Kintai Bridge

Our new friends, the Sutphins, took us on our "Right of Passage" or Iwakuni initiation to the local Kintai Bridge. We were hoping the cherry blossoms would be more in bloom but they still have a few days left to be flowered completely, that is if a steady rain doesn't come first and wipe out all of the buds. Even without the flowering trees, it was beautiful and I'm already anxious to go back and explore some more. They have an art museum in the area as well as shrines, several water fountains, and other attractions. Because it's Cherry Blossom Festival time, there were food vendors and souvenirs out. They have a ton of ice cream places everywhere and while we didn't go to the well-known "100 Flavor" stand this time, we still got some great ice cream as part of the experience. Chris and Quinn tried the cherry blossom flavor, Ry got strawberry, and I got a swirl with cherry blossom and green tea. I want to try and go back tomorrow when we have a car to see if the trees are fully in bloom.

This is Iwakuni Castle below. They have a hiking trail and cable car that goes up there so that will be a trip for another day. 

Easter

On Saturday, the base hosted an egg-roll for the various age groups of kids. We walked and just missed Finley's age group but he didn't seem to mind. He was more than thrilled with is balloon. Each age category had one metallic golden egg that earned a prize. You better believe Chris was right there on the sidelines coaching both Rylan and Quinn where it was and to go straight to it. Rylan got confused and didn't stand a chance against the bigger girl that snatched it, but he did get the yellow one right next to it and said proudly, "I got the golden egg, Dad!" Chris lived it up, like a good dad, and made its exciting to get a tootsie roll in the "gold" egg. When it was Quinn's turn, Chris got so worked up that he pushed her forward a little too hard and actually pushed her over instead of forward. She was mad as can be and made a huge scene blaming Chris for knocking her over and making her miss her chance to get the golden egg. It was hard not to laugh at her reaction. I was able to take her aside and talk her down a bit. Whew!

I had to get a little creative this year for Easter morning. We don't have their baskets or our eggs, so I was glad they got some eggs at the hunt the day before so I could reuse them for the easter bunny's visit. I had ordered some lego sets before we moved to be shipped here and so the display wasn't as extravagant but a little creativity and our current location assisted in the explanation. I knew they would be disappointed not to see a baby powder footprint trail like last year. We spent the morning building their lego sets and then tried out the Protestant service at the chapel on base. It definitely wasn't a fit for us. Later in the afternoon we went with some new friends to visit the Kinta Bridge. I'll make a new post for that. 

The Latest Schaub Abode

Yesterday we got to move into our new home. We also received that express shipment that we sent ahead back in February. It's nice to have some of their toys, our linens and towels, and some of our own kitchenware. The house we're in now is really more temporary. Because we're in an unrenovated one, we will be moved within the year to a renovated version of our house or one of the new-builds in a different area of the base. Whichever becomes available first will be our new home. I probably made that more confusing than necessary!

Right now it's a disaster in the house as we're trying to place items and figure out the most efficient organizing method with the little stuff we do have. We currently have loaner furniture since ours won't likely arrive until April sometime. It will be so nice to have our own mattress and those rugs! I did a video walkthrough but naturally they won't load on here like I planned, so here are some pictures to give you an idea of what we're living in.

Front Door (from the inside)

View from Front Door

Dining Room 

(The sliding door leads to an outside gated patio area and on the right is the closet with the washer/dryer)

Kitchen

 Living Room/Play Area

View of Upstairs (from top of stairs) Linen closet is straight ahead and Rylan's room and our room are on the left.

Rylan's Room (they're all about this size)

 Master Bedroom (bathroom is on the right)

 Quinn and Finley's Rooms

 Kids Bathroom

Beyond the Highlight Reel

Can I be raw for a moment?

