Today is the first day of December, already...

Time sure flies when you aren't in the states, that is for sure.  It's December here already, and I am hoping for a peaceful month.  While things are still sitting uneasy here on the peninsula, everyone seems to be moving on with their everyday lives.  I have a routine throughout most days, and today was one of them.  I dropped the kids off at school, and returned home for my morning coffee.  Then, I began the errands.  I had to drop things off at the post office so they get to people on time.  Checked out the PX, (this is my daily thing I do;  checking for new things that weren't there prior), went out the main gate to walk around the ville--found some lil goodies for stockings, and got to witness two Korean cab drivers nearly beat one another.  By this time, I was done and made my way back onto post.  Everyday now when you come onto base, there is a sign up that states that the USFK is under General Order 1, which means there is absolutely no alcohol intake on base, or off for military members.  Actually, I heard today that it is for all of South Korea bases.  Well, Tim and I were suppose to go to the St. Barbara's Day Ball this Thursday, but now it's officially cancelled till January 28th.  This is a good and bad thing.  The bad thing is, I was looking forward to getting prettied up and feeling like a princess for the night.  The good thing is, that gives us plenty of time to get our butts back into shape, and work off all the holiday calories that definitely were engulfed this past Thanksgiving, (Thanks Christina!).  Before I knew it, it was that time.  Time to get the kids from school.  Man, I swore I just dropped them off, lol.  Days are flying by here.  I am trying to enjoy everyday that comes.  I thank God everyday, for giving me another one.

Things at the office with Tim are super busy.  He is trying to prepare for his NCO Induction Ceremony that is Thursday.  I will be attending so there will be pictures later to follow.  He is also swamped with mounds of paperwork.  Poor guy.  Since we have been here in Korea, he has done and accomplished so much with this unit.  I witnessed it several times, by the way people have spoken of him; people meaning his soldiers, and his leaders.  Pretty impressive.  The kids and I are so proud of him.  =)

I'm pretty much done for this one, it's late here, and I'm off to bed.  Sending Love your way! xoxo

It's Starting to Feel like December!!!

First Snow of the Year, 2010-2011

Well, well.  Look what we found outside this
morning.  SNOW!  First snow of the winter, and
soon to be one of many.  It snowed just enough last
night to make a mess of things.  Lol.  The kids were excited because they thought there would be no school, but haha, there was.  I think Korea looks beautiful during the winter months, especially when it snows.  The scenery of not only on base, but off base too-covered in a snowy white blanket, somehow makes you feel cheerful this time of year, considering where we are...  There seems to be some turmoil going on between the two Koreas, but I keep praying that everything will run smoothly and not cause anymore problems.   It's hard to imagine war in a place like this, or anywhere for that matter.  This really is an amazing

place to see.  Sure, at first, I didn't want to even think about coming here.   My kids are getting to  experience different cultures in real life, rather then just in a classroom, like they would in the states.  We also get to travel and see so many neat and interesting things.  And it truly is so much safer and peaceful here.  Weird sometimes, but nice.  I keep watching the news or reading the papers, and hearing of all the horrible things going on right now in the US and it makes me sad, because you hear a lot more of it when you aren't there.  Now, either it's truly 'quieter' here, or maybe the 'noise' is in Korean, therefor I will never know honestly what is going on.  Lol.  Maybe I need to take a
language class.  Yeah, ok Lauren.  I can't even
think of how difficult that must be to learn another language, especially Hongul.  I couldn't even pass my Spanish classes in high school.  Well, it's a nice thought.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas too.  Honestly, it has since like 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.  Tim was kind enough to let me decorate early this year, although he doesn't agree.  =)  Love you babe.  I feel decorating sooner makes the holidays come and go sooner.  This way, we can get over the fact that we: 1) spend too much on gifts every year, 2) eat way too many fattening foods during this time, and 3) we can hurry up and send the kids back to school after them having 2+ weeks off for winter break.  Once the holiday season is behind us, we can pick up where we left off, before the chaos and extra 5 pounds, and work on another wonderful year of enjoying Korea. 

 Happy Holidays everyone!   

Happy Thanksgiving, I think?

