A Special Visit

Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Vic made a visit to Ohio a couple of weekends ago, and Ryan and I made the trip as well. We couldn't pass up seeing the Texas family! We had such a wonderful time with them both. I'm sure they felt right at home with my support of the Aggies :)

Progress

Well, I've settled into our (temporary) house in KY and have started back at work. Am I excited about work...no (that will be another blog). But there is one thing that has me smiling these days (OK really there are two). Here they are!

BEING BACK WITH MY HUSBAND...

AND THE BUILDING OF OUR FIRST/NEW HOUSE! :)

(The front view from the street).

(The back with covered porch going up).

Another Year Gone By

Happy 28th Birthday to my Better Half :)

All Things Must Come to an End

I just wanted to let everyone know that the movers are coming today, and I won't have internet access for very long periods of time until I arrive at Fort Campbell in 2.5 weeks! Everything is going smoothly - just busy! I'll keep you all updated!

30 and (still) Counting

It's official - one month left in Korea! As of September 27th, I'll be flying to Los Angeles to visit Kerri, Chris, and Andrew for 5 days. I'll then fly into Nashville to see Ryan. I CAN'T WAIT :)

And, hence, the smile!

Just Killin' Time

I'm throwing a baby shower for a friend at work and decided to try my first attempt at a diaper cake. I've been feeling very crafty (or as my mom would say "Becky-homecky"), and I get VERY bored sometimes around my apartment. Having only 2 TV channels in English will do this to someone! The cake ended up being more than just diapers - receiving blankets, onesies, wash cloths, burp rags, bibs, bottles, socks, desitin, J&J baby shampoo and lotion, etc. The parents of this baby-to-be didn't want to find out the sex, and it was challenging finding gender neutral items that were cute! It was helpful that my girlfriend likes Winnie the Pooh, though! Here are some pictures:

Children Are a Universal Language

I love love love these pictures. I don't know who she is, but she is cute cute cute. :)

(Taken in China at the Temple of Heaven)

63 and Counting...

I saw Mom off to the airport this morning, and she's in mid-air above the world somewhere as I write. I'm awaiting her phone call to let me know she made it home safe and sound. With all her layovers and flight time, it will take her 24 hours one-way. Whew - makes me dread the flight back home in September! Isn't it funny how traveling (ultimately sitting on a plane) can be exhausting??? At least, I always feel exhausted. Maybe it is just me!

Mom came on July 8th, and we had quite the adventures while she visited. We traveled to Xian and Beijing in China and to Mt. Fuji and Tokyo in Japan. China was INTERESTING. Like Mom said, when people ask if we had a 'good time' in China, she answers with "it was educational more than a 'good time.'" The people there think very conservatively. Or rather, the government thinks very conservatively for them. We bought some great souvenirs, though! :)

Japan, on the other hand, was fun (although the Yen to Dollar ratio was not). Even cleaner and more sophisticated than Seoul, Tokyo is a city I would like to visit again. We also went to Tokyo Disney for 2 days, and would you believe that Ariel and Mickey speak Japanese???? Mom and I giggled at that! The subway was a bit more complicated in Tokyo than others I've used. However, Mom made us take it by the horns, and we conquered it! I did the navigating, though. Had it been left to Mom, she'd still be in Japan trying to go the right direction!

Here are a few pictures from the trips:

Us on the way to the DMZ in Korea....it rained and rained and rained and rained and rained.....

Mom on the Great Wall of China

Lookout from the Great Wall

It was STEEEEEEEEEEEEEP (and our muscles were sore for days afterwards)

There will be more pictures to come. I haven't even downloaded all of them from my camera, so in between that and editing, it may be a little while!

Now the countdown begins...63 days left in Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Brock (Take 2)

I recently took some 'fancy' pictures of Baby Brock. My office/guest bedroom was the studio, where the light is best in the morning. He is officially one month old now!

So comfy with Mom holding him

Sporting Dad's Baptismal Gear

Little Hands

Little Feet

Inherited Dads double hair swirls

Slept the entire photo shoot!

Was ready to be done so he could sleep without being bothered!

The 'Lasts' Begin

I hope I'm not prematurely writing this post. I attended my last Army Range on the 11th of this month and qualified on my first attempt :) Considering I hardly ever go to the range, I was pretty proud of myself! And who knows, with all this junk going on with North Korea, the Army might actually NEED a labor and delivery nurse to fire a weapon (and Hell might actually freeze over). I decided to take some pictures to bookmark one of my "last" Army milestones. Yes, I still have 15 months left to serve, but once I move back stateside, range qualification is only once every two years. Hence, my excitement.....the beginning of the end!

Ready for the Range! Formation to leave was at 04:50, a nice and pleasant time of the day....another sunrise courtesy of the Army! We rode on a Deuce and a Half for two hours to get there....loud, bumpy, and extremely uncomfortable (wearing full gear, of course). Don't worry, the Korean drivers on the highway didn't stare too much (the tarp flap was open on the back of the vehicle). Welcome to the Army, Ma'am!

A Deuce and a Half

After I qualified and on the way home! Unfortunately, the bus broke down half way back to Seoul, so it ended up being a 4 hour adventure home rather than only 2!

