Long time, No Post

Whoops, I know its been a long time but not much has been going on that is too exciting sadly. I came back to California after Brett left to Japan on May 5 of this year. We have been going through an excruciatingly long process of getting me to Japan to be with him again. We have learned a lot along the way and hopefully we can help other families in the future so that their transition to Japan wont be as rough.

Brett absolutly loves Japan. We joke that he should have been born Japanese because he really does fit in so well there. A few weeks ago he participated in a hot dog eating contest, which he won first place in, and became a celebrity for literally about 15 minutes. He got to sign autographs and pose for pictures. He said it was a lot of fun but really weird that so many people wanted to get those things from him.

Here he is with his trophy :D

As of today, I am approved to go to Japan and we just have to work out which base is going to pay for my flight to Japan.

In other news, I have started my own photography website. I absolutly love taking pictures and love how my site turned out. It was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be and I am so excited to get people to start looking at it. Check it out at jennaugartenpictures.com .

I took a trip to Yuma AZ with my parents and my sister a few weeks back and had a great time. We mostly hung out in the lazy river and drank virgin pina coladas the whole time but it was a blast.

When I first got to CA I was able to be here for two very important couples weddings.

First was my brother in laws wedding to Tiffany. It was beautiful and a great day. Here are some pictures from that.

Next was my brother Pauls wedding that took place the following week in Long Beach. He married his long time sweetheart in Long Beach.

We were assingned to make the wedding cake, so busted out my creativty skills and made gum paste roses and calla lillies. Here is the final result.

The other big thing that happened while I was here is my Grandpa Albert passed away. It was really hard to deal with obviously but I know he is better now and happy. I do miss him like crazy though.

Catching up

A lot has been going on for us this past month. We moved from VA and all our stuff is in storage waiting for us to get housing in Japan...hence the no blogging. The move was an ordeal because of all the hoops you have to jump through that the Navy gives you. Moving to another country is normally about an 8 month process. They gave us 2 before Brett had to be there. We did all we could but things take time and we just didnt have enough so Brett ended up leaving with out me on last Wednesday. Here is how that went. Brett had been calling the CSD (the place that takes care of the moving stuff) every few days to find out when he would be leaving. They kept telling him that no information was in yet and to keep trying back every few days. Well on tuesday Brett called and told them again that he had to be there by the following Monday and he needed to find out the info so he could set up arrangements in Japan. They told him "Well, plan to leave on Monday then but dont make any plans until then just incase." Ok so we though we had five days left. The next day on Wesnesday we get a call from them. "Go check your email your tickets are in". So we check...he has to be in Washington state at 1:00am that night! So we call them back and tell them to get him a ticket to Washington so within about an hour of finding out Brett was gone on a 18 hour plane ride to the other side of the world. Needless to say, it sucked. One nice thing is though, the airport understands how hard it is for military families and let me come to the gate with him to say goodbye there.

On that following Thursday I got the rest on my paperwork turned in and now I am playing the waiting game for it all to come back to me. So since I was technically homeless cause we were out of our apartment two weeks ago and couch surfing at friends houses, I decided to get back to CA ASAP. I flew out on Friday and have been here ever since. I will be here until I get the word that I am free to go to Japan.

Here are some pictures from the last month or so. They include my parents trip up to DC, VA and NC. Also our trip to the Virginia Beach Aquarium.

Bretts C school class photo

Brett graduated from Fire Controlman C school on April 2, 2010. I am so proud of him and all of his hard work that has gotten him to this point. He has made it through one of the toughest schools that the Navy has to offer. We are so excited for the next phase of Navy life and to see where it will lead us.

Next up...Japan

Easter

We love all holidays and I especially love ones that are pretty new to Brett. Brett converted from Judaism about 6 years ago but hasnt really had a chance to participate in many of the holidays that are Christian. Because of this I try to make Christmas and Easter extra special. Last year we didnt do much for Easter because I had just moved up and we honestly had nothing in apartment to do any Easter stuff with. So this year I wanted to go all out.

We decided to dye some eggs. I got to show Brett the ropes and he caught on really quickly.

The dyes as always are super messy so we used some paper bags to keep it off the counters.

I showed Brett how to use the wax crayon to make designs on the egg.




Brett made some really fun designs.

We bought a fancy foil egg kit. It was really easy to do and it had a fun effect.

Brett made some of these too but pressed a little hard on the first one and broke the egg.

And here are our finished products....

I had to make one special egg for Brett
Brett also got an Easter Basket. Since Brett does not have the patience to wait for morning, and since he is not a kid, he got it tonight.

I tried to find all the stuff that he enjoys that they had in the Easter isle at the commissary

One of his favorites was the Hubba Bubba gum tape. Remember that from being a kid?

Tomorrow we are going to have an Easter dinner and we cant wait for it!

The ones I love

There are so many things I am so grateful for that I would like to share some of them with you.

My family for starters. They helped shape me into the person I am today and I like who I am. So without them, who knows who I would be.

I am so thankful for my Mom especially. She is wonderful and is one of my best friend always.

I love my little sister. She and I are becoming better and better friends. She is one of the first people I call when I have something I really excited about. She is such an amazing person and I am so glad I get to have her in my life.

I love my friends. There are so many that have meant so much to me but there are some that I have known forever and I would do anything for. 

Sharon...Sharon is amazing. She is my confidant and partner in crime. She gets me and puts me in check. She is so fun and has a love for life that rubs off on those around her. I am so glad that we are buddies. There are way too many memories with her to recall but I love them all. 

Aly, Aly, Aly...my oldest friend. She made an impression on me right from the start. How can anyone not love Aly? She has a heart bigger than anyone I know. She would really do anything she could for a stranger, she is so smart and kind and happy. I love my Aly.

There are so many more people that I love but there is one more that means everything to me that I have to mention on my grateful list.

Brett...

Brett is my everything. He makes me laugh harder than anyone I have ever met. He and I knew we found something special right when we met. He turns a bad day into a great one, he makes me happy. He makes life so much more full and gives each day meaning. He is wonderfully sweet and forever kind. I have never met anyone as genuine as he is. I love him for all that he is. I am a lucky girl to be married to him.