Welcome to the Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!

 I suppose it's about time for an update as so much has happened since my last.  Most of you already know the excitement in our world, but I wanted to give everyone a better picture and view into our corner of the world.

Since my last update, we received our HHG's (Household Goods) after 70+ days and then I spent many, many hours studying, reviewing and stressing while I prepared to take my NCLEX. For those of you not of the medical world, that is the HUGE exam that determines I am a competent nurse, worthy of receiving a license to take care of people's lives.  Out of superstition, I didn't share with too many people the date that I was taking the exam.  I did let a few people know and they supported me from afar.  I also had some Angie's Angels that made this all possible.  Allow me to introduce you to Michelle, Janell and Nancy!  Michelle, is a Navy wife that I was introduced to by a mutal friend in Pensacola.  We were both moving here from Pensacola and didn't get a chance to meet until here.  She is the mama of the boy that Jonas knew from after school care at Blue Angel.  She is a most gracious woman!  She offered to keep Emma on multiple occasions so that I could devote my time to studying or receiving our HHG's.  She loved on and played with my little girl so that I could focus on what was in front of me.  I would not have been nearly as prepared had she not been strategically placed in my life.  Next, I'd like to introduce you to another Angel, Janell!  She is the good friend of one of my AMS-2 spouses that I hold very close to my heart.  She introduced Janell and I just before we got here and the moment I met her, she held out her arms to hug me!  She was an instant winner!  She is one of the kindest hearted, thoughtful women I've had the pleasure of meeting.  She jumped at the opportunity to be my moral support on the journey north to Osaka for my boards.  She cheered me on during my long days of studying and built me up with encouragement before and after my exam. It felt really good to have someone tell you just how amazing she thinks you are for all you had to overcome to get to this point. She also makes a darn good navigator!  That woman has an amazing sense of direction!  Last, but not least, is a dear friend Nancy that Jaret and I have known since before we got married.  She is Okinawan and was gracious enough to accompany us for a Girls Night in Osaka.  She brought us many laughs, served as our translator and was the other half of my personal cheering squad.  These 3 Angels saw me through a huge milestone in my life and career and I am so grateful for them!

After having to go through quite the ordeal to schedule my exam internationally (calling Hong Kong, to speak to a woman in India to schedule my American exam in Japan) and paying a ton of money, it was time to get on board this train heading to Osaka.  We took the Shin aka bullet train which got us there in 3 hours.  Now, this is where the Hunger Games comes in to play.  For those of you not familiar with the topography of Japan, it is quite mountainous.  My Angels and I sat at the Shin station waiting for our train...we had to be early, as Japanese are very punctual and the train is always on time and only sits at the station for a VERY short time...I was surrounded by mountains and a train (not stopping in Iwakuni) blew through the station so fast, that Emma could've been picked up and swept away (or so it seemed) had she been standing on the platform. That was where I made my first reference to the Games.  It also helps that Janell's notification tone on her phone is from the movie.  When it was time to board, I felt like I was getting on the train bound for the capital to fight to the death in the Hunger Games.  And in a sense, I was.  I was going to fight to the death in my own personal game to become an RN.

2 of Angie's Angels, Nancy and Janell, ready to take Osaka

Ready to ride the bullet train

On the way up, I came up with a little jingle in my head (to the tune of 'Twas the night before Christmas). 

 'Twas the night before NCLEX and all through the hotel,
Not a creature was stirring, not even Janell.
The books were all studied by the student with care
In hopes of passing the NCLEX that soon would be near
She was all nestled, snug in the bed,
With practice questions dancing around in her head.
The lab values, therapeutic levels and CPAP
Oh my, it's just too much crap!
When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter
And Nancy sprung from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window she tore like a flash,
Threw open the curtains and turned around in a dash.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
A very anxious Angie trembling in fear.
NCLEX day was finally here!

