Korea Minute to Win It Monthly Parties

I was really struggling to feel close to people and feel like I had a good group of friends last year, so Kevin and I brainstormed ideas on how to expand our friend radius and create stronger bonds with the people we do already associate with.  We came up with the idea to have a monthly rotating Minute to Win It Party.  The looser would have to host and come up with the games for the next month.  We would provide prizes for the winner and the looser would be given a hideous thing to display in their home until the next game when they would pass it to the next looser.  We called together some friends and started a Minute to Win Group.  We had our first Party six months ago in August. It was a hilarious night and a great way to really get to know people as they really are.  I loved and looked forward to every Minute to Win It night.

One of the best parts was hearing the team names that people came up with.  Here are a few of the teams: Chresteane and Darren Howell were the Rammer Jammer. Laura and Jeff Taylor were Michael Scott Paper Company. Julie and Burke Manning were first the Blue Bombers, then the Mighty Mannings.  Kevin and I were the California Crushers.  Ruth and Chris Strommer were the Strommer Slayers.

Shannah and Phil Buddenbender were Buda Bears. Holly and Tyler Rust were Team Rusticas.  We also had Alesha and Randy Jones as Not Fast, Just Furious. Alyssa and Robert Mayo were Team Mayo.

A few other teams that participated were Corianne and Dustin Schwartz appearing as the team, We have the Runs. Paul and Joanna Livaudais were LivaDizzles.  As people started moving out and others started moving in, teams started to shift and we lost some players and gained more players.  The McClouds joined and became I'd Hit That and The Andreasens joined as Goat Rodeo.  The Walkers also joined the fun as The Benchwarmers.

The games that we played were so creative and absolutely funny and humiliating.  Kevin and I started by coming up with eight games.  We played four games, had a food and social break, then continued with the last four games.  We realized that eight was too much, so in the end it was usually six games total.  The loosing team came up with the next games for the next month's party.

One game had containers on the end of rulers and we had to shake our head back and forth to get all the tick tacks out of the container.  I felt like a bulldog and got the biggest headache from shaking my head.  Another game was a team game where one person had to grab toilet paper with their feet and toss it over their head and the other player had to try to catch it in a laundry basket.

There was this crazy game where one player put a shower cap on and sprayed shaving cream on the shower cap.  The other player had to throw Cheetos at the shower cap and tried to get the Cheetos to stay on the shaving cream.  It was sooooo gross, so I made Kevin do the shower cap part.

Some games involved sucking up skittles through a straw and blowing them in a cup.  And one of the funniest games was when someone would put a nylon of their head with a tennis ball on the end.  They had a circle of water bottles around them that they had to knock down with the nylon ball.  Kevin tried to get on his hands and knees and spin the nylon to knock over the bottles.  That caused a massive head rush and the bottles didn't fall.  It was so funny.

One game required cards to be thrown in a bucket.  One team decided to try to get around the rules by holding the team mate by the shirt and then that team player was closer to the bucket, but according to the rules, their feet were still behind the line.  Oh my goodness, I thought I would die laughing.  One team actually dropped their spouse.  We were all rolling and crying with laughter.

We had dice stacking games that required balance, steady hands and almost holding your breath.

Another funny game was the banana and ball game.  The player tied a banana around their waist and had to swing the banana to hit the ball to go over the line.  There were some great hip swinging and jumping happening.  Team Rustica came up with the game where the players had to stuff their faces in whipped cream to find skittles.

It was so fun to see everyone get out of their comfort zone and just let loose.  So many inside jokes were created at these Minute to Win It games.  We found out the Holly is terrified of balloons, so any game with balloons almost guaranteed her team would loose that round.  We also learned that Kevin can't blow up a balloon to save his life or to get team points.  So, anything involving blowing up balloons, I always tried to do.  One game had us blowing bubbles into a hulu hoop.  Seeing the concentrating and frustration when the bubbles popped was so funny.

So many games required blindfolds, so we bought these "eye bras", at least that is what Kevin called them.  Cori wore it well.  One of the messiest games was the ice cream sundae game.  One player laid on the ground while the other player stood on a chair.  The player on the ground had to hold an ice cream cone in their mouth, with the other player standing up and tried to drop sprinkled, chocolate, whipped cream and cherries in the cone.  Some peeps ended up with an ice cream sundae face rather than cone.

