Amazing Miracles

So, I want to talk about something personal. Something that absolutely changed our lives and just one of the many things that made us realize how great God truly is. Gather up some tissue because this one is a long tear jerker. Here goes...

Remember the story of how we found out I was pregnant? Well, there's a little more to that story then what I revealed. A few days after those two pink lines popped up on the pee stick, we were still over the moon with happiness. We had found out that I was 5 weeks along and that was about all we knew at this point. Still so very happy though!  But that happiness turned into overwhelming fear a week afterwards. I got up one morning and was very dizzy and light headed. I was also pretty nauseous but I just assumed that these symptoms we just normal pregnancy annoyances, so I tried to brush them off.  But as the day progressed, so did my symptoms. I guess my motherly instinct kicked in early because I just knew something was wrong. I decided that I needed to go to the emergency room just to make sure everything was okay with the baby. I was so dizzy that I didn't think I needed to drive but Justin was at work. So I called my amazing friend Sara and she was sweet enough to take me and sit with me in the ER until Justin got off of work. So when we got there, the Corpsman came in, took my vitals, asked what the problem was, took blood and made me pee in a cup. Lieutenant Mameninski, the OB on call at the ER that night, decided to do a vaginal ultrasound just to be on the safe side. Fun stuff, huh? I still felt like crap but was trying to stay positive and not let my worries get the best of me. When he started the ultrasound, his face turned very serious and he turned the screen away from me. He pulled the Corpsman aside and gave him orders to take me down to have a sonogram. At this point, just judging from the look on every one's faces, I could tell that something was wrong with either the baby, or with myself. The whole time, Sara was holding my hand and trying her best to keep me calm (how lucky was I to have her there?!). During the sonogram, the screen was turned to where I couldn't see it, just like the other one was. Way to freak a pregnant lady out! It lasted for about 15 minutes and when it was over, the radiology lady tried to seem chipper (she didn't do a very good job) and told me they were going to send everything they had gathered to the doctors/hospital at Hickam AFB in Hawaii so they could get a better look and give us their opinion on the situation. Situation? There's a situation? I had no idea since everyone was tip toeing around me and not telling me a dang thing. So, they wheeled me back to my room and told me it was going to be a little while before they heard anything from Hawaii. We had been there since about 5:00 pm and it was around 9:00 or 10:00 at this point. Justin was working nights. Just wanted to clear that up ;)  Anyway,we had some time to kill so Sara was trying to keep me calm by showing me stupid YouTube videos and playing some music. It helped up until the point when the nurse came in an hour or so later and said that my husband needed to get there ASAP. Ah, crap. THAT'S when I knew something was way wrong. She said she would call him and they would talk to us about what was going on when he arrived. The hospital wasn't on Kadena (the base we lived on). It was on a Naval base a few miles down the road. Only about a 10 minute drive from Justin's shop. As I waited for Justin to get there, my mind was going nuts and my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I wasn't expecting Justin to show until at least 45 minutes since he had to find someone to cover for him at work and all but about 15 minutes after the nurse got off the phone with him, he came running through the door. My hero! Sara hugged me and I thanked her for bringing me and being there for me, then she went on her way. The doctor came in and gave us news that expecting parents never want to hear. There was a baby in there but they couldn't find it. They believed that I had an ectopic pregnancy and that he was still in my fallopian tube. We were crushed. Justin was trying so hard to keep it together for me and held my hand the whole time. They told me that there was an extremely small chance that the baby would work his way down into my uterus but they were going to give him a chance. Thankfully, Dr. Mameninski promised us that he would be my doctor from there on out and throughout my whole pregnancy and so on. Thank the Lord. I had always heard stories from people that had babies on Oki that you never see the same doctor twice and you never know who will deliver your baby. He was truly God sent and we were so blessed to have him. Anyway, he ordered me to go home and rest and to come back to the hospital every 6 days to get blood work done. If my hormone levels had doubled like they were supposed to, that meant things were going the way they should and that the baby was working his way down. But just in case my levels weren't doubling, I needed to pack an overnight bag so I could have surgery to remove the baby. Talk about terrifying. I signed the discharge papers around 1:00 am and had to compose myself before we left. We were completely silent on the ride home, just the sounds of me sucking up snot and trying not to cry. When we got home, I let the dog out and was getting ready for bed. When I walked into the bedroom, I saw Justin knelt next to the bed on his knees, crying and praying. The water works came back on full force when he grabbed my hand and pulled me down with him. We prayed for God's will to be done and for him to give us the strength and faith we needed to get through this and to watch over this child that we wanted so badly. After we prayed, we got in bed and Justin held me and we both cried ourselves to sleep. The next few days were rough. I rested for a couple of days before going back to work. Six days after we left the ER, I packed my dreaded overnight bag and we headed to the hospital to have my first round of blood work done. I got my arm pricked and we impatiently waited for the results. Dr. Mameninski came in the waiting room, results in hand and a smile on his face and gave us the good news...my levels had doubled. Praise the Lord! He told us not to get too excited just yet because we still had three weeks of blood work and not knowing ahead of us. If my levels continued to double, he was going to do an ultrasound after the four weeks to see where and how the baby was. So every week for the next month, we went to the hospital, overnight bag in tow, and continued to get good news. But we were trying to restrain from getting excited just in case something went wrong. Week four finally came and my hormone levels along with everything else were exactly where they needed to be. Dr. Mameninski did the ultrasound and there he was. Our little miracle. He was in there. We both burst into happy tears and then smiled when we saw him wiggle and give us the thumbs up. Our baby was okay, and already had a sense of humor and was keeping us on our toes! Dr. Mameninski was just as shocked as we were and said that the odds of something like this happening were highly unlikely, but that God was watching over us and our little miracle child. The rest of my pregnancy was pretty easy. No more complications, until about an hour after I delivered and the day after.

