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Thursday, May 07, 2009
A year gone by......
So, a whole long year since my last...well anything on this blog, lol. Josh and I are no longer living in Okinawa, Japan anymore but I still have pictures that I will post from the past year on Okinawa. This month we have been visiting family and we will return to our new lives in Spokane,Washington. I've considered creating another site for our new lives in Spokane,WA after finishing this Okinawa site. Enjoy the pictures to come. They will start with my trip to Cape Hedo back in September 2008. Much Luck and Love Jessica
Josh has about 5 more weeks until he is home...but until then I've been having some fun with my friends. Here are some pictures from our day at the Churami Aquarium, Tropical Dream Center and Turtle beach. I had alot of fun and days like this I will remember always about Okinawa.
Hi all :) Today I volunteered for Spring Fest, it was kiNda boring until we got to play on the bouncy castles :) Josh will be home on April 1st and I can't wait !!! Here are some pictures :) Love jess
I went on tour yesterday to Shuri Castle and Shikinaen Royal Garden. It was really nice. Seeing the historical and scenic beauty of the island is a great experience! Shuri Castle is where the Ryukyu kings meet for congress and lived around 1429 while the Shikinaen Garens was the Ryukyu Royals second largest residence and was used to entertain royal family members and royal guests. It was constructed around the end of the 18th century. At Shuri Castle we were just in time to see the Ryukyu dancers preform. They were so graceful and beautiful! I plan to on a tour at least once a month, maybe more during the summer.
Hello all! I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything but life has been busy this last month!
Josh is TDY to Korea until April 1st, home for about a week then goes off for a 2 month deployment :( On the bright side we do make a lot of money when he is deployed. An extra 6-7000$ is really going to help us out when Josh resigns from the military next February. As far as I know our plans are still to move to Texas. Which is close enough to family, southern and warm weather! So it's ok with me :) I do miss him an awful lot when he is gone though :(
But I have friends to make the time go by faster :) Plus work keeps me busy. This Saturday I plan on going on a Shuri castle tour then celebrating St. Pattys day at my house with some friends. And I have been exercising almost everyday with giving myself Saturdays to relax.
Anywho thats about all for now. But I'll be posting pictures from the tour soon and hopefully when the weather gets warmer some pics of the beach and summer pictures from School Age.
I love you all and pray for my hubby to come home safely :) Jessica
Hi all. Yep I got my hair cut again :) It's pretty short and I like it :) Josh likes it to :) I was getting tired of getting the tangles out of my long hair and keeping it blonde was really expensive for long hair. But don't worry mom, I'll probably let it grow back out and by the time you see me again it'll be back being kinda long, LOL Love ya
Hi all. Christmas was well it was as good as it can get without family and chilly weather. It was stormy and humid. But nonetheless Josh and I opened our presents, ate some of my yummy cooking and watched "Its a Wonderful Life" on TMC movies. It was nice:) Now it being New Years day Josh and I make our New Years resolutions:
Jessi 1) Being the best wife I can be 2) Lose 5 pounds before summer 3) Read 5 books ( 200pgs at least) 4) Eat healthy and excersise
Josh 1) Be the best hubby he can be 2)Keep off the weight 3) Save money for our future
Anywho, Hope everyone has a good New Years! God Bless
Today I went to the Yomitan Pottery Festival here on Okinawa. It was very intriguing to see how the local Okinawans create their pottery. They have many kilns in Yomtian village and each house seemed to either have a commune kiln that they all used or a small household kiln. I got to see many beautiful pottery and how they are made! The prices ranged from VERY expensive due to the rarity of the pottery to inexpensive chipped or imperfect pottery. I wish now I would have brought more money with me, hahah. Here are some pictures I took. God Bless
Wow, it has been awhile since I have posted anything, sorry. Everything has been so busy. Work has been going well. I got moved to the Art/Drama room and I love it :) I'm not so good at Drama stuff but the kids let me know what they wanna do and my room mate James was in Drama in high school so he helps out as well :) It's the Art side that I am a pro at :) We have been making clay, cards, stockings, origami, ornaments and bead keychains all this week! And this is only my first week being in that room! So yeah I enjoy it! I plan to do cooking club once a month also and for Christmas it'll be sugar cookie cutouts! It should be fun and messy :) I haven't really had any problem children yet, they are all really loud though, LOL but I guess thats children in general.
So I have made the decision to stay at SAP and just take off 5 weeks of summer. I'll just stick around the house and explore Okinawa while I have the chance. Once I am a CC03 I'll be making $11.53 and hour and thats good money. I have 4 more modules left. Modules are kind of like child psychology homework. We have to complete 15 of them. I personally don't think that they are all that necessary because working with kids to me isn't all about the inner mind of a child and all this psychology stuff. Kids just wanna have fun and if they can learn while they have fun then thats even better. Anywho enough about work.
Josh has been doing well. Work has been kinda stressful for him so I've been using my Pampered Chef tools to cook him so good food :) We thought for awhile that we would have to move off base because the neighbor lady kept calling the cops on us without even making us aware of what she was complaining about. GRRRR but everything is ok now. We just put in a statement saying that she unnecessarily calls the cops and now we get to stay here :) Man we can't wait to get out of the military. It has taught us alot about growing up and culture but we miss the U.S and our families!
