Cats and Our First Typhoon

No way has it already been a month since we left San Diego! At least it sure doesn't feel like it. It specifically feels more like a state of perpetual vacation--like we'll be returning to San Diego any day now. I know that's not true but sometimes I like to pretend it is. I think that the vacation feeling is mostly due to the fact that we're still using all of the military loaner furniture--that and the whole tropical weather and humidity piece, of course. Once our household goods get here I think we'll begin to feel a little more settled. Maybe. Either way I'm sure it will exponentially help to help feel more completely settled in.

Brian has been working away, seeing clinic and studying for his upcoming boards exam. I have been working away in a different manner: setting up our house, running errands, taking care of paperwork, and sending out job applications--I hope to start subbing at the Department of Defense schools here on base shortly to help keep me busy until a full-time teaching position or something similar opens up. There are moments when I'm knee-bouncingly antsy to get out of the house, see people, do something! (Which I go and do--but I mean more in terms of work). And then there are times when it's almost meditative to be able to read a little, to be able to study some Japanese, to be free to run out to the store to buy the lawn mower/mixing bowls/plunger/"fill in random item that we need but don't currently have because we either had to give it away or it hasn't arrived yet."

Luckily the cats made it here safe and sound to keep us/me company, which some of you are already well aware of if we're Snapchat friends (sorry not sorry for all the cat pics/videos guys. I love these furballs!) They arrived on the 21st and have been adjusting well to the new place. Their travel itinerary had them going from San Diego ➡️ Los Angeles ➡️ Tokyo/Haneda ➡️ Iwakuni ➡️ Okinawa so now they are quite the experienced jet setters! We shipped them through Sarah's Pet Paradise, which I would recommend to anyone needing to send pets overseas--they were great and there was a person flying along with the pets to get them from check point to check point, and even through customs, without much hassle. They even sent/posted pictures of the pets along the way so us concerned pet owners could see that they were still alive and well!

The kitties upon their arrival in Okinawa. They don't seem as happy to see me as I was to see them. 

Tigre looks super over it and has resigned to his fate of imminent death approaching; 

Patches is anxious to figure out what all the noises are 

and whether or not there are shadows that need to be attacked.

I seriously think that they thought they were going to die en route so by the time they got to us they were just happy to be alive. They got out and immediately started exploring. Their stay at Rachel's prepared them for a new home with stairs, so they were pretty willing to explore both upstairs and downstairs from the get go. They weren't big fans of the bare floors though so they were flopping on the bed and the chairs until we bought some area rugs to fill a couple of the voids.

Exploring their new digs. 

I can just hear Patches being all like, "Hey Tig! Come on, let's go explore!" and him being like, "Ugh, fine. I somehow made it through that plane ride without dying so this can't be much worse." 
That Tigre...he's such a butt sometimes.

There was also an initial fiasco with the new litter box that resulted in a pee-soaked Tigre butt racing around our bedroom, leaving wet booty marks all over our nice new floor, and culminating in our poor buddy receiving the further trauma of a never-before-received bath. But he survived that too, much to his surprise, and is now being the lovey-est cat he has ever been! Cuddling up with us, wanting to be petted and not running away, and following us from room to room. I think he's afraid that we'll abandon him or put him on a plane again. We won't, buddy. At least not for the next three years.

I mean, look at how cute he is! So happy to be back with his people! 

Patches looks pretty darn content, too.

In other non-cat related news, we "survived" our first typhoon here on island. And by survived I mean that Brian got to stay home from work, and we got to build a bunch of toys and drink all the chu-hais we had stocked up for the occasion. Typhoon Goni could have been much much worse had it come closer to the island, but as it was he ended up being mostly just a large, extra windy storm. A thankful outcome for all involved. No trampolines flew past our window, no one lost power, and our sandbags kept our trash cans in place. A big win overall. I wish there was more to say about it, but really that's about it. Typhoon season lasts into November though, so we'll keep you posted if anything big comes through our way.

Filling up sandbags to be typhoon ready!

