The Ramblings of a Marine Wife

Exploring Through the Rain

2013-05-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

We are in the middle of Okinawa's rainy season. It sucks. We are talking monsoon like rains. When the weather says it's not supposed to rain one day, we take full advantage!

The kids and I went on an outing the other day, ending up at the Tomigusuku Castle Ruins Park. I knew the park was closed, but I was hoping to still find the castle ruin part. No such luck. The walking paths were still intact, so we just walked around the whole park. There was almost nothing there besides overgrown jungle.

We checked out a few parks on the way home, but they weren't much of anything. I'm pretty much convinced that we've found all the good ones. On the way home, we took a different route. I had just made a comment to the kids about being sorry we hadn't found any good parks. I spoke too soon. I spotted a good looking playground and with a little navigating, we got there. It was the Ikoi-no Citizen's Park and it was a good one.

After the little one and I found the melody road the other day, we drove around for a while, finally stopping at the Chibana castle ruins. They aren't much to speak of, which is why we hadn't been there before, but I'm always up for checking something out. You never know what you'll find.

We didn't find much at the castle ruins though. Lots of stairs that managed to just end. One staircase just kept turning and continuing on. It was overgrown, but we made it to the top and found an observatory. Pretty good view too!

Gourmet Gift Basket Giveaway

2013-05-21T23:07:00.001-05:00

What do you buy someone when they have everything? In today's world, when we see something we want, we buy it. Then, when birthday's and holiday's roll around, we never what we want or what to get other people.

Have gift baskets ever entered your mind?

All About Gifts and Baskets does the gift basket thing, but they do it on an entirely different level. They have gift baskets available at any price range with designs for women, men, children, birthdays, anniversaries, thank yous, get wells, new babies, and more.

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Winners are picked randomly. The lucky winner will receive their choice of Gourmet Gift Basket (valued at up to $150) from the Gourmet Food Baskets page.

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Winners will be notified via email, so please provide a valid email address. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that time, another winner will be chosen.

The full list of rules can be found here.

Giveaway ends at midnight EST on June 2nd, 2013. The giveaway winners will be announced by June 9th, 2013.

This and That

2013-05-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

I get asked a lot for directions to various places I go on island. Should I start including them in posts? I don't know how many people on Okinawa read my blog. I've never included them before because I didn't feel it was necessary and it's time consuming. Some of the better parks will be appearing on OkinawaHai soon. Or so I'm told (wink, wink).

I love my husband. Yes, I love him enough to write a whole post on him, but I think that would embarrass him. He's pretty awesome though. I tend to think he doesn't ever listen when I talk, but then he does something that shows he totally listens to me. So, just putting it out there. My husband is awesome. He reads this too, so I won't get into it anymore.

I got an eShakti gift certificate for my birthday. They are having a sale right now too. What to buy, what to buy.

I've had a lot of sponsored posts come up lately. Part of me feels like a sell out, but then there is so much I pass over because it's just not me. When I started this blog 3+ years ago, I wanted to make money, but now that's not really the direction I want to go. I'm so torn!

Speaking of my husband, he doesn't like cauliflower or broccoli. I know! What's wrong with him? I could eat them at every meal - raw, steamed, grilled, whatever. The other night, I made these cheesy cauliflower pancakes. After he ate them, I asked if he liked them. He said he did, so I asked if he knew what it was. Silly guy thought they were potatoes! Score one point for me!

MyMilitaryLife App

2013-05-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

As a military family, we experience major life events that we don't always know how to handle. Heck, marrying into the military is a life event in itself. You don't just get married, you also take on a whole new lifestyle.

So, now what? You've gotten married. Your new, married, military spouse life is exciting, yet a little scary. There's so much you don't know! You vaguely know where your spouse works, but what exactly is his command? What's the LES thing you've heard about and what is this weird alphabet they use?

The National Military Family Association wants to help. Founded in 1969, they are the leading non-profit organization focusing on issues important to military families. Their mission is to fight for benefits and programs that strengthen and protect Uniformed Service families and reflect the Nation's respect for their service.

The National Military Family Association already has a great website, but now they've got an even better app. MyMilitaryLife is a new app created to help military spouses navigate the many adventures of military life.

Download the app (it's free!!), answer a few basic questions, and get answers to all your questions.

Are you newly married and just need to know the basics?

Or maybe you are PCSing. Whether it's the first time or the fifth, moving with the military doesn't get easier.

You've just found out your spouse is deploying. It never gets easier hearing those words. Now what? How do you prepare yourself? How do you get ahold of your husband's command if the need arises?

Whether active duty, reserve, or guard, the MyMilitaryLife app can be helpful for all branches of the military.

Download the free app from iTunes or Google Play.

