Sayonara Party

My parents threw us a going away party with many of our friends from church and around New England. The house was packed. The funny thing was that some people at the party I had never actually met before! However, most that I didn't know were friends of my parents and I had heard of them, so it was nice to actually meet them and put a face with the name.

If you are wondering what is inscribed on the cake above in the photo, it says "sayonara" in kanji characters (meaning "goodbye" in Japanese). Gotta hand it to those Costco folks - they are pretty talented with their cake decorating abilities.

 

18 Going on 23

Last night we went out with Noa's family to the Hanover Street ChopHouse Restaurant to celebrate Megan's (my sister-in-law) 18th birthday. We dined on steak, wine, and delicious dessert - I chose the cheesecake, of course. I found this picture* somewhat comical because here is Megan - who just turned 18 - and myself, a little older at 27 years old. Earlier in the week we had gone to a Chinese restaurant and the girl behind the counter told Megan that she looked 22 and I looked 18.** I can never win.


Happy 18th, Megs. Love you!




*My apologies about the red eye in the photo. I'm blogging from borrowed computers and can't always figure the photo programs out. So, until I can fix it, Megan and I will continue to look a little devilish.
**And yes, I've heard it a thousand times: I know I'll appreciate that comment when I'm older. I just don't appreciate it now!

New England

We have a couple trips that we're taking before our big adventure to Okinawa. This morning we arrived in New Hampshire. New England - the six most northeast states for those of you who don't know which states constitute this category (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) - is considered my "home." I was born and raised in Massachusetts, my family moved to New Hampshire when I was in middle school, as a kid I went to summer camp every year in Maine, and I spent a summer working in Connecticut. So, I have a lot of happy memories when I visit up here. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I noticed the pleasant change in temperature. The weather is a nice break from hot, humid, and sticky Florida, where it's a mere 95-100 degrees out everyday. Here, in New Hampshire, it's warm but there's a breeze and it's not humid, thankfully. The clouds are a little overcast and I think we may get some rain. I love flying into the little Manchester airport and looking over all the hills and forests with little houses tucked about. I've definitely missed all that greenery and the pine trees.

My dad picked us up from the airport and we caught up over subway subs. I'm anxious to hang out with our families and friends knowing that we'll be separated by an ocean for some time. I know we have a lot of visiting on the agenda.

We'll be here for about a week - pictures will be posted soon! Then, we're off to North Dakota to meet and visit with some of Noa's extended family members for several days.

One Down, One to Go

Yesterday, Noa sold one of our cars. Our '95 Geo Prizm held a lot of memories and I found myself teary-eyed as Noa signed over the papers to the new owner. Thinking back, I remember some of the great times with the car. My grandfather helped purchase the car for me the summer before my sophomore year of college. I used the car to get me to and from my teaching internship, dug it out of snow many, many times, replaced the tires far too often due to puncture holes (thanks to the lovely condition of New England roads), drove it with my dad to Florida, picked up our first puppy, and shuttled many Christmas trees to our place with the Prizm. The car will definitely be missed.

Now we are focused on selling our newer car, a Honda Civic, by the end of the month. Although it doesn't carry as many memories, I'm sure I'll be teary-eyed again. Now thinking about it, I realize that I was probably a bit emotional because I haven't really dealt with the products of the move. Although I know the move is imminent, I don't really face the results in the face and deal with the flood of emotions that come with them. We've moved out of our place, we're selling our cars, found a temporary home for the dogs, and are currently living out of suitcases - all this because we are moving to Japan. Japan!! It almost doesn't feel real, but it's going to happen and it's going to happen soon. Instead, I get caught up in taking care of the the things that need to get accomplished, such as packing or taking care of important paperwork, and avoid the feelings that go along with the reason for doing so. I know that what to do is deal with all of the aspects of the move. People move all the time and military families move overseas quite frequently, so it's not like it'll be the end of the world if I get sad and exited at the same time. I know that I can face this challenge head on! I am moving to Japan and I will face the flood of emotions that come with that.

