Constant Beginnings

Chris' office consists of both military and Korean civilians. We were invited to dinner by some of the Korean civilians. They are very kind people who wanted to share their culture with me. They did the same with Chris when he arrived. We dined at a traditional korean restaurant, however, it wasn't traditional in the sense that you removed your shoes and sat on the floor under a low lying table. There are those, but this was not one of them. The table had a grill sort of like a hibachi table, but much smaller. Mr. Kim ordered both beef and pork bulgogi. Pork is much better than beef as it is marinaded in what seemed to be a soy sauce type marinade. It reminded me of my mom's chicken wing marinade. Yummy. You can grill garlic, mix it with the pork and wrap it in a lettuce leaf to eat. They also served peppers that looked like chili peppers, but actually tasted like green bell peppers. Several other sides were also served--a few different kinds of kim chi (soured cabbage with...

i feel like i am in a fog that i can't escape. several things have brought me to this feeling. 1. everyday feels the same. i wake up, go outside, sweat like i've worked out for hours, pray for some A/C and then chill out. 2. i miss my kiddos. 3. i have a to-do list a mile long that i can't even begin until i return to MA. 4. i miss my kiddos. 5. i hate the humidity. 6. i have been crying off and on most of the day. 7. oh---did i mention that i got the job? hence, the tears. (sorry, jess, lisa, lauren and alison--i'd have called, but this time difference thing is messed up) 8. i miss my kiddos and feel nervous for what is to come in the next month. 9. i have felt sick to my stomach most of the day. 10. i am so lucky that i get to coordinate this HUGE move all by myself while tending to 2 small children and a dog. 11. YIPPEE!! Ok, now onto a written summary. Things have most definitely progressed quickly on the job front. I toured the school and visited with ...

Add caption The house we are considering. Brand new. Very nice and a single family home, which is a rare thing in Korea. Yesterday we spent the day hanging around the base and downtown area. We had to finish some paperwork for my job application review, visited with Chris' friends at work and then went golfing. Once again, I actually enjoyed my golfing endeavor. I even parred a hole and finished with a 48. Not too bad for my second return after 10 years. I can't wait to see what I do with my own clubs, although I still have to replace my 5 wood that was stolen after our last PCS. Grrr. We wrapped up the day with more house shopping and dinner with friends. It was fun. I learned a little more about Korean culture. Three things: 1. Koreans are not raised with an understanding of personal space, so they will often bump into you or stand very close to you. This is not intended as disrespect. 2. Koreans celebrate their birthdays according to the calendar year. Everyone turn...

This dude was tossing around a huge scythe like thing with a sharp knife on the end. It was crazy to think this was a public park and such activity was allowed. Pretty feet. Chris' first pedi. My Mom has informed that I have definitely lost a day or two. I suppose the days are long and exhausting for her, so it is not difficult to remember how long it has been. My parents are doing a great job loving on our kiddos. My Mom took a day and went on a little quilting expedition while my Dad watched the girls. My Mom came back with some surprises for the girls, so they were both tickled. So much so, that Claire did not want to talk to me on the phone ;) I am so happy that they are doing well and can't thank my parents enough for loving them as much as we do. I know how exhausting taking care of two little ones can be and although my parents are well versed in kiddos, it is very different to go from not having any around for years and years, to being a full time pare...

Chris and I before we went out. I feel like I may have lost a day somewhere, so I am not sure if this is truly day 3 or not. Oh well. Chris and I had no plans today, so we thought we'd go golfing. Little did we know what was really in store for us. We woke up to heavy rains. It was awful, complete with bolts of lightening and thunder too. In fact, his cable  box on the roof of the building was struck by lightening, so we lost cable and internet for most of the day. Far too exciting for my liking. Anyway, we lounged around, watched movies, shopped at the BX. It was a low-key kind of day. We decided to eat at a Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner with his friend, Casey and his wife, Starla who also happens to be visiting. It was so yummy! They were going to out for drinks, but Chris and I aren't big drinkers, so we thought we'd go home. I had a glass of wine and lounged for a bit before we decided to go to the club with them. It ended up being a fun night. I had my first tast...

A few days ago, Rachel passed on an award to me. Yippee! I love to win, so this was an awesome surprise. Thanks, Rachel! We are in a similiar situation with a toddler in the home and both are temporary single mommas as our husbands are deployed. It is always reassuring to read blogs of those to whom I can relate. It makes me feel a little less crazy! Check out her blog Life and Times of a Military Spouse . Along with the award we are supposed to do a couple of things: 1. Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award. 2. Share 7 things about your self. 3. Pass the award to 9 fellow bloggers that inspire you. 4. Let them know about the award. So here are 7 things about me: 1. I have a fear of vast bodies of water at night--only being in the middle of them. Boats, no matter the size, just don't seem like they could hold their own in a faceoff. 2. I hate to not be good at something. Here is the perfect example. I just had this conversation with ...

Crops growing roadside. Artwork I bought that is made by rice paper being folded. Rice paper art. Almost every bus has curtains, complete with a valance in the front. Downtown Seoul skyline. Yesterday was day number 2 in Korea. We had been staying in a hotel in Seoul for a couple of days. Chris was thinking I'd be a bit jet-lagged and would like to sleep in comfort. More on that later. He was so right. After our sightseeing to the Korean Museum, we went back to our room and I slept from 1 until 7 at night. He woke me to eat dinner, then I returned to bed from 7:30 until 3:30. I called and spoke to our kiddos who are doing very well and having a great time. I found myself lying in bed until 5:30, got up, showered and went to the gym so Chris could sleep awhile. It was an early day to say the least. We caught the bus back to Chris' apartment. It is nice, but I swear he lives in the ghetto. He told me we'd go to lunch. I was preparing for a journey in the c...

