Who Knew Underwear Shopping Could Be Fun?

If you are anything like me, you are not one of the lucky few girls blessed with perfectly shaped and sized breasts.  For most of my life, shopping for a bra has been anything but fun.  However, I have recently discovered that shopping for a well fitting bra doesn't have to totally suck thanks to my younger sister who is a genius at her job.

My sister works at Aerie - the underwear store associated with American Eagle which has been gaining popularity in the past few years.  Their mission is to compete with Victoria's Secret and I have to say - Aerie's bras last much longer and are less expensive than those at Victoria's and personally - my amazing derriere is too big for most of Victoria's panties anyways lol.

 My sister has worked for Aerie for a few years now and she has slowly been helping me to update my underwear collection.  As Aerie comes out with new products, my sister has continued to help me to find out which bras fit me best - not an easy task since unfortunately for me, I am not the most common shape and am between sizes.  

I recently found out that my sister's favorite part of her job is helping women find the perfect bra for them.  My husband once asked me why women really care about what their bras and panties look like since - lets face it - men would rather see them on the floor The answer in my opinion is that when we have cute undies- we feel great about ourselves and I think that is enough to get a day off to a great start.  Sometimes starting out the day with a healthy dose of self confidence is enough to change the course of a day.

Anyways... my sister recently brought me to her store to try on some new bras... after hearing me describe some of my frustrations with my current ones she suspected that perhaps I wasn't wearing the right size.  That was the last thing that I suspected to be the issue, after all I have been wearing the same size bra for most of my adult life!

What I didn't know was three key things:

 1) Every bra fits differently - this sounds like common sense but I don't mean this in the sense that each style is different - that much is obvious- what I mean is that each bra may fit differently in each size just like clothes.  For example, I may wear a size 8 in one style of dress but require a 10 in another.  Brain surgery- I know!

and 

2) Every bra size has a very similar "sister size" combination of band size/cup size.  My sister - who is a professional at fitting people - had me try on several different size combinations and I discovered that she was right!  There was a better size than what I had been buying!  

and

3) The fit of the bras I already owned could be dramatically improved just by readjusting their straps.  This never really occurred to me either although I am not sure why.  Straps get stretched out and also changed in the process of being washed.  After spending about an hour tightening all of my bra straps I can happily report that they are all fitting much better.

While these three ideas may be obvious to some, I found them quite enlightening and I am happy to say that I am loving my new bras and have reached a much happier truce with the other residents of my underwear drawer.  I highly encourage my fellow "sisters" to go and get bra fitted by someone who knows that they are doing.  After all they have always said that the right pair of shoes could change your life (i.e. Cinderella) but who says that a well fitting bra wouldn't work just as well :)

You Might Not Be Wearing Pants If....

You may have seen the following flow chart on Facebook or floating around the internet but I think it bares (yes pun intended lol)  re-posting because I have seen way to many people lately who are trying to pull off tights as leggings or pants and thanks, but I really don't want to see that while shopping at the mall so.. just a reminder and a brief public service announcement.  Hopefully this also makes you chuckle a little! :)

And if there is still any doubt left in your mind.... check out this blog:

 http://www.bridgetteraes.com/2013/10/30/tights-pants-ya-hear/  

Follow Your Heart, Be Your Own Hero, Say What's On Your Mind, And Who Cares What Anyone Else Thinks?

I am absolutely loving the recent outpouring of feel good empowering be yourself and your own person songs on the radio lately.  Everytime I hear one of these songs on the radio in my car I can't help but crank up the volume and sing along with a big smile on my face.  It feels good to start hearing some music that leaves you feeling a great self esteem boost!  I wanted to share few of these songs with my readers and why I love the messages that they send.

Kacey Musgraves - "Follow Your Arrow"

Message: Follow your arrow!  Do what you want to and forget what anyone else does or thinks!

Why I love it: I love this song because Kacey picks some of the most prevalent stereotypes in our society and basically says that no matter what you do, someone's not going to like it so you might as well do what you want and be happy.  Another way of saying you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.  I love the line "just 'cause you can't beat 'em don't mean you should join 'em."  It's easier said than done but we should really take Kacey's advice to heart.  Follow your heart (your arrow) and do what makes you happy regardless of what anyone else thinks or says about it.  After all, "you only live once!"

Katy Perry - "Roar"

Message: You are strong and you can do anything you put your mind to, no one can hold you down unless you let them!

Why I love it: I love this song because it's all about being your own hero and believing in yourself!  You can do anything you put your mind to and if you really want something no one can stop you from achieving it!  Katy says "I went from zero to my own hero, you held me down but I got up...get ready 'cause I've had enough!"   She also talks about what life was like before she starting believing in herself.  She says "I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything."  Her whole life changed with her new outlook on life when she became empowered and started believing in and relying on herself.  We can be our own best advocate but we can also be our own worst enemy and worst critic.  Let's show the world what we can do by giving ourselves some credit and believing that we can achieve our dreams.  If we do, we will be unstoppable!


Sara Bareilles - "Brave"

Message: Say what's on your mind and don't let anyone silence your voice or intimidate you into being someone you are not!  Be brave and "let the words fall out!"

Why I love it: In our world it is so hard sometimes for us to say what's on our mind and to express ourselves - be honest and open.  Doing so exposes us to criticism from others but we can't change the world unless we as, Sara says, "say what (we) want to say and let the words fall out."  She says "your history of silence won't do you any good... let your words be anything but empty, why don't you tell them the truth?"  She challenges us to be brave and to share ourselves with the world regardless of what anyone thinks.  She acknowledges that "everyone's been there, everyone's been starred down by the enemy, fallin' for the fear and words disappearin', fall down to the mighty" but she says "don't run, stop holdin'  your tongue!"  Translation - We all know what it feels like to be intimidated into silence but stand up for yourself - be brave and speak up.  I also love this video in particular which encompases the idea of "dance like no ones watching."  At the end some guys ask if one of the dancers is on drugs - why do people jump to this response when someone is spontaneous or just being themselves?


