Wednesday, November 25, 2009

So much to be Thankful For


I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30


I am writing this on the morning of Thanksgiving Day, while the rest of you are probably eating your Thanksgiving Eve dinner (pizza, right?). In a way, this is a monumental holiday for Zac and me. It is our first major holiday as a married couple, and maybe more importantly, our first away from home and family. For me, Thanksgiving jumped from location to location around Texas every year (usually Corpus, Dallas, or Houston). So I was never accustomed to a "traditional" Thanksgiving, simply because it changed every year. But we were always around family, whether that be extended aunts and uncles (and in my family, there are plenty of those) or our immediate family or over at the Cooks' house. The most rich and blessed part of the holiday was being around those we love.

Now, halfway around the world, we are building a new family. Not only the "Jena and Zac Cook" family, but a network of dear friends that will carry us through the next three years, and no doubt beyond that. Sure, it's hard to be away from family and home town friends. But, I am so thankful for the relationships that are growing here.

This is the time of the year where we all sit down for a few minutes, let the world sit still in our lives, and think for what we are thankful. I thought about this the other day while driving (on the left side of the road, of course). Every part of our lifestyle can be attributed to living in such a wonderful country, a country rooted in the very thing we are celebrating today. Thankfully, there are thousands of men and women committed to protecting all that we have. And they have families that support them at home and at war. There are families giving much more than Zac and me. I've met so many wives who have been through multiple deployments, celebrated several holidays by themselves, moved 3 times in 3 years...and the list goes on. To me (and certainly not because I'm in a military life), the families make as big a sacrifice as their military dad(/mom).

I am also so very thankful for friends and family, old and new. The past year has been one of MUCH change for me, and I have been so blessed with such wonderful and rock-solid friends and family to support me through it. And it's only growing...two beautiful new nephews this year, many new friends, a new family-in-law...all of you have made our lives infinitely more rich. And we are so thankful for you.

To end, I'll end with something my mom always reinforced. Our happiness has been overflowing, but sometimes things are just hard. I'm thankful for those challenging times. (As my mother always said...) "it's character building." They have/still are shaping us into a resilient, strong family. And while I'm am not thankful of the situation then, I am so thankful for what it is making me.

I love you all and I hope you have a most blessed Thanksgiving, full of smiles, hugs, family, and friends. And pie. We'd love to hear from you, so Skype or call!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Casualties of War...errrr...Moving

We've had all of our "stuff" for a little over a week now, and thankfully it's slowly but surely being put in its home (i.e. AWAY!). Well, at least in the common areas. But still plenty to go.

Now, for all of you non-military-eds or those of you who have never moved, or moved overseas, I'm going to give you an exclusive, in-depth look at the innards of  a military move. Get ready for the ride of your life.

It all started on a morning in September. The moving company was supposed to arrive to pack up the rest of our belongings and send them away on a ship. We woke up early, treated ourselves to Starbucks, and waited. Turns out they forgot about us. Soooo, 3 hours later the crew arrives.

It was an all-day frenzy of packing paper and boxes. Not a thing missed. Well, actually, they did forget a few things...and now they are in Katy instead of Japan...You win some, you lose some. It was all packed and mashed into wooden crates and loaded in a truck to take it to its home for the next 2-3 months.

Next came the waiting. While we pranced around Texas, our stuff was on the arduous trip through the Panama Canal and around the world. We had a few worries...apparently in bad conditions, the sailors will toss off extra weight (i.e. our prized possessions) into the ocean so the boat won't sink. Glad it didn't come to that! The crates were no doubt tossed and turned and pushed and shoved. But they finally arrived in OKINAWA!

Fast forward to last Tuesday. Another crew unloaded and unpacked ALL of the stuff (imagine rooms with stuff all over). That's when the adventure started...seeing what survived the war...I mean move. We were pleasantly surprised. A glass here, a lap desk there...not too shabby. Then there were some surprises. Like the love seat that now has a downward slant to the left (diagnoses: lost leg/twisted frame). And like our queen-size duvet cover AND down comforter conveniently shoved into a carry-on-size suitcase. Really Darrell? (Darrell was a packer in NC...I'm not sure if his name was really Darrell, but he reminds me of Darrell from The Office.)

Now we take pictures of everything broken or damaged, make a list, and submit it to an overworked/inefficient office to be reimbursed for our expenses. Or we try to fix what we can. Zac glued together a few cracked chair frames and dresser drawers. I took the duvet to be dry cleaned...another fiasco...I think they washed instead of dry cleaned our silk duvet, and now our great BEFORE:

Photos from Pottery Barn and 1stwishes.com
Looks more like crepe paper:

So there you have it. Can't wait to do it again in another 3 years. And in all honesty, we got it great, comparatively, to other horror stories I've heard. No broken electronics, no cats packed in the dresser drawer, no old garbage packed in a box. And after all, they are all just worldly things meant to get us through the day.

Want to see some more war wounds? See below. [Sidenote: we didn't take these pictures just for the blog. We had to anyway for our claims. Just so you don't think our lives are THAT boring that we just take pictures of our broken things. We really aren't that self obsessed. Promise.]