Once we arrived in Osaka, I was overwhelmed by the amount of people and the intricacy of the stations.  Luckily, I brought these 2 amazing women along who figured out where we were going despite my head being in the clouds.  We got settled at our hotel and went to find the testing center (aka Hell) and dinner.  The testing center was close and very convenient, so I felt very good about the morning.  Dinner, well, that's another story.  We found this area that was just aisle after aisle of restaurants!  Poor Nancy was trying to translate a few things at each place that didn't have the trademark plastic food displays for us Americans.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and night of conversation together before doing a little window shopping and heading to bed.  We came upon the most amazing flower shop that teased your nose and delighted your eyes.  I wanted so badly to purchase something, but, flowers don't last long and the plants can't go back to the States with us, so...I enjoyed them with my senses and left them in the store.  When the morning came, I found myself at peace, having slept pretty well, and ready to do this thing.  My Angels and I had breakfast and they deposited me in Hell making sure the ladies inside spoke English before they left.  It was go time!  I sat down at my station and answered question 1.  Then, question 2 came up and the panic hit!  I was failing!  There's no way I was passing this exam.  I stopped a few times and closed my eyes praying that the Lord would give me clarity of mind.  When I hit submit on question 75 (the minimum you can get) I held my breath.  The computer did not advance to another question...phew, no more questions, but there was no way I passed.  For those who have never taken this exam, you can't fathom the difficulty of these questions.  I mean, we have to be competent to save people's lives, right? As I walked out of the testing center, the tears stung my eyes and I wanted to collapse in a heap right outside the door.  I was emotionally exhausted. 

The arena in which I would fight to the death

The building the housed Pearson Testing Center aka Hell

See, I was a hot mess afterwards!

The area full of restaurant after restaurant.  We didn't even see them all!

One section of Osaka Station.  People were everywhere!

This Ferris wheel was on top of a building...it was huge!

Just one of the many malls in Osaka.  Floors upon floors of shopping!

 So, what do you do when you just completed the hardest exam of your life and feel like you failed, but know you probably passed? You go shopping!  We took to the streets of Osaka for some sight seeing, eating and shopping!  We took a trip up the the Floating Gardens.  It is 2 skyscrapers connected together in midair.  The 360 degree observation deck is absolutely breath taking.  It is hard, even having seen it, to fathom the enormity of this city.  We had an amazing time and were all ready to crash on the shin ride back to Iwakuni. 

Pass or fail, it was over! Cheers!

Heading up to the Floating Gardens

All the way up at the top of that building.  The 2 pieces in the middle are the steep escalators we took the rest of the way.

At the top of Osaka

And the wait began! I guess since I took the NCLEX internationally, it caused delay in processing my results.  The pop-up trick indicated that I passed, but I didn't have an official result.  I checked incessently (often every 10 minutes) to see if my results were available.  I finally, on Tuesday morning (3 days of waiting), before getting out of bed, saw what I had been waiting for...I passed! I am officially a Registered Nurse!  It was over! I had done it!!! 

I had finally completed nursing school after trying to get into a program for almost 6 years, 3 moves,1 being to a new country, 3 kiddos to raise, the youngest being 4 months when I began the program.  I aced nursing school because it was my own personal goal to not just do it, but to excel.  I (with my hubby) orchestrated our move overseas almost flawlessly and got right into studying and setting up our home.  And, I traveled 3 hours to take the biggest exam of my life to totally KILL it!!!  This is all to say, that if I can do this, despite the many twists and turns I've had over the last 8 years, you can too!  If you have a goal/dream, don't let anything stand in your way! I didn't!

She believed she could...so she did!

Thank you to each and every one of you who provided me with support over the last several years.  To my biggest cheerleaders, you know who you are, thank you for never wavering in your enthusiasm and encouragement!  Now, time to enjoy Japan!!

When the tough gets going...

I've thought about this post for a few days now and after mulling it over a bit, I feel ready to post it.  This last few days have been tough.  This is me being real, so settle in, and no judging allowed.

First, I hate being the new girl! Anyone who has known me for any number of years, knows that I am pretty quiet and shy by nature.  Unfortunately, that doesn't work when you have the life of a military wife and your social life depends on getting yourself out there. However, making that first leap is always tough for me.  The one exception was Pensacola, where everyone looked to me to facilitate that leap and people wanted to meet me and know me.  Now that we're back in a normal role, it's up to me to introduce myself to people and make them want to know me.  We had our first command function on Friday and I had already met and spent some time with the CO's wife, but beyond that, I didn't know anyone.  I felt like a little lost puppy dog for awhile, following Jaret around, hoping to meet some of the other spouses.  It's hard breaking into a group of people who already all know each other.  By the end of the night, I'd met a few of these women I'd be spending my days with here in Japan and felt more at ease. Now, here I am, the new girl in housing.  It's our first time living on base, so this is a new experience for us.  I met the lady to our left (she helped me unpack my kitchen stuff) and had already met a couple on her other side.  I sent the kids off down the street to play with the people on our other side, but they weren't interested.  I miss my relationships back home, but I'm hopeful for the ones I will make here.

