Beach Season!

This last weekend Joe and I were able to go to the beach (and actually sit out and get some sun) for the first time this year! It's been raining a lot, so when it was finally nice and sunny on Saturday, we woke up and headed to the beach! It was in fact so hot, we really only stayed for about 45 minutes. We decided we needed to ease our way into the hot Okinawan sun and get a good base going (well, mainly just Joe) so no one turned into lobsters. It was so nice and I can't wait for more sunny weekends! We really do want to make the most of beach season this year!!!

Gift Shop Treasures!

I absolutely LOVE the gift shops!!! They get shipments from all over the place, and the Foster Gift Corner had a new shipment from Hong Kong! I pretty much never leave without finding something I must have! The best part is they have items for great prices! Things you might find at Pier 1 or Pottery Barn but for like 75% less! We've only been here a year and SO many things in our house are from the gift shop! Can't wait to see what else I'll accumulate in the next two years ;)
Here were my finds for today (all for under $20!):
-Black wicker basket w/lid
-Wooden picture frame for the bedroom
-3 decorative balls that perfectly match the living room rug!

Looking Up

Most of you don't know, but I had a really tough time last month. Within the matter of days, I went through the up's and down's of having several positive HPT, to it then resulting in an early miscarriage. Joe and I have been TTC for quite some time now. Needless to say, we were extremley disappointed and saddened with the events that took place. I was really confused and upset, but thankfully had great family and a select few friends who helped me through it all. I've taken the time to reflect and realize that everything happens for a reason, and Joe and I will continue to try again. If I'm not meant to have my own biological child, I know there is always adoption (something we want to do even if we can have our own)!!! Anyway, for those of you who might have wondered why I was somewhat distant the last month or so, please forgive me! Things are looking up and I'm in a much happier mood these days! :)

Space-A Blues

Well, Joe had a trip coming up and for the first time I thought I was going to be able to join him! Wrong!!! For OPSEC reasons, I can't disclose where they're heading. Anyway, I got the word that the teacher I was filling in for at school was coming back, so I was excited thinking I could hop on the flight with Joe, no problem.

For Space-A you have to get a command sponsored letter (basically permission to fly Space-A and proof that you're a dependent). Space-A puts people into categories (Category 1 has first priority, which includes people who are PCSing, etc.) and down to Category 6. I was a category 4, and I was still hopeful I was going to make it.

I had to get to the PAX terminal at 4:00am... not fun. I was so excited though, I was able to get up without too much of a problem. I got to the termial and it wasn't open yet and there was already a line. Uh oh...

Roll-call was at 4:40am. By 4:30am there were already 50+ people waiting. There were only 20 seats. Hmmm, the math doesn't quite add up. Needless to say, over half the people weren't making the flight!

I didn't make it, due to the fact I didn't sign-up until a few days prior to the flight. It's based on categories and when you sign-up. Some people had been signed up for weeks, so they get a seat over me. I wanted to scream, "It's not fair! My husband is flying the plane. Let me on!!! I know there's space!!!", but that would categorize me as the "snobby officer's wife who think she gets special treatment" (we've had a few spouses in the squadon do that and it didn't turn out well)...

I called Joe asking if there was anything they could do, and unfortunatley there wasn't. It was a huge bummer not to be able to go. I was SO excited, but should of known it was too much of a good thing. Better luck next time...

In the mean time, since I'm signed up, I'll have to see if there are any cool trips in the next 90-days (that's how long I'll be in the systems)...

April Pedi

Woohoo! Always love going in for my pedi. Carmee and I went to the gym early on a Saturday morning for a quick workout before treating ourselves to a double Coco/Cocok's day!! We got our pedis and then went to get some Coco's Curry :) Totally nixed the workout, but oh-so-worth it! Thanks, Carmee! Just what I needed to brighten my week!

Naughy, Naughty!!!

Lately Brody has gotten into the bad habit of getting into the trashcan while we are gone for long periods of time.... or when he sees us throw something away that smells mighty tasty!