Anywho all, I love ya'll and I'll post pictures soon. Hugz and God Bless
Well, it turned out to be a small...scratch that...a TINY ThanksGiving for Josh and I but the food was awesome and the day beautifully relaxing! Hope everyone else has a great ThanksGiving and feel blessed to have such full tummies and wonderful family/friends :) I love you all. God Bless Jessica and Josh
Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends. We love ya'll and give thanks for all you have supported u through and loved us through. God has truly blessed us and so we also give thanks to him. So enjoy your turkey, your pumpkin pie and your "green stuff" and most of all GIVE THANKS. Love, Jessi and Josh
Hi all! My hubby is home. I picked him up from the airport and I was so happy to see him. He's lost about 35 pounds and looks great! He's back to playing his D N D and WOW games :) It's good to have him home. Hope everyone had a good Halloween!
Yesterday I decided to throw a Halloween Ghouls(Girls) Only party! It was a lot of fun. I only had 3 friends come over but some is better than none. We had drinks, pizza, brownies, chips and of course pumpkin pie! We danced ,watched scary movies and talked the night away, well at least until midnight.
Then I decided to hit the hay cause today I'm picking up my hubby at the airport around 9pm! So I wanted to get the house all cleaned up and make him some Irish stew with cornbread! I'm so excited to have him come home so I can wake up to something besides my 3 kitties in my face, HAHA.
Any who I have next Friday off to spend with my hubz and believe me when I say I NEED this day off! I have one day a week where I'm not stressed about my job and the rest is consistent stress. *sigh But I have 2 friends that are going to the DooDs schools and one is going to the Child Development Center (babies and toddlers) and in a couple weeks I'm going to call them to see how it's going and maybe consider one of those jobs. i've been with School Age for about 10 months now and well I need something a little differnt. Anywho enough mindless chatter! :)
I love you all and hope ya'll have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Hi all. Since my last blog work has been stressful and when my hubby gets back we are going to fill out the School application :) Speaking of my hubby, he gets back Saturday @ 840pm! I'm so excited! Before he gets home I'm going to have a All Gals halloween night :) It should be fun :) Anywho this weekend we went to the ice skating rink, I am not that good but still managed to have alot of fun :) Here are some pics :) I love you all and hope ya'll have a great HALLOWEEN!Love Jess
Hi all! Yep, I finally did it :) I got up the nerve to get a tattoo :) It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It was more irritating than painful. I all ready want more! hahaha I went with my friend Cassie and the tattoo artist was named Dan. He was really nice :) Isn't that neat how I got my first tattoo in Okinawa, Japan! Anywho here's a picture :)
Hi all! So apparently I'm super famous now, haha. I have a 4 second blip on a commercial here in Okinawa and I've had 2 of my pictures printed in the Tallahassee Democrat back home!!! Awesome, huh :)
Anywho, today was an ultra relaxing day with my friend. We drove up to the Pineapple Park and went to the Busena Resort beach! It was beautiful! Water a crystal blue and a little rain but nevertheless wonderful and to end our beachy day we had a Pina-Colada.....mine was a virgin of course since I was driving, LOL.
My hubby has about 4 more weeks!! And I can't wait! With Halloween coming up I hope he's home soon. If he's not I might have a lil' halloween gal night :) I'm going as a Renaissance girl :)
Well it's been a couple weeks since my last blog and to be perfectly honest there's not much going on, LOL. As you may have noticed from my picture yes I got my hair cut, not too much just a little to cut all the dry ends off :) Don't get mad mom :) By the next time you see me it'll be that long, flaxin' waxin' hair you love :)
So what to update you on...let's see. Work has been stressful but the kids are fun on most days :) I don't know that I'll stay at the School Age Program long enough to get my CC03 because I'm seriously thinking about maybe a Teacher Assistant or maybe for the complete silence a library aid at the schools :)
Josh comes home in about 5 more weeks. We don't know yet if he will be home for Halloween :( But I decided to be a renaissance girl in the case that he does come home :) Maybe we'll hit a halloween party, I don't know.
My workout routine is still going :) At least 5 days a week, 30-40 min cardio and weights :) I've been trying my best to lay off the sweet stuff....but it's hard. I mainly drink water and I haven't been eating alot of fast food :) So go me !!!
I've decided and made an appointment to get a tattoo on October 6th! Don't worry mom and Dad it's just a little shamrock for the Irish gal in me :) I'll put pics up when I get it.
Anywho all, thats about it :) Told ya not to much happens around here.
I finally heard from my hubby, he had a spell of food poisoning and was in the hospital but now he's doing much better. Just hearing his voice was all that I needed :) Only like 7 more weeks till I'm in his arms again !
Any who lets see, Saturday I went to see Rush Hour 3 with my friend Cassie. It's a funny movie and I do recommend that you see it if your in for a laugh. Then on Sunday I went to a BBQ that one of my co-workers was hosting then had some drinks while watching 300 with my friends Cassie and Danette. It's nice to finally have a couple of girlfriends that I can chill out with :)
Today, Labor Day, Cassie, Danette her husband and I went to Midea Point here on Okinawa. It's a awesome spot for diving and snorkeling! I saw some little neon blue fish, a big rainbow fish, lots of gray fish and 4 or 5 beautiful bright yellow angel fish! Going here made me realize what a beautiful place Okinawa is and how blessed Josh and I are to experience it. Next weekend I would like to visit the Pineapple Park adn maybe the Butterfly Park.
One of these days I would also love to explore one of the other islands surrounding Okinawa! But for right now just doing things like we did this weekend is fun enough for me :) Click Here for pics of Midea Point!!