Sara Bareilles - "King of Anything"

Message: How dare you tell me what I should do or who I should be?  I don't care if you disagree with me - you are not the boss of me!

Why I love it: Sara tells it how it is and really sticks it to the jerk who tired to tell her who she should be!  She says all her life she has tried to please everyone and now it's time for her to do her own thing regardless of what anyone else thinks because she is her own person.  We should all take a page from this playbook :)


I hope that you enjoy these songs as much as I do and that they give a great self esteem boost to your day today!  I love you all and I hope that you can find the courage to be who you are and to change our world for the better one voice at a time.

Appreciate Your Blessings

During a deployment, every army wife fears the day when a black car pulls up to the house delivering two uniformed soldiers to your doorstep to inform you that our deepest darkest fear has come true - that your husband has been injured or worse killed in action.

For those who are not military spouses it is sometimes easy to pretend that we are not still fighting a war and that we are not losing good men every day.  The news on TV can seem a distant crisis unconnected to their lives and the soldiers who make the ultimate sacrifice are just names and faces on the 5:00 news.  I admit, when I was in high school, I was one of these blissfully ignorant people.  I understood that there was a war going on but I didn't feel connected or affected by it much save for the events of 9/11.  When I went to college, my eyes were opened when I met and made friends with people who were in the ROTC programs and I began to volunteer with a military outreach group.  Now, married to a soldier, those who act like my former self frustrate me and I have to remind myself that perhaps they don't realize how blissfully ignorant they really are.

The reality is that the faces of the soldiers on the 5:00 news are not just names and faces.  They are the faces of husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, daughters, and sons.  Loved ones of someone who will miss them forever.

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine had her worst nightmare come true.  Her husband was killed in Afghanistan leaving her with a future of shattered dreams and a 20 month old son to raise on her own.  My heart is broken for her and I have been praying daily and nightly for her entire family.  Although I only met this soldier once, because he was deployed for the majority of the time that my friend and I were living in the same state, I have been deeply affected by his passing.  I could easily have been the one standing in this friends' shoes.

For the past two weeks, this army wife and her husband have never been far from my thoughts.  I feel frustrated that there really isn't much I can do to "make things better."  I have always hated to see friends in pain and have always tried to do whatever I can to help them to "fix" whatever is wrong but there's no fixing this.  Nothing that I or anyone else can say or do will ever be enough to fill the void in this young woman's life.  I feel helpless and I hate it.

Over the past two weeks I have felt the need to tell everyone and anyone who will listen to me about this soldier and his ultimate sacrifice.  I have always felt that taking about someone who has passed is one of the best ways to remember them and to keep them from being forgotten. I know he isn't the only soldier who has been lost and I get an uneasy feeling every time a soldier's face is shown on the news but this one hit closer to home than most.  Most of those who I have shared the story with are sympathetic but there have been a few whose responses have been akin to "well they knew what the risks were..." This response for lack of a better word pisses me off.  I mean of course we know what the risks are but if no one was willing to take them where would our country be?  Just because we know the risks doesn't mean we are prepared to accept them.  Does knowing "the risk" mean that somehow it's OK that this young woman is now raising a child alone who will probably only remember bits and pieces of his father?  I don't think so.

If you are reading this, I ask you to do two things.  1) Please say a prayer for my friend and her family and the families of all fallen soldiers tonight - don't forget them or let their sacrifices be in vain and 2) thank God for your own loved ones and don't take them for granted.

We are all guilty at some point of being annoyed with our spouses myself included.  We get mad because of something trivial and we complain to our girlfriends about stuff that our husbands did or didn't do but I challenge you to consider this - how would you feel if you suddenly didn't have him anymore?  Would that thing you were mad about matter anymore?  I'm not saying we can't ever be mad.  Having arguments sometimes is normal.  Just remember that in the end, we are lucky to have our loved ones safe and out of harms way.  Never take for granted what you have because there are those who would give anything for one more day with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

May my friend's husband rest in peace and may his family find peace and love in the memories they shared.

Rocking Chair Cushions

I thought I would share one of my recent craft projects.  Before anyone asks no, we are not expecting but I am having fun building a nursery for the future piece by piece.  Hubby and I have been attending some auctions and yard sales just looking for cool stuff at great prices and after one of the auctions I got the idea in my head that we needed a rocking chair for my imaginary nursery. lol.  After checking craigslist for weeks for a chair that looked nice and yet didn't need much work, I found one that I thought was really cute.  It has little yellow ducks on the back which is totally nursery-esk and not very adult but hey we will have a baby eventually.  I also liked the fact that the ducks are very gender-neutral.

After buying the chair I decided to attempt to make my own cushions for it.  Who knew that rocking chair cushions can cost hundreds of dollars?!  I knew I could make some for cheaper than the retail prices but I wasn't entirely confident on how sophisticated the result would look.  I spent hours researching do-it-yourself tutorials on chair cushions and looking at examples for sale to get ideas on what I wanted mine to look like.  I decided to keep things simple but even so there were a few challenges that I didn't expect.

The first challenge that I encountered with this project was choosing the fabric.  I wanted to pick something gender neutral since I have no idea what gender future baby X will be and I had a feeling I wasn't going to want to repeat this process anytime soon unless I had to.  In order to attempt to include Hubby in my "project"  I asked him to help me to choose a fabric.  I explained to him that I wanted to choose something simple (so that it would not take away from the hand painted ducks) and that I wanted something gender neutral.  Once at the store (and I dragged the poor man to two different stores) Hubby kept suggesting bright busy patterns.  The fabrics were nice but I was worried that they would take the eye away from the ducks.  I struggled to find something that fit the idea that I had in my head.  At first I gravitated towards black or cream based fabrics with subtle patterns but Hubby complained that they were "boring."  He likes color and sometimes gets frustrated with my gravitation towards the basics.  After striking out badly at the first store I went home and did some research on the computer.  The trip to the second store went better.  I still wanted something with a subtle pattern but this time I went for the "nursery fabrics" which had pastel colored patterns.  I found a few that I thought would work and I let Hubby help me pick.  We settled on a fabric with a  green zig-zag pattern.

