New House Pics

Well, as promised, here are some new pics of our new house. Well, it's not brand new, but newly rennovated. It's pretty much the same exact layout, except they added a dining room to the front of the house and the kitchen and entry-way were a bit altered. Other than that, they did a really good job modernizing the entire house. Good-bye ugly blue-green tiles in the bathrooms and kitchen. We also have decent wooden cabinets in the kitchen, carpet in all the rooms (minus the dining room) and a bigger back porch. We're really enjoying the house. We've had lots of friends over and have put the big new dining room table to good use. We finally got our fence installed in the backyard for the pups. Unfortunatley, they got so spoiled going on 5-6 walks a day, they still beg to go out on walks instead of the yard. Oh well, that's life!

Front entry area.

Dining room area.

Entry into the kitchen from the front door/stairs/dining room area.

Other section of the kitchen that leads into the living room area.
Living room.

Another side of the living room.

And another side of the living room. We put a little computer nook on the left.

Upstairs hallway. On the right is the master bedroom, the imediate left is a linen closet, then a office, then the guest room. Joe's bathroom/guest bath on the end.

Master bedroom. Still a work in progress.

Guest bedroom... aka-Kella bed.

Joe's office. Still a work in progress.

iE Island Trip

Joe and I ventured out to a small island up north called iE Island (pronounced E-A). We took a 30-minute ferry ride over to the island and we stayed at a place called the YYY Resort. It was small and cozy and we went during the off-season which was nice because there weren't a lot of other people there!

The beach during low tide!

Just taking it all in.

The weather was amazing. It's mid-September and still sunny and in the 90's. On our first day we got there around lunch time. We settled into our room and went out to walk along the beach and check out the resort. We decided to go play tennis, but we quickly realized it was far TOO hot to play! We paid for an hour's worth and played maybe 20 minutes. We walked back to the hotel along this really neat trail that reminded me of LOST.

The meals at the resort were HUGE. Our first night we got the BBQ meal where we got a huge platter of different meats, fish and veggies to grill up. There was so much food and it all tasted great! We ventured out and tried all the different meals they offered (Japanese, Western and BBQ). Well, I should say Joe was the brave one. He tried the Japanese meal for both dinner and breakfast and to say the least, it was very interesting! He didn't know what a lot of it was, but he ate all of it.

One of the days we rented bikes and rode around the island. I tried to think back to the last time I'd actually been on a bike, and I think it must have been back in middle school?! I was a bit wobbly at first, but got the hang of it pretty quickly. However, I got the old-school bike with a big basket and no gears (so I could lug around our drinks and camera) and Joe got the spiffy mountain bike with the gears. We rode around for 2-hours and I think we traveled 6 miles or so. We made it to this cave where the myth is there is a sacred rock and when a woman lifts it, she will soon get pregnant! Guess we'll see what happens...

Most of the time we spent relaxing in the pool or walking along the beach collecting seashells. It was so nice just to unwind from our everyday busy lives. We missed the pups (we had someone watching them) but I will admit, it was nice not to have to take them out every few hours! We didn't get any phone calls and didn't have any computer access. It was just so nice to enjoy nature, eachother and to be able to relax.

Here's Joe playing lawn-golf!

We're back home, but Joe still has a few more days of leave left. We'll probably spend some more time doing finishing touches around the house (I'll post pics soon, I promise) and working on getting his JCI done (Japanese car inspection that has to be done every 2 years) which is a bit of a hassle. He also on a whim decided to run a 1/2 marathon this morning! He ran in 2-hours and 18-minutes, a little slower than his last one, but still impressive for not having trained for it! He hasn't ran in a few weeks and didn't plan on running it until his friends told him about it last night. Of course I opted to sleep in (5:30am is much too early to wake-up on a Saturday!).

I've been staying busy tutoring kids after school for a few hours each day. It's been fun and rewarding working with elementary aged kids again. I plan to submit my substitute application (finally!) sometime next week. I'm sure once they start calling me, I'll be so busy that I'll wish I had more free time on my hands. Oh well, there's always that love/hate relationship with jobs.

The weather is beginning to cool down (still in the 80's but low 70's at night which is very COOL here!) and I'm looking forward to the fall and winter holidays! I think it's my favorite time of year! I'm summered out! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cool weather.