To catch u up on my life, first have a seat and get something cool to drink from your fridge cause it's gunna be awhile, haha. So it's going on my 3rd week without my other half Josh. He will be deployed until October 27th :( I think it's my longest period of time without him. Whats worse is that I know he's not just out learning a language this time. He's actually out doing his job in possibly dangerous places and it's tough not hearing from him. He's only been able to call me once and it was only for 10 minutes....bummer. I hope that he calls again soon just so I can tell him that I love him and hear his voice. *sigh
But besides that depressing bit of commentary, ha ha. I've been doing ok. I work all the time now but with the kids going back to school on Monday I should get a well deserved break. As I might have told some of you I have my own room now at work, it's the Science/ Media room. Basically a nerds room *smile. My partner and I have really great ideas like a Writer's Workshop where the kids can do poetry, keep journals and maybe write letters to deployed troops, a Discovery club where we will be doing lots of experiments and a newsletter for the parents. I find myself working even at home! Decorations here and printing pictures there, ha ha. I got full time at work so I get sick leave, vacation leave and I opened a 401K. Yeah I know big step for lil ol me :) But it's good to save up for when Josh gets out of the military,
Ahhh, now to end my seemingly endless chatter, here are some of my favorite pictures of my family and from when I went to the Southeast Botanical Gardens on Friday. I love you all and slip in a lil prayer for my hubby, will ya :)
Our first week back to Okinawa has been pretty hectic. Went back to work on Wednesday, Josh is getting ready to deploy for 2 months starting August 9th and our house was a total mess. We've been cleaning ever since we got home! Now it's a Sunday afternoon and I spent most of the morning still washing clothes while Josh has a training day 7am-5pm, poor thing :( Work has changed a bit since I've been gone, not for the better or worse just another change. In the next couple weeks the kids will be back in school and I have been told that I will be in the newly combined Art/Science room which will be nice. I only plan on getting my CC03 at the School Age Program then transferring to the schools but I might quit before then to keep my Spouse preference. But besides all that our vacation was awesome! I had such a great time with family. So many great memories that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. Only 18 months to go here on Okinawa. So if anyone in the states wants anything please let me know :)
Sorry it's been so long *sigh*. I've been so busy lately I'm surprised I even have a full 8 hours to sleep *smile*. With summer here and the kids at School Age out of school it's been crazy. Feild trips, Pep rallys, Activites, Clubs, Lunches, Cleaning up...ugh there's so much we do for the kids. Why just today I worked a 9.15 hour day with a 1 hour lucnch break! It's good money and I enjoy being with the kids but S.A.P really doesn't know how to organize these summer events ahead of time so we scramble that day to get all those duties (lol) done! This week was Spirit Week at S.A.P and we will be going swimming, bowling and Nakiyoshi Gym. There's lots of activites also but the Science room is doing volcanos, rockets, monster bubbles and my Nature Club will be making birdhouses out of milk cartons! It's a busy week but somebody's gotta do it LOL..........
But on the good side of news :) My 6 months working at S.A.P will be the end of June with a payrate of 10.77$ an hour! And my Joshi-poo comes home this Friday and that also means only 12 days until our vacation home starts!!! Also, Josh's 23rd bday is June 26th and our 4th anniversary is June 27th!!! For our anniversary we are taking a 5 day vaca to Orlando, FL to visit 4 different theme parks and of course DISNEY! :) I'm just so happy and truely feel blessed to have so many opportunites to be happy :) I can't wait to see my family, my hubby and finally just have some time to relax! Anywho thats about it for now....God Bless
Hi all :) So I got moved to the Science room at work and I'm really excited! It'll be lotsa fun coming up with activites for the kids! Also next week I'll be putting in some extra hours at the Wakaba Child Development Center, I guess they need help so Wed, Thurs, and Fri I'll be working my regular schedule at the School Age then 4 hours at the Child Develpoment with Infants/Toddlers. It should be fun :) I miss my hubby alot...he'll be back on June 22nd so I'll hold on a bit longer :) Sad news from home about my granny still bothers me...I pray for my family that I can be there if only in heart and spirit. I wish I was there for this hard time for my dad and the rest of my family and I wish Josh was here for me :( But life goes on and so must I. I love you all and when more info comes up I'll write :) God Bless Jessi
Hi all. I know it's been awhile since I posted but such is my busy life :) Josh left for his TDY to Washington on saturday. Not to my surprise I already miss him. He'll be back on July 22nd, just enough time for him to get ready to go back to the states for our vacation :) Other than that I've just been working which work has been well, it's work. I've been told that they will be moving me to Art Room or Science room and I hope its soon. I do love some of the Big Kids but it's a challenging room that I've not been able to get comfortable with so I hope withen the next couple weeks to be in one of the other rooms. I think I would have more to offer there. Then maybe after about 6 more months I was thinking of transferring to the Child Development Center where I'll work with babies and toddlers. We'll see how that goes :) Let's see...the cats are great, the house is great and I guess that would be it to get ya'll up to date :) Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and God Bless to you all. Jessica
Hey everyone!!! I'm excited to report that my leave for July 1-31 has been approved!!! All we need to do is make the flight reservations which should be today or 2marrow depending on when Josh can do it and were set :)!!!! YEAH!! Josh still has TDY May 15-June 15, then we take our leave July1-July31, then Josh has his 2 month deployment August-September (not sure of the days I think August 9 to the end of September begining of October?) But I figure that we have 3 solid weeks with family maybe with a few extra days, it depends on the flight...it'll be a LONG one but we think we can get a round trip ticket to any city in the U.S which will be Tallahassee :) for about 700-800$. Which is really awesome! But it'll be longer than a 10hour flight errrggg, gotta get lotsa movies, magazines and other stuff to do LOL. While on our trip home Josh and I will be celebrating our 4th anniversary by going to Disney World for a couple night!!! :) But don't worry we'll have plenty of time with ya'll! Were just excited to see a Wal-Mart again LOL. Well thats the lastest on that! Thanks for all your prayers. God Bless and C U SOON!!!