The Music of the Road

2013-05-20T04:30:00.000-05:00

In the little town of Futami, lies a road. This road is special though. It plays a tune. Literally. When you drive over on it, it plays a song.

Story goes, during the war, a couple Okinawans were told to vacate their home in present day Itoman. They first moved to Yonabaru and then finally settled in Futami, just before the war ended. They decided to write a song about their new home and the Okinawan folk song, Futami jowa (二見情話) was born.

The treble clef is at the start of the melody.

Many years later, a new road was built, by-passing the town. That would be the overpass in the pictures. Some really, really, super smart person came up with the idea to carve the melody of the song into the road. Who knows how long it took to figure this out and then carve into the road, but when you drive on the road, your tires are like the needle on a record player, playing the tune. This is utterly fascinating to me because I know nothing about music or anything that you would need to take on this project.

We drove over it and the little one in the back sat quietly and listened. She got all excited and said she heard it! By the third time, she was over it and more worried about the drinks in the vending machine we kept passing.

The grooves cut into the road. Genius, I'm telling you.

Watch the video and listen. You can hear it over the sound of the wind. It's not a great video, but it's what you get, since I was driving.

Sunday Social

2013-05-19T01:15:00.000-05:00

1. What is your favorite kind of surprise?

The little ones. They are sometimes the best. Like my son telling me for days on end that he as a surprise for me and it's usually something he made in art class or my husband surprising me with dinner out.

2. Flowers or chocolate?

Chocolate. It better be good stuff too! I like flowers as much as the next girl, but they just don't give me the same satisfaction as chocolate does.

3. What is your favorite summertime activity?

Since living here, it's become afternoons at the beach. I would love to have an afternoon by myself at the beach, so I could just bake and read. Sadly, that has never happened though.

4. Do you have any vacations planned for this summer?

Umm....sorta. We most likely will be moving this summer. As part of that move, we'll end of flying to the midwest, visiting family, then driving to a coast, while visiting more friends and family along the way.

5. Favorite summer holiday?

The 4th of July for sure! I always loved how patriotic one feels on that day. That feeling is just multiplied now.

6. Dream vacation?

England, Ireland, and Scotland for a few weeks.

Closing the Gap: Understanding Your Service(wo)man

2013-05-17T08:38:00.000-05:00

I've been associated with the military for over a decade now. For the most part, I've got the in's and out's down. I'm sure most spouses feel the same after a certain period of time. It all becomes second nature and we forget sometimes that not everyone understands the military.

I had no experience with anything military related before I married into it. I didn't know anyone serving in the military. Sure, I had grandfather's that served, but that was in Korea and earlier. I didn't know anyone currently serving and I'm betting most Americans don't. Now that I'm in this life, I do my best to explain things to my family. For the most part, I think they understand, but it's hard to truly understand if you don't live the life.

"A smaller share of Americans currently serve in the Armed Forces than at any other given point in time since World War II. This, in turn, has led to a growing gap between people in uniform and the civilian population. In an attempt to close this gap, author Yvonne Jones wrote a book; a book meant to promote understanding."

Yvonne Jones has been an Army wife for 13 years. German by birth, she married into the military having to learn and understand far more than most of us do. She realized though, that the civilian population doesn't understand our lives, what we do, and what we sacrifice - not because they don't want to, but because they haven't had the chance. She wrote a book with the civilians in mine.

I read Closing the Gap: Understanding Your Service(wo)man over a two day period. I was surprised at what an easy read it was. There is no military jargon! This makes perfect sense, since it's written with the civilian population in mine. The book is written so anyone can understand what it's trying to say.

There are a couple different sections to the book.

-Assignments: How the process works, what input we have, and misconceptions.

-Moving: The actual PCS process, overseas moves, the new place, and social aspects.

-Our Culture: Spouses, widows, kids, foreign-born spouses, and the military community as a whole.

-Deployments: Getting the news, the deployment process, misconceptions, and consequences of war.

In my opinion, Jones covered all the major stuff. Families always want us to move closer, at least mine does. She explained how we don't always have a say in where we move and how that is actually determined. The moving process is explained along with much that goes along with it. The culture of the military is touched on, but that's not a super easy thing to explain and it's different for everyone. Then the big one, deployments. With us being at war for the past decade, this is probably the big one that people don't understand. Books, movies, and the media portray deployments a certain way, while those of us close to the military know it very rarely happens that way.

One thing that was covered that made me extremely happy, was what each branch likes to called. The media, and the civilian population by extension, refers to all members of the various branches as soldiers. My Marine husband will politely correct someone, but it annoys him and over the years it has started to annoy me.

This book is a great reference for anyone who wants to better understand the military.

The book is currently available on Amazon. The Kindle and Nook version are for sale as well.

Check out the website and like the Facebook page to help spread the word.