Challenge two struck when I attempted to cut the fabric.  Silly me assumed that the lines would be printed straight on the fabric and that I could use them as a cutting guide to get my cuts straight... HAHAHA The fabric gods decided to laugh at me.  The lines in the middle of the fabric were straight but as they progressed up and down the fabric they became skewed.  Not only did this pose a challenge to cutting but I didn't want them to look obviously skewed on the final product of my cushions. Call it an obsession with straight lines stemming back to my childhood. (I can still hear my mother lecturing me about how to make the bed so that the stripes in the sheet made straight lines!)

The third challenge was cutting my foam for the back cushion to compliment the curve of the chair back so that they ducks wouldn't be covered up.

Overall, I think my efforts paid off and they cushions came out pretty well.  They may not be perfect but hey I find that even store bought stuff isn't even perfect these days.  Here's my final result!

Front View

Back View

Close Up of Ducks and Fabric Pattern

Updates - Since I've been absent for awhile....

I know that I don't have many readers but.... for those who actually do check my blog here... I apologize for my lack of posts in the last few  months.  I really don't have a great excuse for my absence other than the fact that I just haven't felt like writing and I haven't felt like I've had anything of note to write about.

I'm working as a substitute teacher again this year after applying to a ridiculous number of schools this summer and yet still not being able to secure a teaching position.  I even applied as a school secretary at a few different schools!  I had a total of two interviews despite the enormous number of schools that I applied to- one for a one year teaching position at the school that I have poured a ton of work into long term subbing and daily subbing and one for a secretarial position at a middle school five minutes down the street from where we live.  Needless to say - I did not get either job even though I made it to the second round of interviews.  Talk about frustrating but I guess it's just more water under the bridge.  This is my 6th year as a "professional" sub.  

Hubby is still enjoying his job but his contract was re-bid which has resulted in a significant pay cut for us - not something either of us were happy about.  His coworkers seem to be rushing to "get out of Dodge."  I am counting our blessings though that he still HAS a job because I have no desire to go back to where we were last year at this time.

I can't believe it's been almost a year since we have lived here and almost a year and half since Hubby ETSed.  In some ways the time has flown and in others it has dragged.  I feel like we are just now finally beginning to feel settled here.  We had started to look at buying a house this summer but in light of the above developments we have put that on hold for now.  

Sometimes I feel like we are in a holding pattern- waiting to be able to move on to the next stage of our lives? IE: When will I finally get a teaching job if ever? Is it time to start a family? When will we buy a house? ect.  It's not that I'm in a hurry for things to change or to move on from where we are.  I think this feeling of of being "stuck" is mostly related to my job frustration but I am trying to stay positive.  After all, everything happens for a reason and if you look at our history, I have actually been blessed not to have a job as it has given us a lot more flexibility.  I can't help but wonder what our future holds though.  Where will we be in 5 years?  Will we have 2.5 children a house and a dog?  Who knows.  In the meantime sometimes it's fun to speculate. 

New Beginnings

OK so for my very few readers..... I know it's been more or less forever since I have posted here. Sorry about that.  It's been a rough nine months in our household so I've been radio silent but... the good news is that I'm back :)  Here is a brief overview of what we have been up to in the past several months. I know in my last post a talked about a few things here but I decided to briefly revisit them.

In June, Hubby made it home on our 2nd wedding anniversary :)  I couldn't have asked for a better gift.  It was great and I was so happy to have him home.

July and August were full of uncertainty for us.  Hubby ETSed from active duty at the end of August and prior to that we needed to figure out where we would go and we were hoping that Hubby would be able to get another job outside of the military.  Since we were living on post, we had to be out of our home on the day that Hubby's contract ended and the housing office was not at all flexible or willing to work with us on this.  Four weeks prior to this date we needed to schedule our move (since the military was paying) but we had no idea at that time where we were going yet so this was -let me put this lightly- super stressful.  We were also not guaranteed that we would get the moving date that we had requested so we were worried that our things would not be picked up before we needed to be out of our home.  I turned into a giant ball of stress and Hubby was applying to jobs daily but not hearing back from any of them.  Couple this with the fact that most of the jobs that Hubby was looking at were jobs that relied heavily on shift work - meaning that he would be working a lot of nights and weekends - and I was not feeling very positive about the future. On top of all of this we were also trying to readjust to being together again which while we loved being together was still an adjustment since we had both been used to being able to do whatever we wanted on our own schedules.

Eventually with no job plans for either of us in sight other than my daily sub work which does not pay much, we made the decision to have our things put into storage for a while and move in with my parents until Hubby was able to find a job.  This decision was not made lightly but we felt as though it would give us the most flexibility since it would allow Hubby to still look for jobs in any state.  Luckily the army was willing to store our things for up to six months and my parents were willing to host us for awhile.

Two days before we had to be out of our house the movers came to pack up our stuff.  This was not a fun experience   They packers were horrible.  They didn't want to label anything in the ways that the army told us to ask for (for example they would not label our crystal as such - only as glass) and when they left... I found a used tampon left by one of the female packers on my bathroom sink.  Can you saw eww?  I mean really... was that necessary?  I had trash bags available.

We lived with my parents for September and October and while it was hard not to have our own home and to have to live by their rules we knew we were lucky and tried to make the best of it.  I enjoyed being able to spend time with my parents and Hubby was able to play some golf with my Dad and see some of his family who live nearby.  I began subbing for the local schools there and time passed.

