Hey! We're your new neighbors!

 

This week we got that wonderful phone call that everyone waits for when getting to a new base and so the time has almost come for us to move out of TLF! After just about 28 days we finally have a home! We got to see our house this week, say we will take it and now we are waiting for an inspection and official date to move in (which we should find out on Friday). It's not where we wanted to live on base (there are 4 separate housing areas and our friends that we wanted to live near are on the west side and we will be on the east side) but it is the size we wanted and since we are only allocated a 2 bedroom, with the one kid per room rule and all, that is great news. We got a 3 bedroom tower which is basically a 3 bedroom apartment in a high rise on base. It's nice enough for the 3 years we will be here and we will make it home. Pictures will come as soon as we get moved in!

Anyways I was scouring Pinterest and the Internet looking for cute ways to introduce our family to our new neighbors. There are 5 other homes on our floor (even though I think 2 are empty but I'm going to make 5 anyway) so I didn't want to do something super elaborate or time consuming. Since we will be here 3 years I figured what better way to introduce The Cunningham family than to give a little gift letting our new neighbors know who we are and that we are here. Plus it may help soften their hearts and help them remember not to complain when they hear the more frequently occurring that I would like crazy toddler tantrum from way outside of our home since we are right in front of the elevator. Way better than forcing them to meet us by knocking on your door during your dinner, on your weekend relax time or while you're bringing groceries in. Gives them a choice of whether or not they want to stop by and meet us and gets rid of that awkward "hi I'm your new neighbor! Please like me and not judge me if I look too crazy rushing out late to an appointment" moment

Here are some cute ideas that I found:

I found this one on pinterest with no link (so I linked to the pinterest page) It is so simple, to the point and plays on the common "come over if you need a cup of sugar" neighbor thing. This is actually my favorite and a strong contender. I would put in on a small card though instead of a regular sheet of paper.

(Photo From Pinterest)

 

Who doesn't love fresh cookies? These ideas are simple and just involve baking cookies and wrapping them up! besides if you don't love cookies or want to bale them you can take the tags and attach them to anything!

 

Found this one adorable poem here at Craftaholics Anonymous with a free printable (FREE and ADORABLE! Can't beat it)

 

(photo taken by Linda Gardner)

Got this one here on Embellish with another adorable free printable!

(Photo taken by Kirsten Fuller)

Got this one here on Casa de Lewis with, you guessed it, another super awesome free printable

(Photo taken by Sada Lewis)

 

This one from Army Wife Network was another one of my favorites since it should be obvious by now I LOVE a good play on words. This one is easy and cost effective...and another FREE printable!

(Photo taken by Tara Crooks)

This really thoughtful idea from Southern Mess is so cute! (free printable included)

(Photo taken by Stephanie Howard)

 

 

This one from Love The Day is Christmas themed but can easily be changed. Printable available for $5 on her site

 

(Photo taken by Lindi Haws: Love The Day Designs)

 

This last one is simple enough to create. Again, I mean, who doesn't love baked goods that you don't have to bake yourself?! I found it on pinterest again with no link.

 

(Photo From Pinterest)

 

Do you do anything to introduce yourself when you move into a new neighborhood? Let me know what other cool ideas you have!

 

 

10 Things I learned from my first overseas PCS

No matter how much you read about PCSing overseas you are never really prepared until...well....you are never really prepared. Chances are you will forget something, panic, under pack, over pack and over all just stress yourself out about it. Moving to a new country is in fact difficult and nerve wrecking and full of unknowns but there are a few things I learned from my first overseas PCS that can maybe help you!

