Happy Birthday G.

Yesterday was Glenn's birthday. I didn't get to talk to him, but he did send me an email that he was very busy on his birthday. Too busy to celebrate really, but he did save his presents to open until yesterday. He seemed like he liked everything.
I think the next coming weeks might be difficult because everyone on the ship is preparing for seeing their families back in Japan, but Stella and I won't be there when they arrive. Not too much afterwards though. I am getting very anxious to move and see Glenn. In theory, only 29 more days...

I woke up this morning to....

SNOW! UGH!
But also a phone call from Glenn! He is doing well and excited that he is no longer the FNG (F#!*ing New Guy) because a new pilot flew on shortly after they left Guam.
So it is officially winter now in the North. It was 70 degrees on Monday and Tuesday so I am not very happy about this change of weather. I don't think Stella is either. She's never been a big fan of the cold.

Happy Friday everyone!

2 down...1 to go

Glenn left 2 months ago today. Only 1 more to go. I miss him.

Tuesday 10!

1. Glenn called from Guam twice this weekend! They are in port for now and I got to talk to him twice on Halloween. Once in the morning when he was intoxicated and once at night when I was intoxicated. :) They went deep-sea fishing yesterday, but didn't catch anything. They sure sounded like they had fun though.



2. New cut and color. I decided to go darker since I don't know what it will be like getting my hair done in Japan. This way I won't have to worry about getting highlights done over there quite as much. What do you think?
Oh and you can see my permanent eyeliner pretty well in that picture. Having it tattooed on was the best idea. Thanks Megan!

3. Scrabble! The fam played Scrabble last night and I won. I LOVE scrabble! My best word was BACKER on the triple word score for 42 points!

4. Christmas presents! I wrapped Christmas presents last night! I only have 3 people left to buy for! I have to have all my shopping done by Thanksgiving because the week after is going to be crazy with Stella's final vet appointments, Hillary coming home from the Peace Corp, Megan and Nate's wedding and then I move!

5. Still no plane ticket, but we found out what is taking so long! The squadron just found Glenn's email with my passport info (that he sent 3 weeks ago...) so hopefully he will get that taken care of!

6. Good and bad news: The navy may make me buy a ticket back to Norfolk to fly to Japan from there, but if I have to do that I will get to see all my buddies in Norfolk! I'll keep you posted!

7. Voting! I'm driving up to Minneapolis today to cast my vote and watch the election coverage with my favorite liberal friends :). I'm also going to buy my scuba gear and attend a dinner party tomorrow while I'm up there!

8. I made Stella's vet appoint with an old college friend who I found out is a vet in town. Isn't facebook the greatest website in the whole wide world? I sure think so!

9. Christmas cards! I am almost done collecting addresses and making labels for my Christmas cards. I feel so productive this year! I guess that's what happens when you're unemployed...

10. Only 35 more days til moving day!

Mailing Christmas Presents

A few people have asked where you can mail Christmas presents. Since Glenn and I don't have an address and won't until after I get there most likely, our sponsor family has offered to let us ship things to their address in the mean time. Remember, ship things USPS Priority Mail. The post office can give you APO/FPO boxes or the Flat Rate boxes for free and then it only cost about $10 to ship the box. Granted the boxes are not humungous though. Using USPS Priority Mail will take about 2 weeks to get to us. If you ship things around Thanksgiving or the first week of December, they should get to us in plenty of time.

Kelly & Glenn Smith
PSC 477 Box 554
FPO AP 96306-9998

Only about a month until I leave! Happy Voting!

Halloween!

So Annie and I like to say that we were ugly for Halloween. No sexy bunny, sexy bee or whorish Indiana Jones. Just U-G-L-Y. I'll let you judge for yourself. I think we come pretty close to the picture I posted on Tuesday though!

We found our dresses for $5 at Goodwill and made name tags that said Wife #1 and Wife #3. (Wife #2 was at home watching the kids, all 12 of them). Here's another good one:

Elder Jeff Jeffs (Age:57), JESUS (who likes to party), Wife #1 (Age: 19), Wife #3 (Age: 16).

Tuesday 10!

Following a friend's lead, 10 things that made me smile today/recently....

