Hello, LT Pullmy!!

A week or so before Rodney left for Korea, he asked me if I could help out the group. There was a single female officer coming to the island, but since they were all going to be in Korea, no one would be able to meet her at the airport. Well, of course, I could make an airport run. So, I talked to my friend Diane and asked her to ride along with me. Before he left, he gave me the flight information for LT Pullmy and on the day of, Diane and I took a drive down to the airport. We're standing there waiting and I see a face I know step through the doorway.....

It was my California bestie-- Jaclyn Finger!!!
(Hence, Rodney's creation of "Pullmy" ;)

She came out with her camera going.....
(BTW--the paper I'm holding over my face says "LT Pullmy"!!)

Needless to say, I was quite surprised!!! Probably the best birthday surprise ever!!!
As it turns out, she and Rodney had been cooking this up since November!! I was so extremely impressed with Rodney's ability to keep a secret!! Also, Diane and Jaclyn had friended on facebook and kept it hidden from me!! Jaclyn had even called Diane at one time when I was at Diane's!!!!

A wonderful birthday surprise!!!!

The next few posts will give you a glimpse of her visit here :o)

Rodney's off to Korea....again

So, we get moved and get the basics settled in and Rodney's off for another adventure in Korea...
 

 

But, it wasn't all "fun and games"...

.... there were Bible studies and services to lead, too.

And, group photos to take!
(R is against the stone, right side)

His cozy home away from home that he shared with about 12 others.

One night they had some super strong winds blow through and they woke up to this....
The board on the ground in front of the tent is the lid from the tent storage box.

This tent was blown completely off its foundation.

Just a little added excitement :)

Sushi-Go-Round

On our last trip to Courtney to "cut ties" with base housing, we did lunch at the little, very yummy sushi-go-round place just off base.....

You can, of course, choose dishes off the belt as they go round, but if you want something specific, or if like us, you're there at an off time, simply use the touch screen to make your choices.

When they're ready, they send them out on the top track. You know its yours coming if the little red light/button starts blinking. Then, of course, the race car will stop at your table.

Simply remove your plates (it holds up to four), press the button, and the car races back to the kitchen.

As you finish a plate, just stack them up! And, at this little place it's 105 yen/~$1.25 a plate! Yum-Yum!!

Our first Oceanfront Property sunset

February 9, 2012

Some older boys in their school uniforms.

Fishing at dusk is a common occurrence on the jetty.

I don't feel the rest of the pictures need words....
the first was taken at 3:10pm, the last at 5:46pm, the first pictures of many glorious sunsets!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our new neighborhood

Taking a break from boxes to take a walk and snap a few pics around the neighborhood...

The blue "HIMARAYA" is a sporting goods store and the yellow box to it's right is one of the main grocery store chains, "San A".

These shops are in a bitty building: "Body Talk" sells "cool & sexy club style" clothes, "Ma-ru maru" is a bar. "Kushikado" sells yakitori which is grilled chicken on a skewer. It smells awesome!! We look forward to giving that place a try!!

There's a new dentist office in our building and there's this one just down the road! LOVE the toothbrushing fish!!

Now, let's head down the seawall....
First, we pass this pink building which houses a hair place, a tax place, "Oh, Yeah! View and Pizza Bar," and "Glamorous-- Cafe and Bar of High Rank"... The one con to our place is both bars are open until 2am.... :/

A look back over your shoulder looks to the end of the seawall path.

But, let's head on to the beach...

A very cool rock cropping with a little tunnel through it!

a look at it from the other side...

Across the entrance to the fishing marina, is a little island with some more cool rock croppings!

Out on the jetty-- the family that fishes together, stays together!

And there she is--- Araha Beach!!
Very empty right now compared to what it will be in just a few months when the weather warms up!!

BIG moving day

So.... yeah..... this was our dining room waiting for the movers.....

These are the piles of stuff from the hutch and other gov't furniture pieces, as well as things we'd put back in original boxes and that kind of thing.....
I have a few wishes from that day--- I wish I'd gotten a picture of all the boxes of our belongings lining the hallway outside our apartment!! I also wish I'd remembered to set aside a pair of shoes to wear.... thankfully, I realized that in time to grab my water shoes before they got packed!! I also wish I'd remembered to set aside my purse!!! We stepped out in the hall at one point and there it was the next thing this little packer was going to be wrapping in newsprint and sticking in the box!!! I quickly said, "Sumimasen!!" (excuse me) and grabbed it. He looked at me, then realized and had the same "oh, no!" look on his face as me!!! WHEW...... Especially since we'd made careful consideration to set aside our laptops and personal things we'd need in the tub so they wouldn't get packed..... guess I didn't think I'd need shoes or my purse containing my ID!!

But, they got it all packed up and loaded up then headed to the Oceanfront Property.......

Rodney met them there while I stayed behind to do the final clean-up of the apartment and he got these great unloading pictures!! They had carried the big stuff up the two flights of stairs, but for the boxes, it was "need is the mother of invention"......

They used a couple of reusable wardrobe boxes (green) and two plastic crates all duct taped together to make that platform on top of the truck and the four guys (one in the truck; one on the balcony) began to pass the boxes up to our balcony!!! He said there were people stopping to take pictures :)

 

 

Rodney said he felt like Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer's Apprentice conducting the music as he directed which room for what boxes as they just kept coming in and coming in and coming in......
So, when all was delivered and the movers were gone, here's how things looked....

kitchen/living space

 

the 'garage'

2nd bedroom

living room

I knew those high-on-the-wall outlets would come in handy for something or other!!

 Then after four days of unpacking.....

Broken down boxes and boxes of packing paper and bubble wrap waiting to be picked up!!

kitchen/living space

2nd bedroom

garage

And you know how you almost always have to make little tweaks to a new place.....

This is our pantry! It works so well for that, we also got a second one for all the things we'd had in the hall closet in the tower. Both of those cabinets live in the 'garage'.

In both bathrooms they have installed shower curtain rods. But the one in our bathroom is so high, when we hang the curtain on the hooks, the bottom of the it comes above my knees!! So, I had the idea to check about some chain at the local hardware store and they had the perfect lightweight chain for the job AND it's even tinted blue that coordinates with the curtain!! (It's the little things! ;0)

The dryer is on the shelf above the washer and I have to stand on my toes to reach in there to make sure I've gotten everything out. The filter is in the back of the dryer and I can just barely reach it!! So, then when putting clothes in and out of the washer, there's not room for the washer lid to just be open. At first we would prop it open with the softner or detergent bottle! For awhile we even used a roll of shop towels!! Then when my friend, Jaclyn, came to visit (those posts later!) she had the idea to use a bungee. We had one just the right length and -- voila!! It works great!!

Humidity here really makes mold an issue, so I didn't want to have to close the 'garage' all the time, yet, didn't want to have to see in there all the time, too, knowing it probably would be a bit "busy" in there. So, I decided this split curtain Rodney brought back from Korea last year would be the perfect solution!!

And, since we live in Japan, it's only appropriate to have our Japanese Shisas ("guard dogs") on our front porch. The symbol on the ball is the symbol for Okinawa..........

Now it's just a matter of getting all the details worked out for how to use such a different space.
But, regardless of the smaller space with very little closet and storage space, we are LOVING our
Oceanfront Property in Okinawa!!!! :0)