AFAA Certification

It's official.....I'm an AFAA certified group fitness instructor. My certification arrived in the mail this week. Actually, it's probably been there...that's how long it's been since I've picked up mail.
Since many probably don't know, I recently purchased a Stroller Strides franchise here in Okinawa. I've been attending classes since February and absolutely love it! It's a great workout, my running and endurance have improved and the best part is, I get to take Irina to class with me. She loves singing the songs and visiting with all the kids and mommies. She even puts her dolls in their stroller to 'take them to exercise to see their friends' and then runs around the house.
Now that I'm instructing classes, she mimics me. I walked into the living room the other day to find her hooking up a resistance band to her bouncy horse. She proceeds to do some bicep curls and then says "OK ladies, wrap it up..we're going to our next station". It was hysterical...too bad I didn't have the camera on me.
Robert gets to work out with me on the weekends to review the classes I've come up with. Irina loves running around the base and getting out of the stroller to do her exercises. This has been a great new adventure for me...for all of us.

Special Morning

Since Robert became a Company Commander at the Battalion his hours at home with us have become limited. Weekends are no longer just for us...they are filled with phone calls, emails and going into the office to take care of just one more thing....and 4 hours later he comes back.
This has been especially hard on Irina. There are many days when he's gone before she gets up and does not get home until she's gone to bed. We of course fill the day with emails to Daddy, drawing him pictures and phone calls whenever possible.
This morning was a special one. He had a meeting at the base just 5 minutes from us which allowed him to stay home until well after she'd woken up. She squealed when she saw him and they were inseparable until he walked out the door. You'll notice in the picture that they are wearing the same shirt. A little 'trick' we discovered while separated for 4 months before moving to Japan was how she loved to sleep in a Daddy shirt when she's missing him.
I just love the smile showing pure joy on her face when she's with her Daddy!
He, of course, still looks tired...and who wouldn't when they average 5 hours of sleep a night.

14 years!

As of the 27th, Robert has been in the Marine Corps for 14 years! I've been along for the 'ride' for almost 9 years now...and what a ride it has been. Reflecting on these years, we've truly been blessed. We've lived in San Diego, Quantico (VA), Cherry Point (NC), Frankfurt (Germany), Quantico (again) and now Okinawa, Japan. Robert has gone from a Sgt (when we got married) to a Captain now. The hours have definitely gotten longer!
I'm extremely proud of him and love being a military wife. While we don't often get the same luxuries of our civilian counterparts, the opportunities afforded us are absolutely amazing. And while we miss our families every day, how many grandparents get to fly to Germany to visit their granddaughter and then to Japan for their hopefully soon to be grandson???
One important thing we've learned with all of our moving...take advantage of where you live. Our trips while living in Europe alone were worth the packing and moving every 2-3 years. The friendships we've gained throughout the years are precious to us.
Thank you to our families and friends who continue to love us and keep in touch even when we're goodness knows how many miles apart. We love and miss you all.

Summer 2008

I'm finally catching up on downloading photos. I thought I'd share a few of our highlights from this summer.


Irina participated in a 6 week T-ball program. Unfortunately, it was Saturday mornings and hot as heck.
This was her favorite part of practice...when they got snacks
and drinks at the end!










Thoroughly enjoying her time at the pool. It helps that we live maybe a 1-2 minute walk from it...literally can see it from our backyard. She's quite the little fish!



Loved going down the slide...even if it was backwards and upside down!
I didn't breathe until she was safely in Daddy's arms.


















She was enjoying her cake!! We celebrated her 1/2 Birthday with a party this year. Moving to Japan within days of her b-day didn't work for a real celebration. She decided on a Dora pool party and loved it!














Can you tell she was excited to open her presents?????

