For starters, we're both in the military, but are different services (Army and Navy), therefore, it's a mixed marriage. It also makes it difficult to get stationed together. So, realizing the way the military works, we decided to pre-empt the obligatory overseas tours by telling our assignment managers where we wanted to go. Japan works well for both of us, but I couldn't get there until next summer. So, I'm sojourning for a year in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)...it's quite a magical place.

We got married in December in Washington, DC, honeymooned on a Caribbean cruise, and spent the next 4 months enjoying our new life together before our nearly year long separation began.

Mid-March, I left for the Kingdom, and 2 weeks later Melody left for Japan. We've been fortunate in that we've been able to see each other every 3 months or so. Each visit has been like a second honeymoon, albeit in our new house in Kamakura, with some unpacking or furniture moving each time.

Melody's job is quite a bit more busy than mine is right now, and unfortunately, much of her 'not at work' time she's stuck in Japanese traffic. Still, she's gotten to see and experience quite a bit in the past 5-6 months, which she'll blog on when she has some of that rare free time.

My time in KSA has alternated between exciting and humdrum (as I've gotten into the rythym of things here), but, because of the ever present terrorist threat, has always been interesting. I'll try to back-post a few of the more bloggable experiences I've had.

Also, for what it's worth, you can check out our Virtualtourist dot com sites for pictures of our travels...

Dave's: http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/32701
Melody's: http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/3286f/