Things are falling into place

A picture of the city of Daegu taken from the top of Woobang Tower.


My mom has been asking to see a picture of the outside of our apartment building, so its about time that I put these up. We share the 2nd floor with one other apartment. Ours is the one on the right furthest away. This is just one of the many buildings in Taesung Villa.

And can't forget ol' Swarley! He weights about 10-11 pounds now.

So this is just a real quick update on some new news. Yesterday we found out that we are FINALLY Command Sponsored. For those of you that do not know, we have been fighting for sponsorship for 5+ months! We had almost reached the point where Steve was getting his assignment for his next duty station. Well, as far as we know, he had an assignment. To Ft. Bliss, Texas. The unit at Ft. Bliss would shortly be leaving for the middle east not long after Steve would get there. So, aside from all of the great benefits of Command Sponsorship, we also really dodged a bullet avoiding deployment. Not to mention, I am now here LEGALLY. Phewf. So as of now, our DEROS date (Date Eligible to Return from Overseas) is September 21, 2011. Steve has re enlisted for more time in the army, so we are still facing the decision of whether or not to AIP (also nicknamed "Avoid Iraq Program") and stay for an additional year after that. Total, 3 years. But, as I said, its still a decision we have to make. The more time Steve is in the military and in the states, the more likely he is deployed. He is much safer from deployment in Korea. So, we will see. Its a big commitment.

SO, Monday Steve and I go take our Korean driving test to get our licenses, and we will be mobile. No more taxi's! AH! I can't wait. The train system is no big deal, and I actually kind of like it, but those taxi's steal your money. We are very excited.

July leave is still tentative. We are really really hoping for it.

I will keep you all updated on everything as often as I can. Things look like they are finally going to calm down! No more headache.

Oh! And some exciting news from Idaho. Steve's brother Doug just proposed to his (now) fiance Katelen. Congratulations to them both. I will have a SISTER in law now.

Love and miss you all,

Christie

Its been awhile.

It really has been awhile. My last update was a late update of the few months prior to THAT. So needless to say, I'm not that great on keeping up with this blog.

I keep fairly busy here in Korea as I have mentioned before. I've dealt with my share of drama since I have last written as well. Whoever said "it ends in highschool" was seriously mistaken. I've never been one to really like to sit in one place for a good amount of time, but something about this country has really got me hyped up and always moving. Unfortunately its not always exploring South Korea. Busy busy. Whether it be my trips to Daegu, the gym, appointments and dealing with army crap, I'm always doing something or other. And school starts this summer. I also have a much larger house to keep up with and a little dog. Oh joy, our dog. I do love him but he is a handful.

Hmm, lets see. Its impossible for me to back track everything I have done in the past few months, well lets see...after Christmas and New Years. I'd like to say I have done alot of incredible, fantastic things and have really taken advantage of my time spent in this country...but to be honest, living here is alot like living anywhere else. I mean, of COURSE it has its drastic differences. What I am saying is every day is not a tourist attraction. We are not here as tourists. This is our home for what looks like another 2+ years. We live and work and try as best we possibly can to stay in touch with our loved ones, and go about our day to day lives. When we have our good, free chances though...we do try to make the most of them.

In January Steve went through Warrior Leaders Course school for 17 days. I ended up trekking up to the almost northern most part of South Korea to watch him graduate. It was a great experience. I never got a chance to watch steve graduate Basic Training or AIT, so it was important to me to see WLC graduation. Steve graduated on the Commadants list.





A week later after his 17 days away from home, he had to leave for the field for another week. That weekend before he got back, I took advantage of the time and went on a girls trip to Seoul with some friends for three days. We had a great weekend shopping, touring the Korean War Memorial/Museum as well as a Palace. We even got to see the Blue House! (Equivalent of the states White House) We went out in the evening to go dancing. Seoul is so beautiful. And so full of life and history. We barely made a dent in what could have been done there, but for the amount of time we had, we did well.













The morning after I got back from Seoul, I hosted a superbowl party. And by morning I mean, 8:30 AM. That's when the Superbowl aired here. But that didn't stop anyone.

So as for some more recent updates on Steve and myself, different options for different future situations have bounced around here and there. At this point in time, Steve and I have still yet to receive our Command Sponsorship, meaning once it has gone though our 2 years starts at that point. Whenever that may be. Steve re enlisted for an additional 2 years on his existing 2 year contract so the Army owns him for 4 more years. One option would be to leave Korea in 6 months and go wherever the army tells us. That situation more than likely would end up badly seeing as the majority of his unit is going to Ft Bliss in El Paso, Texas, which are then to deploy to the Middle East. Not our favorable option. For a split second we thought there was a possibility of going to Utah to test a new operation there, but its so slight that it could be very risky to chance. So the way we see it is this. Stay in Korea, safe from deployment for 2 years, come back to the states and do another 2 years in a requested place (possibly Ft. Hood possibly Utah) and then see what the future holds. Its tentative as of now. Who knows what will happen.

Steve and I have planned to take leave in July for one month this summer. The "hear say" about those plans though, may come into affect. Supposedly there is a new, Battalion wide, rule that states the soldiers can only be out of the country for two weeks at a time. Steve just recently was told this, so he is going to ask many questions, but as far is how that will affect our leave...as of now we do not know. 2 weeks is just too short of a time to leave the country and come back. And quite frankly, I want to put my foot down about it. I hope it isn't factual. It is very important for us to go home in July because that is the first month available now for leave. We really wish to see our family, and unfortunately Steves grandma has passed away last week and it is important to both of us that we make the trip.