Chair Fracture


No use crying over broken glass


Our couch just wanted to LEAN BACK like his bro from the hood, Darrell.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Happy 234th Birthday, Marine Corps!

This weekend, we attended our second Marine Corps Ball. Every year, the Marine Corps celebrates its birthday, and we get to celebrate too! It was a good time for all, and Zac did a GREAT job :) (see previous post). I have attached a few photos, and I will try to upload some video of the event, if I can get it to work!

Us in our ball get-up

The traditional Marine Corps Birthday cake






Part of the ceremony (you can see the band playing and Zac at the podium!)



Until next year, the ball gowns and dress blues have been put to rest. It is a special time of year to celebrate what the Marines have been and still are for our country. What an incredible history. Like the National Anthem and "The Spirit of Aggieland," the Marine Hymn gives me chills everytime (yes, it's a hymn, not a song...the only branch of the military with an official hymn...a little trivia for ya).


We've been getting the house together ALOT this weekend. We've done a ton, but there's still a ways to go! I can't say how excited we are to be connected to the world again! So Skype or Vonage us away! (But please kindly remember our 15 hour time difference :) ) I think now that we feel more settled, we are more comfortable and excited to see all that is around us.

AND, to close, some exciting news...we have reserved tickets to go to Hong Kong after Christmas! We'd love some travel tips if you've been there!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Big Week

I don't have much to update on...we had a pretty uneventful weekend...stuck on base. We did have some fun times chatting with new friends, eating, and bowling.

But this week, it's all going to change. We have the big furniture move-in on Tuesday. We have the big internet hookup on Thursday. AND we have the big ball narration on Thursday night. Ohhh, it's a big week.

As much as I know that we should not be tied to earthly things, it will be so nice to have our stuff back. We lived out of suitcases for close to 2 months and with the minimal for another 3 weeks. We are just so ready to watch TV on a couch instead of a folding chair or air mattress (our previous living room furniture). It will be heavenly to eat my delicious home cooked meals at a table...sitting down. And to finally be warm at night under a comforter! Ohhh, what a big week.

Zac has a busy week of rehearsals for the ball! I can't even wait to see it! (Oh, wait, I already did...a couple of weeks ago...at the OTHER ball). But I'm sure that Zac will give a convincing performance. And shortly thereafter will probably be hired to be the background voice of Japanese movie previews.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a week and a half away! We have some plans set, and I'm excited to see our first Thanksgiving abroad...and as a cook/Cook. The holidays are just going to fly by!

I've posted a few pictures on Facebook, so you can check out our new digs!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Life in Oki

I apologize for the lack of updates in the past couple of weeks. There have been a couple of posts that I thought had posted, but the good ole internet must've tuckered out before they did.  So, a little update on our life in Oki (that's Okinawa, not Oklahoma ;)):

Zac had a "96" this past weekend (which means 4-day weekend in military speak). Friday, we ran a lot of errands and did too much shopping. Zac had long awaited the "Veterans Day Sale" at Tsunami Scuba so he/we could stock up on some snorkel gear. And stock up we did. We each got some masks, snorkels, flippers, and slippers (high-top water socks), and Zac got a fish spear to realize his long time "hunting/gathering" instinct. He says he's going to come home with some fresh fish someday. We'll see...but he's been practicing with the spear all around the house since then.

Friday night we had the first of two Marine Corps Balls. The Marines celebrate their birthday with the annual Birthday ball. It was my first ball experience, and we had a great time. I got to meet a lot of Zac's coworkers and even some of our neighbors. (Fortunately, I had the foresight to back my dress in the express shipment.) We have another ball in a couple of weeks, and Zac "gets" to be the narrator! Ha! Maybe I'll take some video...

We stopped by the beach on Saturday, and spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and painting trim. It was nice to have a long weekend and some companionship during the days!

Good news: our household good shipment has arrived in Japan! Zac gave the moving company a call yesterday (paraphrased by me):
Zac: So, do you know when our stuff will be here?
Okinawan moving company lady: Eet shood bee hee....uhh TOODAI! Eet arrives TOODAI!
Zac: Oh, so it's here?!
OMCL: Hai! Hai! ("yes" in Japanese...they say it all the time, can also be substituted with OK, umm, etc.)
Zac: So, when can we have it?
OMCL: Hai, eet must go thruuu cusTOMS, sooo wee can deliver next week?
Zac: (in his head) Yahoo!

We will be so thrilled to have a kitchen table, some couches, and a normal life! Our trusty air mattress has served as couch/table/chaise lounge for the past few weeks, and we're ready for an upgrade!

And, Zac wanted to share some random "Life in Okinawa" tidbits.

 - Construction workers wear Crocs. The parking spaces outside our apartment building are being re-striped (sorry Mark M., they beat you to it), and Zac noticed that their footwear preference is Crocs. Such a versatile shoe.
 - Construction crews "work out" together. Zac noticed a construction crew near his work doing some morning exercises together. Think arm circles and some low-impact/non-jumping jumping jacks. Way to stay fit, Okinawa!

Happy Birthday, Marines (Nov. 10), and Happy Veterans Day (Nov. 11)!!