Happy New Year! I can’t believe 2019 has already come and gone. I hope each of you had a great year filled with sweet memories, wonderful days, and memorable nights, and I hope that 2020 is your best year yet!
The new year brings lots of new beginnings for us! Brandon has been deployed and finally got home a few days ago! We are so excited and thankful that he is home! We have missed him so much, but we are so thankful my Dad was able to come and visit us while he was gone.
We also have some more exciting news! We finally have PCS orders to move! I know everyone was waiting to hear last year where we would be going next, but we decided to stay one more year in Okinawa! We were surprised with orders to Germany! We are so excited about all the new adventures that are ahead of us this year! We leave in February so I have been keeping it a little bit of a secret.
This has been such a great year for us! We loved going to Korea to see all the beautiful cherry blossoms, and finally making it back home to Texas after being gone for three years! We hope to be home again this summer after we are all settled in Germany!
Here are some of my life lessons from 2019!
Life with kids goes by so fast! Enjoy every minute! I have really noticed that this year as my boys are becoming less dependent on me. I still have Colt and I find myself holding on to every bit of the child in him.
Be prepared to modify your plans! Last year, we couldn’t wait to find out where we would move to next. We even began to prepare for the move and sold one of our cars. However, we found out we were staying and decided to make the most of our last year here and move off base. That has been an amazing experience…we will miss waking up to the Pacific ocean every morning! And then being surprised with early orders to Germany while Brandon was deployed! It’s been quite a year for a change of plans!
Be Kind…for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about! My grandmother used to tell me to never judge someone unless you have walked a day in their shoes. You just never know what someone is going through. If you choose to be kind that is the greatest gift you can give someone!
Sometimes you can’t do it all…Ask for help! This is a big one for me. I think a lot of military spouses feel this way. We have been through so many deployments and get used to doing everything ourselves. I have learned this year that sometimes you just need to ask for help and thats ok!
Experiences are so much greater than things! We have definitely learned that from living overseas and taking so many adventures. we are making so many memories with our boys that mean so much more to them than something we buy for them. You don’t have to take a big fancy vacation…just find something to explore near you and go!
Be kind to yourself and give yourself grace! Take time for yourself. If the kids watch a little too much Tv thats ok. Don’t be so hard on yourself for trying to be the perfect mother. No one is perfect!
Option B: If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it. If your option A does not work out as planned…you have to make the most out of Option B. Because we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it! I also highly recommend the book The Knock at the Door. Everyone at some point in their lives gets a knock at the door they were not expecting. It’s a great book on overcoming grief and how to get through things that happen in life that we were not expecting.
Life is precious: Be sure to tell your friends and family how much they mean to you every chance you get!
Finally, I want to leave you with the same quote I do every year because its my all time favorite. It’s from the movie Hope Floats! “Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most…try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up…and it will.”
So as we welcome 2020…make the middle count! I love y’all and I am so thankful for you! XOXO
Last night I had the most amazing opportunity to meet with fellow blogger friends and get a sneak peek at The Fleet Gift Shop’s holiday opening! Shopping at the gift shops on Okinawa are one of my most favorite things to do. If you are new to the island, grab a friend and head to the holiday opening today from 10:00-6:00 on Camp Shields. The gift shop buyers go to Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, the Philippines, India, and Japan and bring back beautiful pieces to decorate your home with. This opening has some of the most beautiful pieces for your home this holiday. One of my favorite memories of living in Okinawa is going to a holiday opening with one of my best friends and next door neighbor here in Okinawa. Erica and I came home with lots of new stuff to decorate our homes for Christmas. Just as we pulled in, our husbands had come home for lunch. They just watched as we both carried in all our bags and shook their heads. It was such a fun day!
The Fleet Gift Shop holiday store is the perfect place to find decorations for your home and cute holiday gifts. So grab your best friend and head to the Fleet Gift Shop and then go have lunch at one of the cute cafes here on Okinawa! Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!!
After living in Okinawa for three years, I was so excited to go home to the states for the summer before our next move. Sometimes things don’t turn out as planned, and we decided to stay in Okinawa one more year. This meant that we would have to pay for our airline tickets to go home. With a family of 6, that is VERY expensive. Another option would be to take a Space-Available military flight home. These are basically military operational flights that have extra seats. The military mission is always the priority, but military members and their dependents may get on the flight free of charge. I was always afraid to try this because I didn’t want to get stuck someplace with all my boys. I wish I had tried it sooner because we had a great experience.
Space-A Travel Categories
There are 6 categories for passengers from Category 1-6 with one being the highest priority.