1.  Social Media is your friend before, during and after your move
• As soon as you find out where you are moving join the facebook groups for that base. There are always spouses groups (both official like the Enlisted or Officer spouses clubs and unofficial like "Yokota wives" or "Yokota moms and families"). You will likely meet many people who are arriving the same time as you are and you can learn a lot from the spouses that are already there, such as the best place to buy a car and cell phone/internet from personal experiences and not nice internet reviews that may not be true
2. The earlier you send your things the better
• I made a huge mistake here and waited until 2 days before we left to send our things because I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. I repeat HUGE MISTAKE! I recommend you send your HHG AT LEAST 2-3 weeks before. The longer you wait to send them the longer you are at your new base in your new home with no furniture or loaner furniture. Either way you can't really make it feel like home until you get your own things. Send them early and chances are if you have to wait for a home like we do your things will arrive before you get your things and then you can move in and have your things delivered within the same week
3. Research the weather
• Since you can only bring two 70 pound bags and a carry on per person it is a little difficult to bring all of your clothes so reach out on social media to people who are actually there and find out what the weather is like during the time you will be there. You don't want to be moving from California or Florida and not have winter clothes but be moving to Japan during winter (like me haha Shopping excuse anyone?)
4. Don't solely rely on your sponsor....have a backup plan
• A lot of the time you have this amazing sponsor who picks you up from the airport, arranges your lodging, has food and snacks for you and has all the information you need to be ready to start work on Monday. However for the other times when you have a really crappy sponsor who doesn't even show up to the airport (once again, yes, like ours) have a backup plan. Find out if there are shuttles that take you where you need to go, make sure your member finds out what to do the next morning if he cant contact anyone before you leave, get a base map from the hotel front desk so you know where you can eat. Just take care of yourself when you get there just in case someone else doesn't take care of you
5. Research the customs of your host country
• Every country has different things that are considered appropriate in public. For example in Japan PDA, eating or drinking and walking and being loud and boisterous in public are all cultural no-no's. Although they tell your spouse (and maybe you if you attend with them) during in processing there is a chance you will attempt to explore off base before you get to in process. Don't want o offend your host nation.
6. Talk to the other people PCSing in the terminal while you wait
• Chances are you will see them again during in processing and around the base. Don't want to miss an opportunity to make a new friend
7. Everything will not go as planned
• You get to your base, check into lodging, get your license and a car that week and a house the next. Perfect scenario and will happen just like that....until it doesn't! Just know that things can change, commands handle things differently (and at different speeds), wait lists may be longer, there may be an exercise and places are closed. There are many things that can go wrong and you've just got to roll with the punches...and that's okay
8. Every kid travels differently
• The advice that you read about how to help your little through that 10+ hour flight and multiple travel days, and this advice, is just that...advice filled with good intentions from their experience. Relax mama! You know your little! You know that after 2 hours he gets restless and needs to walk a little, you know that she will cry on landing and takeoff and no binky or lollipop will help. It's okay! people will survive if there is a baby crying or a toddler throwing a tantrum. No one will look down on you or judge you if you let them watch bubble guppies for 10 hours straight and eat goldfish so they don't freak out. You know what will get you through your flight sane. SO DO THAT!
9. Learn the language
• I'm not saying become fluent in German but learn to say common phrases such as Hello, Goodbye, Excuse me, Thank You, I'm Sorry (I say that a lot haha) They try to speak English and help you as much as possible but they really appreciate it when you try as well
10. RELAX AND EMBRACE THE JOURNEY
• This is the most important one! You are about to live somewhere and experience things that most people only dream of. That's awesome!! Scary..yes but still so so so awesome. SO embrace it, get out and experience the culture, meet the people, explore, take picture, make friends and make the best of your time there. 3 years goes by so quickly!

So that is what I have learned from moving from the states to Japan. What tips or lessons do you have from your overseas PCS journey?

 

 

 

 

The journey begins!