Here are more pics from Aha Falls and the beautiful view on the way there! Check out all the pics from Aha Falls on my photography blog ( www.OkinawaPhotoz.blogspot.com/) Click the pics to see them bigger :) God Bless
Hi all these are only a few pics that I have of kids from the School Age Program. My favorite kids are the younger ones but they are all good kids. The little ones really make my job exciting! I'll post more soon...
This is me and my lil gal Kirra, I started out working with the kindergardeners and I miss them so much. Now I work with the big kids 9-12, I still see my lil ones but not as much. Maybe they will switch me LOL :) Soon I'll put pics up of the the Big Kids Area the room where I work. Oh yeah the board that I'm on is Lemon board, I guess they thought it was funny. :) I haven't gotten July approved yet but hopefully with prayers it'll come through. Josh has started working again, he's doing great. He will be going on TDY back to the states from May 14-June 14th and hopefully July will be when we can go home!!! Then in August and September Josh will be deploying so ughh we'll see what happens! God Bless everyone we love u all!! Jessica
We are not able to go home now for May. Josh has a test for staff and they won't reschedule it. If he misses it he won't be able to test till next year and it takes a year after the test to actually be considered staff for some reason. So now we are thinking of later in the year, I know it sucks but only 2 more yrs of this military life style then we'll be able to see fam and friends whever we want. So now I might be able to start this term for college but we'll see. Anywho sorry for the sucky news everyone. I love you all. God Bless
Hi all. Lets see what can I update ya'll on? Josh's surgery went well, he's walking around and enjoying his 3 weeks off. It's funny how the roles have reversed. He's at home and I'm getting up early going to work :)!
Work is going well. There's alot of drama that goes on but I'm doing my best to disassociate myself with it and just do my job. I just took my first test on my modules that I have to do for work and I hope that I did well. I enjoy working with the children, they give me pictures that they drew all the time and I like talking to them. The stress is overwelming somtimes and I think I'm going to see how the summer goes then I might get a transfer to the elemntry school as a teacher assistant. Less stress I think. But anywho I put in my leave for the month of May and it was approved so we are just waiting for Joshs leave to be approved. I'm so excited to go home for a whole month.
I'm also hoping to start college next term after we come back from visiting home. I'll probably start in August. It's real expensive over here and I don't know if I'll be able to finish my Assocites Degree for General Curriclum in 1yr 5 months but I guess I can finish when we move to Champaign, IL. My 1st class will probably be LIBS150:
Information Literacy and Research Methods (1 s.h.)
An introduction to the research process and methods for retrieving information in a library or through online sources. Development of a research topic and the creation of effective strategies for finding relevant information are discussed and practiced. The following information literacy skills are emphasized: understanding the research process; selecting appropriate print and electronic sources to answer research questions; effectively using Web search engines and UMUC Information and Library Services' electronic resources to find information; and evaluating, organizing, and correctly citing the information found.
Anywho thats about all I have for ya'll for now. I love you all :) God Bless
Hi all. So here's whats been going on since my last post....NOT MUCH. haha. I found out that after all the renovations at my job that I'll be put with the outside group. I guess it's any and everything that goes on with the kids outside....duh. LOL. I'm thinking of starting a gardening club since thats mainly done outside or should be. I've made new friends which is really good cause I haven't had good friends since highschool. I have alot of fun at work and sometimes it doesn't seem like work until the managment steps in. Theres also quite a bit of highschool drama that goes on but I try to avoid that kinda stuff. Anywho our kids are having a play called Blast from the Past, it should be alot of fun for them and us :) I'll email how it goes :) I had my CPR class today as well, it was a little akward puttin out mouths on dummies, haha but it's important to know. Lets see...Josh is having his sugey 2marrow and I got the day off of work but not so fast it's not gunna be fun. Josh is going to have all these medications in him so I have to stay here at the house. BLAH. But I'll just get some movies and watchum. Speaking of movies: Last weekend we went to see Apacalypto!! This movie is kinda gorey but its such a great story! I really liked it. This saturday me & my friend Cassie are going to go see Norbit starring the ultimate funny man....Eddie Murphy. We are really excited. Anywho I gotta get ready for the kids play. God Bless
Hi all. Sorry it has been so long since I have posted :) I have been busy! My job at the School Age Program is going great. It's still a learning process for me and I have a ways to go but still I have fun with it. Josh and I are having so many delimas lately. First of all is when we can go home to visit. I know we said end of Feb. but it doesn't look like thats going to happen :( Josh is having surgery done on his foot on the 23rd and has 2 weeks that he has to recover, plus probably physical therapy. Also the jet gets back on Feb 15, for those of you who don''t know the jet is is Josh's actual job. The jet will be here for 1 month and I think I recall that Josh can't leave as long as he might have flights on the jet. So that puts us at March 15. Here on Kadena AFB there are 3 School Age Programs, managment is going to be joining 2 of the School Programs into one! Which is agervating cause I just learned everything at Himawari and now they have to switch everything around! The grand opening of the new joined Shima No Ko and Himawari should be around March 17 to the end of March and to be perfectly honest I want to be there to know how things are going to work now that they have to change it. Ok so what about April...well