Ok. adding to our happening lifestyle, lol.  We attempted to start making some of the things for today, last night.  Well, Tim did.  And, somehow while he was doing this, he broke the darn oven.  I am serious too.  First of all, bless his heart, not sure what he was thinking, but he put two sticks of butter, still in their original packages, onto the oven rack.  He said he was trying to warm the butter sticks, and well-somehow he forgot that they were in there, and turned the oven on 400 degrees.  Few seconds later, he realized what he did, and there was melted butter all over the bottom of the oven.  What a mess.  Anyways, he then tried to clean out the bottom, dangerously, by lifting the heater thing, with a fork, and using a towel to soak up the melted mess.  Madison and I were so nervous that we had to leave the room.  I could just envision having to run him to the ER with a 3rd degree burn!  So I didn't watch.  I guess somehow, while lifting the heater thing in the oven, he broke it.  ?  It would not go on at all.  It kept tripping the circuit too.  Ughhhh.  So, what he was attempting to make, his Pecan-Pumpkin Pie, went in the fridge.  Uncooked.  Thankfully, the man who repairs ovens, came bright and early this morning, and fixed our problem.  Hallelujah.  So, here is the finished product!  Better be some darn good pie =)
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!

TurkeyBowl 2010

Today was fun!  It was the 35th Brigade Turkey Bowl.  Tim's BN won 2/3 games.  It was pretty nice.  Stormy and I wore matching jersey's to show our support for the unit.  Everyone probably thought I was some sort of dork, but that's ok.  She and I didn't stick around for the whole thing.  It was FREEZING today. The temp said that it was 50's, but NO WAY.  There was steam coming out from our breath.  Anyhow, that's really the only thing I accomplished today. =(   There is preparations being made for tomorrow, the big Turkey day.  Our family will be joining the Colonel and Christina's family for dinner.  They are cooking the meats and pies, and we are in charge of sides.  Tim is already getting things started in the kitchen as we speak.  Although we are in charge of sides, he is adding two more pies, (like we need that!!) to the list.  A pumpkin pecan pie, and a Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake.  Yummy.  I will make sure that I wear stretchy pants tomorrow, because I have a feeling I will be needing them...  

We have had some horrible happenings too.  There was a dispute between the North and South on Tuesday.  Guess there was artillery fired and struck a South island along the coast.  There wasn't many casualties but there was injuries, and much destruction done, and this caused a lot of anxiety here on the peninsula.  Especially with the families here on base.  I pray for those involved, and I pray that this doesn't cause any more issues here.  Can't we all just get along?

Today was a Great Day!

Today, I have witnessed another type of love.  I spent the day at Suwon today, with Tim and the kids.  The soldiers were having a paintball turkey shoot, (for free turkey dinner as the prize).  So, Tim, Mason, and I got to shoot a few turkeys, (not real-just photos).  That was fun.  Then, after that, we waited for the House of Dreams Orphanage to arrive.  We sponsor about 100 children from this orphanage.  The soldiers had things for these kids to do, such as sports, arts&crafts, balloon animals, etc.  The Colonel, his wife, Tim, and I, checked in on some of the groups.  When Tim and I got to the soccer field where the kids were participating in soccer, baseball, and tug-o-war, I sat down on the side and just watched in amazement.  These children are so beautiful.  The little girls were all over Mason and Madison.  Something about kids with blonde hair, I guess.  Anyways, Mason got into playing baseball and tug-o-war, while Madison just hung out with me.  (She is still way too shy) I took several pictures of what the kids were all doing, and as I was sitting there, the lady who is in charge of the orphanage, Ms. Kim, came and was sitting down near me.  You could see how this woman's love just radiated all around her.  The story of her is amazing.  She use to work as a OBGYN nurse in some hospital, and she just one day decided that running this orphanage was her calling.  And so she just up and left, and got a few apartments together and began the House of Dreams.  Now, mind you she is like 80 years old, and sometimes needs assistance getting around.  But, here you have an amazing woman, who left her career to open a place for kids to stay/live, that have parents who don't want them, or they don't have parents at all.   So, our unit is affiliated with them.  We have soldiers who are sponsoring the kids, kind of like a "Big Brother" type of thing.  I remember last year, we kind of did the same thing with them, and we had an angel tree that each of the kids had placed a wish on it for us.  Our kids that we chose, needed and wanted only jackets.  Can you see what I am saying here. A jacket.  My kids must be so spoiled that it made me feel like wow, these orphans have the simple life.  Back to what I was saying, I seen a different side of this reality here today.  A sad reality too.  These children are taken care of, by Ms. Kim and several other members, but they don't have a real family.  They don't have a mom and dad, to do things with, play catch or Barbies with, or even to annoy.  They rely solely on the faculty that is there with them.  I just wanted to take them all home, and love them.  Wish we could help them more then we are.  December 23rd we are going out to the orphanage so I look forward to that day.  I hope to bring some joy to those kids, and put a smile on their faces.  They deserve love just like our kids do.  So, here I have taken some photos of today.

