Settling in

This past week since we've moved in has been spent mostly unpacking and trying to figure out how to make our stuff fit in the new place. This house is not small by any stretch, bigger than anything we've ever lived in before (2600 Square feet) but it's still a game of deciding where I want everything to go and making it fit there. As of today, I think the whole downstairs area is about set up how I want it. I now need to get into the kids rooms and help them organize a bit better than they did when they unpacked.

I also need to buy patio sets so we can enjoy our balconies.

View from one of our balconies

Beyond unpacking, I've been supervising our landlord's handy man in fixing issues with the house, getting our car out of the vehicle processing center and back in our possession, getting the huge move-in-stock up the house shopping trip in (especially important for typhoon preparedness) and coordinating paperwork between myself here in Guam and Adam in Hawaii so we can get the travel claims and such paid out.


Part of settling in is always getting into a routine. I redid the kids chore list for the new house, though as before Tuesday is laundry day. This past Tuesday when I called up for the kids to bring me all the bedsheets and such, the kids were legitimately excited about it. I guess they're happy to get into a routine again too :)! I've gotten back to cloth diapers (yeah for no more buying disposables!) and menu planning to keep food costs down.

ready to brew!

I've been making bread since our arrival, but last night I started our first batch of beer, a Scottish 80 Shilling. I picked it because it has a longer ferment time and I'm hoping that Adam will be able to drink at least some of it when he gets home (it's one of his favorites).




  

boiled grains

Of course, nothing here gets wasted, so some of those grains that give the beer such a great flavor got reused in a batch of bread (with the rest stored in the fridge for more bread!).

Note on the first picture: Yes, I had a beer while I was making beer. There's a rule around here that says "you must drink beer to make beer"....Adam has dubbed it the Law of Conservation of Beer. It's the law, and as my physics professor used to say in his thick Russian accent, "It's the law, and you can't break the law"


 In other news, the baby has figured out how to climb stairs already. Oh joy.

Move In!

It has been a crazy week, but as of yesterday we are officially moved into the place that will be our home for the next 3 years.

Most of the week leading up to Friday was spent doing things to prepare to move in, like running paperwork around and setting up utilities. Well, except for Thursday. Thursday I had to switch hotel rooms so I could stay beyond the 31st. I got to pack up all our stuff (remember, we already had our express shipment) and move it and all our kids luckily only 2 doors down......unfortunately through the rain. I managed to fit half the stuff in the car but the rest had to be hand carried. It was a major pain, especially since I was moving again the following day and it honestly was a "what the hell am I doing here?" moment for me. We made it though :)

Friday we were up early to go meet our Realtor for the move in inspection and to prepare for the movers. The day was long, but things went quite smoothly. Both my Realtor and the movers were amazingly professional and helpful, more than I could have ever asked for.

After the movers left I gave the kids an option: we could go back to our suitcases and stay with them in the hotel, or unpack our room and checkout entirely and stay in the house. Despite how  long the day was, and how tired they were, they went for the second option. I can't blame them. After 2 months of being on the road and living out of suitcases, seeing all our things brought some sort of normalcy to life again (even if most of those things were still in boxes). By the time we went to bed our oldest daughter had unpacked the girls whole room and put everything away. Granted, it's not how I would like it set up, but she did it herself and there's nothing on the floor so I let it be.

Today we had to run around and get things like bath mats and trash cans, but once we came home it was back to unpacking. I'm amazed by how helpful the oldest 2 are being. They're so sweet I try to make sure I say thank you often for all they're doing. With their help the bathrooms have been cleaned and set up, the kitchen is almost unpacked (given that I think half our weight is kitchen stuff this is a major accomplishment). and I've had 2 other sets of eyes on the baby so I don't have to worry so much.

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday, after trying unsuccessfully to get phone and cable set up for the new place, we decided to take the kids to Underwater World, an aquarium with a large tunnel through it. At one point it was the longest underwater tunnel in the world, but as these things tend to go it has since been beat and now ranks 4th. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Upside down" Jellyfish

Beyond the tunnel, there are separate tanks with more exhibits, a large touch tank, and a few restaurants (one even has a bar with fish swimming in it). We definitely would like to do a date night there at some point.

My one gripe was that they held off telling us that there were annual passes available until AFTER we were done going through, and they refused to apply the value of the passes we purchased towards an annual pass. I had searched for it before on the website, but they only have it for locals and military and don't advertise the pass publicly.

Sunday afternoon we headed out hoping to see the Asan Beach section of War in the Pacific National Park before the rain hit. Asan beach is the site of the initial landing of US troops in WWII in an effort to retake the island of Guam from the Japanese (full history of the site here). The impending  rainstorm and lack of hiking shoes kept us from fully exploring the site, but we were still able to see and learn quite a bit.

In honor of Memorial day there were flags set up representing the US military members who lost their lives due to the battle and the local Chamorro people who died during the Japanese occupation and battle. It was humbling looking up  at the surrounding mountains and hills imagining what it was like for the troops facing what they had to coming out of the mountain caves and fortifications, and knowing that had they not done it I literally would not be here on this island today.

