… that does no good for me. Have I cried over deployment? Kinda. I mean, I’ve started but it doesn’t last long. I’m still waiting for that “big breakdown” I’m told happens at some point during every deployment (especially the long ones). However, whenever I start to feel like I’m loosing it, I take a deep breathe and remember that I am never truly alone. My hope and prayer is that I carry myself through this hard, scary, difficult deployment with grace and dignity. Naturally I have days where I’m a little more sad than others, but I don’t stay there- I can’t stay there. I manage to pull myself back together and just keep going. I’ve been fighting anxiety throughout this time, but this is where the rubber meets the road and I have to make a choice to trust the Lord through this. Everyday I’m given the strength I need to get through.

10. Jesus and friends make deployment easier. This is the main thing I have to get across. While deployment is hard, it’s scary, and quite frankly it’s really overwhelming when I think too much about it- I’ve come to have a deeper faith. The song “Oceans” by Hillsong and “Greater” by MercyMe are two songs I listen to on practically a daily basis. Everyday I wake up, workout, and begin praising God for another day and for keeping Dan and myself safe. As I journey more and more into this new chapter, I am seeing my faith and trust go deeper and stronger than ever before. For that I thank my parents, my mentors, my youth pastor, and our friends who have encouraged me in my walk with the Lord. Because of you- I have learned what it truly means to be a Christian in a world that doesn’t know Christ and I cherish my relationship with Jesus more and more each day. So to everyone who has helped mold and make me into the young woman I am today- thank you from the very bottom of my heart!

Now friends, they play such an important role. In fact, I love the friends I’ve made here so much. It’s refreshing to know that I am not alone. To be able to talk about the stresses and situations that arise and know that I’m not the one inventing the wheel here, I can gleam advise and help. In fact, just last night I had a girls night with Melissa, Heather, Erika, and April- we went to the movies here on base and watched Pitch Perfect 2. Friends make the time go by faster- we have dinner together, we watch movies, TV shows, and simply just check in on each other. My church family here also checks in on me (everyone knows everyone here- and they know this is my first deployment and that Dan and I are newlyweds). They pray for me, encourage me, and lend a helping hand whenever I need it. Words can’t truly express how grateful I am for my friends on this side of the planet who can physically be here for me and for my friends back in the US who send Facebook messages and cards and even care packages- I love you all so much. ❤

Finally, this deployment is a long one. However, it will come to an end.. in several months. For all our prayer warriors, please continue to lift us up to the Lord daily. I face several challenges here on base and Dan has his own challenges on the ship. Currently, Dan hasn’t seen land in several weeks. He doesn’t tell me much about the ship life, or what it even looks like out in the middle of the ocean. Instead, he focuses on when he gets home and life after deployment. He is constantly tired and his shoulder is SLOWLY healing. However, whenever I get to chat with him online, he sounds like he’s in pretty good spirits considering how hard he’s working. On my end of things, I am just learning to trust the Lord in all situations and am simply dealing with anxiety. I’ve had a lot of change happen very quickly, I’m still learning things at work and getting comfortable in my new role. Thankfully, I have an incredible boss who is super encouraging- especially when I need it the most. Again, thank you to everyone who has encouraged not only myself but Dan as well. We love you all and I promise to keep you updated to the best of my ability. We love you and we miss home like crazy. ❤

Asia Driving

Hey everyone!! Sorry it’s been so long sine I’ve been able to post. I’ve been having technical difficulties with getting my video uploaded to youtube so that you can see what a tropical drive looks like for Dan and I. In the video you’ll hear myself and my friend Danielle. I had picked Danielle up from school and she was gracious enough to help me with the filming while I navigated my way back to base. Sorry this is a short and sweet post, but PLEASE let me know what you think in the comments. I’d love to hear what you think about what it’s like to drive in Asia! We love you all and miss home like crazy.

