While we were in Korea I often found my life to be very limited. Not that there's nothing to do in Seoul, and if you read my other blog you know we went out and did a lot, but the way life flowed in Korea was a bit restricting. There were lots of times I chose not to go out and about b/c I didn't feel like taking the subway, or braving the monsoonal weather, etc. Other times things were limited for me. I'd plan to go somewhere (even on base) only to find that it's closed on Thursdays, or random Mondays. You really could never plan on anything being open when you think it would be and learned to called first (and hope the phone number was right, right Korea peeps?). Saturdays were the worst because it's the one day kids are home from school and you could go somewhere, but after a few Saturdays of fighting the crowds in Seoul it wasn't worth it to me anymore.
But in stark constrast, in the 4 days that we've been here we've managed to accomplish a lot during the day and still have time to go out to dinner and somewhere else afterwards. On base everything was closed by 7 or 8. After flying in to Colorado, getting a rental car and getting dinner, we STILL had time to go get new phones!
Here's a shot of me outside Target and it was 8:30pm! We'd had a glorious dinner at Outback Steakhouse and then got to roam around target as long as we pleased. (it was awesome, but oddly overwhelming by the way)
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| Nice face Cade! |
I'm used to being overwhelmed at the Korean markets where there are aisles up aisles of vendors and alleys each selling their specialty. I didn't expect to get overwhelmed in the states but it has happened a lot. My first time in the commissary was a big disaster. We didn't have much time, and only had to get a few things like cereal and stuff for lunches since we're in a hotel with a fridge and microwave. But each section had so many types of food I'd never seen before. Do you realize how many cereals have come out in the last 2 years? Holy cow! Frosted Toast Crunch, Mini wheats with fruit in the middle, and dulce de leche cheerios? Whoa! I was running out of time but yet I wanted to look at each new item and indulge. You mean i can choose from 7 different kinds of hummus? I only made it half way through the store before calling it quits and only buying things I'd ever bought before. I may need assistance the next time I go back, but that's okay because it's open... wait for it... every day from 7am-9pm!! Woot!
Just in case you're curious, the places we've eaten out since coming back are:
- McDonald's- we told the kids they were lucky because we were tired and a little bit lost and hungry. Though it was SO much better than the McD's in Korea! (sorry for all the McD's haters out there, we've always enjoyed it)
- Culver's- If you don't have one in your region you need to go to one whenever you come across one. Sooooooooo good.
- Outback Steakhouse- We went to the one in Korea our first week there and it was much more expensive and not nearly as good, so this was a great revisit. Yummm.... filet.....
- Cici's Pizza- Love this place. Relatively cheap, though it was less expensive 2 years ago when my boys were 2 and 4, good pizza, divine cinnamon rolls and brownies.
- This isn't an eating out thing, but I found cream soda! It's actually kinda hard to find here too, but man is it good....mmmm....
We do really look forward to settling in our home and being able to cook for ourselves. We've been out of that kind of lifestyle for 13 days now.
Oh, and if you're wondering about house hunting and car searches, nothing official yet, but things are looking great. I just don't want to say anything prematurely! That's been overwhelming too, but in a completely different way! My poor kids have been drug all over Colorado Springs to view homes and test drive cars. Thank goodness again for those iPads!
We are truly blessed right now and feel that everything is lining up nicely.
And have I mentioned how beautiful it is here? Clean, clear air and gorgeous views to enjoy for a long time.