It has finally begun! A new adventure, TOGETHER, in a new country! I don't think I've been so nervous, scared, excited, stressed and happy at the same time since we became parents. It was a very long trip and so I was extremely nervous (honestly both for us and for the rest of the plane) to see how a 3 year old would handle the trip. He's become mighty spoiled this past year since we were missing our primary disciplinarian (something on working on A LOT

We had to be at the airport  at 2am so we woke up at 1 and made sure we did a final sweep of the room to make sure we didnt forget anything. We took the shuttle at 1:30 and got everything checked and got through security. Thankfully Logan woke up so I didn't have to carry him through the airport with our 2 luggage carts but that meant he was wide awake so a starbucks stop in the terminal was a must. Luckily they were open. Seattle airport has a nice childrens play area and so we hung out there for an hour or so.

airport play time with daddy 

as put together as I can be at 2 am

Once we got to the terminal we had a long wait ahead of us. Even though we were there at 2 our flight didnt leave until 7:30 so we had a 5 hour wait. Logan was a trooper and hung out with us until the very last hour before boarding when he fell asleep. the wait was long but I am a people watcher and it was a people watcher's paradise! Isaac and I had a blast observing and laughing and joking with my husband.

TMNT play time in the terminal 

So nice to let me use him as a pillow (See how excited he is!) 

Flying with a toddler it is never easy flying but expecting a 3 year old to sit still for 10 hours on an airplane after sitting in a terminal for 5 hours and waking up at 1am is like expecting me to get his birthday party planning completely done before the day of. Not gonna happen! So, with that being said the flight went GREAT! LOGAN DID AMAZING! He literally sat on the plane watching movies, talking to us and coloring  and napping the entire time. I thought we would have to deal with a tantrum or a seat kicking issue but nope none of that. Isaac and I kept looking at each other and saying "Can you believe this?!" and when we heard other kids have meltdowns we were expecting one every time but it never happened. It was the best flight we have ever taken with him! he even ate the airplane food! I was so proud of him. I don't think I couldve been more impressed, seriously it is impossible. During the flight I mostly slept, read The Andy Cohen Diaries and watched the movie Blended that they showed and that was really good. Isaac pretty much tried to sleep the entire time and failed haha I owe my husband so so so so so much and I have to praise him! Even after flying from the pacific and back within a week all to escort us to Japan with a hurt knee he still sat in a tiny area so that Logan and I could spread out on the plane and sleep

We're all ready to go 

Movie Time

Nap time comfortably thanks to my awesome husband

lauged out loud the entire time I read this and people thought I was crazy 

When we finaly landed we had a little bit of customs stuff to do to enter the country and then we were officially done and residing on Yokota. It's the middle of December so I obviously expected it to be winter when we arrived but I didn't expect It to be 40 degrees. I was expecting much cooler. I was surprised at how the wind can pick up though and change it from a decent weather day to a pretty cold one in a second That year back in Southern California with basically no wind really spoiled me. Everything here is smaller than in the states, especially the cars! Even the biggest cars are tiny lol

Samurai Armor in the airport terminal 

right outside the terminal

We are so lucky to have a family here that we have known for years, basically our husbands were roomates and worked in the same office before we all got married and then we (Brittany and I) met after we became moms. If it wasn't for Brittany who has been here for a year and a half we would be lost! She has basically become my lifesaver during this first week. She picked us up from the airport, took us grocery shooping and took us to get phones. Thankfully Logan and her daughter get along very well and it makes me very happy to see him have a friend here already. She has seriously been a lifesaver and I don't know how we could adjust here with out her. I dont have a picture with them yet becuase I look like death but I promise one is coming haha

We've been here for 3 days now and we still haven't adjusted to the time, Every day Logan and I have gone to sleep really really early and wake up at 3am or so. It's crazy! We are trying to get adjusted but the time is kicking our butts! Isaac is luckier because he was in S. Korea and on the same time for the past year. Since this is Christmas week it is very hard to get things done and in processed because everyone is on holiday schedules. Hopefully we will get enough done this week to be able to go off base and then start really exploring. Outside of the time we have been walking around on base a little bit and trying to figure out what is near us and just taking it all in. 

Minute Maid apple juice, flavored water and a can of hot coffee from the vending machine!

Logan loves the bottles!

Speed limit sign- 30 km (about 18 mph)

Stop sign on base (the triangle threw us both off!)

