Matt is on His Way to Korea

Matt left for a six week mission to Korea early this morning. He will be providing medical care for his battalion while they receive training somewhere near Seoul. We've been rounding up his supplies and getting him prepared over the past week. I have found that I am pretty darn good at making duct tape labels with "Lt. Langford" scrawled in black marker and sticking them to every which type of pack, canteen and vest. I kept telling him I wanted him to pack me because I know I will miss him terribly again. As Matt pointed out earlier in the week, we've spent more days apart than together since we were married. I'm extremely glad we had these ten days together. I've been able to settle a bit into our new home, get familiar with how I need to take care of things while he is gone and just be with Matt for some quality US time. Mostly, we've kept it low-key - dinners in and TV on the air mattress (still our only furniture) and leisurely exploring new restaurants and shops. However, yesterday we had a great afternoon walking hand in hand at the All-Okinawa Eisa Festival at the nearby Koza Stadium (stay tuned for lots of pics/details).

During Matt's deployment, I will be heading to Scotland for a few weeks to visit my dear-dear-dear friend Katie, and her son (my godson) William. Initially, when Matt's trip was scheduled for less time, I had wanted to stay here and settle in Okinawa. Matt was reluctant to leave me here in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. Katie had previously offered to house me in case he deployed, so we worked out a half and half compromise of me spending part of the time in Okinawa and the other part in Scotland. Now, with his time in Korea extended, I think this is probably the best idea....and I'm ECSTATIC about seeing Katie and William. We always have a fantastic time together and Katie is an excellent hostess and tour guide. And it will be great fun to be Aunt Nan Nan for a bit and spoil William silly (however, I'm not sure I can still endlessly run up and down the hall and stairs giving pony rides). Since Katie has set the example for blogging to faraway friends and family, I imagine that you can look forward to some dual blogs of our visit.

Some great Okinawa news is that I have made my first friends, Brittany and her almost-two-year-old daughter, Faith. Her husband is the chaplain for Matt's battalion and will be with Matt in Korea. We went to dinner with them Friday evening and found out they live only about a block from us in Chatan-cho. The guys planned what DVDs and computer games to take while Brittany and I talked about getting together while they were away. Faith is adorable and found herself right at home handing me her toys and shoes :).

I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day Weekend - let me know what you did!!!