Kadena Research!

Since we got our assignment to Okinawa, Japan (Kadena AFB) I haven't been able to stop researching! I have so many questions! If you want to know more about it too, then read on! This is a summery so far with what I know and where I found the info - mostly personal notes but some good info.

• http://www.kadena.af.mil/newcomersinformation/index.asp - This is the Kadena AFB website that has lots of info on what to expect when moving there. 
• https://www.usps.com/ship/apo-fpo-guidelines.htm - When we get there we will get a mail box like a PO Box but for the military. This link will explain how to mail us! 
• http://okinawahai.com/ - This has been the best site so far giving real experience of military personnel moving to Okinawa! I could read this day and night! 
• http://www.toriimwr.com/ - This is where I plan on living everyday when we move! 

So far, we have learned that we cannot bring our car or washer/dryer and will have to figure out what we want to do with them. All accompanied personnel has to live on base unless there is no room, then housing helps find you a place in another military housing unit or off-base. We learned that Logan will have a 3 week training in Florida before going to Japan - still don't know if I can come or when. I know that I will have phone and internet capabilities. I learned that there is a military beach called Torii Beach and it is fantastic! There are three LDS military branches. 

Other things I'm still figuring out are: what company to use for cell phone service (SoftBank, AU, Docomo) and how much it is going to cost to call the States; what kind of cars are available and what kind do we want to buy while we are there; We have never done a military move. What do I need to get ready, what should we move (or what can we move) and how long it will take to get our stuff. 

I'm sure there are more questions that I don't even know I need to ask yet but I feel good knowing that we still have time to figure them out. 

Houston Trip

After finding out where we are moving on Wednesday (chant* Kadena! Kadena!), we got to finish off the week by going to Houston for the long Memorial Day weekend. We stopped at Chipotle's in Austin on our way through and then went to the temple on our first day in Houston. 

It was a beautiful day and we took some pictures while we waited for the next session to start.

The Houston Temple is set up just like the Albuquerque temple inside. It was wonderful starting our trip off with it. It had been a while and I think Logan and me both thought this was one of our favorite parts of our trip!

After the temple we checked into our hotel and grabbed some dinner before going to see Iron Man 3 in 3D. Don't we look cool!

I took this picture the next morning while Logan was eating breakfast and waiting for me to get ready.

Saturday we saw Star Trec and shopped at the outlet mall! Logan was really great the whole time we were shopping! I know it is not his favorite thing but he followed me around the whole time and was nice enough to let me buy some new clothes! (I will miss my Banana Republic when we are in Okinawa).

For dinner we ate at Rudy's because it is supposed to be real Texas bbq. It was good. My favorite part is that we took the peach cobbler we got for dessert and drove down to Galveston and ate them as we walked on the beach. From where we were, you could see Pleasure Pier and all its rides lit up.

Sunday was beach day! I hate to spend too much money when we are on vacation so we decided that after going to church we would play on the beach for free. I sprayed us both down with spf 100 and we drove out to Galveston. I new it would be busy because it was a holiday weekend but it was crazy getting there. Unfortunately, we spent most of the trip sitting in the car but once we got there it was a lot of fun!

We found a less crowded beach further down the cost and had a lot of fun playing in the waves and eating the picnic we brought. The water was really warm even if it was not very clear (It made me excited for when we can go to the beach any time when we are in Okinawa!). 

We had to drive back on Monday but before we left, we hit up a place called Niko Niko's. It is a Greek restaurant in the middle of down town Houston. We heard that they had Donor Kabobs (like Europe) and we weren't disappointed! They were pretty much the same and tasted so good! It was the favorite thing I ate on the whole trip!

After lunch, we went to Ikea and got a guest bed for all the company we are going to get while living in Japan and had a safe and uneventful drive home.

Logan's Job Drop

It was a long wait to get to Logan's Job Drop night but we made it! Logan has been working so hard in the program and it has really shown. I don't mean to brag or anything (actually I do) but right now he is second in his class and that is really good considering the people in his class and is probably the only reason we got our number one choice!  

The way a Job drop goes, is that they make all of the classes wait in a different room and then call one in at a time to tell them what they got. They have the civilians and Guard decide how and present them (they already know where they will go after this unlike us). The worst part was that we were the last class and had to wait over an hour (you can see how this was making Logan feel above). Finally, it was our turn.

The way our class found out was that they put together a slide show with funny facts about where they were going and then let them guess. Here is a video of Logan's. I love his fist pump at the end every time! (It's not Hawaii).

