Back to life or living

I am official all settled back into normal life in Okinawa.  I am trying to seek out some exciting things to do while i am here and have found that i am not as young as i once was.  Two of my marines (ages 20, and 19) asked if I wanted to go tubing with them about a week or so ago and why not, not doing anything else exciting, well needless to say this when I found that when tubing it’s best not to do it with a 19 and 20 year old, when you are almost 33.  Yes i walked away with a bruised or fractured rib. I found they don’t do anything for this except prescribe you 800mg of Motrin, and tell you you should probably not be doing that at your age.  Oh well live and learn.

Recently some dear friends of mine checked into my unit.  I met him in mp school, and then we lived for a time together at our first duty station, and while we were both on leave I introduced him to his future wife, who i have known since like 1st grade (i think).  so we have been catching up and they have been dragging me around with them to do things our own age.  Take their kids to the beach, have a nice quiet sushi dinner.  all very nice.

Well that is it for now.

Karen I will post pictures soon I promise, I have lost my charger and am waiting for h~ to send me one.

♥

A long time coming

Well I know for my fans it has been a long time since my last post.  For those of you who don’t know I am here in the states having a nice vacation with my family.

The Marine Corps sent me to Quantico for a leadership seminar, and then I was able to take some much needed leave so that I could see my wife and kids.  We spent some time with Heathers parents (where she and the kids have been living for the last couple weeks), and then we travelled north to my folks house.  All but one brother came up/down to see us, and for a wedding.  It has been a wonderful/hard  time here.  

I will say this jet lag sucks.  I was contemplating trying to put in a humanitarian aid transfer, but after much prayer and counsel, with Heather and close friends. It seems that me going back to Okinawa is the most sensible and believe it or not the most logical choice.

I will miss my bride and my children, but how hard for them to be an hour and half away, and not see them everyday (if I was to be at Quantico).

I will post more soon.

 

 

 

♥ 

Finally some rest

Well I got the welcome aboard pretty early this duty station.  Not three weeks on Island (maybe right at), I got stuck with the job of Staff Non-Fire on the rifle range.  It is a very exciting job, allow me to explain…

  My day started on Monday when I got up at 0200 to meet my 43 shooters that were scheduled for rifle qualification this week.  We met at 0300 after they had drawn their weapons and did the official role call.  After making sure that everyone was present I have to then ensure that all 43 shooters get to the range (which is about a 45 minute drive in a 7 ton).  Once I got to the camp where the range was being held I had to grab 66 bag nasties (the cooks don’t like it when you call them this) from the chowhall, because my 33 young marines on mealcards have to be able to eat (everyone else is out of luck).  This was exciting as well considering I had to bum a ride with one of my shooters.  After checking in with the range by 0500, I sat there and watched all the Marines shoot all day long.  

So essentially I was a first grade teacher.  I took role, made sure they got to class on time, made sure they were fed.

And who said the Marine Corps isn’t glamorous.  By the end of the week I had 4 shooters get dropped for various reasons, and 7 shooters that couldn’t qualify.  But they all got fed, and for those that showed up they got there on time.

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I miss my family

I know it’s been only two and a half weeks but I miss my family so much.  The weekends are the hardest.  During the week I have time at work, and time with my Marines, but on the weekend I have myself all to myself.  I guess I am not that adventuress I just don’t feel like exploring Japan by myself.  So on the weekends I spend time in my room, and play on the computer and watch movies.  Here are some pictures of my room.

the view from the door

My tiny little kitchen

I hope you all can see these, not that they are awesome, but its what I have for the next year.  I had a bigger room, with newer furniture and a lot closer to the chapel and the exchange, but this room came available and it has a kitchen, which the other room didn’t.  Plus it is next door to my office (can’t beat that).

I got a phone the first weekend I was here.  They had a deal in the exchange for the month of March.  That if you buy this one phone, and then a package it was unlimited calls to the states.  So for $50.00 a month I have unlimited calls to the states.  I haven’t gotten my first bill, but hopefully the Japanese didn’t see me coming from a mile away.

 

 

 

 

Well its about time to call the kids so until next time.

 

♥ 

I am alive

I am back. I am safely in Okinawa, and I want to say thank you and I love you to my wife.  I couldn’t do this with out you, I love you so much.

I have been here for two weeks now and am almost completely settled, it took them a week to get my internet up and running, but I am finally good to go.  I am sure I have a ton of emails to wade through.  Mostly I am excited about the video chat I have scheduled with the kids, and Heather tonight.