Memorial Day Thanks

I received this email from Ryan's Aunt Jane and thought I would share:

Memorial Day, 2009

John, Sue, Ryan, Katherine, Karl, Amanda, Chloe, and Tylor~

I would like to thank each of you for your service and sacrifice to this great nation. Thanks to you and your kind, we are free. I know since Karl has deployed twice that all of you have felt what I felt when John Buckingham went to Viet Nam. We also share the joy and thanks when our young brothers/ sons/ husbands return to us safely. Katherine and Ryan, special thoughts and thanks to you this year. May you have many, many years TOGETHER soon. Sue, thank you for finding and then loving my special brother. Thank you for being the building block that is YOUR Buckingham legacy. As an aunt (and sister and sister-in-law) I am just bursting with pride. I've said this before to John~ I can't even imagine how you contain the pride you must feel. You are a fine, fine family. I love each of you tremendously.

Thank you.
Jane




Thank you, Aunt Jane, for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. I have never been prouder to be a Buckingham. I married into a WONDERFUL, devoted, and selfless family. I am so blessed.

Brock Lawrence is Here

My girlfriend, Crystal, and her husband, John, had their 4th boy on May 16th at 4:31pm! He is a cutie and looks just like their 2nd son, Will. I was able to be her nurse and support system (John does NOT do blood), and it was a very special honor. She did a wonderful job and only had to push twice! I hope that one day I will be so lucky :) Congratulations John and Crystal!!!

Here he is:

All 4 Boys: Brock, Calvin, Henry, and Will

The Glass is Half Full

I officially (as of Saturday) am halfway done with my tour in Korea. I must admit, the time has gone rather quickly, and I expect the second half to do the same. I am sad that my time abroad will come to an end, but I am overjoyed at the thought of living with Ryan again (and being closer to family)! My hope is that we will one day come back to Korea or live in Europe TOGETHER.

Kerri, my sister, will be sad to not get any more confused voice messages from me when I leave Korea. For some reason, the change from Daylight Savings Time made me more confused about the time difference than I anticipated. She told me just this past week that she saved one of my messages to listen to again. I guess I humored her with my time confusion :)

I have 3 things I am looking forward to during my last 6 months in Korea: Crystal (my girlfriend from Hawai'i) will have her baby sometime in late May or early June, Mom is coming for almost 3 weeks in July (and I have vacation days the entire time she is here), and warmer weather!!!

What do you have to look forward to in the next 6 months???

Decisions, Decisions

After much prayer and thought, I have finally come to a decision about my life in the Army. My original plan was to stay in the military until December of this year and cut my ties by Christmas. However, my heart has ruled, and I am heading back to Ryan at the end of September. I miss my husband and puppies too much.

My branch manager (the woman in charge of where I get stationed) has no problem assigning me at Fort Campbell to join Ryan. I will incur a one-year obligation from the day I sign in to Fort Campbell, which will likely be mid-October. When I look at the Army side of things, I will only have 2 additional Physical Training (PT) tests (push-ups, sit-ups, run). When I say it out loud, it doesn't sound that bad. Being apart from family is what I dislike - not the military.

So here's to another year of active duty life as a dual military couple. Please keep us in your prayers!!!

A Little Confused...

I have been confused for the last three-plus years, and it's not getting any better. For those of you that have ever worked shift work, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Many days, I go into work not knowing what day of the week it is. I can tell you it's the 9th, 20th, or 31st (I have to date EVERYTHING at work in the patients' charts), but Monday, Thursday, or Sunday - NO WAY! See, when you work weekends and holidays, the days just don't seem to matter. I no longer have Mondays to dread or Fridays to look forward to. I usually have to put quite a bit of effort into figuring out what day of the week it is - and sometimes I give up and just ask someone else. Yes, I know, in the end it really makes no difference, but the constant state of confusion is a little annoying...

Recycling Korean Style

It is so refreshing to be in a country where recycling is regarded as a must and not a maybe. I must admit, I was stunned (in the good sense of the word) to discover that Korea has a mandatory recycling program (and they take everything - styrofoam to the hard-to-recycle yogurt containers). Growing up in the States, recycling is not as accepted or practiced, and I have never understood why.

Thanks to my mom, I was raised with a "green" mind. I don't remember a time when our family did not recycle, thanks to Mom's efforts. She ensured that anything and everything recyclable was not wasted. I was shocked when I went off to college in Columbus, leaving home for the first time, to find that no recycling program was available on or off campus. Luckily, my roommate, Genevieve, is as green as I am. We saved all of our recycling products, and whenever one of us went home, toted them off to our parents. I'm sure our moms loved the extra work to take it curbside come trash/recycling day! However, Gen and I felt good about our efforts, knowing we were doing a small part to ensure a better life for tomorrow.



I am a true believer that Americans need to be more self conscious about trash production. My realtor explained the Korean trash and recycling pick-up, but then interjected that most Americans living in Korea just take their trash on-post to a dumpster. I guess separating trash from recyclables is too much work for some. I felt so embarrassed when she told me this! No wonder other countries form opinions that we are wasteful!




