Tuesday

Tuesday is going to be a good day. I know, I already had it!! lol

After visiting teaching today, we were driving by another farmers market so me and my companion stopped to check it out. 

One of the things I got was a bag of Japanese Rice! They mill the brown rice there and the bag was still warm! I made some for dinner and it was really good! 

I got some peppers and tomatoes for my vegetable platter (I don't like them but others will). 

What I was really excited about was finding Hibiscus flowers! (we ran into another american couple and they said that's what they were). I looked it up when I got home and you can dry them and make them into tea or I also saw a recipe to make them into strawberry jam or a myriad of other things.

Fun Weekends

Each Friday is bulk trash pic up day so a lot of people put out large things like furniture that they don't want to sell/don't want to move with etc. Apparently it is a thing here to drive around base and look what people have left out to take if you want. So on Friday morning as I left to do some errands I saw this wicker furniture set! It is in great condition and just needs some cushions! 

Two car loads later, I had it home (I was actually impressed that I could even get them in the back of my car!). After looking online for new cushions I have realized why they threw it out: they don't make cushions that fit them!! Believe me, I looked! So I will have to get creative but I'm up for the task! 

That evening I went on a girl "date" with some friends. We went out and got curry. I got a category one spicy level because I thought it was the lowest but there were actually two even below that (mild and normal). So it tasted good but I couldn't really eat much of it. I seriously have no spice tolerance. I think the spice level actually went all the way up to an 8!

After that, we went to this store called the Big 100. It was like a Walgreen's on crack. Seriously there was just too much to look at! One wall I thought was funny, was the "snack" isle. They eat some weird foods here like little whole dried fish and almond slices? No thank you! 

Saturday Morning I got up and went on a run for the first time around my neighborhood. It is nice and quiet here. The only thing I'm not a big fan of is that I live on top of one of the tallest hills on Kadena, That means I always have to run up hill to get back home! 

When I was out, I saw this tree. If you look REALLY closely you can see some yellow leaves! I thought It's fall!  And then I thought:  It is a really nice day, maybe I will go to the beach.   Haha I love it! 

I met up with a friend after that because we had our pedicure appointment later that afternoon. We went out to this really cool tea shop/cafe where we sipped on mango juice out of homemade mugs, ate blueberry cheesecake and looked out over the beautiful ocean. 

The place was also a pottery shop. It is a pretty big thing around here. Some of them were so pretty!  

The pic below was my favorite! Unfortunately it is also very expensive! The little plant holder below was about $18. If you wanted a set of plates, be prepared to spend several hundred dollars. 

After our little brunch, we still had some time to kill so we wen to my friend's favorite place to buy blown glass. Blown glass is also a big deal out here and one of the things that Okinawa is known for! There are some big places that do it but I just loved this little Japanese guy we went to. He does all of it himself and it is all out of recycled glass. Some of the things he is able to make are just amazing and so beautiful! 

One last stop until we went to our appointment. We checked out a new little farmers market. It still is so funny to me to see all the fish and ocean animals just sitting on ice. Just last week when I went snorkeling I was seeing all these fish underwater! I can't imagine eating the beautiful blue parrot fish I love seeing so much! (Check out that octopus just sitting in the styrofoam box! Eww.)

So getting pedicures is what all military wives do out here! This was my first time going to Cocok's. They do an amazing job on the massage and toe nail painting! You can see the book in front of me below. It is several pages long and has all the designs they do but they will paint anything you want if you have a picture! 

I was so happy as she massaged my feet! That is one of my most favoritest things in the whole world! And because it was their 11 year anniversary they gave us complimentary Ice Cream AND it is my birth month so I also got a discount! Fun!  

It is crazy how detailed they get on them! They actually use acrylic paint and a paint brush to do the designs. What do you guys think of them? (I love the big tow but from far away you can't really see the design on the little ones). 

After that, we had to leave real fast to pick up our other friend and went to the adult session of district conference (like stake conference). They did a dinner and had some really good talks.  Then we went and saw Thor with several others!

