Crazy Busy

Yes, I know it's been forever since I posted anything on my blog. I haven't forgotten about it. We're just busy. We've had a lot going on since then end of August. All at the same time we moved into the house, I started school at the Education center on post, and Marin started school at the Japanese school (which took a lot to prepare for and get used to). Also, Marin has taken swimming lessons, violin lessons, plays on a soccer team, and is in Girl Scouts. Jeff, has played softball and flag football, and I have been busy with school and several church callings and Relief Society activities. We really jumped in with both feet, and then found ourselves busier than we realized we would be! Jeff doesn't mind being busy, busy, busy, going from one activity to another with no down time, but that doesn't work for me. I need flex time and breathing room.
Here are some pictures from recently, in no particular order.
violin!girlscouts!soccer!thenmyJapaneseclass!andHalloweenparty
toputonatthechurch! Yeah, pretty much just like that, all in a couple hours time. Phew!
Marin playing soccer. She's in blue, with her hair braided. Can you find her?

Marin in her summer uniform, going to catch the little yellow school bus. The car is our Honda CRV.

This is the picture I took at Marin's school of the things I had to go find at a Japanese supermarket. A picture says a thousand words--in any language!!

Marin with Girl Scout friends.

There is Marin hanging on to the fence, watching Dad, #77.

These are all Marin's school supplies that I had to label with her name on every individual piece.

Marin loves swimming! Here she is floating with the help of her teacher, Mei.

Music Playlist Removed

I have just removed my music gadget from Playlist.com due to sicking ads found on their site. I will no longer promote their site on my blog. I apologize to anyone who may have gone to Playlist.com from my blog and found inappropriate material. I encourage anyone else who has an account with them to submit a complaint, as I have, about the inappropriate content of their ads. I know this stuff is common all over the internet, but that doesn't make it okay to be complacent and just live with it!!

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke

Stand firm for truth and righteousness!

Into a house now

We finally moved into a house yesterday. It's really...something. This house is so old that it's a bigger adjustment moving into this house than it was to move to Japan. It was built in 1952. It has all wood floors, solid wood doors, really old elecrical boxes and external wiring on the walls, and there is a glossy shine from ceiling to floor. The walls and door frames have been painted so many times in nearly 60 years that they are rounded and gloppy. On our wood floors you can see marks and repairs where the radiators were. Marin has described this place as "creepy" and "spooky". I'm not sure yet how to make it feel like home, but we'll get there. Right now I'm just glad to have a whole kitchen again, and the smaller of two shipments of our stuff. The rest will come later next month. We can't wait.

Check back soon. I'll add more to this post later. I just wanted to get at least this much up for now. We're really busy right now.

'Lil TAC Officer

We have carefully considered all schools to send Marin to, and have placed her in a very strict military school. She has done so well that they have already promoted her to head *TAC Officer of her class, and possibly soon, the head of the whole school. Here is evidence of her hard nosed, strict leadership skills that will take her far in her military career.
*TAC Officer; a drill sergeant for aspiring Officers

Joy, in the Truest Sense of the Word

Tokyo, Japan Temple
On Friday night Jeff and I had the opportunity to go to the LDS Temple in Tokyo. It was wonderful to be there to feel the power of the Spirit and peaceful solitude, like a comforter. There is no equal in all the world to the Temple of the Lord. It truly is His house. It is very much set apart from the cares world. In no other place do I feel so close to my Father in Heaven. What a blessing and a privilege.