It is hard to see his slides on the video so here is what we saw. I giggle every time I see Logan's face in a kimono.  

We are so happy and excited to move to Okinawa Japan! It is like a dream come true for me and I am so glad that Logan will be doing a job that he wants to do and I'm sure he will enjoy! We have learned that there is a lot to learn about moving overseas (more on that coming in another post soon) but we are up to the challenge!

I love this boy! 

Here is a pic of Logan's Class:

Class 130226B

Food and Photos

One of the things I love to do the most is cook! I also love to try new things! Here are some of my recent favorites! 

Shrimp tacos- I've had them before but recently have perfected my recipe! I could eat these every single week! 

I found my new favorite cookie recipe! It's secret ingredient is a package of dry pudding! They are even better when you turn them into ice cream sandwiches with birthday cake ice cream! 

These are Japanese Onigiri (rice balls). One is fired and crispy on the outside and the others are filled with suchi ingredients. Next time, I think I will combine the two and put the filling in the fried Yaki Onigiri.  

Here is a honey oat loaf. It made really good turkey sandwiches! 

Recently my mother has been working on some family history. To help her preserve some of the images, I have been digitally restoring them. Here are some examples:

This is my great grandma Mable Victoria Lewis when she was three (taken in 1902). 

This is my Grandpa Cluff's (the blond in the middle back) basketball team in 1946.

It has been a lot of fun getting the chance to hear about my ancestors and seeing their faces. When I was working on the image of my grandma, I could feel the spirit and knew that she was happy that someone cared to learn about her and to take away all the scratches off her face so that later generations could know her. It has been a great blessing to me.

In my free time during the afternoon, I love to read. Just last week I was outside reading under the shade of a tree and I heard this squirrel running up and down the branches. It took me a while to notice why he was acting so weird when I saw the owl sitting up a few branches! 

I walked up to the tree and the owl just sat there and looked at me. As you can tell from all the down feathers he is not very old. After doing some research on the internet (thank you, Google), I discovered that he is a young Great Horned Owl. 

It is hard to tell from the pictures but he is over a foot tall and his fingers are at least as wide as mine with talons more than a inch long (and he is just a baby!). Later that night, I saw him silently fly over to another tree and his wingspan must have been over a yard. He is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen in the wild. 

I was lucky to see him for three days in a row and I often can hear him at night. I also thought that it was pretty cool that I was reading Harry Potter when we first met. 

Three Years!!!

I can't believe that Logan and me have been married for three years! It definitely has been the best and happiest years of my life! As we have talked about it and reflected on them, we can't remember what life was like before we were together because we are so happy now. It just seems so natural. 

I loved the last General Conference when Elder Clayton said "Marriage is a gift from God to us. The quality of our marriage is a gift from us to Him." I couldn't agree more and feel that the relationship that I have with my husband is one of the things that I cherish most in this world. 

Just the other week at church, Logan was teasing me so I was holding his tie and laughing and one of the brothers walked by and was like "how long have you been married?". Silly example but I think it helps show that we are still just as much in love as the day we walked out of the temple. 

Life with Logan is better then I ever thought marriage could be. When we leave this life there is only a few things that we get to take with us and I am so grateful that I get to always be sealed and married to my best friend! 

I mustache you a question...

So for March Logan grew out his mustache. He almost won two of the categories on base too but it is okay that he didn't...the prizes were some kind of alcohol. The best part I think about him having a mustache was when he shaved it off!! 

Logan really didn't look that bad with it and it was pretty funny that it was way more red then his regular hair but we were both happy to see it go. He says it will never happen again but I'm proud of him for trying it out once.

For General Conference this weekend, I finally made the Japanese Cheesecake that I meant to do for Easter. I found out it was harder to make then I thought! What made it difficult was that you make the batter in three separate bowls and then combine them. I ended up using almost every utensil and bowl in the kitchen but four hours later (and sitting in the fridge all night) it was finally ready to eat!

Just out of the oven! 

For the topping I made a Mango Miroir Glaze (mostly just pureed mango) and made a fancy little decoration with some leftover mango. 

All the work was worth it in the end! It was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had because it is much lighter and less sweet then regular cheesecake. Even Logan who doesn't love cheesecake that much to begin with said it was one of the best he has ever had and liked it a lot! I LOVE all cheesecake and agreed with him - honestly I could eat this all day! 

Logan watching General Conference and eating his dessert! Look, no mustache! 