I love all my friends here! They take such good care of me! But I can't wait until Logan gets home this next Sunday night!

House Part 2: The Upstairs

Still working on things but here is my upstairs! 

I finally finished the curtains and accent pillow for the guest room. You can't tell very well but I added the burnt orange to the bottom of the curtains so they would go to the floor. I was very happy that I didn't waste a single inch of fabric. I made the pillow with the left overs and it magically fit a pillow form I remembered I already had perfectly!

The furniture and art over the dresser are new but I was able to decorate the rest of the room with stuff I already had and one square yard of fabric I got for $3.75. 

I still haven't done much with the office. I decided to let Logan decorate it when he gets back cas this is kinda his space except the computer. 

That's mine! 

Guest Bathroom. Nothing too special. 

Master Bedroom. I think it needs some kind of accent color! I realize that I'm pretty bad at actually putting color in my house. Everything I buy seems to be a neutral color! 

Master Bathroom. I do love this color in here. 

My shells and sea glass and new little Japanese jewelry bowl. 

Working on a picture wall. It needs one more on the top right I think. 

Ta-DA! This is where we live!

House Part 1: The Downstairs

So here is a tour of my house with some fancy panoramic pics! 

Walking into the front door (sorry the kitchen is kinda bright) 

Dining room

My new Buffet table 

Kitchen- it looks funny because it is "L" shaped but I love all the counter space! 

Downstairs bathroom 

Under the stairs/food storage and emergency preparedness stuff

Closet...still working on organizing this room. 

Living room with my new rug! 

The rug was on a super good sale so even though I couldn't see it I bought it! It turned out to be pretty good. It is almost 8 feet wide by 10 feet and I wasn't sure it would fit in my car but it totally did! Yay for my Honda fit!

Backyard with two storage units. I actually got some wicker patio furniture yesterday and need to take a new pic with them in it! I was driving off base and saw that someone had put them out on the curb for the bulk trash pick up! So I put them in the back of my car (seats were still down from the rug) and took them home (it took me two trips). They are in great condition but just need new cushions. I'm so excited for my awesome find!

Mini Zoo and Egg Farm

This week for the LDS Adventure Seekers Group we went to a mini zoo and egg farm. The zoo really was just in a little building, maybe the size of a full size basketball court. They had some fun animals but mostly turtles, bunnies and chinchillas.

Right next to it was an egg store where they sold eggs and pastries.

They are well known for their cream puffs and for good reason! They were so good!

Snorkeling

On Saturday I went snorkeling here in Okinawa for the first time at the Meada Flats. Yes, I went on the 9th of November and the water was still great! I love it here! 

When we got there, it was a little overcast so I was a bit skeptical but my friend said we should wade out and see how it felt. I'm so glad we did because once you were in it took just a few seconds to adjust and then the water felt warmer then the air!

It was amazing that there was a deep pool right next to the shore (about 20 feet in front of the kayaks) that had tons of amazing fish including a Lionfish. Then, if you walk out to the past that spot, you can really walk all the way to the reef (but be careful, there are sea urchins EVERYWHERE!).

Out at the reef there is a drop off that pretty much goes straight down and there are fish and creatures everywhere! It was amazing and the water was so clear. I will have to get an underwater camera for fun sometime to show you all how amazing it looks! The coral was not as bright as I expected but the fish made up for that and more! They are so colorful!! I really liked the bright teal parrot fish.

Some New Food

I've had lots of "new things" going on in my life right now. Cooking in my new place has been fun too but I can tell that I'm a little out of practice but I'm going to blame it on being at a different altitude.

The first meal I made in the house was Yakisoba. I used all Japanese ingredients from a little Japanese store. It was pretty good for not using a recipe (IE I couldn't read the Japanese instructions on the sauce or noodles). I also made Flavored Rice balls. I got a variety pack and so far they all just taste like fish food. Seriously just open some goldfish food and eat it. That is pretty much what it tasted like. lol. I'm going to work on making my own version.

