New Foilage

Last week when we went to Shimoda Mall, I let the kids buy plants at the Y100 store. I thought it would be fun for them to have something for our new home. Nolan picked the smallest to see how big it will be when we move. The last thing we did in TX was give away the one plant we had. It seemed fitting to buy new plants right away...and you can't go wrong at the Y100 store.
They're also a little reminder to bloom in our new home.














Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Our Home?

No, this isn't another bathroom story. This is a house-hunting story. I've been told I need to write this down......because our adventure is so funny.

I wrote about the first house we looked at today earlier. Others have now told me that it would be wise to take the new house, especially as it is the same rent. There is a real problem with mold and right on the edge of a swampy paddy that could be an issue. Also, with the kerosene heaters some say the fumes cause them migraines.....the new home won't have mold when we move in....and it will heat with the floors somehow....

BUT THIS is a 1/2 bath. Note it is a toilet and a sink.

The full bath was scattered around the house. I guess this is common? Though I've not seen it before today. Kim told me that the bathrooms are divided into two or three rooms...but I've always seen them together. This house had the sink in the master bdr closet, the tub in the laundry room and the toilet in the master bedroom.

These road signs are becoming our best friends. They are placed where the roads are hard to see....and they are lifesavers!


Here are some photos of the house we hope to be able to put our deposit on tomorrow.


The only thing that I really don't like about this model is the small living room windows....which is why we almost went with the other style....but, unless we choose the houses directly off the road, our view would be the house next door anyway. ::snort::


Mike climbed to the second floor and gave us a report. ::snort:: This is a little bay window like nook at the top of the stairs. The master bedroom is to the left of where Mike is standing. He also checked out the insulation. ::snort::


Three bedrooms along this side of the house.


Jared expressed it first, "This house is worth the wait." I thought we might should "settle" because of Jared's school and our need to "arrive" ....but he's right. We'll be happy in this house.


Did you think I was joking about vending machines being EVERYWHERE?


Lunch time arrived while we were looking around....I got a good laugh over everyone retiring to cars, odd spots, eating their bentos and catching a few winks.


This shows the back of the house. I think the yard itself goes to about where the dirt mound is....but there is a big field behind us that isn't planted and horse corrals to the side of us. We saw three horses.


This is a photo for those living in Springfield...a piece of home in Japan.


The reasons NOT to live off base remain...but this house has much in its favor. It's in a farming area, the yards are bigger than most we've seen, the rent is the same as the two older homes we looked at this week, it's new and will be well heated.....and it's the biggest home we've seen in our month here. The only thing that would stop us from getting it now would be the base saying 100% that they will kick us out of TLF (we are happy to pay if they let us stay) or someone else putting a deposit down this evening. In that case, we'd go with the single level home.. several of them were real possibilities too and have vacant lots next to them. LOL

Another family with six children moved in to the hall across from us. They've been told they'll be given a 4 bdr house, as we had been. We shall see. I rather doubt it, as I know two other families in TLF after traveling the same route we have. Of course, all three of us are Field Grade families....and maybe they'll let you accept the smaller house if you are a different rank? I'm interested to find out.

I've had two women mention that maybe God is moving me away from the base so that I DON'T over-commit to chapel programs. Hmmm.....I'll pray about that.

I'm really excited to watch this house be built and to be able to move into a new home....what a blessing! And that is what I'll choose to focus on.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

I Ate My Whole Meal with Hashis....

SCORE! It wasn't pretty, but I managed to eat my entire meal with hashis...chopsticks.

After WILD yesterday, Mike and I took Rick and Renee (our sponsors) and Melissa (PWOC Pacific President) out to dinner. Rick and Renee recommended this restaurant. It was fun....we sat on tatami (is that the word?) matts.... We cheated just a bit as there was a hole under the table and so our legs could hang down rather than be folded under. ::snort::

Renee has a card that says in Japanese that she is allergic to shellfish....and so we showed them that. The chef told us he would make both of us something special. WOW....veggie tempura, miso soup that was to die for, rice, cucumber sushi (which I much prefer).....Yum.... and I ate the whole thing without having to say, "fo-ku kudasai"! ::snort::

Yeah, I SAID it wasn't pretty....and look how DARK my hair is getting again. ::snort::

SHOW OFF!

