19 weeks: Shuri Castle

Almost 1/2 way there, crazy! I am feeling baby move more and more each day. Craving hamburgers and watermelon all day, everyday. My belly is feeling much more round and itchy these days. I'm getting out of breath much, much easier (even though I'm trying to work out everyday!). Prenatal yoga and spin classes have been my go-tos as of lately. I don't feel guilty taking my daily afternoon nap knowing that I got a little working out done in the morning. 

Next week we have our 20 week ultrasound and find out what kind of human we are having! Excited doesn't even begin to describe it! Any guesses as to what gender our babe is?

 

(Brian and I pre-baby on our first trip to the gorgeous Shuri Castle)

saturday drives.

Saturday drives have become our thing here. Really, a good drive has always been our thing. Windows down, music loud, holding hands. The best things.

When we got to Okinawa and found out we would have to live on base we promised each other that we would not just stay on base on the weekends, but that we would get out and enjoy Okinawa. There is just SO much to see here on this amazing island. Every view is better than the last. Sometimes we pick a spot on the map, and sometimes we just drive and see what we can find.

This weekend we drove to a couple of the neighboring islands: Hiza, Miyagi, and Hamahiga. There are so many awesome islands on the coast of Okinawa and we can't wait to explore them all.



Early morning fishermen out looking for their catches of the day.

We stumbled upon a sweet little cafe where we settled in for the afternoon to read/write and enjoy sipping on coffee and tea. Brian had some noodles with pig intestine (no thank you) and I settled for a rice ball. 

The water is so, so many different shades of blue depending on where you stand, how the sun hits, and what lies beneath it. 

 

I am beyond thankful for weekends with my husband. I will take them while I can get them.  

christmas at the cape.

We had a few hours to spare in between lunch and dinner on Christmas day, so we did the usual. Went for a drive. Our favorite past time on this island. Driving around, looking for new beaches, restaurants, or scenic spots. I had been wanting to go out to Cape Zanpa for a while now, to see the pretty white lighthouse contrasted against the dark rock cliffs and blue, blue water. 

Christmas day was super windy and the water was slamming up against the rocks. I would not get less than 10 feet from the edge, because the wind was so strong I just KNEW it was going to throw us over.

 Worst case scenario kind of girl? Maybe. But also, realistic. 

Such a neat place to go exploring. 

Except those rocks were really jaggedy, and I was wearing ballet flats. Fail. 

My hair? The bangs of the future? I don't even know. It was windy. 

This was the point where I was SCREAMING to Brian to GET BACK because I thought he was going to die, only to realize there was a good 10 feet of distance between him and the edge of the cliff. It was REALLY windy, ok?

This beautiful, beautiful island.

weekend recap (fish, dolphins, whale sharks-- oh my)

Oh my goodness. This weekend, on a whim, we decided to hit up the aquarium in the northern part of the island. We were on the fence about going because we just moved into our sweet little home, and have not even finished unpacking. Boxes are still full, and curtains have yet to be hung-- but an AQUARIUM! We couldn't pass it up.

So we set off early Saturday morning with some friends and really had no idea where we were headed. People in Okinawa rarely use road names or numbers, they prefer to give directions based on land marks and "drive until you see this" and "it's up north, you can't miss it." Luckily, if (when) you get lost, the scenery is breathtaking. Getting lost on this island is kind of a welcome treat.

Anyways, the aquarium! We found it. And it was awesome (trust me, I worked at Seaworld for 2 summers-- I'm a pretty big deal in the underwater world). Tons of awesome fish, a dolphin show that was completely in Japanese, and 3 ginormous whale sharks. I was in awe. So much so that we bought the annual pass-- that's commitment people.

And now here are a lot of pictures of fish that were shot in bad lighting through a foot of glass.. Enjoy!

Happy Monday, friends!

#hotelliving, no more!

So, yeah. I'm running low on inspiration these days. 5 months of #hotelliving has got me in a place of low creativity, but tomorrow, TOMORROW, we get a home! A real, live home! And we get to pull our musty clothes out of suitcases and walk barefooted on our own concrete floors and lounge on our government issued furniture. Glory be.

No but really, we are excited as all get out. Housekeeping and continental breakfast sounded promising 5 months ago, but I'm honestly just ready to clean my own bathrooms, ya know? Not cleaning or cooking any meals can make a jobless girl feel pretty lazy. I'm ready to cook my husband good food and invite people into my home again. Instead of like, "Hi friends, come over for dinner. We can all sit on our king sized hotel bed and eat in community." I'm going to have a table and chairs again! Yay.

And here are some instagrams that can mostly already all be seen on my sidebar right over there on the right. Low inspiration, remember? Stick with me.

There's our baby. Our Capa. Our minivan/station wagon crossover. We love him. 

Oh, yes. This girl is a legal driver in Japan. And now everyone on the internet knows how much I weigh.

This is our home. Not the softest on the eyes, but it works. And we have 3 bedrooms. So come visit!

We are really excited about Japan. Cant you see?

Clear water, pretty rocks, chippy toenail polish.

My options this week were 1) sit in the hotel room all day or 2) drive Brian around as he checked into his unit. So, I became a personal chauffeur. 

We found the golden nugget. I was in dire need of an iced starbees. 

This is my "it's so windy face." It was a blustery week. Lots of tropical storms and typhoons swirling out over the pacific.

Oh, the seawall. I love that we live SO close to water. And really, really pretty water at that. 

Some more water. Why not?

Curry pizza. YUMMM. I'm jealous of myself for eating this. And you should be too. Delish. 

So there is our week! 

How did ya'll spend your week? 

naha tug of war.

The day after we arrived on island we kept hearing people talk about this huge tug-of-war in Naha, the capitol of Okinawa. We knew if we stayed in our hotel room we would probably just fall asleep, so we decided to cab it to downtown Naha to see what all this chit chat was about.

Yall. It was craziness. The largest tug of war in the world. They close down the main roadway in downtown to make room for the rope. We weren't actually close enough to participate, but I'm not sad about it because people were getting all kinds of sweaty and gross tugging on that rope. It was fun to watch and a good introduction to Okinawan culture for sure. There is a lot of history behind the tug of war that we didn't find out about until after, so we didn't really understand what we were watching-- but it was certainly interesting anyways. You can read more about the history behind it here.

It's also customary and tradition for people to cut off strands of the rope, as the rope is said to bring good luck throughout the year. There were literally elderly women with hacksaws and razor blades fighting to the front to slice off the biggest piece of rope they could find. This isn't an exaggeration. I sent Brian into the craziness to try and bribe one of the women to cut us off a piece-- he was victorious and miraculously returned to me unscathed!

There was also a parade through the streets of Naha before hand with all different types of cultural productions. My favorite part was the little ninja boys. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

This was the very middle of the rope, but gives you an idea of the thickness. It was huge.

 These are my friends Ashley and Sarah (look mom! i have friends! aren't you proud?), they are great. 

We also got our first daytime view of the beach! Beauty. 

We are kiiiiinda loving this place already. Except for the fact that it felt like a vacation until Brian left this morning to check into work. Then it felt like real life.