I read some disturbing news while in Hawai'i about plastic and trash in the ocean. I get sad and very upset when I read/hear new like this: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&type=politics
I took action and invested in some "green" grocery bags. They are reusable cloth bags, and at least I know I am doing my part to reduce plastic garbage. Plus, they are so much stronger. They hold 2-3 times the amount of groceries, and for $.79 apiece, they were a great bargain! I highly recommend you try them :) Plus, I recycle EVERYTHING here. Recently, I filled up two 13 gallon-sized bags with recyclables and only one with trash. I saved 66% of my "trash" from going to a dumpster! Think if we ALL did this!



There are still improvements I want to make in my "green" life. I want to drive less, walk more, use public transportation more, and take shorter showers (for those that know me, this will be a HUGE sacrifice). Plus, I recently looked at the Honda website, and a new hydrogen-fueled car is for sale. The car's emissions are clean and clear water. I am so excited for the things Honda is doing to improve the planet! I hope other companies follow in their footsteps.



I challenge you to think and be "green." I know we can make the world a better place for tomorrow if we change our lifestyle. Think of the impact - especially on and for our children!

Just Some Pictures

Ryan and I had these pictures taken when I was on leave before coming to Korea. It was such a beautiful time of year in Kentucky! Of course, we took the puppy girls with us (Allie - little grey dog; Mia - little black dog). Just thought I'd share!

Number 26

Thank you to everyone who made me feel so special on my 26th birthday! I received so many calls and cards from family and friends, and I can't begin to thank everyone enough! Crystal, my friend from Hawai'i that is here, also threw me a party at work (yes, I had to work on my Birthday - sigh). She brought cake, presents, and even sang to me! She is so sweet! One thing I did miss....a call from my 97 year-old Granny. I didn't get to hear her sing this year :( I guess I will have to call her and make her sing to me! She ALWAYS calls on birthdays, but I guess that me being halfway across the world threw her off a little.

I received these pictures from my sister-in-law, Amanda. They are of my niece, Chloe, and are sooooo adorable!

Here's one of me attacking my birthday cake - do I look like a Cullen (for the Twilight fans out there)????

Congratulations are in Order

After a very stressful week assessing for an aviation special forces unit (the 160th out of Fort Campbell, KY), Ryan has been accepted to the unit. Congratulations to my Saaaweetie.

There were 45 applications for the unit, and only 17 were invited to assess for the open positions. Five of the 17 happened to be Captains, and Ryan got the one and only Captain position the unit had open. I am so proud that I can't even put it into words.

Having a husband that is in special forces is scary - I won't lie. I know he will be doing things that he won't be able to talk about (and we talk about EVERYTHING), and there are deployments that I am going to have to accept not knowing where he is or when he will come home. I worry less knowing that Ryan has been trained by the best and worked/trained hard. He is the most dedicated person I know to the United States Army.

I once met some wives in Fort Rucker, Alabama, where Ryan and his buddies were going through flight school. They all complained about how much time the guys had to spend training, flying, and being away from home and families. I'll admit, I like to have Ryan home, but I also know that the more he trains and learns, the safer he can be at work. I need him to be safe at work. Flying a helicopter is a dangerous job (his life insurance premium is proof !), and I need his full concentration on his job, not worrying about trivial things at home.

So here's to my brave, intelligent, and wonderful husband - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I love you!!!

A Death...and Rebirth

I'm just now getting the guts to tell everyone this. It has taken me 4 months to gain the strength, and even now I'm not sure I want to admit it.

My wonderful, awesome, expensive, beautiful-picture-taking Nikon D40x 10.2 MP digital camera followed me into the ocean on a beach in Maui this past September. I wish it would have been a child to scold or a husband to roll my eyes at, but it wasn't. I was left standing wet on a gorgeous black sand beach with a broken (and wet) camera and a heart that had dropped to my feet.


For those that don't know, I hate water with wildlife. Well, I don't mind it from afar, but me getting IN the water is a phobia of mine. I was scarred one summer while in the Ohio River when a floating dead fish touched me. I haven't been the same since.

It happened in an instant. I went to the water's edge to wait for the next wave to roll ashore. I could see it coming. I waited, anxious to get my feet wet. But the wave didn't slow down, and I knew that this fish-infested water was going to come farther up my legs than I wanted. I tried to back up, but the flip flops I had on were suctioned to the wet saturated sand. I lost my balance, and as soon as the wave came in, so did I (and my camera that was around my neck). I got a little more wet than I bargained for, and my camera only read an error message. I was so mad at myself. I still had 2 days left in Maui to photograph!

Since the sad death of my camera, I have been using a Canon PowerShot (a great point-and-shoot camera, but not even close to the picture quality of my Nikon). I mailed my Nikon to have it repaired, and I finally have it up and running again. My apologies for the mediocre picture quality on the blog. It will be better from here on out! I'm so thankful to have my camera back!

*In case you were wondering, I did go in the ocean quite a bit in Hawai'i. I snorkeled and swam every chance I got! Having such clear water made a huge difference!

Where the tragedy took place: Honokalani Black Sand Beach along the Road to Hana