Get Along, Little Doggie- preparing to bring your pet to Okinawa

 (Not my dog. I'm only able to take pictures of my dog while she's napping.)

Can you bring your pet with you to Okinawa? Of course you can! You’ll probably hear stories about how expensive, complicated, difficult, nearly impossible it is, but I pinky swear- it’s not that bad. So, please do not leave -or worse- abandon your pet out of fear of the unknown. As with everything else involved in an overseas PCS, the key is to be organized. Plan ahead. Know what steps you need to take. Make a list and check it off. If you have a base veterinary clinic, have everything done there. They know what they’re doing.
Here’s what we did:

• Microchipping- Although your dog may already have one, there is a good chance it’s not internationally recognized and she may have to get another. International microchips are 15 digits. Khloe (our dog)’s was not international, so she got another one. She is practically a cyborg now, right? The microchip has to be done prior to the rabies (or any other) vaccination or FAVN testing. Our vet literally did it right before at the same appointment.
• Rabies Vaccination- Stateside, our dog was up to date on her rabies vaccination, but the rule is that your dog must have two new rabies vaccinations after being microchipped. When you get the first rabies vaccination, schedule the second for at least 30 days later. At our base clinic, the microchip and rabies vaccination were $10 each. Also, all other vaccinations must be up to date. If you’re not sure or can’t prove that they are, be prepared to have them done again.
• FAVN- This is something you’ll see a lot. FAVN stands for Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization and it’s the lab test that confirms your dog is not carrying rabies. This test is done via blood sample and can be taken immediately following the second rabies vaccination. This will typically be sent to the nearest Army veterinary lab and will cost you money. In our case, it was $42. I was allowed to pay via debit/credit card, but if you don’t plan on paying with plastic, be aware that personal checks are not accepted. Call the vet clinic to find out the cost and come prepared with a money order or cashier’s check. The results will be sent via regular mail to your address. The results take about 2-3 weeks. When you receive it, file it away in your organized binder in the “DOG” section along with her vaccination records, rabies certificate, etc. You don’t have a binder? Get one. We refer to our PCS binder as The Book of Life. It holds everything pertinent to our PCS and we carry it with us during the trip.
• Quarantine- Now, when most people hear that their dog needs to be quarantined for a move to Japan, we imagine our furry family member shivering in a cold, concrete boarding kennel for months on end. (Awwwww…) If that’s what you expect, be prepared to do a cartwheel. Are you ready? Quarantine can be done in home. SOFA status personnel can complete pet quarantine in on-base housing. And the quarantine period begins as soon as your pet’s FAVN results come back clear. You may continue to quarantine your dog in home when you arrive in Okinawa, as long as you are staying on base. If you end up living off base, you will need to board your dog in a kennel for the remainder of the quarantine period. *Honestly, if you’re off base and are good about keeping your pet indoors other than for potty breaks, it’s probably safe to keep them with you. But you didn’t hear that from me.
• Health Certificate- No earlier than 10 days before arrival in Okinawa, you will need to obtain a signed health certificate, DD form 2209, from your base vet. This is valid for only 10 days from date of issue, so I advise to schedule this as close to your departure date as possible. Now, if you do not have a base veterinary clinic nearby, this does get a little more complicated. If your dog is seen by a civilian vet, the health certificate and rabies certificate will need to be taken to the nearest USDA facility, be signed by the attending vet and stamped with a raised seal. See where your nearest USDA is well in advance. I know here in the Phoenix area, the closest one is in Tucson, which is over 2 hours away.

Aside from all that, it is very, extremely, super important that you book a space for your dog on your AMC flight (assuming you are flying non-commercial) to Okinawa as soon as you possibly can. There is a limited amount of space (more specifically, weight allowed) for pets on each flight and as you can imagine, they fill up super fast. This is one of the best reasons to obtain orders as early as you can (because you can’t book your flight without them). Get in touch (and make friends) with TMO to find out when flights for your PCS month open up. Then, about 2 weeks prior to then start calling them daily to inquire.

