Justin

So I haven’t posted in a while, mainly because Justin was here for such a short period of time and I wanted to spend the few days we had together hanging out rather than in front of the computer. I know many of you are wondering what Justin thought about the apartment, and our walk home and stuff, so I thought Id post not only about our week spent together, but also about my amazing husband.

His ship pulled in on Thursday around 10 am and I was stuck at work!! I knew that his ship pulling in was going to be a big event on base, not only because of the Homecoming, but also because this is the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier to ever be stationed overseas. Not only was it a big event on base, it was a big event out in town with huge protests going on. Justin said as they were pulling in that there were about 12 helicopters overhead, both news helicopters and also for security purposes. He said that there were boats out in the water with people screaming “No CVN73! You bombed Hiroshima! You killed our people! Go home George Washington!” During the week I had seen several signs outside of base saying “No CVN73, NO WAR.” I guess what they don’t understand is that the ship is nuclear powered, and they associate the word nuclear with nuclear war. They are also concerned with a nuclear powered ship being so close to such a huge city like Tokyo, that if something were to happen to one of the nuclear reactors, a lot of people would be hurt. I understand their concern, but my husband lives on those nuclear reactors, so I don’t want to hear them complaining!!! Anyways, Thursday was a long day at work to say the least. I was going crazy, counting down the hours until I would finally be with Justin again! The day dragged on, and when I say dragged I mean draaaaaagged and finally when 4:30 came around I ran to that train station faster than I have ever run in my life. When I got there, Justin was there waiting for me. It was so good to finally be with him again. So we hopped on the next train and headed to our home, together at last. I have to admit, it was kind of funny knowing that Justin has lived in Japan for 2 years, but had no idea where we were going or how to get home. We exited at our station and started on our walk towards home. As we were walking down the road I was pointing out the various stores to Justin such as the flower shop (hint, hint) ;), the 100yen store (which is like the dollar store), the Lawson store (which is a convenience store) and the 711. When we got to the street we turn up to go home, I pointed out a few points of reference so Justin would remember which street it is that we turn at. Right as we rounded the corner, those dreadful stairs came into view. At the sight of the stairs, Justin began to walk a little slower, as if pacing himself for what was about to come. We began up the first set of stairs, and Justin did surprisingly well! He was a lot quicker up the stairs than I thought he was going to be, seabag and all! I think I was the slow poke between the 2 of us, and I’ve been walking those stairs for 5 weeks now! Let me also mention that they aren’t your normal set of stairs, its all up hill, and its not a gradual up hill, its straight up 204 stairs up hill. We finished the first set of stairs and I said to Justin “Tired yet, cuz that was only 100 of em.” He just looked at me like are you freaking serious????, but carried on and only complained a few times. I think he said something along the lines of I picked an apartment in the worst place possible or something like that. Haha anyways, so we finally made it home and Justin dropped his things and took a quick tour of the apartment, checking to see what was behind each door. When he was done he said to me “You made it look a lot bigger in the pictures.” I was surprised he said that!! For a place in Japan, our apartment is huge, and for just the two of us I think it’s just the right size. I mean we have a second bedroom that we have no idea what to do with! Anyways, after Justin had seen our place, and knew how to get home, we decided to go out to dinner in Yokosuka and also get him a cell phone. We did the cell phone first and while we were in the store there were huge protests going on outside. There were tons of police, and the roads were blocked off, and there were more people crowding the streets than cars. People were holding signs and banners and waving flags, and were following a car that was screaming into a megaphone. Everything was in Japanese, so I’m not sure what they were saying or what their signs said, but I know it wasn’t anything good about CVN73. After we finished at the cell phone place we decided to go to TGI Fridays for dinner, and after that stopped by The Honch (a street with a bunch of bars and restaurants) to see if any of his friends were out. We headed back home pretty early because Justin was tired, and I had to work the next day.