I was provided with a free copy of the book in exchange for a review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Bittersweet Birthday

2013-05-16T04:56:00.000-05:00

Another birthday has come and gone. The age doesn't bother me. It's just a number. One child did said I was 16 and the other child said I was 36. The 36 number did bother me for a second or two. It was a bittersweet day though.

Late Sunday afternoon, the phone rang. It was my parent's. It took no time to realize it was the middle of the night there, so something was wrong. My grandma had died. Mom had told me last week they were putting her in hospice, but no one thought it would be anytime soon. I thought maybe it wouldn't be until we were back in the states. Sadly, no. She was the second grandparent I lost since we've been overseas and the fourth or fifth funeral I missed. That just isn't fun or fair. My parent's reassure me that everyone understands why I can't be there, but I still hate that I'm not there. The funeral was on my birthday. I won't ever have a problem remembering that.

On a lighter note, it was a good birthday. I spent the day by myself, which is rare. I ran errands, which anyone with little kids knows is a wonderful thing to do alone, went to the beach to collect shells since a jar full of mine fell off a shelf and broke the other day, then came home and got stuff done around the house. I told the husband where I wanted to go for dinner and he made a point to be home from work early so he could take me.

I picked a restaurant that is well known here and, based on their advertising, frequented by lots of Americans. It was on the fancy side for my kids, but they were extremely well behaved.

We had dinner, all four courses of it, and it was awesome. They have a curry soup that is the best thing I've ever tasted. If you've ever had Japanese curry, it was that, but in soup form. Seriously, the best soup ever!! Pineapple butter came with the bread and it was almost as amazing as the soup. When we were almost done, the husband asked the manager looking lady if they did anything for birthdays. They then brought out ice cream with a raspberry sauce and a candle for me and ice cream for the husband and kids. Hubby and the kids sang to me and everyone in the place (all 15 of them, we went right when they opened for dinner) clapped. The staff even brought me a present! It was a really good dinner. We obviously don't get out much, but it was one of the better dinners I've had in a long time.

When we got home, this magically appeared from the freezer. I do love ice cream cakes. We were all so full though (we were still full when we went to bed hours later) that we decided to save it for the next night.

At this point in my life, this is the kind of birthday I want. I like gifts, (who doesn't?), but they aren't necessary. I'd rather have good time with my family.

31 in 31 Update

2013-05-15T05:57:00.000-05:00

Last July, I did a link up for 31 things I wanted to do in my 31st year of life. That 31st year will be over soon, so let's see how I did.

1. Successfully finish this scuba dive class. This means managing the ocean dives without freaking out. Nope, didn't happen. I'm certified to dive in swimming pools though! I kinda had a panic attack at the pool one night. I have no desire at all to finish it. If my husband insisted, I would do it for him though.

2. Learn how to properly work my Japanese A/C remotes. Ha! Since we started using the A/C this year, I keep thinking that, but then we'll be moving soon, so why bother at this point?

3. Maybe learn some Japanese beyond the basics. I have learned more, but it's not enough to have a conversation with anyone.

4. Get off this island. Even if it means going to another island nearby. Yes! Tokyo last September and I've been to two other nearby islands. I had to take a ferry to those islands, but that counts in my book since some islands here only require crossing a bridge.

5. Increase my blog/twitter traffic. Yes! I don't know exact numbers, but I'm guessing my blog followers have increased by at least 200 since this list was made.

6. Have more date nights with the husband. These are few and far between. We try, but we just don't have a sitter. We end up taking the kids with us.

7. Finally get my boudoir pictures done. I made an appointment, but then had to cancel. Now I'm having a hard time justifying the cost.

8. Go to the mall. I haven't managed to go to a Japanese mall yet. Yes! My sister and I went to one and Little Missy and I went to another last week.

9. Lose the 6 pounds I gained this last deployment. Ha!

10. Then lose 10 more. Yeah right. Yeah right. See? I knew 10 months ago I wouldn't do it.

11. Actually do the public speaking I keep saying I will at work. I have, multiple times. I can't say that I volunteer to do it, but if no one else is available, I do it.

12. Take a worthwhile class, so it can be added to my resume of course. No. I haven't even thought about this. I have done other stuff to add to the resume though, so I'll still call this a success.

13. Go to the Naha Fish Market, buy something, and cook it, all by myself. Not yet, but I still plan to go at some point.

14. Volunteer for one of Little Man's field trips at school. Why did I say this? I don't even want to.

15. Make my husband enroll in school. I had him. He went to the Ed Center the day before they canceled tuition assistance, but then he never went back.

16. Rekindle my love affair with bad TV. This won't happen until we move back to the States. I only have 10 channels.

17. Give up soda. For good. I think about doing this. Does that count?

18. Enjoy my children as much as possible. Yes! I have days where this doesn't happen, but I try my best.

19. Take my dog for walks more than once every couple weeks. He and I go for a lot of long walks. Well, we did before he went on vacation anyways.