Alright, that's it for now friends. We miss you and would love to hear from you/Facetime with you if you're ever free! Afternoons/evenings in your U.S. time zones are best for us as they are our morning time. Take care!  xoxo Maureen

Our New Place (Part 1)

Our suitcases (pre-unpacking/exploding)

We got to move into our permanent place this past Friday morning! It's much larger than any place we've had before and has an incredible amount of closets & cabinets for storage--a huge change from our last place which had practically no storage. Here's a quick video of what it looked like before we exploded our suitcases all over it:

Between the limited number of bags we were allowed to bring with us and purging of items that we had to do before the move in order to make our weight limit, we knew that we would be short many of the required necessities to start up life in a new home. Luckily the military takes that into consideration and provides a modest moving stipend to help alleviate the costs of (re)purchasing these supplies. Although Brian teased me for packing sheets, towels, blankets, and shower curtains, they were immediately helpful and put to good use. General cleaning supplies (especially the liquid ones that we couldn't ship here) had to be bought along with food, beverages, and a couple of action figures for good measure :) All of that was anticipated and not too bothersome, but I do get a little irked when we have to buy items that are being shipped but haven't gotten here yet--like another broom & dust pan, or a new microwave since we unfortunately put ours in storage thinking that there would already be one here. But again, it's those kinds of things that the stipend is thankfully there for--just gotta chalk it all up as another part of the moving process!

Since our place doesn't currently have any carpeting at all, we also purchased some house slippers. We already try to make it a habit to take our shoes off when we enter homes, so we figured it would be culturally appropriate to have some house slippers of our own in our home. Plus it helps keep the dust off our feet :)

Overall the place has been really nice so far! The neighborhood is pretty quiet, there are a fair amount of trees and bushes in the back and front yards to give some visual privacy, and the loaner furniture has allowed us to begin to feel right at home. Our next door neighbor even came by in the pouring rain to introduce himself and to welcome us to the neighborhood with a bottle of wine.  It was such an unexpected and kind gesture, and it makes me realize the kind of community we may have been missing out on living in apartments the last few years.

A welcome gift from our new neighbors

We've still got a lot of unpacking to do to declutter the common areas but it's all falling into place. And we're super excited because the cats will arrive and join us here on Friday! We've missed them lots but know that they've been in great hands with Rachel back in California. (Thank you, Rachel!!! You're the absolute best!!!)

Ok, that's all for now. Take care, friends!
xoxo Maureen

PS. Part 2 will come once we get our household goods sometime in September--we'll post a new video of what it looks like once it's more complete :)

Our Next Big Adventure

After much anticipation, the verdict is in! This summer Brian, Tigre, Patches, and I will be moving to......

OKINAWA, JAPAN!

We are super excited, especially since this was one of Brian's top choices, and can't wait to see what this new chapter of Navy life will bring! We don't have a set-in-stone moving date yet, but it will likely be in late July/early August. Brian will be working at the main Navy hospital there with a couple of our favorite Pediatric people (yay for knowing friends already!), and I'm already working on applications to hopefully be able to teach there as well. Even with all the excitement, I still have some slight apprehension about moving--mostly stemming from being so far away from my family and not knowing the language (yet)-- but we luckily live in a day and age where FaceTime, email, airline travel, and Rosetta Stone are all pretty readily available so I know it will all be ok. Start saving your pennies now, friends! Our future guest room awaits your presence ;) We'll keep you posted as new developments come along, but are happy to share this big piece of news with you for now. 

Making Friends

"Make new friends,

but keep the old.

One is silver,

the other is gold."

from 'Make New Friends', a Girl Scout campfire song

Something I dreaded about moving to the west coast was having to make new friends... again. It doesn't matter how old/young, nice/outgoing you are, or how many times you have moved--it's hard to make friends!  It takes a lot of time to get to know someone, to trust them, and to make sure you won't scare them away with your weirdness--let alone find ways to meet new people in the first place! When people ask how I like San Diego so far I often respond with, "I love it! I just wish I could bring my friends here with me!"

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't like the people out in San Diego--we've been blessed with having some great friends from USUHS come out here with us and have met some wonderful people here already in Brian's program and in my grad classes--I'm saying it's hard to make strong, positive relationships in one place and then have to leave them. 

I was reminded of this a lot over the past few weeks. Two weekends ago I went back to DC and got to see my teacher friends and my cross country runners again. It was so wonderful to see them and honestly it re-energized my soul. I made some wonderful friends there for sure! And then I got to talk to some of my best girlfriends from college over the phone & texts, and they lifted my spirits too. I made some forever friends in college for sure! And just this weekend we celebrated Halloween with some new friends out here, and I grabbed brunch with another couple of them today. We're making some great friends out here too!  

I'm glad we're living in a time where it is easier to keep in touch--via email, Facebook, Skype, phone, and even blogs--but I miss my friends. And these new friends that we're making out here, I will miss them too when the Navy says it's time to leave again. 

But for now, I will go out of my comfort zone and make new friends. I will cherish the moments I have here in sunny SD with the awesome people we've met & will meet--and I will do my best to keep in contact with those back in Michigan, New York, and DC/NoVA--friends that I never want to forget. 

Silver and Gold. Thank you for being our friends and know that we love you guys, no matter where we are!