The Triangle Room

So, our new house has an odd shaped living room.  It is basically a triangle, and I cannot figure out how to arrange the furniture.  If you have some suggestions or ideas, please let me know!  Notice the TV is on the floor...I am currently shopping for something to put it on.  

this is facing the hallway from the front door

facing left from the front door

facing the front door from the corner of the room by the windows

facing the hallway from the corner of the room by the windows

facing the front door and windows from the hallway

Last Weekend

On Saturday morning (Valentine's Day), Brian left for training in Wisconsin.  He'll be there for about 3 weeks and then he is off to a sandier region, probably Afghanistan.  I got him a new camera to take along on his adventure, so hopefully he will regularly send photos back.  I hope to have a blog here and there based on what he is doing along with his photos.  

On Sunday, I realized the grass was already at 4 inches and the lawn inspector wasn't coming by until Tuesday...CRAP!   So, I decided to mow the grass on my own.  I hadn't cut the grass since I was in high school, and I really haven't even been around a mower since then either.  The truth is that I wasn't sure how to start the thing.  So, I pulled the cord a couple of times and I couldn't get it to start.  Then, I googled 'starting a lawn mower' which is where I realized that I had neglected to hit the primer button.  AAAHHHHAA!  After trying again and hitting the primer button, the mower started up without a problem.  Then, I cut our entire enormous yard.  I'd like to think that this is a small sign from God that the next 7-8 months are going to be this easy...

Ypao the kitten

Brian and I have adopted a kitten and named her Ypao (after a beach in Guam).  She's very friendly, purrs constantly, and has already settled in to our home.  

Roy's

Brian and I go to a nice restaurant named Roy's every now and then.  Every time we go there we HAVE to order the coffee and the crepes suzette.  The crepes suzette is awesome, but the coffee is somewhat of a science experiment.  See photo.

The water is heated by the candle on the bottom.  The water turns to steam and rises into the top carafe where the coffee grounds are.  After almost all of the water transfers from the bottom to the top, the server will blow the candle out.  Then as the air in the bottom cools, it pulls the coffee back down to the bottom, leaving the coffee grounds at the top.  What can I say, I like to watch 'Bill Nye the Science Guy' as an adult.

New Digs

Check out our new home.  It is a concrete bunker fashioned in beige and brown...just like the rest of the AF base.  I'll add some interior shots once everything has been put away.

front from the street w/ Brian posing

check out the big grassy area behind our house

the back from the street

front

AF livin'

We've finished moving into our new house.  It is pretty nice and it was sparkling clean when we moved in.  Although it is a little smaller, it is refreshing to have a patio and yard.  I have, however, learned a couple new things about living on the AF base since signing the paperwork...of course, they don't tell you all of this until you've already moved in.  Check out all of these items that are checked EVERY Tuesday...

1) Grass can be no longer than 4 inches in height to include the seed shoots.

2) Collect all coconuts and palm fronds and pile them next to but not on the sidewalk.  

3) Keep grass edged next to sidewalks, roadways, and building foundations.

4) Remove grass from cracks in sidewalk, driveway, streets, curbs, and parking spaces.  

5) Remove algae from patios and sidewalks every 6 months.  

So for violations, Brian's commander will be notified.  They work on a point system kinda like your driver's license.  Once you reach so many points, you are evicted.  Also, the violations can be mentioned on Brian official military record!  This is crazy.  If these people think that I am going to stand in traffic and remove grass/weeds from cracks in the street, they have got another thing coming.  I am tempted to see if they actually get out of the car and measure the grass height in our yard.  

I intend to hire a teenager to keep us in check while Brian is gone, but until then we don't even own an edger.  

Keep you fingers crossed the the yard nazis are nice on our first inspection this Tuesday!

Island Time

The phrase "Island Time" has taken on an entirely new meaning since moving to Guam.  Locals are just not prompt and feel NO sense of urgency about anything.  I seriously don't think that I have ever been to a work meeting, or any other kind of meeting, here that has started on time.  A recent example of island time is a baby shower that I went to.  It was an informal lunch-break shower with working people.  The appointed time was 1100.  The mom and dad-to-be showed up at 1215.  There was apparently no indication that they were concerned about inconveniencing everyone.  From what I hear, they didn't even apologize for being late.  (I don't know first hand, because I had to leave and go back to work!)  They had no emergency excuse like a flat tire, etc....nothing.  Another example is that businesses may or may not open /close at the advertised time.  Sometimes, I race to get somewhere before they close only to find that they closed their doors early!

Most of you who know me know that I am always on time (on time is at least 5 minutes early in my book).  I have very little patience for people who are consistently late, eeehhhem...Casey.

Anyway, I myself was late to two meetings in two days, and I am afraid.  I am afraid that the island time is starting to wear off on me.   Maybe it is not fair to pin this on the locals, maybe it really is just an island thing...

