July 2013 Monthly Recap

Oh Man! I just realized now, nearly a month later that this never posted for you guys!  Ahhh!!! I've been recently traveling a bit, which I'll catch you up on for the August Recap, but for now, enjoy July's!

The longer we are here the faster time seems to be going.  This month was almost strangely speedy though.  I started volunteering more often, including an entire week (part-time) of organizing storage for the new USO Okinawa branch office.  It was sort of heaven for me, sorting through office supplies and putting them in order.  Although I only worked half days, by the time I drove back and forth to the other base and then did my normal daily errands and chores, the day was done!!!  No time for the beach...pffft!!! I haven't posted here at all this month, but check over at Kacey's Kitchen where I've been doing an "Eating Japan" series of everything we've been shoving in our faces...oink oink!  Now, onto the recap!

Let's start off with a smiling face... How she lays like this with her legs only an inch off the ground, I'll never understand.

I can't get enough of the beach.  Kassie, Maylee and I explored some islands on the eastern side of Okinawa and found what I think is my new favorite hidden beach.  Don't go there.  It's really horrible.

Aaron's parents sent us a Betsy Ross flag just in time for Fourth of July.  It actually looked really nice in this huge window.  Plus, Aaron is a direct descendant of Betsy Ross, so we definitely have to represent the family!  True story.

Have I mentioned you can get really cheap and really good massages here?  I'm talking $30 per hour.  Crazzzy!  This may or may not be my first one here.  But, it was my first Lomilomi, which is a Hawaiian massage.  Kacey approved for sure.

We signed up for library memberships and received this awesome pin.  Libraries remind me of a dream I had where I said "Read more books motherfuckers", and ever since, I have really wanted to make that saying a t-shirt.  You heard it here first.

Aaron finally got certified and we were able to go diving together a couple of weeks ago.  We did two dives and had tons of fun.  I forgot how hungry and tired diving makes you.  We went right off the Sunabe Seawall.  Although people dive there all the time and say how nice it is, I couldn't believe HOW nice it was. At one people I was floating around at about 45 feet and actually thought to myself "Wow, I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of coral!".  Geez.  Dumbass. Ha!!!

On our way back from returning our rental gear, we stopped for mango shaved ice at a stand run by two older gentlemen.  I pass them all the time and have never stopped before.  It's going to be hard to drive past WITHOUT stopping from now on.  Shaved ice is a huge thing here, it's like snowcone but a MILLION times better.  It's light and fluffy and they layer the toppings.  You can even get them with azuki beans (red beans)!

Breakfast is awesome and brunch with champagne and friends is even better.  A few of us in the neighborhood have been taking turns with brunch on the weekends, which is one of the most brilliant ideas EVER.  I made baked caprese egg bites one day.  My turn to host next!

 Not the most exciting picture, but it's so nice that Italian tomato chicken (which I think is supposed to be Chicken Parmesan) comes with peace!

We like to torture the cat.  On this particular day, I dressed her in the shirt I was brought home from the hospital in.  She just laid there, defeated. Muahaha!

Did I ever mention how I love going to the beach.  Another exploration day lead to Aaron and I laying in the sun on Ikei Island.  When it got too hot we floated around in the 86°F ocean.  It was rough I tell you. So. Freaking. Rough.

Penis cookies.  I'm not even going to go there...my parents read this blog.

This book was recommended to me, and I finally got around to checking it out at the bookstore.  This book is beautiful, and has so many fresh Japanese basics.  It would fit lovely in my kitchen if anyone wants to buy it for me.