20. Go to as many parks as I can possible find. We've been working on this and are making good progress. We've gone to every park we can find here. I've more than conquered this.

21. Wean myself off horrible Facebook Zynga games. It's only been recently, but I've done it.

22. Accessorize more. I go through phases where I try. I buy stuff, but then I never end up wearing it. I guess I'm just not an accessory person.

23. Win something substantial. I won at Xbox right before Christmas. Then I got a $500 Victoria's Secret gift card. I'd call that substantial, but it's not what I had in mind.

24. I'd like to start running more, it would help with #9 and #10, but I don't see it actually happening. Not running so much, it tends to aggravate my back problems, but I have been exercising more.

25. Keep up with cooking dinner, at least 4 nights a week. I go through phases with this. I'll do good for a few weeks, then slack off for a few. I'm lucky that my husband doesn't care if we have sandwiches for dinner.

26. #4 will happen, but let's shoot for Tokyo or Seoul. See #4. I made it to Tokyo!

27. Redesign my blog. Yes!

28. Take hubby to a love motel. Even though he says he will absolutely not go. He still refuses, but I bring it up occasionally. I'm not giving up!

29. Make someone take really, good pictures of me. A friend took pictures of me a month or two ago. She even brought makeup and fixed me up. They aren't professional, but of the 100+ she took, there were some really good ones.

30. Have another girl's only trip. No. Most of the girls from that trip have since moved. My sister and I had a few days with only us. We had talked about going to Taiwan or Kyoto, but she wanted to spend as much time as she could with the kids. My sis and I have been talking though. There's a trip to the Dominican Republic next year that I doubt we'll take the kids along, so maybe I'll just leave hubby home too.

31. Keep trying to take advantage of every experience I can. I try to do everything that I see or hear about. I drive my husband crazy, but my kids don't seem to mind. We won't be here forever, so I'm doing everything I can, while I can.

I only accomplished about half of the list. Some of these were far fetched, but half isn't too bad considering I had less than a year to do it all!

Firmoo Sunglasses Giveaway

2013-05-13T05:13:00.000-05:00

If you are anything like me, you love your sunglasses. I wear mine year round and would be lost without them. My eyes are sensitive to light and I can't drive without them, even on cloudy days. One thing I hate is that I can't wear my glasses if I'll be driving, because I need my sunglasses. I obviously need prescription sunglasses.

Have you heard of Firmoo?

Firmoo is the world's most popular online eyeglasses store. Their mission is to offer varieties of unbelievable cheap yet fashionable prescription & Plano eyewear to the consuming public. All of their eyewear is direct from affiliate factorys, so the price is 85%~90% lower than that in the traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Prescription eye wear starts at just $8 and the first pair is always free! A lot of online sites have cheap glasses though. Firmoo does it while still being stylish. Not all sites can say that. Their aim - Vision and Fashion the Frugal Way.

Back to sunglasses. I am in no way, shape, or form a fashion blogger and I don't pretend to be. These lovely ladies are though, so just admire them in their Firmoo sunglasses.

Firmoo has a variety of prescription sunglasses in various shapes and colors. Glasses are all reasonably priced as well. Everyone should be able to find something. If you don't like any of the sunglasses frames, pick regular eyeglasses and have the lenses tinted to turn them into sunglasses. Check out how to make RX sunglasses here.

I found more than a few pairs.

To place an order, (I promise it's easy!) only takes a couple steps. All the details are on their site. Firmoo also ships to a lot of countries. The whole list is on their site too. Once your glasses are on the way, it's easy to track them straight to your door!

Now comes the second fun part. The first fun part would be drooling over the sunglasses and playing with the doodad that lets you upload your pic and try sunglasses on to see how they'll look on you. Firmoo is giving away a free pair of sunglasses, right in time for summer!
Prizes are: if there are 50+ entrants, a grand prize of one pair of sunglasses will be given away, along with 6 $20 sunglass e-vouchers. If there are less than 50 entrants, only the 6 $20 sunglass e-vouchers will be given away.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mother's Day Playlist

2013-05-12T08:22:00.000-05:00

In honor of Mother's Day, I give you the ultimate Mom Song playlist, thanks to Rdio.

Tupac, Danzig (my seventh grade rock crush), and Fountains of Wayne (my ultimate mom goal)?

Can't be beat.

Enjoy.

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Sunday Social

2013-05-12T01:57:00.001-05:00

1. One year ago I was doing.......I was preparing for my husband to come home from Afghanistan. I don't remember much else from that time! He came home about a year and a week ago.

2. Five years ago I was doing.......I was divorced and a single mom to Little Man. I worked full time and was going to school for my Master's, so I didn't have time to do much else.