Moving?!?

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.  We currently live in a really great place, a spacious condo right on the beach.  Knowing that the unique situation in Guam would probably be our only opportunity in life to actually live on the beach, we took it!  We've lived here for just over 2 years, and we couldn't have found a better place to spend our first years together. Besides a grassy backyard that flows onto the beach and then the ocean, we have a community pool, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a wonderful garden tub.  

We've decided to move to the Air Force base.  The houses are all identical in shape and color; they just vary in # of bedrooms and bathrooms.  We will be assigned to a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house.  Assignments are based on rank and number of children.  One bathroom, and ONLY one bathroom sink (Brian's sink is always, ALWAYS gross).  I am trying to convince myself that we've made the best decision, so I've compiled a list of positives:

-we will have our own yard

-we will have our own coconut trees to hang the hammock

-we will have a covered patio

-we will have central AC (we have a split unit for each room now)

-we won't have any utilities bills (just telephone and cable if we want it)

-you can even go get free light bulbs...

-we can bike to work

-our commute will be about 3 mins instead of up to 45 mins

-we can go home for lunch!

-the fitness center will be about a mile away (New Year's resolution that hasn't panned out thus far)

The biggest things that I am worried about are missing the beach (there is a beach on the AF base, but I will have to drive to it), and the proximity neighbors/coworkers.  I've witnessed some really great friendships formed in base housing, but I have also witnessed the high school type gossip.  You basically live next to all of the people you work with...sometimes you just want to be incognito, right?  Well, you can forget that if you live on a military base.  

The social structure of the military is very strange.  I personally feel like I am an outsider since I am not in the military, but everyone else labels you based on your affiliation.  So technically, no one can be immune to the social structure.  I cringe every time someone asks me what Brian's rank is; they will subconsciously pass judgement on me based on my husband's rank.  It doesn't matter if they are higher or lower ranking; they will still pass judgement on me.  I try to avoid the topic in all conversations, but people always ask.  I try to answer them as generically as possible.

When you live on base, the military members name and rank are posted on the front of the house...There will be fewer opportunities for me to just be Katie.  

Congratulations are in order!

I am pleased to announce that I will be an aunt for the 3rd time...wooohooo!  My brother and sister-in-law are expecting baby #3 in July.  I already know that Jack and Ben will be great big brothers.  Living so far far from these guys has been tough, and I hope to make a visit to them this year!  

Big Bro Jack 

Future Big Bro Ben

Chuuk (Truk Lagoon)

Brian and I just returned from a quick diving trip to Chuuk. During WWII, Chuuk was a large naval base used by the Japanese. On February 17 and 18, 1944, the US Navy began "Operation Hailstone" over Chuuk, and this operation sunk over 60 Japanese ships in the shallow Truk lagoon. Most of the ships are large cargo ships and many of them are still very intact, just as they were when they sunk in 1944. Brian and I dove in and around 7 ships and one Japanese Bomber plane. Diving through the boats still filled with cargo, we saw telephones, gas masks, sake bottles, cases of sake, bombs, tons of rifle rounds, a bike, toilets, teapots, dishes, a truck, spare plane propellers, a zero, and other stuff. It was kind of eerie to know that so many people had gone down with these ships. According to our South Pacific guidebook, this battle represents the largest Naval loss in history.

The coral growth on the wrecks attracts schools of fish. There were magnificent soft corals that I had never seen before all over the boats. We saw several sharks, tons of tuna, and an eagle ray.

While diving through the cargo holds of the Fujikawa Maru, my dive watch notified me that I needed to get a little bit shallower or my body would absorb too much nitrogen. I began to go up a level on the boat (the beams that separated the different floors of cargo areas were still intact but the floor was actually gone). I rose to the next floor of the boat while Brian and the divemaster stayed in the lower hold. When I popped up at the next floor, a small (5 foot) reef shark and I were in a room together. We've seen many sharks and I've never worried about them, but I have also never been alone in a confined space with one. I thought to myself, "I can either go back down with the dive guide and Brian where I may die from nitrogen absorption or I can stay in the room with the shark." I decided to stay with the shark, and I tried to flatten myself up against the wall while the shark started darting around looking for an exit. He finally found a way out (up) and left me in the room alone to calm down!

a toilet from the plane below

'Bomber Betty'

me and one of the bomber's prop engines

Bomber Betty

a telephone from the Heian Maru

dishes, sake bottles and other treasures from another ship wreck

a bomb!

a gas mask from the Fujikawa Maru

me swimming through a cargo hold

looking out from one of the cargo holds

me at a pit stop between dives

Brian was ready to adopt this cat at the scuba resort...

"Jersey" our boat driver, Estos our divemaster, me, and Brian

me at Jeep Island another break between dives

me at Jeep Island, again between dives