June 2009 | Our Guamazing Adventure

Showing newest 8 of 12 posts from June 2009. Show older posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Trip tomorrow!!!

I am SOOOO excited!! After days of hoping that it would all come together -- tomorrow it is! I am flying to AUSTRALIA!! YEHAW! I can't WAIT! I had enough continental miles to get there for under $100, and I couldn't be more freaking excited!

AND.... best part?? I will get to see my husband!! WOOH! And also best part? Hubs has to leave in the middle of my trip (that's not so fabulous, but...), my best Guam bud, Jolene, is flying to AUS to meet me there and celebrate my birthday (July 9!) with me Down Under. Time in Australia with my husband, followed by a girls night out for my birthday since he'll be underway... what gets better than THAT??

Guam is fabulous right now. We are having a blast. I started golf lessons last week, and so far so good! I like the instructor and the other ladies I'm playing with. All is well. AND, last Friday a few of the squadron guys played in a 4-man scramble, and asked me to be their fourth. We got THIRD!! We beat the other squadron team that consisted of 3 rockstar golfers AND the Skipper of Chris' squadron who is a golf fanatic. It was best ball, and I'm proud to say they used 2 of my DRIVES (which means my drives were better than all 3 guys! There is hope for me!) Sweet sweet victory! I also won a $20 gift certificate to Taco Bell. Yeah Guam ;)

Had a blast this weekend with friends - beach volleyball, golf, dinners, movies, pool, pubs, the like, and now HAVE to go pack and write papers before 4:00 golf lesson, dinner at Katie's and oh yes - flight to AUSTRALIA tomorrow!! (Did I mention how excited I am!?!?!)

Some of the Officer wives at dinner Friday night

At Porky's Bar, these two girls were thrilled I knew some Japanese (mostly I can count to five, say yes and thank you, and ask for drinks and a few other things)

Beautiful Guam rainbow at the golf course

Nope, that's not karaoke!! That's me singing Don't Stop Believing, following my MJ Thriller tribute.

Fab foursome - Pat (who strangely enough just moved to Guam, but we used to work a few cubicles down from eachother in DC in 2005 -- such a small world!!), Dan, myself and John.

My best vball bud Dawn and I went to a movie Saturday night and then hit the town. Her boyfriend just moved back to the states, and my hubs is deployed, so we were joking that the only thing we could get hugs from was a concrete pillar. But we had a blast!!

More from Australia!! YEAH!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Blog schmog

at 11:15 PM Labels: golfaholic, I think I'm Hannah Montana, Lolaberry, port call 4 Witty Remarks

Good weekend, not much to tell. Golfed Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Sunday. God forbid I do anything in moderation. Went out Thursday. Friday. Saturday. (Again, moderation?) Tried to chat online with Chris, which worked Wednesday. Not Thursday. Not Friday. Not Saturday. Not Sunday. Picking up on the theme?

In attempt to totally destroy my rut of repetitive behaviors, I went to the beach with a few of my fave wives and their awesome kiddos on Saturday. It was one of the girls' 11th Anniversary, she had a baby 2 weeks ago (their 4th), her husband is in the desert (and was for the birth), and she made me dinner last week... Exactly. So while Katie was rocking temporary-single-motherhood, I avoided laundry, homework, motivation, and running. But I have high(ish) hopes for tomorrow, and last night I did get to sing backup for a few songs at one of the "establishments" we frequent. The guitar player handed me the mike... I don't think the lead singer was thrilled, but maybe that's because after the first song I said "You're welcome." Oops.

And.... big trip coming up. I don't want to jinx it, so I'm not saying a word until it's less than a week out, but fingers crossed 10 days from now I will be on a flight somewhere FABULOUS to see my husband... And I can't WAIT... fingers, toes, and eyes are all crossed.

Speaking of fabulous things, one of my fave bloggers' husband is home on R&R from Afghanistan!! YEAH!! You can see pics of his homecoming here. YEAH!!

Pics manana... bedtime here! Happy Father's Day!

Friday, June 19, 2009

So close...

at 1:04 AM Labels: kick 'em while they're down 4 Witty Remarks

Tough day today. Went to the squadron for the wives' monthly fundraiser and saw a bunch of the folks who are deployed with Chris. Turns out they were in port today for a few hours, but Chris was on duty and couldn't leave the boat. He was here. He was home... and I didn't get to see him. What a kick to the stomach...