As promised, here’s the link:  https://youtu.be/lECp5EfwO4c

Little Bit of Love and a Whole Lot of Laughter

Hey everyone! Wow! I feel like I have so much to tell you. So I promise I’m going to try not to rush through this and I’m going to try and walk you through everything- but let me just say… it’s been an exciting week and a half. Last time we talked, I had an interview and had felt like God was starting to push me out of my comfort zone again. Luckily no matter how “uncomfortable” life can become- I know where my faith lies and I know that I will be just fine. However I’m getting ahead of myself. So let’s just start from the beginning and avoid the confusion. 🙂

So basically life has just been busy since we last spoke. Dan has been working on different packets and school of course- which he’s doing really well in. Also we started month 2 of Insanity Max: 30 this past Monday and to say the least it is making us wish we were still in month 1. Yup- it’s THAT hard. However we’re doing it and we’re not giving up (even though we might want to) so for that, I’m proud. Please be praying for Dan especially as he tries to figure out how to reach his goals and as he does school, studies for a promotion exam, and starts making packets- we have a lot on our plates. Also please be praying that I am kind and compassionate toward him during this stressful time and pray the Lord continues to keep us strong in Him and our marriage safe (it’s like we live together but we never see each other- it’s been tough).

Moving on to this past weekend (it’s a great story- so sit back, relax and enjoy this adventure…) Dan had a four-day weekend since he took a 12 to 8am watch and it was President’s day. So we took advantage of our time. 🙂 On Friday I let Dan sleep in a bit, and then he did homework and we got some things done for school along with a few other errands. I just have to say- being an adult is no fun sometimes. There the secret is out. Anyway, once our boring Friday was done (seriously ya’ll, we went to bed at like 9pm) it was on to Valentine’s Day Saturday.

Let me set the record straight about Dan and I and Valentine’s day. We try to make it special, but really for us it’s basically another day- we just typically go on a date. I make Dan wait till the 15th to buy me chocolate and flowers because then I get a whole lot of chocolate and if you know me- I love my chocolate… a LOT. Sometimes I think Dan might compete with chocolate for first place in my heart (I’m kidding…. kinda). So for Valentine’s day we decided to go to Tokyo and walk around. Apparently there’s an international love festival at one of the many parks in the big city- so we attempted to go find it. Now, I say attempted because well… we failed. We found a park- it just wasn’t the one we were looking for. However there was a man juggling and there was disney love songs playing in the background, and vendors were selling some things. Then we went further into the park, and we realized that we were seeing something that is dying in the US- families out and about and enjoying their day together. It was really interesting to see the different areas being used and seeing people playing sports, flying kites, and spending time as a family. There was even a spot where people could bird watch. It was really lovely.

The edge of the park meets the edge of the city.

By the end of the day we were tired and really hungry. We made it back to base and grabbed a bite to eat to go from the golf course. We weren’t thrilled about dinner but we were so hungry and tired that we wanted to murder each other- so it filled us up. Overall it was a really wonderful day.

On Sunday I had a whole new adventure! Melissa showed me how to get to Camp Zama since I have an interview there today (Tuesday) and then we went to the mall to do some window shopping. Ok- so here it is: I DROVE IN JAPAN! Like REALLY drove in Japan. I managed (with Melissa’s directions) to get to Zama just fine (let’s pray I remember those directions today) and we had lunch at their Golf Course Restaurant. Once we finished lunch we went to a local mall. I drove on highway to get there- HIGHWAY in JAPAN! Don’t mind me while I celebrate my little victory (*insert happy dance*). We had Starbucks, and right now it’s the Sakura season so I got a mug and a tumbler that is simply lovely- these designs change every year and are never the same. It was truly a lovely day and I really had fun. 🙂

The mall I drove to- I was so excited.

My decorated hot chocolate cup with the Sakura cups in the background.

Finally, Monday was President’s Day so Dan and I took the day to relax and Dan did homework. Then we went to Yokosuka to try and find Pizza Hut to satisfy my desire for cheese sticks and true American pizza in general (Anthony’s is close but sometimes you just want a chain). It took us longer than we wanted to get there (the trains weren’t running the way we desired) and when we finally got on base we were starving. We decided that Yokosuka is a magical base where nothing can be found unless you have a taxi. Dan and I walked for about 3 miles before deciding just to go to Chilis- which was a whole new adventure. Dan thought it was closer than it was and after walking and feeling like we were going to either die or kill each other and about 5 miles later we saw heaven- I mean, Chilis. We walked in and I look ridiculous and I was exhausted and so hungry I was about to eat my own arm. We finally got seated and ate our ENTIRE meals PLUS three baskets of chips. Needless to say, we were hungry. Once we finished, we took a taxi back to the gate and walked to the train station and made it home rather early. It was a nice day, but we were exhausted and decided to go to bed early.