I've been desperately needing a hair cut, and although a few years ago I swore off dying my hair to go all natural, I couldn't help feel like I needed a change.  I received a ton of in-town stylish recommendations and eventually made my decision based on closing my eyes and pointing to the list and made my appointment at Earth.  Armed with multiple photos and a list of English=Japanese hair style terms, I decided to go all out.  I paid extra for a higher level stylist, opted for highlights, and chose a deep conditioning treatment.  A few people came over to talk with me about options and what I wanted done, they wrote everything up and reviewed the price with me to make sure I was okay with it.  I thought that was awesome. No surprises!!!  I showed my inspiration photos and then told the colorist that he was free to use his judgement, which seemed to take him by surprise but was very happy about.  The only thing I told the stylist was "lots of LONG layers" and I want to keep my hair very long.  After 5 HOURS in the chair (not an exaggeration), multiple glasses of iced tea, my butt was sore, but I left a happy girl.  I originally requested a subtle ombre coloring, so when I took the picture below, I was a little concerned because I had foil all the way to my scalp.... But being as flexible as I am with my hair (I really don't care), I was curious what he decided to do.

The colorist was awesome, we talked quite a bit, his English was pretty good, and I tried to speak in as much Japanese as possible, which I'm sure I butchered because they were really amused with it.  We also taught each other some words in our respective languages.  I felt like a tool being a little nervous to speak with him so much, but it got easier as the hours passed.  Gotta take advantage of speaking the language when I can!  So I was happy with the color, but I was BLOWN away (hehe) buy the stylist.  This was BY FAR the best hair cut I've ever had in my life.  Even though he was really tall, he ended up kneeling most of the time to cut the back of my hair.  He was a wizard with scissors I tell you.  He really did keep my length, which you can see on the picture on the right (I was headed to bed when I took that picture) and thinned my hair so much I swear I lost 10lbs.  I have really thick hair, and was so impressed with the way he thinned it out with scissors (not a razor), that it really showed off the layers and actually makes my hair manageable.  The picture on the right shows the color a little bit more, although it's another weird photo - I'm sure you'll see better pictures in the upcoming posts.  I have highlights on top also, but those are a little more subtle then the ones underneath, which I love.  People say there are better places to go, but I'm going to have a hard time leaving this stylist.

KayCee, Kaylee and I did a last minute beach trip to catch the sunset the other day.  Seriously, anywhere you go here the view is beautiful.

I feel like these might be floating around the US somewhere, but either way, I found them interesting.  So...it's  basically a $1.00 (¥100) converter for smaller batteries when you need a larger one.  I feel like it would melt my gadget, but if you've tried it, let me know.

I had the pleasure of dog sitting ANOTHER lab.  This is Millie, and it's not just her brown coat that reminds me so much of Bosco, but her personality as well.  She thinks shes a human and she'll do anything for your love.  Unfortunately she hurt her leg at some point, so we weren't able to play as much as we would have liked, but she did get some human cuddle time in, with both me and the elephant.

Lauryn and I dubbed this entire day amazing before it was even 1pm.  After walking the dogs we headed off to do some paddleboarding in the East China Sea at Torii Beach.  This was my first time and it definitely showed.  The ocean was a little choppy (for beginners) once we got out there, but I was able to stand up a few times and we had fun just paddling around on our knees as well.  After baking in the sun for about an hour we decided to return them ($5 an hour) and float around in the water just enjoying the day.  I couldn't believe how many different muscles it took to stay balanced, pros make it look so easy! We later grabbed some gyros at Sunabe Gyro's (I got goat, she got falafel) and sat on the seawall enjoying our delicious grub.  Picture of my view below.  It was just a really good relaxing day all around.

At the end of the month we sponsored a new guy moving to the island and joining Aaron's squadron.  We were pretty excited about this.  The new guy seemed pretty cool based on the emails and phone calls we exchanged, and we were happy we could help someone out.  At a minimum, the base requests that you pick up the new person, book lodging for them, and show them around.  When you take into consideration that no one has a car or even a drivers license when they first get here, there is lots of relying on complete strangers for help.  Seeing that we only arrived in February, our lack of freedom was fresh in our minds and we were determined to be awesome sponsors! Anyway, the new guy ended up being really cool and laid back and I'd like to think we helped him get settled in a little and have some fun.

While waiting at the airport, I had to get some shots with the mascot.  He's so happy sitting in an airport all day!

Last but not least, fancy turtle!  While browsing a pet store, I stumbled upon the store turtle.  I'm not sure where he/she was going all dressed up like that, but it was a pretty huge and cool dude.

