Category: Events

OK, so our first holiday party of the year was on Dec 2 (I know I am late in posting this one too…)
Well, despite the fact that the weather is virtually the same here, year round (read: summer all year), it’s been a very festive month. We’ve been in Christmas mode since Thanksgiving.
This year’s Civil Engineer Squadron party was down at the Leo Palace resort. Despite poor customer service we received, we had a great time. The night was a dinner and dance that we thoroughly enjoyed. Since there were plenty of rooms available, we decided to stay the night. Unfortunately, since the resort caters to the Japanese tourists, there were only double beds in every room. Apparently that is what they prefer (or so the front desk attendants told us at least).
The next morning, we slept in, walked downstairs to breakfast, then out to the golf course.
Anna came along, but decided she’d rather drive the cart than be frustrated by trying to hit a little white ball. 🙂
Here we are in front of the pro shop. As you can see, the course is very nice and a stark contrast to the surrounding landscape.

Some of the people golfing with us…of course we only had a 4 people golfing in our group me, Charles, Stephanie, and Gary (plus 2 spectators…Anna and Gary’s wife).

Stephanie unleashing her fury on the ball…

Our foursome on the green…unfortunately, I don’t think any of us made these putts… 🙁

Here I am just finishing my swing…this shot actually turned out ok.

Here we are watching the group ahead of us finish up.

Well, it was a good day of golfing. Even though I don’t get to play as much as I would like, it’s still fun every time I get out.
So, until the next time…
–Jim

Ok, I know this post is a little late…I had it all written and ready to be posted when a very typical power outage happened (and all that work went away). I guess I just didn’t have the heart to redo it right away.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from Anna’s Birthday weekend, Halloween.
We started the weekend off on Wednesday by volunteering at the Haunted House on base. We had fun leading people around through a very scary haunted house.
We volunteered on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. We cut our time short on Saturday, as our neighbors (Mark and Samantha) hosted a costume party.
Here are some of the people who came:

Even the food was scary…

Anna and I were supposed to be matching superheroes. Unfortunately, my Neo costume didn’t looks so good, so I opted for a scary alternative. 🙂 That meant we weren’t a “matching” couple, but we had fun nonetheless.
Here’s what we looked like:

Anna showing off her lovely costume:

My scary devil costume:


The King and Queen of the event were without a doubt, Mark and Samantha.

Some other guests at the party were Rambo (Nick):

Strawberry Shortcake (Dean’na)

Daisy Duke and her nurse (Rachael and Dan):

Sam and Anna chillin’

The girls of the party:

After we left Mark and Samantha’s place, a group of us went out to a dance club. They were also having a costume party. Of course, there was a contest for best costume…Anna wasn’t eligible because she works for the entertainment company that owns the Globe, but I thought I had a chance…but what chance did I have against girls like the above picture. So, I didn’t win anything, but Strawberry Shortcake came in second. 🙂
Oh well, perhaps if I don’t go with a scary costume next year, I may have a shot.

On an interesting side note, Batgirl and a devil making a funny looking couple on the dance floor…
Until next time.
–Jim

This will be a short entry, basically just to post one picture.
This is a nice shot that Dan took of Anna and me on the night of the Air Force Ball, back in September.

–Jim

Well, it’s a three day weekend and Anna and I love it. Not only does it mean having time to spend together (which we don’t get nearly enough of), it also means we can hang out at the house (what we’re doing right now) and go out and find new adventures.
What have we been doing? Today was a 20 mile bike ride, church cleaning and hanging out. Yesterday we went to a couple get-togethers with friends, watched a movie with our good friends Mark and Samantha…the big adventure of the weekend was a boat trip out to Double Reef.
Lorena’s brother, Dennis, has a small boat here and he invited us to join him. We’ve been trying to do this for months now, so the fact that it actually worked out was impressive.
We left out of the harbor just south of our place (Hagatna Boat Basin). We made our way North to a place called Double Reef (you can also read about our hike there on June 25, 2005).
Here’s Anna and Lorena on the ride up.

We eventually arrived and anchored over a small sand flat and jumped right in.

Anna and I snorkeled around for about an hour. The highlight was a green sea turtle who we startled as he was trying to get a meal.
The coral was very pretty and undisturbed (especially by Guam standards). Mark was kind enough to let us use his camera while we played in the water.

As you can see, the water was perfect (albeit a little wavy). I know you can’t tell, but that is me, from Anna’s perspective.

As I looked over, Anna would disappear under the waves. 🙂

Dennis and another friend, Mary, went off spear fishing while we snorkeled. They were looking for parrot fish and other tasty delicacies. While Anna and I have fished before, this was the first time we’d gone spear fishing…quite an experience. I liken it to hunting…the larger fish are very wary (especially when you carry a long metal pole!) Also, we were free diving to get down…so, our time underwater and close to the quarry was limited by how long you could hold your breath. Both Dennis and Mary were successful and brought in a nice catch. Once food was assured, Mary let me borrow her spear gun for an attempt to follow suit. However, the fish managed to elude my spear. 🙂 It was fun nonetheless. Perhaps next time…
We eventually tired ourselves out, climbed back on the boat and headed in the direction of home.