In November luck smiled on us and Hubby was offered a job!  The downside is that we only had about a week to get everything together and move from Texas to Massachusetts.  It was a rat race to say the least but we managed.  It was a long car ride but kept ourselves entertained by making fun of the names of towns that we passed and when I wasn't the one driving I worked on a cross stitch project (pics to be posted later).  Unfortunately, on day two when we were driving through Tennessee a trucker hit a huge rock and it flew out from under the truck and hit our windshield... right in front of my face... shattering our windshield.  I had glass all over my lap and since I had been working on my cross stitch project and not paying attention to the road you could say I was a little surprised.  More than a few expletives were exclaimed by both of us.  We had to drive about half an hour to a place that could replace our windshield...the whole way the windshield further cracking.  It was a very nerve wracking 30 minutes.  When we pulled into the Safelite place the guy comes out and was like wow your windshield is broken.  Hubby and I just looked at each other... I wanted to say "really? we hadn't noticed!" or "Here's your sign" but managed to hold my tongue.  Our car was literally jam packed with our stuff so we hauled half of it (including Bubbles in his little plastic cup) into the waiting room so that they could fix the windshield.  Lucky for us they were able to fix it the same day and we were on our way again.  We stopped for a couple of days in Virginia to visit with Hubby's family and then we made the last leg up to MA.

I never thought I would find myself back in this state.  When I left it to move to Texas and marry my husband I was not in a hurry to go back.  I really didn't want to leave Texas but at least I am still certified to teach here.  We stayed with my grandmother for a couple of weeks while we looked for a place to live.  When we finally found a place we began the nightmare of trying to get our stuff out of storage with the army.  Needless to say I had been living out of a suitcase for about 3 months and it was way past old.  It took forever for us to get our stuff "released" because we were given misinformation about how to get this done twice... it's the army... are you surprised?  We basically slept on an air mattress for a month and luckily my sister loaned us some dishes and a few other essentials from her college dorm so that we wouldn't have to eat out quite so much.  It was a long month.

December: When our things finally were delivered right before Christmas, we were dismayed by the condition of our things.  We are pretty sure that a number of items were used while they were in storage.  For example, our washer was dripping water when they brought it into our new place when we had drained it completely a week before it had been put into storage in August.  Not to mention, it had powder detergent residue in the soap dispenser and I have never used powder detergent.  They also managed to lose a few items and left our patio chairs in a storage unit in either North or South Carolina by accident.  I was not too happy.  They barely got our mattress up the stairs and when they went to unbox it they not only slashed it with their knife but manged to cut themselves and bleed all over it.  So not impressed.  I could go on but I don't want to get stressed out about it.  As of today... our claim... to be reimbursed for damages.... is still under review.. ugh. Moving sucks.

January and February were spent unpacking the house and getting things back the way I wanted them.  It was a big job.  We tired to have a birthday party for Hubby and invited about 20 people but no one showed up :-/  We went out to dinner and a movie instead.  So much for trying to meet his co-workers spouses!

In March, I  started subbing again at the school that I used to work at before I left this state 4 years prior.  In some respects this was a little strange. Some things had changed but some were the same as if I had never left.  A few students who I had had right before I moved as freshman (now seniors) still remembered me and to my surprise still remembered some of the lessons I had designed for them.  It was kind of neat to see that I had actually made an impact on at least a few students.  

Since March, I have pretty much been busy with subbing and trying to get our claim settled.  It's been a long ride but things finally seem to be falling in place.  I miss Texas and my friends there but I am slowly readjusting.

In Transition

OK, so it's been forever since I have been on here and I know that my blog has been totally neglected.  In my defense, the last few months have been pretty crazy.  Hubby came home from Korea at then end of June just in time for our anniversary.  I was very excited to have him home again but then things started to get very busy.  We spent the 4th of July visiting my family and then the rest of July and August were spent frantically trying to figure out what we would do come the end of August when Hubby ETSed from the active duty army.

We were hoping that that Hubby would be offered a job outside of the military before the end of August but this was not to be so, we went for plan B - move in with my parents for a few months while Hubby continues the job search.  We had to be out of our house on post on Hubby's exact ETS date and housing was less than flexible in helping us coordinate the move so it was a bit of a frantic month trying to make all of the arrangements.

Two days before Hubby's ETS, the Jonas Brothers came to pack up our house and prepare all of our things for storage.  No, I am not kidding, that was the name of the moving company.  The Irony was not lost on me and May agreed that it was a bit humorous.  Thank God for little moments like that or I might have lost my mind.  On a side note in case you were wondering, the army provides us 6 months of storage while we are "in transition."  We continue to pray that Hubby finds a job before then.  So anyway.... it took two days for the movers to pack up and then empty our house.  It was quite the experience since half of the information that we had been told prior to moving day turned out to be wrong. For example. the moving company had told us that we needed to purchase our own washer bolts which we frantically ordered online with rush delivery to get them in time only to discover that the army had paid the moving company to provide them for us.  AWESOME... NOT.  This was just one of a laundry list of things that we were misinformed about.  The movers made a complete mess of the house and one of the female packers even left used feminine products on my bathroom sink... yeah thanks for that.  Can you say gross?  I mean yeah I understand that she needed to use the bathroom but she could have picked up after herself.  Whatever happened to common courtesy?

Needless to say we survived and after the truck left we packed all of the remaining items into our already pretty loaded down car.  Choosing what to take with us for an indefinite amount of time and what to send to storage was not an easy task and we could only hope that we had chosen well.  After living out of our suitcases for the last couple months I can say that we did OK but its hard not being able to have all of our things.  After packing up the car we spent the night scrubbing the house down from the movers mess.  I had cleaned the whole house prior to their arrival but after they left you could barely tell.  Thank goodness for May who let me borrow her vacuum.

So that pretty much brings us up to the present.  We have been living at my parents while Hubby job searches and I have been working as a substitute again.  Hubby has become a "weekend warrior" with the reserves so he won't be completely done with the army for another few years.  We are crossing our fingers and praying that a job comes along for him soon but we are trying very hard to be patient.... not always an easy feat.  I am taking things week by week and at times day by day.  I will try to update here more often but no promises.  I miss all of you (friends who are reading this) so drop me a line and let me know how you are!