Second, having a soon-to-be 2 year old in the middle of a BIG move is NO fun!  It doesn't help that said soon-to-be 2 year old spent 3 days sick in the middle of our move out of TLF into our house.  I basically hadn't slept since Friday night.  She woke up with a fever and very congested, so I spent the next 3 nights holding her pretty much all night.  When her fever finally broke, she was so fussy and clingy that I had to be holding her all the time.  Not to conducive to unpacking those few boxes we got with our express shipment.  It's also very trying when you've had so little sleep.  On top of that, our first night here, I had some major insomnia our first night in the house, worrying about how to handle a situation with our neighbors (we hadn't yet met) and various other things.  I finally got to sleep around 3 a.m. and then each kid progressively woke me up, Jonas with a nightmare, Caleigh with growing pains and Emma choking on all that blasted snot! So, needless to say, yesterday I was a blubbering mess.  I have finally slowed down enough to realize the enormity of what's happened to us over the last months. I cried for the friends I miss, the ease of texting and communicating with the people I love, I flat out miss my stuff, but at the same time and worry how we're going to make it all fit.  I miss having people to rely on and help when I need them.  But today, with sleep under my belt and a night of sushi with my hubby, I feel better.  I know it takes time to build relationships and that I'm one blessed lady to have had so many rich relationships back in the states.  I chose to wake up and lay in bed playing with my kids, enjoying their sleepy morning faces and giggles.  I decided that I would not worry about all this "stuff" and enjoy the moment that is in front of me, for in just a few days, I will no longer have a baby...my 1 year old turns 2 on Saturday.  On Monday, my bigs start school and Tuesday, Jonas turns 8!!!! There simply isn't time to worry about trivial things that I can't control.  I am embracing this new life.

Now, for that sushi experience, I know you're dying to hear about it!  We went to one of the sushi-go-round places here where the sushi goes around the middle of the restaurant on different color plates to signify how much they cost.  There is a menu with pictures and both Japanese and English descriptions.  UH, WOW!  Check it out.

 See that one just above 334 yen?  Yeah, that says crab             BRAINS!                                                                                  

 

And on the right side, yep, you read it right, RAW HORSE MEAT! They also had a "wiener" one...it was a hotdog on a piece of sushi! lol In case you're wondering we did NOT try those! Or most of these for that matter.  We stayed safe with some of the ones below and cooked shrimp ones.

 I have to admit, the roe was a bit intimidating for me, and there was A LOT on it, but it was good!

 

Now I know something about this!!!

I will finish with another dining experience with our friends from the states who now live here permanently.  And a trip to the Daiso, which is similar to our dollar tree, though some items are more, but these stores are unbelievable!  The kids beg to go back! 

 Plenty of washi tape, along with various others for your crafting needs

 Yes!!! These are just what I was looking for! Lol

 The Japanese know how to do kids meals.  See the little bag?  It's filled with treats, plus they got a sticker to trade in for a toy at the front.  They choose from a whole bunch of pretty nice toys.

  This was what Jaret and I shared.  The only thing not pictured is the Yakisoba.  Delicious meal and even better companionship.

So, when the tough gets going, the going gets eating!

I gotta get out of this place!!

So, we've officially been in Japan for a whole week.  We have almost adjusted to the time difference.  Just when I thought I was adjusted, aka sleeping till 7, I was awake again this morning at 0500.  Ah, well! It will eventually get better, right?

We have had a lot of rain since we got here, but luckily we've had 2 straight days of sunshine! Good thing because we are going stir crazy in this TLF (temporary home for non-military).

We have just about had our fill of living out of suitcases and being in confined quarters.  Truthfully, I fear one or more of my children may not make it out! lol  Everyone is kinda getting on each other's very last nerve, including poor Emma.  We are doing our best to get out and about everyday, but only Jaret has his license so far and we are still waiting on cars.  I should have both my license and "new" van this Friday.  We have meet some really wonderful people already and are thankful for their willingness to show us around our new country.  We went to our first dinner out in town the other night at a yakiniku restaurant (no shoes allowed) where you get thin slices of different meats and you grill them on your own table grill...think melting pot, except grill.  It was delicious, but next time we will get a babysitter and go without kids or at least Emma.

I will leave you with some pictorial evidence of our living situation followed by a few of the gorgeous mountains that surround our base.

A few rare moments of the kids getting along

 Our first 1/2 American 1/2 Japanese lunch in our room

The pictures below are of our TLF. Jealous, huh?  I actually thought, "wow, this is pretty nice" when we first got here and as the time wore on and the patience runs thin, I'm not so sure! ;)

  Lastly are some pictures of our host country

 Just beyond the little building are lotus fields which Iwakuni is known for...in fact, it's everywhere!

 These pictures don't even do these mountains justice.  They are amazing!

Jonas and I went to see Earth to Echo at the base theater.  He ate nearly 3/4 of this tub of popcorn!

Until next time!