Playground fun with daddy 

Now we're just waiting to be assigned a house, which we found out will probably end up being about a month....ughh!, and start settling in as much as we can without all of our furniture. I'm hoping we'll get our home before our stuff gets here but either way we will make the best of it and enjoy the beginning of this chapter because this journey is one that many people don't get to take and whatever happens from here on out we will chalk it up to it just being our life.

Thanks For The Memories California!!

The next week or so I will be so busy with the big move that I won't be on the blog much, if at all (ahhh I know you're bummed. I am too), soooo in honor of our last week in beautiful Long Beach I wanted to take a trip down memory lane at some of the fun stuff we got to this year while we were in California. It's a beautiful place filled with spiritually beautiful people and we will take with us beautiful memories

Beach Time

First of all beach visits all year long?! Yes please! Thanks so cal weather (Except this weekend when it's cold and hopefully rainy) Sun and 75 degrees in January was the start of a beautiful relationship between us and the beach. I thought that with us living on the sand we would go every day or every other day but it ended up being like once a week. Still with about 45 visits to the beach under our belt in just under a year it was an awesome time killer

Long Beach Grand Prix

It was both mine and Logan's first time going to the LB Grand Prix and he was so amazed by the racing, meeting the drivers and crews and seeing the cars I got caught up in the moment just living and didn't take hardly any pictures. I was able to get this one though even though we aren't in it.

Swim Lessons

During the summer, based on how much Logan loved going to the pool and how much he hated wearing his floaties, we decided it was a necessity to get swim lessons. Honestly the real reason is that I can only swim enough to get me from point A to point B under water like a wounded fish so if he can't swim and I can't swim the pool time isn't looking that great for us. Isaac was home on midtour for the first week of lessons and thankfully that made it easier for both Logan and I. We took them at Belmont Plaza pool and they don't teach them wearing life jackets because they believe it hinders them so I was terrified. I had nothing to be worried about because he LOVED it! By the last lesson he was jumping into the water when I wasn't looking and swimming to the wall. It was awesome! Plus we met Beth and Ary there!!!! Hi guys! we miss you!!

 The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Ummm apparently this was my year because I requested and received tickets to Ellen all within a month of deciding it was a good time to try haha I must say I had no idea people waited years to get tickets and many people were not happy with me. I brought my neighbor and wardrobe stylist extraordinaire J.R. along and we had a blast. We sat in the front row, we were on TV about 10 times, the guest for the entire hour was Julia Roberts and J.R. was featured dancing on the show and got to talk to Ellen! So fun and I would go back every year if I could get tickets.

Medieval Times

This place wasn't new to me at all but how much fun is it when you can go somewhere you love and take your husband and son who have never been before?! It kind of makes you the "resident expert" right? Well I felt like it did and I took advantage of it (lots of me saying "oh yeah you guys have never been here before. Well just stick with me") Our knight lost but we had a blast. Logan loved the food and was so into the show that he cried when it was over. (and yes we couldn't help but buy the overpriced picture with the king to mark our first visit as a family)

Soccer

This was really important to Isaac. He has imagined Logan playing soccer since we found out we were pregnant. Luckily this kid loves soccer as much as his dad does. Since he was 2 at the time we put him in an introductory park 2-3 year old league to get him used to the idea of organized team sports and he had a blast. Can't wait to get settled and get him playing again

San Diego Chargers game

My dad has been a Chargers season ticket holder for many years but 1. I am not a chargers fan (Titans fan by marriage #Titanup) and 2. I have never lived close enough to drive to San Diego just for a Sunday game. This year I was able to go with my dad and take Logan to his first NFL game which was both exciting and sad becuase I always thought Isaac would be there too. I was nervous becuase this guy didn't like anything but the Charger girls at first but got really into with his new friends (my dads seat neighbor) by the end. I also think it helped that he has really awesome seats. Going to games is one of my favorite things to do so I am so glad that Logan came around and got into it. 