Again, sorry for not realizing this post hadn't actually post.  In just a few days, we'll be recapping August!  Woo Woo!!!

So tell me, what have you been up to?
Do you have a blog with monthly recaps?  If so, leave me the link and I'll share them with the world!!

Click here for all of the past monthly recaps.

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Random Things We've Been Up To (February & March)

I have so many pictures of things we have done and seen that I would love to share, but I've been thinking of how to do that without doing a whole blog post on each individual thing.  Maybe like a monthly round up of our highlights and fun things?  That might work.  Seeing that we are closing in on the month of April, let me catch up now with some highlights of our life in Japan for February and March.

I'm going to do a separate post for snacks, signs, and other products I've found, so keep an eye out for that soon!  Of course, restaurants and food will be found over at Kacey's Kitchen

Here's our February and March Japanese happenings.

Our welcome sign we were greeted with when arriving to the terminal.  No pictures of our actual welcome group but I spoke a little about it here.  I didn't take pictures because I was too busy being frantic inside my head figuring out how to get straight to our hotel room instead of socializing after our 26ish hour flight.  That's right, we are social butterflies.

I was excited to find one of the nicer fish markets in the area.  This place gets deliveries every morning from all over the Pacific and brings them into the store fresh from the boat.  I plan to do a blog post on this, so for now, you get a picture of me catching a big one!  They have tons of these wood cut out picture opp things.  Are they actually called something?

Right across from a great produce market is often and out door plant sale. Anything from bonsai to herbs to trees you can find here!

I found my first geocache with a new friend here.  Her and her husband go all the time to find new places to explore on the island.  We weren't able to find our first one, but were successful on our second location.  You can see how tiny it is compared to my finger.  Tricky, Tricky!

I do a lot of general exploring, especially by myself.  Usually it starts out trying to find a new store or market and then wandering around the neighborhood aimlessly. It's the best way to explore in my opinion.

We supported our local roller derby team in March.  They play in various locations, but here they skated in a fighter jet hanger on base.  That's pretty awesome.  I miss my team back in Florida a ton, especially watching other people.  Still undecided though on joining up with their volunteers.

 The first weekend we were here, we went with friends to Pizza in the Sky, which deserves its own post.  But they had beautiful gardens and tons of Shisa (lion dogs).  These mythical creatures are believed to protect homes/businesses from evil spirts.  They are often found in pairs, one on either side of the doorway or roof.  One has a closed mouth (keeping good spirits in) and one has an open mouth (to keep bad spirits away).  They are really interesting, and there are so many variations of them.  I wouldn't mind getting some small ones at some point.

I can't even remember the last time I dyed easter eggs, but we had a nice dinner and dying party with friends a few weeks ago.  Lots of competition over the best egg.

Here's the couch I was talking about the other day.  Total big kid couch.  The pillows are all discombobulated because they literally just put it all together when I snapped this photo.  See, the tags are still on it.  Speaking of pillows, those are metallic silver pillows that came with it.  Amazing!!!!  And that ottoman, how dumb that it was a huge selling point to me, but I love it.  It's on wheels and opens up for storage.  Man, this couch is huge too, it's almost 10 feet long on both sides, which is awesome to lay on and watch movies.

More exploring. We took a trip down to Naha (the largest city here) and walked around the famous (touristy) Kokusai Street.  Here's a picture of Heiwa Dori (Peace Street) marketplace, just off of Kokusai.  The marketplace was definitely our favorite, with more variation of shops, and an amazing fish and meat market.  We plan on going back to the market. A very nice man working there asked if we spoke English (his English was excellent) and thanked us for being here.  He explained that we could buy any of the fish we saw and bring them upstairs to have one of the restaurants cook it for us.

I can still coupon here. At the commissary at least.  Of course, we don't get the newspaper or anything, so couponers here rely on people back home sending them to us.  The commissaries and exchanges overseas allow us to use coupons that are up to 6 months expired.  There are lots of programs and groups back home that mail bulk coupons to our family readiness center, and from there we are able to go and pick up envelopes or boxes of coupons.  Before we moved here, I would also send my expired coupons overseas.  Of course, you can also send your high value coupons directly to me *wink wink*.