As you can see from that picture, we also planned on fishing with more than a spear gun. We took a slow cruise the 10ish miles home, trolling for larger fish (tuna, mahi mahi, wahoo, etc).

Unfortunately, as with my spear fishing, the fish avoided us. So, we enjoyed the sun and conversation instead.

We had a blast with everyone and look forward to going out again (hopefully!).
With all that said, I think it’s about time to take a quick nap…so, until the next adventure…
–Jim

Right before our trip to Japan, we went to 2 beach parties. The first we hosted from some friends here. The second was for the junior officers on base, down at the Naval Base.
Here are the pictures from our beach party:



Here are our new neighbors, Mark and Samantha:

After we had BBQ’d and sat around for a while, we walked down the beach 200 yards to the beach bar next door. Every Friday night the offer a free fire show. It’s a mix of Polynesian and Micronesian dancing. Some of the dancers are quite young, but all are talented. 🙂

The guys have a stick with flames on both ends. The girls dance typical hula part of the time and (as you can see here) with flaming balls attached to a wire. When they spin, it’s a sight to behold.


Anna and Samantha after the show:

Another friend, Q, and I:

The next morning (also the day we left for Japan), we went to the second party. The beach is down south at the Navy Base. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, but it was still a fun time with friends.


Cassie and Keith:

After this, we came home, cleaned up and went off to the airport for the next big adventure….
–Jim

As Civil Engineers in the USAF, we are tasked with deploying to austere locations, fighting our way in, building the base and defending it. Fortunately, our primary emphasis is on building the base and not the other parts. However, to gain proficiency at the whole process, we took a few days in June to go on what’s called a bivouac. This was training time dedicated to practicing these warfighting skills.
We used blanks, and an abandoned section of the base to train at. Our opposing force was tasked with making the scenario realistic and difficult. So, we assembled at the main base, packed our gear, moved out in a convoy, established a safe perimeter built up the bivouac location, and defended it for about 3 days. No one was actually harmed in the exercise….
Here are the pictures taken by the base photographer that show the process:








Entering the training location (where we may encounter the opposing force):


Here is the opposing force…



Building up the site:






Opposition force:

Training included battlefield triage:

The opposition force plotting their next attack:



Our counter-attack:

Formation at the end of the day:


Things started to go our way when we began to capture the opposition force:


No battle is without a price:

The exercise ended with the surrender of the last opposition force.

Once finished we packed up all the gear, cleaned it and returned to the main base to return to our families. It was only a few days, but combined with the earlier training at Silver Flag, we’ve help make sure our Airmen are ready to deploy in September in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
–Jim

Well, last night our 4th of July was capped with a fireworks display that Anna and I agreed was the best to date. The main reason for that was we shared a papasan chair and watched the fireworks through our bedroom window. 🙂 Those of you who have done the same can attest to the HUGE benefit of not fighting crowds/traffic/insects/etc to watch. Also, earlier in the night a number of people from our condo got together for a BBQ, and bonfire on the beach. We have really enjoyed the camaraderie from living in close proximity to so many other like minded people. Perhaps it’s indicative of American society today, but in our previous houses and apartments we barely knew our neighbors (even living on base), but here….we’ve found there’s a large group that fairly regularly socializes. So, this has been a refreshing change. For those of you who don’t know your neighbors, why not invite them over for dinner….we did and now we have some good friends. 🙂
Jim

In further preparation for triathlons/bike races/etc, I hopped on my new white “Bird of Prey” and met up with about 40 other people for a training ride today.
We left out of the Agana Shopping Center (the typical meeting place about a mile and a half from our house) and rode 16 miles south and 650 feet up to Cetti Bay overlook, waited for everyone to catch up, then back down the hill. There’s nothing like crouching low on your bike and speeding down the road in excess of 45 miles and hour. Quite exhilarating, and so long as you keep it steady, don’t hit any major pot holes, quite a pure form of transportation.

This was a training ride so there was a lot of talking and not too intense of a pace. However, since these are very competitive and strong athletes, I was challenged to keep up with the pack on more than one occasion. 🙂
After Cetti Bay, we went back down to sea level, then up another hill to the Naval Magazine. No, they don’t have good articles there, but rather a place to store weapons and ammunition. 🙂
Finally, we ended our 40 mile ride with another 650 foot climb up Nimitz Hill. We took the back way, so the road wasn’t too steep, but I still struggled to hold 9 miles an hour!
It’s a very humbling experience to train with those who are better/stronger/faster than you. I know it’s helping me! Ok, well, I hope it’s helping at least. We’ll see in future races…
Jim

Here are a few pictures of my promotion ceremony…
I chose a remote site on Andersen Air Force Base (where I am currently stationed) for the ceremony. For those you aren’t familiar with the process, I asked my squadron commander (Lt Col Marv Smith) to officiate and swear me in with the Oath of Office. He did and it became official…I became a Captain in the USAF.
Here is Lt Col Smith administering the Oath:


Anna pinning on the new rank insignia:

Jim and Anna:

Me giving a few comments… 🙂

That’s it for now. Perhaps in 5 or 6 more years, I will have another ceremony if I make Major. 😉
Jim