Since the Minute To Win It parties went on for over a year, there were so many creative, funny, and fun games that we played.  These were only a few.  It created a group of fabulous friends.  It was a night to look forward to, and it was wonderful to get to know our friends at an even deeper level.  It also was a night where we just laughed until our sides hurt.

As a group we had a lot of fun with the looser prizes.  We started with just a stuffed animal, and ended with a life size picture of Phil Buddenbender holding the stuffed animal.  In the end the cut out had earrings, a necklace, a binki in his mouth and a baby bib.  It was fun seeing what everyone added to the looser trophy.  At one game night, it was actually the one Kevin and I lost, the Schwartz brought a cake that said "I win, you loose". We loved it!! What great nights and what amazing friends.

Freddie's Archery Family Date

This is M&M here and I am going to share my experience at the Archery Cafe. It was a day where we wanted to have an adventure but had nothing to do. Dad had gone to the Archery Cafe the day before with some guys for some fun. Dad and Mom decided that we where going to take an adventure to the cafe. We all piled into the car then we set off to make a memory on one of my favorite sports, Archery.

We got to the street where the cafe was and got out of the car. We went into the cafe then got settled in the waiting room. We had gotten there at around 1:45 and the cafe had lessons at 2:00. So we waited for the teacher while getting all the gear on.

The teacher got there and we got our bows. We learned the rules and got ready to shoot. The instructor got out a little bow and gave it to Monster. It turned out that Monster was also able to do it and he had fun shooting arrows at the target.

The rest of us shot 10 arrows each and got them after everyone was done shooting. I was doing really good and hitting the target.  I had a great time shooting because I got a strait bulls eye. My arrow landed right on the dot in the middle of the target that was a real bullseye. It was so amazing!!!! Big Sis was getting disappointed because she had not gotten into the yellow part of the target that was a bulls-eye. She was determined and on our last round of shooting, she shot a bulls eye.

Mom was nailing it by shooting in the red and yellow. She was having a great time.

It was cool watching Little A shoot a bow-and-arrow for the first time.  She shot some arrows so high they were off the target.  She would just laugh and ask for help to get them down.

Monster was having the time of his life, every time he shot an arrow and it landed somewhere, he would yell, " Mommy, Look!!!"  So cute!!

The Instructor took over helping Monster, so daddy could shoot too.  They were so good with Monster and would help lift him up when his arrows were too high from him.  They gave him all kinds of encouragement in Korean, I know Monster didn't understand the words, but he definitely understood the meaning and let them help him the entire time.  This is pretty big, because he usually won't let anyone even talk to him. While Monster was in the watch of super amazing Koreans, daddy took to the target just a few spots down.  He was so much better at it than everyone.  He was super amazing.

We had such a fun experience at the Archery Cafe and we were happy to make another memory in Korea.

The Nanta Show Valentine's Date

For Valentine's Day 2019 we decided to go do a fun show in Seoul called Nanta. It was a cooking comedy show, which luckily was limited in Korean language, so we weren't going to be missing much if we couldn't understand. It was so awesome!

We invited the Liddell's, who we had traveled with before to join us, and after 2 hours of traffic we luckily made it. The Liddell's even got called up to be participants in the show, from Bert getting married to a Korean woman (perfect valentine gift to give his wife) and Adreann who got to make dumplings on stage, it was hilarious and totally clean! After the show, we were able to meet the cast and since the Liddell's were called on stage they got souvenir photos and signatures.

After the show we killed the street market food, as it was the absolute best street food we have had in Korea! We were even able to get chocolate covered strawberries for 1,000 won each (that's like a buck ya'll)...WIN! It made the night so much fun to be out with friends, see a hilarious show, and have some amazing food. 

-Kevin

Sulbing Korean Dessert

While out near the Pyeongaek City Hall area, we found our new favorite dessert restaurant, Korean Dessert Cafe, Sulbing. I saw on the Spouses Facebook Page a post about an amazing strawberry Korean dessert, and went on the search to find it.

Sulbing lived up to my expecations.  The bowl was this gigantically huge bowl filled with a super fine shaved ice flakes, sweetened condensed milk, ice cream and strawberries.  It was unlike anything I have had before and was so delicious.

Since finding Sulbing the first time, we have come back many times.  Each time we try a different flavor.  The chocolate was surprising because it was straight cocoa powder on the top of the shaved ice flakes.  We got this one with the kids, and they went to take a bite and each of them ended in a coughing fit because they had breathed in the cocoa powder.  It was so funny because they all did it at least five times before they learned to take a bite without breathing in.  It wasn't my favorite flavor, I like milk chocolate better, but it was still good.  If you are ever in Pyeongtaek, stop at Sulbing, you won't be disappointed.