Man, they love their arcades here. Arcades EVERYWHERE. And they aren't your typical arcades.  Maybe I should do a whole post on them as well.  Asides from games, they have these really fun photo booths.  After it takes your picture, it enhances your features and colors, making the photos really pop.  It widens your eyes and makes your lips and eye color really bold while lightening your skin.  Then you can go and edit the photos with words, borders or embellishments.  We may or may not have taken photos in this booth, and Aaron may or may not look prettier than me in the photos.

Found a number of fabric shops in the area.  There are some pretty good ones.  The prices are reasonable.  Think JoAnns or Hancock but without the sales.  I've been having a hard time deciding what to buy.  These were all so fun, but I didn't buy any of these. Ha!

When I first got here, I joined our squadron spouses crud team. Crud is a game made up by drunk fighter pilots played on a pool or snooker table.  It's a competitive, confusing, and frantic game played with teams.  Go google and you tube it.  It doesn't make any sense, and depending on who you play with, the rules are different.  Every year a tournament is held.  We were all newbies this year, and we thought we were more prepared then it showed.  We were the first team out, and I was the first person to 'die' on my team.  That was almost 2 months ago now and it's still driving me nuts.  Seriously. My name was 'ACE'.  I could have done better than that.  But it was an awesome way to meet people, and super fun to play.

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Our Life in Numbers

I like lists.  I like numbers.  And I like countdowns.  Let's put them all together, shall we?

108 days left of Aaron's Pilot Initial Qualification course

125 days (or sooner) until our 'arrive no later than' date to Japan

16 computer based training exercises Aaron needs to complete

6 training flights left

85 days until we see Rachael

75 amount of homemade dinners to make in the USA (approximately)

4 days until we see Aaron's parents

130 hours (approximately) left until Kacey finishes Rosetta Stone Japanese

4 suitcases to pack

2 vehicles to sell

1 cat to annoy

Also, if you're into applesauce, check out a recent post called Applesauce at my kitchen!

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Summer Bucket List

I laugh out loud every week at my two best friends podcast.  And by best friends, I mean people who have no clue who I am, but if they did know who I was, we would totally be best friends.  In real life.  But this is real life, and we don't know each other, so we aren't best friends.  But this is my blog, and I'll claim whatever best friends I want!

My not-really-best-friends are Joy & Tracy from Joy the Baker Podcast at Homefries.  As I type this, I'm listening to Episode #52, talking about summer bucket lists.  As usual homework was assigned.  I don't usually 'do' homework, but hey, it's a blog post.  I can totally handle this.  After all, I've been wanting to do a life bucket list post, so why not start small with a summer list.

Here it goes (will update as appropriate):

1. finish upholstering chair
2. make no-sew matching pillows
3. create a federal resume
4. end of summer yard sale - purge, purge, purge!
5. seriously attack the Japanese Rosette Stone program
6. finish 2009 photo book
7. finish 2010 photo book
8. start 2011 photo book
9. read through all the 'real' books I currently own so I can move exclusively to my kindle
10. start & continue monthly cooking club
11. travel (tackled Southern California-twice, Lake Havasu Arizona, and the Grand Canyon)
12. swim at least once a week

These are completely subject to change, and I'll keep you updated as I work on them.

Do you have a summer bucket list?  Leave a comment below to share!  

P.S. California family time photo...Cousin love!

I Want My Order!!!

For the record....

Waiting, especially for something you ordered, is the worst thing ever.

I'd also like to know why I have the urge to refresh my fed-ex page every minute, when I know it's not going to change.

Since we are on the topic, why doesn't food magically appear in my fridge after opening and closing that door?

Why do my cloths take longer to dry when I need that one pair of pants.  And it's always the damn denim, the ones you can't get away with having almost completely dry.

And why does my mail guy delivery other peoples mail to us on a regular basis.  I wonder where all my mail is. Someone else is scoring big on the free samples this week.

Interested in Food?  Check out my other site called Kacey's Kitchen and Fridays Post: Smoky Chipotle Breakfast Tortilla Bake.

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