The Ticker...

Is now reflecting the date we move into the Hotel.
We will be living in the Hotel during main HHG move. If it was just Ethan and I, we would rough it and sleep on the floor.
With kids? Nope. We want to have plenty of rest during these crazy days.

We Have Flights!!!!!

And, Daddy came home!!
Wow! What a Day!!!
We have our Flight times/dates...
Everything worked out nicely and I am pleased.
I can not believe how Quickly time is going to pass... we are going to be in Japan... before we know it.
If any Friends/Family would like to know Dates/Times... just e-mail me and i will Tell All.
I dont feel warm & fuzzy letting the Blogger World know....

3 Weeks to Go + an Unexpected Detour!

Yup, it's only 3 weeks now! eeek!!! I cant believe it. Time is just flying... super fast!
The Detour is...........** Ethan was called Friday and he is gone today!** Yup, that's the NAVY for ya! He was called out to help with IKE and we don't know when he will be back.
The good news is
*The Will let him still take his approved Leave ... it starts the last weekend of the month. If they are not home, they will fly him home, No Charge!
*He is still able to participate in CPO Pinning and all the stuff that goes with it... underway.
This should be fun for him...(This is one reason he did NOT want to stay home.)
*We are still on track to check into our Hotel on the 1st, and give the Keys to our Landlord on the 3rd.
*I spoke with the Flight People... and everything is in the works... :):) They have not 'lost' us. We should be right on track for flying. We don't have dates. As soon as Ethan gets back we will go into the place and look at the schedule and pick out preferred times/dates. (this is what i was told by the lady who is in charge of the flights.)
And the last good news is
*We had at least 24 hour notice, .... so we spent yesterday busting butt getting like a Million HAVE TO Projects done. At least i have that off my mind.

1st Packout Done!

Yup, it's 9:40 am and they are done and gone.
They came about 8:10 this morning. They did a good job, were fast and friendly. What more could i ask for?
Our Express was relatively small, so it took no time at all.

Oh! Now i am off to pack us up for our NC trip. :)
See ya'll in a few days. The Next Post should be about the 1st day of school.

Here are some pic's for your Enjoyment...

5 weeks and counting

Today makes 5 weeks until we leave the US of A.

As i am excited, i am equally worried. I have never made this type of move with 2 kids. It seams so much more complicated moving TO JAPAN with 2 kids vs moving FROM JAPAN with 1. Although i generally know what to expect, there are still so many unknowns.

Right now the things that are worrying me the most about are:

~Housing. We don't yet know where or when we will be in a house. We don't yet know if we will live off base or on base. I have 'given this to the Lord'... and trust that he will make the best choice available.

~Car. We wont be bring ours, because of all the 'fine print'... so we have to get a new one.

~Living out of a Hotel. With Olivia in school it's going to be a challenge.

~Living out of a suitcase. I wont have many choices in shopping for clothing, so... i need to make sure we have what we need with us (At least for Ethan and I as we are both WAY 2 tall to shop off base ... Him being 6 foot 4 and me 5 foot 8.5.........).

Onto the Holiday weekend... We will be making the trip to see Meemaw & Peepaw (Savannah too). :) This trip is a very easy one, and one we will miss.

With them living only 4 hours away, it was always nice to know they were close, and we could see them anytime.

This we will miss...... Hands Down.

So,... we will go and visit until Monday... then head back and School starts Tuesday!

No big plans, just a nice family visit.

I have added some pic's, just because it's nice to add photos... :) Enjoy!

We're Roll'n Along.........