3. Ten years ago I was doing.......I was still newly married, living at our first duty station together. I was working as a telemarketer, but a much better job would show up within a few months.

4. One year from now I'll be doing......I'll be living stateside again, I'm assuming in California. I hope to have a good job and be completely settled in.

5. Five years from now I'll be doing.......No idea. I don't know if we'll be in or out of the military. I don't know where I'll be living and I don't know what I'll be doing job wise. That's kinda scary.

6. Ten years from now I'll be doing.......The husband will be retired from the military. I still don't know where we'll be living or what either of us will be doing job wise. We have ideas on where we want to retire, but it all depends on a lot of things.

Enter to win a new Blackberry 9300 and lots of other fun prizes!

A Salute to Military Wives

2013-05-11T05:30:00.000-05:00

In honor of military spouses.

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

May 10, 2013

Via: Your Local Security

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

2013-05-10T01:42:00.001-05:00

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day.

Source

For the most part, we don't toot our own horns. We don't think we do anything special, let alone special enough to deserve a day. My husband is the one who does something extraordinary. He is the one who sacrifices time with his family and at times, himself. I don't feel I sacrifice those things, but others seem to think I do. I married my husband, knowing what I was getting into. It didn't stop or deter me. But sometimes, people thank me for my service. I don't serve in the military I tell them, that's my husband. They reassure me I do.

Yesterday, I was at the PX, singing along in my head to the song on the overhead, when a commercial came on about military spouses. It said that military spouses do serve by putting themselves and their families needs behind the needs of their country. How true this is. There are so many times when something needs to be done, but it waits because of my husband's job. How often do we put our lives, our education, our careers on hold, to follow our spouses, wherever their country sends them? We do it every day! How often must children say good-bye to parents leaving for extended periods of time or good-bye to friends? It's not fun, but it's part of the role we play.

We do have crazy lives. We move every couple years, sometimes to other countries. We play single parent more than we like to, we worry about money (especially when you move from one location to another and it results in losing $1500 a month), it's impossible to plan anything family related, we buy a new car only to find out 2 months later we are moving overseas and can't take it, and the list goes on. Our lives can be extremely stressful, but it's what we know and do.

If you see a military spouse, thank him or her. They may brush your thank you aside, but the thought or gesture is appreciated. So often, I hear or read negative things about us and our lifestyles in the media. It sounds like people hate us and what our spouses do in the military. To have someone tell us thank you, means a lot.

My husband wrote a long post for me last year. You can read it here. He was deployed this time last year, making what he wrote a little more meaningful.

Source

My Dog's Vacation

2013-05-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

I mentioned yesterday that my dog was going on vacation. He is! Lucky boy. He is flying into San Francisco, then going to hang out with his grandparents! Grandparents, as in my in-laws.

I'll explain all the weird details later, but basically, we think we are PCSing this summer. We just don't have orders. If we fly commercial, there are dates where it's hard to fly with pets because of the heat. We didn't want to take the chance of us leaving and him not being able to get on the flight, so we've been working on getting him back to the states.

I spent days calling various numbers at United and Narita airport in Tokyo. I would be told to try another number, then another, then either no one would answer the phone, or no one spoke English. That went on for days and days. I got prices to fly him cargo from Narita to San Francisco, but couldn't get a price from here to Narita. I finally got someone from the airline at the airport here. He referred to a woman who escorts pets back and forth for a living. She gave me a price of $2500 from here to LAX. I guestimated another $500 to San Francisco to make it an even $3000. That's a lot of money.

As goofy as it sounds, our dog is considered our dependent. He was on our orders coming over here, so the military paid for the airline fees. They will pay for him to go back or reimburse us, but we have to have orders. Since we don't know when that's coming, we wanted him there already, but the thought of paying $3000 hurt.

As we were trying to figure all this out, the husband's battalion commander mentioned he was doing the same thing with his dog. Then he offered to take our dog too. We had a weeks notice, but we managed to get everything done. It's a lot harder getting him back to the states than it was to get him over here. My husband ran around all day yesterday making sure everything was ok. That included a trip to the airport. He flew out today, so I pray that everything works out ok. I'd hate for him to get to Narita or even San Francisco and something be wrong on the paperwork.

My mother in law will be there to meet him. They have room for him to run around, play, and lose those few pounds he gained over here. The kids are upset about it. The little one has cried twice about it, going on about how much she's going to miss him. I keep telling her we'll see him soon. We'll pick him up once we get back to the states, but that doesn't matter to her. We'll all miss him. I'm not bragging when I say he is the best dog ever. He is well behaved, doesn't bark, doesn't get into stuff, listens, and is protective, without being aggressive, of the kids. I can leave nasty trash out or food sitting out, leave him alone in the house all day, and he won't touch it. When my in-laws were here last, they were wrestling around with Little Missy and he got in between them. He nipped at my mother-in-laws hand to let her know that he didn't approve of how they were playing. He didn't bite, just nipped. I'm not sure why he didn't like that, but he is super protective of the kids. We couldn't ask for a better dog.

