Thankful Thursday(on a Tuesday!)

Have to toss out a thank you to my friends here on Okinawa. When I left my last base I thought I would never meet people I could connect with as well as I did there. I was wrong! I have met some incredible people in the year and a half I have been here! Also I have to say thank you for sushi, I love it more than life itself...almost!

The crew: from back left; Bala, Caz, Fusaro, me, Fergie Ferg, Hodgie, Mason, Frank(somehow Masons had a knee spasm at this exact moment...), a girl who's name I cannot pronounce, and Yuri(Caz's girl friend).

Caz is leaving us this weekend for a year tour in Korea but he will be returning here next September! We will miss him!

Daniels Burgers

Azra loves Daniels Burgers!


My brother-in-law just happens to have invented the worlds tastiest burger! Not only did he invent it, he was nice enough to put the recipe up here, http://sgtandmrshub.blogspot.com/2007/03/hamburger-helper.html
for everyone to enjoy! I make them on a regular basis for my friends and "family" here on Okinawa and they are definitely a hit! You don't even know how many phone calls I have gotten that go something like this: "Hey Lambchops! What's up man?! Hey, we're having a party this weekend and I was wondering if you would mind cookin up your bro-in-laws burgers?" Everybody usually just grills up the pre-packaged, pre-formed, and and pre-ruined junk you can buy at the grocery store, so when they get a taste of Daniels Burgers they can't believe how good they are! Needless to say its been a bit of an ego boost for me! Even Azra, my good friends Mike and DDs daughter(the pickiest eater ever!), tears them up! Bottom line, go make the burgers and don't be surprised if you never look at a burger the same after this!

Some random stuff

Just thought I would give my car a shout out! She has been so wonderful to me for the year and a half I have been on Okinawa. When I first got here I went looking for cars and she caught my eye immediately. I didn't even care how much it cost or anything I just knew it was the car for Dave! Believe it or not it is a 1996 Nissan Gloria(you can only get them in Japan) which is the predecessor of the Infinity M45! I have had only a few little problems with her but nothing major and it has been SO nice! I'm really rough on my cars(I tend to follow the saying "drive it like you stole" sometimes depending on my music selection) so I am very thankful that she is holding together!

Thankful Thursday!!

I am thankful for many things in life:

For my family, ya'll keep me afloat( while keeping my ego in check, haha)

For my health, I take it for granted most times but I'm doing much better!!

For the paycheck I get every two weeks, I take that for granted to much as well.

But mostly I am thankful for my best friend, Kalen keeps me going when all I want to do is give up. Her randomness puts a smile on my face and always keep me guessing. She has been my rock since the day I met her and I know she supports me unconditionally( and I you!). Thank you for the faith you have in me, it means more to me than you could ever imagine. Hang in there Kalen and don't stop believin'!

There's much more but thats all the time I have.

For all of you who don't know...




...THIS is my happy face:)

I hope ya'll are having a happy day!

Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a good test taker. I may have a big smile on my face in this picture...

...but I wasn't thinking about what my next rank respondibilities entailed at that particular moment. See I made the rank but I haven't actually put it on yet, I will have to wait until april or may for that, but my shop doesn't have very many people in it so responsibility only has a few shoulders to rest on. Consequently I have been forced into the role of Staff Sargeant( a mainly supervisory role) without any experience in that position. Needless to say it has been frying my nerves! The worst part is that I know everyone of the supervisors above me has their eyes on me just waiting to see how I handle the different situations that come up. There is a part of me that wishes I would just mess everything up and let them put me in some other position where I won't have so much responsibility, but the other part of me doesn't want to let those supervisors down. I know they like me and they think I am the right guy for the job, but they won't hesitate to replace me if I am not doing what I need have to do. This is the first time I have ever been in a position like this and I never realized how tough it can be! I definitely never gave my past supervisors enough credit and I never really realized what they did for us when I was just a worker.

This is the weird part though: I've always been very adamant about how I would much rather just work, but since I have been put in this position I'm not so sure any more...its kinda scary.

Weekends are the best!

I still cherish every day off that I get. After my 2 year stint at my last place of employment, and the crazy schedule I have had since arriving on Okinawa I have learned the value of 2 solid days off. Don't get me wrong, I can work for a very long time with no days off(shout out to all the stay at home moms and dads out there) but I am not so very much fun to be around. I really need those 2 days of not worrying about work to remember why I'm alive and who I am.

Going to the Gym

I have been uncharacteristically dedicated to working out since I started last October. I made it a part of my life after looking in the mirror one day and being thoroughly disgusted with myself. Ever since that day I have been going to the gym faithfully...up until about a month or so ago. in that month I managed to get sick, live through a super typhoon, sign up for college classes, go to Alaska and back to Japan TWICE, and still manage to cook or assistant cook for Beth and I. Thats not including the usual daily grind. Thats a lot of stuff for a poor guy who usually doesn't have a whole lot of stuff going on. So needless to say the gym has been put on the back burner for the past month. I've just been arguing with myself about whether I am ok with not being able to make it to the gym 6 days a week, because it wouldn't have been ok with me 6 months ago. I haven't decided yet, but I feel great and I know I have never been as cut as I am right now but I feel bad about not going every day. I know it's sounds slightly obsessive but thats how I am about the gym.

War Wound?

It was a dark and stormy night last night, the wind was slashing knives of hot rain...ok so I'm being dramatic(it was actually a fantastic night last night), but it really was an epic battle, I promise! I was dicing this ginormous onion with a very sharp knife and I had it in full retreat, but unfortuantely I wasn't paying attention to where my thumb was. I'll leave the details to your imagination( I'm not a big fan of blood either) but 2 bandaids and some time later I finished that onion off!

I know what you are thinking: "What a rookie mistake, only a moron would chop his thumb off cutting up onions." But I say to you this...you did not see that onion!

What can I say, I'm a rookie. But I'm proud of my efforts, and gladly take the wounds( to my digits and my pride) knowing that my meager cooking skills can only improve with practice.


ps. Those were the best sloppy joe's I've ever had!

Flying around the world to play poker

Updates:

I am still trying to get over this cold I've had for the past 3 weeks.

I have decided to actively persue getting a computer and a digital camera

I am trying to decide if I can afford to get a mountain bike. I'm looking at one for $750. Its used but its a very nice bike.

I am back from my trip. We flew 40 hours on commercial jets to get where we were going, and 2 days later we went home. I grew a pretty sweet gaotee while I was there though because we never even went in to work! I was pretty proud of myself. We played alot of poker and shot the breeze alot and then went home.



I'm sorry I can't post any pictures yet but I will as soon as possible.

This is how I roll...

Not sure if you can tell but those cookies are VERY well done...

I'm just learning to cook. Well I used to know how to cook, somehow, though, after 4 years of eating at chow halls and restaurants, I've lost much of my touch.

Things I've learned since getting back into cooking:

Dave needs much work on his grilling skills...alot
Dave needs to remember to use pot holders
Daves dishwashing skills are seriously deteriorated
Dave has forgotten how to use knives without slicing his hands open
Dave wishes he was in a normal time zone so he could call his mom every time he has a question
Dave is not very good at improvising

There are many more things I have learned but I am slightly pressed for time. I will keep you all updated, though! If you have any pointers or recipes please send them my way! I always welcome ideas!