This problem started when they were both puppies... we had the basic trashcan with the swinging lid. We had to put it in the sliding closet, but they soon figured out how to swipe their paws in the door to slide the doors open. Then we had to figure out how to "jam" the doors together when we left the house. Problem solved.

Well, this house doesn't have a closet area big enough for the trashcan. We bought a big stainless steel trashcan that opens when you step on the lever on the bottom. We figured that was doggie proof! It went well for the first few months... until Brody got too smart and learned that by stepping on the lever, the top pops open. Hmmm, time to brainstorm...

So we decided to put a small 5lb dumbell on top of the lid. This made it too heavy for him to be able to pop the lid open by stepping on it. Ta-da, it worked!

Until... he figured out how to just knock off the weight and push over the trashcan (it's really heavy too!). I got to come home to this lovely surprise after a long day of work...

I'm not sure this picture really does justice to just how messy this was. Some of you Oki friends may notice the white plastic containers from Coco's. We had sticky curry all over the tile, coffee grounds all over the place, and it led all the way into the living room!

I know they are guilty and I'm in for my "surprise" when Brody doesn't greet me at the door. He's hiding upstairs because he knows he is in trouble. I can never stay mad at him, because he's just so darn cute.

Oh, you might wonder why I know it's Brody?! Because Kella is SO lazy, she doesn't ever leave bed; she's SO lazy! Hmmmfff, what a life!

3-Year Anniversary

We decided this year we wouldn't get eachother any gifts for our anniversary. Instead, our trip to Tokyo was our gift to eachother!!! I can't believe it's been three years... the time sure has been flying by!!! We found a great restaurant to eat at that night... we had so much yummy food!!! Cheers to another year of marriage together!

Tokyo Trip

Joe and I took a 4-day trip to Tokyo! Yay, as part of our New Year's Resolutions to get out and travel more, we were excited to finally get some leave approved!!! The flight was only about two hours long and when we got to the airport, we stopped by the Information Desk to get maps and brochures of the areas we wanted to go to, and were trying to figure out just how to get to our hotel using the subway system.

I'm no stranger to subway/metro systems (DC and Germany), but I have to admit, this one was probably the most complicated/confusing system I've encountered. Most likely it was due to the fact most of it was in Japanese characters. Thankfully, we had our iPhones with a free app that would calculate the subway routes we needed to take to get to whichever station we input into it. What a life saver!!!

Our hotel was about a 45-minute "ride" away, with two stops and one train change. It's complicated because they have several entirely different "train systems"... one called a "JR line", the "subway", and the "monorail". You better make sure you know which line you're getting on and in which direction!!! We were of course the "stupid Americans" who were slowing everyone else down, but by the end of our trips we were PROS!

Our first day we checked into our hotel and ventured out to find the Tokyo Tower. It was only about a 15-minute walk from our hotel. It was awesome to see the entire city from such a great view. It was strange being in such a big city... Okinawa sure is a much slower pace town. Everyone was hustling to get to where they were going... definitely city life!

The next few days we spent checking out different areas... we traveled all over Tokyo! We saw some temples and shrines, different shopping areas, tried new restaurants, went to Disney Sea, and enjoyed just walking around the different areas.

Joe and I both have never been to any of the Disney parks before, so we were both super excited! We originally had wanted to go on Friday hoping it wouldn't be as crowded, but it rained all Friday so we decided we had to put it off until the weekend. Fortunatley, the weather was fairly decent, but it was super crowded!!! All the rides had lines that were hours long. We decided one the one we wanted to go on and waited in line for 2 hours and 45 minutes!!! I honestly don't think I've ever waited that long in a line before. My feet were killing me from all the walking around we'd done the days before, and standing for all that time sure didn't help!!! We finally got on the ride and it felt like it lasted for all of 3 minutes. UGH! Oh well, it was cool and we were glad we got to go on at least one big ride!

I honestly needed a vacation from my vacation! We were "go, go, go" the entire time! We came back on Sunday and immediately needed to unpack, settle back in, and get ready for work bright and early the next day!

We had a BLAST! Can't wait to do some more traveling! It's either going to be China or Korea mext!!!