Coupons, cards and jerseys...

As I am sure I have mentioned, and if you happened to have talked with Rodney in the past few months, HE has mentioned, he is organizing a "serious" softball team here on base. He's been through some challenges trying to make this happen, but he was excited the day the team jerseys came in. He named the team Reaper. He doesn't know why.

While the boys and Rodney got me a fancy iPad case for Mother's Day, Xan;s gifts came a little late. He made me a kokeshi doll and this card:

And guess who finally won the base coupon contest? And with my lowest savings total yet. ;)

What the boys have been up to lately...

Will and can have been busy with baseball and signing autographs. The school yearbook came out and we bought one for the boys to share. Aside from being on their class pages, they have also managed to be in several other places in the book, especially Will. I took pictures of the pictures for you:

Will hates this photo because there is a heart around him and his friend.

And, of course, here are some more baseball pics of Xan. Because he and Will had games at the same time, I missed Will's game... and his in-park home run. :(

Last night we let the kids stay up as late as they wanted to watch movies. Here was the scene at midnight:

What Rodney's been up to lately...

Rodney was scheduled to be deployed for a couple of weeks, but they didn't have room for him on the plane... literally. So, that trip was cancelled and he has now officially taken over as the Staff Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge (SNCOIC) of MACS 4 Det B. He even has an office, and his name is at the top of the food chain.

This is one of the last times Rodney pitched for Xan's team. He is going to concentrate on coaching Will's team. If you haven't read about the complications with Xan's team, check out this link.

He is also gearing up for his own softball season, which starts with a tournament on base Memorial Day weekend.

Rodney at the going away get-together for MSgt Kopp (bent over) who Rodney is taking over for, and GySgt Hooten, who is on the far left with his daughter. Yolanda and Josh Hooten have been very helpful to us as we have acclimated in Japan.

Rodney has also been very patient with me as I try to practice for and launch my new photography endeavor. Here is one of my unedited shots of him I took today.

What I've been up to lately...

I have always wanted to do a pinup photo shoot, so with the lost of 50-plus pound in the past 9 months, and that the excellent local photographer, Danielle Caceres, was leaving the area, I figured I would be a part of her last photo shoot on April 28 in Iwakuni. You may have seen the "date night" photos that I posted in the last blog post. Well, here are the reasons for the hair and makeup I had that night:

I had a job interview with MCCS Marketing on May 1 and was offered the job the next day. Within the same 24 hours I spoke to Danielle, the photographer who did my pinup shoot, and who is moving this month, and she convinced me a might be a good idea to resurrect my photography skills and do portrait photography here in Iwakuni. After talking it over with Rodney, and spending a sleepless weekend pondering my future, I turned the MCCS job down, hopefully without burning any bridges with the great people there, and without regretting the steady paycheck, and have decided to pursue a photography career while here in Japan. I've bought the URL jessicaguthriephotography.com and have reviewed LOTS of photography tips to remind me of what I learned nearly two decades ago while earning my photojournalism degree, about f-stops, depth of field and lighting, but that's about it so far.

Rodney's unit's commanding officer came to town, and here is a photo of the group who went to dinner, also on May 1. After my interview, but before the dinner, I took the CO's wife to the Kintai Bridge area of Iwakuni to look around. May 1 was a very busy day!

I decided that it was time to cut my hair. I was tired of it getting caught under my armpits. Plus, I had already done my pinup photo shoot and it was starting to get warm in Iwakuni, which means the humid heat of summer is on its way. This was a photo I took in may car right after my appointment May 9.

I had 14 inches cut off of it. I am trying to donate it somewhere, but because it is highlighted many of the charity organizations won't take it.

 Yesterday I found a cute, $6, brand-new, tags-still-on, size 12 dress at the thrift store here on base. I took it into the dressing room to see how much more weight I would need to lose and, lo and behold, it fit! It was a very happy day for me!