Another food I want to learn how to make is Melonpan! It is a bread wrapped in a cookie crust and baked. So good! I tried one recipe and the taste was good but the bread dough was flat and it didn't get all crispy. Total fail. I will have to keep trying!

My failures on the left and what they are supposed to look like. haha. I usually am pretty good at making things but the dough in the recipe was too soft (I could tell before even baking them). 

One of my favorite and easiest recipes I like to make right now are pumpkin cookies! And they only have three ingredients!

Small can of Pumpkin
One box of Spice Cake (or Gluten free cake mix with Cinnamon, Cloves and Allspice - I just made that up, but I'm sure it would work!)
1 C or half a bag of Chocolate Chips

Combine and cook at 350 for 12-15 minutes. See, I told you that was easy!

New House

We have been in the house now for one week! Yay! Of course, Logan left on Saturday so he was only here for three days. We were lucky that our stuff got here the weekend before we moved in so that all our stuff was here on day one. Many people have to wait several weeks sometimes before their stuff gets here. Very lucky for us, although, I'm not sure living in a hotel for 40 days was that great either.

I don't know if it is good or sad knowing that all my earthly possessions easily fit in just two parking spots.  

The funny thing is that on the day we got the call that we would be moving into our house, I had just relented and put my clothes away in the hotel drawers and decorated the place. Irony.

We got the keys the night before moving in and so went to check out the new house. Did I mention they gave us NINE keys and then another one when they took the lock box off! lol.

The building has four units in it and this pic is showing the last two. We are apartment B on the Right. So far there hasn't been any problems with having neighbors on either side. I love that we don't have upstairs neighbors! But I'm sad that our palm tree recently broke off in a typhoon just before moving in. 

So here are some of the pics of our new place. I still don't have everything where I want it or the pics on the walls so you will have to wait until hopefully next week when it is all done. I also am waiting for them to come pick up all the gazillion boxes I have in my dining room right now.

The stairs are right in front of the door (bad Feng shui ) or you can down the hallway to the living room in the back or right to the kitchen. The kitchen is right next to the dining room and the doors on the left hide the washer/dryer. I hate the red hand rail!! They said I can't even paint it. 

Washer/dryer closet and looking though the pass through into the rest of the kitchen. I have so much counter space! 

Dining room and then if you go down the hallway to the living room there is a closet under the stairs. 

There is a second big closet across and it is next to a bathroom. 

Really long living room that my furniture doesn't fit well in. Logan is watching "TV" (that is the only place the TV can go without running a cable across the very big sliding doors. One view from the kitchen door and the other is from the hallway.

Going upstairs and looking back down the stairs and then looking down the upstairs hallway. 

Office and guest bed.

Second bathroom and looking at the master from the master bath (the door is to the left). 

The en-suite.

Here is a floor plan I made so the pics would make more since!! (note, this is just a rough sketch!)

I forgot to get pics of the back yard so I will post some later. Its not that exciting. Just a grass lawn with a fence and then lots of green trees behind it. I don't actually have a single tree in my yard though. sad.

The same week we moved into our house, Logan finally got a car! He loves it! We bough it from a friend and it was actually one of the first cars we drove in when we got here. After that, Logan was like "I want a car just like that" and so I think it is funny that we got the exact car! Logan named him Tiny Tim but I just call him "Timmy".

Doesn't he look happy! :)

I thought this was a good pic that shows how small his car is! I have a Honda Fit (small white car) and our neighbors have a pretty small car (silver car) too but it is a lot longer than mine. Logan's car is super tiny! 

One fun thing about getting into a new place is that they always need some new furniture and organizing things.  My friend Annie and me have been having fun going out to different places. If I was surprised how much Japanese people loved Halloweenn then it was even a bigger shock that for some reason that they REALLY like Christmas! It is everywhere already!

I told Annie "I should have you go stand in front of the Christmas stuff so I can put it on my blog" and she was like "yeah haha... oh, your serious!" and was nice enough to do it for me!