Mike's Promotion!

Mike was awarded the honor of "Below the Zone". To translate, he was recognized for being amazing. =) He's done a great job at his work, winning awards like Maintenance Professional of the Quarter and taking on more and more responsibility in his year here in Japan. He has taken the position of Vice-President of the MOS society, which plans events like the squadron BBQ and fundraising for the Friendship Festival in September. He's earned a 4.0 during his first term taking classes online, and volunteers every week with our Junior High youth group as "Macho Mike" =)

One of the perks of "Below the Zone" is that he gets to "sew on" (move up in rank) 6 months early. My guy is no longer an Airman First Class, but a Senior Airman! He's the highest you can get in the Airman category. Next stop, Sgt!

Here's a short clip from his promotion ceremony. At the beginning, the crowd is yellow "MOS - BRIDGING THE GAP!" That's their motto!

what to write...

Every blog I've ever written has started with me sitting down to the computer feeling like I should write, but clueless as to what I should be writing about.

Any other bloggers feel this way? It's kinda discouraging. Confusing.

Also, with every blog I've ever written, I've started out by typing something along those lines.
"I don't know what I should be writing about"
"I know I haven't written in a while, but I know that I should"
"Not long ago I thought of something to blog about, but since then I've forgotten. Darn."


Then I delete whatever I wrote because I know that it's not the correct way to start a blog. No one wants to hear "Today I'm going to talk about blah blah blah." I remember English teachers saying over and over again - you don't need to tell me what you're going to talk about. Just start talking!


But.... what if the process you use to start writing something worthwhile (the process outlined above) doesn't work like it usually does? Does that mean that you should just delete everything and sign off?? Or can you keep writing and writing and writing... about not being able to write about anything worthwhile.


Pretty deep right? haha! I'm going to blame the cold medicine I'm on for that one.


Yesterday or the day before, I started getting symptoms of a cold / allergy thing. I've been going back and forth as to whether it's a cold or not. You see, the cherry blossoms are past the blooming stage and the petals are now floating around in the breeze. While it's very pretty, it's not so good on my nasal passages. This morning I woke up thinking it was a cold because I'm achy, but I'm still not sure what it is. My go to allergy drug just isn't cutting it so far. It's just making me feel in a fog with my box of tissues.

WELL - I don't' know about you, but I think this is one worthless entry! Like I said before, I feel like I should write, but don't know what to write about... hopefully this will suffice that "gotta blog" feeling. At least for a little while.


Greetings from Japan! =)

ouchy!

So I wrote about spring cleaning this week... Since I've decided to be a cleaning maniac (slight exaggeration) my nails have gone to crap! They are all weak and flimsy, cracked and peely. =( Next time I'm wearing some good rubber gloves.

Today, I somehow tore a good chunk of my thumb nail off. It was awful. It hurts to type now. I had to cut it so short that it seems like it should have bled, but it didn't. I think it's just because the skin has been protected by a good strong nail for so long it's not used to the elements (my keyboard).

Also, after a week of normal people skin, my yucky dry skin is back. Bleh! For most of the winter I've had tight, red, dry skin on my face and last week it went away. I'm super bummed that it's back. Maybe I'll have to once again seclude myself in the house and keep applying some heavy duty super greasy lotion to the dry spots all day long. I want normal skin again. Dry skin is no fun.

Lastly, today while I was carrying a basket overflowing with the comforter to our bed out the door (on the way to the laundromat for the industrial sized washer) the wire screen on our door took off about 5 layers of skin from my knuckles. OUCH!

On a brighter note, I found 3 pairs of dress pants for my job at school for only 5 bucks each! They will need to be hemmed, but that will just give me something to do while I'm taking time to doctor my dry skin this week. =)

Spring Cleaning

Our apartment is pretty small, so I didn't figure spring cleaning was really that big of a deal. Actually, being a new wife, and having a place to call our own for an entire year straight for the first time EVER, I didn't even think of cleaning until a friend here in Japan commented that she got her cleaning done in record time because our houses are so small. =)

This week Mike is working 12 hour shifts because of the base "exercise" (pretend wartime). I decided instead of wasting time on the computer or tv, I'd clean. It's sorta worked out - I've still wasted time on facebook or watching movies in the middle of the day, but I've also got lots of cleaning done.

