Superbowl Monday!

This was my first Superbowl overseas, and it turned out to be so much fun! Because of the time difference, the Superbowl was live on Monday morning here in Japan. The military members even got the day off work, although schools and other businesses were open as usual.

The base had a party for the Superbowl, and a bunch of guys from Jeff's work planned on meeting and watching the game there. I jumped at the chance. I'm a bigger football fan than Jeff is, and I really only watch the Bears... but we were both thrilled to cheer on anyone playing against the Packers ;)

The game started live at 8:30am, so the ballroom opened at 6am with a breakfast buffet. Oh, and beer. They had all sorts of free prizes set up to give away, and had a couple large screen TV's and a huge projection screen for us to watch the game.

We even had professional cheerleaders! Apparently cheerleaders from other NFL teams often go overseas to help cheer on with the military members. I was suprised they were there, but Jeff said he's had cheerleaders every time he's watched the game overseas. He's been overseas for four Superbowls, so he knows more than I do! This year we had two Cardinals cheerleaders who were nice and liked to flirt, so the single guys were very happy with them.

Here's one of the cheerleaders teaching one of Jeff's co-workers a cheer during a commercial break.


(It was dark in the ballroom, so pictures were tough!)

Unfortunately, since we watched the game on Armed Forces Network, we missed all the great commercials! (Luckily they were all over the news the next day, so I saw the most talked about ones) To keep us occupied during the commercials, they had all sorts of little games for us to play. They did football trivia, races, and other little things. I played a game where we put on dark sunglasses and dug through a kiddie pool full of footballs for a couple footballs that had "go fight win" written on them in permanent marker. The picture above is a guy from Jeff's work learning a cheer. (I have a video of his "cheer", I'll have to upload and post it soon! It'll make you laugh!) They had a race where wives sat in inflatable chairs and the husbands had to push the wife across the dance floor first. They gave away free t-shirts, coolers, and all sorts of little things.

They also had cheap beer. As soon as we sat down at the table, the guys were asking when we were going to start drinking! Since Jeff was driving, I got to indulge a little. It was odd having beer with breakfast, but it was such a fun atmosphere that you forgot what time of day it was. I hadn't met too many of the people from Jeff's work yet, but it was easy to have a lot of fun with guys at our table. We were busy bashing the Packers and making fun of the Packer's fans in the room...and at our table. I kept joking with Jeff that those AS guys (his rate) are dangerous to hang out with!

Here's proof:



Not to worry, everyone had safe rides home or were within walking distance of their barracks. And despite the pile on our table, no one got too out of control. I did come home and take a very long nap though!

Overall, it was a blast. The outcome was disappointing, since I'm from Chicago, but we were having so much fun as a group that it was easy enough to ignore the WI win. I missed the commercials and junk food that go along with evening Superbowls, but it was still a lot more fun than what I expected. Not bad for my first Superbowl overseas!

We also came home with a bunch of free goodies!




I also learned that the bars overseas give free fountain drinks to the DD's. Jeff got a free cup for being a designated driver, and enjoyed free Coke through the game. I guess they do that at almost every overseas on base bar, but I thought it was pretty cool!





This weekend, we're getting together with some of the people from work again to go bowling. Should be fun. Jeff and I are also hoping we can get out into town and start exploring soon!

Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-In

I'm a sucker for surveys, so Wife of a Sailor's Friday Fill-In's are right up my alley.


1. Since most of the country has had nasty weather, what has your weather been like this week?
I'm not IN the country ;)
It's actually been pretty nice here in northern Japan. Since we've gotten here, it's been snow and 20's all day every day. The past few days have hit 40 and it's been clear and sunny! It's back to snow again tomorrow, and I don't really mind.

2. What is/are your best money saving tip(s)?
I'm no expert at saving money tips. One thing I try to keep up is meal plans. If not, we both give up and go out to eat. Which is bad for our wallets and waistlines.