This morning we got the kids up and took Adam to the airport to say goodbye. He is headed to meet his boat that is still homeported in Hawaii, and we have no idea when he'll be back. We dropped him off at 9 this morning and since he was booked on the island hopper flight and crossing the date line he will land in Hawaii at 330 am Memorial Day there (2330 local here-14.5 hours of flying).

Bye daddy!

It was very sad to see him go, but I try to remember that we've been blessed beyond belief with how much we've had him around the last few years. Going through 6 years of sea time before doesn't take away the pain of his leaving now, but it has taught me how to cope and deal with it better (as does remembering that my kids feed off of how I respond-the better I cope the better they do as well).

House hunting and exploring

Yesterday we finally got a rental van (woohoo!). It's amazing what a difference it has made. Unfortunately exchanging cars took the better part of the day, but we were still able to hit another beach (Dadi Beach) before sundown. It did not disappoint.

Not ony was it beautiful, but the kids had a blast seeing all the hermit crabs, sand crabs, and other sea creatures. They even caught a few!

This morning we started searching off base for a pace to live, either permanent or short term (whichever works out best). Base housing is full through August, and they won't let us stay in the on base temp lodging until then. They want us to get a month to month lease while we wait, but I'm exploring all my options.

The housing office gave us a list of companies they recommend for rentals with for month to month leases that "work". Their idea of working and mine are different I guess, as many of the locations on the list are, to put it mildly, crap. One place reeked of urine and mold (mind you, this is for $2500 per month in rent for a less than 1200 sq foot unit). I know it's just because the companies that do month to months are lazy knowing there's an endless revenue stream from the military, and they aren't all bad, but those that were kind of soured me on the month to month waiting for Navy housing stuff (though Navy housing does look pretty amazing and has some nice advantages).

It looks like there are some really nice places in our price range out in town, making putting up with a month to month like that even harder to do. We're meeting with a realtor Saturday to explore more permanent rentals, but in the mean time started driving around to explore the island and where we'd like to live if we decide to go out in town.

Of course along the way we stopped and explored a bit! We stopped and walked up an overlook with steep stairs:

and views that made the stairs worth the climb :)!

We then found this little cove:

with little fish playing in the tide pools. (and a bunch of Japanese tourists).

We also hit Jacks Pirate Cove for lunch. It's a restaurant with quite a bit of history, and is a bit of an icon on the island. While there we tried some kelaguen, a local dish made from marlin in this case. It was quite delicious (and I think I need to learn to make it).

All the sandwiches had this singed in them! :)!

We ended up today hitting the local Payless supermarket, getting some locally grown fruits (mmmmm mangoes) and coming back so I could experiment more with these green papayas. This time: green papaya salad. It was delicious!

Things are never the same when you go back

Over time, people and things change. It's a fact of life.
Recently this has been something I've been dwelling on more than ever. Not sure if it's how long we'll be gone, how far we will be, or a combination of the 2, but it's weighing on me quite a bit. I worry about coming back and finding people I know yet don't. The Navy has taught me that this isn't a huge worry, because there are quite a few out there I can go years without seeing and we pick up as if we've never been apart. I still can't help but think about it though.

Then come my greater concerns: I look at my neices, nephews and other small children, and wonder if they'll remember us. I look at my younger children and wonder what they'll remember about life here. I wonder how the older ones will react when they come back and find out that things aren't as they remembered.

It'll be interesting to see.

Saying goodbye

It's interesting that the part that I love and hate about the military is the exact same thing: moving. I love seeing new things, making new friends, and exploring new areas. In fact, usually after a few years in one place I'm ready to move on and see something new. I hate moving away from the friends I'v made where I am though.

I can always tell when it's about time to move because I start to get ingrained in a community that I love and enjoy. If there's one thing I've learned though, it's that goodbye isn't forever. You never know where you will go next or who will be there when you get there. In the meantime, we have been blessed with so many ways to keep in touch with each other its hard to believe, and I am thankful for that.

And thus our time here draws to a close. Thank you Charleston for your beauty and your people. You will be greatly missed.

"Somehow I know, we'll meet again/ Not sure just where and I don't know just when/ You're in my heart, so until then/ Wanna smile, wanna cry.....saying goodbye" ~Muppets take Manhattan

Watching my world leave on trucks

The part of military life that I'm asked about most often is the constant moving. More particularly, the the household goods packing and moving. While I do have an option to pack myself up and do all the work, I refuse. It's too much work for little gain, especially with 5 kids to watch and care for and relatively little time between moves. So, we opt to instead have the military hire a contractor and pack and move us.
I've been through quite a few moves, but never one like this. As I've stated before, this move is split into three parts: unaccompanied baggage, non-temp storage, and the regular shipment. Today is the last part of the regular shipment. I am always intrigued watching the packers because they can turn a room full of stuff into this

in the matter of a few hours. For the regular move, as they pack it all they load it into crates like the one shown below and seal them. 

I am beyond thankful for those who do this as their job, as without them it would be difficult to say the least to move as much as we do.

In the meantime, we've started our lives as homeless nomads. We're staying near our home (specifically, furnished houses the Air Force has to rent out) to facilitate getting back and forth to watch packers and clean the house.