Newest Japanese Pedi

It's funny how big of a hit the pics of my toes are to everyone :) Anyway, this is a picture of my 3rd pedicure (as I said, I go once a month!) and I think it might even be my favorite one so far. The base is a yellow color with orange and red palm trees on top with a little bit of glitter accents. The orange palm trees are hard to see, but after the lady took about 30 minutes to paint them on, she asked if I wanted he to re-do them and of course I said "no"! I would have felt terrible, considering I picked the colors. I love going to CoCok's :)

A weekend of fun in the sun

This weekend was absolutely perfect beach weather! For the past few weeks we've been able to enjoy sunny days with temps in the 70/80's and this weekend was no exception. We had a slow start on Saturday because Joe worked a night shift all week long for an exercise they were having on base. He was assigned the 6pm-4am shift! Not fun!!! Luckily he only did that for three days and then he was called in for a flight on Friday night, but after planning and prepping for 4-hours, it was cancelled last minute.

So Saturday we enjoyed sleeping in when we woke up and looked out the window, we decided it was definitely a beach day. We called some friends and then we were informed there were protests going on all day outside of the various gates. No one knew the specific details, but some people said it would be very difficult to get back on base if we were to leave. We decided to take our chances and hit the beach! We just went to the Kadena Marina, where there was a small beach for people to enjoy. The water was a perfect 75 degrees and there was a neat little island not too far away that people could swim to and check out. We were only there for a few hours and after applying lots of sunscreen, I turned about 10 shades darker! I mentioned before, local Japanese women don't like to get tan and are constantly covering themselves up in the sun. I on the otherhand am completley opposite! I bet the locals think I'm weird! Saturday night was spent at a birthday party meeting more people in the squadron, and then our weekly visit to CoCo's Curry House and then Chili's for some margs and dessert :)

Sunday was another perfect day, and we were invited to go to the Comprehensive Water Park. It's no Water World, but it was still a lot of fun and perfect to cool off and lounge around in non-salt water (that's the only downside to the ocean- yuck!). They had three big water slides, one you could go down with a tube. We took turns racing down and of course, I always came in last. They ahd a lazy river that was just fun to sit on the tube and go around and around. We spent several hours there, and of course more sunscreen was applied and I still turned another 5 shades darker. Now the fun is over and it's time for me to get to work on my NAC (National Agency Check) paperwork! Not fun! Thankfully I have great friends who are helping me out with everythin! Here are some pics of the weekend:

Kadena Marina If you look closely, Joe is standing on the stairs on the island (light blue shorts).

Hanging out and enjoying the sun. I'm getting so dark!

The Japanese protesting at the gates to the base... clogged up traffic big time!

Joe and & at the Comprehensive Water Park!Big water slides! So fun!

Comprehensive Water Park

Floating along the lazy river.

Maeda Point

This weekend we decided to head out to this place called Maeda Point. It takes about 20 minutes to get to, but it's really neat!!! There one spot where you go down to all this coral and it's a great place for people to scuba and snorkel. The Maeda Flats is just a great place to walk around, find these awesome shells, check out some sealife and look at some amazing landforms (caves, rock formations, etc.).

We went for a bit on Saturday just to check it out and we went back on Sunday and brought the pups with us! Unfortunatley the battery in my camera died and I didn't end up taking any pictures. However, they surprised us both how much they like the beach/water!!! Brody was the first to take the plunge and ran right into the water without thinking twice about it. I think they enjoyed cooling off in it. They were a little afraid of the seacucumbers, but otherwise really enjoyed running around and checking everything out! Unfortunatley, it started getting too hot for the pups so we collected some shells and called it a day.

Loving the island life!

When we first got here, it was sunny beautiful mid 70 degree weather for the first few days. Then it rained, rained and rained some more. So I'm happy to announce it's been absolutely beautiful and sunny here for a week straight!!!

