Our Christmas

This year, Christmas was just a bit different for us.  Being my first Christmas away from home, EVER, I wasn't sure how it would go.  Earlier last week, I got hit with being majorly homesick....thankfully that lasted for only a little bit and passed. 
Christmas Eve, J-Twice and I attended a candlelight service here on base and then Skyped with mom, dad, and Sarah while opening some gifts.  It wasn't the same as being in person, but it was nice to be able to do it together.  We saved some gifts to open on Christmas morning also.  J-Twice has been asking me all week (because he was off work for the week) if he could open his gifts, I felt like I had a child.  haha Needless to say, he was rather excited when the time finally arrived to open them!
Christmas Day, we spent the afternoon with some wonderful friends.  If it weren't for these great people we've become friends with along the way, I don't think being away from home for Christmas would have been as "easy". 

Cathy and Eric, were our fantastic hosts.  We all had a great time..playing games and enjoying each other's company, as we're all in the same boat. 



Myself and Cathy



Amanda made "Kurt" (a sock monkey) to travel around with us and enjoy all the fun we have. haha  Can't you see J-Twice looks so enthused!? :) I made some chocolate covered strawberries (because we FINALLY got some strawberries in the commissary--first time we have seen them since we've been here! It was Heaven!!) So, Kurt took a bite of those too!

While we had a great day, I can not wait until next Christmas when we get to be home with everyone! We definately did not have a white Christmas here in Turkey.  It was partly sunny and in the 60's.  I can not say that I missed the snow, but it definately didn't exactly feel like Christmas.

Now, we are on to New Year's!! I would really like to know where 2010 went, seems to me the year FLEW by!!

Merry Christmas!!

Love,

J-Twice and Becky

J-Twice calls this my OCD List....

We all have our little things we do that make us, US! So, I thought it would be fun to make a post about random things I do. J-Twice would prefer to say I'm OCD but it's just the way I like things!

* Every night before going to bed, I fluff the pillows and blankets on the couch.
* I hate the remotes laying around, they belong in the basket.
* First thing I do after getting out of bed is make the bed.
* I prefer to fold laundry right out of the dryer when it is nice and hot.  If it sits in the dryer for a long time, I have to re-fluff them.
* I hate the shower curtain not being pulled closed.(you know, after you're done w your shower and all..)
* J-Twice likes to tell me that putting away groceries is NOT a game of Tetris...I guess I am obsessed with getting everything to fit just right, and evenly.
* I clean out the car every time we arrive at the house ( this isn't so much an issue right now since we don't have a car with us here).
* My friends think my house is always clean, it's more like it's just always picked up. I hate things to lay around...everything has it's place.
* I know when things are not in their place. (and know right away if something has been moved)
* If our bank account gets below a certain amount (which isn't a small amount, at all) I get in the mindset we don't have money to waste.
* But at the same time, I don't let saving money stop us from doing other things in life, like traveling. (with these opportunities we have here, we'd be stupid to not take them!)
* In the shower: I wash my face, shampoo and condition my hair, shave and wash my body....in that order, every time.
* I hate dishes in the sink...that's what a dishwasher is for.
* I love to vacuum the carpet (which we don't have here) and get the perfect lines and then hate walking on it later!

I'm sure there are many more things to post, but I think I have listed enough! ha ha ...some of us are just born crazy. I can't help it! :)

Uzuncaburç

This past weekend, I went on a Photo Hunter's trip to Uzuncaburç.  It was about a 2.5-3 hour drive from base.  The lovely part of the whole trip...it pretty much rained (or stormed) the entire day!!!!


I got this tid-bit of information from turkeytravelplanner.com:
Uzuncaburç ("Tall-ish Tower"), 32 km (20 miles) north of Silifke (map) near Turkey's Mediterranean coast, is the ancient city of Diocaesarea-Olba, famous for its great Temple of Zeus Olbius.
On your way into the hills from Silifke, you'll pass through the village of Demircili (7 km/4.3 miles), calledImbriogon in ancient times, which has several impressive tombs visible from the road.

At Uzuncaburç (oo-ZOON-jah-boorch) the most impressive ruins are those of the Temple of Zeus Olbius, the nearby Temple of Tyche, and themonumental city gate. There are also ruins of anymphaeum (fountain), and a theater.

Here are some of my photos.

This was the first time I had seen the diff color leaves around here!

ummm, yeah--I said it was storming, right! That is the hail that was falling as we were trying to get pictures!

We also made a visit to Aya Tekla Church on the way to Uzuncaburç.  I found this information on Wikipedia for you. (The Link)
Thecla was one of the followers of Saint Paul whose origin was Tarsus about 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the church. Thecla who was originally from Konya (Iconum of the Antiquity) lived around Silifke, in a location , now called Meryemlik (meaning of Virgin Mary). There is a cave on a small hill next to Silifke which is believed to be her home in her later years. The grave in the cave probably belongs to her.<sup>[2]
Up to 312, Thecla's cave was a secret pilgrimage center. The church was built in 460-470 AD by the Byzantine emperor Zeno and the church was devoted to her. The church and the other related buildings such as bath are now in ruins the only standing element being, a part of the abscissage.

And here are my photos from that visit!</sup>

Don't let those blue skies fool you, it literally was for that pic only!!

