Boat's Home!

I love fall for many different reasons! The colors on the leaves changing, the cooler weather that's brought in, and since being here in Japan, Brian coming home! Also new to this year, fall means I'm entering my 3rd trimester, only about 60 more days to go!! Brian and the GW came home last Monday, November 21, and we got to watch him fly in at the squadron. Such an exciting thing to witness, with the thwacking of the helo's from a distance, listening as they get closer, and watching with anticipation as they come in on the approach in their formation. What a great day! Only a few days later, we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving together (Brian missed last year), and were able to enjoy a 3 day weekend all to ourselves. Brian and I decided we better enjoy these last few weekends to ourselves to sleep in and relax before Baby Carnes arrives! Since coming home, Brian and I have been busy preparing for the baby. Brian built the crib, and we worked to set up and arrange the baby room. We've been making lists for whatever items we have left that we need, and starting to seriously think about packing our hospital bags (we might be jumping the gun a little bit....)

Another thing that fall brought was my baby shower! 2 of my good friends here in Japan threw is for me, and it was fabulous. It was so well put together, and so beautiful! We had a bunch of great food, some fun games, and present opening (of course). I am so thankful for all of the support from friends here!

Keep reading as the clock keeps ticking down to D-day....hopefully sometime BEFORE January 28th!

Sinagpore Again!

Just got back from a fun adventure to Singapore to meet Brian and the George Washington, again! I was lucky enough to get to go last year, so when I heard the boat was going again this year, I definitely wanted to be there. Singapore is great, people speak English, signs are in English, and there are foods from all over the world just down the street. You can experience every country within a 1 mile radius. Plus, it's always warm. Great!

We stayed at a different hotel this time, in a different area, and had a blast. We ate until we were stuffed, laid by the pool to relax, and enjoyed spending time together. I guess this was our own little "babymoon", so we wanted to take time and enjoy our last chance for it to be just the two of us, at least for another 18 or so years! Unfortunately, our trip was cut a bit short due to some humanitarian aid the GW needed to provide, but we were able to enjoy the time we had together. Hopefully, next year will bring some new adventures!

A New Addition...

Sorry it has been so long since we've managed to put up a post. Though day-to-day the cruise seems to go by slowly, looking back, time has flown since the last time we posted. Not much has changed here in the land of the Rising Sun, except for one small thing... the Remote Carnes family is expecting a little baby! A boy, in fact! We found out in May that we were expecting a new little bundle of joy on January 28, 2012. Shortly after we found out, Brian had to deploy, so I was left to deal with the "morning" sickness all by myself. Eventually, that tapered off, and things started to improve. Brian came home for about three weeks recently, and he was able to attend the ultrasound that told us that we were expecting a boy! He was very excited, both to have been able to be there, and to have a son to follow in his footsteps... Just as Brian arrived home, I started showing, so Brian was able to see that a little bit, but he's in for a big surprise the next time he comes home! I will be MUCH farther along. Brian left recently to go back out onto the George Washington for a bit, and hopefully will be visiting some fun places that I can go visit him at! Check back for more shenanigans by this family!

Earthquakes, Tsunami's, evacuations, Oh My!

Well, it has been quite a ride since we last posted in November. We were busy celebrating Brian's return from deployment, enjoying a quiet Christmas together, an exciting 6 day stint in China, Brian's birthday and an earthquake!

Brian and I spent our Christmas going to The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve, and over to a friend's house for dinner on Christmas day. It was low key, as compared to what we are used to, but it was nice. We even had our first-ever real tree! I managed to keep it alive while Brian was gone for almost 2 months! Soon after Christmas, Brian and I left to go to China for a few days. We flew into Beijing, spent 3 days there, then went to Xi'an for 2 days, and Shanghai for 2 days. It was such a great trip, we got to see the Great Wall, the Forgotten City, Tian'an Men Square, the Terra Cotta Warriors, and the Bund in Shanghai. We squeezed in as much as we possibly could, but had a great time!

Shortly after returning from China, Brian's squadron went down on a detatchment to Kadena, Okinawa for 2 weeks while I held down the fort at home. About two weeks after returning home from Kadena, Japan experienced a major 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11. Brian was at work, and I was at home. The shaking started about 2:45 and lasted for about 10 minutes. After frantically trying to call each other, I finally gave up and began the task of trying to catch things before they fell off the counters! Brian, on the other hand, went back to de-briefing his flight, almost like nothing happened! Things continued shaking off and on for the rest of the weekend, and ended up putting a damper on poor Brian's birthday on the 12th! Because of all that had just happened, Brian's squadron was working 24 hour days, and over the weekend, so poor B had to work on his birthday! We had also planned to have a party, but with the power outages, trains not running, and random shakings, we decided to hold off on the party, and just celebrate with the two of us. We had a good time, there were decorations, and Brian got a super yummy cake (if I do say so myself)-mint chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip icing! After a few more days of long hours and more shaking and threats of nuclear contamination, Brian found out he was deploying, so I was ordered to purchase a ticket, and get the heck outta dodge! Brian left on March 17th, and I left one day later. I arrived safely in Annapolis on the 18th, and will return to Japan (finally) tomorrow! Brian spent his time on the boat busy with relief efforts, dropping off supplies to areas the trucks couldn't reach, and doing some search and rescue, and scouting out debris and things floating around the coasts. He has been back on dry land now for about 2 weeks, so he has been busy working 6 days a week with the squadron and keeping things in order at the house. I will be interested to see what it looks like when I get home.... =)

I've spent the last month enjoying the comforts of America, while missing my things back home in Japan. I was able to meet up with pretty much all of my dad's side of the family, and having Easter with my mom's family. I was even able to spend about a week total with Anne in DC, enjoying the nations capital and all that it has to offer. It was great seeing so many family and friends that I haven't seen in over a year, but I can't wait to get back home!

We will definitely write more when we get back and settled into Japan. It's been a crazy couple of months for this branch of the Carnes Family, that's for sure!