Konnichiwa, Japan!

As you already know, the Rhineharts have arrived safely in Japan.  The flight was brutally long, but all-in-all went pretty well.  The "real" parts of it, instead of booking the entire row of 5 for our family, the booked 3 seats and 2 behind.  So the girls and I were in the 3, flanked by non-English speaking people and the boys were behind us.  This made things a little difficult with Emma's carseat being between Caleigh and I, but we managed.  At around the halfway point, somewhere over the Gulf of Alaska, when the girls were content, I had a moment where all the emotion of the last month came to the surface. All the goodbyes I had to say, graduating nursing school and actually leaving the US for Japan.  The tears fell and they fell fast and plentiful.  I can't say I want to make that trip anytime soon, especially with a 2 year old in tow. 

When we arrived in Tokyo, everything had gone so smoothly on the trip up until we cleared customs (which was super easy) and went to check-in for our flight to Hiroshima.  The plane we were booked on was so small that they could not check our luggage.  This all really threw us for a loop and added a whole new level of stress.  The kids were cranky and thirsty, we were trying to figure out a physical address for our luggage to be delivered to and we had a connection to make.  Thankfully, they agreed to check 2 pieces of our luggage and Emma's carseat (they wouldn't let us use it on this flight), so we quickly grabbed a few things from other suitcases and shoved them into the 2 we took.  I forgot to grab a hairbrush, soap, shampoo! We got everything situated 10 minutes before our flight was due to leave. Luckily, the Japanese have a much smoother security process than we do and we were at the gate within 7 minutes waiting for boarding which was delayed a few minutes.  We were finally onboard to our final destination! As Jaret likes to say, it was an easy day.  I could've done without the frustrations in Tokyo (I almost lost it...up for over 24 hours, tired whiny kids, only 2 broken hours of sleep) but we survived and the kids really did well given how hard flying across the world can be.

Our sponsor set up our Temporary Lodging Facility (TLF) so nicely.  He thought of just about everything.  Our fridge/freezer were full of food and drinks (including wine), the cabinets stocked with more food/snacks, paper plates, utensils, etc, and he left 3 baskets FULL of goodies for the kids and us (including Godiva chocolates and a bottle of Moscato).  We crashed within 20 minutes of getting there.  Jaret and the girls woke up at 3:30 and Jonas and I shortly after.  We dropped the kids off bright and early at the CDC and Youth Center and we were off to attend the Welcome Aboard Indoc, where they repeatedly remind you that you are an ambassador of the United States and what is appropriate behavior, etc, as well as teach you some basics about Japan and then you take a bus tour of Iwakuni and the base.  I have to say I learned a lot, but am still overwhelmed at the thought of stepping outside the gates of the base.  It won't stop me from doing it, but it will take time and the help of friends to figure it out.  We did get some time to look around in town where Jaret and I chose to check out the Daiso (Japanese dollar store) which was 3 floors full of everything you could imagine.  We only have a short amount of time, so we'll be checking it out again soon once we are in a house.  Much to our amazement, our bags arrived while we were on the bus tour and our sponsor had them ready for us.  Again, kuddos to Japan for getting all our stuff to us as promised and it not disappearing, much more trustworthy than Americans.  The kids all had a great time at the centers and each made some friends.  We were all dragging by 5:00, but we pushed on to go to bed at a normal time and help adjust to the change.  We decided to go to the bowling alley for a game or two and dinner to help keep us awake.

Today is a new day in Japan! We are all healthy, happy and together! I will try to get some pictures soon...the weather has been yucky since we arrived.  Thanks for all the prayers for safe travels to our new home.  Please continue them for our adjustment to this new home and culture.

And so it begins...

As promised, I will restart my blog (moved to a new address) for all of you who want to keep up with our life in Japan.  This photo represents our current state of life...boxed up!

Our poor packers had to pack with no AC since ours went out midway through day one and didn't get repaired until late on day three.  That is the awesomeness of a PCS (permanent change of station for all you non-military).  What can go wrong, will go wrong! We lived in a hotel for our last week in Pensacola (which also did not have AC our first 2 nights) and are now spending time traveling to see family and friends before heading off to the land of the rising sun!  Jaret has officially handed off command of AMS-2 and I have finished nursing school, but return to Pensacola to officially pin. We are more than ready to move on!

I promised to make this blog REAL and not sugar coat it and only show the beauty of life in Japan. Stand by for uncut fun of being a military wife!  To keep in touch with us by the old fashioned route, you can send mail (just like it's going to an address in the U.S.) at:
PSC 561 Box 7251
FPO, AP 96310-0073

Catch y'all on the flip side!