Finally In The Land of The Free and The Home of The brave!

We finally made it HOME! Feels so great. My jet lag is horrible to say to the least but I will eventually get over that. For example: I'm blogging and it's 1:45am KC time and 4:45pm Seoul time. Missy is jet lagged too!  We were in the air a total of 16 hours! The flight was okay... The best thing was the individual TV's and the free adult beverages.

We finally got our Sonic fix today. There is just no way to replace their drinks! There is also this great sushi place here in KC we are going to for lunch tomorrow :) We had Rancho tonight with Tyler's family and it was a really great time. I laughed so much my jaw hurt! I can't wait to see my family. My parents met us in the airport and took us home. We had planned on having breakfast the next day with them but I was pretty much comatose for the next 13 hours, so that plan went out the window.

I only packed 1 pair of jeans and 2 shirts... Guess that means I have to go shopping. How terrible is that!? I can just here Zona Rosa calling my name. While we are there I have to pick out my little blue box Christmas present :) I'm spoiled beyond belief I know, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Well I guess that is all for now. I think I'm going to try to catch a few more z's. So happy to be home!

Thanksgiving and Bountiful Leftovers!

Our Thanksgiving holiday weekend was glorious! For the holiday we had 11 people over. We served ham, green bean casserole, corn casserole, rolls, homemade chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, candied yams, apple-butter pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and pecan pie. As far as the turkey and stuffing go, we had a friend offer to make that and I was very thankful he offered! I have a very small Korean oven and it isn't always conducive to my cooking needs.

The food was huge hit. All the boys loved it. I was so glad we were able to provide them a Thanksgiving away from home. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to take too many photo's. My plans were to take to lots of pictures but I was very busy to say the least. So here is a picture of the after Thanksgiving day breakfast!

 I know it's not much :( I also made ham and beans. Oh comfort food, I love you. Our friend Lukas Deem came over for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning and loved it! He had never eaten stuffing with eggs and now says its one of his favorites. Man, can that kid put it away!

In other news our leave is vast approaching! Only 11 days left. I am really hoping this month of leave time can will us through our last 6ish months in Korea. Needless to say its not our favorite place be. I have been doing a little bit of baby sitting lately. I am doing it to raise money for Missy's plane ticket. She is going to cost us $400 bucks! Girls are SO expensive :)

I did happen to gain 4 lbs over the last 10 days.... (Dang you gravy!) So I'm trying a new workout regimine and its kicking my butt. I'm so sore but without pain there can be NO gain. Thanks for checking in. I will try to post as a get more things ready for our leave.

                                                                Happy Holidays!!!!

Things Women Don't Do Anymore...

1. Cook. Lot's of you all keep sweaters in your stove.
2. Clean. 
3. Stay at home.
4. Wear dresses/dress conservatively. Leave something to the imagination ladies!
5. Be polite and considerate. Let's be honest, women are brutal to one another.
6. Write "Thank You" letters. Yes ladies, you still HAVE to do this!
7. Stay pure until marriage.
8. Uphold your man for something more than his wallet.
9. Have clean mouths. *&$% that annoys me! :)
10. Act lady like. And you all wonder why he doesn't show you respect....? Hmmm.

I had to make this post when I realized other people think the same way I do. Twitter today had a hot topic of things women don't do anymore. So I thought I would elaborate. I believe lots of values and traditions have went down the tube as of the last 30 years or so. Women simply aren't conforming to "old" ways and womens roles as they used to. I think this is fine in certain respects but above all we should still remain polite and kind.

I guess maybe laziness has gotten the best of us. Everything is instant nowadays. From email to dinner. If it's not easy... We don't want it. I understand not being very good at something... Like cooking. But many people simply don't want the hassle or the mess. As far as the working aspect goes... Women are go getters! They are going to college, getting their degree, making a solid foundation for themselves and then pursuing husbands! I am proud of all you hard working career women. Keep it up!

This time last year our Company Commander had to send out an email on proper etiquette! I mean wow! I honestly thought that the things mentioned in this email were "common knowledge." Apparently I was wrong. The things mentioned where like the list above. It's not that I want to time travel back 50 years or anything but women back then seemed to have it figured out.

I will get off my soapbox now. I just thought I would see if anyone else still cooks and cleans... Just wondering... I am becoming obsolete?

Baby It's Cold Outside

                                                                       NOTE
                                    ***I've officially given in to Christmas music!***

If you can't tell by the title of this post... It's cold outside. As a matter of fact, less than 5 minutes ago my husband alerted me we are having our first snow of the 2010 winter season! The winters here in Korea aren't to be taken lightly... Heavy coats and boots are a must!

Today was a really great day despite it being a Monday. Tyler got the afternoon off! So he relaxed and I began prep for our Thanksgiving dinner. I made homemade noodles today! Here's a pic of me hard at work!

