Starting off our last year

Can you believe we have been here a little over 2 years? Actually I can, it feels like 5 to me! We have less than one year to go until we're back in America; as my cousin once said, "Land of the free, home of the brave...and Target!"

I did have the pleasure of celebrating my 28th birthday two weekends in a row. The first weekend (the weekend of my actual birthday) didn't go as well as the second. My wonderful husband took me out to dinner and we had a great time.

The next day we had a scheduled power outage in our neighborhood. One of the joys of living on base is they control things like that. Our power was going to be out for 10 hours so we ran all of our errands and then decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach.

We have been wanting to try stand up paddle boarding for a while so we rented a board and headed to a little marina where the water was calm. I paddled out first and was really proud of myself for staying on the board. It took a few minutes to figure out the whole paddle thing, but it was really fun. I paddled back to John, he held the board as I jumped off and as soon as I got into the water I felt one of the most horrible pains I have ever felt in my life. It was like someone took a huge whip and snapped it around my ankle. When I lifted my leg out of the water there were jellyfish tentacles stuck to my leg. Let me tell you that being stung by a jellyfish is something I hope that none of you ever have to experience! I am so thankful John was there to take care of me! The next day my ankle swelled to epic proportions! Fortunately I can walk normally now and the swelling has gone down! I still have a pretty crazy scar though.

The following weekend we invited our friends to a cute little restaurant that we rented out for my birthday.

Everyone had a great time. I had to rock the jellyfish scar with my sparkly shoes!

We are so blessed to have such great people in our lives. Here's to one last year on this island! Hopefully it is a good one, but goes by quickly!

Three Fabulous Years!

While we were in California we celebrated our third wedding anniversary.

Ever since John was deployed he has been planning a surprise anniversary date. I had no idea what was in store which is great because usually I am big snoop and figure it out! Since we were going to be in another country it was much harder to find out what was going on!

We drove into San Francisco and checked into the amazing Marines Memorial Hotel.

We walked around for a while and did a little wine tasting before dinner.

The best surprise of all was tickets to see the musical Wicked!

We both loved it. If you ever have to opportunity to see it then you must. It was amazing!

We couldn't have asked for a better day. I am beyond blessed to have such a wonderful husband and look forward to many, many, many more years together!

California

The trips keep coming! We headed to California for two weeks to see John's family and attend one of John's closest friends' wedding.
The first night we were there we had a surprise Father's Day dinner. I wish someone had a camera out to capture the look on John's stepdad (also John) when we walked in the restaurant and saw all of the kids and their spouses. It was a great night.
The weekend we drove down to Los Angeles to see some family and enjoy the wedding festivities. We had dinner with John's cousin in LA and afterwards walked down the street where her brother was working on the set of the television show Californication. I was so excited to see what a "real set" was like. I was a total dorky tourist and took a bunch of pictures, but they didn't turn out very well. David Duchovny is the star of the show and I must say he is much taller than I would have expected!
We had a fantastic time celebrating Scott and Sarah's marriage that weekend.
John's parents were able to drive down for the wedding and I finally got to meet some of his childhood friends that I have heard so much about! These guys have known each other ever since they were kids and all graduated high school together!
The lovely bride and groom!
With the parents and our friends Doug and Kellie.
John and his best friend Doug. I have no words.
The next day we were able to have brunch with more family that live in the LA and Vegas area. Sorry I didn't take more pictures but Isabella loved hanging out with her cousin John!
After driving back up to the Bay area, we went to a Giants Vs. Dodgers game with Patrick.
Lets just say I have never had an experience like this one. Never in my life have a heard more trash talking and seen such, uh, "colorful" people!
The weekend before we left was the 4th of July weekend. We headed up to the lake and had a great time with all of the family.
Here we our rockin our "My husband/wife rocks" tshirts!
We even had a chili cook off, complete with very intricate ballots!
Here are the contestants. Congratulations Uncle Roger on your win!
I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. Thanks to all of you for your love and support.
One more year to go here in Okinawa!

Luau

The luau we went to was one of my favorite parts of our trip. We made reservations a few weeks in advance because it is the oldest, most popular one on the island.

We were greeted with gorgeous real leis and a mai tai.

Before it started we had an opportunity to walk around, take a few pictures and enjoy the scenery.

A little later a crowd formed around a huge pit. They cook the pig under the ground and it is essentially steamed for hours.

We got to watch them dig it up. It was kind of gross, yet interesting at the same time.

Shortly after it was time to eat. The food was buffet style with plenty of options and it was pretty good.

Finally to the best part of the evening...the dancing!

They combined several types of traditional Hawaiian dances with the history of their culture.

If you ever have a chance to visit Maui, we highly recommend the Old Lahaina Luau. It was such a great experience!

Maui Part One!

A few weeks after John returned home, we took a MUCH needed, relaxing vacation to Maui, Hawaii. It was fabulous! We have been to the Big Island as well as Oahu before so we decided to try out Maui and we both agree it is our favorite!

We were very fortunate to stay in one of the most amazing hotels I have ever been to in my life. Here is a view from our balcony.

And the pool area...

The first day we were there we relaxed a bit and settled in.

The next day we took a little road trip south to do a little shopping. John was quite gracious to let me do this the second day we were there! When you live in a country where shopping as we know it in the US is virtually nonexistent, then seeing a strip mall or any recognizable retail store is very exciting!

On the way, we pulled over to a scenic outlook and were able to see 3 other islands.

On the way home we strolled along the beach for a while, then we had dinner at a new Mai Tai restaurant with rooftop dining.

Just in time to catch the sun setting!

The next few days we spent at the pool and the beach.

We got to swim next to a few sea turtles!

I'm sorry this took so long to post. This blogger website has been acting up a bit and finally let me upload pictures!

Stay tuned for the second half of our vacation...

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our beautiful moms!
Here are a few pictures of us with our favorite ladies on our favorite day!

I only hope I will one day be as good of a mom as these two fabulous women are!

Beach day!

One of the worst parts (but in some circumstances, a good part) of military life is having to say goodbye to people. Inevitably you meet some great people and one of you has to move soon. This weekend we spent a gorgeous day at the beach with some good friends to bid them farewell.

We had a really good turnout. I have spent a lot of time with these girls lately. We are in a small Bible study together and the majority of our husbands have either worked together, or in close proximity.

I think that Okinawa should be re-named to "Baby Island". There is definitely something in the water around here. Here's proof. Two of these babies were born the same day and the other just 2 weeks earlier. I think I am going to invest in Babies R Us stock with all of the baby showers I am attending!

However I did get to sneak a picture of this cute guy nervously holding one of the little ones!

Anyway, back to the beach. We had a great afternoon full of sun and laughter. I hate having to say goodbye, but in the small Marine Corps world, it is very likely that we will bump into these great people again!