What I'm wondering is, how did my walls get so dirty? Tomorrow (maybe this afternoon...) I'm planning on cutting open one of our milk jugs and scrubbing down the walls. We do have a bucket, but it's excessively large. I bought it for Mike to wash his car, it was the only one I saw! ANYWAY, there are dirty smudges on our white walls, and not just on the normal places like light switches.. I found some down near the floor boards! I'd like to blame the dog, because I'm not sure how else they got there.

In short, I've decided maybe I should be spring cleaning more often. Not just laundry, kitchen counters, bathroom... Maybe a monthly scrub of our cupboards? Creating wonder with the magic eraser on the walls? Heck, washing the puppy nose smudges off the patio glass window should probably be done more than twice a year. =)

I'd like to say I'm not a slob, but I think my sister and husband would remind me of the truth.
How about a recovering mess-a-holic? Can I be that instead?

Darn Wagon

Remember last January, when I wrote about getting on the "fit wagon" and losing weight, getting healthy?

HA! Like a week after I wrote that blog, I fell off the wagon. Actually, it was more of a hop of the wagon. I had decided I was done counting calories because it was a pain in the butt. I was tired of measuring and I was fairly confident that I could guess my way around losing weight. Well, because I wasn't counting calories, I didn't feel the need to track my exercise. Because I didn't feel the need to track it, it didn't happen. And here I am, a month and a half later - the same weight I was when I hopped off that wagon.

I would like to say "YEAH! Good job Jess. Same weight. Didn't gain" But honestly - I've probably gained some. I've probably lost some of the muscles I had built up by running, walking, rowing - whatever. I've continued eating crud (at least lately) and I can feel it in my energy levels! I'm back to feeling yucky, not sick but certainly not fit. Too much sugar, too much fat, not NEARLY enough veggies or fruit.

So, instead of getting back on the wagon - I'm going to walk beside the wagon. Before, I was all about counting calories - aiming for over a pound a week (not more than 2). This time, I'm going to conciously eat more veggies, but not deprave myself. I'm going to have dessert or ice cream, but in moderation. I might track the sugary stuff, but just so I can actually have it in moderation. Otherwise my mind tells me
"3 bowls of ice cream is moderation!"
"Of course you can have a cupcake, you'll just skip some ice cream"
"Huh? what cupcake? You didn't eat the frosting - this is the same calories as that yucky frosting..."
"Taco Bell isn't THAT bad for you... right? There's lettuce. That's healthy"


Silly me. I know the above statements are dumb. But I do what I want. So anyway - yes, I should track the desserts and fried food. More veggies. Veggies at every meal (besides breakfast. That's what enriched cereal is for, right?)

Here is goes. Maybe I'll hit the gym today. Or at least go for a long long walk. The dog will love me for it.

Some of you know, Mike and I are traveling to Iowa in May for a 3 week visit! =) Laying in bed last night, unable to completely shut down and fall asleep right away (completely unusual for me...) I started to think about going back to the states.

I decided that part of me is really excited, and other parts are not so excited. I'm excited to get off the plane, speed walk through the Des Moines airport, come down a flight of stairs and see my family. I remember when I went back to the states in September you would have thought I had risen from the dead. There were tears, lots of hugs, a fountain of happiness. AND I had only been gone for something like 6 months. I'm excited for Mike to experience that gushing of happiness. It makes the long flights worth it. And I'm thrilled I get to sit in on the regular laughs and jokes made at the dinner table. You just can't duplicate that through a phone call or even skype! I'm excited to run a race with my mom, to tell everyone about Japan as memories come to me, I'm excited to spend mothers day with my family. I'm excited for a good steak and some lovely mexican food. Ooo and chinese. I love me some American Chinese food. They've got chinese food in Japan - but it's not the same as Iowa Chinese food. haha!