Currently...

2013-05-08T05:16:00.001-05:00

Reading

Writing multiple blog posts in my head and thinking about writing for another site.

Listening to my kids play.

Thinking about my dog's vacation.

Smelling a clean little girl.

Hoping that it doesn't rain this weekend and ruin our trip to the military 'resort'.

Wearing a Uniqlo tank and Nike shorts.

Loving this song.

Wanting to know when we will get orders and move!

Needing to clean the house, like always.

Feeling crappy. It's a headache kinda day.

Naha Dragon Boat Races

2013-05-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the 39th annual Naha Haarii Festival. Haarii is an Okinawan dragon boat race and festival that celebrates and prays for good catches for fisherman and marine safety. The Naha Haarii is the largest race and festival in Okinawa.

"Naha Haarii’s origins can be traced to China from where it came to Okinawa in the 14th century. A legend has it that a Ryukyuan prince who saw the “Haryu Ship” races in Nanjing, China, while studying there, had a race boat copy made after coming back to Okinawa. Villages in other parts of the island made their own boats and the races prospered as a national event of Ryukyu Kingdom. The custom was abolished when the Ryukyu Kingdom was taken over as a Japanese Prefecture in 1879. Although the race was temporarily revived the games finally stopped in 1928. The event was again permanently revived after World War II.

Each race is performed by three boats of 40 people. After starting at a standard-bearer’s signal, each boat competes a distance of 400 meters, in four 100-meter round trips. On the first day, the school games classified by sex among junior high school students will be held, and the Top 3 teams selected. On the last day, the teams, usually representing companies and occupational groups are carried out with groups formed by young men’s associations, industry associations and U.S. military and Japanese Self Defense Forces. There will also be a race for women teams.

A ceremony and a final race will be performed on the Naha Haarii’s last day. It begins with a ceremony, while the crew who wore the clothes of Haarii performs ancient rite and sing Haarii songs, and row their ships slowly and confidently around the port showing off for spectators before the race."

There was actually a heat this year of Army, Navy, and Air Force wives. I think the Army won.

For some reason, this was one festival we hadn't been to yet. We went on Sunday when the main races take place. We drove around for a bit trying to find parking, before we just gave up, drove to Kinser and took a cab down. The kids loved it. Little Missy had never ridden in a cab, so it was truly a treat. They were fascinated by the doors that opened by themselves.

Anyways, back on subject, the races are held at a port in Naha. Races were about every 15 minutes. We watched one whole race, before the kids were hot from all the surrounding bodies and bored. They wanted rides! My festival rule is one ride and one game each. They each rode their ride, they each played their game, I bought them food, and we walked around a while. We left when someone started to have a meltdown. Thankfully, it was just as easy to get a cab back.

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My Living Attachments

2013-05-06T01:07:00.000-05:00

I really don't know why I don't blog about my kids that much. I feel like all I do is run them around!

This guy still has over a month of school left. All his activities are starting to end (thankfully!), so things will slow back down a bit. I have never seen an elementary school offer so many clubs! For a while, it seemed like he was bring home a sign up sheet a day. I let him do what he wanted, even though I tried to steer him towards the technology, math, and science clubs. He picked cup stacking, the 100 Mile Club, and the schools online news.

I don't know that he got any skills out of the cup stacking, but he thought it was fun. Filming the news taught him new words like teleprompter and green screen. The 100 Mile Club is just the kids trying to walk/run 100 miles by the end of the year. They got t-shirts at 25 miles and I feel like they don't really care anymore! Only miles walked during their events count, so none at home. He stays after a few days a month and walks at recess. He isn't going to make 100 miles, but he stuck with it the whole year and that counts for more in my book.

Then there is soccer. Poor kid has my athletic ability, meaning he has none. He is having fun though and we've told him as long as he tries his best, that's the best we can ask for. His team as a whole wasn't that great. Those kids tried, but they played other teams that were just bigger and better than them. He had his last game this past weekend.

As much as he says he doesn't like school, he does pretty good. He isn't good at spelling and his handwriting is horrible, but he pretty much gets everything else. He also loves to read! I have a hard time keeping him supplied with books. The school had a contest in March for reading. Each classroom gave the kids who read the most minutes a really neat metal, Dr. Seuss designed water bottle. He came in second with 950 minutes for the month.

