Crazy... but that's how it goes!

Life is starting to get a little crazy around here! It seems like yesterday we found out we were going to Japan and made future plans to go see West Side Story in late April with some great friends, as "one last fun thing to do" before we left. Then in a blink of an eye, it was late April! We went to see West Side Story last Thursday and it was awesome!!
     It was Thursday, when I realized that it's almost May and we are leaving in late June. Slight panic has set in! I feel like there's so much left to do and so little time to do it! My last day of work is the 15th of May and it's hitting me pretty hard. I love my job and I adore the children I see walk through the doors of my preschool wing each Sunday. Each and every one of them has brought immesureable joy to my life. Seeing their sweet faces as they walk in the door smiling and hearing,"HI MS. ABBEY!" is one of the sweetest sounds my ears hear each week.  Not to mention the amazing women I share an office space and friendships with and how wonderful they are! I'm going to miss them!!
    Josh and I sat down to make a schedule of everything we having going on over the next few months and our schedule is CRAZY!! Between three different pack out dates, one of which is actually a three day process, our trip to Tennessee to visit family, the girls last day of school, Josh's last day of teaching at the Naval Academy, planning Elliot's early birthday party, a wedding in New York, our 10th anniversary, Josh's birthday, Brownies, Daisies and swim team, these last two months are going to fly by faster than the previous two.  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to get to Japan, but I'm also sad to leave our wonderful friends who have become like family, church that feels like home and a life that I love. I know we will find new friends who will become like family, a new church that feels like home and a new life with lots of new adventures, but it's always a little tough to leave it all behind.

Acronyms, Acronyms and MORE Acronyms

For those of you who are military, you know exactly what I am talking about just by reading the title of this weeks post.  It seems as though everything is an acronym in the military.. DLA, PCS, TLE, PSD, BAH, COLA, DEA, HHG, DEERS and Pg. 2 are a few of the beautiful acronyms we have all learned to decipher into normal people language. It's funny that 10 years ago, when we started on this journey called military life, I hadn't the slightest clue what any of these meant, never mind what each of them entitled us to. Now, I can spout off acronyms with the best of them!
   I've spent a lot of time thinking about these acronyms lately. How much is our DLA moving overseas? Do we ask for advanced TLE, or wait and get it on the other side? What's our BAH going to be in our new location? I never knew that COLA fluctuated every month or what a pain in the butt it was going to be to talk to a person at PSD and get a straight answer on what we needed to have in hand to get our DEA. We've been asked at least 10 times if all of his dependents are in DEERS and on his Pg.2 and in order to PCS, we have to contact PSD and set up our HHG's!!  It's enough to make your head spin and these are just the acronyms you use when you are getting ready to PCS!

It's Offically, Official!!

We've been waiting for our orders to arrive and for those of you that know me, you know I'm not the most patient person.  Today, Josh finally got the long awaited e mail... We're officially going to Japan!! With orders finally in hand, we can schedule our pack out dates, arrange for flights and finally get things really rolling.. While I waited for these ever so important orders I learned a few things about where we'll be going..

1. It is exactly 10,264 miles from Annapolis, MD to Sasebo, Japan.
2. If you google map directions, you'll be instructed to kayak from Washington State to Hawaii, which is bound to take you a few days, as it's 2,765 miles from point A to point B.
3.After that long trek and hopefully a nice restful vacation in Hawaii, (you'll need it) you must get back into your kayak and continue on through the pacific ocean another 3,879 miles and enter Japan. Be careful of those pirates, I hear they can be pretty nasty!!!
4. Once you enter Japan, you'll need to understand this ..

This means Slow down... humm... I'm gonna need a full time translator!!

I don't like fish...

   I've never been a fan of fish.. Truthfully, I've always been a super picky eater and would have NEVER even given a second thought to eating anything with fish in it. Especially raw fish! That is until February, when Josh came home and asked what I thought of moving to Japan. My first reaction was,"No way!" We had finally settled down here in Annapolis, I had a job I loved, and I finally felt like this was "home". Why in the world would I willingly leave? Then, as the evening went on, my mind began to change. I began thinking about what an amazing opportunity this would be for our family. When else would be ever be able to live in another country and experience the amazing things that Japan had to offer? By the next morning, I was convinced that moving to Japan was what we were supposed to do. So I told Josh, "Let's do it!"  After a few more days of deliberation, he decided we should go for it too. We were moving to Japan!
      Josh called his detailer and let him know that we were willing to take the billet. That evening we decided to celebrate by going out to a Sushi bar. I know, I don't like fish, why would we go to a sushi bar? Don't worry, I ordered teriyaki chicken with vegetables, all which are cooked and not fish. Josh ordered sushi rolls and sushimi, which are just nice lumps of raw fish on white rice... Ewww.... The girls got Japanese sodas and Yakisoba. When our food arrived, Josh dug in to his sushi and I sat there staring at the slabs of raw fish on rice. Is this what I was subjecting myself too? Three years of eating raw fish on rice? Maybe I should have reconsidered my decision? Nope.. I decided right then and there that I was going to learn to like Sushi!!