On Friday I went to work and Justin hung out around the house and ran a few errands. While Justin was out, he decided to go grocery shopping, and I don’t think he thought about that walk home while he was doing his shopping. Silly boy. I called him on my break and he answered the phone completely out of breath and I didn’t even have to ask what he was doing, I already knew. He said he was carrying 12 grocery bags up the stairs. I couldn’t help but laugh because I thought of everything I’ve had to carry home before (*cough cough* a microwave). It was kind of cute to hear him struggling home. After all, this is going to be our life for the next 6 months so he better get used to it! Anyways, my school was having a party for me and David that night so I wasn’t going to be home until around 9pm. Justin decided to meet me at my school because I had nothing to do from 430 (when I got off work) until 6 (when the party started). He met me outside my school at 430 and I asked him if he wanted to see what my school looks like inside. He did, so I took him inside, and showed him where my office is. He met a few of my teachers. When I introduced him to one of my teachers she said something like “You know, I have work with 8 ALT’s (assistant language teachers = me) before, and Kristen is the best one I’ve ever worked with.” I was so surprised and shocked to hear that! It made me feel really good. When we left my school, Justin said “I wish I went to a high school that was as nice as that one.” So we hung around Kurihama for a few hours, and then I went to my party and Justin headed home to prepare some surprise he had planned for me. He had told me beforehand not to get full at my party, so I figured his surprise had something to do with cooking me dinner. My party was a lot of fun. It was at a Japanese restaurant in Kurihama. It was basically all you can eat and all you can drink. They started out by pouring everyone a glass of beer (I know weird right? We usually just drink from the bottle!) and I’m not even kidding you, the second you took a sip, or your glass looked the slightest bit empty they were right there filling it up for you again. The food was good, but I ate very little because I didn’t want to ruin the surprise Justin has planned. At the dinner they had asked David and I to give a speech. In my speech I told them how I’ve always known I’ve wanted to come back to Japan since the very first time I came to visit Justin here and I noticed how nice the people were. I told them that they have proved that to be even more true in the last few weeks working with them and their students and by having this party for us tonight. I also told them about the comment Justin made about how nice of a school they have and how he wished he went to a high school as nice as theirs, and I ended by saying how thankful I am to be at such a great school and am really looking forward to the school year. The party ended around 8 and I hurried to the station to get home for my surprise. When I got home, Justin opened the door for me and told me to close my eyes, when I opened them, I was standing in a living room full of roses and rose petals, lit only by candles. On the coffee table were two plates of chicken alfredo, salad and 2 glasses of wine. It was honestly the nicest and sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. My husband is truly amazing.

For the rest of the weekend we pretty much slept in and lounged around. We ran a few errands on base, and had a few of his friends over for dinner on Sunday. I got to go on the GW (george washington) for a short period of time because we went to pick up the awesome boxes of stuff my mom sent us! Nothing really exciting happened on Monday or Tuesday. Justin picked me up from school again on Monday, and this time had the pleasure of meeting David. On Tuesday Justin went back to work, only to find out that he had to sleep on the ship that night because they were pulling out again on Wednesday. I made Justin dinner that night, the only dinner I know how to make and was really nervous that he wasn’t going to like it. After all it’s not a manly meal of steak and potatoes, its seasoned ground turkey, white rice and corn. Justin loved it though, and even requested that I make it for dinner the first night when he gets back! When it was finally time for him to go, we took the train down to Yokosuka and I walked him to his ship. I couldnt believe that it was already time for them to leave again. It felt like he had just gotten here, I blinked my eyes and it was time for him to go again. I stood there in the pouring rain and watched him walk away until I couldn’t see him anymore. I have said goodbye to Justin several times before, and I’ve done my fair share of deployments, but one thing I’ve learned is it doesn’t matter how many deployments you’ve been through, or how short or long each one was, it never gets any easier. The longest I’ve ever been away from Justin is 5 months, and this deployment is only 7 weeks but never had I had to go back to our home alone. Every other time we have said goodbye was because I was here visiting on vacation, and was leaving to go back home to the states. Never have I had to return to our house, with our things, and his stuff and a place were in just a few short days we had created so many memories. It was definitely hard walking into our house and being completely alone again. I was okay before Justin had come because me being alone in the house was all I knew. For 5 weeks it was just me by myself, but in just those few days spent with him home, I had gotten so comfortable, and so used to him being there with me, that our house just doesn’t feel like a home without him there. Those were the first few days that Justin and I have ever spent actually living together, in our own home and let me tell you, they were the best days of my life. I know a lot of people think that we got married too soon, or too young, but I’ve always believed “When you know, you know.” You remember when you were a little kid, and you used to wonder what your husband (wife) was going to look like, or be like? You had this perfect vision of what you wanted him or her to be? I had that vision, and I saw that guy and let me tell you, Justin is not him. Justin is a thousand times better, and so much more than I ever expected “that guy” to be. I have never felt more cared about or loved (except for by my family). He does the littlest things and I bet doesn’t even realize how happy they make me. For example, when he went grocery shopping he bought me fruit cups, because I asked him to? No, because he looked in the pantry and realized I was almost out. He bought me green tea, because I asked him to? No, because he knows that’s my favorite drink and saw that we didn’t have any at home. My husband honestly is the most amazing person I have ever met, and deserves so much more credit than a stupid post on a blog, but I figured it’s the least I can do for him. I’m really not looking forward to the next 7 weeks, but I know what’s going to come after that will be so much worth the wait. I love you Justin and cant wait to have you home again.