Then there's my girl. She loves preschool and is always talking about her teachers and her friends. In the 5 months she's been there, she has learned a lot. Apparently she's the singing leader too. I haven't put her in any other activities yet. I would put her in sports in a heartbeat, but you have to be 5 for most things. She's going to be the athletic one and wants to play things, she just can't yet. On the days she's not at preschool, we go exploring, to the beach, to parks, on bike rides, and just have fun together while we can. Like today, we went to a mall near our house (that for some reason we'd never gone to before, what's wrong with me?) and played at the arcade and looked around. Then I took her on a bike ride, since she had been bugging me all day.

Military Spouse Appreciation May Giveaway

2013-05-05T02:28:00.000-05:00

Are you excited? Well, you should be! I have partnered with T-Mobile and A Boy, A Girl, and the Marine Corps to offer up some awesome prizes and have the best giveaway EVER!! I don't know how many of you know this, but May is Military Appreciation month and May 10th is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. It also happens to be mine and Jane's birthday month so we've decided to host a huge giveaway in honor of it all. It will run from May 5th to the 19th! T-Mobile has kindly offer to sponsor the giveaway and is offering up the GRAND PRIZE:

The Blackberry 9300 for T-Mobile is a superb messaging device which allows you seamless access to all your emails and contains integrated social networking applications!. Features a full QWERTY Keyboard, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), 2mp camera, and push email. And Blackberry happens to be one of the only phones approved by the Pentagon to use with their systems. It is the platform of choice for government agencies and is security certified for use because of it's encryption abilities. It makes for an awesome grand prize and we can't thank T-Mobile enough. Jane adores this phone, and has also been a T-Mobile customer for over seven years. They are great to military family's and offer military discounts! They have an awesome Military Advantage program that is an exclusive offer to military families that gives them a great deal on handsets and a percentage off of their monthly bill. To learn more CLICK HERE, it will take you to the Marine Corps Personnel portal. I wish I was able to enter the giveaway for this phone! But there's more!!!! Some of my favorite bloggers have also offered up prizes for you!!!

Excited? I am too! So, without further ado, Enter Below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please see A Boy, A Girl and the Marine Corps giveaway policy and rules HERE.

Sunday Social

2013-05-05T02:27:00.002-05:00

1. Four favorite things to do on the weekend.

Sleep in

Catch up on my reading

Hang out with my family

Explore the island

2. Four favorite things about your best friend.

This encompasses all my best friends.

I can be my totally, stupid self with them.

They 'get' me.

They understand my crazy lifestyle because they live the same one.

They've been there through good and bad.

3. Four things you'd do with $100,000.

Pay of my student loans.

Save!!!!!!!

Go on an awesome vacation with my husband.

And probably buy the Harley he wants.

4. Four favorite books you've read.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and subsequent books

Rurally Screwed

The Shoemaker's Wife

Anything by Jill Mansell

5. Four favorite snack foods.

Nachos.

Laughing Cow Cheese.

Crackers.

Onigiri

6. Four things you must do daily.

Squeeze my kids.

Internet checks.

Hug my husband.

Love on my dog.

Go check out my huge giveaway!

Don't Go Audiobook Review

2013-05-04T07:46:00.000-05:00

When I checked the mail a couple weeks ago and found an audio copy of Lisa Scottoline's newest book, Don't Go, I couldn't wait to start it. Actually, I opened it in the parking lot and put the first disc in to listen to on the way home.

I'm pretty sure I've read all of Scottoline's books. I don't know if Esther at MacMillan Audio secretly stalks me or what, but she keeps sending me audiobooks that I would have read anyways!

From the book jacket:

When Dr. Mike Scanlon is called to serve as an army doctor in Afghanistan, he’s acutely aware of the dangers he’ll face and the hardships it will cause his wife Chloe and newborn baby. And deep inside, he doesn’t think of himself as a warrior, but a healer.

However, in an ironic turn of events, as Mike operates on a wounded soldier in a war-torn country, Chloe dies at home in the suburbs, in an apparent household accident. Devastated, he returns home to bury her, only to discover that the life he left behind has fallen apart. His medical practice is in jeopardy, and he is a complete stranger to the only family he has left - his precious baby girl. Worse, he learns a shocking secret that sends him into a downward spiral.

Ultimately, Mike realizes that the most important battle of his life faces him on the home front and he’ll have to put it all on the line to save what’s dearest to him – his family. Gripping, thrilling, and profoundly emotional, Don’t Go is Lisa Scottoline at her finest.

A big part of the story is about Mike dealing with coming back from war. He does two back to back tours in Afghanistan. We see parts of his life there and the circumstances that cause him to have issues once he is home. He comes home on emergency leave to bury his wife and then goes straight back. After her death, he finds out things he didn't want to know, but he wants to know the whole story and does what he needs to figure it out. Like any book, there are some unbelievable parts and some parts I saw coming three miles away. I found all the military stuff to be interesting though. I tried and couldn't really find anything wrong with how the military sections were written and I'm the first one to point out things that are wrong. The story ended on a good note, which I couldn't see happening in real life - not after everything Mike went through. Overall, it was a good story and one I enjoyed.