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I thought Kashmir was a sweater?

at 5:08 PM Labels: grad school is hard, procrastinating is fun 5 Witty Remarks

Only kidding. Sort of.

So I'm ~~struggling through~~ reading this book for school, "Kashmir in the Shadow of War: Regional Rivalries in a Nuclear Age," and I just had to take a break to say

WHAT?

"Did the Soviet Union's precipitous decline at the end of the twentieth century presage the blossoming of a unipolar world at the onset of the twenty-first in which the United States would exercise for an indefinite time unrivaled hegemonic power?" Second sentence, page 3 (page 1 was the title page... and page 2 was blank). I have to get to 268 tonight. Pass the tequila....

More tomorrow! Great day of golf, pool, friends, procrastinating, and now heading to dinner and volleyball practice...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

It's in the blood

at 10:52 PM Labels: Japan, port call, retail therapy 5 Witty Remarks

This post is mostly for my mom, whose first question to me when I called her from Japan was not "how are you?," "how is your husband?", "how was your flight?," but an OH SO EXCITED, "What have you bought!?!!?!?" :)

My mom has incredible taste. Her house is perfect, and even when the neighbors are over, laundry is behind, and all six of us kids (+my dad, my 2 nephews, her two son-in-laws and 1-almost daughter-in-law) are wreaking havoc on the house, there's truly no place like home.

So mom, as promised, here are my newfound loves from Japan, already proudly displayed in our base house. Not much of a novelty here in Guam where so many of the ladies have made the quick flight to Asia, but someday when we live in a suburb "on the mainland," they will be much more of a fabulous commodity... although I think they already are pretty fabulous!!

Miss you mom :)

I loved this plate... it's very thick and Chris thought the design was significantly "less cheesy" than the 27 other ones I picked out (with lots of gold, dragons, etc)

Got to get the matching set of rice bowls. Note the "made in Japan" sticker!

I love this panel. It's currently over the fuse box in the laundry room... I have big plans for it someday when we're NOT living in base housing...

I got the panel and the blue teapot set (and YES this one does have a dragon!!) The ivory and gold set on the left was a gift our neighbors Todd & Jo brought back from Thailand for watching their dog/house/lives for 3 weeks. Love it!!

Fan is a must do, right? It's hanging up in our bathroom above the towel rack.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Deployed husband + insomnia + glass (or two) o' wine = online shopping

at 2:02 AM Labels: bumpits, online shopping, retail therapy 7 Witty Remarks

Ooops. I am SUCH a sucker for infomercials!! I first saw this product on tv while stranded in Hawaii over Christmas, and as a girl whose hair refuses to tease, I've been lusting ever since. About an hour ago, during a Top Gun commercial (in all fairness, Goose had just died, and I was feeling a little emotional), I again renewed my love for them... Tonight seemed like the perfect night. AND, extra bonus!! They ship to GUAM (although shipping cost $2 less than the $19.99 product...)

I am now (well, in 8-10 business days) the proud owner of BumpIts. Again, oops! But secretly YESSSSSSS!!!!!

Seriously bedtime now.. it's 2am I MUST be lonely!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Sunset

at 10:53 PM Labels: Guam sunset, online dates are not just for Nightline specials 2 Witty Remarks

Pretty boring weekend really. Guam is a LOT more fun when my husband is home. Hurry up November!!

I did manage to get a 3 mile run in today, and squeeze in a 3.5 hour nap. Apparently I'm 17. I had the most real dream that my family was in town, and my sister and I went to get Chinese food. I was SO disappointed to wake up and realize that I'm still 10,000 miles away!!

Just finished a chat date with Chris. Wine, frozen pizza, and emoticons. Not quite as much fun as Japan, but it's great to talk to him nonetheless.

AND, beautiful sunset last night, so I can't complain too much...

More tomorrow... I have big plans to go pop popcorn, watch Top Gun, and continue procrastinating my homework that's due tomorrow afternoon.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Konichiwa!!

at 8:18 PM 9 Witty Remarks

What a WEEK!!

This past week has been a whirlwind... just incredible!! I flew to Fukuoka, Japan last Thursday and spent 7 days with my husband whose ship ported in the area... NOT a bad deal! We had the time of our lives, and after a week full of karaoke, castles, sushi, japanese and oh yeah, my husband, it's 8:30p on a Friday and I'm tuckered out!

The trip started pretty nicely with a free upgrade to first class. Turns out if you've flown 56,000 miles since the start of the year, Continental treats you pretty well!! And really, what trip shouldn't start with complimentary mimosas?