With only One Month, One Week and One Day until our journey begins, things are roll'n along.
Yesterday Ethan accomplished so much! I was impressed.
*After a short day at work he went to the Personal Property Office and Finalized our 'Car Paperwork'. We have decided to put the car in Storage, at the Navy's Expense.
*After the Car Stuff, he headed over to give our Notice to Vacate. :) (30 days prior). So, there is No Turning Back Now. He put in some other paperwork for the house, and we are all set to move.
*While at the Housing Place he requested our Move Out Inspection be THIS THURSDAY! So, Tomorrow i will have a person looking around the house, (clean up time!)
*While he was on a roll he called the "Flight People" and got them working on our Flights. We should know by Friday/Tuesday *What day *What time *Where we will be stopping.
These things i wont post on the Blog, so if you wanna know ... e-mail me! :)

What Else What Else...
Our Express Shipment is coming along. I think I am almost done. After Chatting with a few ladies who live in the part of Japan I will be moving to... I have decided to Pack (in our suitcases) the Fall/Winter Clothing. I think it's to risky to possibly live out of our suitcases for over a month, and Not have those type of clothing choices. (All of October). One of the Weather sites, with a History says the Average in October is 64 degree's... i don't think SOME fall clothing will do.
~sigh~ This will make for some Heavy/Extra Luggage,... oh well! Better to be safe than sorry, right?
On another note:
Last night we decided to go the Mall. I needed to return a shirt I bought for Olivia @ the Disney Store (one of my Favorite Stores). It was a 7/8, but to small. Weird! I also needed to make an online Old Navy Return. While we are out and about ... we decided to eat out. Now, we have been trying to make wise choices. We know we don't have many more Stateside Dinner's out.
We decided to eat @ UNO's. OMG...... we have only eat'n there a FEW times, and last night? It could not have been better. The wait staff was good, the kids were good, the food? Excellent! We even tried a Mini Dessert. Ethan and I shared. Of course we gave the kids a bite, but mostly it was for us, as we Never get dessert. I got a Mediterranean Salad... Mmmmmm Ethan got a Peanut Chicken Flat bread. Mmmmm All i have to say? If your wondering where to go for dinner?? UNO's! It was FAB


(If you don't know me well... you should know i am The PICKIEST Food/Dinning Critic, Especially When i am Paying for the food...)

6 week Countdown + Family Entry Approval

Yesterday was exactly 6 weeks until we move!
The Family Entry Approval finally arrived!
This piece of paper is the very last piece of paper that Finalizes our move to Japan. We now can go over and book our flights. We are on our way!
I am Excited, Relieved and Ecstatic that we have this Valuable piece of paper, Exactly 6 weeks before we Move!
Hurray!

For all you Non-Military wondering what this piece of paper does... here I will tell you.

Family Entry Approval (FEA) request must be processed as soon the member and their family members are found suitable for overseas assignment. (After the medical/dental and in some cases financial screenings are completed and passed.)

The Family Entry Approval is required by the Personal Property Shipment Office to ship household goods (HHG), Arrange Flights (NAVPTO), Additionally, FEA is required to enroll children in DODDS school, and to apply for government housing (quarters).
Also you need the FEA to receive COLA (Cost of living allowance, -the Extra $ you receive for living overseas.)

Now all there is left to do is Book Our Flights. :)

Household Goods Shipments Confirmed!

Today Ethan went to the Personal Property Office and Confirmed our actual pack-out dates.
I have updated the Tickers, and I am Amazed at how quickly this time is going to pass!


1. Express Shipment- August 29th (less than 1,000 pounds of essentials like Microwave, Toys and Linens. Laptop & Wii included! :) )
2. Storage Shipment- September 22nd (All of our things that wont be making the trip to Japan, like Washer/Dryer/Freezer & Excess Baby Stuff/Furniture.)
3. HHG Shipment - September 30th (Everything else, haha)

Less than 2 months

Ok, so we have less than 2 months to go. Actually i think the ticker says something like 7 weeks. :) Here is a bit of an update on how things are going.

Medical & Dental Screenings? Done!
Passports? Done!
Household goods paperwork? Done!
Reservations at Hotel in Japan? Done!


What were waiting on?
Dependant Entry Approval. The request has been sent, just waiting for a reply.
Actual Confirmed Dates for HHG Shipments? should be confirmed Monday 8/11/08
Airline arrangements.

I have already called and have info on moving out of our house, and terminating the services we receive. It's all pretty easy, yet lots of paperwork.