I say this every time, but I will try to keep up with this thing. I always say "once things settle down" but it has been 5 months and nothing has settled. I don't want anyone to get the impression that we are not enjoying ourselves, because that is very far from the truth. I absolutely love it here. It has just had its fair share of frustrations. Steve and I get through it together and just await to see what may come.

I hope everyone back home is doing well. We really, really miss you and can't wait to see everyone soon.

Love, Christie

Happy New Year!

Well, its been awhile. I'm sorry I haven't updated this in quite some time but frankly, I've been busy! To be honest the only reason I am finding time to update this is because Steve is at WLC (Warrior Leader Course) for 17 days. This is part of his road to becoming a Sargeant. I am on day two without him. It feels like day 100! He is much further North than where we live but I might make the trip to his graduation.

Lets see, the last time I updated this we had just moved into our apartment. Jeeze! Well I have alot to catch up on. Lets see...that was November?

Well, I have met quite a few soldiers wives since moving into our apartment. Alot of which live in the same apartments as Steve and I, and others close by. Every Wednesday we have breaksfasts at different wives houses to get to know eachother and hang out. Within those wives I have made closer friends with a set group of girls who I spend most of my time with when I'm not with Steve. Its great to have those friendships when overseas like this. Through a couple of the girls who have done this tour before, I have met girls who live in Daegu (the larger city about 20 miles from Waegwan) and we do lunches on Thursdays at different restaurants in Daegu. I have met some great people in such a short time. Steve has also got to know some of the wives husbands which is great for him too.

Now for the Holidays- We had Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbors The Crons. (My friend Ashley and her husband) They literally live across the hall. We share the floor of the building with them. Many of our friends and their husbands came to that as well as others. There was so much food. It was pot luck style so we brought a ham and two green bean cassaroles. The cassaroles ended up being a flop, but I came by it honestly. It was just a bad recipe and such a simple cassarole to mess up. ANYWAY, there was tons of food and it was alot of fun. We had a second Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Ydi and her husbands house a couple days later. That was a lot of fun as well and we got to meet many new people.

Christmas Steve and I decided to add a new addition to our little family. Swarley! We got him a week or so before Christmas but he was our gift to eachother. He is a Boston Terrier. When we purchased him the salesman told us he was 2 months old, which is the appropriate age to sell a puppy. Little did we know that he was only about 1 month old and much too young to be away from his mother. We had a few complications with Swarley from the beginning. I was so nervous it was Parvo because it is rampid in Korea. He was ill and very lethargic at all times. We took him to the off post Korean pet hospital (Which I LOVE now by the way) for lack of availability on post. They tested him for Parvo and Distemper and luckily he tested negative on both. They diagnosed him with an intestinal infection and a cold and treated him for both. We had to come back three days in a row, but he had improved by the 2nd and 3rd day! He was running around and being a little punk as a puppy should. Steve and I were so relieved. He is just the best thing. SO tiny when we first got him. 80 grams to be exact. Now I think hes above one pound. Oh, and he doesn't bark. Nope...he "meows." I'm going to have to record it sometime here soon so you can understand what I am talking about. Sure, puppies will whine and cry, but no...he sounds like a child crying. Its the funniest/most obnoxious sound for a puppy to make. But we love him! He is fairly obedient and will do almost anything for a treat. He has mastered "sit" and sometimes "come." We are unsure if he is hard of hearing so we have been training with hand signals. Good ol' Swarles.

New Years Eve we spent with some friends from Waegwan and some friends from Daegu. We went to Camp Walker's bar/restaurant with a band until about 30 minutes before midnight. Then we hurried through heavy heavy traffic and HUNDREDS of Koreans crossing the street to get to the park where the bell will be rung and fireworks will go off for the new year. Luckily we made it there just in time. It was a great experience. In a crowd of Koreans, our group was the only one of Americans that I could see in the distance. And we are talking a big crowd of Koreans. I kept getting high fives from them once midnight hit. Alot of times in public situations Korean men like to shake hands with Steve. I'm not sure if that is something customary or if they are just excited to meet an American. Who knows. Oh! But our first meal to ring in the new year? McDonalds. Hahah. There is a two story McDonalds in the center of Downtown Daegu and everyone was hungry. It was classy.

As far as now, I really do keep myself busy. It seems like Steve or I always have a million and one things to take care of when we aren't busy. So in turn, we are ALWAYS busy. We like to go out and see new things, but lately things have really taught us to enjoy our free time. We both just cannot wait until we have a car. We have been waiting on our command sponsorship to go through for months now. It has taken too long. Luckily we have set it up where I should be getting my SOFA stamp on my passport any day now because my travel time on my passport is almost up! Who knew it would be this much of a process? Of course, that is how everything in the army is. "Hurry up and wait."

I will try to keep more up to date on this as best I can. Things should hopefully be settling down soon and I can find more time for it. But for now, here are some pictures! (We really need to take more of when we are out and about.. I will work on that.)

By the way, if anyone stateside would like to be able to text me or Steve let me know and I can set you up. All I really need is your cell phone number and you can text us to our computer.

Sorry these pictures are in such a random order.

I finally got this picture that I mentioned from an earlier post that they took of me at Steves re enlistment.

Some of us at Christmas dinner at the Simpsons.Oh yea, I cut my hair off!

Steve and I at Julliard in Daegu.

Joanna, Ydi and I at The Hilltop.

Snow in Waegwan!

He fell asleep arms and legs outstretched above him.

A friend gave me this little shirt for him. Its so cold here and this breed of dog is sensitive to it so I figured why not?

Chloe's Santa suit on Swarley Christmas night.

Some of the guys playing Rockband on Christmas.

Christmas morning

Steve got a harmonica set!

Swarley being a cat behind the couch.