And So it Began

The Husband received notification of permanent (ha ha!) change of station in December. I don't recall the exact date, but early enough in the month that we knew it would be our last Christmas here in Arizona. Wah wahhh.

As soon as Christmas break was over, I started things moving with our paperwork.

Medical clearance for the family includes:

• Pediatrics appointment (basically a wellness check) for all three kids
• Family Practice appointment for moi
• Women's Health appointment for me, too. (I was due anyway. Wheee!)
• Dental checkups/cleaning for the kids
• Dental checkup/cleaning for me. This also meant I had to seek out a dentist because I had managed to put it off for over three years. No cavities, by the way...

I brought along the required paperwork for the doctors to fill out (not necessary in women's health, as your primary doctor in Family Health signs off). Dental was easy-peasy, so those were completed right away. Pediatrics took just a day or two. Mine was completed immediately as well.

Plan on not being able to get an appointment in pediatrics right away. We had to wait about a month.

Next up, the kids' school paperwork. Basically, it's a fairly short form that wants to know whether your child has any sort of special needs in school...an IEP. Other needs, such as requiring gifted learning instruction, etc. were not mentioned. This is not important to them. :) What I did was fill everything out myself and had an office administator at their schools look it over and sign and date. That's it. If my children were in school on base, I would have left it for the staff to fill out, but I didn't want to make it seem uber complicated and intimidating to the regular public school, since they're not used to seeing military documents and might be afraid of getting court marshalled or sent to Gitmo if they happened to fill something in without complete accuracy. (This is just an assumption.)

Was that all? For being such a fat looking stack of papers, that doesn't seem like it was much... but that was that! After everything was filled out and signed off on, The Husband scheduled our medical clearance, which is a pretty fun family event. You all get to sit at a long boardroom table and seemingly get quietly observed by five or six people as someone goes through each individual's medical records verbally. Thank God there was nothing embarrassing in there. In a nutshell, they're looking for:

• Severe/debilitating/ongoing physical illness or injuries (We were quizzed about our asthma status.Our youngest and I have it, but haven't had a major issue. )
• Severe/debilitating/ongoing mental illness

I have an anxiety disorder and have taken medication for it for years, so they decided to pull my records for Kadena to review and decide if they could handle another wacked-out military spouse (I kid!). They had a 14 day window to get back to Luke, but I was cleared in less than a week. Thankfully, there was a shortage of wacked-out military spouses at the time. Whew.

Other than that, medical clearance was seamless. After ours was cleared, The Husband was able to schedule his. The servicemember does theirs separate from the family's. They're special.

Having your medical clearance done is a big "WHEW!" moment. If everything is going as planned, your actual, real, written on paper and signed by people in blood orders come shortly thereafter.

This took place over about a two month period. Next task: the dog.

You Still Here?

If any of you are reading this, you must really love me. Perhaps you are a stalker. Thank you!

 

It's been awhile. Not much has changed. I still decorate stuff, make stuff, paint stuff, buy stuff, eat stuff. I still have a husband who plays a lot of fantasy sports, three kids who never eat what I make for dinner, and two dogs that shed. Same ol'.

 

Oh, except...

 

We're moving. Really moving.

 

 

 

 Here. Okinawa, Japan!

 

 

 

It doesn't really look like Japan as you know it, right? That's because Okinawa is a tropical island south of mainland Japan.

 

 

As of July, that's where you'll find me! Yes, it's nerve-wracking. Yes, it's exciting. Yes, it's a big, scary pain in the butt. Being a military family is all of the above. Adventure finds us.

 

p.s. I don't like sushi.

Latest Obesession

Not that I need another "thing", but I have been noticeably enamored with vintage mercury glass ornaments. If you know me, you know I love vintage and and I LOVE color. And I love pretty and shiny, too... just for the record. *cough*

 

 

 

I've been on the hunt for them this year... I need them specifically for my little white tree I have in the front room. It's pretty much my favorite place in the house right now, so it's pretty important business. ;) I've been lucky; I found a box of small ones at the last Junk in the Trunk market I went to. I also found a couple of vendors at The Brass Armadillo who had some real cuties (and really delightful displays, too). I lucked out and found a couple of boxes at the local Goodwill today (This is when it's pretty awesome living near a lot, a lot, a lot of old folks).