I have included a few photos... some random pictures of what we are looking forward to doing in Japan.

One More Day!

Evan, planning the trip, haha! He loves maps, just like his Daddy.
(Lets wonder if he will be a Navy Quartermaster too.... HMmmmm)


Olivia, Just being cute! :)

This week has just gone by so fast!

Tomorrow we leave for our Summer Vacation! :)

The car is already packed with all the camping gear & DVD players/DVD's... Oh, and the "Swimmies". It's hard to pack when your going from South Florida ~ Northern KY (Cincinnati area). The only thing left is to do: Road Trip Food shopping, Pack the clothing and shower stuff!!

So, this is how it will go (again),... Were leaving for Meemaw's House tomorrow after "SE" (summer enrichment), around 2 pm. We will drive for about 4 hours and stay with Meemaw for the night. Then, we get up Early as Hell on Thursday Morning, and head out. It will take 12~15 hours to drive to South Florida (with stops)... We should be there Thursday night.

4 days in Florida, should be a blast :):):)

Oh, and we need to drop off paperwork @ the Personal Property Office for our Move.

On top of that were working on Passports, trying hard to get them in process before we leave. (Although it's not looking promising.)

See ya Soon! :)

As of Yesterday....

We have our Paperwork done and approved for our Passports. We need to go sometime in the next week for pictures. :)
We have also submitted our paperwork for Certain Moving Allowances & this week 'They' will send off our Dependant Entry Approval (for Japan).
After we get that paper back saying that we are Approved... then we can start booking Flights and Confirming our Household Goods Shipments.
So, it's a Hurry up and Wait period in our lives.
I know the next 3 months will fly by, and although i want to be In Japan, and Looking for a Cho and Eating at Noodle Houses... I also want to Cherish the last few months on American Soil, Enjoy my Good Friends & BBq's... and Also not forgetting to wish this time away from the Children. Before we know it Olivia will be celebrating her 7th birthday, and Evan his 4th. How can they be so old already? Time, it's a Mysterious thing!

It's hard to believe it's been 3 months ... 3 whole months ago we got the e-mail that our bid for Yokosuka was Accepted. That time went pretty fast! Well, we only have 3 months left... gosh... ... Hmmmmm

~End of June~

Well, it's the end of another month~!
Time is just flying by! Before we know it it will be October! Actually, here is what we have planned for the summer...

*Summer Enrichment days until 17th of July. During this time... getting ready for our (what seams to be an 'annual') Kentucky Trip.

* Kentucky/ Florida Trip: We leave around the 16th of July and Return before the 30th of July. We will be Driving of course. Florida 1st, then Kentucky.
It's one Long Ass Trip, (that this year, Unlike most others...) we are going to drive NON- STOP(Except for the South Florida stretch to Northern Kentucky... we will hotel one night).
When we get to KY we will be ...................
Camping!! Yup! Were bringing the Big Ole' "house" Tent... and pitching it somewhere on Mom & Dad's Property. With last years 1 am camp fires @ the farm, we are opting to Camp! It should be fun... and are looking forward to it. (Rusty... Felicia... Kelley ... Roy??? If your Reading this, come on over, and bring a tent!!! Oh,... Brenda???Carol?? Dwight??? Being your Families too... and tent, and we can make it a fun few days!!)

* Lets see, after KY/OH Trip Ethan will be Working A LOT and getting ready for some 'REAL WORK' at Work.

*School Starts again!!! Sept 2nd. During the last 2 weeks in August we will have time to go 'school shopping' and get things together for our 1st 'Pack-Out'.

*Pack-Out #1. (unofficially, as in... we have not confirmed the date, but 100% we Want the Date.) September 8th. This will be our "express air shipment". This shipment will be of the 'cant live with out' items. It will be waiting for us in Japan.

*Pack-Out #2. (same as above.) September 22nd. This will be our "storage" shipment. Basically all the crap that we Cant (like washer, dryer & deep freezer) Take with us. Also, some Holiday items and stuff from our "Shed". There is not much Outside Storage Space in Japan. We had only a Small gardening shed at our 1st cho ... we are going prepared this time!