Well... maybe tomorrow.


In the meantime, know anyone who wants to buy a Honda Civic??

A Dog's Day in Pictures

Wake up much too early and hang out outside. Watch the stupid boys frolick in the wet grass.






Go out to an outdoor restaurant with the humans. Look adorable in order to acquire people food. If the adorable look doesn't work (and you happen to be a trim Italian Greyhound), play the "they don't feed me" card - works every time.






Go to the dog park and spend hours chasing after the slow human. She calls this running?!






Celebrate Gunnar's first birthday with ice cream. Eat without ceasing.


















Go home. Practice breakdancing moves on the floor.



















Settle in for the night. Try to take over the couch before the humans do.

Another Graduate

Now I'm not the only graduate in the family. Over the past two days we've been celebrating Noa's graduation from his residency program with the Navy. Last night we attended an awards banquet where he was awarded Teacher of the Year. Today was the formal graduation ceremony where he was also awarded for his service as chief resident. It's hard to believe that 3 years of residency have now come and gone. Noa and I both survived and I am so proud of his accomplishments. Good job, babe!! 

Moving Out, Moving In

Noa, the dogs, and myself of course, have finally moved out of the apartment. We moved in with Mike and Jess last night. Although we love the idea of living with them, the logistics are interesting since they are in the process of selling their house - therefore it must be clean and in shape 24/7 - which calls for creativity when you are living out of 3 suitcases and have 2 dogs with you. When Kate is here (sometimes she stays at friends houses), there are 5 people and 3 dogs here, so it's pretty cozy.

We all toasted the occasion last night to some champagne. The funny thing about the champagne is that we are all trying to drink it up since both the Hammers and Apostles are moving. Somehow all of us found ourselves with several bottles and I think there are something like 10 bottles that we need to use up in the next month. I guess there will be lots of toasting going on during the month of July.

So, here's to some good times with the "Hampostles." I'm going to go crack open a bottle of bubbly. Cheers!

Empty

Well, the first ("general" meaning slow to arrive) shipment was moved out today. It didn't take the movers long to clear our place out. Now we only have two rooms with piles of stuff in them. One room is our USA storage room and the other has the "express" shipment, which will be moved out tomorrow. We'll hopefully see that stuff by the end of August. That includes our computer so until then, I'll be blogging from borrowed sources - I apologize ahead of time if there are significant time lapses between entries, but this is out of my control. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated on where we are as our schedule becomes a little crazy at this point. But for now, we're still grounded in Florida and living in a mostly empty apartment.

Pack Out

The movers are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. During the next couple of days they will be taking away our things that we want shipped to Japan. So, Noa and I have been busy trying to sort through our things and decide what's going into storage here in the states and what will be heading overseas with us. Don't ya just love the look on Gunnar's face in this photo? He is so confused! "Mom, what are you doing with all our stuff?!" 

27

This weekend I celebrated my 27th birthday in between packing up our things and getting the apartment sorted (the movers come on Wednesday). Although Noa and I spent most of the time moving boxes and furniture from room to room, both he and my friends found ways to make the weekend special. On Saturday, which was my actual birthday, Noa took me out for my favorite breakfast and gave me my presents. I was completely floored by the gifts, which I was not expecting. He gave me more diving equipment: a regulator (see non-flattering photo above), octopus (or alternate air source, and a pressure gauge. I'm so excited to try out these and my BCD when we get to Oki! We also went out to dinner that night to a little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant. What it lacked in appearance, it made up for in taste. The food was fabulous - especially the tiramisu and cappuccino for dessert - yum!
After working on the apartment some more on Sunday, we went to the Apostle's and joined Mike, Jess, and Kate for some BBQ in the evening. While Mike cooked up some burgers, the dogs ran around in the yard like crazy and I got to catch up with our friends. It was fun to simply hang out and catch up on things going on in each other's lives. Mike and Jess gave me a huge bag full of awesome goodies, like new headphones for my iPod. We closed the night with chocolate ice cream cake and a movie.