Quilting and Cross Stitch

I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post but after I finished making my aprons back in September, I began a quilting project.  I wanted to do something with Hubby's old uniforms that he had wanted to throw way because they were worn out or too stained to wear anymore.  I stopped him from taking them to the trash and he was more than glad to give them to me for "craft purposes" lol.  After surfing the net I found a couple of cool ideas including quilts and purses.  I made the purse first awhile back and posted a photo here on my blog.  The quilt has taken me a lot longer to complete partly because I often get frustrated with projects that are not "instant gratification."  I got bored or frustrated and put it aside for months at a time.  However, I finally have it finished!  I know it isn't perfect but in some ways I think that just adds character to it and this IS my very first quilt so cut me some slack?  I think this will be a cool keepsake since the uniforms that I used to make it were the ones that Hubby wore while he was in Iraq.  I think it turned out pretty cool.  The photo isn't the best... sorry!

Awhile back, I also completed and then framed a cross stitch project but I never posted it here so I thought I would now.  I hadn't done cross stitch since middle school when I had done one project but this turned out great!  I think the framing really compliments it too.  Sorry for the glare from the glass on the photo...

Korean Adventure Part 11: Heading Home - The Final Chapter

All too soon it was time for me to head back home to the States.  The morning I left Hubby helped me repack my suitcase and I went with him to get his hair cut before it was time to head to the airport. 

It took a taxi and a bus ride to get to the airport but we made it with time to spare.  The airport had a touch screen map/FAQ kiosk just like the mall.  I thought it was pretty cool.  The airport there is huge!  We had to use the map just to figure out where to check in.  After checking in, Hubby took me to lunch at the airport Bennigan's.  I thought it would be a safe place to go since they have Bennigan's in the US but the menu was in Korean so we had to ask the waitress lots of questions about what everything was and she only spoke a little English so it was a challenge.  Hubby told me that he will be a lot more patient with people who don't speak English when he gets back to the US because he knows what it is like not to speak the language.

Saying goodbye was difficult but Hubby assured me that the next few months would go by quickly.  A baby cried the entire way from Korea to San Francisco.  It was a long flight but ironically it was actually two hours shorter than the flight going to Korea because of the way the wind blows. 

I finally arrived back in San Francisco but was thankful that I had a long layover because I got stuck in the customs line for over an hour... even though I was towards the very front of the line.  The system went down and the line was at a standstill for over 45 minutes.  Couple that with tired and slightly annoyed passengers and you can imagine what standing in line was like. 

Thanks to San Fran's poor signage, as I mentioned on the way there, I got a bit lost trying to figure out how to get to my connecting gate but eventually I found it and picked up some food while I was waiting to board.  My flight was overbooked and I could have gotten a free travel voucher to give up my seat but at that point I just wanted to get home.

May was kind enough to pick me up when I finally arrived back home and she had already dropped off Bubbles, my fish, at my house.  She is so thoughtful!  I was glad to be back home but ironically just hours after I got back two tornadoes ripped through the town that I live in.  Thank God they didn't get close enough to post to affect me but still.. nice welcome home gift from mother nature.  LOL  it figures.  At least it happened AFTER I got home and not while I was trying to fly here.

I miss Hubby but hopefully he will be on his way home before I know it and then he will be getting out of the army so we will not have to deal with a year long separation again.  I can't wait to see him again.  Thanks for showing me Korea Baby!  I had fun  and I hope you did too :)

Korean Adventure Part 10: Other Activities and Attending the Movies in Korea.

Other than the major events that I have already discussed in various posts, Hubby gave me a tour of his base and we watched a bunch of movies that we borrowed from the post library.  I got to see him participate in his bowling league twice while I was there and it was fun to meet his friends.

I also learned that there are members of the Korean army who work with the US soldiers and wear our uniforms.  Hubby told me that they act as liaisons of sorts and are called Katuses.  I thought it sounded like it was pronounced Patuses but when I googled for spelling I found it with a 'K' on wikipedia.  They wear the US uniforms but with the Korean flag and have their name tapes in Korean with the American translation underneath in subtext.  I thought this was interesting.  Military service is mandatory for all males in Korea.

Attending the Movies

We also attended a movie off post one day which was an interesting experience.  In Korea, going to a movie is slightly different than it is here.  The movie theater itself was on the 14th and 15th floor of a building and the Koreans do not stand in line for tickets.  Rather, you take a number and have a seat on benches until your number is called.  When it is your turn, you go up to the counter to get your tickets. 

The cashiers do not speak English very well so if you are American you ask to see the "book."  Hubby loves movies so he is a pro at the whole "movie theater procedure!"  They hand you a binder which basically has movie posters in it shrunk down to 8 1/2in by 11in to fit into the binder.  You flip through it to pick out your movie and then point to it when you decide.  We decided to see John Carter.  They offered quite a few American movies and they are shown in English but they have Korean subtitles. 

After choosing the movie you want to see the cashier asks you where you would like to sit and shows you on the computer where the open seats are.  You actually have to sit in the seat you choose, like going to a concert.  The seats are all the same price but I guess this prevents people from having to rush into the theater before the movie starts to find a good seat? 

The theater offers popcorn in butter and caramel flavors as well as ice cream, and a variety of other snacks.  There is also an arcade inside the theater and there were even a few stores!  The actual theaters were on the second floor of the theater (15th? floor of the building?) 

After the movie you have to be very careful about where you throw your trash.  The Koreans are very anal about recycling and will yell at you if you don't do it right!  I also want to mention that although Korea is in general a very clean country... there are very few public garbage cans.  You will not see them on the streets.  I have no idea what they do with it!

Korean Adventure Part 9: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Towards the end of my visit to Korea, Hubby took me to visit Gyeongbokgung palace in downtown Seoul. We arrived just in time to see the ceremony marking the changing of the royal guards.  The guards were dressed in bright colors and carried weapons such as spears and bow and arrows.  It was a very interesting ceremony to watch.  They carried brightly colored flags and the royal orchestra played its very unique instruments as they marched along with the guards. 

After the change of the guard, Hubby and I went through the gates of the palace and discovered that there would be a free English speaking tour in five minutes.  I picked up a brochure on the palace and began reading it while we waited.  It was strange to see the tall buildings of the city looming right outside of the palace walls.  Looking the other direction it was cool to see how the palace roof was built to follow the line of the mountain behind it.  The early Koreans believed that their architecture should flow with nature.

