Vietnam

So Brian emailed me some pics to post for him... This is from his time in Vietnam. He said it was pretty much like a 3rd world country. Took lots of pictures... here are a few to look at. I have no idea what he did other than playing a soccer game one day. He doesn't always send the most detailed emails... anyway, so here are the pics. Sorry they have not been color corrected or anything... I figured he would rather have them up fast than wait a few days (or even a week) for me to color correct. Not that it takes me that long to do, I just know I wouldn't "get around to it" for a while :) Enjoy!


These fish are disgusting with their ugly little mouths...


Doesn't he look like he's having fun!??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!!!

Today Brian turns 33... HOLY CRAP!... I mean, Wow, Brian is SO young :) Well, for your birthday Brian, Shugo and I are celebrating even though you are not here. The pictures uploaded out of order, but as you can see he is getting his special extra large bone and it's not even the weekend :) Needless to say, he is happy. The picture above is Brian on the ship. This is his normal everyday attire :) No, not really. He was trying to be a frog, but had a bad face painter and no green clothes.... oh well, at least he looks super buff right?!! His face looks weird, but if you scroll down and chop off his head I think he looks pretty hot :)

Anyway, an ode to Brian... Brian you are not a frog, but that is good cause frogs are ugly and slimy. I think they live with mushrooms sometimes and that would definitely not be good for you. You are very simple and laid back. Always the LAST person to complain... unless of course there is nothing to complain about (you are just backwards like that). You can be friends with anyone and are always the "nice guy" and you are also just a nice guy :) You are the most humble and patient person I know (aside from the Japanese cause they are pretty humble...). You suck at telling stories, but it is great when you have a crowd listening cause it just makes me laugh. You are very giving and always willing to help out anyone. Never speak bad of people (even when it is due). Always seek to follow the Lord with everything. Your dedicated, hard working, always have a good attitude, content anywhere, adaptable, and SUUUUUPER!

Seriously, We've been through a lot of changes and done a lot together and we have MANY more years together, but so far Brian is pretty cool :) In case any of you haven't figured that out yet. I could go on and on about the great things that are Brian, but there is just too much. So, let me just give one favorite memory here... ok, this is hard to think of... there are too many... I am realizing that most of the funny memories are at my expense...

One time (when we lived in Santa Barbara) Brian was working late at Zodo's. His normal schedule was, start at 8-9pm and finish at 2-3am. So, let me lay out the scene for you. I was home, it was about 11pm and I was working on some images for class. I had just got off the phone with Lindsey and it was silent. Dead silent. Talented me, I can't do too many things at once and having music, telephone, and editing happening is just too much. So again, it's silent. The desk was in the closet ( I know, weird) so I am facing the wall and the front door (which is glass) is to the right. All of a sudden it swings open. My heart instantly stopped beating. I quickly thought, "Eh! How did that open?! Was it not closed all the way? Did it blow open? It can't blow open... is there an animal out there? Someone is there? What do I have to defend myself... nothing. Great. Where's the bat? The gun? A tripod!? Anything!?! Ok, if I go really quick I can close it and no harm will be done..." So I get up, I have to step outside to get the door to close it and as I stepped outside I saw someone crouching in the shadows on the steps. I wanted to yell, scream, attack, ask politely who it was, but as all this went through my head in an instant all I got out was, "Bleahhhhaaaah!" right as Brian jumped out of the darkness to scare me. The nerve. He got off work extra early and thought it would be fun to park the truck down the street (before I hear or see it) and come scare me. I was so freaked out (cause this all happened in about 3 minutes of time). It was enough time to get me so worked up that I was shaking and of course I punched him, but at that point there was no force in me to even come close to knocking the wind out of him. Terrible.

So there you have it folks, the lovely Brian Barker...

I got a Piano!

This is me with my digital piano :) For those of you who do not know, I took piano lessons as a child. I loved it at first and I even think I remember being the one who wanted to learn initially. However, not long after starting I quickly lost interest... but mom thought it best to force me to continue for the next 8 years (literally). It is embarrassing to admit how long I took lessons cause I really suck, but seriously I don't think there is a person out there who applied themselves less. I would only practice for five minutes before each lesson (in a rushed attempt to memorize one measly measure. Seriously, it was bad. So now I wished I had tried harder cause I would love to be able to read music. So I am taking lessons on base and have bought this digital piano. I know digital pianos are usually a fortune, but someone was selling this little gem on base for $300 bucks and I jumped on it :) Maybe someday I will post a video of me playing... but first I will practice more :)

This is just a Test

I am just testing something for myself.... sizing stuff adn how it looks online.

Officially ONE YEAR!

So we have officially been here in Japan for one year... kinda crazy. I have not stepped on US soil for ONE YEAR. These are some pics from our long day to get here. It was a really long flight and I definitely do not look forward to doing it again... someday though I will. My favorite part on the plane was that near the end (about the third meal in) we started getting sushi... yikes!

