Wordless wednesday: Kids are so helpful

#5 Stella

Oh, I've missed target!

Love it

I'm loving the opportunity to spend time with my niece and nephew and all my family while we're in Minnesota for a bit. Of course that means a lot of cute pics.

Happy Halloween!

Stella would last 2 seconds in this costume before she fought her way out of it, but I still love it! Maybe Stella should be an E2 next year....

Seriously

I finally have my hubby, my puppy and my new iPhone. What a wonderful day!

Combine that with my discovery of the Blogger app and that means a lot pd random posts coming your way! If only I had this in Japan for all of my Engrish sightings.

I'm so glad we decided to get the iPhone even though Glenn and I are being a little antisocial at the moment. This thing is seriously smart.

Cute pics of my jet-lagged puppy for now.

Hello, America!

And....I'm back! The past five days were days that I hope to never repeat! The trip from Japan to Seattle to Minneapolis to Norfolk to Raleigh to Atlanta to Milwaukee to Minneapolis involved 6 planes, a rental car, a 3 hour drive, 3 nights in a hotel and finally I am in the same place for a few days. At my parents' house. Phew.

My grandma's memorial was very nice. It was a special time to be around my extended family that I don't see very often and hear stories about grandma and reminisce. It's still strange to think that she is gone. When I first arrived at my grandma and grandpa's house and went in to the bedroom to set down my things and I fully expected to hear her voice around the corner. It was odd that it was missing. The memorial service was at their church on Satuday and on Sunday we visited the cemetary where her ashes will be placed. It's a beautiful place. My sister-in-law Jen, made a beautiful slideshow for the service.

The family is going to meet in Raleigh in April for the Duke Cancer Institute "Angels Among Us" 5K. Duke Medical Center took care of Grandma and did their best. I hope they can continue to fight the battle against cancer's like Grandma's and many others.

We are team Buckshot Betty. If you'd like to donate, you can do so here.

For reasons like this, I love being back in America. I don't necessarily feel like I'm "back", but maybe once we have a house and a place to unpack and settle, I'll feel "back". Maybe once my husband and dog return from Japan as well.

Glenn and Stella arrive tomorrow. We've got a few weeks to visit with our friends and family, his sister's wedding and then a 5 day road trip accross 6 states and we'll be back in Viriginia.

I'll update you along the way...

1000th Post!

Are any of you still reading my ramblings? The blog I started shortly before we left for Japan, in hopes that we would get to move to Japan, now has 1000 posts. And fitting that today is the day I leave Japan.

I'm flying from Yokota Air Force Base to Seattle to Minneapolis to Norfolk today. Wowzers. It's going to be along day. Days? I don't even know.

I'll spend the night in Norfolk and then make the drive to Cary, NC to see my family and attend the memorial service for my Grandma. I'm leaving Japan a week before Glenn so that I can make it home in time to see my family at her service. It's still strange to think that she's gone. I was looking forward to being only a short drive from her and Grandpa for the next several years. What a wonderful woman with a beautiful heart. I'm grateful that I'll be with my mom and our family this weekend.

I've never had to pack for a funeral, a wedding and 6+ weeks of homelessness before. This will be an interesting trip.

I know my blog won't contain world travels and new and different things for awhile, but I think I'll continue to write and document our lives. For me, if nothing else. There are definitely some new things coming up for us. House hunting! I'm very excited about that but nervous we won't find anything we like. My iPhone 4S and connecting with people again. My love affair with Target. A job for me again. Maybe? I hope. Job hunting will be new as well.

Farewell, Japan. You will always have a place in my heart. A beautiful country with beautiful people. I hope we return again some day. Maybe to visit, maybe to live here again. Only time will tell. For now we are on to new adventures. Ganbatte!

Last Suppers

I may go back to America 15 pounds heavier after my last week in Japan, but it's definitely worth it! I've go so many foods I want to eat and restaurants to go to before I leave and good friends I want to spend time with. On Monday, we headed to Gato's near Fuchinobe station. We had made plans while we were drinking on Saturday, but surprisingly, we still remembered (minus Lauren, she forgot.)

 

I've only got a few nights left in Japan, can you believe it? How has 3 years gone by so quickly?? Everyone's lives have seemed to have changed so much while we're gone so I suppose it's our turn too. Get a job, find a house...readjust to America. I suppose it's time, but I still don't feel ready!

Aya seems to have gone up in flames. :)

CupNoodles!

Last Monday, some of our students/friends took us to Yokohama to visit the new CupNoodle Museum. That's right, Japan loves Ramen so much that they made an entire museum dedicated to it!