It was a freezing cold day and it was very windy so I think our tour guide cut the tour slightly short but it was still informative.  We learned many interesting facts about the palace, Korea's history, and the kings who had lived/ruled there. 

The palace itself was very colorful and elaborate.  There were figures that I would call gargoyles everywhere to ward off evil spirits and there were small figures on the eves of every roof top.  There were dragons painted onto the ceilings and pottery on display inside the rooms.

The palace had an elaborate chimney system to heat it and seemed very architecturally advanced for the time period.  We also were able to see a rounded sundial that was invented under the rule of King Sejong.  It is supposedly much more accurate than a flat sundial.  Our tour guide read the time for us and it turned out to be about 20 minutes different from the time according to our watches.  She told us that the sundial is actually more accurate for the actual time in Korea according to the sun but that Korea conformed to the western time zones and that is where the 20 minutes were lost.  King Sejong also invented a water clock so that he could tell time on cloudy days or when it was raining.  We didn't get to see it but it seems like he was pretty smart!

The back part of the palace grounds has a beautiful garden but since we were there in the winter everything was brown.  Hubby was able to go when the weather was nicer and things were still green.  It was still pretty though even in winter.  It must be very beautiful in summer.  Over the back wall you can see a blue roofed building.  We were told that it is the Blue House where the Korean president lives.

After walking around for a bit after our tour and having a quick lunch we went to the museum next door to the palace and walked around learning about Korean culture.  It was interesting and it gave us a chance to warm up!

Afterwards we visited a small courtyard outside of the museum that had statues representing the Korean new year.  I was born in the year of the tiger.  I was excited to find this out because I love tigers.  My mom was born in the year of the dog which I find hilarious because she hates dogs!  Hubby was born in the year of the ox.  When were you born?

When we finished looking at everything, Hubby took me a few blocks away to a market area where we shopped for souvenirs.  There was so much to look at and there were a lot of interesting things for sale although some seemed over priced.  We walked around and had a good time exploring the shops until we found a couple of things to buy and headed back to the train for the trip back to Hubby's post.

Korean Adventure Part 8: Celebrating Saint Patrick's Day

Koreans don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day but soldiers do!  Hubby and his buddies wanted to go out to celebrate on St. Patrick's Day.  We started off the celebration by going out for dinner.  We left the post around 4:45 and took a taxi to downtown Uijeongbu.  Once downtown we walked to a Korean pizza place called Mr. Pizza.  Yeah, I know, really original name.  It was around the corner from Mr. Doughnut.

One pizza is about $30 in Korea which is crazy but again I think all American food is higher priced.  They had a bunch of specialty pizzas but Hubby had to explain to the waitress that I only like cheese on my pizza and nothing else.  I know, I am boring.  Hubby's buddies ordered a pizza with a bunch of different toppings but were surprised to find corn on the pizza when it was delivered.  Who knew corn could be put on pizza?  Hubby said he thought the pizza was made with goat cheese but I couldn't tell and I am very picky.  Two interesting things to note about eating out in Korea are 1) you don't tip the waitress and 2) she won't come over every five minutes to see if you need anything.  Instead, there is a button on the table that you press when you want service.

After dinner we walked around downtown Uijeongbu a bit.  They have all sorts of statues and art in the plazas and all of the store fronts were colorful and lit up with neon signs.  There was so much to look at I was a bit overwhelmed.  I didn't know where to look first!  I almost tripped over an uneven sidewalk because I was trying to look at everything and wasn't watching where I was walking. 

We went to a flea market area and looked around for awhile.  There were vendors selling everything from shoes to food and everything in between. One of Hubby's buddies wasn't wearing green and we kept giving him grief so he decided to buy a green Yankees hat.  He didn't realize until after he had paid for it that the back said "New Yuck" in stead of New York.  Ha ha... the Yankees suck anyway.

The boys wanted to start drinking but most of the bars were still closed.  Eventually they found one and we trekked up to the second floor where it was.  In Korea, they cannot build out so they build up instead.  Each floor of a building can be a different store, restaurant, etc.  We sat at a table by the window and people watched as people walked by below. 

Hubby pointed out a barbershop that we could see from the window that had two barber poles out front.  Apparently in Korea, two barber poles means that they offer haircuts with a happy ending.  Who knew?  Hubby said that they were told this info when they were in processed so that they would not get themselves in trouble. 

Eventually we ended up at a bar called Radio Clock where we spent the remainder of the evening.  The Korean bar tenders were very friendly and the soldier's explained to them that it was St. Patrick's Day.  They took song requests all night and would look up any song that you asked for.  I heard a Korean version of a Rhianna song and a J Lo song which was interesting.  Hubby played darts and we had a good time until we decided it was time to head home.

Korean Adventure Part 7: A Few Words About Restrooms

For this post, I want to pause for a moment to tell you about my experience with bathrooms in Korea.  Over the span of my trip I experienced the full range of restrooms from elaborate to well, lets say minimalistic.  Of course I encountered many "normal" restrooms while I was there too but these two particular restrooms left a lasting impression on me.

Most Hi-Tech Toilet Ever

When we were at T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall I went to use the bathroom and discovered the world's most high tech toilet.  Attached to the side of the toilet was a controller with a bunch of buttons on it giving the user several options including, bidet spray, seat temperature control, water sounds, etc.  I was a bit intimidated.  I just wanted to use it real quick and get out.  I mean seriously a warmed toilet seat and a butt wash?  No thank you. 

On the flip side....

Where's The Toilet?

One of the days that we took the train we stopped to use the restroom in one of the train stations.  I had used other bathrooms in the train stations without incident so I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary.  The restroom itself was beautifully decorated with tile and floral art.  There was a line but it was moving fairly quickly. Two women before me went in and then it was my turn.  I walked into the stall, shut the door, and promptly asked myself "Where's the toilet?"  Answer - there wasn't one.  Instead, there was what basically amounts to a porcelain coated hole in the floor with a lever next to it to flush.  "OK", I thought to myself, "how does this work?"  I was not amused but I braved the situation any way and managed not to make a fool of myself.  Below is a picture of what this "toilet" looked like.  I was too stunned to take my own photo and regretted it later but apparently I was not the only one who was shocked by these bathrooms because I found someone else who blogged about it.  I borrowed the photos on this page from them but I will include the link to their blog at the bottom of the page should you want to read about their experience!