We're really enjoying it here, and the weather really just adds to it and makes it all the better. Who wouldn't enjoy perfectly blue skies, 78 degree temperatures and gorgeous beaches to lay out on? I know we need to take advantage of the temperature right now because before we know it, it's going to be scalding hot outside. People keep warning us the humidity is crazy hot here, like nothing you've ever experienced before. I keep saying we just moved from Columbus, MS where it was pretty humid and they keep saying it's worse, just wait and see. Soooo, I guess we'll have to wait and see! All I remember is it being so miserably hot outside in MS that I would break into a sweat just walking down the driveway to check the mail! I'm not going to complain though, because I will take hot and humid any day over cold/rain/snow.

We hope to go to the botannical gardens and another new beach this weekend. We are absolutely loving it here and all the places there are to go explore and enjoy. It helps having some really great friends! Of course we already have another new restaurant we've been eyeing... The Garlic House! Everything you've ever dreamed of made in garlic.... fish, pasta, pizza, meat, etc! We can't wait!

Other than our weekend adventures, I've been spending time with some friends during the weekdays just hanging out and exploring the island. I STILL haven't started my job but I know they'll call sooner or later, it's just how it is and I have to be patient! I know before long I'll be wishing I had days off to just be lazy and lounge around all day. Isn't that how it always is (wishing you had work when you don't and vice versa)? I've also decided to put off applying to the Master's program I've been looking into until the fall semester. I'd rather be settled with my job and know how much time/energy I'll have during the week to commit to the program, rather than starting this month and trying to start a new job at the same time. Also, it gives me time to persuade myself to get motivated for school again. I can't lie, I've really been enjoying time off of school- no mid-terms/finals, research papers, etc. has been nice, but I think it's time I get back into the swing of things before I decide I never want to go back!!! Joe is still looking for the right Master's program as well... it's tough being overseas and choosing the right school.

Anyway, hope all is going well for all of you who follow our blog!!! We miss everyone and want to remind you that our guest room is always available!!! They have weekly flights (if you're military) out of Seattle to Okinawa on the Space-A rotater (commercial flight though!).

Araha Beach!

The Japanese are afraid of the sun. Even when not at the beach, they walk around with little umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. They even have curtains on their windows in their cars to block out the sun while they're driving...hm, safety hazard? When it's in the upper 70's you'll see them wearing pants and sweatshirts. I know I've heard before Asian's don't like to have tans because the poor worker people get tans from working in the sun. I'm not sure if that applies here, or if they're just modest... you won't see many girls prancing around in bikini's... they usually wear t-shirts in the water.

Joe studying up before his flight... and Brody keeping him company. Joe's been flying a lot lately, I think he's had 10 sorties so far. He's almost mission qualified!

The dogs are enjoying it here too... they have the life! Lounging around in the sun, or getting attention from mom and dad! They're quite the happy pups.

Squeak squeak...

The other day I noticed Kella standing out in the backyard barking at the ground. I was wondering what the heck she was barking out and went out and was startled to find a gray furry creature trying to burry itself into the ground!!! I shouted for a friend to help me out while I held back the pups from trying to eat the dang thing! It made this awful squeaking sound too! Thankfully it left the backyard.

She shooed it away with a box and it looked as if it was a mouse. I was informed later on by my neighbors it was a baby shrew... it was only about 3-4 inches long and was really skinny so I was thinking before I knew what it was that it was a goofy looking mouse. Anyway, my neighbor said they grow to be pretty big (like the size of a rabbit) and they run around the neighborhood all the time.

Well, the little creature didn't learn its lesson the first time and crept back into the backyard. All I heard was that horrible squeaking sound and when I got out there the dogs had already killed it. They didn't eat it (thank goodness) but we chalked it up to they must of thought it was a toy... just like their furry squeaky toys!!! They have so many toys that squeak and look like some kind of animal, we unknowingly trained them to be rodent killers.... plus not to mention it's in Kella's nature to go after little animals (she is a hunting dog).

For those of you wondering what a shrew is... here ya go. Just another creature encounter we've had here on the island!