So, this afternoon I decided to take a walk over to the "4 and 9" market.  (It's a market that is only on the '4' and '9' days) Anyhow, I was expecting something like a sort of flea market, or something, and it wasn't cool at all.  All I seen was raw seafood, vegetables, fruits, and junk!  Not to mention, that the smells that I smelled gave me the worst headache ever, and I still have it.. Can't shake it.  Not even with 4 Tylenol.  So, needless to say, I will never think to try another 'market' again..  I did enjoy being in the Korean culture though.

The rest of the day was basically boring.  Although coming home from the market, I found a mini-Christmas tree, for 20,000 won, which is like 17.00$ American money.  At the PX, they want like 39.99-50.00 for one.  So, I was proud of that.  As I was walking home checking the mail, I ran into Tim and the Colonel, and we had lunch at Bella Panini's, which always has awesome soups.  It was nice to just sit there and have lunch with the husband, after not seeing him all week.  He's been so busy right now at work, that he hasn't been here a lot.  Kind of a bummer and been a little stressful with dealing with all the kids.  But manageable.

I have no pics to upload so this is it for now.  ;)  Goodnight from Korea.

Beautiful Moments

WHile I am still thinking of the title for this blog, thought I'd start writing a few things about my day--before I forgot.  So, today is the 17th of November.  Had a pretty easy morning with getting all three kids off to school.  Then it was time to take Stormy out for her walk, and we ended up walking all over post, probably around 3 miles.  (I think)  I love walks with her because I don't need my Ipod or anything.  Just walking with her, and watching her, is amazing.  I got a new look on dogs and people, since I read that book called, The Art of Racing In the Rain.  Every dog lover should read this book.  I can't remember the author's name, but I couldn't put the book down for a sec.  It's basically the author is writing the book from his dog's point of view.  Anyhow, without getting into too much detail, it talks about ownership, companionship, love, and all that gushy stuff.  It is a definite reader.  Now, I look at dogs differently.  And from that book, I try to imagine what they think.  Call it crazy.  But, oh well.  So, back to walking her.  I just can see the happiness in her eyes when we go and I hope she sees the same for me.  Since her being back in our home, I feel so much relief, like any load of stress that was there, isn't really.  I had an appt with my "drug" doctor, and he asked me what was new since our last visit, and he said I seemed happier, and I WAS!  I told him about Stormy and how my wonderful husband flew home to get her, and how she is here now with me, and I am so happy.  He said that he believes that pets can take stress and anxieties out of our lives.  That's like the service pets.  They do those things.  I believe Stormy is my service doggie.  xoxox

Ok, onto the highlight of the day for me.  Tonight was Makayla's Cross Country banquet at our favorite Thai restaurant.  There were more people there this time than last year, so that was a good sign.  I was happy to see all the parents that showed up too.  So, after we all got to eat some, the Coach started with his awards.  He started from JV to Varsity, so we had to wait a few for Mak.  Well, then the coach started talking about the seniors and for some reason, I started getting a knot in the back of my throat.  I knew this was only the beginning.  So, the coach ran through the list of awardees and Mak got one for her normal thing, and a patch for the jacket sleeve.  Then, he ran through some more and the last award he gives was the one for MVP.  He starts talking about all these wonderful things this person did and how they are one of the most caring people on the team.  I had a feeling, but wasn't sure until he said Mak's name.  I couldn't help myself but start crying.  I felt so proud right then and there.  And I knew she was good and highly thought of, but to see it from another side, was nice.  Then Mak decided to say a few things, and she got all worked up because she is a senior this year and she is going to miss her team, but she looked at her dad and I and said how she has a great family.  I don't know, I felt so touched.  I mean, I looked over at Tim and he was teary too.  It was such a beautiful moment for us.  We were so proud.  It was just nice.  So, I felt differently all of a sudden, like here I am, a stepmom, and there are times where I feel like OMG this teenager is killing me, but tonight I seen Mak in a different light.  I am so blessed to have her in my life.  She is a joy to me, and even though I don't say it a lot, I hope she knows.  Love you Mak! Keep reaching for the stars, they will be yours one day!  =)