The soap was also a bit odd in that it was not liquid soap but a bar that was more or less attached to the wall.  I am not sure how sanitary this is but I guess soap is soap.  Here is what it looked like.

Most bathrooms also have a call button that you can press for help... I wonder if anyone has ever pressed it.

I discovered later that in bathrooms with these traditional toilets, there is usually at least one stall that has the western toilet symbol meaning that it does have what I would consider a "real" toilet but hey I wanted to experience Korea right?  Well I guess using a traditional Korean restroom was just part of that adventure! 

If you think this is as odd as I did.  Feel free to check out this person's blog on the Korean bathrooms too.  I borrowed the photos from them.  http://www.shenventure.com/2011/05/21/encounters-with-seouls-public-toilets/

Korean Adventure Part 6: North Seoul Tower

One of the other adventures that Hubby took me on was a trip to see North Seoul Tower.  It was a bit like going to the empire state building as you can go up to the top of the tower to the observatory and have a view of the entire city.

To get to the tower we had to take the train to Seoul and then catch a city bus which brought us to the base of the tower.  Hubby's train pass worked on the city bus too which is kind of cool and we paid for my fare with change.  It wasn't very expensive.  When we arrived at our stop we got off and proceeded to the base of the tower.  traffic is not allowed up to the base so the bus dropped us off a the bottom of a HUGE long hill.  Have I mentioned how Korea is full of steep hills and stairs?  We paused a few times as we hiked up the hill to take photos of the city.  The higher we climbed the more we got a birds eve view but of course the real view was from the top of the tower.  We looked around at the base of the tower for a bit where they had a stone overlook and a pavilion of sorts and then went into the tower itself to buy tickets for the observatory.

Once we had our tickets we got in line to go out to the top.  We were forced to have our picture taken which they would try to sell us later but they superimposed the background on so it to me it wasn't even a "real" photo.  What a joke. I was not about to buy it.  Then they made us watch this video projected onto the elevator doors as we waited in line.  Once inside the elevator we were instructed to watch a video screen on the ceiling which played a video trying to make you think that you were flying through the roof. 

At the top we were able to walk around and see the city of all sides.  It was cool to see everything from that perspective.  The distances to various cities around the world were posted on the glass windows.  Supposedly San Francisco was only 9040.09 km away.  LOL... I couldn't see it.  They also had the distance to Chicago and Los Angeles posted.

The bottom floor of the tower is home to the national Korean teddy bear museum.  Who knew that they likes teddy bears as much as we do?  I thought teddy bears were mostly an American thing since they were named after Teddy Roosevelt?  We didn't go in but it was still interesting to note.

When we exited the tower we were just in time to see a show taking place right outside. There was a group of traditional Korean dancers/musicians and when they finished there was a reenactment/demonstration involving traditional Korean fighters.  They were dressed like samurai but I know that is Japanese.  I don't know what the Korean version is called.  I took a bunch of video clips but here are just a couple as an example.

North Seoul Tower

View of Seoul from the observatory

Korean Adventure Part 5: Coex Aquarium

It was my spring break, but unfortunately the army doesn't have "spring break" lol so Hubby did not have the week off while I was visiting but his unit was kind enough to let him work half days.  This worked out really well because I hate to get up early and hate to be rushed to get ready so I was able to sleep in and then get ready while poor Hubby went to PT and then the office for a bit.   He came home at lunchtime and then we would decide what to do for the day.

One day we decided to go to the Coex Aquarium in Seoul.  The aquarium is inside the Coex mall and we had to take the train to get there.  The train took us right to the mall entrance.  I could not believe how big this mall was.  I think it was only one floor versus out two story ones but it was very spread out and had lots of high end stores.  Many of the stores were chains that we have here in the states.  Some stores had workers out front greeting guests.  Everyone was very friendly.  We walked around the mall for a bit but we had no idea where the aquarium was inside it.  We didn't mind because it was interesting to walk around and see the store fronts.  Hubby said he thought the stores were expensive but we didn't go into any of them so I am not sure how the prices compare to stores here.

Eventually we came to a mall directory.  But, it was not like any mall directory I have EVER seen here in the US.  It was very high tech.  It had a touch screen menu where you could select the language that you wanted and then select where you wanted to go.  We used the search feature to find the aquarium and when we selected it, the screen drew a line from where we where to the aquarium highlighting our route.  It also offered us textual instructions on a turn by turn basis.  I was impressed.  Why don't we have that technology here!!  When I mentioned this later in the week to a few of Hubby's coworkers, I was told that you can actually download an AP to your phone that helps you to navigate the mall too.  Very cool.

We found our way to the aquarium and paid the entrance fee.  They had fish native to Korea that I have never seen before but they also had some small reptiles like lizards and iguanas, seals, sharks, turtles, beavers, and believe it or not - monkeys and bats.  I have no idea why they had monkeys and bats inside the aquarium but they did.  They also had an interesting modern art section.  Some of the photos from the modern art area are below...

Fish living in a toilet... yes that is a real fish!

Close up in case you didn't believe me

Fish in a fish shaped sink

Fish in the fridge

Fish in a washing machine

Close up of the fish

 
Throughout the aquarium they also had fish living in pseudo lamp posts.  See below.

There was also an exhibit in the aquarium where you were supposed to stick your hand into a shallow pool of water.  The fish in the pool would come to the person's hand and eat off the dead skin.  I was kinda grossed out.  I'm not too sure that is sanitary but when I mentioned it to Hubby's coworkers I was told that all of the nail salons in Korea have these fish.  Hubby said it is a win win situation because you lose the dead skin and the fish get fed but I wasn't about to try it.  I did not get a picture from this but to give you a visual I found one of the Internet.