The Zoo x 2

I am obsessed with the zoo. If it was up to me I would find and visit the zoo in every single city we visit but that isn't realistic (or is it? *insert evil laugh here*). This year we made it to visit both the L.A and the Santa Ana Zoo with friends of ours. The L.A Zoo is really cool but since it was so hot the animals were kind of hiding out. The Santa Ana one was much smaller than I would've liked but perfect for a day out with toddlers. They also have a really awesome monkey population. I think they had 50 monkeys of all sizes and we spent a great deal of time watching them. Logan is now very fond of monkeys, anteaters and giraffe.

Aquarium of the Pacific

I am a tiny bit less obsessed with aquariums than I am with zoo's but still obsessed and lucky for me Logan is too. We spent a lot of time at the aquarium this year, so much time that I actually stopped taking pictures during our visits and if you know me you know that's a HUGE deal. We became members, went to events and I was manipulated by a certain someone into spending a ton of money in the gift shop. Luckily it was only 4 minutes away from our house. Every kid should get to go to the aquarium at least once in their life. This one is one of my favorites because they have the Lorikeet forest! Pretty cool

The Long Beach Museum of Art & LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

I grew up in the Long Beach area and had never once heard of the Long Beach Museum of Art. It was another one of those things that was a couple of minutes from our house so we grabbed a friend and walked over one day. It's free on Friday so it was the perfect time to see how Logan would do in a place that is normally quiet and possibly boring for him. It's 3 stories but as far as museums go pretty small. Logan was actually pretty into it and did great. They also have a really good restaurant that overlooks the water called Claire's. LACMA was something that I have always wanted to go to but just never had the time and since I don't live in L.A it was kind of out of the way but it was so worth it. So many exhibits and different types of art. our favorites were the Urban light display out front, the Metropolis exhibit, the sculpture garden and the Penetrable exhibit or as Logan calls it "The Spaghetti" LACMA has a really cool program called NEXGEN which provides children a free membership until they are 18 (even if they're a newborn) and one free guest per visit. Its free for every kid in your house even if you have 10 so that's 10 free kids and 10 free adults. It's a great program helping to keep kids interested in art. Kids can also paint and do arts and crafts there in the BOONE children's gallery.

3rd birthday party

Logan turned 3 this year and I have never thrown him a party because well at 1 and 2 you don't really care about parties. We just did cakes and a gift for 1 and 2 but this year was the big 3 and he could understand birthday parties, had been to about 15 this year and daddy was away. What better reason than to make this one extra special? We celebrated the way we always do at first, with just us, a cupcake and a gift. We went to Frosted Cupcakery and ended up with a pumpkin cupcake and he devoured it. At Logan's request we had a police themed party, complete with a homemade jail that our amazing friends (Dan and Lisa) built from scratch. Super fun party and I'm glad I got to throw his first party here at home.

Halloween 2014

Our last major holiday that we went all our for was Halloween. I LOVE Halloween now that I'm a mom. We normally do a family costume but this year it was just the kiddo and I. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was huge this year and even though I didn't take him to see the movie (This mama doesn't do PG-13 with a toddler) he got really into the cartoons.....but naturally every kid needs 4 costumes right? We started off with a Raphael TMNT costume. He wore it to our buildings harvest festival and decided he didn't want to wear it again because it hurt him. Then we got a police costume as a birthday gift (Thanks Lauren!) and he had to wear that too. Next we got a firefighter costume and then lastly he wanted to ultimately be a ninja turtle at Halloween so we got a Donatello costume for the big day and since we already had the swords I went as Raphael.We spent it at the Queen Mary's kid version of the Dark Harbor event with friends and had a great time.

Even though Isaac was away Logan and I made the best out of our short time in Long Beach. We went as many places as we could, reconnected with old friends and made some new ones that we will never forget. The year without dad wasn't so terrible after all. Thanks for the memories friends, family and California.We never say goodbye so I will say see ya'll later