K.I.T.

In our short 3 1/2 years of marriage we have already had so many adventures together, including a 13 month deployment to Afghanistan for Walter and 6 moves (NBD), but this is definitely the biggest, challenging and most interesting yet.  So many things in our everyday lives are easily forgotten, but a blog presents a way, in years to come, to venture back to and remember our 'Korean Chapter.'  To smile at our fun, happy times, shake my head & laugh at our silly and/or dumb foreigner mistakes, or maybe cause me to hit delete in embarrassment of my naiveté and immaturity and ask all of you to kindly forget that I subjected you to my rambling stories and nutty thinking pattern.

I have been here in Korea, more specifically Uijeongbu, for a little over a month now, and there are already so many stories and experiences I want to share with so many of you: cultural differences, new Army rules, crazy driving, interesting food, attempting to learn the language, Korean "fashion",  and how we are navigating and making the most of our new life abroad.

I never really considered "blogging" before, but with the somewhat difficult mission of timing any communication with family & friends on the East Coast, a 13 hour time difference, I think this is a good way to keep everyone up-to-date.  Writing this will spare me the task of having to repeat things, remember if I told you something in particular, and it's also an interesting way for me to preserve memories of our experiences together as not only foreigners in a strange new place, but as newlyweds and an Army couple.

It's sometimes taxing and monotonous to repeat stories and details over & over, but mostly, since I am such a talker (or so I've been told...) I would probably end up wasting our precious Skype time with occasional stories that I feel are worth sharing but you, the listener, does not.  (I am mostly thinking here of Dov, Collin, Andy - all wonderful, stand-up guys who may be too nice to tell me, "I don't CARE about what she said and then he said and how it was said and how that made you feel, nor do I wanna hear about your shopping experience trying to find a dress or stupid earrings for the Army ball!  I have to go!")  I can avoid annoying you if I have everything I want to share on here.  If you've already read it and hopefully not had your mind numbed, won't we have lots more to discuss on our more wisely-spent, more thoroughly enjoyed Skype dates?  I am such a genius and thoughtful friend, huh?

Mostly, I want to share our lives with you guys and keep you involved, hear what you think, and possibly even entertain you for a minute.  And isn't this blog the most efficient way to achieve these goals?  I only have to type it out once and if it's a story that I find hiLARious or important & riveting and you are bored & glassy-eyed or busy & hurried or just disagree altogether, well - skim away!  I'll never know that you didn't highly anticipate my next post or eagerly gobble up every single word, and you won't have to strain yourself hiding the annoyed eye roll or muffling the inherent sigh at my absurd and silly craziness!  I get to tell you everything, which makes me happy, and you get to choose what to read, keeping you both sane and in "such a good friend" standing.  It's like being a guy friend and mastering the "I'm Listening Intently to Your Super Interesting Story" act without actually having to learn it.  Win - win!

XOXO

Mandie, aka Amanda Beth

p.s. While I am always open to and welcome constructive criticism, I have finally committed to writing this and keeping up with it.  This is a huge accomplishment in itself for me.  Please do not attempt to sway me from blogging, even if this first post was torturous.  I'm sorry if you're bored.  I'm sorry some posts will be long.  But I will only acknowledge mean comments if they are also funny and make me laugh in addition to hanging my head in shame.  (I thought of adding the disclaimer, "I am a photographer, not a writer," but I figured if you wanted to give up, you would...)  =D  

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