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