Japan!

Matt and I got to visit Japan while he was there on TDY. We were only there 5 days, but my wonderful friend Kim showed me some really neat places. And I found out I really love authentic Japanese food! It is so delicious! Here are some pictures from our time there.

We went to the Misawa Festival!

The next day Kim took me to shipwreck beach. We found a lot of neat seaglass and even climbed on the ship!

The next day we drove though a really neat gorge. There were so many waterfalls too! It was really beautiful, and I never would have thought Japan could have been so green!

On the drive.

Matt took this out of the sun roof of the van! It turned out pretty good I'd say!

At one of the bigger waterfalls.

On our way back to Misawa we picked a local restaurant to eat at...that was quite an adventure! No one in the restaurant spoke any English, but we managed to remember a few Japanese words- Miso soup and Yakatori, and then we just pointed to the menu and had them bring us something random. They brought out a pan with beef and a mountain of onions, but the sauce they used was DELICIOUS! The onions ended up tasting like bacon...so good!

Kim and I went with some other wives to a flower farm outside of Misawa. A few weeks before the fields were covered with all different flowers, but when we got there they had all been plowed down. But, the hydrangea bushes were blooming and were absolutely beautiful! I had never seen so many before in my life!

My friend Kim and I!

We got to feed bunnies too!

The hydrangeas were even around the pond!

More beautiful flowers.

There was a waterfall and stream around the farm too!

That night we visited a Shrine.

People write down their prayers and place them on the rope!

After they write their prayers they go to ring the bells.

Matt is a karate kid :)

A close up!

For our last night, we made reservations at a real Japanese Hibachi Steak House. It was AMAZING. It was basically someone's house turned into a restaurant. It was run only by the 1 chef and his parents.

The hibachi grill.

Our Awesome Chef!

Me and Matt!

Our dessert...TO DIE FOR! It was ice cream wrapped in a light egg-roll-like shell, and then fried in butter on the grill with chocolate sauce on top. YUMMY!

Matt and Hoss outside of the steakhouse!

We had a wonderful time visiting Japan, and there is so much more I would love to see! Hopefully we'll get to go back some day!

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Korean Adventures

4th of July weekend, Matt had 4 days off so we took the opportunity to explore more of Korea. We ended up going to Seoul for a night to say goodbye to some fellow Juvat buddies. The next day, we went to a national park and hiked up a path to a beautiful waterfall. It misted pretty much the whole hike, and I think it's a miracle I never tripped on the rocky path and face planted...but the few at the waterfall was well worth it!

The waterfall!

The National Park

That night after visiting the Yellow Sea, and eating at a very raw seafood restaurant (no thanks!) we stayed in a cabin on a river for our next day of adventure!

Yellow Sea!

Seafood...the brownish/red one in the middle is Squid...that still MOVED!

Raw fish...I ate fried chicken :)

So our next day was filled with a little bit more exhilarating events. First a group of us went Bungee Jumping!! I had never been before so I was TERRIFIED. It took me a full 10 minutes to jump off the ledge, but I'm so glad I did it! It was such a crazy/cool feeling. Matt wasn't so thrilled that I went, and was very happy once I was safe on the ground. After that a large group of us went white water rafting- aka Tubing. Our guide did a better job of getting us stuck on large rocks than anything else, and we swam/floated down more of the river than we rafted...but we all still had a great time.

Getting ready for Bungee!

Siren and I ready to go!

Standing out on the ledge!!

Ahh!

I did it!

Bouncing back up!

Just chilling :)

On our way to raft the river!

Mini-snakes

On the river...see how fierce it is!

Swimming in the river.

After our crazy adventure filled weekend was over, one of the Juvat wives hosted a wine tasting. It was a very classy affair for Kunsan Korea standards! We had a great time hanging out with the squadron and learning about some new wines!

Back in Korea

Well I've been back for about 3 weeks now and it has been so nice to be with Matt again. There was an exercise last week so Gail and I spent most of the week cooking for all the guys in the dorm. This week has had such gloriously awesome weather and since Matt has been on nights we've been going to the pool in the mornings. We even took a spin class together on Tuesday and it was PAINFUL. But we both made it through! Next week Matt is going TDY to Japan and I'm getting to go with him! We're going to be there Sunday through Thursday, so hopefully we'll get to see some of the country...and do some SHOPPING! Poor Matt, he'll never be able to escape it!

Home!

I. Love. America. I flew in on June 2nd for Kate and Joe's wedding. She was a truly beautiful bride and I had so much fun at their wedding! Now I am here in Texas for 3 more weeks just hanging out with my family and friends! It has been so wonderful to see everyone again. My niece grows more and more precious everyday. She amazes me with her little personality and how she already knows EXACTLY what she wants- "mama." But she's slowly getting adjusted to me again....now we just have to get her saying "Corrie" or at the very least something resembling a word with a 'c' at the beginning!

It is a bummer though that every upside has a downside...no Matt while I'm home. He didn't have the leave to come with me on this trip so we have to be without each other for a month, which isn't very much fun. But absence makes the heart grow fonder and will just make us appreciate our time together even more!

What do I do???

So people ask me all the time: What do you do all day? Then I go through the internal dilemma of what I should say to respond. Grey's Anatomy marathon each day?...probably shouldn't mention that. Eating chocolates while surfing the web?...nah probably not that either. So I decided to compile a list of the things that I do everyday as a stay at home wife.

1) Laundry- I am absolutely amazed at how much laundry 2 people can make. I long for the day we have our OWN washer and dryer and I don't have to go downstairs to get to it.

2) Dishes- when I said I long for the day we have our own washer and dryer, it doesn't even compare to how much I long for the day when we have our own kitchen! With an actual countertop (not a makeshift desk one) and a dishwasher, and all of our wonderful kitchen wedding gifts!

3) Cooking- Matt and I live in the Punk Dorms- aka a hallway filled with other Lieutenants but no other wives. So this means I get to cook a lot. Seeing how I have next to no experience in the kitchen with food other than Easy Mac, it's nice having a bunch of willing guinea pigs. A lot of my day is spent planning what's for dinner.

4) Hanging out with other wives- there are a lot of wives that come and go on the ROK and it's nice to have lunch or coffee with them during the day. They give me a chance to get out and explore more of South Korea

5) Wait on the hubby- I know it sounds lame, but I honestly like waiting around for Matt. He works so hard and I love seeing his face as he walks through the door, and being able to give him a welcome home hug.

I am so happy with the 5 things that I do everyday. So yes, I am happy being a stay at home wife. And yes, I do get bored. But we are so blessed to have this year together with me not working and no deployments on the horizon. Just being together. And that's what I do. :)

Alaska

After my trip to Seattle, I flew up to Fairbanks Alaska to hang out with Matt for a few weeks while he was there on TDY. It was truly beautiful there- the mountains were absolutely gorgeous! We were even lucky enough to be able to see Mt. McKinnley which the park ranger people said only about 30% ever saw due to weather. Below are a few of the pictures from our trip!!

We went to the Chena Hot Springs!

I finally got to stand on some ice!

We took a tour of their greenhouse too!

Then we saw the Aurora Ice Museum

They had some pretty elaborate ice sculptures!

And an ice bed you could actually stay the night in.

And a "toilet" you could actually use!

AND an alter you could ACTUALLY get married at!

We swam in the hot springs that was actually too warm!

Hanging out with the moosen :)

On our trip to Denali National Park

Beautiful mountains

The Juvat wives!

Crush em!

We went to the North Pole too!! Where santa lives!!

And hung out with some friendly moosen

Elves!

Santa's sleigh

And real live REINDEER!