 

It's feeling merry around here! How's the decorating coming along for you?

 

 

 



Simple Framed Art { frame a greeting card }

I love wall art. I love prints, I loved framed photos, I love metal or wood signage. Just love it.

 I always seem like I want to buy it.

But I've learned that restraint is important; for the wallet,

and also so your home doesn't end up looking a wall at TGI Friday's.

Here's the easy way I get my kicks: Greeting cards. Did you know standard greeting cards are 5x7"?  And as fun and artistic as they are these days, they happen to look great matted and framed. It's such a super, super simple way to refresh your decor. I change mine out seasonally and for holidays, or whenever I find something cute.

And to boot, it's totally inexpensive! I got this pretty little card for a BUCK at Michael's.

(Get it? Deer? Buck? Punny!)

The frame came with a mat. I found her on clearance at Target a couple of years ago.

Now go! Go browse those greeting cards!

Winding Down

Hi! Are you busy enjoying your summer?

Guess what?

My summer is almost over.

(Telling my kiddos that elicits dramatic groans.) I am knee-deep in backpacks and fresh pairs of shoes, and I couldn't be happier. Naturally, I think my kids are awesome and I love them to pieces, but you know what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder and such.

We recently got back from our family trip to San Diego. (I was told that a getaway with the kids is called a trip. A getaway without the kids is a vacation. I'm still waiting for a vacation.) It started out great: we stayed on beautiful Coronado Island.

The kids had a blast riding boogie boards and splashing in the waves. There was a seal sighting. They collected shells.

Three full days and three amusement parks later, my youngest fella was pleading with us to leave SeaWorld... or begging me to take him to the van so he could take a nap. Oh my gosh.... is that remotely normal???

Not this kid of mine, though. He was over-the-moon the entire time.

God bless him. And the tween daughter really took one for the team at Legoland. Minimal eyerolling. I am so proud.

So, soon I hope to be back to serious stuff, like painting furniture and re-doing my kitchen table. If only the weather would cooperate. (106 degrees AND monsoon season humidity? Come on!)

In the meantime, I shall continue to visit my boys' "cushion houses" (We used to just make forts!) and try not to get mad when I see they ripped all the blankets and pillows off their beds to make them with.

Happy summering!

Hot and Fresh!

I did it. I finally got around to creating these fun, new hair pretties that I've had whirling in my mind the past couple of months!

Fun, right? Right now, I have them available on your choice of clip or headband (I love that they can be worn by practically any age.), but I'm thinking of offering them as a clip with interchangeable bands. Still working on perfecting that notion.

There is a GIVEAWAY for a $25 shop credit on my Facebook Page. Sound tempting? Check it out!

This morning I am chugging chamomile tea, trying to chase away my sore throat and general cold-yuckiness I've been battling for, oh.... forever now. Going to a rib fest to see KC and the Sunshine Band tonight with The Husband, woo! (Guess which one of us likes which of those two things, right?)

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

There's No Place Like Home (I suppose)

So, who has two thumbs and is definitely not moving to England?! -This Gal!-

Don't you feel sad for me? If you don't, that's ok. I had a pity party big enough for all of us. We found out last Thursday that The Husband's orders had been cancelled. We kind of had an inkling that it might happen, but it still felt like very bad news. I was very sad. No pretty little English house. No day trips to London. An even slimmer chance of befriending David and Victoria Beckham. 

sigh

But, que sera sera. It just wasn't part of the plan. Actually, all of my family are happy about it. And my friends, too. Except the one who felt emboldened by our international move and decided to let her husband look for a new job in another state -across the country- and now is moving herself, this summer. Sorry about that. Totally not my fault. Sad, though.

