Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas here in Daegu, South Korea. We were far from home and missing family and friends, but we had each other!

On December 23rd we had a huge dinner with some friends of ours the Best family (Jermie, Jennifer, Jaden, Jordan, and Jorgia). The food was wonderful and the company even better.

We got to see family and friends on the webcam and that was a blessing and a curse. I enjoyed seeing all the people I love, but it hurt not to be able to give them a hug.

Act of Charity

On December 22nd, Jason's battalion had their Christmas party for all the families and the single soldiers. As soon as we walk in the door I get roped into serving duties while Jason socializes with all the big wigs. It sounds like I would be miserable, but it was actually quite nice. He got to try to have a good time with Marley in tow. That adorable little child has an uncanny knack for sucking all the fun out of every situation. I could not help but chuckle every time Jason shot me a pleading look. Apparently he gave her whatever she wanted because she ended up throwing up a river of chocolate on the drive home.

As for Jackson, I have never been more proud to be his mother than on that day. Early on in the party one of the Chaplain's assistants made an announcement that they were still desperately short on toys to take to the orphanage this year. Even though we had already bought a few presents, Jason and I immediately handed over all the cash we had on us. The party continues on and I forget all about it. Eventually an announcement comes over the speaker that they are going to have a game of musical chairs for the kids. Jason and I start laughing to ourselves because there is no way our moose of a son is going to loose this game. As predicted, Jackson wins the game and a $10 bill as his prize. He immediately walks over and gives his $10 to the Chaplain's assistant and tell him that the orphan kids need it more than he does. (I found all of this out from the assistants wife. She also told me that her kids almost cried when they saw this and asked if they could give their money.) I love my son, but my favorite thing about that boy has always been his big heart.

ReUp

Jason reenlisted the other day for the last time. He now has only 5 more years until retirement!

Purse shopping

Yesterday was quite a long and interesting day. My friend Jennifer and I boarded a bus at 5 am bound for Osan, South Korea. I brought a backpack of things to keep me entertained for the 3 hour drive and made sure to take a Dramamine just in case. About 20 minutes into the bus ride we all start complaining to the driver to please turn the heat down. The driver responds by pretending he does not speak any English. Thank goodness for the freezing temperatures outside because all the windows were frozen. I spent the entire drive with my face on the glass trying to cool off. By the time we reached our destination I had shed every last extra layer of clothing that I could. It was so wonderful to finally escape that bus and have some fresh air. Our first order business was to spend a couple hours in the PX (the Osan PX is soooooooo much bigger and better than the one in Daegu. It is like comparing a dollar store and a Super Target.) Once 11 am rolled around we headed out to The Ville to get what we really came for........PURSES!!!! Some friends had given us directions to the places with the really good stuff. The first time I read over the directions I had to laugh out loud because it read like one of those cheat books for a video game (you know like jump on the purple mushroom.....go under the fourth black rock....). The directions told us to go down this alley and look for a soup shop and a blanket shop (let me explain something about Korea......there is a soup shop and a blanket shop on every corner!). Then we were to proceed til we came to the end, stop, and pretend to look for something or someone. The lady would find us and take us to the secret room with the good stuff. Holy crap!!! That is exactly how it works. Some of the stores have secret rooms hidden behind walls. Others you have to go up or down some narrow stairs or even through a little tunnel. It was so clandestine and I loved it!!! I feel totally safe here in Korea, but you would never catch me doing the same thing back home. After a couple hours of shopping and a nice lunch we boarded the miserable bus back to Daegu. Six hours in an oven on wheels.....pure hell, but ending up with two Prada bags and a Jimmy Choo with a wallet for $95......priceless!

Holiday Blues

Today is the last day of school before the Christmas break and I am feeling blah. I miss home. This will be the first year I have ever been away from home for Christmas. Poor Jason has been away on more than one occasion, and he has been by himself, so I know I should not complain. We have set up our tree and it is surrounded by an obscene amount of presents, but it just does not feel like Christmas here. I miss my parents. I miss driving around looking at lights. I miss the yearly fight my mom and I have trying to make everything perfect.

Traditionally we have dinner at my parents house on the 23rd with my Grandmother and extended family. This year some friends and I have all decided to get together and have a big dinner together. That should be pretty fun.

Ski Resort

I took way to many pictures to post right now. I will try to get more on here soon.

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to the Korean Alps with some other military families. The Muju Ski Resort was only a two hour bus ride away, but it was totally different than Daegu. The entire place was designed like an Austrian Ski Village. We all had such a wonderful time day and night sledding. Marley loved the snow and was so sad to leave it. She told us she wanted to go back to "snowman." I have to say the views were breathtaking, the food was first rate (we got steak and lobster dinners), and the company was perfect. We really had a wonderful family vacation and we cannot wait to get to go back again.

Pictures with Santa

Marley was absolutely petrified of Santa and these pictures were taken after 10 minutes of calming her down. You cannot really tell, but yes those are REAL tears streaming down her face. I know that I was supposed to feel sorry for her and comfort her, but I was too embarrassed to even admit I gave birth to her. Apparently I will not be getting any pictures with Santa any time soon. The upside to this story is that I did not spend the better part of a day waiting in line at Northpark for the good Santa only to have this happen!

AWWWWW

Wish that this could have been my Christmas card picture, but it just did not show enough of their faces.