Anyway, that’s been our life here recently. We have a lot of things coming up- including Dan’s first vacation in a year and a half! I’ll be sure to keep you posted on our happenings. Thank you for all of your love, encouragement, and support. We love you all and miss you more than words can express. Now off to our next adventure…

Off to Wonderland I go….

Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been a while since I posted any updates. The truth is Dan and I have been really busy with him starting classes (and only having one computer) so life has been busy but uneventful. We haven’t been able to do much exploring recently, and with Dan’s schedule changing from mid day/ night to nights and now back to days- we’ve been really tired and even confused what day it is. However, after about 2 weeks, I finally have interesting things to share! (Yay!)

For starters, I finally got a haircut (ok, so I know that’s not super exciting- but just hang in there, the story gets better I promise). I’m really excited about it because it’s easy to take care of, adorable, easy to take care of, and the woman who cut it is simply amazing! I’m pretty sure we made instant friends. Ya’ll- SHE KNOWS SIGN LANGUAGE! Can we just take a moment to appreciate this fact? Like, I was signing to her in the salon, I’m pretty sure people thought we were crazy- but who cares?! SHE KNOWS SIGN LANGUAGE! So we are planning to get together soon and doing lunch and some signing. 🙂 The interpreter inside of me is simply over the moon.

Now on to the really good part. The title says “Off to Wonderland I go…” and I’m not lying. I’m part of a spouse group here on base and every month they go on a mystery event. This particular event was for members only (the ones who signed up- it’s complicated to explain, but they pay for it and it’s a lot of fun) so Dan didn’t get to go- but he had homework anyway, so it didn’t matter. Anyway, we got to the parking lot to meet up and we found out that we were going to an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant! The Tokyo area is known for some pretty crazy themed restaurants, and this is something I have been wanting to experience for a while now. The portions were small- but it was a 7 course meal! Our “tea party” (as the restaurant calls them) was a lot of fun and lasted about 2 hours. Everything is themed- even down to the food and drinks. So below is all the photos I took while I was in “Wonderland”. 🙂

The first thing you see walking down the steps into the restaurant…

So I had to get a photo with him.

Melissa and I in front of the crazy clock!

One of the MANY pictures on the wall.

This is taken from my seat. That whole wall is part of the story- all actually written out. (In English- NOT Japanese!)

More of the “Book”

This was the wall behind us. If you look closely you see the Queen of Hearts… the detail was amazing.

This is the menu. Almost Everything is themed and there is a different picture from Alice in Wonderland on every page!

My drink… I think it was called the “Talking Flower”- it was really good.

Other drinks… aren’t they pretty?

First course. Toast and cheese with a little note on the plate that said “Eat Me”.

Salad- and that middle flower looking thing is actually radish- it was pretty good.

The seafood pasta dish that’s maid to look like the Chester cat…

So one more thing- this restaurant was close to the busiest intersection in the world. It’s in a ton of movies and I had never been. So of course the girls I rode with took me there once we finished up at the restaurant. It wasn’t even the busiest it can be (think work day with everyone trying to cross) but I did get two photos to give you an idea of how crazy it is.

So that was my journey into Wonderland. This coming week Dan has more homework, but hopefully we’ll get to take some time and go out and do something. 🙂 Also, be praying for me and I begin looking into teaching some ASL classes here on base. A LOT of people have mentioned it to me and today (Monday) the lady who runs the Library here asked me if I would be willing to teach some classes- so hopefully it takes off and goes somewhere. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as things progress. We love you all and think of you everyday. Thank you for all your love and support and for keeping up with Dan and I as we are on this crazy adventure of life. Sending all our love.

One Year Down… Forever to Go!

Hey everyone! So I have some exciting news, Dan and I have been married a year!!! Remember in the “How our journey begins” section of our website I explained that we had to get married quickly due to these very orders that have sent us overseas- so in two days we had a wedding?! Well… On Sunday (the 11th) we were able to celebrate our 1st Wedding Anniversary! *insert happy girly shriek here* Unfortunately, that’s about all the news I have for this week, because we’ve been adjusting to Dan working from noon to anywhere to 8 to 10pm and soon he will be going in at 3pm and staying till 11 to 3 am. It’s crazy how they adjust his schedule- however we’re not going to focus on that, instead I’m going to share our joy of our first year of marriage with you!