Inside the underground church

J-Twice decided to stay home on this trip (it may have been the better choice considering the weather!).  I went along with my friend, Amanda, her husband, and a guy that they were sponsering that just got here, James. (We call them Old James and New James hahaha)  We had a great time,despite the weather. A trip is all in what you make of it! 

**update**

I can not believe I forgot the most important part of this trip! As soon as the last person paid their 3TL to tour Uzuncaburç, it started to S-T-O-R-M! I'm talking: thunder, lightning, hail, rain...everything! It was crazy. I took a few pictures (which wasn't exactly easy while holding an umbrella) and jetted back to the bus. Needless to say, that is why I don't have a whole lot!

Stay tuned for our next adventures! :)  

 

Christmas in Turkey...

Oh wait, that doesn't happen here! Have you ever celebrated a holiday, like Christmas, in a country that doesn't? It makes it kind of hard to get in the holiday spirit.  I miss going to the mall and seeing it all decked out in Christmas decorations and children waiting in mile long lines just to sit on Santa's lap and tell him everything they are wishing for.  The past couple of days I have been listening to Christmas music on Pandora and all these songs are bringing back so many memories.  From my days of working in retail and having to listen to these songs, usually on repeat, and never tire of them to the songs that make me think of home.  But then again, pretty much anything and everything is making me think of home right now.  I try not to dwell on it, but we all know it's in the back of my mind!

Up until last week, the weather made it hard to imagine Christmas was coming so soon. We had been having 80 degree weather, sunshine, clear blue skies, still able to walk outside in tank tops and not need a jacket.  That all changed REAL quick.  It doesn't snow here in Adana...we are in one of the warmest parts of Turkey (most days I am very thankful for that...guess i've already forgotten what those 110 degree days of summer feel like!) but it sure does RAIN!!!!! We've had so much rain, it's beginning to come through our ceilings!

Anyhow, I didn't do this entry to talk about the rain, I did it to talk about Christmas.  I've done most of my shopping online or out in 'The Alley'.  I wanted to try as much as I could to send home Turkish gifts, I would call myself successful for the most part.  Earlier today my friend, Amanda, and I went to the BX and were looking around at the abundance very few Christmas decorations they had and it gave me mixed feelings.  I loved the feeling of "Christmas shopping" b/c yes, I was picking up a couple gifts for J-Twice but at the same time it made me miss the aisles upon aisles of Christmas decor in say, Target or Wal-mart! haha (I know, go figure) It made me miss that "rush"of making sure you get everything before   Christmas.  Which then got me remembering the days of last minute shopping with my dad.....because he is notorious for waiting until Christmas Eve to shop for mom and I was always his little elf! This is the first Christmas in 25 years that I will not be home....I still am not quite sure how I feel about that!

Santa's elves have already sent us some presents to surround our tree. J-Twice is having a hard time not peeking in all of his gifts!

But this little guy tells us we only have 10 days left!!! Woo-hoooo!!!

I've been baking lots of Christmas cookies and am glad to say they are out of my house so that I can't blame them on gaining weight this holiday season! haha On base, they do what they call the 'Cookie Caper' and they deliver cookies to all the unaccompanied Airmen on base.  The Spouses' Club bakes and packages them.  I baked mostly for that and then I also added in a couple different batches for J-Twice to take to his office. He tells me everyone has been enjoying them! Better them than me! :) Another memory of Christmas time..jamming to Christmas tunes and baking tons and tons of cookies with the family. 

Plans are not exactly set yet as for what we are going to be doing for Christmas, but one way or another we will be spending the day with friends.  I'm very grateful for the wonderful group of friends I have made here at this base.  I will be with my family via Skype and in our hearts.

And while you are enjoying your time with your families, please remember to think about and say a prayer for the amazing military members who are not able to be with family this year. There are still lots of troops in the desert that need our thoughts and prayers, as well as troops that didn't make it to spend another Christmas with the ones they love. Please remember them.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Stream of Thoughts...

So, it's been a while since I've posted on my blog. I apologize! But honestly, I haven't had anything to write about.  I have been sitting here for at least an hour trying to decide what to tell you all.  I have nothing!

Make that two hours, I got distracted and here I am again. We really haven't been up to a whole lot around here since Thanksgiving(which is what my last posts were about). 

We I put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving...I would have put it up earlier, but J-Twice was not a fan of that idea.  I have at least 4 bins of Christmas decor, and I didn't get to put up half my stuff because I have no where to put it! Not cool!! But I have loved looking at my lovely, decorated tree. One of my favorite things to do is sit with all the lights off and just have the tree on.  Love the way it looks! There are lots of presents under the tree right now because Santa  my parents delivered early here.  J-Twice has been struggling with not being allowed to open any of said gifts and I find it rather comical.  Just 15 more days. Can you believe that, 15 days until Christmas, 21 days until New Years. Could someone please inform me as to where 2010 went!?! Seems like it was just yesterday, J-Twice and I completely missed the ball drop because we were playing our new Super Mario Bros game all night.  Our time here in Turkey is flying by. For that, I am totally grateful.

I had a few other things I was going to write about, but I had to quit for a Carpet Party we had out in 'The Alley' and now I can't remember what I was going to say.  With that, I am going to end this and try to pick back up later when my mind isn't blank.  On the other hand, The Photo Hunters group will be doing a day trip tomorrow that I can't wait to blog about! Stay tuned to hear all about it!

Adios!