It was a great weekend - I wish it wasn't over so soon! Back to the grindstone...

Sayonara Shelving

Today was my last day of employment with Barnes & Noble - no more early morning shelving for me. My fellow shelvers and other coworkers set up a lovely going away spread in the break room today, complete with presents, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, treats from Panara Bread, colorful napkins and plates, baked goods, and fruit salad. Since it was completely unexpected, I felt so touched by the gesture from these people that have known me for only about a year. However, it's funny how you get to know your coworkers as if they are a family of sorts. Being in retail, we've all had to endure similar experiences which in turn creates common ground between all of us. We've all had the customer that compains because we don't carry the exact book he/she wants at that very moment. We can all talk about the time we were criticized too harshly or judged unjustly. We've all had to clean up after other people. We've all had to cope with the many changes in management over the year. And we've all had days when we were ready to simply walk out. However, through some of those less-than-pleasant experiences, we find things to laugh and joke about and ways to make each work day more tolerable. I didn't hate my job at the bookstore. In fact, I enjoyed being surrounded by books and knowing what was "hot" in the industry at the time. I loved doing storytime on Mondays and will greatly miss all the little faces that greeted me each time. I liked having control over how things were organized and coming in early to shelve the stock. The smell of the scones baking and the coffee brewing was a great was to wake up while working. But, like so many other jobs I've had, I was often frustrated by corporate decisions that seemed to create barriers and challenges, rather than invite opportunity and creativity in the workplace.

I will greatly miss my friends at B&N. I enjoyed working by each of them every morning and joking about the different elements of working at our particular store. I know that soon I'll be a distant memory for many of them, but if they happen to think about me every once and awhile, I hope that I'll be remembered as someone who was sincere and enjoyable to work with. Today, I leave with positive memories of working along some truly good people.

BCD

Here is a photo of one of the many surprises from this past weekend: my anniversary gift! It's a BCD (buoyancy control device) for scuba diving. Now, I won't have to rent one when we're diving in Oki. Pacific ocean, here I come!

www.zeagle.com 

Savannah Surprise

Well, Noa outdid himself with this one. As you can see the surprise weekend getaway for our 5th anniversary was to Savannah, GA. From the time we moved down to Jax, we've been told that Savannah is one of the places that we must visit, however, we had never made it up there during our 3 years here. This past weekend, we not only went there, but we lived like kings. Noa made reservations at the Mansion on Forsyth Park, a converted mansion which overlooks Forsyth Park, the largest park in downtown Savannah. The Mansion was truly spectacular. For example, one of my favorite things about it was that they had original art everywhere - it was like we were staying at an art museum. Our room was in the turret; you can see our 3rd floor window in the photo with the 700 Drayton sign. Also, the Mansion has a spa (Poseidon Spa) where I was treated to a massage on Saturday (Noa had arranged this in advance!). I loved staying there and learned that I actually like shabby chic decor (I'm becoming so open minded - ha ha ha).

For those of you who aren't from the area, you may be wondering what Savannah has to offer. Savannah is actually a very historic town and has many of the original houses, buildings, and squares that were built in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. We took a trolley tour through the city after my massage at the spa. About halfway through the tour, we decided to get off and explore a little on foot (you can get on and off the trolley throughout the city). While we were walking, we ran into our good friends Anne and John, who are fellow IG enthusiasts. They too were celebrating their wedding anniversary in Savannah! So, we joined them for a round of drinks and caught up on all the latest IG news in Florida.

There are three things that made me really like Savannah. First, the founders the city constructed it so that it was built in a grid pattern and every few blocks or so, there would be a square, which is basically a small park. Most squares had a fountain or statues, brick walkways, benches, and flower gardens. While we walked through the city, we were able to see several weddings that were being held in these squares. It was beautiful. Plus, these squares are nice and cool since they have large live oak trees throughout and keep the area shaded (it was about 98 degrees over the weekend).

