Sweet Home Cincinnati

I have some big news to share with you all, we're going to be moving...again.  No, it was not a part of the original plan but as we've come to learn, it's not always about what we plan but where God wants us to be.  After moving to SD, we discovered that Jason wouldn't be able to complete nursing school on our original timeline.  There was some misunderstanding on when and how Jason could apply to the program at USD that he wanted to get into and it was going to delay him an entire year.  That wasn't something we were thrilled with so we decided to explore other options.  Unfortunately there weren't any other options in San Diego, at least not any we were willing to consider (He was looking for a 2 year post baccalaureate masters of nursing program.  There were plenty of 2 year bachelors programs but that wasn't what he wanted.).  One of those other options was Xavier University in Cincinnati, where we're both from.  Last week I came home from work to find Jason had bought me blue & white flowers and prepared an entire blue & white dinner, including white fish, blue mashed potatoes, and white corn.  Since it was the night of the UK vs. UConn NCAA champion ship game, I had assumed it was a "UK" meal.  Jason informed me that it was not a UK meal but and XU meal, it was his super sweet way of letting me know he'd been accepted to XU's MIDAS program.

While Jason is thrilled to be a Musketeer (he's always been a big Xavier basketball fan), and I am ecstatic to be living near my family again, the next several months are going to be complete chaos.  Moving without the support of the military is not going to be fun.  Jason has to finish up his prerequisites here and we're going to finish out our lease and then we'll have just a few weeks to get ourselves, and all of our belongings, across the country.  For now we're going to try to soak in as much sunny California as we can.

My husband turned 30!

First of all, I'm like 5 days late with this but between the move and my husband's birthday, I lost track of time.  I used random.org to select a winner for "The Pact" giveaway 

and that person was Kelly of Modern Camelot.  Congrats Kelly!

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This weekend my husband celebrated his dirty 30!  He's not one to want a big celebration but he'll never say no to karaoke so that's what I planned.  We spent the afternoon lounging at the pool with some friends then headed out for dinner and karaoke that evening.

We bought a waterproof camera for our vacation to Okinawa and decided to put it to good use at the pool.

After some fun in the sun we were off to an izakaya for dinner and some karaoke!

 I...I...I...I work out!

The girls doing our best Guns N Roses impression

I love these girls!  I'm so glad we had one last fun night out.

We earned hearts from the karaoke machine for our rendition of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".

We have some great friends here!

The whole gang!

As we were leaving we ran into a large group of Japanese people who were all wearing Obama t-shirts so we stopped to get a photo with them.

Unfortunately we had to say a few farewells at the end of the night.

The 6 of us spent a lot of time together over the past year and the memories we've made will stay with us a lifetime!

We finished off the night with a stop at a darts bar.  I'll give you one guess who won!

great experience

The Army runs a pretty neat program here at Camp Zama where every quarter 10 or so Japanese soldiers are selected to come live at Camp Zama for 2-3 months.  I don't know the specific requirements but from what I hear it is pretty selective and the Japanese soldier has to speak some level of English.  Each Japanese co-op is matched with an American Soldier whom they shadow while they are here.  They also attend training and meetings here.  The co-ops {Japanese soldier} and their sponsors {American soldier} attend social events and are encouraged to socialize outside of official functions.

Last month, Jason was approached and asked if he would like to sponsor a co-op this quarter.  Even though he is incredibly busy as the company commander, the specific co-op they wanted to match him with was an Engineer officer and since there are so few of those here at Zama, Jason agreed.  At first I thought he was crazy to say yes {our time together is limited as is} but knowing my husband, I can't say I was surprised.  Now that we're 3 weeks into the program, I am so glad that Jason agreed to do this.  Jason's co-op, Hama, is great.  Jason was blessed with a great co-op!

One day last week, while my mom was here, Jason called me around 1730 and told me that he had invited his co-op and 2 of the other co-ops {Taku & Nita} to dinner.  At our house.  In an hour.  With my mom's help, we were able to have the house clean and a tradition American BBQ on the table in time.  Since then we've had dinner with Hama once more and I've taken the 3 of them to the commissary which was a ton of fun.  It was so interesting to see someone experience an American grocery store for the 1st time.  For the most part our grocery stores are very similar but there are some differences.  Like the bulk isle in an American grocery store.  1 gallon jugs of barbecue sauce don't exist in Japan {that I know of}.  They also don't sell cans of Coke by the case like we do.  The only way I've ever seen Coke for sale in a Japanese grocery store is by the liter.

Tonight, Hama {and the guys} came over to our house and cooked a traditional Japanese meal using ingredients that are famous in his hometown

the meal was absolutely delicious!

 I am so grateful to Hama for cooking for us and sharing this dish with us.  

Jason adding another thing to his schedule is so worth it to get to know these guys 

{Taku, Hama, Nika, Jason}

I'm really bummed that I will be spending 5 of the weeks that they are here in the US.  I have loved the time we have spent with these guys and I wish I could be here for more time with them.  My life is better because of this experience!

If any of you who are reading this ever find yourself at Camp Zama and are ever offered the opportunity to participate in this program, I say go for it! {or any other international base that may have a similar program} Yes it is more work for the soldier but everyone involved benefits tremendously {IMO}.