Josh still doesnt know how long his physical therapy will last plus he will be going on a 2 month deployment sometime between June and September. ARRGGG, nothing seems to be absolute in the military, it's all a toss of the coin....the militarys coin that is so no matter what side it lands on we always seem to get shanked :( During the summer the School Program goes from a before and after school program to full daycare. So that means they need people more than ever during the summer. And you you guessed most people want to take vacation during the summer, hell we do!!! I know of at least 2 others I wok with that are taking off April and June. So in short.....Maybe May? Or July? I can put in a request for time off but like Josh if they can't find any one to work for me than.....can't go :( Only 2 more yrs of this crap and we can see family on our terms, not anyone elses. Not to mention money is tight right now. It's going to be about 1000$ a person to go home. I also want to start college classes soon which is about 500$ or more a class here pus Josh and I both are trying to save for when Josh get out of the military so we arn't screwed for money. UHHH! Anywho thanks all for being patient and reading my blabbing. I love you all and one day it will be easier!! God Bless
Well, as happy as I am to have a job I'm tired! I'm learning and I enjoy it :) It's alot of work, and believe me when I say that it takes alot of PATIENCE. But I'll explain more about my job later in anthor post. I just wanted to write a little note to everyone. If you could say a little prayer for me, please do :) I could defiently use more prayers to help me with handleing my stress of my new job and how to organize better. Big hugz
Hi all. Well, I have had my first couple days of work. So far I have just been observing the staff and doing my modules. Wednesday I will be in ratio, which means I will have 12 kids under my supervision! I pretty much have the jist of what my responsibilites are but it's a learning experience so the more I work the more I'll learn of course :) Right now my 2 modules are Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect and Identifying and Reporting Child Abuse. Basicly these are booklets that I have to study and answer the questions. The other 13 modules I have to do require me to study the booklet, answer the questions, take an exam and then act out what I have learned. It's alot of stuff to absorb for me, but I know God will help me and Josh is always there to support me. My hours are 645am-845/230pm-530pm right now, I don't know what they will be later on. I like the gap in between hours because I am able to study my modules, do some housework, and maybe eventually do some college classes. I have weekends (mostly) and federal holidays off. I hope we are able to go home in March or mid march. It all depends on if they can find someone to cover my work. Which shouldn't be to hard since I'm just starting out and it's not summer time. We'll see how it goes when I request the paperwork to leave for 3 weeks. Anywho,pray for me. God Bless
Hi all. Today I finally went for my job orientation. There's still alot of paperwork to do and alot of rules I have to learn, but once I actually start my job, which should be soon , I'll learn by observation. There's 13 modules (job training) I have to complete and a physical with lots of shots. Some of the modules are First aid, Customer service and Working with youth. I'm excited because there will be field trips, crafts and I'll make some friends. Anywho it's a busy week for me, I have anthor job meeting tomarrow with lots of paperwork, yay :(, Josh and I are going with some friends to see Night at the Museum movie with Ben Stiller on Foster,which should be funny. Saturday Josh has soccor practice, Sunday I'm volunteering at the OAARS shelter, Monday I don't have anything to do so far....cross your fingers! Tuesday there's Lily's vet appointment and so much more for me to do. But I like to be busy, a steady busy not stressed out from to much work busy. Anywho enough of my rambeling. God Bless
Well, it's a new year and I thinks it's going pretty well so far :) Although Josh and I didn't see the ball drop on New Years eve we still counted down as the 12 o'clock hour drew near. Josh's resolution this year was to work out our arguments in a more civil way and to have less of them. Which is good :) And mine were to manage my stress better and learn how to cook better meals for myself and Josh. I have quite a few resoluntions but those were the best. I still haven't started working yet but I hope to start working at the latest mid-January. Today I went to anthor OAARS adoption event, I didn't take Buttons but I went to make sure someone adopted or fostered 2 little black kittens and 3 puppies that were found over the weekend. I pushed to get these little boogers adopted as soon as possible. The 3 little puppies had a temporary home to go to if they didn't get adopted but the 2 little black kittens would have been put back on the streets if they didn't go to the event. Thank God a home was found for all of them, including the chicken that was mothering the puppies, hahaha. So it was a good LONG day. Also unfortunatley this year I have a strange rash on my stomach, neck, back and arms. Josh says that I'm alergic to something but I never have been before. It doesn't itch but it's spreading quick arrggg. My only doctor appointment is the 16th! Hopefully it won't get worse before then :( Other than that I think it's a great year so far! God Bless
Today I got an Xmas package from my sis, mom and dad! I loved everything in that box! Clothes, Chocolate and Scrapbooking stuff! Josh got a Gift card for Best Buy and some collectible heros stamps:) He liked those! Understandably Josh is hard to buy for, hahaha but a gift card at an electronic store is just the versitility of an Xmas present he loves :) You can't go wrong with Josh in a computer store *smile* As I tried all of my chocolates and my new "Saving the world, One kitty at a time" T-shirt I sat and thought to myself that I am truely and utterly blessed in every sense of the word! Thanks to Marcey, Mom, Dad, My Hubby, Netty & Family, Chuck & Family and Kara for sending us X-mas wishes and love. You remind us that you don't have to have millions of dollars to be rich ! God Bless & We love you all!
