Deployment #2

The "D" word

The bags that have haunted our house

 

After weeks of him leaving "any day", the time has finally come for Rob to deploy. As much as our family knows it is coming, prepares for it and even being assigned in a forward deployed location (meaning we are on call 24/7 for our tour here), I am struggling to find the strength to say good bye. It won't be forever, in fact we are blessed to be in this assignment where they deploy so frequently and so often, that their deployments are rarely extended. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to even try to meet Rob in ports that the boat pulls in (granted the boat does as planned, which is another story). The time has come for Rob to deploy, and being a "dependent", I have no choice but to accept this. Being a military spouse doesn't make me super woman. It doesn't make me hold special powers or have hold immense strength to go through this. I'm human and like every one else, and I struggle to adjust to this life. 

With the last painful move to Japan (without Rob) after the birth of Robby still a fresh wound, I am scared. I know how hard it can be to be stuck in a hard place and a rock with nothing to do but cry out for a miracle. Then Rob reminds me that I did do it then, and I will be even better the next time around. It is that type of motivating support that I'll miss when Rob leaves and I'll look forward to when he returns. I'm grateful that this go-round for Rob's second deployment isn't in the middle of a move to a different country. I don't have to struggle with nursing a hungry newborn, while towing luggage for my deployed husband, my growing son, myself and my two dogs, while also hauling Rocky and Ranger in their crates. I have an amazing network of spouses who would drop what they are doing and help me, as I would for them. The "D" word is less scary, when I am surrounded not only by my fellow squadron spouses, but an entire air wing who knows just how I feel. 

I am a seasoned "dependent" and mother now. I'll probably find myself in the same situations I found my self in during the first deployment, but I will have the confidence to know that it is all normal what I feel. I'm weak enough to cry and breakdown, and I am strong enough to admit that it is ok.

I am unable to share where Rob is going, how long he will be gone and when he will return because the only means of communicating with family is through means that would violate "OPSEC". So while I wish I could reach out to friends and family for motivation and reassurance of how long we have left of this deployment, I can only find that support within our base. Being overseas, far from home and family, during deployment can be a challenge... it is a challenge, but I am blessed with our adventurous life and a son who occupies my time, and the months will fly by.

The ship is underway and Rob will CQ (carrier qualifications) until the boat is far enough that he can't fly home for the night. We start saying our goodbyes tomorrow and will continue each day he goes to work until the night he doesn't come home. Deployment in a forward deployed squadron sucks, but life can't get any more romantic than living each day as if he deploys tomorrow. 

Fair winds and calm seas, USS George Washington.

Fly safe, Carrier Air Wing 5.

Rob, always make sure the number of take offs you have, equal the number of landing you make. 

Enoshima Island

Island Seafood

Enoshima is a great getaway that is only a 45 minute train ride from where we live. It is a cute beach town that has great shops (much like Cocoa Beach, Florida) and an awesome aquarium, which we will have to visit on another trip. 

We walked across a bridge to get to the island

The island itself had no car traffic; You had to travel by foot

We came to Enoshima to walk around the beautiful island. It is filled with winding stairs throughout which are lined with great Japanese shops and street food to include fresh clams, turban shell, abalone and squid. We were even given a sample of raw baby sardines, which I agreed to try and despite the pictures you see of me eating it, they really were good. It was like eating noodles, and it wasn't as salty as I had imagined. Like most foreign food, it is just the thought of what you are eating that is tough to swallow.  

One of the many shops to buy fresh seafood

Grilled squid

The baby sardines that I bravely ate

Street food consisting of grilled seafood

Shrines & Caverns

The island is filled with beautiful shrines; Benzaiten, the goddess of music and entertainment, is enshrined on the island. The island in its entirety is dedicated to the goddess, who is said to have made it rise from the bottom of the sea in sixth century.  

One of the many Shinto shrines

Each shrine has a "chozuya" where you rinse your hands

Outside of shrines, there is an area called o-mikuji, for you to grab a fortune after an offering

After hiking with Robby on our back, we came to the far side of the island where there was a great view of rocky cliffs and the ocean rolling in. There were beautiful caves, which lead us to more shrines. The caves were a tight squeeze as we had to duck down when the ceiling became too low. We were given a candle to light our way through the caverns, which was a nice touch to the adventure. 

 

At the top of the island, we enjoyed a beautiful view

Robby and I hiking through the rocky shores of the island

Rob walking through the caverns with his lantern

Rob and Robby outside the caverns

Enoshima is filled full of walkways lined with shops

Rob and Robby about to hike up one of the many winding stairs on the island

Japanese Cuisine 

To wrap up our day, we had dinner at a street side cafe on the island. Robby was so wiped out that he ended up sleeping through supper. Fresh grilled clams and turban shell were our appetizers. They were delicious and the turban shell tasted much like a conch, except at the very bottom of the shell was a long casing, sausage like substance... and my simple rule of thumb is to never eat anything that looks like poop, so we left it on our plate. 

Turban shell

Our main course was seafood tempura of fish and prawns with some Japanese root vegetables. We had rice (of course), misu soup, a seaweed salad and pickled vegetables then topped it off with a Japanese draft. It was really delicious and the atmosphere was very romantic. Perhaps that is why Robby dozed off for mommy and daddy :-) Our train ride home was just as the sun was setting, and on a clear day (which it was sunny, but quite hazy) you can see Fuji. We can't wait to go back and see the aquarium and revisit the island. Enoshima is surely a great Japanese gem!