So, where to begin. The weekend itself wasn’t that exciting. Dan had watch on Friday from midnight till 8am- which means I didn’t fall asleep till about 3:30am and didn’t sleep well and so we spent probably over half the day sleeping and trying to recover from his watch. However, we did enjoy the rest of our Saturday around the apartment. Dan needed some time just to relax and unwind after the schedule change and overall craziness of the week. It was also the last weekend we had together before he started classes (yay!) so we wanted it low key.

Anyway, on to the good part! On Sunday we skipped church just to relax and enjoy the fact that we have been married for a year. We started to reflect on our first year of marriage and we came up with a couple of big things we did and were able to experience together, so I’ll share them with you now:

– We have only lived together for about 3.5 months

-We have seen and been together about a total of 5 months

-We went to Disney World on the 4th of July

– We were able to celebrate our marriage with family and friends in August

-We moved to Japan!

If I say so myself, it makes for a really exciting first year of marriage- especially when you consider that we have spent more of it apart than together. 🙂

To celebrate our awesome first year of marriage, Dan and I bought a small cake to share and then we had some friends take photos of us. But that’s it! It was really wonderful and low-key and just a great day. This week Dan started classes and he and I began doing Insanity Max:30 (it’s HARD)- but we’re doing well and are in good spirits. We love you all and thank you for your continued love and support. We’ll keep you updated as we continue to have some awesome adventures and live out our “happily ever after…”

And as promised……

Our beautiful anniversary cake. It was as yummy as it was lovely.

Dan and I with the cake. I won’t lie… it was hard not to just dive in and eat it- ya’ll are lucky we got photos of it.

We’re so blessed, we’ve had one year together and a lifetime left to go!

He still sweeps me off my feet.

We’re living “Happily Ever After”

Making the Most of Our Very First Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! It’s the most wonderful time of the year; everyone is excited to unwrap the gifts under the tree, get together with their families, eat lots of delicious food amongst several other traditions. It was no different here in Asia. The children here on the base, were just as excited and everyone simply tries to do their best since we are all so far away from home. However, don’t focus on the sadness of the fact that we didn’t get to have our first Christmas as husband and wife with our family, instead focus on the happy fact that we got to have our first Christmas as husband and wife as our own family. I’m really excited to share our Christmas story with you (in case you couldn’t tell)- so focus on the happy, because there is a lot of happy, so that’s my ground rule. Ok? Happy thoughts only. Got it? Ok, good. Now you’re ready to hear about our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs.

So let’s begin from Christmas Eve. Dan didn’t have to work very late at all- in fact he was home before lunch. What a blessing! He did have duty, but it only took 30 minutes and wasn’t impeding on our Christmas plans. We had to go to the post office, which is really packed this time of year. And we had three packages ready for pick up- or so they said. One package was from my friend Elizabeth and her fiancé Dawson- a care package full of yummy goodies from home (Thanks guys!), the second, from my mom with a couple of Christmas gifts for Dan and I (she says there’s another one on its way), and the third- well we’re still not sure who it’s from because while it is in the post office, they can’t seem to find it amongst all the packages. So we’ll go on Saturday to see if they found it.

Because we had to go to the post office three different times to see if they found our missing package, we were about 10 minutes late for the Christmas Eve service here on base. However, we made it- and really enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Lord with others around our community. At the end we had the candlelight ceremony which was simply beautiful. It’s something that brought back memories for me- I have always loved Christmas Eve services. Anyway, after service we ended up talking to the pastor and his wife for at least 45 minutes. We were the last to leave- but we really enjoyed speaking with them.

Once we got home, Dan and I put on our pjs- it was time for one of our favorite Christmas traditions- we started it about 2 years ago, and plan to carry it out for the rest of our lives. This year, Jacob and Heather joined us for the fun. So we had Polar Express Hot Chocolate (it’s homemade and REALLY rich) and watched the movie Polar Express. We loved it- and it was Jacob’s first time watching the movie, in which he conjured up a crazy complex theory as to how everything worked since the movie itself isn’t exactly logical. Anyway, they enjoyed joining us for our little tradition and it was nice to be able to do something that made it feel a bit more like Christmas.

The next morning, Dan and I Skyped with my parents, since mom wanted to see us open her package. Then she got to watch us open our two gifts to each other. Dan got me a purse (it’s lovely!) and a “jade tree” from a  festival here on base; and he got a shirt and a nice watch. From my parents Dan got a shirt, and I got a sweater, then mom got us some things we needed for the kitchen. So overall it was a nice, quiet Christmas- or at least the morning. Before long, I had to bake another cake (Heather and I baked a cake and some chocolate chip cookies a few days ago- but the cake didn’t last very long…) and then begin cooking for our 5:30pm dinner with Jacob and Heather.