I also loved how dog friendly the city was. Everywhere we went we saw and met lots of dogs. People were walking them in the squares and the park and pretty much every dog we met was leashed. We were told that a lot of the hotels and restaurants (with outdoor seating of course) allow dogs. This whole attitude towards dogs was so refreshing. I, of course, was in dog heaven and loved meeting every canine friend we walked by.

Finally, I loved the food! I was actually a little intimidated by eating in Savannah since I have not yet acquired the taste for southern cooking. But, my fears were quickly squashed after dining at two fine establishments. One was 700 Drayton, which was at the Mansion where we stayed. The other is the The Olde Pink House, which is also a restaurant that is housed in a converted historical mansion. Both nights I feasted on different cuts of beef. I'm not really accustomed to eating at restaurants such as these. Normally, Noa and I frequent the chain restaurants that are within a close driving distance from our apartment. Now, however, we may try to go out less frequently so that we can afford to eat at places like these. The food was truly wonderful. Each bite was so delicious and flavorful. It was a neat experience because I wanted to savor each bite, so I ate slower and spent more time focusing on the dining experience and conversation. Now, I think I have some insight on how many Europeans can spend hours at a meal. I could get used to meals like these on a regular basis.

It was such a lovely weekend overall. Noa did such a fabulous job planning everything and we loved having some time to get away from all the hassles and worries that accompany our impending move. It was fun to sit in the lap of luxury for a few days - it kind of felt like we were pretending to be part of the "upper crust of society. I kept saying to Noa, "so, this is how the other half lives!" Truly, this will be a fond memory for a long, long time.

4 Years and 364 days

Tomorrow is my five year wedding anniversary to Noa. It oddly feels like a milestone. Probably that's partly because we are actually celebrating in style this year by going away (to a mystery location - Noa hasn't told me where we're going yet!). I got out the ol'wedding album and laughed out loud when I looked at our picture. It's not that we're funny looking (okay, seriously, what was I thinking with that veil?!), but we've changed so much from that day 5 years ago. At this time 4 years and 364 days ago, I was celebrating at the rehearsal luau, hosted by my in-laws and surrounded with many friends and family. Tomorrow, at 4 pm, marks the time the wedding ceremony started.* And at that time, I will be packing my bags for a mystery getaway trip this weekend. I can't wait to get away - even for a few days - from all this moving/saying good-byes/getting ready for Japan "stuff." I could use the time away and this celebration deserves to be recognized. It's been a crazy five years, with many ups and downs, but I wouldn't have it any other way or with anybody else.

Love you, Noa!




*Actually the ceremony started late because we were waiting on some of Noa's aunts to show up!

A Long Awaited Sandal Death

Noa has this strange habit of acquiring sandals and wearing them into the ground. He used to have these old brown sandals that strongly resembled the sandals I saw old men wear at the retirement facility where I used to work (the old mean would wear them with white socks, of course). You know the ones - they look like they came from Walgreens for $3.99 and even have the little toe slots carved into the thick plastic. Anyway, they were hideous and after awhile I couldn't take it anymore. I told him that they had to go. We'd get him some much cooler sandals that he could loaf around in.
So, he acquired some sporty sandals made by Adidas. I didn't mind these at all and Noa wore them everywhere - with and without socks - I think he even wore them to church. He basically lived in these things. However, with so much use, these sandals were looking pretty worn. You can't really tell from the photo above, but the coloring was starting to crack and peel off, they had been chewed up several times by Gunnar and were wearing down on the sides. They kinda looked like something you'd find in the garbage - something someone threw away or something worn on the feet of a homeless man with no other footwear options. But Noa hung on to them and would not throw them away no matter how much I protested (can I help it if I want him to look good?).
Well, last night we had a mini-date night and while I was gulping down a Steak N Shake double chocolate chip shake Noa said, "hey let's run over to the Adidas outlet in St. Augustine and pick up some new sandals." Oh yeah, right out of the blue he brings this up. I'm still not sure why. Maybe he was trying to trying to win bonus points with me. Maybe he's trying to spruce up for our imminent move. Maybe he felt like shopping - okay, I know that's not the case. I don't know why - but I was all for it. An hour later we left the store with some fresh, new Adidas sandals, a new visor for him, and some sandals for me (which will be great for the boats when we go scuba diving in Oki!). Tonight, Noa said some last words to the sandals and then we gently lifted them into their casket (our trash bag) and laid them to rest (in the dumpster) forever. Now his feet no longer resemble those of a homeless wanderer.