51st Fighter Wing Annual Awards Banquet 2019

51^st Fighter Wing Annual Awards Banquet = BEST NIGHT EVER! So every year, there is a tradition to highlight the different ranks in the Air Force at an annual award banquet. This annual award is a big deal, dressing up in mess dress, having a banquet dinner (that you pay for), and getting a chance to highlight other people and the great work they did during the year. For me it was also a way to get to be with some amazing friends, and two of mine here are both MSgt Paul Livaudais, and MSgt Dustin Schwartz. Now, I secretly have a huge crush on Dustin's 20 year career of accomplishments as an A-10 maintainer, and he truly is the best gear head I have ever known. Planes, Mustangs, doesn't matter, he can fix it. So when I look at all his medals from a career of awesomeness all I can say to him was: "Dustin, I love your rack." Thats what they are called btw, so NO I am not being inappropriate (well maybe a little). Man crush on the medals for sure.

In my unit, there are a lot of amazing people, but being the only guy that does what you do is both a burden and a blessing. The burden comes down to always being asked questions, or having to take on cases that are not within your scope of practice, etc. But with doing all I did with my team, we would submit for recognition in different categories throughout the year, and this year was amazing. 

Here is my unit family, from left to right Lt Col Wonil Chong (my fellow flight commander), Lt Col David Dennison (Our operations officer), MSgt Deonna Johnson (SNCO of the year nominee), my commander Col Brian Min, and my group commander Col Casey Campbell. Every one of these people had a hand in blessing my life here.

This year was amazing because I had the opportunity to win at the group level Field Grade Officer (FGO) twice, I won PACAF clinical dentist of the year, and all this set me up for the annual award. The package was then submitted to my unit, consisted in a form that required 12 lines of performance in your primary duty, then 4 lines of performance in the “whole airman” concept, highlighting things that you are doing outside of the normal day in and day out profession. 

I worked for hours on the package that I submitted, and won my squadron’s FGO of the year, making me eligible for the group award. After a rewrite of my awards package by my commander, Col Min, and Senior Master Sergeant Otilio Blanco, I went up against the group and some of my best friends here (fellow physicians, fellow flight commanders, etc). I won there, which was honestly the most amazing thing in my eyes, and a reflection of my team. This is a huge win for an officer to win anything. This made me eligible to then compete at the 51^stFighter Wing, against four other FGO’s. 

The tricky part was the timing. The awards banquet where the winners would be announced would be a whopping two days after my challenge of my oral board in the United States. I wanted to go so bad, so I arranged my flight to leave the night of my oral board. I finished my oral board exam, got dropped off back at the hotel, changed in the bathroom, went to the airport, got on a plane, flew 14 hours back, rode on a bus three hours, got home, saw my family, slept for 3 hours, then got up and got all dolled up with my smoking hot bestest friend ever (Heather), and went to the awards banquet. 

I was so tired, but it was amazing. Heather and I got to be there with Dustin and Corianne, and as a nominee you get to walk in under a tunnel of swords, and then be escorted to your table of honor. Just to be there as a nominee would have been enough, especially with how stunning Heather looked. She had the most amazing dress picked out by her sister and nieces in Utah, altered by our friend here Tracy Andreason to make it just the right length, and with shoes that looked like Cinderella's that I bought for her in Dallas just two days before.

I had so many people come up and congratulate me, and the majority of them weren’t even from my unit. They were just people that I had worked with or operated on, just amazing all the way around.

Finally it came down to my category, and when my name was read as: “And the winner is, from the 51^st Medical Group", the room exploded! Commanders of different squadrons stood up and cheered, their spouses stood up and yelled so loud that you couldn’t even hear my name being read. I stood up just amazed, and made my walk to the stage. The group commander that presented me the award, Col Montovani, walked over to the microphone and re-read my name since no one could hear it, then came back over and presented me the award.

The best part of all of this was Heather: when I got the award handed to me she yelled at the top of her lungs, “THAT’S MY HUSBAND YA’LL!” That was a moment to remember, for this award was her award too!

Col Montovani looked in the eye and said, “Kevin, well done. This is a big deal!” It was a big deal, big night, big moment, right at the end of completing the biggest exam of my life!
-Kevin