I'm not so excited about going home because I know that life in Iowa doesn't freeze when I leave the country. Life goes on, other commitments are made, and events happen. Going back home means recognizing that I've been disconnected from my family's lives - even though unintentionally.

Another reason I'm not completely ecstatic that we're going back to Iowa is that I know other people can't drop everything that's happening in their lives to spend time with us. It just can't/doesn't happen. That may be selfish - but I'm thinking WE"RE dropping everything to come be in Iowa... We've said to our Jr Highers, sorry 2/3 of your leaders will be taking a vacation and won't be around to have an event this month. Oh, and good luck on having worship without a guitar or piano player! And Mike's guitar lessons - I know you just started taking lessons a month ago, but go ahead and take a month off. =) And my English lessons - Yes, we're one month into the new school year with a dauntingly new English curriculum. Oh, by the way, I'm leaving the country to visit the states. You can make that work right?

Ok, ok... I AM being a little dramatic. It's just that I'm remembering a twinge of disappointment when I was in the states last September. I had a great time with people - when they were around. But there were plenty of times when seemingly everyone was busy and I would take naps in "my" car in a park. Or wander Wal-Mart for an hour or more. Or count the hours until mom came home for lunch and then for good. Boring.

I'm thinking that May will be a better time to visit anyway. In september, colleges were in session and my old friends were meeting new friends and getting adjusted to their classes. It wasn't a planned trip - I decided to quit my job as a lifeguard and visit home, so I went. I didn't make a schedule so people could have notice of when I was coming home. I didn't call people as a heads up before I left Japan. Looking back, that was my problem.

Now - don't get me wrong, I'm really excited to hug my mom, and watch biggest loser as a family, go play with Mike's nieces and nephews, play cards with the Alexanders... I am. I'm just praying that there's less downtime, and more funtimes.

Weird Dog

Our dog Cheeky isn't like every other dog.

She doesn't bark or growl. Actually, I think Mike taught her to growl! Whenever he would play with her, he would growl and now she does only when she's REALLY into playing with you. But I've never EVER heard the dog bark. That's not to say she doesn't make noise - no, she'll cry when she sees a dog being walked through our patio window. She'll sigh if Mike and I are ignoring her while making dinner. She'll squeak when she yawns, sometimes. She yelps when she feels threatened by another dog... That's all normal.

Also, she'd rather sit on the top of couches than the floor or on the cushions - much like a cat likes high places, this dog likes high places. And she doesn't chew on anything or get into trash like a normal dog... No, she'd rather sit on the couch with you and chill, or follow you around the house as you clean. Only if you leave her alone in the house will she chew on anything, and even then it's more like drag shoes around by their laces. Not destroy property. Maybe we've trained her to be this way? If you only look back in the history, I talked about how awful this dog was. How she ate books and scissors and paper... I don't know. Whatever we did, or she's done, I like it. =)

One thing that I think I did to mess her up was her routine. Every night for a long time, I would take her out to potty before bed. Well, one night I asked Mike to do it - and she wouldn't go for him. I took her shortly after she got back with Mike and she would piddle shortly after being outside. This has happened several times now... Maybe she's nervous to piddle with Mike? Maybe when I go out with her she knows what's she's supposed to do? I don't know, but it was a mistake. That's my job now - take the dog out every night. Bummer.

One of her quirky little habits is looking at us through our full length mirror. Sometimes after a haircut, you can tell she doesn't like her new do because she can see herself in the mirror. Sounds odd, but it's true! She'll mope around the house for a day or two if she doesn't like it! The mirror is in the bedroom, and she's only allowed on the bed if she's invited. So, she'll stand facing the mirror and either look at herself or look at us reading on the bed. It's so odd! The real dog is focused on the mirror, but her reflection is focused 100% on you!


Weird dog.