R.I.P. Adidas sandals. Noa may miss you, but I sure won't.

Puppers on the Mend

Today was supposed to be my day to catch up on my suntan and hang out with some girlfriends at the pool. Instead, I found myself surround by furry, fourlegged patients at the local animal emergency clinic this morning. Sadie has come down with a case of acute colitis and is now on a regimin of pills and bland food. She also had some IV fluids pumped into her at the clinic (which gave her a hump for about an hour after our appointment - she looked like the Quasimodo of IGs - ha ha ha). Gunnar isn't sick, but is "mending" after he an Sarge got into a little argument over who owned the pig ear yesterday. Unfortunately for Gunns, Sarge is bigger and has sharper teeth, so you can imagine who won that one.

So, I had to call out today and care for the puppers. Luckily, I have plenty to keep me occupied while I hang out with the "patients" as I need to go through lots of paperwork and belongings to prepare for the pack-out, which is in a few weeks. I guess since Jess is away this weekend, I'll be the nurse around here and make my little fuzzybutts as comfy as possible.

Official!

Here it is - my diploma! Sorry for the poor photo quality, but you get the idea. I realize that this next statement will make me sound like a complete nerd, but I just love having my diploma in the school frame! It looks so official. Most of Noa's diplomas are in the appropriate school frames, so this one adds to the sophisticated look of our academic wall "art" (I don't think you'd consider it art, but it's what we use to decorate our office wall so I'm considering it art in this case). My teeny weeny college diploma doesn't have a school frame, so I think I should invest in one to make the look complete. Now, I feel accomplished - I can check this one off my to do list:

To Do in my 20s:
- graduate from college: check
- get married: check
- get a dog: double check
- get a graduate degree: check
- learn a foreign language....working on it ;)

Playdate/Fundraiser Photos

As promised, here are some photos from the fundraiser/playdate (thanks to my pal, Jesea who sent them to me). The photos from Rhode Island will take a little longer to get up - I'm waiting on a CD with them to come in the mail. Enjoy!

Where, Oh, Where?

Sorry for the long absence - as some of you know, my computer was on the fritz and then I traveled up north for a few days. I'm back now and the blog is back up and running! Here are some highlights from the past 2 weeks of my absence:

1 - We had the IG Fundraiser/Playdate and it was a huge success!! There were about 30 dogs and we raised over $500.00 for rescue through donations and a raffle. Although it was a scorcher (over 90 degrees!), we had a great turn-out of folks and dogs from all over the state of Florida. Pictures forthcoming!
2 - We took a trip to Rhode Island to see our pals, Herman and Traci, before we head out to Japan this summer. Although it was terribly sad to say good-bye for awhile, we know that these two will be venturing out to visit us in Oki. They have both traveled extensively overseas, especially in Asia, so going across the world is no biggie for them. It was a fun trip, although it was much too short. I'll put up pics later.
3 - Good news on the job front - I'm being considered for a kindergarten position for next school year. Although it's not a elementary position, this could allow me to get my foot in the door to the DoDEA system and allow me to move up in the following years. I'll keep you posted on any updates.

