Constant Beginnings

here is a snapshot of our blissful trip to korea. i can't be more proud of the way our girls handled the very long day. it was amazing. the middle picture was taken on our bus ride back to the base.

so picture this---daddy hasn't seen his wife and kids for four months, waits patiently as the doors open outside of customs and out runs his family into the warm hands of his open embrace. okay, now get that idealistic mess out of your head, afterall, we are a dark cloud kind of family. everything that can go wrong, generally does. well, maybe not EVERYTHING. anyhow, after an exhausting adventure with our mass amounts of luggage in boston, we whizzed right through check in and security. we were off. the flights were awesome. the girls did so well. i didn't even need to pull out entertainment for the 12 hour leg, which was so good. i needed some sleep. there was a major storm (typhoon) that hit the area around the base. they lost power and had some damage. chris didn't end up getting to the airport until after 6:30. my flight landed at 5:20 and i hadn't even talked with him to confirm anything since he expressed his doubts about us arriving today. needless to say, i wa...

this whole process has been a long one. super long. i applied back in may, emailed the principal through june, interviewed in july, was hired the beginning of august and have waited for our beloved passports since august 5th. (not that i am keeping track--oh yes i am!) i have a daily routine of waking up, haunting calling the passport specialist every morning, and doing a wrap up call to him at the end of the day (interestingly, he doesn't answer his phone in the afternoon anymore--do you think it is because of me?) anyway, i called this morning. he said, "your passports will be in your hands today!" i quoted him because his words were just that memorable. i mean really, could this long, monotonous journey actually end this week? yippee!! now we will go to the apartment, stalk the fed ex guy and mosey over to the base to line up our travel and car shipping details. i am super excited. i cannot wait to get this in motion. it feels like i have simply been treading water fo...

any guesses as to what was in this folder?

having only done one move with the military before, i did a bit of research and gathered some advice. casey at the ever changing life offered an entire blog post to her suggestions to prepare for moves. i took some of that advice. 1. i washed and bagged in huge ziploc bags bedding, curtains, and other linens. funny faces. moving day! 2. separated all our household goods and all important documents. 3. packed in 6 suitcases/bags our clothes, toys and other necessary items for the next 3 months. 4. i documented serial numbers of all major electronics. 5. took photos and videos of all large items (furniture, etc.) 6. while the packers were working, i made sure EVERYTHING was wrapped. they tried to load the step 2 toy kitchen without wrapping and a few other oddly shaped items, but i stepped in. just wanted to be safe. carry on and checked baggage life as squatters. i tried to confine us to my bedroom in order to keep the rest of the apartment as clean as possible. glad ...

may peeking at me through the playhouse window. claire in the bouncehouse. the past few weeks have been filled with plenty of playgrounds and kid fun. we have a membership to davis farmland, which has everything under the sun for kids to enjoy--a little town, sprinkler park, animals, playground, food, etc. the girls and i ventured there for some good old fashioned fun. mya and claire loved the little town. each trip they love something else, which is why i love that place. they never seem to tire of it.

claire was trying her best to ride this big kid bike all afternoon. mya and lucy followed each other around. pretty sweet friends. michelle and lucy hanging in the hammock. mya was on her game trying to get up the steps when we looked away--at lightening speed. alison and mya hanging out. poor thing had foot surgery a week ago and still played hostess. what a amazing girl! mya and henri were trying to fix the air conditioner or maybe they were sharing secrets. hmm. i hate good-byes. i hate them so much that my way of coping is to avoid them. my good friends know this. thankfully, they understand and put up with my silly ways. no fuss was made. i avoided lunch with a few from work and i avoided another lunch date that will take place tomorrow. i can't avoid saying the dreaded good-byes to my two, nearest and dearest friends--alison and michelle. these girls are the best. really. this lifestyle involves great efforts to stay connected with those friends...