View from the deck, looking out onto the Pacific Ocean.Tidings of the season, dear family and friends!
In our ever-present, ongoing attempt to bring you interesting tidbits at the holidays, Dean and I have been keeping very busy this year past.
Early in 2009, Dean and I chose to accept military orders to change our duty station to Okinawa, Japan. I resigned from my position at Sony and we spent the majority of May at going-away parties, which was wonderful, as we said farewell to good friends we had made while we were in San Diego. Aunt Kathy even made it to one of the raring shindigs in the trendy Gaslamp District (though she claimed her primary reason for the San Diego visit was a “business trip”). I also graduated law school in May. Dean sat through the whole, long graduation ceremony and cheered, I think because now for the first time in our marriage, someone will be home to cook him dinner instead of being in class all night.
In June, Dean and I (meaning the movers) packed up our apartment and waved good-bye to SoCal. It was a wonderful place to be stationed, and we'll always look back at the wild fires, terrible traffic, and high property crime rates fondly.
Instead of reporting to Japan immediately, we gave ourselves a few months to do a bit of jet-setting. We took a fantastic European vacation that included time in Barcelona and a cruise through the Western Mediterranean that stopped in Malta, several cities in Italy, and the French Riviera. Then we flew up to Paris for a week where we had nowhere near as eventful a time as we hear the Beauchemins did.
From Paris we flew back to NY just in time for me to don my bright orange bridesmaid dress and see TC marry Mr. James Manuel. The wedding was breathtakingly beautiful and it was fantastic to see so much of the family before we left for Japan, including the newest member, Alexander Jacob. I made a quick trip up to Toronto to see Shilo, and came back to NY after an action-packed long weekend that included a road trip to Montreal. Dean and I stayed in NY through the 4th of July, showing captive audiences thousands of pictures of the Europe trip and otherwise just enjoying Peach Lake.
After seeing all of my family, we flew over to the Northwest to visit with Dean's brothers. Larry and Rachel had recently welcomed their second son into their brood, naming him Jacob Alexander. So I got to hold not one, but TWO babies within a few weeks! We saw everyone we could in the short time we had, spending a wonderful afternoon on Dean's Mama Ricky's porch eating barbecue overlooking the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. The Ellis boys said their farewells, as they do, over tequila, and we were off again.
By the middle of July, we finally boarded a plane in Seattle that took us to Okinawa. Unfortunately our time line was such that we just missed overlapping Aunt Di and Uncle Jeff's stay there. But they very generously left us their car and a phone, so we were set up well ahead of most the families with whom we arrived. Dean and I found an apartment off base so nice that it's like being on vacation every day. It is a two-story penthouse right off the ocean with a spiral staircase and a Jacuzzi. All the controls for the major appliances were modeled off the Jetsons, and we've almost figured out how to work all of them. We didn't believe our good luck in scoring this place until the ink had dried on the lease.
As far as jobs, Dean began work as the S-1 Chief for an Artillery Battery. I took a job with the Department of Defense as a Management Technician. Within a month, I was promoted to Management Analyst, so I am moving right along! I got a nice office with a door and a window, but I don't have my own parking spot like Dean does, so there is still room for growth.
We've done a little sightseeing in Okinawa, seeing a whale shark at the Churaumi Aquarium, a pineapple farm on the north of the island, and the crowded fish markets down in Naha. The weather was brutal when we got here in the summer, but it has cooled down to a breezy 80 degrees by mid-November.
The most important news since we've been out here is that Dean and I learned we are expecting our first child! The baby is due at the beginning of April. Through the miracle of modern science, we are pretty sure the baby will be a boy. We are still kicking around names. Suggestions are welcome! We are just thrilled and things seem to be progressing on schedule. Dean also seems to be surviving the pregnancy very well. Even so, we welcome all prayers and positive thoughts you direct our way!
For the first time ever for me, I will not make it home to NY for the holidays but Dean and I will probably host a nice party for people out here in the same situation. Try not to feel too bad for us as we will be relaxing on our private rooftop deck overlooking the ocean, enjoying good food and rather mild weather.
We miss you all and hope your holidays are wonderful and full of joy. For any particularly eventful revelry occurrences, please feel free to give us a call on our U.S. VOIP line.
Love and peace the whole year through,
Christine, Dean, and New Baby Ellis
New address:
PSC 567 Box 6601
FPO AP 96384-6601
(Yeah, I posted it. I'll take any mail, including junk mail!)
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