Howdy all my fav readers:) How was everyones Christmas this year? Josh and I had an ok X-mas, it just isn't the same without family and cool weather though. But only 2.5 more years and we'll have all the snowy family filled X-mas we can handle! Even without the cool weather and family I was still able to whip up a pretty damn good meal! I made mom & dad's roast with potatoes and carrots, brocolli & cheese YUM!, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes stuff (i bought that) and apple pie with ice cream! It was so delicious! We did have a small tree up with some lights on it and cards that ya'll sent us for x-mas :) Thanks. I also had lights up outside but with it being a quad-plex theres only so much I can put up on these concrete walls. Anywho it was nice. We can't wait for the day that we move to Champaign, IL and have a nice house thats ours and we can live there forever! Not having to skimp out on a big x-mas tree cause we can't take it with us or leaving some stuff in storage oh no! We are going to have x-mas feasts and halloween partys! And the best part will be that we can see family whenver we want to and they can visit us whenever they feel! But till' then we'll just have to make the best of Okinawa. In January we hope to go to the Cherry Blosom festival, that should be a sight for the eyes! SO all in all it was a good holiday. Hope yours was tree-rific as well. God Bless
So my 22nd birthday was great :) Josh got me Pirates of the Carribean 2 , The Juiceman juicer and he took me to Chili's for dinner and drinks, of course I was actually the one drinking this time :) haha. For xmas I guess were going to make a turkey or ham, oooo maybe a roast!! YUM. I'm gunna make some yummy cookies for dessert. Haven't heard anything from the job yet. Thier still doing my background check, but hopefully I'll start soon. The weather here has been a mix between warm/rainy and cold/rainy! Okinawa just can't make up it's mind. I enjoy the colder weather because it just seems right for it to be cold during christmas. Snow would most awesome but it'll never snow here it being a sub-tropical island and all :( It's still the plan to go home in March, both Josh and I will have to put in leave paperwork 2 weeks before our planned leave date and pray that there won't be any problems and them say "No, you can go". But in the stupid chance that happens we'll just try for mid-March. But we WILL be coming home so don't worry :) Only 2 1/2 more years of the military telling him when to breathe and Josh is out. We both are very excited to move to Champaign, Illinois. Why Chamapign you ask? Well Josh and I both want to live in a country type place but that also has lots of things to do. Don't get me wrong Wakulla is great but we also wanted to move someplace new, start our lives anew without the burden of military life over our heads. Further more we cansee family whenver we want or whenever they want to see us! It's about a 2-3 day drive and I think less than a couple hours plane ride from Wakulla to Champaign. We will have our own house, PERMANANTLY! No more moving around missing birthdays and holidays from family! And thats what I am so excited about :) Okinawa is defiently a place I will remember for it's beautiful landscape and odd culture but the United States is our home. And it's the best damn country in the world, PERIOD! Well that's all the ranting I have fer ya right now so God Bless!
Hey everyone! Finally I got a job :) It's at the School Age Progam, it's a flexible position so I guess that means varied hours and days. It's 9.69$ an hour just starting out and it's a government job so that will look really great on my resume'! I don't think I'll be starting my actual job for anthor couple of weeks due to all the paperwork and training classes I have to take but I'm getting payed for it so .......who cares :) Basicly the School Age Program offers before and after school programming as well as full day programming during holidays and school breaks. Available to students grades 1 - 6, the facility is supervised and provides a safe and healthy environment for children. The program is affiliated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Programs include: • Field Trips • Enrichment Programs • Clubs
So I think I'll be great at crafts with the kids and stuff like that. I'm also going to be volunteering some time to get some clerical experience with Kadena. None of that has been set in stone yet but I need office type experience for when Josh gets out of the military. Plus still volunteering with OAARS but I'm going to slack off them a bit because the people in the association don't seem to be as organized as a humane society should be. But I'll still do it for the animals and just less associate myself with the people. Also still going to the farm, this weekend I'm going to try and go on Sunday maybe. So I gotta lot of stuff going on but once I get a routin going I'll like being busy :) Pray for me :)
Well this will be the 3rd day of watching Pabo for a friend of ours who went back to the states cause her husbands deployed. The first night he was barking and whining all night and both Josh and I thought this wouldn't work. Then I remembered what I read from Ceasar Millian's book about excersise, disipline and affection. Pabo has so much energy and if he doesn't get any excersise to release that energy he acts out badly by pacing the house, whinning, barking and tearing things up. I've been walking him ( the dog should be behind you or at your side not way out in front of you is the proper way to walk a dog) for about 30 min twice a day and letting him out in the back yard every couple hours to wander around. I feed him only after we have a walk and give him a chew bone also but again only after a 30 min walk. Since I have been doing this he has been perfect! He either sleeps during the day on his big pillow bed or he chews on his chew bone :) I think Ceasar Millian's book is extreamly benefical for people who have dogs. Anywho we'll be watching Pabo till February 15th then after that going home for 3-4 weeks :)
Today I went with Maryann to the farm I have been telling ya'll so much about. I had a really good time :) It's so much better than I expected. I thought I would be leaving that farm sad and depressed from the poor conditions but NO! Maryann and Shannon have really made it heaven on earth for these animals. There were horses, colts, llamas, cows, chickens a snow monkey, snakes, turtles, ducks, kittens OH MY! I plan on volunteering there more often as well as my 1-2 times a month at the OAARS shelter. I hope I can also put some volunteer hours in at the local zoo here on Okinawa. I know it sounds like alot but I have to keep myself busy and it makes me feel great knowing that I helped! . I still haven't heard from my interview so I'm still just going to apply for other jobs. So far I'm hoping on the School Age Program thing to come thru and the Child Development Center job on Kadena and Camp Foster. Pray for me, I could use the extra prayers :) I'll take pics of the farm the next time I go which will probably be next weekend :) Josh has been doing good in school and playin' his games. God Bless
I had everything planned out.....extra gingerbread, toppings etc but my gingerbread sides were to soft and it all came tumbleing down :( I spent all day baking and decorating while taking care of Josh he got really sick :( So there I was after all that finally putting together my creation. And the sides started to break, I tried to patch them up with icing but it didn't work. First it was the 2 sides then the part with the chimney broke :( I went to see if I could find even more gingerbread but as I expected everyone shops at the commissary so there was none left. After an hour of debating, a crumbled gingerbread cookie jar house to my left and a sick hubby upstairs I decided to toss in the towel and give up :( Now all I'm left with is a sink full of dirty dishes and candy decorations scattered from the kitchen to the living room.....arrgg. Still i'll go to the Tinsel Town at the community center and see what it will be like without my gingerbread disasterpeice :(
Hi all! Thanksgiving was great. We went to a friends house and ate till we were about to bust! Then friday Josh made the turkey while I made the trimmings :) Plus some mini apple pie. Everyone loved the mini apple pies but not so much the cherry or peach which were my favs haha but I'm from Georgia so .....yum! Anywho I finally got a job interview with the School Age Program tomarrow, hopefully I 'll get the job :) Pray for me !