Right before I started pushing, I had a 103 fever that I just couldn't break. After two hours of pushing, Silas finally decided to grace us with his presence. Seeing him take his first breath and hearing his first cry was the most relieving feeling. He was finally here and was okay. But since I had had a high fever when I delivered, it transmitted to him. And because he was so big (10 lbs 22.5 in), he was having a very hard time regulating his blood sugar. He was in the room with us for about a hour and we got to hold him for a few minutes each, then they rushed him to the NICU when his blood sugar drastically dropped to 20. Again, panic set in. They put a huge IV in his little newborn head and I didn't get to see him for the first 24 hours of his life. Once they took him to the NICU and got both of us squared away, Justin went home to shower, let the dog out, eat, rest, and call everyone to give them the good news. About 20 minutes after he left, I crashed. I asked the nurse to help me to the bathroom (first time I'd been out of bed in nearly 30 hours). Once I got up and got in there, I sat down and a huge soccer ball sized blood clot fell out of me (sorry for putting that image in your mind but I'm just being truthful!). I looked up at the nurse and said "I'm about to pass out". And that's exactly what I did. Boom! I hit the floor....hard! When I finally came to nearly 3 hours later, I was hooked up to heart monitors, IVs and oxygen. I had no idea what had happened. All they told me was that I had lost a lot of blood and that I passed out. Well, duh! I knew that. Anyway, I started doing better so they took me back and got me settled into postpartum. But I still hadn't seen Silas. After I got settled in, they finally let me shower and eat. While I was doing that,  Justin told me he was going to go down to the NICU to check on Silas and that he'd be right back. Over an hour later, Justin came strutting through the door with a HUGE smile on his face and told me that he got to hold Silas, give him a bath, feed him, and rock him to sleep. Oh, I was crushed! I burst into tears because I had barely gotten to see him and let alone all of those things. I could have killed him (looking back, I'm kind of glad he got that special alone time with him). But Justin told me that after I got some rest and recovered from my little spell I had earlier and gained some strength, I could go down that night after supper. Later that night, Justin wheeled me down there and explained to me before we saw him that he had a huge port in his head and was hooked up to an IV and that I just needed to brace myself to see him like that. After what felt like a never ending wheel chair ride to the NICU, I finally got to see my baby boy. He was perfect...even with a huge IV in his head. It was so hard as a new mom to see him with that big thing in his head and hooked up to stuff, but I was so happy and blessed that after all we had been through in the beginning, he was here and was healthy and happy. I was in heaven with my little family. We stayed with him for about an hour before I had to go back to my room. They kept Silas over night in the NICU which was a blessing in disguise because I got to sleep all night...with the exception of the nurse coming in every few hours taking my vitals and to shove iron pills down my throat. The next morning, Silas' blood sugar was finally back to normal and he was discharged from the NICU. I finally got to hold him and love on him like I'd been waiting to for 9 months. We ended up staying another night at the hospital because of both of our complications. We finally got to go home early the next afternoon and I cant tell you how relieved I was that all that medical drama non sense was over and that we finally had our miracle baby home.

