Ian and I got married in November of 2010 so we marched into 2011 as starry eyed newly weds. Ian left the beginning of February for Air Force basic training. Georgia and I made the incredibly snowy trek to down town Denver trying to find the building where he would be sworn in and leave for Texas. Then came the six weeks of waiting and worrying with nothing but a 10 minute phone call some time on Sunday sometime between 8am and 7pm. Talk about not wanting to miss a call! But we muscled through it mostly by writing a letter a day. Ian did really well in basic. He was an honor student of sorts and just barely missed out on marksman by like three shots.
The Rowswells and I went down to Texas for he graduation from basic in March? Early April? San Antonio was hot and pretty. I just loved the river walk. They forgot to make the Trainees (not quite Airmen) wear sunscreen so every white boy was burned as red as a lobster. Ian included. He looked super silly when he took off his hat. I guess the most annoying thing about the entire experience was that we weren't allowed to kiss or hold hands or hug for long periods of time out in public for fear of being recycled. But he could court me (walking like you would down a church aisle as a bridesmaid) and we courted a lot!
While waiting for Ian to graduate from tech school, I was making work for a big show in Laramie. Which is still touring by the by in San Fransisco. I've also heard rumors that it's going on to New Orleans. Too bad I can't visit it! Then I had to get our affairs in order and pack up all our belongings and put them in a storage container on the side the road. Then I quit my job (I miss you so much library peeps) and moved in with my in-laws (A big shout out to the Rowswells for being cool like that).
Then came the fiasco of orders. Ian couldn't leave the base in TX until he got his assignment for his next base. meanwhile we had planned on going out to see everyone in NY to say goodbye because at that time we knew that we were going to Japan and we didn't know when we would be back. Luckily, I intercepted a surprise call from Ian on his graduation day (the middle of June). Basically he told me I needed to leave for TX that night and that I needed to be there at the latest by Saturday. A trip to TX from Cheyenne WY is 14 hours of straight driving mind you. So I said "Here talk to your mother, I need to go pack". Ian called me at 3pm and I was packed and ready to be on the road by 3:45pm. Thank god my van was a road warrior, I still miss that van. I spent the night in middle of nowhere southern Colorado in a very cheap hotel and made it to TX by 4pm on Friday. I met Ian at the Burger King on base and he barely kissed me and told me that we needed to go. We had completed his out processing by like 6pm and checked me into a hotel, had a great schnitzel dinner and left TX the next morning at 10am for Cheyenne. Now driving for 28 hours is really hard on the body so we did a tiny bit of sight seeing along the way, though I have to admit that Oklahoma and southern Colorado are some of the ugliest most barren places in the world and I'm from Wyoming mind you.
We got some paperwork business figured out on that next Monday and then spent another couple weeks hanging out in Wyoming with the immediate families saying goodbyes and what not. Then we flew out to New York for two weeks and had a super awesome time hanging out with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. After that we flew back to Wyoming and the movers packed up our stuff the next day. We managed to see Abby for a couple of days as she had just gotten back from her year in Beijing. Then Ian flew out from Denver and I flew out from Cheyenne (don't ask it's just how the Air Force does things) and met up in Seattle to make the flight to Misawa.
We touched down in Misawa Japan on July 17th and started getting acclimated. There was a lot of running around getting paperwork filled out. We got our house a few days later. Luckily, they gave us loaner furniture and dishes. It was white walls for a long time. Ever since we've been doing some exploring of Japan and making lots of interesting friends. Who knew there were tons of nerds in the Air Force? I started volunteering at the pet shelter and the antiques and crafts store. I am also substitute teaching. Ian is learning more and more about his job.
We got our furniture and household goods in October so there was a lot of fun unpacking and putting things up on the walls. Getting a TMO is just like Christmas. Around that same time we got the wonderful and scary news that I was pregnant. So we've been getting ready for the baby slowly but surely. Now I'm getting huge and have had to switch over to stretchy topped pants.
In November we had a new addition to our household. We adopted a parakeet who we named Thaddeous. Compared to the dog we fostered not long ago he is the perfect and so well behaved but this probably because he is in a cage. We enjoy his crazy acrobatics and talkative ways.
Ian's job got really crazy in November and December so now we are just happy to be able to relax and take it easy into the new year. After having so many Thanksgivings and Christmases we are both fat and happy. I think we are going to cap off the 2011 with a trip to the Japanese hot springs with a group of friends and then probably play some board games - which seems like a weekend ritual for us.
Happy New Year From Our Family To Yours!
No comments:
Post a Comment