HONG KONG part 2

Not seeing my husband for 3 months turned me into a 13-year-old girl in some ways. There's that initial shy stage when you first see him again because you're all smiley and a little nervous like you're on a first date again. Its really funny how often military wives experience this, and I wonder if after several deployments that initial reunion is always the same or if it changes? But there we were, finally together in Hong Kong! I had my checklist of things to see and do, but Jonah had his too (namely, Outback Steakhouse).

We started our first day at the Peninsula Hotel for high tea. Do you see the band in the top corner there? It was very fun and fancy...and British. This is one of those "must-see" things in all the travel guides, so we took advantage and had a lovely time!!

Here's Jonah with his scone and clotted cream. He had coffee and I had Jasmine tea.

That night we went to Happy Valley track, which was very close to our hotel, to see the horses race. It was different from the horse races at Del Mar in California. We could never figure out the betting system! It was a lot of fun though.

Yeah, we had to fall for the cheesy tourist photo-op here. Actually, I had to fall for it, and drag Jonah down with me.

The next day we began our assent across the water and up the hills to see the big buddah. My favorite part about this day was this 25-minute skytram ride.

The bottom of the skytram was a window, so you could see the trees beneath you, as well as those motivated hikers climbing up the path of enlightenment, all the way to the buddah.

Funny story: We watched a parkour demonstration in the village outside the buddah and Jonah went to see where the dancers were. Well, after climbing the stairs to get a better view, the parkour guys hopped up there to show off to the audience and Jonah sorta got caught up in the madness. Can you find him at the very left of the picture? haha

Those were a lot of stairs.

Look who we ran into?! These are some of the guys from Jonah's squadron.

I love when he makes this face, haha. In the background you can see some of the random cattle grazing the temple streets.

Jonah with some iron-fisted Chinese emperor.

The last night we were there I went to a light show on the harbor with some girlfriends of mine. Thanks Gina for snapping this picture! In the background you can see Victoria's Harbor all lit up.

It was a great trip, I only wish some of you could have come with us! Hope you enjoyed the pictures : )

HONG KONG part 1

Once I got back from my visit to the states, I unpacked, did laundry and repacked for my trip to see Jonah during his port call in Hong Kong. I traveled with a great group of military spouses that I hung out with until Jonah got off the boat. Some of these women were 262 spouses, others were friends I'd made volunteering at the Marine Gift Shop. Speaking of the Marine Gift Shop, that's how I met Johnny. Johnny is basically the official jeweler of Marine spouses on Okinawa. His business is based out of Hong Kong, but he visits the Marine Gift Shop several times a year to sell his jewelry, and has become somewhat of a legend around base, boosting the morale of military spouses with his beautiful jewelry and friendly personality!

 This is Victoria Harbor. This harbor stays busy 24/7, but what was most surprising was how clean the water was. You wouldn't think such a busy harbor would be so clean! We stayed on the Wan Chai side of the harbor, so we rode the ferry across to the Kowloon side of the harbor to do some shopping during our first day in Hong Kong.

 After getting some advice from Johnny about how to get around, we took a taxi up to Mongkok, an area with a lot of markets for shopping. We visited the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, where I got a birdcage for the nursery of our baby girl!!! Have I mentioned that yet? We're having a BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I might have jinxed it because to be honest, because I bought a birdcage and a doll in Hong Kong... (before I knew the baby's gender)    : D

 Here we are listening to Johnny about how to get around Hong Kong, what to do and what not to do! Thankfully he told us to bring our own toliet paper. Why most restrooms don't have toliet paper in Hong Kong is beyond me, but thanks for the tip Johnny!

 Johnny treats the Marine spouses well. He brought us to a authentic Dim Sum restaurant to taste the local specialty! We also had Jasmine tea, which I really liked. And I usually don't like hot tea, but it was really tasty!

This food was amazing. Just looking at it now makes my stomach grumble... the baby must be growing super fast this week because I've been constantly hungry. The baby weighs a pound now!

 Johnny and his daughter, Jennifer, showed us his shop in Hong Kong. Thank goodness for all his tips!