Hello all my lil' crispy cremes :) haha. I just created a Jessi and Josh Wish List page for those of you who would like to get us X-mas presents. The majority of you already know that we are not able to come home for the month of December due to the outragous expense! So we deccided to come visit ya'll in February. Probably toward the end of Feb. since we are watching a friends pooch till Feb.15th. I pray that we will be able to come home for 3 weeks this time and if we are lucky maybe 4 weeks! So anywho, back to the Wish List. It's below the links Sections on the right side of my page, just click it and you will be redirected to the page. So when it comes to when to send the gifts, well there isn't much here in Okinawa that we could do about that, haha. So it woudl be better to give them to us when we visit in Feb. You are more than welcome to send X-mas cards in fact I hope that you do! I love to display them around the house :) It reminds me just how blessed we truely are. Anyways.....Gosh I type to much, hahaha! God Bless and I'll send X-mas cards soon.
Hello all. As most of you know my Myspace got messed up :( When I got our laptop back it didn't know my password so I typed in what I thought it was and saved it. And BAM! It said incorrect password. So as any other person who has forgotten thier password would do I sent an email to myself with the password in it. But it doesn't show up in my email. I sent it one, two, three FOUR times and no luck. So after much debate and woe I decided that I'd create a new Myspace profile. It's not that big of a deal but it was most defiently inconvient! So my new Mypace address is: www.Myspace.com/Jessica_Renae_Lemon But to be honest I only check it once a day and I am more obsessed if u will :) with my blogger page than Myspace. So if you want you can certainly email me there but you can also email me here on blogger or just send a lil' email to my Yahoo email. Reguardless which one you check out I appreciate you taking the time to look at my pages and I will get your email and sent one right back to ya :) So God Bless and hope to hear from you soon!
Yesterday I went with some friends of mine to Okinawa Fruits Land and the Pineapple Park Gift Shop. It took along time to get there but we had fun getting there :) I've seen alot of Nago, which is northeren Okinawa but not much of Naha, southern Okinawa. Northern Okinawa is very jungle-like. And the ocean is a beautiful azul/aquamarine color :) Anywho, once we got to our destination we soon discovered that the brocher for Okinawa Fruits Land is way cooler than the real thing, haha. But I got some pictures and got to feed birds. I'll get a pic of that up soon. The we walked over to the Pineapple Park. I've been there at least 4 times already but I knew I wanted that great Okinawa Pineapple Kiss wine! And a pineapple pie :) I also tried Beni Imo a purple sweet potatoe treat over here. I thought it was ok but I'm a chocolate lover so I like real sugary sweets, hahaah. It was good to get out and a bout in Okinawa. Since Josh is getting out of the Airforce after his tour in Okinawa I want to make sure I see all I can see :) God Bless, andcheck out the other pics from this trip in the Okinawa Photography link.
Today we went to the Southeast Botanicle Gardens. It was alot of walking but I didn't mind :) I love photography and this garden was a great place for that :) There are more pics in my Okinawa Photography.
So the halloween party wasn't exactly how Josh and I pictured it going but nevertheless I got to dress up, have some treats and some spooky halloween drinks. But I don't think we will be having anthor one anytime soon. Maybe a x-mas party one year.
I had my 2nd Doggy Wash yesterday with OAARS at Kenney Park! I had so much fun. I washed about 10-13 dogs I think. Here are some pics of me and some other OAARS volunteers washing a great dane! He was so big but so sweet! To catch everyone up not much has been going on. Still trying to get that job at the school age program...arrggg. But I'll be taking a 6 week Japanese class coming up in November and I'll be volunteering at OAARS shelter with some other volunteers maybe once a week or at least until I get a job. Were going to have a Halloween party at our house! I'll be Dorthy from the Wizard of OZ and Josh doesn't know what he wants to be yet :) But he know he wants his to be awesome! Josh has still been working hard but relaxing with me on the weekends. Well thats about it but I'll let ya'll know if anything exciting happens :) I'll post pics of Kadena Marina when I get my camera fixed. God Bless and I love you all!
Hey everyone. Last Saturday I volunteered with OOARS at the Doggy Wash. Kind of like a car wash but you bring your dog and we will wash, dy , brush and clip thier nails! I washed like 15 dogs! I had so much fun. Big dogs or little dogs I washed'em all :) There will be anthor Doggy Wash on Sept. 2nd.
Not much has been going on lately. I've been excersisng, going to my Japanese classes, looking for a job, volunteering and fostering 2 more kittens. Thats about it. Josh has been doing alot of the same.....he's been playing baseball, excersisng and working.
Saturday the 29th we are going Deep Sea Fishing. I'll post pics then. God Bless, I love u all!
Not much has been going on since my last blog. But the weather hasn't permitted us to do much, it's been rainy and cloudy for weeks! Today we had a nice sunny and HOT saturday, and that means that everywhere you go is packed full of people enjoying the nice weather.
But to catch ya'll up on how I have been doing, I am thinking of entering in the Collossal Cookie Challange thats going on at the Schilling Community Center. I want to enter a cookie version of Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I haven't made it yet and therefore I don't know if it will work out the way I hope but hey it's worth a try :)
I also went to 2 parties this weekend. One was a purse party hosted by my friend Gladius and the other was a pampered chef party. I didn't purchase anything from either cause I'm so cheap but they were fun to go to.