This one is hard to see and again, probably embarrassing to Chris. I am not the traditional sight see-er, I guess. I like to take pictures of things that are interesting and show culture and lifestyle. This is definitely one of those pictures. When people take pictures here, they often make the "peace" sign. The girl in white is doing just that. So funny. Chris told me that it often feels like the 80's here. He is so right. The music is  like "bubble gum"--kind of light and bubbly. Very different than that which we are used to. The songs often combine English and Korean lyrics which is also strange. This man was cleaning a pond filled with lotus flowers and lily pads. I thought it was interesting. He is using a wire skimmer type tool. Korea seems to be so advanced in terms of technology, yet traditional in so many other ways. Chris in front of a traditional Korean building. Not sure what it was, but thought it was beautiful. When I pictured Korea in...

10. the vast plains and wide open view. chris and i comment on the sense of calm and clear headedness that we get immediately when our plane lands and we step outside. there is nothing like it. wide open fields of grain blowing in the wind. beautiful. 9. the small town feeling where "everybody knows your name." ok, this isn't quite true anymore. i guess i am too old for everyone to know exactly which child i am, but everyone certainly knows which family i come from. love that and the questions that follow as people want to hear what i've done with my life. 8. the bright blue skies that stay bright until almost 10 PM. coming from ma where it gets dark in the summer around 8, this is incredible. now, if only i had a life that took advantage of the extended hours of daylight?? 7. 0 to low humidity. love it, love it, love it. it can be 90 degrees but it is fabulous--not like ma at all. 6. sense of security. kids can play outside without being attached to an adult. it ...

Wow, I can't believe three years has passed already. I am sure I say this every year, but really, how can you be three already?? You are such a beautiful girl Claire, inside and out. You are loving, kind, curious, and intelligent beyond your years. You have such an immense vocabulary and remember EVERYTHING! I have to be very careful what I promise or what I say as I can be certain it will be held against me one day. You bring up experiences from months previous and recall them with such vivid detail that it really amazes me. Claire, you have a passion for learning. You ask question after question and recently took a deeper interest in the rules of the road. I suppose this could be concerning, but again, I will say you are intelligent beyond your years. You love to tell me when I can go, when I should stop, ask questions about where I am going, try to give me directions or question me when you know I am not going the right way. You can spell your name, have a solid understanding...

another week has passed. it is hard to believe we've been gone for this long already. typically our trips to nd are limited to 2 weeks or less, so this feels kind of strange. here is the review: monday-- we went to the zoo. i think i posted about that last week. that evening, we watched luke play baseball. claire enjoyed  her first taste of sunflower seeds--shell and all. i tried to explain that she needed to remove the shell, even offering to do it for her, but she tends to be stubborn. i guess she needs to learn somethings the hard way. several spitting moments later, she listened. amen. mya enjoyed running around, jumping up on chairs and finding treasures like rocks and sticks. luke's team won. tuesday--babysat my nieces and nephew for the day. olivia and luke had basketball camp most of the afternoon, so i really just had my kiddos and ava. it was nice. the girls played, we attempted a nap and then hung out. i also had my phone interview with the principal in korea. that...

Sleep. I love my sleep. I loved my sleep before children and even moreso now that I am deprived. However, we've been at my parents' house for 4 days now and I think I have gotten more sleep in those 4 days than I have in the past 3 years. All thanks to my awesome parents. Love them. Mya is sleeping in the one bedroom, while Claire and I are sleeping in another. My Mom has been grabbing Mya when she wakes in the morning. Claire and I have been sleeping in anywhere from 8 to sometimes 9 each day. I even have had a nap each day. It is heavenly. I feel pretty refreshed, although I have a lot on my mind. No word on the job yet, which I was expecting, but I am somewhat impatient. I've made my list of things to do if I should get the job and we decide to move to Korea. All in all, I am pretty prepared or at least as much as I can be being so far away from MA. Just wish I could snap my fingers and find out if I got the job, gather all my stuff from work, say the sucky good-byes, co...

OMG. I could die. Chris has been diligently working behind the scenes trying desperately to reunite us all in Korea. The only way that I felt it even remote feasible would be if the DOD paid for our expenses. Unfortunately, an accompanied remote is hardly an option as we were 150 on "the list" back in May, but have since moved up to 149. Anyway, our only other option was for me to get a job. I applied back in May, but never heard a word. The principal of the school emailed back and forth, but it never seemed to progress beyond that. Fast forward to now--a couple of weeks before I head to Korea for a fabulous rendevous with Chris, a month or so before we end this vacation that we are currently on, a month or so before I am able to access my mail and retrieve any potential job offers--I checked my email only to find a request for a return phone call. I did so and quickly had a phone interview with the principal. OMG. I can't believe this is happening. I had basically writte...

Poor Mya, this seems to be a pretty regular occurance. Luckily, she is pretty laid back. The twin theme extends beyond my kiddos. Love it! one week is done and because i have been so terrible at updating this blog, i'll do a week in review with a daily play by play. monday--picked up my parents at the airport and literally went back to our apartment, emptied the trash, finished packing, picked up our dog and hit the road. it was crazy. i drove us too, which is even crazier considering i have never driven across country before. we drove to rochester, ny. tuesday--hit the road again. drove all day. insane. kids did great.claire had one major meltdown around lunch time. it was awful. definitely a moment i was wishing chris was with me. my parents helped with mya while i dealt with claire. she ended up calming down in the car while the rest of the crew went to mcdonalds. i waited on the curb outside. it was great.  my dad took the first shift, while i took t...