 These photos are stolen from my friend Megan, I didn't really take a lot of pictures in Hong Kong for some reason. I think I was just the pregnant lady trying to keep up with everyone!

 

Here we are at Ladies Market in Mongkok. I learned I'm not really good at the whole market thing. I was really overwhelmed with the price negotiation and all the choices. Thank goodness for friends with quick wit and negotiation skills! My pregnancy indecisiveness was out of control! Here I am scarfing down a snack to keep from passing out in some dark ally. 

 One night we were so tired from all the walking that we just ate at a McDonald's after taking the subway back to Wan Chai. I like this picture because it gives you some insight into my confusion over seeing dollar signs in front of prices that just don't match with the product. $25 for a big mac!! Of course, that's really like $3 or $4 dollars with the exchange rate, but c'mon what's a Journalism major to do with all this? I should have packed my calculator!

Well, that's part 1 of our trip. Next I'll post about the time I spent with Jonah in Hong Kong. One thing I really liked about this place was that it had an East-meets-West kind of feel to it. Of course it's very Asian, but it has a strong British influence, obviously, and that made it somewhat familiar. Everything was written in both Chinese and English,  which was comforting. Jonah and I ate 3 times at Outback and once at TGIFriday's while we were there to get our American food fix. Good times!

My WONDERFUL Family

It's been a nice visit home, baby checkup, Hong Kong port call, sprained ankle, Thanksgiving and stomach bug ago since I wrote my last post. I really will keep blogging, really!

Do you ever feel like your life is changing very very fast and you're not in control, but thank goodness because you'd for sure mess it up? That's how I feel, so I'm glad I can trust God to take care of me and Jonah like he always has. Now I just have to focus on doing that, trusting. We found out some news about the osprey transition that makes me 100% uncertain of exactly what we'll be doing and where we'll be living for the next 5 or so years. That's why the title of this blog is so fitting! I feel like we are in the calm center of a big adventure whirling fast around us. We could hold our breath and jump into the rumors, plans and ideas and get swept up in them, or instead we could wait patiently in the center, learning more information until the storm dies down and we can clearly see our path.

So here we go, we're going to let go of the future and the temptation of planning out our next 5 years in the next five minutes and instead wait until the dust settles and we have our options in front of us. Now that you're thoroughly confused, let me help you out. The news is, I don't have any news, no details, no guarantees. So... I'll keep you updated!

Moving on to the point of this blog, let me talk about my wonderful family and my recent visit to the Great Smokey Mountains in North Carolina! The fall leaves were so colorful and vibrant and it was SO good to be home. I literally almost cried twice while going through customs at the Atlanta airport. If you ever find yourself putting our country down for whatever reason, just live somewhere else for atleast 6 months or so and you'll cry like a baby when your plane touches down stateside. Seeing my family made me so thankful for them. They really are my favorite people in the whole world, apart from my favorite person, Jonah   : )
Here are their beautiful faces!

Now that I've bragged about them, I'll just post some pictures for you to see!

This is Zeno, my oldest brother, with his girlfriend Tiffany. Zeno is smart and tech-savvy and owns his own electronics web-based business called Boost, Inc. He's always been like my dad; it's nice to have protective older brothers.

This is Zachary, the middle child, with his wife Sarah. Zachary is a country boy through and through, him and Sarah must have set some kind of record for the number of black bears they killed this past hunting season. They eat a lot of bear meat! Zachary owns his own construction business. Zeno's witty and sarcastic, whereas Zach's goofy and silly like me, so between the two of them, especially with the two of them together, I was always entertained growing up.

This is my Mom! No resemblance, right? My mom is really creative, sweet and goofy and was a stay-at-home mom with us until my senior year in high school when she started her businesses. She owns a hardware store and runs one of my grandad's clothing outlet businesses. She has a very generous spirit.

This is my super cool Grandad. He is like the Don, the God Father of the family! haha, jk. But he is really the man of the hour. He keeps us entertained with his endless wealth of knowledge on random trivia. He has been so influential in our lives and we really don't deserve him. 

I love this picture of my cousins, Chloe and Hannah. They are super fun to be around and always keep us laughing!