Random Awesomeness

2013-05-03T07:18:00.000-05:00

Love this show, (Ted's annoying, who'd want to marry him?), but who knew?

Actually, I knew the Sandy Rivers thing, but not the rest.

YES!!

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My life in junior high/high school.

Today's blog post from ArmyWifeStyle. She likes to say what we are all thinking.

If you have children, don't drink while watching this. You'll spit it on your screen.

This.

I know, but I can't get over it! My mom said we look like 8 year olds.

(read yesterday's post for an explanation)

Love this show too. Please don't cancel it!

My toes are rockin' some 80's nostalgia.

Purikura

2013-05-02T07:04:00.001-05:00

We all know about Japanese animation.

And anime eyes.

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Do you know about Purikura though?

Purikura (プリクラ) comes from Purinto Kuraby which translates to print club. They are photobooths, but unlike any we have in America or at least any I've seen.

After you enter the booth, you put your money in (around 400 yen), and are given the option to edit photos before and after taking them. Depending on the machine, you can change skin tone, hair color, eye color, backgrounds, and poses. Everything is in Japanese, so it's a matter of pushing random buttons until you get somewhere. I've been in some machines that were too difficult to figure out. We found one last week that was pretty simple. It took six pictures of us, showed us each picture, then let us pick the ones we wanted. We tried to pick three, but ended up with all six.

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After you pick your photos, you exit the booth to go to another editing screen on the side. This lets other people in the booth if there is a line. You can then add words, pictures, whatever. We kept it simple. A lot of the machines give you photo stickers, explaining why teenagers love these things. The whole point of them is to make you cuter, more kawaii (かわいい). We ended up with bigger, anime eyes and my face looks a slightly different shape in some pictures, like it thinned my chin out.

And apparently it makes 4 year old's look like they are wearing tons of makeup.

See what I mean?

Have I mentioned how much I love this place?

Izakaya

2013-05-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

While my sister was here, she suggested we go out for a drink one night. She wanted to go to a local bar to get the full experience. There are plenty of bars here, and of course there are the ones that American's tend to frequent. She didn't want to go to one of those.

Her last night here, we went in search of a bar. We drove around for a bit before stopping at a bar I had already been to. A lot of the bars here are izakaya's - both a bar and restaurant. You know they are open when the lanterns are out and lit.

The place we went to was pretty much a hole in the wall. There was a bar on one side and a row of tables on the other. When we walked in, it was one of those moments when you feel like the room stops and everyone turns to look at you. It didn't, but it felt like it. We took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer. The two guys sitting at the bar automatically tried to start a conversation. Their English was better than our Japanese and between cell phone translators and basic conversation we figured it out. The first thing they asked was if we had been there before. I told them that I had, almost 2 years ago. The lady working there got an 'a-ha' look on her face and started gesturing like she was playing golf. I'm pretty sure I started bouncing up and down in my seat. They totally remembered us! My husband and I stopped in for a drink 2 years ago. We were there hours and by the end of the night, the tables had been moved aside and they were practicing their golf swings.

The lady first gave us a small dish of something. It was breaded, fried meat (I think). It was good, we just weren't sure what it was. Next, she gave us a plate of something else. They said it wasn't egg, so I think it may have been tofu or something. It had chives and ham in it and was good too. Then she made us a tofu and noodle dish. She just kept feeding us! They had a good laugh at my chopstick skills. At one point, a huge jar of plum sake appeared and they insisted we try that too.

The conversation quickly got around to who was single and my sister is. All the single men there (the two guys at the bar, the bartender, and a table of 5 or 6 guys were the only people there) were then pointed out to us. We were told names, ages, and found out where some of them work. The table of guys soon left, but not before one ~~drunk~~ nice guy told us he loved us, a lot. We were also told we looked like Hollywood movie stars.

I have not laughed that hard in a long time. It was a fun evening. By the end of the night, one guy was asking for my sister's phone number. When we left, he said 'next year.....my wife!' and pointed to her. Freaking hilarious. They were all very nice though.

Karaoke may have also been involved.

Never, Ever, Ever...

2013-04-30T02:10:00.001-05:00

Never, ever, ever will you hear me say...

...I don't need a soda today.

...But I could really go for a pop!

...Let's play baseball/football/any other sports that involves throwing ball at my face!

...I don't feel like Mexican food tonight.

...I'm craving pickles.

...I wish this shirt came in a color besides pink.

...I miss high school.

...I can't go shopping, the football game is on.

...The Cubs are awesome! I've always been a secret Cubs fan!