Salt Lake Temple, Utah

A Great Week

We're having too much fun here. Between the three of us we have seen and done a lot! Last Saturday, I took a "train class", a guided excursion to Yebisu Garden Place in Tokyo. It took an hour and a half to get there by train. We were given 3 1/2 hours to explore the area, shop, and eat. I went to lunch with 4 young Japanese tour guides who speak little English. That was really cool. We ate at an old western style restaurant, and I ate a really good burger. A bit ironic, I know. Then we walked over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. It was impressive, yet humbling. It featured images taken all over the world over the past year by expert photojournalists. Many images were gruesome, showing the violence that has occurred in far away places like Georgia (the country), devastating natural disasters, and even effects of the economic crisis. I don't even know how express how it touched me, but it left me with a solemn feeling, for sure. It definitely made me all the more grateful to be a citizen of a very civilized and relatively safe country. (Japan is safer than the US.)
Also on Saturday we moved into a suite. We had been in a small, one room hotel room with a tiny fridge and a microwave. Now we have two separate bedrooms and a living area with a kitchenette, a table with chairs, a TV and a love seat. It's a relief to have more space, and separate rooms, not to mention something of a kitchen.We found our way to church on our own on Sunday. Good job Jeff!! It's 30 minutes away, through the tight, maze-like streets of the city. Jeff has an amazing sense of direction. Church is interesting. It's in a very nice new building that is completely different from anything you'd find anywhere else. It's on 3 levels. The bottom level is brick floor parking and a small lobby with an elevator and a stairway. On the next level is a small chapel, with only cushioned folding chairs, and the top level has the classrooms and Branch President's offices. The Branch is tiny, especially since it's summer. It's a Military Branch taking in members from several military bases. There are usually about 35 people in Sacrament meeting, about 15 in the one adult Sunday School class, 8 to 10 in Relief Society, and the same numbers in Primary. We're still trying to figure out the personality of the Branch. It's different. Jeff has very good experiences in Priesthood, better than he's found in past wards. The Relief Society also has a very different feel from what I have experienced anywhere else. I'm not sure what to say about it except that I hoping to help strengthen the RS and do what I can to bring the sisters together and lift their spirits. Several of the sisters' husbands are deployed, which explains a lot. I know all too well what that's like. I'm really looking forward to getting involved. The Branch just received our records and we are ready and waiting for callings.This week, Jeff and I did Japanese Headstart. It's a full time, week long introduction to Japan, its history, culture and language, in a classroom setting, plus a day trip to Odawara Castle---an hour and a half away by train, right by the ocean. The class was taught by two really funny Japanese men. They were practically comedians! It was a whole lot of fun!! We got certificates of completion with our names in Japanese yesterday.Sensei Onozaki, our instructor and a samurai master

The same day that we went to Odawara Castle, Marin went on a full day field trip with the CDC* to Ebina Fantasy Land! She had a lot of fun, though she doesn't know how to explain what she saw and did there. The preschool does a full day field trip to really cool places every Thursday. Last week they went to the Enoshim Aquarium, also an hour and a half away. The Aquarium featured a dolphin show where the dolphins performed. Marin was bouncing off the walls when we picked her up that day!

We've seen and done a whole lot in the short time that we have been here. We couldn't have gotten here only 3 1/2 weeks ago, could we!? It feels like longer because we've packed so much in. It feels like we're on a cruise---living in a hotel, eating out all the time, Jeff being with us all the time, and frequently traveling and going on excursions to great and exciting places in a beautiful foreign country. Three years here wont be long enough.

Things will change a bit after Jeff starts work on Monday, but not much. His schedule will actually be light, for a total and complete change from the past several years! We will still go on lots of excursions with ACS** and Outdoor Rec. Jeff will take some kind of a samurai lessons from one of our Japanese Headstart instructors. I will start taking a Japanese class in a few weeks through the University of Maryland, and Marin will start school in September. We also have Marin signed up for violin and swimming lessons in August, and soccer this Fall. Could life get any better than this?!

*Child Development Center
**Army Community Service

Dreaming of Bumper Cars

Well, we have a car now, and it's nice to have wheels again, especially since it's been so rainy here lately. I'm ready to be done getting drenched whenever we have to go somewhere. So, now we're getting used to driving in Japan. It's a whole different experience driving around here and we're still nervous about it. First, we drive on the left side of the road, from the right side of the car. The gear shift and wipers are on the left and the turn signal is on the right. It's all backwards! Then, the roads are so narrow (off post) that you have to squeeze your way around, and in many places it's too narrow for two cars to pass each other going opposite directions, so you have to wait for cars to come through from the other direction before you can go through the narrow part. Plus you have to watch for pedestrians, bikes, and mopeds using the same small space! And you also have to watch for telephone poles planted out in the road too! Yeah, it's crazy. I think it would be a great idea if they just drove bumper cars instead. They're the right size for the roads, and driving would be a lot more fun and less stress!