Midnight rambling...

Life's been busy, but it's no excuse not to update everyone with what we've been up to lately. It seems like the days have been going by so quickly! I can't believe it's already September... where has the year gone? With summer being officially over, I'm anxious to see what an Okinawan "fall" will be like. I'm sure it won't start to dramatically cool down until maybe October or November, but a part of me always gets a bit excited to pull out my sweaters and boots that have been sitting in the dark for the past say 6 months.

I left my job at the CDC (I feel like I've written about that already, but just to clarify if I haven't) and have been enjoying some "me" time. I've been working on setting up our new house (which I absolutely love) and taking time to relax and try to kick this "cold". On that note, it's already September and my friend Lydia kindly reminded me I've been sick since her hubby's birthday party... and that was back in June!!! Okay, before you get all angry and tell me to go to the doctor's, I already did! But, they didn't do much and told me they thought it was probably some lovely viral infections I picked up from the kiddies at the CDC and perscribed me some meds which he thought may or may not help... hmmmm. Anyway, the meds really haven't kicked my cough and congestion and now Joe's got it too. No, I don't think it's Swine Flu, however several people I know have had it. And *GASP*, I've even been starting to drink water... okay not really drink it, but taking sips here and there trying to work my way into liking it... (if you didn't know I don't like water, than that's a whole 'nother story!).

The last week I decided to post an ad on a local website that a ton of people here use and offer tutoring lessons to elementary aged students. I thought I'd get a reply or two, but to my surprise I received maybe 15 e-mails with parents desperately wanting tutors for their kid/s! I set up a weekly schedule and I'm completley booked up with sessions. I had my first two kids today and I really enjoyed working with them. A downfall to teaching is you rarely get the time to work with kids one-on-one during the school day. Tutoring is such a great opportunity to help students and target in on their personal needs. I'm excited to help these kids in any way I can! I've been really slow on getting my application submitted for substitute teaching. It's so much paperwork (literally, it's a packet about 1-1 1/2" thick) and I have to go back and re-submit my 7-year background check... so all of you I had down as people to verify different things, expect another one in the mail in a few months.

Joe has been busy! When he's not alerted to fly, he's been spending all his free time working in the big squadron display for the Air Force Ball. It's HUGE and I went in a few days to help him out, but he did the majority of it all on his own. I was proud of him to see all the detailed work he did on it (now, if I could only get him to help decorate and do stuff like that around the house, I'd be good to go!). I'll get pictures of it when it's completley done, but I think he did a great job with the amount of time, materials and help he had!

We are also so thankful for the great friends we've made here on the island. It makes it so much easier being so far away from "home", family and friends. We've gotten really close to some people in such a short amount of time. It's a great support system and I'm really thankful for all the wonderful friends we have. Whether it's weekly dinners, game-nights, or going out to enjoy Okinawa, it's been a blast and I can't wait for more good times to come!

We're supposed to be taking a vacation next week. Imagine that... vacation!!! Joe put in for it quite some time ago, and the original plan was to go to Hawaii to visit friends and for Joe to run his first full marathon. When I thought I was going to take the teaching job and Joe got put on the decorations for the Ball, we didn't think we'd be able to go so he cancelled the leave. Well, the schedulers never cancelled it! We have nothing really stopping us from going, but I don't think Hawaii will work out... another time for sure. We might just go to one of the resorts on the island, or one of the islands close by. We've heard great things and it would be nice just to relax and get away for a bit. I was really wanting to go stateside (I REALLY miss shopping...) but it's not really feasible at the moment. I guess we do live on a tropical island and I'm sure there are some amazing "vacation spots" we've yet to see.

Alright, if you're still reading this, kudos to you. I realized I've been rambling on for quite some time now! For some odd reason I'm not sleepy and Joe's already in bed since he will most likely get called into work around 1am. Anyway, we hope all is going well for everyone!!! We'll post new pictures shortly!

Monthly Pedi...

Ok guys, here's the latest design from my visit to Cocok's! I went with my girlfriend Lydia and contemplated the entire time we were getting our leg massage (I know right, we have such a tough life heh) about which design we were going to choose.