The other day was my first time driving off base! I went to the Do It Yourself store and it's only about 10 min. away but I was a little nervous to say the least for a number of reasons, one is that I'm still having to remind myself that I'm on the other side of the road and two because being an American pretty much means that any car accident is my fault :( Thier philosophy is that if I wasn't here on Okinawa to begin with the accident wouldn't have happened. CRAZY huh? So I drive as cautiously as possible and just go where I want to go and get back on base. I should be getting a car soon so then I will be able to get a job or at least do something during the day other than clean!!!
I want to start some Japanese classes that are offered here on base but most are booked up and with one car it can present a problem. I've figured out that I don't want to learn Japanese fluently but just enough to be respectful of the people here. I'd rather learn Spanish for 2 years and have it benifit me when we go back to the states. I'll learn it at the college I want to go to on base. University of Maryland Asian Divison. But college is alot more expensive than I previously thought so I need to save up some money and take the Accuplacer before I consider college.
Until then I hope to explore the island more with some new friends I've made and learn more about the culture here on Okinawa. When something exciting happens I promise to blog it :) GOD BLESS
Yesterday we went back to Naira Beach, and this time we brought our snorkle gear and a underwater camera! I will post the pictures Josh took when we get them developed. I was surprised that we didn't step on the creatures I saw the first day we spent at Naira beach. I saw huge sea cucumbers in colors of black and grey. They aren't that exciting but still a little creepy to see. We also saw one starfish about as big as my hand, lots of spiney purple sea urchins sticking to the underside of rocks, and small colored fish. The beaches here are really rocky so you have to be careful when the tide goes out cause you could hurt yourself on them. Towards the shore there are lots of little hermet crabs scurring around and some small fish camoflaged in the sand. I found some beautiful shells on shore which I will also post when we get the underwater pics. We are trying to find other snorkling spots and someday we will get out scuba diving certification and be able to post some really exciting pictures. Josh and I are also looking into deep sea fishing where on a trip you could catch marlins, dolphin fish, red snapper and then sell them to merchants on shore! We are excited to be in Okinawa and explore its ocean!
Today we went to Naira Beach. It was a beautiful warm & sunny day. It's kind of back in the rural area of Okinawa and the beach was preety secluded. Lots of sugar cane fields were on the side of the road and even more Okinawans working on a saturday. They only get Sunday off from work. The beach was so beautiful. Green & blue water, breaking waves, lots of plantlife and a very rocky beach. They actually import the white sand that you see because it's usually so rocky. When your swimming you should always wear some kind of water shoe so you don't cut yourself on the rocks and coral. You also can look straight down and see through the clear water right down to the bottom. I was a little uneasy swimming in the deeper water because I like to be able to touch the bottom so if something touches me I can run out!!! Hahaha. Off in the distance you could see huge rocks with the waves crashing into them, it was beautful. I found alot of beautiful shells here to. But you have to be careful what you pick up :) The other people on the beach were we think Japanese Dragon Boat Racers practicing for the boat race. They had a wooden canoe and about 6 of them would get into the canoe and row back and forth over and over all over the ocean, then rest for about 10 min and do it all over agian! Crazy stamina! Anywho the pictures can't express the true beauty of this place but you should get the idea. We will visit this beach again, and next time we'll bring snorkel gear! Click pics to see them at a bigger view!
Before Okinawa Josh and I lived in Omaha, Nebraska. I liked Omaha cause it was so easy to get from one place to anthor. The people were really nice and I felt at home in a short time. The only down side was that we lived in a very small and not so attractive apartment. Plus I didn't have a yard so I'd look a little weird if I were to go tan out on the lawn in front of our apartments, :). Nebraska was my first snowy state. I was like a kid on christmas the first time it snowed, but that feeling soon wore off. Overall Omaha would be a great place to be settled with family in a nice big house. I'll miss it. Josh and I needed to get to Seattle, Washington to fly straight into Japan so we went on a road trip. These are some of my favorite pictures from that road trip. It was the best & most beautiful roadtrip Josh and I have ever been on. April 1st-7th 2006 pics: Wyoming, Montana mountains & a small creek on the road to Yellowstone Park and josh on a river btwn spokane & seattle washington.
There are many military bases on Okinawa. The base we live on is Kadena AFB. It's really beautiful, lots of trees and flowers. Here on Kadena there are alot of activites to keep you busy. There are arts & craft classes like scrapbooking, pottery, cake decroating and Ikebana ( Japanese flower aranging). The Schilling Community center also offers lots of classes for your entertainment plus I suggest taking the Newcomers tour, It's very informative and you get a brief look at some tourist spots on the island. There's bowling, golf, scuba diving and plently of monthly events to have fun at. If you get a little home sick stop over at Chili's! Yes, there is a Chili's! On the northern side of Okinawa is a resort just for military, DoD employees, retireee and thier families called Okuma. To find out more about Kadena and it's services check out these very informative websites. pics: our new home & the view from upstairs!
Name: Jessica & Josh Home: Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan About Me: Well, I'm 22 and a PROUD wife, mother of 2 cats, volunteer, cat foster, daugther, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, animal lover and lover of crafts. I'm fun and funny and truely blessed! My family and husband are my stability and I am my own confedience. My life may not be perfect but it's perfectly me! GOD BLESS! See my complete profile
FINISHED Reading My review
I'm really humbled by this book. Her journey during the war is truly and inspiration to life. I now look around while I'm driving or walking on Okinawa and think to myself of the struggles that so many Okinawan refugees went through, including the author as a 7 year old child! Defiantly an inspirational read!