Well, I think that summarizes it for now. I can't believe it's already the end of May! We are starting to really feel the crunch as we begin to seriously consider what will be staying and what will be going with us to Japan. The next few weeks will be busy as we work to go through all our belongings and decide if we can live without them for the next three years or not. Also, the countdown is on as far as my employment at the bookstore - only 2 weeks to go! Although I like the experience of working in a bookstore, I'm definitely ready to move on.

Keep an eye out for photos. I'll get them up within the next 24 hours!

Weekend Celebration

This past weekend we celebrated Mike's 30th birthday. The weekend was full of events, especially since Mike had some of his guys friends in town from all over the country. The events included paintball for the guys, a BBQ - complete with Dance Party USA - a day at the beach, and dinner out at the Landing. So, you'd think that the party would be over by now, but we've got one more dinner out engagement on Wednesday to conclude the 30th celebration. I'm sure this is one birthday he'll never forget (and thanks to Jess for capturing every moment on film, he won't!).

Happy 30th Mike!

Marley's Dad

Some people want to meet their favorite band or singer. Some people want to meet an actor or actress. Me - I want to meet my favorite author, John Grogan.

And tonight, I did. Ever since reading the book, Marley and Me, I have wanted to meet the man that put this captivating story to words. Orginally I was told that he was too popular of an author for him to come to our store. However, a large event held annually in Jacksonville, called Much Ado About Books, falls on this upcoming weekend, which allowed Mr. Grogan to participate in some local book signings. I got a personal phone call from our store community relations manager about his upcoming visit a couple of months ago since she knew I was a huge fan of his.

Well, tonight was the night in which I would finally get to personally meet Mr. Grogan face-to-face. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself; I was so nervous and excited at the same time. I'm pretty sure my co-workers have unanamously decided that I'm certifably nuts*. Thankfully, when the time came for Mr. Grogan to enter the store, I was able to keep some measure of composure and introduce myself. After signing a mound of books for eager fans like myself (see, I'm not the only one!), he graciously let me get a photo and sign some of my books.

I feel so honored to have met a person who truly touched me through his writing. I still cannot quite express how much I identified with Marley and Me. I'll continue my crusade to keep that book on the best seller list. For now, I can bask in the memory of meeting the author of such an inspiring and heartfelt story.




*There was one guy who was crazier than I - believe it! The guy stopped in Mr. Grogan in the parking lot so that his baseball hat could get signed. 

The Mommycomic

Last night, Noa and I joined some of his work colleagues for a night of drinks and laughs at the Comedy Zone in Mandarin. The featured comic for the evening was Debbie Gutierrez, also known as the "Mommycomic," since her act focuses on her life as a wife and mother. She also referred to herself as the "Naughty Mommy comic" because she says what moms would say if they could get away with it. She was pretty funny and didn't go for the cheap jokes that most comics seem to do nowadays.
Anyway, it seemed that I had a beacon over my head because within the first five minutes of her act, she zoned in on me as part of her program. Looking at me she asked, "Are you a mommy?"
I replied, "No" (it just so happened that she asked me this as I finished shoving a heaping nacho into my mouth - figures...).
She continues, "What's your name?" (also, this was in a crowd of at least 100 people or more).
Me: "Julie"
She continues to ask me my age and then repeats them each time she asks me a question or referring to me in her act. "Well Julie, [my age*], are you planning on having kids?!"
Me: "Um, yeah - someday."
Her: "NO! Wrong answer - here's why you don't want to have kids..." and the act goes on from there.
She continues to use me in this public "conversation" about kids, underwear, boobs, and birth control. This part of the act finished as she shouted for me to take a whole month's worth of birth control pills right then and there. It was pretty funny - and a little embarrassing too.
So, even though I will be a target of discussion for Noa at work today, it was a fun evening and a good show. I'm glad we went. However, next time, I'm sitting farther back.**





*Kept this off the post since this is the WWW and who knows what kind of oddballs and creeps lurk around - I gotta keep some things a secret.
**Not that I was sitting in the front row. We were actually off to the side, but somehow, she found me.