3. What was your favorite vehicle you’ve ever owned??
Our 2008 Dodge Avenger. My husband bought it brand new and it's gorgeous, with leather seats and a beautiful dark blue paint color. It's reliable and easy to drive in. I drove it cross country twice with no problems. It's sitting at my parents' house waiting for us to return to the states, where we'll happily start driving it again.

4. What is a question you’d like to see asked in a future fill-in?
Hmm, I haven't done too many of these, so I'm not even sure what's been asked!

5. Fill in the blank: You might be a MilSpouse if….
The first questions you ask new people include "where did you come from?" "where are you originally from?" and "how long have you been in?". There was recently a fire alarm in our building, and all of us wives waiting outside spent our time sharing stories of where we've been and where we're from. I think it's even more noticeable overseas, although it happened a lot in the states too.



Not much going on around here this weekend. We watched The Town and re-watched Red tonight, complete with ice cream and cuddling up with a blanket. I think Red is my favorite movie we saw in theaters in 2010. It's action and comedy and romance and all of these experienced and hugely talented actors like Bruce Willis and John Malkovich. You should watch it!

This weekend we're planning on sleeping in and gearing up for the Superbowl! It's on Monday morning here in Japan, and we're meeting up with a group at the local bar to cheer on the Steelers. Have a fun weekend!

Unpacking is a Workout!

I haven't really needed the gym this week - my muscles are screaming from all the box carrying, lifting, squatting, and moving I've been doing. Yikes!

But the wonderful news is that we received our household goods shipment with little damage (a few nicks here and there and a busted corner of a small cabinet which can be mostly fixed with wood glue). Not bad for a trip across the ocean.

We're not done unpacking and organizing, but I wanted to take a break and share some pictures!



We were up bright and early for the movers. The loaner furniture was taken out at 7:30 and the movers were here by 8:00am. I think they were in and out by 9:00am, they're quick! I took pictures of the house before we started digging in, so here's the damage.





The kitchen and living room weren't too bad. Just a few piles. And the bedroom was pretty bare, with just our bed (which I love, love, LOVE having back home with me) and nightstands.

Now the office, on the other hand...





Holy chaos. I couldn't even get to the back boxes, which happened to be kitchen things. (The movers had a little trouble deciphering the boxes' labels, and I had a little trouble deciphering their words, so we did the best we could.)

Jeff came back from work just as they were finishing up, so he helped me dig in right away. He started on the massive movie collection (alphabetizing that thing is a beast of a project) and I started in on the kitchen. Food and movies are our priorities, obviously.





We worked all day long and fell into our wonderfully comfortable bed late that night.


After 2 and a half long days of unpacking and organizing, we're starting to see our house again! The kitchen was the first room done, since cooking was a priority. And it had places ready to put everything. The living/dining room is mostly finished besides any sort of decoration. The bedroom has the bed, but not much else. And the office is less of a disaster.



All the empty boxes were taking over, so I spent this morning packing the paper tightly into the big boxes and flattening the smaller ones. They would be down in the garbage room right now, except someone from Jeff's work might be taking some. I just want them gone!





I'm really liking the way our furniture fits in this apartment. It's cozy, but not too cramped. The wall with the entertainment center is just long enough to fit the DVD's too, which worked out great. We're grateful we bought a small kitchen table, so we have more wiggle room between that and the kitchen.





Look, you can see the floor! This room is still the least done, but I did get the desk built yesterday and then Jeff built the bookshelves when he got home from work. Now I just have to unpack that pile of boxes, which is all books, and alphabetize them. I'm avoiding that headache for the moment ;)

I also have the closets to organize, which I'm also dreading. I HATE putting clothes away, so I'm avoiding that one. Of course, my husband hates laundry just as much as I do so it's not likely he'll take that project on either.

Things are shaping up nicely, though, and we're really happy to have our stuff back. It's nice to cook in my kitchen again, and relax on our couch. Jeff's enjoying gaming on his TV again, and I'm in heaven as soon as I lay down on our bed.

We're hoping to have the house relatively finished by the weekend, and as long as I keep staying productive (rather than...uh....playing online?), it looks like it'll happen. I'll post pictures of the whole house once we get it relatively finished!