I went out to lunch with a friend today and found this cute rustic bakery!! I loved everything about this little place! It is called Suien and everything they make is unprocessed and/or grown locally.
You know, I would never walk into a place that looks like this on the outside but it is totally normal for us while living in Japan. No matter what the store front looks like, it is always in a safe area and I'm served clean and yummy food.
Before I get too far away from when we went, I wanted to post some pics of the Lantern Festival from two weeks ago. It was a little hard to get good pictures in the dark but I liked some of these. It was fun because so many of our ward friends ended up there. Sadly it was really windy so half of our lanterns didn't make it up into the air. Oh, well. It is all part of the experience I guess.
So last week we needed to get Logan's car a new JCI (like emissions/safety test on crack). Turns out it needed over more money then it was worth to get it there - and even if it passed it still would have a broken window and no AC.
We really didn't feel good about putting that much into it so we started looking at other options. We could junk it for parts but that seemed too sad because it is still running and then we found a dealership that would let us trade it in! We got twice as much for trading it in - yay! So we left it with them while they got our other car ready. The pic above was the last we saw of our little Tiny Tim.
It took them a few extra days to get the car ready but finally this Monday we got to pick it up and drive it for the first time. It was an unexpected adventure but we are happy with our new car. Yes, they are both Honda Fits. I know it is a little silly to have two of the same car but thats what we ended up liking at the lot. So now we have his and her cars.
Missed pictures from last week because I was feeling icky but I think we got some great ones this afternoon!! We went on a little walk to scout out the perfect spot and brought the tripod so we could have Logan in some too!
(Other then the ones with Logan in them, the pic above is my favorite! I feel so beautiful in it belly and everything!)
I really liked the tree we found to take pictures under. It was shady and beautiful -the only problem was that it was infested with spiders!! Logan hates spiders so I was really proud of him for braving the tree. We must have seen at least 50 webs. Oh, and when I say spiders, most were the length of my fingers with webs the size of hola hoops!
I found a little one on my shoulder and Logan came home with some kind of bite (none are poisonous) but other then that we came away unscathed.
Baby Bump! Look how it is growing! I feel like a real pregnant lady now (especially when I try and bend over. haha)!
Today, I have been getting kicks in my right side and it has been fun to feel and watch. If Logan's hand is on my belly when he kicks, he feels it almost every single time. Yesterday, I woke up because baby stretched one of his legs out into that same place. It was so funny having a lump sticking out of my belly for a few seconds! The day before that, he was way low punching my bladder. Sometimes I push him back a little and tell him to be good :)
The day after a typhoon I hear is a really good time to go search the beaches for shells and sea glass that washed up. Unfortunately, we must have gone to the wrong side of the island because there seemed to be less (boo) but we still had a fun day. I did find a bunch of sea glass that I was wanting as well.
The hardest part for me was bending over and my belly was so sore that evening!
The coolest thing I did find was an old dog tag. I have no idea if it is 1 year old or 40! Apparently it is hard to look up info because I haven't been able to find any info at all and I'm not the next of kin.
Sadly, even though I put lots of sun screen on that morning I missed a spot! But Logan was such a sweetie and went and got me some aloe vera right after he got home from work so I could feel better.
On a completely unrelated note, look what we bought for Connor today!!
Surprisingly we found the rug for a really great deal at the BX (store on base). I really wanted a big rug that matched the colors so I was so excited to get a perfectly grey rug! And it has a nice subtle pattern to it I think looks nice.
So we woke up this morning to a thunder and lightening storm. When I got on Facebook, there were reports of flooding all around the island. We are so lucky to live on a hill!!! Just in the neighborhood down from us, we had a member's house flood up to their knees!
The pic to the right is our church building! From what people are saying, it sounds like the flooding stopped at the other side of the street and the church is ok.
It is a little scary to see random people's pics on Facebook and then all the sudden to see a friends house! In the left pic is where one of my good friend lives! They said the flooding has gone down now.
The pic to the right is just down the hill! Probably some of the same flooding that got our ward member's house.
The reports are saying that as the storm turned East, we got stuck under one of the arms for an extended period of time (all night and morning) taking us from 5-7 inches of predicted rain up to 34!!! It also said that yesterday the "strongest winds on Kadena were 74-mph sustained with 101-mph gusts. Closest point of approach was 118½ miles west at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday." (Source).
Logan was supposed to go in today at 11am but all the roads are all flooded that he would have to take so it has been delayed until further notice. So here we are, still on lockdown and they are saying to be patient because the recovery process is going to take a while longer. This makes the 6th day in a row Logan hasn't had to go to work. I'm going to really miss him when he has to go back to a normal work schedule.
It has been fun having a four day weekend with Logan and then also getting a bonus day today! Yay for Typhoon Tuesday! Today I slept in (crazy but 7:30 is now considered "sleeping in") and made blueberry muffins. Then I took a 2 hour nap before lunch and showering. We have watched a few movies like Lord of the Rings and The Bourne Legacy as we keep an eye on the storm from our front and back windows. I enjoyed our AC and had fun taking pics (or trying to get good ones) of the storm for you guys.
Another exciting thing is that Logan started his masters program yesterday so he has had that to work on today! He is getting it from AMU in Intelligence Studies - he is so smart! Today I am 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant. So glad I didn't have to go into the Hospital to wait out the storm (they make all the pregger ladies 37+ weeks go in just in case they go into labor). I heard there was more then 70 women there today. Baby bump pic!
I was really worried we would loose power but so far so good. Not every one has been so lucky. I read a report today that "Evacuation advisories were issued to 246,000 homes and 593,000 residents, including the entire populations of Chatan, Kitanakagusuku and Kadena, communities where most off-base military and civilians are located. A total of 96,700 homes remain without power, including 95,300 on Okinawa main island." (http://japan.stripes.com/news/typhoon-08w-neoguri-20-okinawa-enters-tccor-1-e). Saddest news is that there have been 19 injuries and one death.
We are very lucky to live in a very safe place on island. All you can see from around our house is leaves, limbs and branches flying everywhere. I really wish you could see it in the pic but all the greenery just looks like grass.... What I can say is that this morning you couldn't see any sky through the trees but as the day has progressed the gaps are getting bigger and bigger and our lawn is filling up with more and more debris.
Here is a vid I shot from upstairs earlier today:
With modern technology (FB) I have been able to keep up with all the going ons here on island. For instance, we were told that the whole island is now under a tornado warning. This is because the eye of the storm is passing and the wind is shifting from the East to the West.
I have also pulled some pics from Face Book that others have posted of the damage for you to see.
(To the right: This is a restaurant in Naha that collapsed. It is crazy how it looks like it just unwrapped like a burrito and the roof is now in the street!)
So it did turn out to be a pretty crazy storm even though we never saw much. But sometimes that is a good thing. We enjoyed our lazy day and are so grateful to have been kept safe because of all the prayers in our behalf. The typhoon is still raging but I think we have seen the worst of it.