I was going to be bold and do a dark green base color but chickened out last minute and went with a dark orange color instead. I love it and it might be my favorite one yet (ok I know I say that every month!)

Baby Shower Success!

This last Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my friend Susan!!! She's having a baby girl and I was so excited to throw the shower for her!!! It was my ultimate mission to get the house (at least the downstairs) unpacked, decorated and ready to go! I was able to do all of that in 5 days. I was pretty darn proud of myself (and Joe, he helped a lot too).

We had a great turnout with lots of yummy food, fun games and amazing presents for Baby Fink! I think Susan enjoyed herself and had a good time. I was happy to see how happy she was!

The Mommy-To-Be, Susan!

Presents and yummy food!

The yummy cake Julie made for Susan!

Guessing how many squares it would take to go around Susan's tummy.

Yes, we played the "Guess what type of chocolate is melted in the diaper" game. :)

We're still working on unpacking and finishing the rooms upstairs. When everything is done, I'll be sure to post pictures. We absolutely love the new house. It has more space, better layout and much more "modern" looking which is nice!!! I'm enjoying my time off from not working, but will soon start the job hunt when I'm ready to again. Hope everyone is enjoying themselves and I'll be sure to post soon with more pictures!

We're Moving!

Alright everyone, we might not be blogging for a bit because we'll be busy with the move!!! The packers come tomorrow and they'll pack everything up and bring it straight over to the new house (it's just a few minutes up the road!). I am hoping to get the house set-up by the weekend because I'm throwing a baby shower for my friend Susan on Saturday!!! I should be able to since I'm not working anymore (YAY!). I left my horrid job and Friday was my last day! Anyway, I have lots to blog about, but as I said, we will be busy, busy, busy unpacking and setting everything up (we were only in our house for 6 months!). We're excited for the newly rennovated house because it's much nicer, more modern and has more space, but the whole process is one big drag. At least Joe will be around to help! They said he could take a few days off this week, so I'm very relieved (especially since I am not feeling well at all). We'll be sure to post new pics of the house as soon as we can! Talk to everyone soon!

Birthday Fun!

Well as many of you know, I wasn't quite sure how my birthday plans were going to turn out this week due to the typhoon! We were in TCORR3 status which mean a we could have very strong winds (over 50 mph) within 48-hours. This immediately puts all the pilots on standby incase they need to evac the planes. Luckily, Joe didn't have to evac and I was able to spend my actual birthday with him! We originally had planned to go to dinner, but the winds were pretty strong and it was raining pretty hard so we just decided to stay in and have cake and just hangout.

Joe definitely spoiled me this year! I think he was trying to make-up for not being there for my birthday last year (he was in Altus, OK for training). He bought me a beautiful ring from Tiffany's and a few other things along with not one, but three really sweet birthday cards! He out did himself this year! Oh and he bought me a yummy ice-cream cake from Baskin Robins! My favorite!

My friend Susan was sweet enough to plan a big birthday dinner for me and Christian (another good friend of ours in the squadron). We ended up having about 24 people show up and we had a great time!! We went to the Barrel Restaurant which has such yummy food! It was super busy so it took quite some time to get our food out, but it was fun to catch-up with everyone and just hang-out! The only problem with that restaurant is they don't do separate checks... so as you can imagine with 24 people, we had quite the bill! Complicated but with over $400 worth of Yen collected in hand, we settled the bill and moved the party over to a local bar near the Seawall. It ended up being a relaxing night, having some drinks while chatting with friends. I'm not sure if it's working full-time or just getting older, but staying out "late" is more like 12am and then I'm completley exhausted!!! Back in college the nights were only starting at that time!!!

But all in all, I had a great birthday and am so thankful for all the great friends we have made here!!! It makes it a lot easier being so far away from family and friends back in the states!!

For some reason, I can't rotate the picture. But I woke up to a blue bag for my birthday surprise!

He did a good job!!!

Sweet cards!!!

My yummy ice-cream cake!

My friend Susan treated me to a pedicure at CoCok's!!!

Me and Audrey!!! She just found out she'll be having a boy! Congrats!!!

Group shot of friends celebrating mine and Christian's birthday!!! Thanks everyone!!!

Birthday drinks at Narai!