My flight over here went well, I didn’t sleep once I left Albany until I finally got on the plane for Okinawa, once I got on board I slept the entire time, only waking for chow, until we landed on the main land (I think exhaustion and NyQuil helped with that). 

I am good, this place isn’t so bad, miss the family and wish they were here.  I’ll post more later, gotta go check the emails.

 

 

 

♥

HIJACKED!!

this is heather- hijacking trevor’s blog.

 

he leaves today. in just a few short hours.  

 

i’m not sure how to say goodbye to my best friend.  he is the one i laugh with, cry with and lean on.  he is the father to my kids, their hero, and the calming presence in this house.  i will miss him dearly.  i will ache to hold him and smell him and hear his voice down the hall.  i will have days of tears when i want to share the small things with him- the little things the kids are doing, the hardships of being a parent.  

but, i know my God.  i know his plan is always for his glory.  and more than anything i want our entire family to emerge from this chapter of our life bearing his glory.  shining from being in his presence.  

please pray for my man.  pray that he makes good friends quickly.  that he finds his niche.  please pray that his homesick heart would be protected and that he finds rest.  

 

-i love you my sweet.  i am so proud to be called your wife.  i promise to listen, pray and “be there” for you as much as is possible from a world away. i promise to raise your babies with love and grace given by the Lord.  i promise to do a good job, take care of myself, and honor you.  thank you for trusting me, loving me and being an incredible man. 

go do your thing honey- we’ve all ‘got your back’

 

—-heather

Last Monday

Ah yes, the last Monday in the United States of America, for who knows how long.  I cannot tell you how weird that sounds and feels.  Heather and the I have been spending as much time together as possible.  Whether that means we are playing with the kids around the house, or running back and forth to walmart.  I am gonna miss her so much.

Last night we got on google earth with the two older boys and showed them where we live, and then where I will be living.  Then we looked at all the cool sights around the area that I can take pictures of (like the stained glass bridge).

Heather threw a party for me last weekend, and I cannot tell you what a wonderful time I had with my family that was able to come to GA, and the friends that showed up.

 

♥

The paper chain brings the inevitable.

Well we started the paper chain of my time left here in the states, there are 23 paper rings left on the chain, this sucks.  Yes I am a Marine and I love what I do, but I love my family so so much.  I don’t want to leave them.

I sit here typing this while my youngest boys are supposed to be napping.  Samuel is at school, Heather is at the dentist, Tucker (should be napping) is talking to himself and kicking the wall, Asher is asleep, and Ivy is sitting in her highchair eating blueberry puffs, and is just happy to be here.

I sit here and think of all the things that I have to do before I leave, but my thoughts are mostly drawn to worrying over what my family will do when I am gone, and all the things that I will miss.  I will miss my only girls first steps, her first birthday, among many other first for her.  Samuel will be starting soccer for the first time when I am gone.  There are so many things that I will miss, but most of all I will miss waking up to the most beautiful women in the world, and miss just spending time with her.  Heather as our 9th anniversary grows closer (I will miss our 10th) I am so thankful for you, you put up with a lot of my crap, and I love you for it.

For those of you who read this, please pray that this next year will be fast for my family, and that we’ll remain strong in each other and the Lord.  Be thankful for what you have and what we take for granted on a daily basis.

 

♥

We lost the dog in our bed…

Yeah that’s right.  Our little chihuahua sleeps in the bed with us.  I know a lot of people may disagree with us, but don’t judge us, it works for us.  Anyhow, the other night I got up about 0400 to use the bathroom, and the dog was curled up in my arms, so I put her by Heather.  When I came back from the bathroom I couldn’t find the dog, in fact my searching for the dog woke Heather up.  I thought maybe she leapt off our bed so I went to check the family room and kitchen.  When I came Heather had found her, she slipped down between our mattress and our headboard and was crying for help.

So this goes to show you gotta keep your eyes on your little dog in your big bed.

 

 

♥

My new camera

Well preparing for my trip to Okinawa, I really wanted to buy a camera.  I wanted a small point and shoot, so that I could keep it in my pocket and take pictures of the sights in Japan that I come across.  After looking online for a long time I decided with the Sony DSC-W170.  From what I read it got the best reviews on Amazon.  Well I was waiting on our tax refund, so that I could pay cash for the camera.  By the time it came in Amazon really bumped up the price (by like $100).  Well I found it today at Sams club for about the same price that Amazon had originally priced it at.  So far I am pretty pleased with it.  Here is a picture of the new ferocious dog of ours.  

 

 

 

♥