When I married Jonah, I inherited a whole other wonderful family! Ed, Norma, Jake and Gramps have been blessings in my life. What wasn't a blessing in my life was my old external hard drive that crashed right before moving here, so the only recent picture I have of Jonah's family is this one that Norma sent me in an email. But to give you a visual, here's Ed and Jonah's Gramps, Don, in front of Jonah's parent's house. They are very warm, hospitable people and they certainly know how to cook!

And this is my view of Cold Mountain from my home. I've never been to a more naturally beautiful place than where I'm from.

Baby Warren

Last Friday I was able to meet baby Warren for the first time. I saw baby's hands and feet, head and belly. When I saw baby's heart beating in its chest I literally laughed out loud. The nurse quickly told me not to laugh because it messed her picture up and we had to find the little one all over again. I was even able to hear baby's heart beat, which was so encouraging because it sounded quick and strong. When I saw the baby moving around it made me so joyful that we've come this far already together and I hope you guys will keep praying for the baby's development and health. I can't believe I have the honor and blessing of having this miracle take place inside me. Here's a picture for you all to see!

 

From left to right is the head and then the hands and feet. Look at the baby's cute belly!

We love yall!! I'm really craving American food, so hopefully I'll get to come home soon : )

Zamami Island Part II

Zamami was such a beautiful island. This was one of our favorite lookouts. It reminded me a lot of Hawaii, but very undeveloped in comparison. We spent most of the second day driving the mopeds around looking for scenic spots, which were everywhere.

This is my favorite picture from the trip. This is the other side of the lookout pictured above. I seem to have developed a case of pregnancy brain, so this blog will probably just be lots of pictures with captions.

This lookout was so Japanese and beautiful. All those steps are probably meant to be some path of meditation. We didn't feel like being too enlightened, so we just took a picture from the distance : )

This was our final lookout because we could see the rain coming from a distance and so we raced on our mopeds to this shelter Jonah found for us to wait for the storm to pass. It was really neat to see the sheets of rain from a distance get closer and closer. I'm wearing booties in this picture, which you wear when you swim in the ocean here because there's lots of coral and sea creatures you wouldn't want to step on barefoot. They made good moped boots too!

After all that driving we were ready to jump in the clear waters and snorkel. This first beach was sandy and Jonah hopped in to cool off.

One of the beaches we visited had awesome snorkeling that reminded me of Hanauma Bay in Oahu. Within a few feet of the shore was coral galore and more variety of fish. The beach was nice because there was a small beach shack that sold Japanese-style lunches and rented out swim fins and masks. I don't know the name of the beach, but if you're going just ask me and I'll give you directions! (It's not too far from the port)

As we were driving the mopeds around the small town I noticed this Japanese residence. This would be my dream Japanese home. It has a cottage-like feel to it, very shabby chic. I think this would be Rachel Ashwell's Japanese home pick too. The sage green siding with cream roof is a unique color combination for Japan. The shisa dogs guard the beautiful gate at the entrance of the home. There's already a mess on the porch so it already looks like it could belong to me : )

Not the best background, but a post-dinner picture before we returned the mopeds for the night.
We'll see you next week!!
Love,
us

Zamami Island = Moped Bliss

Moped Bliss

Well, I'll start off with an image of the beautiful moped that I drove around the island of Zamami. When I first thought about living in Japan I sort of imagined myself owning a moped like this one, cruising the narrow streets of the small island town. I didn't realize a.) how big that island was b.) how bad Okinawan drivers are c.) how often it rains.  So, I do not own a moped like the one pictured above, however, I got to follow Jonah on one through the streets of Zamami for two days of bliss : ) He had a blue one. It was fun.

So, how we got to this cool spot on the beach with our mopeds will be the end of the story, well of part 1 anyways. First I'll give you the details of how we got to this picture.

The Japanese program we watched on the ferry.