*Pack-Out #3 (same as above, & last pack-out.) This will be our Main Household Goods Shipment. We are allowed something like 9,500 pounds (13,000 pounds if we were traveling With-in the USA, but Japan we can only bring 75% of our Allowance.) So, this should take place on September 29,30 & October 1. (2 days for pack up and 1 day for Load the Crates.)
After that??

*Clean and Check out of our House and also Ethan gets to do a Final Check off the ship! Whoooo Hooo 3 yrs of Shore Duty here we come!!! (Sea Duty? SUCKS @ss!!!!)

*Sometime in the 1st 2 weeks in October... we will be in Yokosuka starting our Next Adventure!!
(Hoping for the 1st week in October... you know, Olivia's in School now... we need to get settled! Evan will start 'School' this April. In Japan they call it Yochien, and that's what Evan will be doing till he starts Kindergarten. He will be 4 in January.)

We are looking forward to the Next Year of Good fun, and Few New Adventures!
Evan, he is especially looking forward to... drum roll... Fuji-Q High Land's 'Thomas Land'. This is where Thomas Lives... and Evan Can not wait to Visit. He talks about it all the time. 'When we get to 'A-Pan' (japan) i am going to see Diesel 10... and go on a Thomas Roller Coaster.' He is just Adorable!!!

Ok, Well... Evan got a Hair Cut today and i Cant wait to post the pictures. He is now a BOY. ;) haha... Or as he would put it, "I look like Daddy now."

I'm Not Dreaming...

It's Doubly Official!!
Yup, you heard me!!
Ethan called this afternoon while I was in the YMCA working out.
I returned his call about an hour later... and we played Phone Tag till about an hour ago.
He had Our Order's in his Hands! OMG!
Yup, they came today.... Were Moving to Japan!!!!!!
I just somehow can not get my mind around it.

So this means we have 4 months until we load up on the airplane to Japan!

The details are not worked out yet.

One thing we do know is we can't Fly before October 1st, and that Ej will need to be checked out of his command as soon after Sept 15th as possible (He wont have a "Job" after Sept 15th.) So, this might mean we will have 2 weeks of Packing out with Ethan home and Helpful and not on the ship going "in and out". I hope thats the case, and it works out nicely!

I am Glad to hear this news... Olivia will have more than a single week @ here school... and we wont be moving during the Middle of Summer (Heat Central here in VA.)

We left Sasebo Japan on November 29th (i think) 2003 and we will be arriving October 2008... 4 years and 11 months... and One Evan later... haha... Time moves so slow... and yet FLY's! Weird! I feel like we "just moved"... yet it was so long ago! :(

~SIGH... and the "stuff" begins!~

It's Official!

A Little Bird~y told us on Monday that our Bid for Yokosuka Naval Base Japan was Accepted. We heald the news all week...(boy, that was hard!)
In an e-mail dated for Friday April 4th we were given the Official word!
Were Moving!!!
We don't know the Month or Day yet. Also, We (as a family) have to pass Medical & Dental Screenings...As long as we all pass... we should be in Yokosuka Japan for the Holidays.
I will be around a lot over the next few days to add New Info, and Pictures of our Future 'Home'.
I have already had a Few Questions like...

*Are we Happy: Yes! Very!!
*Was this our Choice: Yes, We waited for Japan, Europe or any Overseas to Actually "Pop" up.
*Where is Yokosuka: "Yoko" (as i will refer to it) is about 45 minutes from Yokohama & about 2 hours from Tokyo. Yokohama is Japan's 2nd Largest City & Tokyo is Japan's and The Worlds Largest Metro City!
We are super Excited & hope all goes A-Ok with Screening!

Moving...

This is our *NEW* Moving 'Ticker'. It's going to count down the days until were outta here [Virginia, USA]. Can you tell We are Excited???

As Dates and Location become Final the ticker will be adjusted.
Right now? I have it set for September 15th, 2008. October is our "Tranfser Month", and with The Military, all things can & will change.