We went with the Harada family- my good friend Yuki and her parents. Yuki's husband had a wedding to go to so he couldn't join us.

 The museum was definitely dedicated to kids, but it can be enjoyed by adults as well. First, we got a history of Ramen and a short capitalist propaganda history video about Ando Momofuko, the founder of CupNoodle and instant ramen.

After a little history, we got to make our own custom CupNoodle!

First, you buy a cup from the vending machine and you can decorate it.

 Next, they put the noodles in the cups using the upside down method.

Then you choose your flavor and 4 ingredients! Glenn went with Chili Tomato with chicken, cheese, garlic and onion. I went with the original CupNoodle flavor and added chicken, corn, onion and garlic. 

Aftwards they seal it up, plastic wrap it and give you an inflatable bag to carry it home safely!

Places like this make me wish I was a kid again or had a little kid. They got to sign up (probably a month ago!) to make the noodles from scratch, fry them and then make their own CupNoodle.

The childrens' play area included a "Noodle Factory" where you could "be a noodle" and fry away in the ball pit. It was a really well done museum. If you are in Yokohama, I'd definitely spend a couple hours there. Although, go early. We were there on a holiday, got there an hour before it opened and were still at least the 500th person in line. It was packed, but it also only opened in September.

Yum!

Birthday Fun!

The birthday glasses made a reappearance this year!

And Glenn made an appearance at Oktoberfest for the first time!

It rained on us a little bit on Saturday, but it actually kept the crowds smaller, the lines shorter and the weather cooler so I was pretty happy.

It was a wonderful day with great friends. 

 Thanks for helping me celebrate my birthday!

I only have a few days left in Japan...oh how I am going to miss this place. It's so strange to say to people, "have a good life; I hope I see you again." I hope we do, but I know there is a good chance that we won't. I hope they come visit America some day! You are always welcome!

Badgirl Themes

I'm always impressed with each squadron's creativity when it comes to themes for badgirl ball. This year was no exception. We had Robert Palmer and the "Addicted to Love" video of course.

VFA-115 as the Topiary Girls...it's a razor commercial I believe. Very cute skit!

VAQ-136 as the Spice Girls

HSL-51 as Girl Scouts.

VFA-192 as Flight Attendants.

VFA-102 as Japanese School Girls.

HS-14 as the Wizards of Harry Potter.

Oh and just me and my favorite bartender!

Good Friends.

I was telling Glenn last night that this is one of the first times in our 5 moves that I feel sad to leave. Usually we have friends ahead of us already at our new duty station or a new job/apartment/house or something to look forward to. Maybe it's just because we've been here for 3 years and I've really settled it, but I'm going to miss it so much!

Akiyo is like my little Japanese grandma. I love her. We are already skype friends and plan on keeping in touch.

I went out to dinner a few weeks ago with some friends. Adventures in Japan are an everyday occurrence. Our friend, Aya, ordered something new for us to try...

Thanks, Aya!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My last year in my twenties...sad. I'm not quite ready to be a thirty-something yet. Good thing I have 365 days to go until that day. Glenn is home this year to help me celebrate. Yay! This will be the first time since 2007 that we have spent my birthday together. Since my birthday present got packed up with the household goods, we're calling that my Christmas present since that's when I'll see it again. He bought me a beautiful necklace. He's so good with presents...well, he's mostly a good listener cause I'm not always subtle. Good none the less! We're celebrating at Oktoberfest with some good friends. It's always a good time.

Note: this hairdo was an attempt after watching an internet video that promised beautiful big curls. It was not the beachy waves that it advertised. Ha! I'll have to try again. ;)

Wordless Wednesday: 1986

Tuesday 10: Phone Dump

1. Japanese traffic... I'm not gonna miss that.

2. This is how Stella wakes me up every morning. 

3. Grandma's famous potato salad. I made it right. She would be proud.

4. Va Beach. See you soon!

5. Baby B. Love that girl. "Mmmm....yeah!" is her favorite thing to say.

 6. I brought a gift for Connor from Japan. "Cars" themed chopsticks and face masks! Ok, maybe the mask was for my benefit. :)

7. Wearing  Grandma's hats. I miss you everyday Grandma.

8. Connor and his tattoos. We put a matching one on Grandma.

 9. I could put about 50 of Stella. I think I take a few too many pics of my dog. Maybe I need a baby.

 10. Words with friends. In a game against my Aunt Cindy, I scored 96 points on one turn. Bingo! I was pretty proud of myself. So much, that I had to take a picture. :)