We wanted to get away to an island and after a friend's advice, I got MCCS Tours + to translate for a reservation on the ferry and hotel for us. In case you were wondering we took the "Ferry Zamami" from Tomari Port. We stayed at Cat's Inn Kerama, which I would not recommend unless you are the adventurous type and appreciate not being in a tent. It's better than the hotels with tatimi mats for beds, but not as good as some of the pricer, western-styled ones. I really liked the place (mostly the price) but I have to say that the food was very foreign, which is not usually a problem for us, but lets just say we weren't served sushi. It was some kind of fried minnow-like fish (what Americans would call "bait") with sauteed onions. Not good for a pregnant woman. But, there were side dishes I liked, as well as a good breakfast in the morning (I think they noticed the westerners at dinner that night) with eggs and toast. The staff was friendly and room clean.

When we arrived on the island we rented our mopeds and asked for a lunch recommendation. The local told us about this place, which turned out great! And it was packed with locals, which is always a good sign. I really liked the atmosphere and view of this place, which overlooked the port bay. I know sometimes you guys like to see the Japanese food these kinds of places serve, so here ya go.

Jonah finished of the sashimi in the middle before I got a picture, but the other stuff you see is soba noodles, miso soup and some kind of noodle stir-fry. It was delish. By the way, you might notice there's no spoons. After the waitresses kept forgetting my spoons I one day wised up and realized you don't use them here. You use your chopsticks to pick up the noodles and slurp them up. Then you just drink the broth out of the bowl (like I do the milk when my cereal's gone...). TMI?

The town was really cute and so much easier to navigate than Ie Island. For starters, there actually was a town. Ie island buildings were spread out and did not have many dining choices. This island seemed a little more developed in the sense that you could easily walk from the port to restaurants, hotels and moped rentals.

It's a shame I can't read kanji.

So with our luggage at the hotel and food in our stomachs we set off to explore the island. Unfortunately, the map was in Kanji, but pictures alone get you pretty dang far. Jonah was the master navigator and helped us stick to the outlying roads so that we could circle the island and learn where everything was. It was this way that we found the glorious beach we snorkeled at the next day, along with some picturesque scenic spots that will be included in the Part 2 post.

Check back soon for Part 2 and have a great week! : )

The Blessing

Guess what? I'm pregnant : )

Over the past few months I've been learning what a precious miracle a baby is and God has answered our prayers. Jonah and I are officially nervous, expecting parents. The baby should be making its grand appearance mid-April.

There's the facts, now I'll give you some details about how I told him!

I found out on a Thursday morning and hid the pregnancy test in the medicine cabinet. I didn't scream when I saw the test or anything, I was just in a grateful state of mind/good mood. Jonah and I had the best ride over to his work that morning because we were both in great moods and I thought he'd get suspicious because I'm SO not a morning person, but he was looking forward to flight time and was probably already running through checklists in his head. I wanted to tell him Friday so that he could let the thoughts sink in and just enjoy the moment (and not be interrupted by work). So, Friday morning after I dropped him off I went to the hospital to confirm the pregnancy. Next, I went by the store to get some stuff to decorate the house, along with some first gifts for the baby. I hung streamers and a sign and decorated the table with baby stuff for him to see when he came in. I went by Chili's and got "baby" back ribs for dinner and made gourmet brownies my brother Zeno sent for my birthday (thanks zeno!) That evening I picked him up and told him we were going to see a movie on base but first I needed to go home and get my jacket. He still had NO idea. In fact, he proceeded to call some friends we were hanging out with that night to invite them to the movie that I completely made up. Thank goodness they couldn't go.

When we got home I ran in to get my place and think of what I'd say. Jonah walked in and went straight upstairs (in our house you can go straight upstairs and never see into the living room). A little annoyed at this point, I called him downstairs and when he asked what was going on, I told him in a not so clever or thought-out way that he was going to be a Dad. His mouth dropped open and stayed that way for about 5 seconds while we hugged.

Some Okinawan gifts for the baby

I was really excited to find this tiger because Jonah's very favorite toy when he was a toddler was his stuffed tiger. I was surprised to find this one amongst the very limited selection on base.

When we talked to our families the next week on skype they asked us the usual "how was your weekend?" question. We told them that "the three of us went snorkeling." They sort of paused and someone said "wait, the three of you???" to which we replied "yeah, me, Jonah and the BABY!"

Hope you enjoyed the story! We love and miss you guys!