We've Dropped Anchor!

America.

Sweet, sweet America.

PEACE OUT, JAPAN!!  It was real, but we're HOME!

We arrived on April Fool's Day and are now settled in Virginia for the time being!  My husband is in school, the kids are growing like weeds, we have two dogs (what were we thinking?!), two new vehicles and I have only used the Japanese language when I accidentally bump in to someone at Wal-Mart.

Ahhh...Wal-Mart.  Never thought I'd miss that place until there wasn't one.

Japan was great, don't get me wrong.  It was an amazing place to live, the culture is so steeped in history, the country was beyond beautiful...but we're 'Murican's.  We're back in the land of restaurants that have a menu we can read.  No more pointing at pictures for us!  No sir!  Back where road signs make sense.  Back where I can have a full on conversation with someone in public.  It's wonderful.

Will we go back overseas? Probably not.  If we do, it will be for a shore duty and it certainly won't be back in Japan. Why go overseas if you're just going somewhere you've already been you know?  Perhaps Spain?  We have to get through the next few years of sea duty, then we can decide on all that jazz.  Maybe leave it up to the kids, who knows?  All we know is that we love being home.  Landing in Chicago was pure bliss.  Cars drove on the right side of the road.  There wasn't a teriyaki burger in the McDonalds. Hello Kitty! wasn't plastered on everything in sight.  Then we got to Texas and Alabama. Ugh - big jacked up trucks. Actual BBQ joints.  Ah-may-zing.

Meet Monroe, our Texas Heeler and Roland, our yellow lab!

We have a backyard where our kids can play, in fact Kaylee is now riding a bike with NO training wheels! Props to her.  We have a smoker again, an actual house instead of a horrible apartment.  It's good to be home. Kendall is up for advancement, we're just waiting to hear the word on the exams.  He says it's unlikely he'll advance this cycle, but we'll see.  I, unlike my usually arrogant husband, am hopefully optimistic.  If it doesn't happen this cycle, we'll work on the next exam.  (Side note: Exams for advancement? I've always hated that notion.) Things will be pretty busy over the next few months, with his school and us having to PCS again when he graduates, but hey!  At least we're back in the USofA!