I want this on record, I cooked for a major holiday and it was great! I made the ham, artisan bread, garlic-cheese dip, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and sautéed vegetables and Jacob and Heather brought some amazing mashed potatoes and baked macaroni and cheese. We had more food than we could ever have eaten. Kevin, a single sailor that Jacob and Heather have introduced us to before, joined us for dinner. He was grateful to have a home to come to for Christmas, and we were grateful for an extra mouth to feed. (Did I mention that we had more food than we could have ever eaten?)

The evening was lovely. We had fun socializing, playing games and eventually the boys played a video game while Heather and I cleaned the kitchen and talked. It was a really nice, relaxing Christmas. While it is not the Christmas we thought we would have for our first Christmas as husband and wife, it truly couldn’t have been much better. Once everyone left, we even were able to Skype with some of my family and Dan’s family. It was weird not seeing everyone in person, but Skype does help a little bit. 🙂 It was after 1am when Dan and I finally got to bed- so it was a really long day.

Anyway, I wanted to share our little Christmas story with you all. We love you all and wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for all your love and support as Dan serves in the Navy. Enjoy the photos I’ve posted below so that you can see our little Christmas. Sending all of our love.

Our first Christmas Tree as Husband and Wife!

Getting ready to eat our Christmas dinner. (This photo was taken from the back of our love seat)

Our Christmas Dinner!

Merry Christmas from Asia!

Aquatic Explorations

Hey everyone! This past weekend Dan and I decided to take an afternoon trip to an aquarium! It was a lot of fun and we had quite the experience. Before we could get to the aquarium though, we had to take the train. Now, I’ve told you all about the train system here before, but let me just give you a better idea of how this particular exploration worked. We had to get off one train, LEAVE the station and cross over through a random bike parking area to go up some steps, walk across a bridge, and find the next train we needed.

Since we’ve never been there before, we had no idea what we were doing. We left the train station and were completely confused. Then Dun…dun..dun…DUNNNNN… I saw Deaf people (did I mention they’re my favorite?!). I started signing to ask for help. The fun part of these two though is that it took a bit more work to effectively communicate. You see, I am strong in American Sign Language and they were strong in Japanese Sign Language and while there are similarities between the two, they are definitely NOT the same language. However, we managed to make it work and they were super excited to meet us and sign with me. They even showed me the sign for where we are living now- it was a really fun experience. They walked us to where we needed to go and sent us on our way.

Once we made it to the train and found our stop (thanks to the Deaf people!), we walked off to find ourselves in a gorgeous park. However it wasn’t exactly where we wanted to be-so thus began our next challenge. We were at the right spot, but how to do we get to where we wanted to be? We decided to take a few photos of the area and use our phones to find the aquarium. It was a colder day and we were right at the water, so the breeze made me really cold- but we still had a lot of fun.

Told you it was beautiful!

Anyway, before long we stumbled upon “Pleasure Island” (I’m not making this up people- that’s the name of this children’s amusement park). We walked around a bit, there were different buildings and stands everywhere but everything was really spread out. We found the food court and decided to get some food- which was interesting to say the least. We tried a cheeseburger, french fries, and a ginger ale…. which tasted odd… all of it (minus the french fries). Then we got some ice cream from a vending machine (yes it happened, yes it was amazing!). Then we were off to get our tickets for the aquarium.

Once we got into the first exhibit of the aquarium we knew something was a bit different. We had a lot of fun looking at the different tanks and wild life- they even had a penguin and polar bear exhibit (don’t worry they weren’t in the same one). Before long we were going up an escalator and were surrounded by the fish and sharks- it was really awesome. As we continued through we had fun seeing all sorts of different fish that we had never seen before- including something that looks like a giant blob with fins on the top and bottom (sun fish).

We took our time going through the different exhibits and walking around the beautiful complex. Before long we headed to the very last exhibit where we were able to pet a dolphin and a penguin (I’ve done both before but it was Dan’s first time). We had a blast at the aquarium and attempting to speak some Japanese (we’re doing a little better). We had a lovely afternoon and enjoyed seeing the different exhibits and the aquarium. We love you all and we’ll be sure to keep you posted. Lots of love from Japan!