Island Life

Hafa Adai!! Hello to my wonderful family! I hope that this email finds everyone doing well and (for those in MT) staying warm! I definitely don't have that snow issue to deal with, so I am not going to complain :) I figured I would wait until life settled down a bit here before giving everyone an update.

It has been a crazy couple of months (hard to believe it has been that long already) here on island. I arrived on January 4th. The first two weeks were spent looking for an apartment and trying to find a car, of course, it was a little rushed as I was going underway on the 18th of January with the USS FRANK CABLE and would be gone for over 3 weeks. I found a two-bedroom, furnished apartment with an ocean view and only about a 15 minute walk to the beach, so I was happy with that. I also purchased a 2008 Nissan Titan, 4-doors, and I was happy with that. So those things were taken care of before I went out with my first ship.

I was gone for over 3 weeks, and we went to Malaysia. We were there for about 6 days. While there I participated in Habitat for Humanity, which was very interesting see as how every house around here is made out of cement due to typhoons, so it was a different building experience than other times I have helped, but it was still awesome. I also hiked Mount Kinabalu. That is the picture of me on the summit about 4.5 hours after I started the hike. Definitely not easy, but so much fun! I would do it again in a heart beat, and I am looking forward to hiking Mount Fuji. Maybe I will wait until Mike gets over here and we can do it together! :)

As far as office life, it is going well. I love my job, which is a good thing, and I love the people I work with. The best thing about being a legal assistance/defense attorney is that you never know what is going to walk through the door. I have seen a ton of different issues in a very short time span, and have already personally represented 2 individuals in an administrative separation board (basically determines whether to kick someone out of the Navy). I was able to keep one guy in, and the other one will be determined in a week, so we will see.

There is a lot to do to keep busy here on the island, especially if you like the outdoors. Next week I will get my scuba diving certification. I also hope to try to pick up windsurfing. There are plenty of hikes around the island to different waterfalls, or caves or other jungle areas, and there are always races of some sort going on, whether it is a triathlon, or cycling or running, so I am excited to try to keep busy that way as well. I definitely miss the great state of MT, though, and all my family. I won't be making the family picnic this year, which I am disappointed in because it sounds like it is going to be awesome!

I hope that those of you suffering through cold and snow don't have to suffer much longer. Meanwhile, I will just kick back and enjoy my sunny, 80 degree weather! Miss and love you all!

Love
Jen