Can you believe it's the end of September already?? We have been here a little over 2 weeks and something incredible happened today...it rained!! It was short, but it was lovely. The smell was just intoxicating! If you know me, you know I love the rain!

The last couple days I have been looking at masters programs. It will be hard for me to decide which program is best for me. Please keep me in your prayers regarding school!

Jordan and I went to a church pool party this last weekend. The pool here is amazing! It is huge and has diving boards, a slide, and big floaty things to jump on! The last two mornings I have gone to swim laps. It sure feels good to be back in the pool, but boy am I slow! I swam a mile yesterday and a mile and a half today. Good enough for me. Unfortunately the pool closes at the end of the month..even though the weather is still hot! What a tragedy.



A few days ago I went to an event for the spouses of Jordan's squadron. We saw a demonstration on how to make delicious Turkish food, and then we got to eat it! We even had a tour of the kitchen! I'm pretty sure the cleanliness standards here are much different than in America. I just have to close my eyes and pretend the food came from a spotless kitchen. Regardless, it's sure delicious! This is the owner of the restaurant and the chef. We were learning how to make carrot soup!

This is where the kabob magic happens. Charcoal! Isn't this neato?

This is a rose made out of a tomato! It looks real, doesn't it?? 

A couple days ago my friend Katherine took me shopping in Adana. All I wanted was a Turkish tea pot and tea cups...so here are my new beauties! Turkish tea is made using stacked kettles. The tea leaves go in the top kettle, and a very strong tea is made. The bottom kettle is used to dilute the tea to taste. I usually like mine pretty strong though. The Turkish drink tea after every meal and often throughout the day. I love the little teacups! They are so dainty! 

When we were in Adana, Katherine pulled into this parking lot that was jam packed with cars. There were cars in every spot, as well as lined up in the aisles. As a car pulls in behind us, I said, "Oh no! What are we going to do...we are trapped!". Little naive me! Katherine started a very intense discussion with the parking lot attendant about how she would NOT give him her keys, and he would just have to move all the cars for her. To my amazement, that's exactly what happened! Apparently everyone just leaves their keys and they shuffle cars around at will to fit as many as possible. 

Turkey is known for its baklava. Jordan and I picked some up from a vendor and it was delicious!! The green stuff is pistachio. Mmmmm! 

Until next time!

Well, we made it through our first week! There is a US embassy here in Adana and there is a supposedly "controlled, peaceful protest" there today. We are not allowed to go off base today just for extra protection. Our safety is very important to leadership here and they will fly me home if they feel it is unsafe for the spouses. Prayers are always accepted, but please do not be worried about us!


Some of our belongings should be coming next week, and I am very much looking forward to that! As you know, they loaned us some furniture until our stuff gets here. The full size bed that they gave us is ridiculously uncomfortable. It's kind of like sleeping on the kitchen table, actually. They also loaned us some sheets...and they are absolutely ridiculous! It's like they are one bed size too small. Every time you move one corner of the fitted sheet will pop off. And the top sheet and blanket fit so they just cover all the top surface area, but nothing more. Every time one of us turns over, the other is completely uncovered. We basically are forced to cuddle real close in the middle of the bed flat on our backs. A couple days ago we went to the thrift store and got some real sheets, and let me tell you...I feel like a Queen!! It's the little things in life.

We also got some loaner kitchenware. We have two plates, two bowls, four sets of silverware, two small pots, one very small frying pan, a cutting board, a colander, and that's about it. The other day we decided to make some eggplant parmesan with our delicious vegetables we got from the market. Talk about a challenge. We had to get super creative, and it ended up taking us like an hour in a half to cook dinner. It was delicious though! Needless to say, we have been signing up for everything that offers free food. On Tuesday I sat through a 5 hour workshop to get free lunch! Totally worth it.

Jordan has been working every day, and I have been desperately trying to find ways to entertain myself. Sitting in an empty (ugly) house all day is about enough to drive me insane. The other day I got an hour in a half massage for $30! It was amazing. I make many trips to the BX and the library. It feels good to be walking around so much, but I will be glad when my bike shows up! Bible study is starting up this week and I'm excited for that!

The job situation looks very bleak for me here. I went to the clinic to talk to someone about nursing, and she said that there is 0% of a chance of me getting a nursing job. This is a Turkish base, so the civilian Turks have job priority over the Americans. The Starbucks here doesn't hire Americans at all. I have been told that I have to be very patient if I want a job. I turned in my application to volunteer with the Red Cross and I am looking forward to that!

I have decided that I want to get my masters degree while I am here. I am looking into programs now. Since I won't be able to work as a nurse for two years, I might as well work on my education!

Here are a couple pictures of things at my house that I like.

