currently.

I have seen lots of blogs I read do posts similar to this, but I was most recently inspired by my sweet friend, Jen, to post a little more about me and what my life looks like at this current moment in time.

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Currently... waiting for Brian to get home from work (8:15 pm). Poor guy has been having to pull some long 12+ hour days recently.

Listening to... THIS incredible album that released yesterday. I've been listening to it all day while cleaning and cooking and it's truly their best yet. Buy it, guys. It will bless you beyond reason.

Reading... Nehemiah, Proverbs, and Gone Girl. And desperately wanting to grow my book list for when Brian leaves at the end of the month. Any ideas or great recent reads? Help a sister out!

Eating... some homemade granola at the moment. I get so hungry waiting for Brian to get home, but cherish our dinnertime together too much to eat without him.

Cooking... We've got these yummy, easy chicken tacos waiting in the crockpot for us right now. Also on the menu this week: lettuce wraps, fish tacos (tacos much? I lack creativity), black bean burgers, grilled veggie & hummus pizza.

Dreaming... About the next big trip Brian and I are reeeeeally wanting to take.

Running... I mean, this is hilarious ya'll. I'm including this one because Jen is a runner and she included it. But ALSO because I ran TWICE "with" Brian (he was far, far ahead of me) this weekend. I am not a runner. I actually hate it. But the Lord's been teaching me a lot about self discipline and perseverance lately and this felt like a tangible way to trust the Lord through doing something that is really hard for me.

Feeling... anxious about Brian leaving, but excited for Carly Jo to come visit me while he is gone!

Missing... my parents, and my brothers, and home! My parents are selling their house and building their dream house, which is making me all nostalgic about all the memories I have growing up with my brothers in that wonderful house. Also missing Chipotle and Target like crazy.

Wanting... to revamp my blog, maaaaaybe change the name, and get serious about documenting our life on here!

Wearing... black skinnies and blue v-neck. I am in a dressing rut lately. Can't wait to pull out some summer wear in a few short weeks (days?). It was warm enough here this weekend to wear a sundress, and now it's chilly again. Chilly, ha! It's like 65. My body is ruined by this tropical island.

Pinning... Wall hanging arrangements and ideas to give some life to my beige walls. I. Need. Color. in my life. And recipes. Always recipes.

Learning... Like previously mentioned, learning so much in Proverbs about discipline and perseverance. Just finished walking through David Platt's Secret Church, How to Study Your Bible with our community group. It was incredible and has me desiring to dive into the Word and know God's truth in a more complete way.

Enjoying... new friendships, lots of couple friends that Brian and I truly love spending time with, all of our things that finally arrived (!!) that we hadn't seen since June. And always enjoying this gorgeous island we call home.

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What about ya'll? Give me a glimpse into your life, currently! 

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.  

Tokyo Day Three: Tsukiji, Sensoji, SUMO!

Our last full day in Tokyo started early, early in the morning as we headed to check out the Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Market. It was truly incredible to watch fishermen bring fish up from the sea, to the market, and then to the table where we sat to eat nigiri for breakfast. Freshest of fresh. Just how we were created to eat!

We watched as restaurant owners and chefs came to pick up their catch of the day. And as women came to purchase fish to feed their families for the day. THIS is why the Japanese are so healthy! Fresh food people. We need it in our bodies. 

Oh, here we are just being tourists. 

Sushi for breakfast! A novel idea. We were eating this at about 9 AM. We can now say that we will literally eat sushi anytime, anywhere. 

After our sushi brekky, we headed to the Senso-ji Shrine temple. Similar to the Meiji Shrine, but much more commercialized and busy. 

And then, my friends, we ended our Tokyo trip with a bang. We spent the rest of our day at a heavyweight sumo tournament. The icing on the cake of a great trip. Sumo is so hilariously interesting to watch. These guys are massive. Like remember how I was talking about Japanese eating fresh and being so healthy? Not these guys. Large and in charge. And they put on a great show.

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Thanks for reading some long, long Tokyo posts! One day, I'll be thankful that I told these stories.

Tokyo Day Two: Skytree, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station

Our Day 1 in Tokyo actually ended with us in a metro station remembering that we didn't have anywhere to sleep that night. So we pulled out our trusty iphones, got on priceline, and booked us a hotel. Then hopped on the metro, got as close as we could to the area our hotel was in, and started walking. Luckily we stumbled upon our hotel pretty quickly and it was a beautiful place right in the heart of Tokyo. 