Military spouses are tough, simply put. We are as iron; forged and strengthened in fire. We endure more than we ever realized we signed up for when we said our marriage vows to the loves of our life. On top of the typical vows, there should be an additional addendum just for military spouses to vow upon...beyond the normal sickness and health or good times and bad. We are so often blinded by love and pride for our husband's role in uniform that we forget that the uniform our husband wears, is also a uniform, of sorts, that we must also put on ourselves. So many times our husbands are called away and occupied getting their jobs established during a transition, leaving us wives to put on our "big-girl panties" and take care of business for our kids and for ourselves. We are pushed to the limits and shoved outside all comfort boundaries. We are constantly seeking silver lining through loneliness and uncertainty, surviving at times as single parents during separations from our husbands. In hindsight, there is a lot of water under a lot of bridges.

I highlight the experiences we have on this blog and keep it as basic as possible but in this move, I've been stretched and grown beyond any other time in Chris's past 10 years of service. I smile, through gritted teeth and held back tears, through frustration and unknowns. Sometimes, the tears are so welled up over time that they rage over all of the barriers that I had spent a lot of time and grit building up. My heart aches as I see our kids endure the goodbyes and nerves associated with new beginnings. I am still processing myself while trying to help our kids through the drastic changes and emotions they're facing on their own. For Finley, it's easy, and for Quinn and Rylan, it's been more challenging this time around. I don't have answers for their questions and am irritated by the steady flow of them.

I force optimism for me and the kids while inside, I'm full of pessimism and anger. I'm not always pleasant with Chris and the kids during these transitions. The kids are wild and seeking boundaries in this new place while I'm still trying to establish them while getting my own footing. I understand their behavior and am still annoyed and angered by it, instead of coming to their level and trying to make it work for them from their perspective. I'm lacking balance. True character is revealed when under pressure and I don't like what I'm seeing of myself during this immense amount of stress.

I don't say all of this for pity for myself or any other military spouse. I really am excited to be here in Japan and am chomping at the bit to explore and experience all that it has to offer in this incredibly unique opportunity we have. I know that every new place brings a grip of great friends and memories through all of the growing pains. I also know that there is a sobering reality behind each excitement involved with a move. Enjoy the incredible highlights of our experiences on this blog, there will be plenty of them, but also know that I'm real, human, flawed, and not always living the dream as it may appear at times through pictures and fun stories. There are a great many attractive perks to this lifestyle, but they come at a cost. At the end of the day, we are blessed and grateful for our unique opportunities to build irreplaceable friendships, see new things and places, and challenge and fortify our marriages with the men in uniform we love; the ones we said "I do" to and secretly, in the fine print, "Oo Rah", "Semper Fidelis", and "Semper Gumby" (always flexible).

Falling Into Place

We signed a housing agreement this week to live on base. There were two very attractive new-build houses available off-base with 4 bedrooms, but after a lot of thought, consideration, and advice, we decided that on base would be the most practical option for a family of our size. We'll have an oven, storage, and a dishwasher, all of which are not typically available in off-base housing. The base is under a lot of construction constantly and there are many new-build homes in the works as well as renovations happening to the older homes in our pay category. We will moving in this week to an un-renovated 4-bedroom townhouse. The perk there is that the military will pay to move us into either a renovated townhouse or a new-build townhouse depending on which one becomes available first. So, we will be living temporarily in the older style townhouse for up to 6 months before we get moved. Chris is thrilled we won't be hanging any decor in the meantime. I will post pictures this weekend of our house after we've moved in.

Last night we started the process of buying a car. We bought a nice van (no SUVs in Japan) and are thrilled. The downside is that it's quite the process to actually get the car to drive it. In the states, you can drive a car off the lot that day, but here is takes about 4-5 business days to process paperwork and get through inspections for us. We are hoping to take possession of the vehicle by next Tuesday at the earliest. Oh how liberating it will be to have a car! First trip on my agenda is the trek to Costco in Hiroshima, haha.

Quinn started school today at the base school. She was very nervous and it was harder than I expected. She was death-gripping my arm and after a while, I had to pry her off and run out the door as she resolved to tears; such a heart-breaking moment for this mom. I know she'll be okay and make friends and transition well, which helped me feel okay walking away. I was hoping to get a picture of her, but it turned out to not be such a picturesque moment and maybe I can try again when she's less uncertain.

