Ask and you shall receive

When you reach your wits' end is when God opens a window and shines sunshine on you.

As you read recently I was feeling frustrated and discouraged with finding a place to live here in Okinawa. But with Benny as my encouragement coach by my side, we made an appointment with another housing agent for Thursday.

This woman listened to our needs and desires. She showed us homes that have already been inspected and cleaned. If we found one we liked, we could move in immediately. That's a first in this house-hunting experience.

The first house she showed us was amazing. It had that feel and character I was talking about in the last posting. But it was way too large for only Benny and I. We would need to have three children before we could move in. Plus we would have to bring a U.S. sized refrigerator from the base for the kitchen.

In our minds we've already made the decision to stick with Japanese appliances, so we can lower our electric costs, learn to live with less and reduce our carbon footprint.

The major no-no for this house was the location. If we lived there, it would have been a long daily commute for Benny and me too if I succeeded in landing a job on base.

In a way I was disappointed about that house because I really, really wanted it. My heart was attached to it. But my mind wasn't thinking about the daily stresses of it. A larger house means more to clean, Benny kindly reminded me.

After passing on that house, the agent told us she had a duplex that she thought we would like, but is smaller. The positive with this two-story condo is that it is located in a great neighborhood. So we went and looked it and this time, we both fell in love with it.



Basically it's a Japanese version of the Yuma townhouse that Fran and Rebecca and Benny and I lived in. Jeremy and Andrea currently live there and they are still searching for a Navy couple to take over the home when they leave Arizona.

This duplex is nothing fancy, but it's a perfect fit for our needs. It's three- bedroom, one-and-half bath, so we will probably end up using the bedroom with super dark wood paneling as a storage room. Yes, I've decided to ignore my distaste for wood paneling for the three years we live in Oki.

The kitchen is compact, but still larger than our California kitchen at the beach bungalow. It has Japanese appliances and enough patio space for my hammock and a small grill. We can park two cars there, but we still need to figure out where we are going to park our bicycles.

The best part is that it's walking distance to the seawall and a beach where people go snorkeling at. The park where the festivals are held at is also walking distance away. Many shops and restaurants, yet it is quiet. Most the neighbors are Japanese, not American. And it's super close to Benny's work -- only a nine-minute drive to the base's closest entrance.

So we went ahead and signed a lease on Friday afternoon. Benny is planning to meet with the housing office on Monday, April 21, to finalize the paperwork while the movers deliver our giant crate of stuff that day.

We have a move-in day: April 21. Hooray! Mark your calendars. That's the day we move into our home in Mizugama, Kadena-Cho.