                                                        And people say housewives don't work :)

We are expecting 8 or so guests! We must be very popular. I just wish I had a bigger oven. Tyler is really looking forward to Thanksgiving. I hope I can give the boys a "family" like Thanksgiving. I know how hard it is being away from home. I will of course post pictures!

Tonight we went out bowling with Morris and a few other people from Tyler's work. I am sooo bad at bowling but I had a great time. Watching was more fun than actually bowling! It was a great start to the week.

Well it's after ten... I'm wore out! Tomorrow holds laundry, pie crust making and prepping for a dinner we are hosting Wednesday night. Good nite all!

Flash Forward

People always say, "Don't wish your life away." I believe this saying goes out the window when you haven't seen your family or visited your hometown in a year! Don't get me wrong I am grateful for all that we have been given in terms of the Army but, it doesn't make us "not miss home" just because we are well taken care of. But it does make it easier to bear.

Army life is hardest on those who are tightly connected to their loved ones. Like us. Many young women and men join because of a lack of family structure. This is not our particular case. Tyler and I have a niece and a nephew whom we've never met. Just take a minute and imagine that... Yep. It's hard. We have gotten stronger as a couple and as individuals because of this lifestyle. At first you just want to reach out to your family and because of this, you tend to push each other away. After you finally come to realize that your family can't be there for you, you lean on one another and you grow. That's the short of it anyway.

Tyler and I want so badly to flash forward. We have missed so much in respect to our "old" life. I honestly have to ask my sister to tell me the popular songs on the radio. My brother and Marissa bought a house and have remodeled it. The twins were born. Reese and Emersen are growing and changing. My dad has had surgery. The list goes on and on. I try not to let it get to me all that often. But I simply can't be happy all the time.

In 38 days we will be HOME! I sincerely hope that a few things work out to our advantage in the next few months. If these things happen, we will be much closer to our family. As always in the Army, you have to remind yourself, out loud, "Don't get your hopes up."

Somethings, besides family and all that comes with it, that I miss are...

• Sonic
• Drive Thru's
• Shopping Mall's
• The English Language
• Normal television
• Long drives
• My car
• Being able to drive period!
• The radio
• Being somewhere that I can actually go back to school!
• Normal traffic and road signs
• Regular Starbucks!
• Walmart

Seoul is a great city... But it's definitely some place we would ever want to come back to. You just can't begin to imagine how excited we are to come back. We talk about it at least three times a week if not more. Now, when I hear the National Anthem, I honestly and truly appreciate it. Not that I didn't before, the Army just has a way of doing that too you :)

As of right now I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner that we are hosting and having over our closest friends we've met here in Seoul. I really can't wait to cook! After that, our visit home will only be a few weeks away and it should be nothing but clear skies ahead. We are scheduled to leave Seoul in July 2011. As far as the near future goes... Today I am babysitting the Aldarondo boys! They are so darn cute! I'm hoping to get a few shots of them in action :)  And next week Tyler and I have a political meeting of some kind next week and at the end of next week we have a 4 day weekend!

                                                                  Isn't she sweet!?

Olympic Park!

Weird modern art...

The picture below is of the flags of all the countries that participated in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Tyler and the ever burning Olympic fire!

Tidbits

*6 weeks and 2 days until we are boarding our plane for America!*

While over the weekend I did manage to wake up super early and go to Olympic Park and take pictures... I put them in the wrong format and blah, blah, blah. Still waiting on Tyler to help me fix that.

It has gotten extremely cold here over the last 3 days. This winter is going to be a long one. Last year we had snow in April!

Found out that Missy's flight is going to cost us $400 bucks! We were pretty bummed.
So...I have began advertising for baby sitting again. Hope I get a few bites.

My sister and her friend Avery are dressing up as Batman and Robin for Halloween. :) (Shelly is Robin.)

Tonight we are going to Karaoke with our awesome friend Joel! Love to hear him sing.

Still looking at school options. It's so hard to decide what you want to be when you grow up!

This weekend our friend Morris is taking Tyler and I out to eat at Mercado's for my belated birthday present! We finally got to go when our good friends the Aldarondo's invited us out for David's birthday dinner. We all had a really good time. So we can't wait to go again.

My lil brother turned 21 on the 25th! Tyler and I were so sad we didn't get to celebrate his birthday with him. :( Again... Can't wait to be back home where we belong!

We have been hitting the gym pretty hard the last week or so. My legs feel like they weigh 200 lbs but I'm seeing results!

I do have a few pictures of our niece Aven and nephew Talen! Candice put them up on FB, so I'm stealing them and showing them off! They are 8 mo's old! Ugh... Can't wait to finally meet them!

 So that's all for this post. I promise to put pictures up of the park when I am actually able.

Shower's are nice... I think I will take one. Thanks for stopping by!