First Impressions

On Saturday evening, our sponsors took us to a Japanese restaurant out in town. It was a more casual restaurant that served a variety of Asian dishes with sushi making up much of the menu. Chris and I have tried a few things and while they weren't disgusting, I have yet to grasp the appeal of those who crave it. Before dinner we walked through a typical Japanese grocery store and I was much more impressed than the commissary. I am so intrigued by the town and can't wait to really get out and explore it more. Many people wear those hospital masks to prevent getting sick and spreading sickness. I felt like an abomination as all of my kids are coughing and I am still perplexed to where these masks come from. It must be as common for people to carry and have as kleenex. They have a 7-11 outside the main gate, so you know it's civilized, haha.

There are vending machines everywhere with a variety of beverage options but the most valuable to me are the canned lattes that are hot. Chris and I were thrilled to be in a country that values fresh and lean food only to be stuck eating from the fast food court on base and unable to venture off base until we have a car and Chris has his liberty card to go off base. 

Monday was a long day with a very typical military "death-by-powerpoint" presentation about all of the basic newcomer information. The last presentation was in preparation for the driving test and after a few minutes, we got to take our 100 question, multiple-choice test. Both of us passed with 100%. On Tuesday we went to the military version of the DMV and got our license cards. Our main mode of transportation has been walking and fortunately the base isn't too big. We were able to knock out school registration papers, housing, medical, mail, and licenses in one day. Finley was able to be seen at the clinic that same day and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. Now that he's on antibiotics, he's doing so much better. We're trying to stay inside the hotel as much as possible because the cold, thin air aggravates the coughing for all of the kids but as you can imagine, we're going a bit stir-crazy being cooped up in the hotel room. 

We Made It!

After having been at the Seattle airport for 8 hours, we were notified as we were nearing our boarding time that the plane was broken and our flight would be delayed 4 hours. While I'm grateful we ended up with a safely functioning plane, I had to fight back tears of frustration. We had already had a restless night with the kids crashing on metal plates and dirty terminal floors to have to endure another 4 hours in the airport. We spent just over 12 hours total there and were beyond thrilled to finally board the plane.

The flight itself was tolerable and all things considered, the kids were very well behaved. They definitely had moments, like every other kid that was on the flight. Every one of us slept on and off except Quinn. Somehow she stayed up the entire duration of flight and then was passed out cold on the descent into Yokoto AFB. It was nearly impossible to wake her up. We had to deboard so they could clean and refuel. Some passengers were ending there and the rest of us got back on the plane for another hour to Iwakuni. We were the only family ending our journey in Iwakuni and the remaining families were headed to Okinawa. All of us were out for the flight to Iwakuni and debarring was miserable. Quinn and Rylan didn't want to get up and Finley wanted to be held. All were crying loudly and whining. Chris and I had to carry all of the bags along with Chris carrying Finley out into the rain to get on a shuttle to the gate on base. The crying didn't stop until we got into the cars of our sponsors to get a ride to our hotel. I definitely don't want to be on a plane again for a long time after that experience. 

It worked out nicely that our flight plans were so delayed because we got back to the hotel after 8pm our time and put the kids right to bed after showers. They woke up about 5am so we still have a little work to do but overall, because we got here about normal bedtime, I'm hoping the time change and jet lag won't be an issue.

This morning we got out with our sponsor, Kevin, to see the base a bit and get cell phones and groceries. It's very industrial and a bit dreary so I'm hoping that when we explore off base a little bit it will be a little better. It doesn't help that it's rainy today, I suppose. I'm anxious to see the Japanese marketplaces and houses. We have our "Welcome Aboard" meeting on Monday followed by our SOFA driving test and hopefully, if we pass, we'll be able to get a car. On Tuesday we have a meeting with housing.