So, thankfully we don't have to get our house ready to rent (I was going to have to paint it all neutral. NEUTRAL, people!), I don't have to sell my beloved old mom-van, send our elderly dog to live with her grandparents, and most importantly, I can continue to enjoy all of my fun lamps (which wouldn't have worked in the UK)!

 

However, I do have a new Union Jack pillow that I've had to put away. It's not going to match anything in my Arizona house. Besides, any time I saw it I might feel compelled to gently weep.

Or not. It's pretty dang cute.

Clean up, clean up...

You know what my initial reaction was to finding out we're moving to England? (Well, aside from "OMG, maybe I'll run into Posh and Becks"!) 

I have so much stuff to get rid of!

I immediately hit up Craigslist and unloaded a couple of furniture items. Then I began to attempt to clean up my craft closet. I got about oh, a third into it, threw away some bits and bobs, organized some wrapping paper and then gave up. I still have a few months, after all. Anyway, I did determine that I MUST downsize my stock. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll even continue my hair accessory business once overseas...

So, in the everything must go spirit, my etsy shop is 50% off with coupon code LEAPYEAR! Help a sister out and go shopping, ok?

xoxo, 

Surprise!

Um. So. I've maybe taken a smidge too much time off blogging.

*crickets*

I suspect I'm not a good multi-tasker... even with my own thoughts. I can only obsess about one thing at a time. And in my defense, I've had a couple of doozies to focus on.

First, The Husband is becoming an old man somehow injured himself and has a herniated disc (C-6 C-7) in his neck. I don't know which is worse: seeing him in pain or listening to him talk about how quickly he's going to recover and become a beast in the gym again. I don't know why he hasn't just completely healed himself using shear will like he usually does (Right, honey?). It must be serious. He's scheduled for surgery on Monday. Pray. Seriously.

 Second, (and I think this is better news?) right before Christmas The Husband received orders to RAF Mildenhall. Civilian translation: We are moving to England. Surprise! We didn't see it coming at all. We moved here two years ago and bought our first house because we thought we'd be here a good 4-5 years or more. Now we'll have to rent the house. And sell the cars (because they drive on the "wrong" side of the road in the UK, you know). And completely purge and downsize a lot of our belongings because our home in England will likely be half the size of our current home. And anything that has a plug will not work over there, either, because both the electrical voltage as well as the outlets themselves are different than what we have in the states. (I admit, this bothers me because I have a lot of really cute lamps.) There are really a slew of complications and inconvenient details involved. The move itself is the pits. I know because we lived in Germany for four years. However, I swear I am not Debbie Downer about this. Because it's England! And I like England! We'll be about 90 minutes north of London. I can quite easily hop on a train and spend the day there.

The other night, I had a dream that I became friends with Victoria Beckham. It was awesome.

 (This is my actual wee Posh figurine courtesy of my pal Myrinda. XOXO Oh, I should specify that I've had her for a couple of years and can't bear to remove her from the factory sealed box.)

{GIVEAWAY} Win a Sweet Lalaloopsy Holly Sleighbells Mini!

Are you busy Christmasing? I am! I thought I'd spread some holiday cheer with a fun little Facebook fan giveaway. Win this Lalaloopsy Mini Holly Sleighbells! Super easy peasy, I promise.

I've also been busy keeping my Etsy shop full of fun stocking stuffer-type goodies...

Find this pretty penguin clippie here.

 Stay merry!

OKTOBERFEST {Giveaway}! Or, why you should be an EFP fan on Facebook.

Guten tag! Did you know I used to live in Germany? Celebrate by referring your friends to my Facebook page. Have them post that YOU sent them here. The fan with the most referrals wins this clippie trio (and maybe some more treats, too)!

 *Contest ends 10/19 @ 9pm EST

Now. Wo ist die flughafen? Ich mochte bestellen.

Now you know all the german I do.

Have a happy day!

Minor Confession.

Whenever I got Rickrolled, I watched the whole video. Hey, I'm not too cool to admit that Rick Astley is still cute, in that kind of guy I liked in 8th grade sort of way. Hair was muy importante.