As I sit here writing this with tears in my eyes reliving it all, Silas is cuddled up next to me watching Cars and talking away. He is proof that God is so amazing. He gave us this beautiful child that the doctors said would never make it. He heard our prayers and knew how much we wanted this child. The struggles that we went through at the beginning of my pregnancy and after Silas was born was a test of our faith. God knew what he was doing. He had our baby in his hands the whole time. I love Silas James more than words can ever explain and thank God every single day for him. He truly is our miracle child and proof that miracles happen everyday and that there is a God. God is good...all the time.

The first picture of baby Silas. If you look closely,

you can see a tiny thumbs up.

This is our first picture together...and a glance of what 26 hours

 of labor looks like. I could have stayed in the moment forever.

Is this not the most pitiful thing?! Heartbreaking to a new mother.

 

You Know You're Stationed Overseas When....

Being a brand new military spouse is a challenge within itself. There are certain little things that you pick up on pretty quickly through. Things like avoiding the commissary and BX on pay day. Knowing your husbands social security number better than you know your own (and thinking long and hard when someone actually asks for yours). And avoiding being outside or on the road at 5:00 for retreat. But when you throw living overseas into the mix, it just ads to the never ending list of things you have to learn. Being 19, brand new to the military community, AND living in a different country far different from East Tennessee, I was overwhelmed with not only the mass amounts of Air Force rules and regs that I needed to learn and obey, but the Japanese cultural and customs as well. I guess you could say we caught on pretty fast. We really didn't have a choice. You either learn it and live it, or don't learn it and never leave your house. I chose to learn it.

Here are some things that I learned about being a military spouse and being stationed overseas:
-You always have two kinds of currency with you at all times. Cash and the currency of your hosting country. In our case, it was yen.
-You've learned not to shop at the BX for clothes unless you want to have multiple twins.
-If you want to make a doctors appointment for anytime soon, you will get up at 0600 and start calling the clinic.
-You know better than to try and go off base at quitting time (1700ish). Not only is the gate slammed, but off base traffic is unbearable.
-You know everything there is to know about what you can and cannot mail.
-Online shopping is a breeze. All of your favorite sites already have your credit card information saved so with just one click, it's on its way.
-Exciting news that you want to tell your family has to wait until it's a decent hour where they are.
-Going to the post office and seeing that little yellow slip in your mail box is the highlight of your day/week.
-If you want to send a package to someone for their birthday etc. in the states, send it a week or two ahead of time to ensure that it will get there in time.
-Going to the post office anytime after Thanksgiving is like a suicide mission.
-You start online Christmas shopping six months ahead of time.
-Finding out what tomorrows exchange rate is either makes you happy or sad.
- If you want a bag of real potatoes, you will put up with having at pay $14 a bag.
-You get use to having to explain customs forms to your family when they send you packages and hearing them ask every time they call "Did you get my package yet?".
-You have learned just enough of your hosting country's language to barely scape by and get your point across.
- Utilizing space just comes natural after a while.
-Laughing when new comers freak out when they hear a typhoon is coming and stock up on canned food and water.
-Feeling earthquakes so often that it doesn't even phase you.
-Buying holiday food supplies weeks ahead of time and having to re plan your menu when the commissary doesn't have the things you need.
-Getting lost on a beautiful Saturday just so you can see new sites becomes one of your favorite things to do on the weekends.
-Driving on the wrong side of the road freaks you out....once. Then it just comes natural.
-Getting pissed when you find out some guys got drunk and screwed up over the weekend and now we all have to pay for it.
-Protesters outside the gates.
-The sounds of KC-135s and F15s flying over your house at all hours of the night and day and rattling your windows becomes comforting after a while.
-Getting use to having a base wide LORE every few months that ruins your life for a whole week.