I love our rose bushes!! One way that we can "give back" to Turkey and also develop relationships is by hiring a gardener! Our gardener's name is Hasam and he is amazing and takes such good care of the yard. When we got here our rose bushes were pretty bad looking, but through Hasam's TLC, they are starting to look beautiful! A couple days ago I accidentally locked myself out of the house so I was sitting on the porch waiting for Jordan to come home. Hasam went to the store and bought me some bread because he felt bad for me. Haha!

 I love our built in book shelf! We only have a couple books right now, but once our stuff gets here we will have much more to adorn the shelf with!

 Look! Bananas!

 My sweet husband got me flowers!!! I love being married to Jordan!

My sleepy man getting ready for a nap in the hammock. I love that guy!

We made it to Turkey!!

My sweet husband and I just moved to Turkey for military purposes. It was our first choice of location and we feel very excited and blessed to be here! I have been asked by many to keep of blog of our Turkish adventures and therefore this is Chapter 1 of the Applejunk’s Turkish Adventures!

We arrived here around 10pm last Tuesday and I am happy to say that we had absolutely no difficulties in traveling! We had about 30 hours of travel time and were very exhausted and surprisingly nothing went terribly wrong. We were met by a welcoming group of people who made us feel instantly at home. 

We stayed in a hotel the first couple nights, and we were able to move into our house on Friday. This was a pleasant surprise, because we were told that we might have to live in the hotel for a month or so. We were really hoping to get in a new schnazzy house…but alas…we were placed in an old, not-so-schnazzy house. We are trying to count our blessing though! Each day that we live here we find more that we like about the place.  Our household goods have not yet arrived, so we are loaning some furniture for now. I’m sure it will feel much more like a home once our stuff gets here!

It has been very hot and humid here, and despite how much I despise air conditioning…I have succumbed. Wearing makeup is impossible, because it just melts off my face. This little Pacific Northwest girl isn’t used to this kind of heat! It’s very pretty though and the base is full of palm trees and flowers and bushes.

We have ventured off base for dinner the last couple of nights. So far we are in love with Turkish food! It is a land full of delicious fruits and vegetables! We are being adventurous with our food choices and everything has been so good. Yesterday we were able to go to the Sunday market. We bought a RIDICULOUS amount of fruits and veggies for $15. And everything is sooo delicious from growing in the bright never-ending sun! When we first got here we were warned of the “Turkish trots” that we would inevitably develop from the food…but so far both of us have been surprisingly trot-free!

Jordan has impressed the Turkish people with his language skills. They are shocked to find out he has only been here a couple days. They are just thrilled when you even attempt to speak to them in their language. All the Turks we have met have been so kind and hospitable! The other day we were speaking with the owner of the restaurant and he whipped out his iPhone to show us pictures of his son’s circumcision! Fortunately the pictures weren’t graphic (although being a nurse, I kind of wished that they were haha).

Our jeep shouldn’t arrive for another month or so, so we have been walking pretty much everywhere. Fortunately there is a bus that runs on base every 20 minutes. We took a trip to the BX to get basic supplies, and we are limited to buying only what we can carry. I think we are finally starting to get an idea of where everything is located. The base is very small, but it sure seems large when you have to explore it by foot in 95 degree weather.

Our sponsor family has been very kind to us! They are Christians too and we are so blessed to find some good Christian friends immediately. I was so excited to find out that there is an active church and Bible studies here. As most of you know, Jordan and I feel that God has sent us here for a reason. Although our primary reason for coming is not missions, we both believe that we were sent here to share the Gospel. We are praying for opportunities to do so. It’s a bit more complicated here, because this is a very Muslim country. We are hoping to start by becoming friends with some of the locals.

Well that’s all for now!  Here's some pictures of our life in Turkey so far!

 "The Alley" right outside the base. This is only about a 5 minute walk from our house.

 This is the family room in our house. So...friendly...isn't it?

 Our kitchen. It's actually bigger than my last kitchen, so we are excited about that!

 The dining room...this is where I am right now!

 Our bedroom. It all kinda looks the same, I know.

 My least favorite thing about our house...the bathroom. Any ideas on how to spruce it up??

 Jordan looking handsome next to our banana tree!! That's right! We have a banana tree. And it has bananas on it!

 We had a Turkish feast in Adana with some of our new friends. That food wasn't for just us, don't worry! See that look on my face? That's jet lag!

 Colored chicks at the market. What the...?

 The market! Fresh fruit and produce as far as the eye can see!

 This is a cabbage! They grow 'em big here! It costs about $1.50 for one head. We did not buy one.

My love and I enjoying the market! I was SO hot that sweat was running down my legs.