Catchin' Up

A family of three tomatoes were walking downtown one day when the little baby tomato started lagging behind. The big father tomato walks back to the baby tomato, stomps on her, squashing her into a red paste, and says, "Ketchup!"

Sorry...  I know we have been out of touch the last month.  I swear I'm blogging, I just haven't been posting.  I need to get the pictures off of my camera so I can get everything in order... 

Anyway, we have made it safe and sound to our next assignment.  Ronnie is with the 5th ASOS at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in lovely Tacoma, WA.  We have moved into the beautiful dream house and our household goods have already been delivered.  Needless to say, we've been unpacking and setting up house, getting Holly registered for school, and buying Ronnie a car.  It's been a busy few weeks. 

So please check back soon...  I have a few blogs to post about our last few weeks in Korea, our DMZ trip, and our reintegration back into American culture.

Movin' On

Well, we're in Washington!  Greetings from the Evergreen State.  Or as the girls like to say, the land where all the trees look like Christmas Trees. 

Back over the summer we found a home to rent and we moved in last week.  Our household goods were delivered last Friday and we have been steadily trying to dig out of all these boxes.  So here's the house and the grand tour:  (some of these are our pics, others are from when we were here in August). 

Front of the house and view of the "Big Garage"

 

Kitchen and formal dining

 

Another view of the kitchen, into the family room, and Holly's room

 

 Master BR and the big office

Backyard view and the treehouse

 Bays in the "Big Garage"

But the best thing is this:

Mount Rainier is the view from the front porch.  It is stunning and hard to not look at or look for. 

Annyong Kyesayo

It's finally here...  the day we came back to America.  I can't believe that it was already time to go...  I feel that I had more to do at Osan and in Korea.  Our last month has been a blur. 

Holly had her first day of school

and her last day of school. 

We shared Chuseok with our neighbors.  They sent us the plate on the left, I sent back the plate on the right. My girls got an enthusiastic two thumbs up for their bow of gratitude. 

We had to go to Everland one more time, and were joined there by some pretty awesome friends. 

 

We had to squeeze more shopping in.  I love Lotte Mart... and am going to miss the uber-convenient kids play area. 

We spent time with friends who feel more like family and who will always have a place in our heart.  One more dinner, another cup of coffee, quick talks at the BX, and one more playdate. 

 And we finally had to say "See you Soon and send us your address" to Dan and Allison Patak rather than "See you when you get to town" *sniff*

To say that we are going to miss Korea is an understatement.  I feel this way about Texas and North Carolina....  They are my home, a place where we made a life and made sweet memories with our children.  I am gong to miss this beautiful country and her beautiful strong people.  I am going to miss my sweet neighbors who I can't communicate with, but we somehow get by.  I am going to miss going to the commissary and BX and running into seemingly every person I know.  I am going to miss the wonderful ladies of the 25th FS (and of the 36th, and of the base...), the sounds of jets flying overhead, the exercises that never seem to end and always come at a bad time, and the sense of camaraderie and community that embodies Osan.

And we left all this behind in search of a new adventure. 

We landed back in the good ol' US of A on Tuesday morning, after traveling some hours across the pond.  Our flight was pretty uneventful, the girls did wonderfully, we got some good sleep on the plane, and got situated quickly on the other end.  We found out that our household goods and our quick ship are here, so we will be working on getting the house set up the next few weeks. 

Crossing the Line

It's been two years....  October 5th marks the day we left the US in 2009 on our way to this amazing assignment.  As I draw nearer to the end of our time here, I am overwhelmed by my feelings for the ROK and her people.  To mark the anniversary or our time here, Ronnie and I made a trip to the DMZ, Panmunjom, and the JSA.  I'm going to let the pictures tell the story on this post.

One foot in the South and the other in the North

Click on the Slideshow to see our pics.

Celebrating Sarah!

Another year has come and gone...   Sarah doesn't even pretend to be my baby anymore.  She politely corrects me everytime I call her my baby.

After the Barbie cake for Holly's birthday, Sarah and I started discussing her birthday party.  She settled on a rainbow cake.  According to her, she wanted one like Ms. AJ made and brought to our house, but with all the colors of the rainbow  (see AJ's cake here:  Mexican Flag Cake)  Knowing we had a PCS coming up, I pledged to do my best for her.  I googled and researched how to make one without making a layer cake.  I finally got a great idea for doing it similar to how marble cakes are done.  Then I set about the task of convincing Sarah that it didn't have to be perfect.  Eventually, when I told her how I would do it, she relented and agreed that it was going to be awesome! 

And awesome it was!   Score 1 for mom (actually, that would be 2 because I did a bang up job on Holly's cake too). 

On Sunday, we woke Sarah up to singing and hugs and kisses.  It was her special day, so we celebrated with cupcakes!!!! 

Later in the day, we had her rainbow birthday pool party.  The Osan indoor pool is such a nice place for a party - they will pull the tables together for you and all you have to do is clean up and take out the trash.  Best of all, it's free.  We splashed around, the girls showed off their swimming skills, and ate pizza and cake.  All in all, it was a wonderful party for my baby. 

Happy Birthday Sarah-lara!  We love you!!!!

Lessons Learned: Five Pounds....

The other day, I was commiserating with a friend about the five pounds I've gained while being in Korea.  She concurred and said that she thought she put on her extra weight from the yummy Thai food alone.  It got me to thinking....  was the five pounds worth it? 

I've gained five pounds by trying new and interesting foods:  we've sampled our way through Thailand and China, by figuring out which banchan we like best at the Korean restaraunts, and discovering the international fare available in the 'ville.

I've gained five pounds by meeting wonderful friends and reconnecting with others. 
I've gained five pounds by sharing meals and treats with wonderful friends at fini-flights, girls night outs, and numerous "coffees."

I've gained five pounds by learning to enjoy a culture so completely different from my own. 

I've gained five pounds by running in races far from a country that is my own, and being cheered on by people who don't look a thing like me but who chant "USA" while I pass them. 


As my time in Korea winds down to a close, I really hope that I can shed the pounds I've gained physically but I know that the other five pounds I've gained in lessons learned while here will always be with me. 

Leaving the Jet Plane

Well, it's over.  My husband will no longer have a mistress, there will no longer be the "other" woman in his life, and all that jazz.  With our next assignment being a non-flying job, and this being his second time in the venerable A-10, we had to say our final goodbye to the Hawg.

But not before Ronnie took her for one last ride - he had to put her up wet you know....