Overall I enjoyed the aquarium.  It was very interesting and I got to see things  I would never see here in the US.  Afterwards, Hubby and I decided that we were hungry so we set out to find a place for dinner.  Hubby had heard that there was a T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall and I was thrilled at the prospect of American food so we used the cool interactive directory again and headed to the restaurant. 

We made it to Friday's and sat down to peruse the menu.  It was much different than the menu at the Friday's here.  There were no hamburgers or anything like that on the menu and many of the dishes were  a lot more elaborate than what is on the typical Friday's menu here.  Some of the dishes even came with Kimchi, a disgusting type of cabbage that is  major staple in Korea.  The restaurant was also very expensive compared to Friday's in the states.  I guess American food there is like going out to a foreign restaurant here.  I was happy to pay though since it was food that was recognizable! 

Korean Adventure Part 4: Korean Fashion

The Korean idea of fashion is very different from the way that we dress here.  Riding the train I got a very good idea of how the average Korean dresses.

Men: The Korean men love to wear skinny jeans.  Not the older men, they mostly seemed to wear dockers, but the younger generation.  More than once I wondered how they even got those pants on!  They seemed much too tight!  When I expressed this to Hubby he said you would put them on "very carefully" lol.

Women: Korean women do not show ANY cleavage because it is considred taboo there.  This is pretty much the exact opposite of how American women dress.  However, while breasts may be taboo, showing off anything below the waist seems to be entirely ok.  The women wear booty shorts ( and by booty I mean BOOTY, the leg of the short seemed almost non exisitent!) or very short skirts.  If it is cold they wear leggings or tights underneath but very little is left to imagination.  When it is cold, the women seems a little top heavy because they wear big puffy jackets and then the have their skinny legging covered legs.  Even the young elementray school girls that we saw on the trains wearing uniforms were sporting ridiculously short skirts.  Hubby remarked that if we had children, he would not want his daughter wearing a skirt that short, uniform or not!  The women also like to wear platforms shoes and shoes that have bling on them or sparkle.

Both men and women seemed to love brightly colored neon sneakers!

Korean Adventure Part 3: Riding The Train

Riding the train is the easiest and cheapest way to get around in Korea.  Not only do you not have to worry about the crazy and sometimes frightening way that the Korean's drive, but you don't have to worry about traffic.  Almost everything that you would want to go to in Seoul is accessible by the subway.  Hubby took me to Seoul several times and no matter how far into the city we went, the fare per person was never more than around $3.50 and that was the most expensive trip.  Most were less.  Hubby is very proud of his train navigation skills and steered me though line transfers with ease.  It was a definite experience and I got a taste of what it is like to be an average person in Korea.  Many Koreans use the subway as a form of every day transportation.
Each time we took the subway we would have to take a taxi to the train station.  It was only a five to ten minute ride depending on traffic.  Hubby had us use Nogyang station most frequently because it was closer to post but there is also a station in downtown Uijeongbu.  Below you can see a picture of the entrance to the station complete with really neat bronze horse statues.

After going into the station Hubby would take me to the ticketing area.  Everything is done electronically.  The machine has language buttons at the bottom of the screen so the first thing you have to do is select English.  Then you touch the "Single Journey Ticket" option.  (Pictured below as the number 1 although in the picture nothing is in English.)  

Hubby rides the rain frequently so he has a re loadable card that he uses but each time we went somewhere we would have to buy a ticket for the trip and return for me.  After arriving at the station screen after selecting single journey,  Hubby would pull out his subway map and look for the station that we wanted to go to that was closest to our destination.  Most of the time Hubby had researched this before we left.  See below for a picture of what the subway map.  We rode several of the lines!

After deciding what station we wanted to go to, Hubby would scroll through the menu, select the station and then feed in the appropriate amount of won (Korean currency). 

*Side Note: 1,000 Won is equal to about $0.88 in US currency so it is better to use the Korean currency even though many vendors will take dollars.  The vendors will charge you the same amount even if you use dollars and then exchange them in to make the profit in the exchange.  It's not a huge difference but it does add up over time.

After paying, the machine spits out the ticket.  They are made of plastic almost like a credit card, although a bit thinner plastic) and mine were always bright orange or neon yellow.  ( I have a picture of one below but it doesn't say the station that we used because I borrowed the picture from someone else.)  You have to pay a 5 won deposit to get the ticket but you get this back at the end of the day when you cash in your ticket at a return machine.  I would compare this to states which require you to pay an extra 5 cents on each can or bottle of soda/beer that you buy in order to encourage you to recycle and then give it back to you when you return the empty ones.  You don't have to return it but you lose your 5 cents if you don't.  I thought the plastic was a definite upgrade to the paper that we get here in the states but I guess Americans don't like to be hassled with paying the deposit and then having to return the card at the end of the trip.  I didn't find it to be a big deal and as I mentioned earlier, Hubby has a re loadable card that he just puts money on every now and then when it gets low so he doesn't have to worry about trading in the card each trip.

Ticket in hand, the next part of the fun was to go through the turn styles and up to the platform.  Most of the stations didn't actually have turn styles but just lanes that you walked though.  Each time you had to lay your card over the "T money" pad as you walked though and it would deduct the amount of the fare from your card.  Sometimes when we transferred we had to go though another one of these to get to the proper platform for our next train but since we had always selected our destination station when buying my ticket, it was always loaded with enough money for each one that we had to walk though.

1) http://seoulsounds.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/199-seoul-metro-bells/

2) http://seoulsounds.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/198-new-seoul-metro-fanfare-announcement/

3) http://seoulsounds.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/교대역-transfer-station-announcement/

The inside of the train itself looks a bit different than some other trains I have ridden.  They have seats lining the sides and the straps to hang onto if you are standing in the aisles.  Once or twice Hubby and I sat down next to an older Korean person only to have them get up and move.  Hubby said that some of the older generation do not like the Americans very much.  We also got a lot of stares but mostly people were nice.  During rush hours the train gets VERY crowded!  On one train ride a tiny Korean lady grabbed my butt hard and pushed me out of the way instead of saying excuse me!  I thought this was a bit rude but Hubby said that is normal.  Riding the train was an adventure!