Category 1 Emergency leave. (Space-A Travel is allowed on a round-trip basis in connection with serious illness, death, or impending death of a member of the immediate family)
Category 2 Environmental Morale Leave (EML) (Sponsors on environmental and morale leave (EML) and accompanied family members)
Category 3 Ordinary leave. (family members with a deployed Sponsor)
Category 4 Unaccompanied dependents on EML. (Unaccompanied family members traveling on EML orders)
Space-A Signup: This is so important that you do this as early as possible. Your priority within a Space-A category is based on this signup date. Having signed up early is what allowed my big family to have a greater chance of getting on a flight. You want to sign up with every passenger terminal that you might travel through. You are signing up to compete for any flight with Space-A seats at a given terminal. The easiest way to sign up is by email or the Take-a-Hop app. You may sign up with multiple terminals at once. I found all the emails on facebook by searching the different passenger terminals I might be flying through. I sent a mass email to every terminal. Some terminals will not confirm your sign up so be sure to save your email as confirmation. You may sign up as early as 90 days before you want to travel. So be sure to do this as early as possible. Active duty cannot sign up until they are on leave. (Brandon was not flying home with us so we were a Category 4 and we had signed up a month early from when we expected to travel.)
2. Finding Flights: The easiest way to find flights is on facebook. Every passenger terminal will release their flight schedules 72 hours in advance. Keep in mind that these flight can change and cancel last minute so you have to be flexible and patient. It will also tell you what time you need to be present for roll call and how may seats they expect to be available. You can also call the terminal to get further information about a flight.
3. Check-In (Marking yourself present): You have to mark yourself present before roll call so that you can compete for seats. Arriving one hour prior to roll call is plenty of time but you may do this up to 24 hours in advance. Some of the terminals prefer you don’t do this too early because it can get messed up in their system. Most terminals will display a list of all the passengers who have marked themselves present so you want to check this list a few minutes before roll call to make sure everything is correct.
4. Roll Call: The time listed on the passenger terminal facebook page is the time of roll call. Be sure to monitor this time on Facebook because it can change according to the mission. The staff will announce that roll call is about to begin. They will call everyone up to the desk and let everyone know how may seats are available. They will then begin to call passengers according to the highest priority and date of sign up. If they call your name, you have been selected for the flight. You will need to show your military ID and all your paperwork (all dependents 10 years and older must show their ID). They will then have you proceed to the check in desk.
5. Check in bags/order meals: All of your passengers and their luggage must be present at this time. On most flights, you can check 2 bags up to 70 lbs each. You can also check car seats. During baggage check in, you can also order meals if you will be on a long flight. The meals were a little over $5, and they had a lot of food in them. I ended up ordering 5 of them for all my boys and myself. It was a LOT of food. Each box lunch had 2 peanut butter sandwiches, chips, a drink, fruit, and cereal bars. After checking all your bags in, you are officially on that flight and the staff will tell you the approximate boarding time, but it can change. I found that most flights left about 2-3 hours from the roll call time.
6. Boarding: Soon after check-in, they will announce boarding. You will go through security just like you would at a regular airport. You will then remain in a secure area until it is time to board the plane. There are usually vending machines in this area for any last minute drinks or snacks for the flight.
7. Flight: If you decide to fly on the Patriot Express it will be a very similar experience to commercial flights. They have regular seats and in-flight service. If you fly on a military aircraft your experience will be very different. Also, be sure to wear closed toe shoes because it is required on military aircraft. During our Space-A experience, we flew on a C-130 (huge cargo plane with jump seats on the sides and middle), a C-5 military plane (this plane did have some regular seats but you faced backwards), and a C-17 plane which was my favorite (cargo plane that had jump seats on the sides)
8. Arriving at your destination: Once you arrive at your destination, you will get off the plane and wait for your luggage. Some flights might just be a layover and they will usually let you off to grab a drink or snack inside the secure area of the terminal while you wait for the plane to be ready to leave again. Most of the passenger terminals are close to the base hotels so if you get stranded or you are waiting for a flight the next day you can usually get a room for the night. They are very inexpensive and only about $70/night.
Our Space-A Experience
I had been planning to leave as soon as the boys were out of school for the summer. Our plans were to head home to Texas. I was trying to get a flight as close to Texas as possible because Brandon was not flying with us so we would be a category 4 on EML, and once we made it to the US that is as far as we can go on Space-A. If your spouse is deployed you can Space-A within the US. Hawaii and Alaska are still considered overseas so you can continue on from these locations without your sponsor. I found a flight that left the day after the boys were out of school that went From Kadena-Yokota-Alaska-Oklahoma. I couldn’t believe it! There was also a lot of available seats on the flight. We did make it on the flight, but once we got to Yokota they could not take any space-A passengers with them the rest of the way. The next morning there was a flight to Alaska and one to Travis Air Base (California). So we got a room at the hotel on base and showed up for roll call the next morning for the Alaska flight. Well, the Alaska flight got rerouted back to Kadena so I decided to try for the Travis flight later that afternoon. We made it on that flight! However, once we got to California that was as far as we could go on Space-A. Brandon had a lot of airline miles from traveling so much while living overseas so we were able to use them to get home. We also decided to explore San Francisco for a couple of days while we were there.