Renee, I'll google dietary cards...but if you want to email me the name of the website where you ordered that card, I'll have one made for my purse. It was nice to be able to eat without worrying about what I might get. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Quick Housing Update

Lodging (TLF managers) are wonderful. The manager said she KNEW it was going to take us a long time to find a place. She is going to try to work with us regardless of what housing does so that we can stay in TLF, while we look.

For the non-military: We are currently authorized 30 days in TLF (Temp Lodging Facility) on TLA (um....$ for moving so it isn't out of our pocket). Our time is up. We were given a 10 day extension. NOW we have to get them to approve us to stay while we continue to look for an off base house. We've met a Major here in TLF, in our same boat...who found the reg that says that they have to give you 60 days if they don't offer you a home. We talked to housing today and she said that it is not given "for the members convenience". In other words we should take the house as small as on base (which THEY say is inadequate) or it simply a matter of our convenience. Mike is currently writing it all up again and asking for the 60 days. If it is granted, we remain on priority status and are assured that we can stay in TLF until the end of September. If not give we move to Space A, we have to pay for the nights and we could be asked to leave at any time. As I said the manager of lodging has said she will do her best to accommodate us regardless of our status. It IRKS me that HOUSING won't offer us a home on base and now they say we are being picky. Um....

We did look at the gray house by the rice paddy. I loved the location and the neighbors. The house had some strange things. For instance there is no dining room and the bathroom was spread out all over the house. The tub was in the laundry room, the sink was in the master bedroom closet (leaving you with very little closet space for uniforms ::snort::), the toilet was in an alcove off the master bedroom. It was small and depressing....but we would have taken it, if that was all we found.

THEN we went and looked at some new houses being built. There are some due to be done in Sept, some in Oct and some in November. There are 12 houses in this new area due to be finished the end of September. 4 of them are already reserved. They are the same rent as the gray one, they will be NEW and Mike crawled around to check - they'll be insulated! They are 500 sf bigger. They will have heated floors. Ours is right next to horse corrals....they are 20 min from base (though only 3 miles ::snort::), and that is NOT convenient....but they are much more livable. They have 2 1/2 bathrooms AND dining rooms. Housing, of course, wants us to accept the gray one without a door. We were able to walk through the two story and the single story homes being built and there were things I really liked better about the single story, but we voted for the two story. Location.....the ones by the road will have an awesome view of rice paddies and fields....but we opted for the back because there will be room for basketball and bikes...we'll be at the end of the culdesac and the kids will have a bit more freedom outside without me being right there with them. The ones on the other end of the street border the main road. It was a TOUGH choice and we may still change our mind about which house we want. I loved Ms. Koishi. She saw a subdivision closer that was building and told us to call that agent. They wanted Y30,000 yen more a month ($300). She is keeping her houses low. She is allowing us to give her Y225,000 for a deposit (all others we've seen are Y500,000). I really liked her. She knows we are desperate, but did not take advantage of us.

IF they won't allow us to stay here on priority status, I have no idea what we will do until September...but I trust that lodging will try to accommodate us regardless of the status housing awards us. At this point it's not a money thing...if we quit getting TLA we'll get BHA (Basic Housing Allowance) and that will cover the TLF cost....it's the principle of it now. ::snort:: Housing said we could "hope" to remain Priority status but lose our TLA...because waiting until Sept is simply a matter of convenience. Grrr.

20 minutes off base WILL impact how involved we can be in base life. It will impact the activities the kids participate in and how involved we get in chapel life. It means we can't use the base gym without quite a drive. BUT it also means we'll have fast Internet, we'll enjoy living in gorgeous farmland....we'll have a NEW house (never done that before - YIKES)...we'll be in the Oriase area, which is gorgeous.

School - UGH. I think I'll order some things that I know I have in our bags so that we can get started...math, science and some phonics things for Zander. I may even try to find TOG Unit 4 of year 2 book list, so that we can try with the library here to get moving. I hate to BUY all the things that are already here....just because we can't get to them....but the kids are ready for some school.