Rob eating turban shell

Robby and I at dinner

Welcome to Blogging

There is a lot to share and adventures worth writing home about. After all, I am a world traveling military spouse who is married to a Naval Aviator; We share an adorable 1 year old son and every day is adventure with them. Did I mention we live in Japan? Why wouldn't I start a blog!? Yes, I have jumped on the band wagon and a little late at that, but to anyone who may wonder who and why I think my life is worth documenting, let me catch you up on my life prior.

So here we go...

 

"Quit passing me notes in class!" 

I have been married to my husband, Rob, for almost two years. So, you may think of us as newlyweds. Well, hold your horses. We are an old married couple. You see, I met my husband when we were in 7th grade some 15 years ago (sigh). We shared one English class together and he sat near me. It wasn't love at first sight, in fact it was pure annoyance. He would pass notes in class with his buddy, and through the Jr high grapevine, everyone knew that this kid, Rob, had a crush on me. At 13 years old, I wasn't yet interested in guys, so my reaction was "yuck!". All I wanted was for him to quit passing me notes in class.

So let's fast-forward 7 years to our senior year of college. I started this new thing called Facebook (at the time) and he was one of the first people to add me as a friend. Both of us being a little more mature, exchanged some messages and laughs about those days, years ago. Before we knew it, we were dating and things got serious. We decided to do what any young couple in love would do... we got a puppy. (Bet you thought I was gonna say we got married, sike!) Rocky, our lab, is our "Marley" and while he was our "baby", Rob and I called it quits before he left for flight school after graduation. This is how Rocky became and will always be Rob's dog (so take a note for any future reference as to why I may say this).

Sadness... I know. So what did I do? I started an expedited officer training program through my college's Air Force ROTC of course! While Rocky and Rob started flight school in Pensacola, Florida then later to Corpus Christi, Texas, I was getting my butt in shape and getting on the track to one day also going to flight school. It was a great experience and I managed to rise through the ranks and make my way near commissioning with hopes of a rated slot (pilot slot). After completing Field Training at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and nearing my contract/commissioning, Rob made his move and we were back together and more serious than ever. Within a few months, I left ROTC and packed my bags for what would be the biggest adventure of my life. 

Rob and I at a college football game when we began dating in 2007

"Where is Kingsville?"

Rob had finished primary flight training in Corpus and made the cut for what he always wanted... tailhook! He could not stop telling me all his excitement for achieving his goal of making it to this pipeline. All I could think about was "why the heck would you want to land on a boat" and by the way, "where is Kingsville?". With his next orders being in Kingsville, Texas and me driving my little two door Civic from Florida to south Texas, I had no clue what I was in for. We would call this small town home for the next 2 years and it was closer to Mexico than it was to any big American city. (Insert image of ranches, cactus, tumble weeds and jets here) It would also be a place where we went through our "newlywed" ups and downs. We ultimately grew closer and got another dog, Ranger, but something was missing. (If you are thinking that we got married, you are wrong again. Ha!). So what was the big step...We got a boat! South Texas became a place I would come to love. Rob and I loved our time on the water and together, and we met so many great people there who have become our best friends. We also continued to travel everywhere. As much as we loved Kingsville, we needed to get out of there for our own sanity! Oh and by the way, we are traveling gurus, and FYI, that's what this blog is mainly about! Okay, back to the story... Moving from Kingsville, was almost as hard as moving there. Both were incredibly tough and for completely different reasons. After those two years, we moved back to Corpus for a few months of final training before Rob would get his wings and go from student to pilot. So out of no where and with no fancy story or romantic climatic music playing in the background, Rob and I thought, "we should probably get married now".  After dating for 4 years and living together for half that time, we decided to do the Navy style nuptials, and go to the courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia. 

Kingsville, Texas 2010

Our boat in Corpus Christi, Texas 2011

Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape!

One month after Rob's winging, our ring-less and quiet engagement and moving from Texas to Virginia, Rob had to go to SERE school. He was taught a lot of valuable things that would help him should he ever be caught behind enemy lines and be taken as a POW, but nothing would prepare him for what he would come home to. Rob left with our house full of boxes and knew he would come home to an unpacked 4 bedroom home. I am sure he imagined how homey it would be and how nice it would be to have a warm meal after those few weeks of torture...errr...training. I bet he even thought about how nice it would be to finally have an office, two spare rooms and a decent size master bedroom for once. What he didn't know, was that one of those extra bedrooms would end up being a nursery. I found out I was expecting our first child, a miracle baby at that, on Rob's first day of SERE school! Our next 11 months in Virginia would be us getting married, honeymoon, flying a new plane, pregnancy, baby boy, deployment, move to Japan and breathe. In that order, our life changed, but not in the "you're life is over" kind of way. Robby, our son, has become the perfect fit for our on the go family. We can't picture our life any other way. Who thought that SERE school would prepare us for parenthood abroad!

Our honeymoon in Paris while I was 15 weeks pregnant

Rob's LT promotion and weeks away from Robby's birth 2012

 

Konichiwa

So here we are in Japan. We moved here last November, while Rob was on deployment with the carrier, USS George Washington, which is based out here. Rob is days away from another deployment (yep, getting Japan means yearly deployments), but it is one of the best assignments and we are on quite the adventure. We have traveled to Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong already and each weekend we discover something new in Japan. My job is a full time house wife and mommy, but before you think I turned my uniform in for that Stepford wife dress, you outta know who runs the ship here. 

Everyday is an adventure and I hope to share that here on this blog. From traveling the world, to the excitements and challenges of being married to a forward deployed Naval Aviator, and to the ups and downs and almost always entertaining stories of raising a boy, I hope you enjoy the ride.

Rob's Homecoming from the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan 2012