Brandon eventually joined us in Texas so he was with us on our return trip home. We were trying to decided whether to fly out of Seattle on the Patriot Express or to try and get a flight out of Travis. We decided since it was still peak PCS season and the Patriot is how everyone PCSing gets overseas we would try Travis. We got so lucky. We flew to Travis with airline miles again, and we ended up staying one night at the hotel on base. The next morning there was a flight that went from Travis-Alaska-Kadena. We made it on that flight and it was the easiest flight ever. We only had a 45 minute layover in Alaska, and it was on a C-17 so the boys could just lay out in the middle of the plane and sleep. The crew on this flight were amazing! They let Bryant in the cockpit to watch take off, and Colt in the cockpit to watch landing. It was the best experience! Here are a few pictures from all our adventures at home after being overseas for three years!
What to Pack on a Space-A flight
Make sure you have all your travel documents, military IDs, and passports.
Dress in warm comfortable clothes. The flights can be very cold and you want to have enough layers on and be comfortable.
Pack a small lightweight sleeping pad or mattress. I wish I had brought these for my boys. This is a must if you are on one of the cargo planes. You can use this to lay out on once you are in the air. You can also bring blankets and pillows to be even more comfortable. The crew did provide us with basic travel pillows and blankets.
Travel Pillow
Travel blanket or sleeping bag
Head phones or ear protection. I really love the noise-cancelling heaphones
Portable Charger for all your devices
Load lots of games and movies on devices for kids
Bring snacks or purchase some in the vending machines in the passenger terminals.
I am so glad that I finally had the courage to try Space-A travel. It is such a great benefit for military families! Especially for those of us living overseas with large families which makes it very expensive to get back home to see family. I am by no means an expert at Space-A travel, but I had a lot of my friends asking me how I did it so I thought this would be the best way to share our experience. Adventure Awaits…go for it!!
After living on a tropical island for the last three years, I am always looking for cute new swimsuits. I’m a mother of four boys so they have to hide everything and still look cute and be comfortable. So this post is dedicated to all my fellow mama’s who are rockin’ one-piece swimsuits along with me this summer! I am SO thankful that the one-piece swimsuit and high waisted two piece suits are in style and there are so many stylish, fun, and flattering versions out this summer! I also don’t like to spend a ton of money on a swimsuit because they will be in the sun and salty water a lot.
A few years ago, I came across the cutest pink swimsuit. I just had to have it, but when I found out it was almost $500 I just couldn’t spend that kind of money on a swimsuit. About a month ago, I found almost the exact same suit on amazon. I couldn’t believe it! Although this one is still a little more than I would like to spend I knew from the designer’s name that it would be a high quality suit that I could wear for a long time. After I received it in the mail, I was absolutely right. The material is amazing and very high quality. The little details on the suit are so cute like the ruffle on the sleeve. This suit also comes in black, which I might also have to get!
I also found the cutest high waisted two piece swimsuit that would be perfect for your next vacation. It is so cute and comfortable and comes in lots of different colors and patterns. The best part is that it is only $25 on amazon. I decided on the white because I thought it would be perfect against the turquoise water in Okinawa. I love the cute tassel detail on the front, and the material is very high quality.
I also love Albion Fit swimsuits. They are a little more expensive, but the fit and quality are worth it. My red swimsuit with the bow back is sold out from a few years ago, but I still wear it all the time. Their suits are so comfortable and perfect for every body type.
I have been asked a lot where I find all my cute swimsuits so I hope this helps the next time you are looking for your next swimsuit!
Tis the season for cherry blossoms and sunflowers here in Okinawa! I just absolutely love this time of the year in Okinawa. The beautiful flowers begin to bloom all over the island. The Japanese have a festival for each flower as soon as they are in bloom.
Every year I have lived in Okinawa, I have visited a different cherry blossom festival. The last two years I visited Nakijin Castle and Nago Castle Park. This year we decided to view the cherry blossoms at Mt. Yaedake. It was so beautiful. We walked down the mountain through a trail of cherry blossoms!
The beautiful sunflowers also bloom all over the island. My favorite field is the one in Kitanakagusuku. I have visited this place every year. This year when I went to visit the sunflower field, I was interviewed by the Japanese news. We had a little bit of a hard time communicating because my Japanese is not very good especially with my Texas accent.
I love a beautiful sundress especially when visiting a field of flowers. I found this cute pink sundress at Shein, which has lots of cute dresses at very reasonable prices. I thought the pink would be perfect for a visit to the cherry blossoms this year! My white sundress I have had for years but I will link some similar ones to this post. And finally, my new favorite sunhat for Spring. I found it on Etsy, and you can personalize it with your favorite saying!
I hope that you find a beautiful field full of flowers to visit this Spring!