Our shipments - both hold (unaccompanied which was to be here 9 weeks before everything else) and our normal shipment are waiting. They won't deliver any of it until we have a home. THIS is the PCS story to end all PCS stories. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Today's News

We heard today that all our exception requests for housing have been turned down...we won't be allowed to live in CGO housing, we aren't allowed to sign to accept a 4 bdr house, they won't give us two units.... We've been in TLF a month and are hoping to be extended while we continue to look for an off base house. At this point we are finding lots of agents who are building homes but nothing ready NOW..... I WISH they had simply said all this when we called in May, rather than encouage us to put in pointless exceptions which ate up our TLF time waiting for responses.

We still believe that God is preparing or has prepared a place for us to live while we are assigned to Misawa. Please pray that our time is extended in the the TLF and that we find the spot where God would have us live.

The funny thing is I'm no longer discouraged about this. It is getting funny again....in a spiritual warfare sort of way. Honestly, I believe God is going to do good things in us, for us and through us in Japan.

In more EXCITING NEWS - we had our PWOC WILD (Protestant Women of the chapel - Women Intent on Leadership Development) today! We had TWENTY-TWO women attend...and it was only advertised on Sunday. YES.....and we had 39 children! Mike and a host of youth watched the kids....What hearts of service. How can I be depressed with such great things going on around me?

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Any Day That Begins....

with a call from the front desk telling you you need to move out, is bound to be a hard day. ::snort::

At a Parish picnic yesterday we heard two comments that lead us to believe our waiver will be denied. Both from commanders. OK - here's the scoop....the BASE says that 4 bdr is INADEQUATE for us. THEN they turn down our exception saying that off base 4 bdr (same square footage) IS adequate. We've not heard for sure that it will be turned down...it has one more desk to go through to reach us...but I think both men were warning their chaplain what to expect. ::sigh::

Mike talked to housing again today. He was told that the minimum rooms we can occupy are FIVE...therefore, we need A WAIVER before they can offer us a 4 bdr. Hmmmm...we were TOLD before we came we'd be offered a 4 bdr. Last week we were told that the problem was there is no FGO housing. THIS week - 3 weeks after putting in the exception package they told us to submit....we are told that to even be offered the minimum 4 bdr we need ANOTHER exception. If they had told us this the FIRST WEEK we were here we would have put in THAT waiver....but our time in TLF has run out. They've extended us for 10 days. We will not hear back from the base on a new exception in 10 days...that means we have only one option...find something off base......and therein lies the problem.

I have found 3 houses being built...2000 SF that will be ready in Oct/November....and we can't stay in TLF that long. There are two others that we saw today....all the same size as base housing that may work....however, the one is in BAD shape. The current tennant won't be out until 26 Aug and they'll need to repair it. That's most likely too late for us. That leaves ONE house...at least the choice is easy. We are supposed to see inside Wed at 1030. We hope to see a 4bdr base house tomorrow to decide if we should pursue another exception waiver...though the one commander over housing did say that they are no longer approving exceptions. We're confused.

Mike and I were discouraged last night. We prayed. This a.m. I read Jn 14. Totally OUT OF CONTEXT but it spoke to me..."Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. .... I've gone to prepare a place for you."

We ALWAYS pray that God would prepare a place for us to live, ministry for us to walk in, friends for us to enjoy, people to impact our lives and lives for us to impact, BEFORE we move.

God reminded me that it will take an act of WILL not to let my heart be troubled and fearful. I need to CHOOSE to be a believing one. I need to CHOOSE joy. He also reminded me that He will answer our prayers and has a place for us to live.

Of course, after seeing the available houses, after calling all the agents, visiting housing again...I dissolved in tears. Poor Mike. I don't do this often. In fact this is the first time that I've not hid it from the kids or Mike during the PCS. I try to be the strong Air Force spouse...but I'm getting discouraged and worn out. We need a house. At this point, our criteria for WHAT we accept is basically that it be available before our TLA and TLF run out. ::snort::

Please pray for our hearts. When Mom gets discouraged, all start to feel it....and so again...I refocus. I choose not to be ruled by fear. I choose to find the humor in the situation.

Seriously, the one house left is at the side of a rice paddy. ::snort:: It has no front door...it really does look like a box....didn't I say about a month ago that God was my home....whether I lived in base housing, off base housing or in a box at the side of a rice paddy? ::snort:: Now it's time for me to walk it out...a bit further. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Blast from my Childhood....

Look what I found in the commissary...

I should have guessed that Magnolia would be marketed in Japan....and so I'll continue to look for "Show Pau" - the Octopus balls weren't it. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...