Oh, I could go on and on but I believe I'll stop there. I'm sure you lovely ladies can probably think of a ton more but my brain hurts! Let me know if you have any to add! I would love to hear them!

Now it's time to be productive and get some crap done. Have a great day y'all!

Best Friends Forever

You know when you're in high school and you say/ think that you and your friends will be friends forever, but then you eventually drift apart? But if you're lucky, you have a few that you still talk to or see on occasion? Having close military friends is like that...in no way whatsoever.

Like I've told y'all before, I was 19 when Justin and I got married and moved to Japan. I left all of my friends that I have had since Kindergarten. I was worried that when we got to Okinawa, I wouldn't make friends really well. Which was an absolutely crazy thing to think, because if you have ever met me, you know that I am probably the most talkative person on the planet and could make friends in hell. I have no idea why I thought that. Nerves, maybe? Any who, when I got to Japan, it took me a while to actually put my self out there and try to meet people and make friends, even though I was perfectly capable of it. I was in a terrible frame of mind for a while after we got there so I wasn't really trying. But, one day in the commissary, I asked a stupid question to a random stranger that just so happened to become one of my very nearest and dearest friends on the entire planet. And it goes a little something like this....

I had been in Japan for about a month. We had just moved into our apartment so I had yet to meet anyone living in our building...or go to the grocery store. One day, I just got so sick of eating at the food court that I decided I was going to make a pot of chili. But we had absolutely nothing in our house to eat except for coffee and pop tarts. That doesn't exactly make for a good meal. So I had to take a little life changing trip to the commissary. It was the first time I'd been to actually grocery shop instead of just going in to grab a thing or two and run out. So, there I was, wondering up and down each isle looking for chili ingredients. I was looking for tomato sauce and could not for the life of me find it. I finally broke down and asked someone to point me in the right direction. And from that moment on, my life was forever changed. The girl that I asked was so sweet and friendly and helped me right away (She didn't work there in case you are wondering. Just some random shopper). I also asked a stupid question about tomatoes but I can't remember what it was. I just remember that she laughed at me! After she took me to the all things tomato isle, we chit chatted for a bit then went our separate ways, never expecting to see one another again. Later that evening, we had the front door open and the screen door closed to let in some fresh Okinawa air. I was in the kitchen making my chili concoction when I heard a knock on the door. Justin answered it, then yelled for me to come to the door. When I turned the corner and looked out the door, I saw my sweet, bubbly commissary buddy standing there introducing herself as our neighbor! I was so surprised and so happy that the random stranger that was kind enough to help me find my way in the commissary lived right across the way from me! From that day forward, we were inseparable. She was my very first and very best friend that I made on Okinawa and in the military. And still to this day we are best friends. We can go days on end without talking to one another but as soon as we do talk, it's like we never skipped a beat. We have seen each other through so much. Ups and downs. Good and Bad. Drunk and sober. She is my other soul mate and I love her dearly! I got lost in the commissary for a reason that day. It was so God could put my amazing friend, Ashley, in my life. She is my Dirka Dirka for life and I love her, always.