1. Stella! I got home last night after a week of being in Louisiana and got to see Stella!

Did I tell you she is going to be a princess for Halloween? Well it was going to be a hot dog, but she hated that costume so much (she hid from me when it was in my hands) that I had to get a new one! May I present Princess Stella Wigglesmith....

Former hotdog....
2. Phone calls! Glenn got to call twice this week! He is flying a bunch and getting a handle on everything he has to do for his jobs. Sometimes he sounds like he is actually enjoying it :)

3. Housing! We are officially first on the housing list. Ok, not officially, but the people ahead of us were offered a place so that makes me think that we are first.

4. Express Shipment! Our sponsor in Japan went to Personal Property in Atsugi this week and found out that our express shipment is already there. My clothes! My scrapbooks! My shoes! They made it!

5. Fun times with Mom! Mom and I drove all the way to Neenah, Wisconsin today (outside of Green Bay, 4 1/2 hours away) for an auction at an old grocery store. The equipment we were there to buy was not there. Mom chewed out the auction company for advertising one thing and then not having it. That was not the fun part, but rather than turning around and driving back right away we decided to make the best of a bad situation and hit up the outlet malls nearby! 2 more people checked off my Christmas list!

6. Papa Murphy's Pizza. Dinner tonight. I think the midwest may be the only place that has this take and bake chain, but their Chicago stuffed pizza is the best! I wish I could ship one to Glenn.

7. Halloween. I'm headed to Iowa City with some of my best friends in the whole world, Annie and Jeff, for a long weekend. Annie and I are going as Jeff's polygamist wives. She's wife #1 (I suppose that's ok since she really is) and I'll be wife #6. We're thinking something along these lines....

I need to perfect that hair poof before Friday.

8. Newphews! I miss Connor already. My favorite moment was Connor talking on his cell phone (mom's old phone). He was mumbling away and pacing around the foyer just like his dad. When I asked who he was talking to he put his hand over the phone, rolled his eyes at me for interrupting his phone call and said "Fia!" (Sophia, neighbor, 18 months old) and went back to talking. Are you 3 or 30, Connor??? It was too cute.

9. SCUBA! I signed up for Scuba classes. I start on the 12th of November. Glenn is going to take classes in Guam during deployments and dets and I'll do my open water dives in Guam next spring some time. I have to do my pool and classroom work here first. I got my textbook while we were gone and started reading in during the drive. I'm excited to get certified and dive in Australia and Guam and Japan and all over the pacific. Yay!

10. TV shows! I love the fall TV schedule! All my favorite shows are on and even better, I'm in first place by 30 points in my America's Next Top Model pool. Cross your fingers that Elina wins or Marjorie!

Almost 3!

Here is a picture of Connor I took this week while in Louisiana. He is getting so big! This is my favorite picture of him so far. He was playing hind and go seek on the way to the park behind every single tree we saw. Connor, we found you!

Double Happy!

I got an email from Stacey, our Japan sponsor, and she said our express shipment is already in Japan! And even better they "say" our household goods should be there around December 16th! I really hope we have a place by then so we can celebrate Christmas in our new place with our furniture. Here's hoping!

Happy Day for Glenn!

Glenn emailed me and sounded super excited cause he got not one, not two, but three boxes at mail call today! (He said the other guys were jealous, but he shared :) ) All of his birthday boxes arrived in more than enough time for his birthday. Which figures since the last box took 5 weeks, these would take only 10 days!

Also a happy day for me cause he FINALLY sent me pictures of the boat! I don't know why, but I like to picture where he is living and working each day. Here are a few of the pictures he sent me so you can see what boat life is like...

It says "Duty Desk" and "Jenna"

This is Glenn's room: That is his desk by the red arrow, the sinks in blue and the American flag in green. PS. 6 people live here!

Close up of Glenn's desk. Cozy, huh?

This is where Glenn sleeps (top right). This is the other half of the room in the second picture with his desk.

I know it's a boat and 6000 people live there and it's the government so it is gray and boring, but how do these men and women live here for months at a time? It's like summer camp that never ends and without campfires, marshmallows, best friends and capture the flag. I think I love you even more, baby!

Only 6 more weeks til the big M-day! Moving day that is. And if the Navy would buy my ticket. Small details, right?