Sweet Home... well it is NOT Alabama... or Texas... or even New York

We have quarters!!! Can I get a huge AMEN to that one!  We have been in a friend's guest room, in a less-than-large RV, in a retreat lodge or in a guest hotel for several weeks. We love each other, don't get me wrong please. B-u-t, we all need a little more space and a little less togetherness.

The fabulous Japanese government has paid for and built these new homes for the American military. With the budget cuts that just keep getting thrown at the Army, most bases has had money issues. The Japanese want the US here so much, that they show their support by providing nice homes for the troops.

We were offered two sets of quarters. This is not unusual for military life. We were given the keys to two homes and instructed to walk through to decide which would best set our family. Off we went to find our next, temporary, home.

One home was a new home. It was the center 'home' in a building of six 'homes. I am not sure how most people would describe the home et up. I would call it a townhouse. Here is a picture to try and describe this crazy situation.

Here is a 'new' set of townhouses.  There were six in our building. We were in the middle unit of six townhouses. There are quite of few of them lined up. They are all centered around a park, playground or basketball court. They are small, quite small for our family of six. They are about 1300 sq. feet.  There are several different versions, but the one we were offered had a strange living/ dining room combination. It was like two separate blocks, with one being shifted about 4 feet in front of the other. It was... interesting. There were four tiny, and I do mean, tiny bedrooms. A twin bed with a nightstand was about all that would fit. Each home has individual air conditioning and heating units specific for their homes, but the units are ultimately controlled at a central location. That means someone else gets to decide how soon in the season the heat or air conditioning are turned on. That fact is not so good for this Southern Belle.

All of the homes in our area are VERY sturdy. The Japanese are smart, dedicated to safety and build strong buildings. Since earthquakes are commonplace here, the homes the Japanese build for us are almost entirely concrete. They are impressively strong. It does make cell phone reception and wireless signals impossible in the house. I mean we cannot get signal through one floor to the next. However, it means that in the event of a massive quake our home would survive. If I have to give up the cell reception to protect the family's safety, then so be it. The concrete (which may be cement but I cannot for the life of me tell the difference) makes it quite difficult to hear from one room to the next. That is a great side effect of strong buildings says this mommy :)

Just FYI, those families without pets get housing in the 'towers'. There are quite a few 'towers' all over Japan. They are on every base we have seen. It is an efficient was to house the hundreds of military families on the island. This is where I say thanks for that sweet, ol' black lab of ours who helped us 'qualify' for the other housing. 

Now, on to the other set of quarters we were offered. It is referred to by the locals here as an 'old' home. Almost all of these older quarters have been destroyed to make room for the newer housing. However, several of the older units were determined to be in good shape. The home was built about 30 years, and refurbished in 2012.When I heard that part, I thought I would want the newer quarters. We ended up choosing the older quarters. It just makes more sense for us.

Let me take you around a bit.

From the outside street, where we park, it is difficult to see the home or understand how it is laid out. Here is the front of the building. There are four townhomes. We are in one of the middle units.

Each home is approximately 1400 sq. feet. That is pretty small for our family of six, but we were expecting that. We were only allowed to bring about 4,000 pounds of stuff. (For our family that amounted to a few bed frames, a kitchen table with chairs, some bikes and a bit of kitchen stuff.) Even with that little amount of household goods we brought, we will quickly overwhelm this space.

Our front door, which will certainly need a little TLC, is metal. It has a screen door on it already. (I will explain the fenced side area in a moment.)

The older homes have an air conditioning unit in each room. Yes, they are a tad awkward and loud. But, at least, we get to control our own temperature.

Our neighbor was proudly flying his Texas Aggie flag when we to look at the home. Did it sway my vote just a smidgen? Well, maybe.

As you step into the home you realize that the wives network is alive and well. The wives had warned me that everything in the townhome was white... the floors, the lights, the walls, the yucky vertical blinds... all of it is white. Normally, the Army paints all the doors white as well. I am thankful that they left them brown this time. I am a tad sick because our beloved black lab will mess up these floors in a manner of hours. Oh well, like the song says, love hurts... "Hey kids, did you find the vacuum yet?"

The first room you walk past is supposed to be family room. We will use it as a dining room because it has a pass thru window where I can throw the food to the kids without too much traveling. This room also has the washer & dryer. Using it as the dining room enables this Momma to have a big folding surface when she does laundry. Plus, if the kids want dinner they have to put away the laundry. Bonus.

On the other side of the room, opposite the pass thru window, is the patio door that goes out to the front porch area. This is the fenced in part that was in the earlier photo. It is covered and perfect for all of our bikes.

The kitchen is, well, older. It is large though with plenty of cabinets. I like that about it.  The layout is good and the water pressure is awesome. So, it's not as bad as a 30+ year old set of quarters sounds at first. Interestingly the swinging door that is in the picture was not there when we signed for quarters. I am not sure why they took it out, but it works better for us without it.

Looking out the back of the kitchen you run into what should be the large living/ dining room. We will use it as a living room/ family room combination. The room is bright and all, you
guessed it, white. We are thankful we brought those rugs! We will put a desk in this room for all the Momma's crafts  kids' homework. Alright. You might as well know the truth,  it is for my crafts. Nothing refreshes me like a little time with my Cricut!

The older home is about 100 sq. feet larger than the new home, but the biggest advantage to the older home is what every single Army wife craves the most.... STORAGE!  Oh, how I love me some storage. Give me a few plastic bins and a label marker and watch my face light up like Christmas.  There is storage is almost every room! Hoorah!

The storage comes in the form of large closets that look like this picture. The 'holes' you see are to allow ventilation and decrease the chance of musty smells or mold issues. (As I have blogged about before, mold is a huge issue in this island nation where humidity has stayed about 90% since we arrived.) There is also storage under the stairs for all the gear hubby has to carry around.

Upstairs are the bedrooms and two additional bathrooms. There is a small storage room that hubby will use for his clothes. We give the kids the master bedroom so they have room to play and to keep those messy minis in their own bathroom. Hey, I like a clean bathroom. Sue me.

Did you like your little tour? It is a great home for us. We are thrilled to have a place to land after all of time in hotel situations. Plus, we have out first visitors coming less than a week after we move in. It's time to get busy! I will try and take some pictures after we get everything out of the boxes, in the correct rooms and on the walls. I've had a lot of practice, so I'm usually pretty quick at that part :)
For now, the Crew is home.

 Longing for the boxes & loving the journey,

~ Aggie Amy