As I got more and more comfortable with the island and with meeting people, I made a lot of good friends that I will never forget and will always love. Especially my POL girlfriends! The guys that Justin worked with and their wives quickly became our family. Every holiday was spent at our friends, the Wisemans, every year. It made being away from our families over the holidays so much more bearable. We would always have a big meal and sit around talking and enjoying each others company. The guys would eventually wonder off with their cold ones to the "man cave" to throw darts or play cards while the girls stayed down stairs and sipped wine. As much as I love being home for the holidays, I will always remember and love the holidays we spent with our military family.

When I started working at Human Resources office on base, I meet a woman that not only became my friend, but my island mom! She was/is my rock. She saw me through me through everything and was always there every step of the way. I honestly don't know how I would have made it through my pregnancy without her. I still call her my island mom and she is Silas' "Mae Mae"! We still talk all the time and we even go to Louisiana to see her sometimes. I love her more than she probably knows and am beyond thankful that God placed her, as well as all of my Oki loves, in my life.

Even through military friendships are one of the greatest blessings of being in the service, it's also one of the hardest. You get so close to these people and become a family with them all, that when it's time to say "see ya later", it tears your heart out. Unfortunately, that's just part of it. But, if you are lucky enough to have friends as great as ours, the distance between you means nothing. I still talk to almost all of my lovely ladies that I met in Okinawa and Justin still talks to a lot of his buddies, even though we are spread all over the globe now (Social networking is the greatest). The friends that you make in the military, especially those you make while stationed overseas, will be your friends for life and will always feel more like family. It's a bond that can't be broken. I look forward to the new friends that I will make in the future, but will never forget the family we made in Okinawa.

POL Wives. Love them all.

My fellow POL wife, Cynthia. Love her.

My 22nd birthday dinner with some pretty amazing ladies.



Me and my Island Mom, Mary

Sweet Sara and I at Maragaritaville

My very first friend, Ashley! Love you Dirka Dirka!

Home Is Where You Make It

So, now that I'm done rambling on about my boring life, we're going to move onto bigger and better things. Today's topic: Making a military house a home. Doesn't sound fun, but we're going to make it fun! Here goes!

When we first got to Japan, the first thing we needed to do was obviously find a place to live. Before our appointment to look at houses with a housing office agent, I had been observing the different neighborhoods and houses all around base. The houses on Kadena, well all Okinawa bases really, were different. Since Okinawa is such a small island prone to typhoons, the houses had to be sturdy. And by golly, that's exactly what they were! They were big concrete blocks with a bathroom and kitchen carved in the middle. Well, not exactly, but they were concrete and super sturdy. We lived through countless typhoons in our little on base apartment and never felt a thing. The worse thing that a typhoon ever did to us or our house was over flow our toilet with sewage. Okay, Kayla. Get your ADD under control and get back on track! Any who, the houses that we had saw in passing seemed relatively nice, the newer ones did anyway. A lot of the houses/duplexs/apartments were in the process of being renovated from the time we got there until the day we left. When we drove up to the first option that was offered to us, I looked at Justin and said "Is this a joke?". It looked like the ghetto of Kadena. For real. We went in and I was blown away, and not in a good way. It was old and not up to date and just not what I expected. But before I could turn it down, we had to look at our next/last option. Yeah, we only got to options. The second apartment was right down the road from the "ghetto" and was a wee bit nicer. We went inside and I was far more impressed than I was with the first one. I decided in my mind that this one was better than the crap we'd seen before and that this was going to be our first home together. But what sold me on the place was the view. The apartment was on a hill and you could see the entire flight line AND the beach from our front and back yard. I was sold. Justin liked the first crap hole but I told him there was no way that I was going to live in a place that I considered the "bad part of town" (It really wasn't that bad. It was just that damn jet lag and PMS again). That day, we signed on the dotted line and it was a done deal. We had our first house together. And the best part...it was free! No rent. No utilities. Notta. Sweet.

Military housing isn't always bad. I've been to bases where the housing is unbelievably nice, and others where you'd be better off living in a box...or off base, of course. We had the option of living off base but at the time, I was afraid to go off base by myself, let alone live off base. (I was extremely close minded in the beginning).