After the afternoon session of General Conference on Saturday, Logan and me went on a little date! We got burritos at Free Bird World Burritos and then went to the River Walk to eat them. Look how big Logan's burrito is! He was so happy! 

This was our first trip to the River Walk here in San Angelo and it was really beautiful. Very different from the one in San Antonio but still nice. We found a nice bench and watched the ducks and turtles. 

Then Logan had to go home to change for Priesthood session. Before he left though, he let me take a few pictures. 

He is so handsome! 

I love General Conference weekend and am so happy that we still have another day to get to listen to our modern day prophets speak to us. 

Spring!

Spring has come and we have had the best weather here in Texas! The grass is turning green and there are wild flowers and butterflies. All the trees and bushes around our apartment complex have been leafing out and blooming too! Doesn't it just look beautiful?!

WRONG! This bush is evil because whatever it is has made me a sneeze, snot ball for the last few days! I really do love how beautiful everything looks but my allergies have been killing me! Can't have the good without the bad, I guess. 

One of the nice things that Logan and me get to do together now that he is on the evening shift is workout together. 

Here we are in the little gym at out apartment complex. I took this picture because I never really sweat but you can see a little spot on my shirt! That's how you know I was working out really hard that day! See Logan in the background. His shirt started out a lighter green.... haha! (I'm not kidding!) He was working out hard too!

Happy Easter!

This is the first official Easter that Logan and me have had on our own! Before, we were with family at home or celebrated with Relatives in Utah (Last year I was in Kansas City and Logan was at IFS). So this year was the first time I got to make all the food by myself. 

We were invited to an Easter potluck with Logan's class on Sunday afternoon so I made rolls to take to that. I made two pans of them and I think they turned out really well! People were really impressed that they were homemade. 

One of the two sheets of rolls, ready to go in the oven!

For our Easter dinner, Logan helped me make the twice baked potatoes while I put together the other things. I saved out some of the homemade rolls to go with everything else and it turned out to be a great dinner!  

All of Easter dinner! 

I was going to make a Japanese Cheesecake with a mango mirior glaze for dessert but we ended up being at the class potluck longer then expected (they are a fun group of kids). That's okay, it will be a great dessert to make next week during General Conference (Note to self: read your recipes before hand so you give yourself long enough for them to cook and cool off - Japanese Cheesecake takes nearly two hours to cook alone and then has to cool down and be chilled all the way. Good to remember). We ate the little bit of Easter candy that I bought instead and it all turned out just fine!

The Sonora Caverns and Logan's Birthday

For Logan's birthday this year, I decided to take him to see the Sonora Caverns. They are about an hour and a half hour drive from here and were so worth it! It is said to be one of the most decorated caves and there really were just the most amazing sights everywhere you looked. I wish I had a better camera because everything turned out looking the same color. It was so much more impressive in person. 

PS. March is also known as Mustache March in the Air Force and that is why Logan has one in all these pictures. He has promised that as soon as April comes it is gone! The amazing thing is that this is only 9 days of growing one and he by far has the best one of all the other boys in his class. So, even though we are both not a fan, it is a good bonding experience with the other guys in his class and that's a good thing. Go Logan! 

Waiting to go on the tour! 

The pic on the Left is what geodes look like when they form and the left pic is an example of what they call cave popcorn. 

The ones on the left are called clubs. 

This was called the Christmas Room. It was beautiful! I think that this was both Logan and my favorite. 

On the right the thing hanging from the ceiling are called straws because they are long a hallow. The longest one is 8 feet! 

There was not a lot of water in the cave but I thought that this was just beautiful!

Examples of what they call fish tales.

Some really big formations and some people in our tour.

More cool formations. 

I was pretty impressed with how beautiful the world is that Heavenly Father made for us. And just like us, it is beautiful inside and out :)

For Logan's birthday I made him ribs and mashed potatoes for dinner. I also made him a special cake this year. Usually, we do a strawberry ice cream cake for him but I decided to surprise him with something a little different this year.

 I made him a Snickers Ice cream cake with a peanut butter brownie crust! Let me just assure you, it was really, really yummy! Logan liked it a lot too! 

For his presents Logan got some new running shoes (that he loves), some camping stuff, a book and a big bag of peanut M&Ms but I think my favorite thing that I got him was his belt buckle! Now that we are Texans I thought it was appropriate. And doesn't he look good in it! I love that whenever he is not in his uniform, he wears it now.