Loss of Tiger

Irina has dealt with her first loss of a pet. My Mom's dog, Tiger, who we've had for approx 16 years passed away last week. As most everyone knows, we spent 4 months living with my Mom before coming to Okinawa while Robert was at a school. She became very fond of the dogs and cats at my Mom's house. So, every time that she talks to my Mom she always wants to say hi to her puppies...Tiger and Babette.
Before calling my Mom last week, I told her that Tiger had gone to puppy heaven. She, of course, wanted to still be able to call and talk to him. I told her that she could talk to Tiger any time she wanted to in her dreams and that he'd give her puppy kisses on her nose. We call MomMom last week and she gets on the phone.
MomMom..you only got 1 puppy now? You sad MomMom?
It's been a week and there's been no mention of Tiger. We call my Mom today and of course she wants to talk.
MomMom...you still sad about Tiger? You still just have 1 puppy?
She then chats it up with Babette and goes back to playing.

Such a sweet sympathetic girl we have!

Luci

I've spoken with some of you about this already but wanted to fill everyone in.
Luci's been having some skin issues which we think we figured out was due to the jerky treats I was giving her when she would be kenneled. After 2 rounds of antibiotics and allergy meds/steroids she's doing much better. Last week, I noticed that she was having some trembling with her jaw going rigid..made me think of lock jaw to explain it. I mentioned it to the vet when we went in for a check up. He was a different vet than we usually saw and I wasn't particularly thrilled with him as he basically shrugged off what I told him. I filled Robert in on the visit and we decided to log any other episodes and if they continued we'd take her in with the details.
We ran errands yesterday and after coming home and putting Irina in her room (she was overly cranky and tired) we started fixing the bottom part of our screen door. Luci was at my side the entire time. She finally laid down and was resting. I headed upstairs to check on Irina and when getting up had put my hand in 'water'. I came back downstairs and asked Robert why there was water on the floor. I looked at Luci and she didn't look right...her eyes were huge and glassy. My poor baby was having a seizure! Robert sat with her while I called the vet. They told me to bring her right over. I started the car to cool it down while Robert got her leash. My friends and neighbors, Lissie and Danielle, were outside. I yelled to them what was wrong when they asked what was going on. Lissie got her purse and met me at the car. Danielle was outside waiting for us and Luci curled up in her lap and her entire body began shaking. We got her to the vet and decided to do some bloodwork to see if there was an underlying issue. All of that came back fine. So, she's now on meds for epilepsy. She takes 2 pills in the am and pm for epilepsy and 2 in the am and pm for her liver as the other meds can affect the liver.
While sitting in the dr's office waiting for her meds, she had another small seizure...lasted about 5 secs.
Robert had gone to bed last night and I stayed up to get some things done. I was headed to bed around midnight when she had another small one. So, I spent the night on the couch with her..and Rommel...so I could keep an eye on her.
She's either sound asleep today or running around like her crazy self. We're hoping this is the first day to her feeling better...finally. She's had a rough 2 months. We have a checkup next Saturday to see how she's doing on the meds.

Okinawa, Japan

As most everyone knows, we are now living on the island of Okinawa in Japan. We love it here! For the first time since we've been married, we really feel like we're at home. Kind of crazy since it's the farthest we've been from our families.
We live on Camp McTureous and I really do think we live on the best 'block' on the entire base. In the 8+ months that we've lived here, our neighbors have become like family.
Robert is really enjoying his job here. He was given a company to command and is eager to prove himself. I know he'll do great!
I keep busy with Stroller Strides, which I've been attending since February, and keeping up with Irina's social calendar. I'm still doing Arbonne, which is pretty popular here.
Irina is thrilled to have 3 little girls as neighbors, all between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5. "Princesses" and "hair" are daily games now. She's involved with yoga, gymnastics and ballet/tap. She loves her classes and is doing great in them! We attend Library Time once a week...Irina thinks Ms. Rachel is wonderful....so do I.
Rommel and Luci love having their own backyard. There is a huge soccer field right behind our house that ensures hours of running around. Luci's best friend, Lady Bird, lives right next door. The girls are often found 'talking' through the fence to one another. Rommel is thrilled someone else is around to keep Luci busy...he's now able to nap and lounge peacefully whenever he wants.
To sum it up, we are having a great time on this tropical island. We love and miss all of you and can't wait for you to visit us!!