For all you new military wives, what I will refer to you as newbies to make it easier, just keep a few things in mind when choosing a house. And bare in mind that I'm only talking about on base housing at the moment because we have never lived off base.
Numero Uno: Things aren't always going to meet your expectations. Take my story as a perfect example. Just keep an open mind about it and think about what potential it may have.
Numero Duo: Whatever place you choose will be completely empty. No furniture. No essentials. Nothing but appliances and bare, base colored walls. It's up to you to furnish your new place and to provide the essentials that you will need. I'll get into that more when we talk about PCSing. Coming soon...
Numero three: No matter what your new place looks like, old or new, crappy or happy, you can always make it your own. Spruce it up with some paint and decorations. Plant some flowers in the yard. Throw a colorful rug on the bare floors. Just do whatever you have to do to make it homey to you.

And last but not least, remember the name of this post because it is 100,000% true. Home is where you make it. Contrary to popular belief, home isn't where you're family is or where you're from. Nope. You're a military wife now and home is where the military sends you and most importantly, home is where your husband is.

They may sound simple and obvious, but it is the best advice I can give to turning a house into a home. Check out the pictures of our house in Oki and see what I mean about turning it into your own. The top picture is our "quad-plex". Ours was the one on the bottom. 5454B Gabreski St. The second picture is the view from of the base and flight line from our back yard. You can't really see the beach in this picture but it was there! The rest are pictures of our living room. We made it ours with a few little things and a lot of love! I tried to find pictures of the way it was before we decorated so I could try to do a before and after thing, but I have no clue where those pictures are at the moment. Maybe I'll find them one day! And when I do, I'll show you! Have a good day, y'all!

                                         

Should We Stay or Should We Go? Part 2

After baby Silas was born, Justin started talking about how he wanted Silas to grow up in the same place that we did and be raised the same way we were and around the same people. He didn't want Silas to be a military brat and never having a place to call "home". He wanted him to have stability. Justin started looking into this program called Palace Chase. It's where you transfer from active duty to either the guard or reserve. Justin decided that he wanted to put in for it so we could go back home and raise Silas around his family and give him the life that we (thought) we wanted for him, and all Justin would have to do is be a weekend warrior. I wasn't sure what I thought about it. I really didn't want to get out of active duty because I loved everything about our life in active (well, most everything). But I had to be supportive. That's what military wives do. So, he submitted his package for this program and a couple of months later, he found out that he had gotten accepted and he would now be an Airman in the Tennessee Air National Guard. We moved from Okinawa at the first of November to start a new life in the Guard and back home in Tennessee. It was scary coming back home to no jobs and soon to be no income. But thankfully the good Lord had plans for us and we both found jobs within a month of being home. I started working at a Mini Cooper dealership and Justin got on with Norfolk Southern as a conductor. Everyone had always told us that working for the railroad had great benefits and great pay and all that good stuff that people look for in a career. But what they didn't tell you was that you only get those great things if you have the seniority. Justin went to training and then started doing rotationals at each rail yard.  We had a steady pay check until the rotations ended and he got put on the extra board. The extra board is a stupid system that the railroad uses to screw over new guys. They put you on this board and you're on call 24/7 and go to work whenever and where ever they need you. And the real kicker is that you only get paid for the days you work. Justin was doing good to get 2 days of work a week so needless to say his paycheck was microscopic. After a few months of tiny pay checks, Justin started his mandatory two week orders at the guard base. After a few days of being a full time Airman again, he started to second guess his decision of getting out. That's when he started looking for ways to get back in. Justin thought he would go talk to a recruiter to see what his chances of getting back to active would be. Again, the good Lord was watching over us and had a plan already layed out for us. There just so happened to be a program open at the time that was geared towards filling spots in certain career fields to 200 prior service members. Jackpot! Most of the career fields that they were looking to fill were special operation jobs. No way. Not gonna happen. Thankfully, there was a position open for recruiters. Justin and his amazing recruiter, MSGT Israel, started to put his package together to submit for this prior service program. We had to go interview with the superintendent of the squadron and explain why we wanted to go back and all that jazz (Yes. Even I was interviewed).He put in his recommendation and we were told that we would find out whether or not he got accepted back into active duty the first week of December. But you know the military motto...hurry up and wait. And that's exactly what we did. We waited. We waited and we waited and we waited. And finally, he got the call that we had been waiting for for over a month! He had a phone interview with the selection commission on a Friday afternoon and she said we would get a definite answer sometime at the beginning of the week and find out where we would be stationed. Talk about the longest weekend of our lives! Monday passed and we hadn't heard anything. Tuesday passed. Nothing. And finally, Justin got a call welcoming him back to active duty and telling him that our new home will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We were elated! We just found all of this out in early January so the excitement hasn't exactly worn off yet. Justin leaves in mid April for tech school at Lackland for 6 weeks and then we will be on our way to Arkansas around the end of June. We are nervous to move again and a bit sad that Silas isn't going to be around his family all the time like he is now, but it's honestly what's best for us. And you're probably wondering what made Justin change his mind about the things he wanted for Silas. The answer to that is that he wants what's best for him. We want to him to have family, and values and a place to call "home" and he will. We aren't going to let those things fall to the way side because they are important to us and we want them to be important to him as well. We will only be 8 hours away so it will be much easier to come home for a visit than it was when we were in Oki (and way cheaper too!). I'm looking forward to this new journey that we are about to embark on and cant wait to see what life brings and to share this experience with y'all through my blog!

