Our apartment part two

5 AM waiting on Daddy (in our PJs)

Hafa Adai  (half a day)

The Lanai

This may not be as long as the others because I just wanted to add more pictures of the apartment.  We have a huge balcony.  Here they call balconies, lanais, which makes me think of "The Golden Girls" because they were always going out to their lanai.  Otherwise, I have never heard lanai anywhere else.   The kitchen in our apartment does not have new appliances by any means, in fact I am pretty sure they are OLD appliances.  The stove is completely manual and doesn't even let me know when it is heated.  I am not sure I have seen a stove like that in A LONG TIME!  I had a dishwasher similar to the one we have now in college TEN years ago.   Hey, all the appliances work though, although the dishwasher maybe not so much since it leaves nasty, hazy water stains on my dishes.  I have actually stopped using it much, but we don't have as many dishes to wash here anyway.  The countertops in the kitchen are made out of granite though, and the faucet on the sink is new.  The refrigerator is great too!

Our master bath is really cool.  It is made completely out of marble (except for the cabinets)  The walls are marble, the counters are marble, and the floor is marble.  There is a stand-up shower and a really big jacuzzi tub in this bathroom.  Really cool!

Gabe has his room decorated with Toy Story and Elyssa has Tinker Bell.  They don't have too many decorations actually, but I did hang some school stuff on their walls.  We have started working with them this week getting back into the school mode.   They are already doing so well!

Justin comes home in the morning at 5:00, luckily we don't have to wake up  that early this Sunday to pick him up (we did last Sunday), but we haven't had a car today.  We didn't need it anyway since we spent the day either at the pool or playing in the apartment.  Anyway, Justin has two weeks off starting tomorrow and I think we are going to go to Tokyo!  I am really excited about it.  They have Disney there, so we may go!  At any rate there are tons of fun things to do there, so it will be a blast.  I will of course blog that adventure.

So much for this not being as long as the others.  It may be my longest one yet, but this is so much fun!!

Adios

Our New Apartment

View from balcony of apt

Views from balcony

Okay, it has been a week since I have written a post...I guess I am already not doing well keeping up with it!  :)  Anyway, we have not had internet for a week, so that is why I have not written anything.  We moved into our apartment on Monday, August 16.  Justin had to fly the night of the day we moved in, so it was up to the kids and I to shop for the things we would need.  It was fun shopping.  There is a Ross here, so we went shopping there as well as K-Mart, which is the only  department store on the island.  No Target:(  We live on the 19th floor and have a great view!  Our address is Ladera Tower, 310 Ladera Lane Ste# 1907, Mangilao, Guam 96913.  Our Guam number is 671-734-8821 (this is a US number, so people from the US can call for nothing).  We have a Skype number as well, which is a Charlotte number, 704-321-4305,  my video Skype info is melanie_washington5.
Justin came back on Wednesday and we started looking for a car, no luck on that yet.
I started potty training Elyssa on Thursday and she has been doing so well.  She has had a few accidents since Saturday.  One was waking up from a nap and she tried to make it to the bathroom, but didn't quite get there, so she still needs Pull-ups to sleep, but otherwise she has been asking to go and even going on her own.  She has also started to want to use the big potty now too.
We are going to travel around the island.  That shouldn't take too long, and Justin is off for two weeks next week, so we are thinking of going someplace to visit.  My vote is Australia, but it doesn't matter too much.
More later

Courtyard/playground of apt building

History

Okay, I said I was going to do my family history, so I want to get it over with.   Here goes...

Gabriel as baby

This adventure originally began on November 16, 2002 when we  got married.  We were married at the AFB Chapel in Columbus, MS, and our reception was at the O'Club.  We then honeymooned at Sandals St. Lucia Golf Resort and Spa (Beautiful!!!  Highly recommend).  At the time that we got married Melanie was teaching Pre-Kindergarten at Aberdeen Elementary and Justin was a T-37 Instructor Pilot at Columbus AFB, MS.  Melanie got to quit her teaching job at Christmas that year because we were on our way to Georgia for fighter pilot training.  We stayed there for around three months and then moved to Goldsboro, NC where Justin trained in the F-15E (training called the B-Course).  We were then stationed at Seymour Johnson (Goldsboro, NC) for five years.

Elyssa

9 months pregnant packing house

While we were in Goldsboro our first little miracle was born.  Gabriel Troy was born on August 1, 2006 at 7:35 AM.  He weighed in at exactly 8 lbs and was 22 inches long.  Justin was in the AF for one more year after Gabriel was born and then he started working for Continental airlines.  We put our house on the market in August 2007 because we got based in Guam at that time.  Melanie got pregnant with Elyssa in October of that year, and yes our house was still on the market.  Justin was flying out of Newark, NJ, so he was commuting from Raleigh, which was an hour drive away.  This was a weird time because we were trying to sell our house, Justin was driving an hour to fly two hours to work, and Melanie was pregnant.  In June of 2008 Melanie decided to move to Charlotte because Elyssa was due in July, and with Justin traveling everyone thought it would be safer to be with family in case Elyssa decided to come early (she didn't).  Our house finally sold in June as well.  We closed on our house on July 15, two weeks before Elyssa was born.  So, Melanie is  nine months pregnant, four hours from the hospital where she is suppose to be born, and packing up a house, but YEA it sold after 11 months.

Elyssa turns 2

Gabriel is 4

Guam

Our second miracle was born on July 24, 2008 at 5:38 PM. She weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19 inches long.  About a month after she was born Justin took a leave of absence from Continental and we stayed in Charlotte.  He got a job with Johnson Controls and worked for them for a little over a year.  He stopped working with them in March and Melanie started working at a public school in Charlotte, Merry Oaks International Academy, as a part-time Reading Tutor. Justin decided to go back to Continental, and started training this summer.  Elyssa turned 2 and Gabriel turned 4 this summer.  We visited family and friends for the month of July. Since Guam had been the last base that we were suppose to be at before he took the leave of absence, we got based in Guam again.  We arrived in Guam on August 10th and have been staying at the Westin. We are signing our contract on our apartment and moving in tomorrow!  And there you have it.  All caught up!

New Blog

I decided to start a blog on our adventures here in Guam (I guess life too), hopefully I will keep it going even after Guam.   We arrived on Guam on August 10 and checked into our hotel.  We have been here less than a week and should be able to move into our apartment tomorrow (Monday the 16th).  Today is my Dad's birthday (well for me at least...it is the morning of the 15th for us, the night of the 14th for most of our friends).  Happy Birthday Daddy!!  Okay, so, a lot of people have been asking for pictures and honestly I just found the camera yesterday, so pictures to come...I PROMISE.  I will write more later, and I will have a "history" report on my family at some point.