Brian, guarding our bags... with that face who would wanna mess with him?
Me once we arrived in Japan... I don't exactly do well on little sleep, so this is my "I'm tired leave me alone" smile :)
The day after we arrived, we ventured out to see Japan. We didn't get far cause we didn't get any yen and were so starving we had to head back to base where we could use our American dollars...

So... you might ask yourself... what have I learned being in Japan for one year? Am I fluent in Japanese? Let me tell you a few things that I have learned being here in Japan:

- Japanese people are very nice and polite
-They don't like confrontation, but once in a while you will see them honk their car horn (I make it my goal to drive obnoxiously to see how much it takes... no, not really)
-personal space is just not something they understand
-very artistic people in general
-extremely tidy/clean... they freaking sweep their gutters regularly, their gutters people!
-If you are slightly off in saying something (or if the English word is very similar, and you say it in English) they still won't understand you.
-They love dogs, but fear Shugo (in general that is... there are many people who LOVE Shugo).
-Though personal space is unknown here, shaking hands, hugging, and any public affection is rarely seen.
- They will always say they don't speak English (especially if you ask them in Japanese)
-They go out of their way to help when asked (which is sometimes awkward cause if it's not a big deal and they are still trying to help... and I just want to move on with my life...)

Anyway, there is so much more, but I must go. I know I have been slacking here. I have been really busy with work, Brian being home, and photography shoots. Now Brian is gone, and I can focus my energy into getting things done. I have no balance in life. When he is here, everything hits that back burner, and when he is gone, I overload to not be bored (which makes for a lot of stuff hitting the back burner while he is here). Has anyone out there found balance in life? Ever? Is it possible? I am still searching and someday hope to find it...

Things that Make me Laugh :)

Ok, I absolutely LOVE talking with Japanese people and learning more about their culture. Last Saturday Brian and I had our friends Ryo and Kahori over for dinner. There English is ok, not great, but good enough to converse a little. It is SUPER fun to get to know them better and of course we both love to practice speaking another language.

First of all, I made enchiladas for dinner. They enjoyed watching me make it and even helped out a bit. At one point I had my hands messy with the sauce and asked them to open a can... apparently a Japanese can opener is pretty different than an American one. They couldn't figure it out and I definitely couldn't explain it to them. I WISH I had a camera cause it was HILARIOUS! They almost looked like the guys in Zoolander hitting the computer like a bunch of monkeys... ok, maybe not that bad, but it was pretty funny.

The best part though is email. I sent Ryo an email to say thank you for coming over and he replied that next time we should go to their house. Let me tell you though, his English really isn't that great and it is really confusing in email. Please read:

Hi,Joy

OK it's good.
Then we treat you to a traditional Japanese-style dish. I do not understand whether you are delicious,and please come to our house to play without hesitation when Brian is going on a business trip.If it gets a telephone, it is OK. We want to learn American culture, English, too and teach you Japanese culture, Japanese.

The Japanese stay was limited, too. Please absorb more it in things of short time

We do help.

Thanks,
Ryo&Kahori

Clearly, his English is WAY better than my Nijongo, and you can figure out what he is trying to say for the most part (there are seriously parts though that I have NO idea what he is saying), but so so funny. And I swear I am NOT making fun of him. It is awesome that they try so hard and I absolutely LOVE IT! It just brings tears to my eyes cause I am laughing so much :) It just makes me wonder what I sound like when I speak Japanese... what am I really saying?

Our Plan... as of Today :)

Alrighty folks... YOU ALL need an update. There was talk of Brian doing EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) and us moving back stateside in the next few months. However, as we are accustomed to in the Navy our plans have changed drastically. So let me just give you the rundown...

Brian's EOD package was approved by his command and sent off to the detailer. We were waiting on orders when we found out that the detailer denied it. This came as a surprise to us cause we didn't think it could get denied after being approved by the command. The reasons it was denied were 1) Brian's higher tenure, 2) His age (EOD age limit is 30), and 3) he recently dropped out of BUD/S. Apparently EOD is in the same boat as SEALs and if you drop out of one you cannot return to either until 2 years has passed. Though he is over the age limit his PT scores are great so I am not sure why that mattered. Probably because it was just one more thing (he would need a waiver). As for his higher tenure.... it does not make sense to me because though he is an E-4 it's not like he is behind the curve.

Regardless of these things the plan now is to resubmit the package when he advances to a higher rank (E-5). Advancing in the military is complicated and I don't feel like explaining it, but basically when he advances he will be resubmitting a package to EOD.

What does all this really mean? In a nutshell... A) When Brian advances he will resubmit his package, if it is approved we may be leaving by July 2010 (not likely to be any sooner). B) If his package gets denied he will finish out his time in the Navy here in Japan (so we will be here until Nov 2011).Does Brian plan to retire with the Navy? Good question! If he goes EOD, yes, he will likely do 20 years. If not, he will likely get out in January 2012.

So there you have it! That is our life plan as of today! It could very possibly change by tomorrow, next week, or next month. We just never know with the military. This is our basic plan for now, but who knows what will come up.... so sit tight everyone and if you want to come visit please do!