Okay, now my story is over...for now. I'm going to move onto more important and useful things now that y'all know a little more about me! If you have any ideas for topics or anything you would like me to post information about, just let me know and I'll see what I can do! I'm here to help!

Should We Stay or Should We Go? Part 1

At the beginning of Summer 2010, Justin and I had been in Okinawa for a year and a half. At the beginning of the year, we started pinching pennies and stashing extra cash away so we could take leave and go home to Tennessee to visit for a while. Tickets were at their cheapest $1300 for that time of year and we had to buy two! That's why we only went home that one time. Anyway, the week before we left for Tennessee, Justin and I had a long discussion about kids. We were only 21 and had been married for two years, but we felt as if that's what was missing from our life. That week, we decided to go off of birth control and just let nature take its course...not try to get pregnant but not try to prevent it. The following week, we were on a plane bound for beautiful East Tennessee. It felt so good to be home and to be back where we came from, where we fit in. Being able to sleep in and not have to hit the snooze button and procrastinate work for an hour felt so nice. Good food. Good people. Good times. But all good things must come to an end. We found ourselves back at McGhee Tyson Airport after just a short month saying our "see ya laters" to friends and family. Our other life, the hectic Air Force life, awaited us on the other side of the globe. Back to reality we went. When we landed at Naha Airport around 10:30 pm, our friend, Kasey, who we graduated high school with and just so happened to be stationed at Kadena as well, was there to pick us up. When we got back to base, I remembered that I had forgotten my toothbrush at my dads and told Kasey that I needed to stop at the shopette to get a new one. While I was in there, I passed by a shelf of pregnancy tests. As I glanced over at them, I thought "I haven't had a period in over a month. Better pick one of these bad boys up just in case". The next morning, well, afternoon (jet lag is a bad word), we rolled out of bed and started our day. I went to the bathroom and pulled the pregnancy test out from under the bathroom sink. I had it hidden from Justin because I didn't want to freak him out until I knew for sure whether I was preggo or not. Anyway, I did my business on the little pink stick, sat it down and waited. One pink line popped up, not pregnant. I was just thinking "Okay. No biggie. My cycle has just been thrown off since I haven't been on the pill in a while. I'll start soon". A few days later, after the jet lag had worn off and we had gotten back into our work routine and all that fun jazz, I realized that I still hadn't started. So, Saturday morning (about a week and a half after we had returned from TN), I peed on the other stick and waited, not expecting anything. I sat it down, washed my face and went about my business. Then I glanced down at the stick and saw TWO pink lines! TWO! I had to do a double take just to make sure I wasn't seeing things! There it was, staring me in the face. PREGNANT! I was shocked. Happy, but shocked. I wasn't expecting it to happen that fast. After all, I had only been off the pill for a week. Just call me Fertile Myrtle! Anyway, I ran into the living room where Justin was sitting, pee stick in hand, and yelled "Justin!! There's two pink line! Two pink lines!!" He smiled and hugged me and then said to me in all seriousness, "That's great! What does that mean?" I honestly thought he was kidding, but much to my dismay, he wasn't. I screamed, "I'M PREGNANT!!!" Then it hit him! Holy cow. We're going to be parents! We were so excited and couldn't wait to tell our friends and family back home what the Tennessee air had done to me! Too bad we had to wait until it was morning in Tennessee. Being 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time made it tough to tell good news when it happens! I had a pretty scary pregnancy the first few months. (Maybe I'll blog about that another day but I have to get on with the rest of this story before I bore y'all to tears) But on March 4, 2011, God blessed us with a happy, healthy, huge 9 lb 10.1 oz 22.5 in baby boy named Silas James McCullough. We were in heaven.