Of course, we booked the cheapest room which came with two full beds. However, "full" beds in Japan are actually twin beds that are much shorter than my husbands body. So yeah. But we made it work. And yes, we slept in one bed. 

The next morning we head back to the Skytree so we could go up to the top and see a panoramic daytime view of Tokyo. Seeing Tokyo from that high up gave us a much better perspective of how huge the city truly is. Plus, we had a killer view of Mt. Fuji.

From there we headed to the Imperial Palace to walk around the gardens and see where the Imperial family resides. The gardens we beautiful, and I think would be even more beautiful during sakura (cherry blossom) season. But these gardens, again, were such a peaceful, serene haven in the midst of such a crazy, busy city. It was a welcome break from noise and traffic. 

Our friends who were in Tokyo the weekend before us sent us a message saying they had left us a note somewhere near imperial palace and gave us rough directions on where we could find it. It was like a geocache of sorts, and fun to go on a little treasure hunt. And we found it!

We stopped by to see Tokyo Station, which is like Tokyo's version of Grand Central Station. The architecture of the building is beautiful, and Brian and I were just so intrigued by how all the Metro/Subway/Railways all work together. 

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Just one more day to recap! Such a fun trip. 

Love you people.

Tokyo Day One: Shibuya, Harajuku, Asakusa

Our Tokyo trip was amazing. The sights were incredible, the Japanese people so polite, and the food was to die for. But honestly our favorite part of the trip? Catching up at the end of each day over a glass of wine at the hotel. Just being together. Just the two of us. Simultaneously dreaming about the future, while talking about how we can be more effective right where the Lord has us. With no distractions or things that needed to get done. 

Since moving to Okinawa, we have been in a much different season of life than we have ever experienced. Work has been busy and overwhelming, and time together has been little. Being that we are both lovers of quality time, we CRAVE time away to reconnect and talk and laugh and make memories. This long weekend was just that.  

My sweet husband is by FAR the easiest and most fun person to travel with. He is so go-with-the-flow and patient and kind and carries my bag for me when I complain about my feet and my back hurting. It was nice to not really have much of an agenda, but just travel through Tokyo organically, stopping when we wanted to, and continue to move through when we wanted to. I felt like we did a good job of seeing a lot, but also making it a vacation. We wanted it to be adventurous, yet restful.

Japanese airport food beats American airport food, no competition.

mmmm. Pancakes, coffee, donuts. Breakfast food, sugar, and carbs speak to us. 

Guys! Don't worry about the smeary window, or my iphone reflection. This is Shibuya Crosing: the time square of Tokyo. The busiest intersection I've ever seen. At the peak times of the day over 1000 people cross here every time the light turns green. That's craziness. 

After Shibuya, we took off walking and made our way to Yoyogi Park. We were totally amazed by how peaceful and serene this park in the smackdab middle of Tokyo was, despite how crazy busy the world right outside the gates of the park were. It was a sweet little sanctuary in the middle of chaos.

SNOW! Snow is a big deal considering we will see very little of it over the next three years. I am a lover of cold weather clothes- boots, scarves, sweaters, jackets, everything- so I was loving this cold weather. 

We stopped at Meiji Shrine which was set back in a dense wooded area with beautiful trees and several wooden torii (Japanese gates) leading up to the shrine temple. Brian and I watched the Japanese people for a long while as they came up to the shrine to make an offering by tossing a 5 yen coin in the large box in front of the shrine, bow their heads, clap twice, and bow again. 

We got to witness a beautiful wedding processional while at Meiji. I love that in the heart of one of the worlds largest and most modern cities, the tradition of the Japanese people is not lost. The bride and groom dressed in tradition Japanese dress and their guests all wrapped in silk kimonos. 

As we walked through the streets of Harajuku, the crepes were calling Brian's name. Crepes are street food of the district of Harajuku, and man did they deliver. Homemade warm crepe filled with whipped cream, bananas, and chocolate fudge. Delicious.

We ended our night in Asakusa, at the base of the tallest free standing tower in the world- the Tokyo Sky Tree. The construction was just finished in March of 2012 and it is breathtaking. The civil engineer  degree side of my husband came out as we spent the rest of the night googling and youtubing videos of the construction of the Sky Tree. It is pretty amazing. 

Day one, done! And I have so many more pictures to share.