(My husband is bald. Shhhhh.)

Besides...

(In the form of a t-shirt here.)

That song is going to be in your head all weekend. You're welcome!

xoxo,

I've Been Busy Watching TV.

Last night my dear husband asked me, "Did you quit blogging?". Ohhhh, knife to the heart! Bloggers don't quit, silly... sometimes we just like to space our posts out. Like once every three weeks. I can't be putting all of my EFP delight out there at once. The blogosphere would combust.

Or something like that.

Since I'm mainly a share-your-project type blogger, I should say that I have hit a crafting wall. I have two pieces of furniture that I cannot decide on a paint color for, a front porch that is crying out for some fall pillows that I can't locate fabric for (Seriously. The fabric that I want is lost in my closet somewhere.), and it's OCTOBER... so ohmygosh, I had better get some pumpkins and probably some mums out, too! But I am just not there.

Oh, wait. Wait. I did, in fact, make a quick wreath for my front door. That really is a must.

But, I haven't yet taken a picture of it on my door. Because my front porch isn't properly fallified, duh.

However, I have been keeping up on television (I know, you're impressed!). Is it just me, or did about 100 new shows just begin over the last month? Some I really enjoy: New Girl, Free Agents, Whitney. Some I wanted to enjoy, but were bad: Pan Am, The Playboy Club (Yes, I do enjoy the 60's, but Mad Men these shows were not.). Others I thought I'd hate, but like: Prime Suspect.

All these shows and I still feel like I haven't seen all the good, new ones. What do you like?

So, maybe I should dig out that pillow fabric...

xoxo,

{SALE} Making it a good week!

Sometimes you realize having a "good" day or a "bad" day is about eighty percent state of mind.

Here's something to help with that other twenty percent.

Big, fat coupon code for 40% off everything in my shop:

MONDAYBLISS

Valid until 5pm PST 9/13/11

She's not Bad, She's Misunderstood.

We have kind of a bad dog. She is one year old and her name is Khloe Donut (She may thank our 6 year old for her middle name.) and we got her from a great local no-kill shelter a few weeks ago. She's small, playful, a HUGE snuggly lovebug, is very good about knowing her place with our older dog, and...

She's as dumb as rocks.

She is still not 100% housebroken, partly because she doesn't like to walk on grass that is over one half of an inch long, she is borderline hyper, but what is really bad is that she chews. Mainly the kids' beloved plastic toys. While this is decreasing the amount of "junk" toys in the house (yay!), it's also upsetting to the kids when something they really like (but failed to protect! Ahem!) is found in chewed up bits and pieces on the floor. This is where pet experts will point out that her less than choice behavior is somehow MY fault, but whatever.

But what is actually most concerning to me is that she is kind of eating these plastic bits. I know because, well... I see her poop. My gosh, you'd think pooping chewed up pieces of Pokemon figures would make you think twice about eating something like it again!

I actually took a picture of some really plastic-filled poop, but I decided it wouldn't be polite to post it. You're welcome.

So, my concern as a caring pet parent is that she's going to injure something on the inside. I don't know what to do... I've given her an assortment of dog-friendly chew things. She goes for a walk or a run almost every day. Any ideas, anyone?

xoxo,

{GIVEAWAY} Get some EFP for FREE!

Dear, darling Tracy of Creme de la Gems is hosting a giveaway for a $50 credit to my shop! Go check it out!

And if you're not familiar with her work, do take a look around her shop. She is THE clay queen in my book. It's practically (but not really!) edible.

Have a great weekend!

I Got Around to It.

Well, I can say I did at least one creative thing this week. (Did YOU?)

I won some cute vinyl from an Uppercase Living party several weeks ago. Woot! Plus, the hostess so kindly gave me a great little cabinet door from a repurpose store. Double woot! The project practically had itself made.

Um, it didn't make me get around to it any faster.