 

I told you that long story of how I found out I was pregnant to tell the next story...the story that explians the title. Stay tuned. Until then, enjoy some pictures!



Uh oh. Not just another missed period!

The night before I got induced. 40 weeks and 6 days

                  
                     

Hello Cultrure Shock

So you're probably wondering why this crazy blogging lady is posting back to back to back. Well, I'm trying to give y'all a feel of my AF wife life story and get it over with so we can start talking about the important stuff that can actually be useful! There is only one more post after this one then I'm done talking about myself...I promise.

So, after the initial shock of finally being in Japan and all of that fun jet lag crap wore off, Justin and I ventured off base to explore the not so wide world of Okinawa. It was nothing like I pictured it to be. Everything was so close together and some of the buildings were old and run down. I was a little disappointed but Justin reminded me that most of these places were here during World War II and the Battle of Okinawa. Don't get me wrong though, there were a lot of nice places as well. We didn't wonder far from the base...mainly because we had no idea where we were or where we were going. We went somewhere that quickly became one of my favorite places. American Village. It was all of these buildings, stores and novelty shops that had all kinds of neat American type things. It was kind of the Japanese version of what they believed America to be. Obviously, I suck at trying to explain it so just check out the pictures to get a better idea.

The longer we had been there, the more familiar we got with our surroundings and our sense of direction seemed to improve a bit as well. The beaches there were like nothing I'd ever seen before. The water is so crystal clear that you can see straight to the bottom. It's about 20 shades of blue and green and is absolutely amazing! The only thing that I didn't like about the beaches was the coral and the sea weed that was everywhere! It was in the sand, the water. Everywhere! But it was a small price to pay to be able to go to the beach anytime we wanted!

 

There were also all kinds of yummy places to eat at as well. Authentic Japanese food is so much better than America's version of Japanese food. We were always finding little hole in the wall places to eat. Those were usually the best! There was a place that we loved called Arin Krin aka the Garlic House. All things garlic. Garlic rice, garlic pizza, deep fried garlic mashed potatoes, even whole garlic cloves! Ah it was amazing! You would leave absolutely wreaking of garlic! But it was so worth it! The best place on Oki to eat, probably even the best place on the planet to eat was by far Cocos Curry House. We ate there at least twice a week. My mouth still waters to this day thinking of it! I would fly all the way back to Japan just to eat a huge plate of chicken cutlet curry, add cheese and spinach, level 3! Good memories.

Okinawa was also packed with history. Like I said before, the Battle of Okinawa happened there during WWII so you can imagine what kind of history is there. We tried to go on a historic adventure every weekend...when we weren't lounging on the beach, of course! ;) I could write an entire post just about the history! Hey, that's a good idea! Note to self...

I probably should have told you about the base(s) and the housing and whatnot, but that's another topic for another day!

Here are a few more Oki pics for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!