I made it to Japan (about a 3.5 hour flight), and after conquering the ATM to get some Yen, was trying to decipher the bus route when I heard a whistle. I was supposed to take a bus to a shuttle to the base (about an hour and a half away), but Chris was able to get the okay to meet me at the airport. What an AWESOME surprise!! We took the shuttle to Sasebo and had SUCH a fun week. I think the pictures tell the story better than I can:

First thing I saw in Japan post-immigration and quarantine?:

No drugs.

Next, was taking a picture of the bus route I was trying to conquer when I heard a "hey pretty lady" whistle...

And there he was... coming down the escalator, appropriately at the meeting point.

So happy!!

Night one, we stayed HERE... can you believe it? It's the Ana Hotel Jr Huis Ten Bosch in "Old Holland" in Sasebo. Rooms are usually around $400-500 but I found a room on expedia (dot com!) for around 150. So awesome!!!

And the hotel served dutch food. Apparently this is a dutch ham sandwich. It was tasty. And the no-crusts really sold me. I'm actually a 6 year old.

View from the hotel. Turns out the red building is the train station. We only figured that out after spending $50 for a cab fare (uh, 3 different times, so just as much as the room cost-oops)

Dinner at the Harbor View Club on base my first night in town. Don't we look authentic with our chopsticks??

Again at the Harbor View Club

"Dutch village" view from hotel

Bonzai!!!!

Along the promenade outside our hotel

We finally conquered the train... about $6 from our hotel to base. Again, oops.

I couldn't quite get over the taxi driver on the wrong side of the car driving on the wrong side of the road

Downtown Sasebo

Out and about in town, moments before the HabuSake

HabuSake!! Habu is Japanese for "snake" and tradition holds that you take a shot of the habusake. I didn't barf, but hugely considered it (before and after, actually).

At "The Bunny" bar, a very pro-military hang out. The girl on the left actually went to Johnson County Community College in Kansas - about 10 minutes from my parents' house. Small world!!

You can't go to The Bunny without singing karaoke...

So much fun!!

On Sunday we went on a tour to Kumamoto Castle. Here is Chris with a ninja and samurai. Nice!

Me trying out my kung fu on a guy who didn't seem terribly thrilled with the idea...

The Emperor's walls were painted with gold. Not gold paint, but uh, gold.

In between tour spots, we stopped at random rest stops along the way. We got ice cream at this one..

At Kumamoto castle in the oldest tower

Also on the tour.... the Japanese Botanical Gardens

It's good luck to walk through this walk way. Something about spirits. I sort of zoned out for the explanation of this one... too many other things to look at :)

Us being us...

Out in town

We went to this spot - Zawatami, which apparently is a chain. They didn't speak a drip of English. We finally realized why we were swarmed when we went in... you have to take your shoes off before you enter. Oops.

On Tuesday, we took a cab up to Tsukomo (?) Golf Course for 9 holes. It was beautiful!! Golf is incredibly expensive in Japan (this would have been something like $140 each, but military rate is $10 a piece -- Chris informed me this was because we won the war)

Teeing off on the 3rd hole... par 3

Totally BRAGGING, but check out where it landed!!! I wish all of the holes went like that, but they did not. At all. Chris beat me by 2 strokes. The best part? The carts were automatic... just a push of a button and they followed along a track. No hands!

Post golf. YES, I got a free pink glove which makes me want to golf more... (ps hats were mandatory for dress code, so we bought these lovelies on base for $3 each)

One of the highlights of the trip? I got a tour of Chris' boat!! Here we're on the shuttle boat en route. So cool!

Chris' home sweet home

Chris' bird

Their "cardio gym" on the boat... and me pretending to not take a week off of marathon-training to eat/drink/be merry in Japan...

Speaking of eating/drinking/general merriment... my last night in town we met up with our friends who are on a different deployment and happened to be in town, and ate at the famous "Steak Salon." The food is incredible! The place only seats 14 and is run by the chef and his wife (pictured here). He was trained in France and dinner was fantastic.

Forces combined (and me!) Soooo fun

Walking down "the Ginza" aka the mall post-dinner, pre-Westerner

Drinking the famous iceish-cream "Coolish" and then on to The Westerner, an awesome Western bar (clearly) with older Japanese bartenders dressed in cowboy shirts, leather skirts, and serving beer in boots.