But, with the kids in school one day I braved the 112 degree heat outside and spray painted that cabinet door. (I believe it dried in a millisecond.) I used the same (leftover) paint that I used for my beloved coffee table. I applied the vinyl (So easy) and dolled it up with a few rosettes.

Then I let it sit on my kitchen counter for about a week.

Eventually...yesterday...I found the perfect place for my new little pretty: paired with our family photo canvas. Looking at it now, I'd say it was much needed.

{Photography by Elle J Photography. Love.}

(I've learned after almost 2 years in this house that large rooms/high ceilings call for large pieces.)

So, I got to cross one project off of my list. AND I also blogged about it. I am on. fire.

xoxo,

*Insert Chirping Crickets Sound Here*

Why, hello there. Remember me? Yeah, I'm that bad blogger who has trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. I literally forgot where to go to get to my blog to post. (Pssst.... it's blogger.com. Brilliant!)

Anyway, I got really sucked into back to school time stuff and the creative business end of Extra Frosting Please. I was on Heartsy! I was going to let you know about the super deep discount voucher to my shop I was offering, but they were gone, Poof! before I knew it. It was quite thrilling, really, but I was about one and a half inches from being in over my head. Even though I thought I came prepared. I would do some things differently if I were to do it again.

So, another week has already gone by. To make up for my absence (har har), I offer you these tidbits:

Use coupon code FREEFRIDAY for free domestic shipping in my Etsy shop. Valid until Monday. Tell your friends!

And also, I present That's My Jam! Friday. I have a little George Michael this week... because when I was 14 I was absolutely fascinated with THE Supermodels.

Until next time! (Fingers crossed for next week, ok?)

OMG. Summer's Almost Over.

SUMMER sum·mer ¹ n.

1. The usually warmest season of the year, occurring between spring and autumn and constituting June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere

2. The time when Heather has too many people buzzing around her like fruit flies to get any work done.

My head is spinning. (Not literally, of course. Har. Har.) I thought there were four weeks left of summer vacation, but I looked at a calendar yesterday and it turns out the kids go back to school in just two and one half weeks!

Wowee! So, I am feeling what... relief that my afternoons will be my own once again? Panic that I have barely even mentally planned for back to school shopping? Confusion over where exactly the summer went? Anxiety over the realization that the older you get, the more time seems to pass in the blink of an eye and one moment you're taking your daughter to preschool with another toddler in tow and another baby in your belly and a blink or two later you're preparing now 5th, 3rd and 1st graders for school?

Yes. All of the above.

I am taking the former preschooler back to school shopping today. I used to put big, crazy bows in her hair that matched her outfit. Lately, she's declared herself a tomboy. She will not wear a dress or a skirt, only graphic t-shirts and bermuda shorts. No glittery shoes; only Converse or Vans skate shoes are permissable. Hair accessories? Fuggidaboudit.

She is my only daughter and I like GIRL THINGS. I am still stifiling the urge to buy her Barbies (which she never liked). *sigh*

I will take the fellas on their BTS shopping trips seperately this weekend. The first will be easy peasy. He's not concerned with a sense of style. He likes what he likes and doesn't give it any thought beyond that.  Hey, that shirt is funny or has a cartoon character that I like on it or is a color I enjoy. Buy it. Done. He is still wearing Super Mario pajamas that are snug highwaters because he "still likes them". Honestly, I admire his complete comfort in himself. WTG.

The second boy... the 1st grader. Well, he has a Justin Bieber complex. His style is much more (self) defined. I am still scarred by the memories of getting him dressed for school last year because most days ended up with at least one of us in tears because most of his skinny jeans were not skinny enough. He will not wear those that you bought four pairs of, Mom, only these two particular pairs. The ones that are usually dirty. And he loves himself a hoodie, too. He's probably planning a first day of school outfit that involves (skinny) jeans and a hoodie. It will probably be about 108 degrees and he will fight with me about it -loudly- because he will, of course, be perfectly comfortable -he swears- and I don't know anything. End scene.

So, uh... wish me luck!

xoxo,