We're back from Taipei

And I couldn't be happier. After visiting another Asian country, Japan officially feels like our home and it's so wonderful to be back!




A full recap will follow shortly.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Oops

This is me trying not to be upset that my husband waited until we were 45 minutes into the bus ride to the airport to realize that he forgot his PASSPORT! Who does that?!?!? Luckily we left REALLY early and we have time to ride this train back to base then ride 2 more trains to the airport. Our free bus ride just turned into a $50 train ride. Here's hoping the rest of our trip to Taipei goes smoothly!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

random iPhone photos

I love that Megan always has a "midweek randoms" post full of all the random photos she has on her iPhone.  I have a ton that I haven't shared and since it's midweek here, I'm going to steal her idea and share them now =)

Japan is taking power conservation seriously

These Japanese cookies are like chocolate fortune cookies but with a prize in the middle instead of a fortune. Unfortunately this one was a gift and I apparently cannot purchase them in this area. (ps, my prize was a little plastic ball on a rope)

in his horrible, broken Japanese, Jason asked some guys at a table next to us what they were drinking and they told us then shared a glass with us so we could try it.    So kind!

With all the modern technology here, I cannot understand why the Japanese still use these brooms

I made this risotto that was divine!  Such a labor of love, but so worth ever second!

I love that when I dip my brush in my eyeshadow each morning, I'm left with a smiley face =)  Such a great way to start my day

Jason and I spent an afternoon teaching the neighbor kids how to do handstands (with support) and cartwheels

I mentioned the other day that I have a rash on my legs that the Dr's believe is Schamberg disease...there is not treatment for it, so I attempted to tan it away....unfortunately it didn't work =(

 this is why we don't eat potatoes in our house!   (that's your average bag of 10 or so small potatoes for $15!)

one of the things I miss most living here is chicken wings.  it's probably one of my top 10 favorite foods and the ones at the golf course just don't cut it.  These (with a few modifications) were so good, I think I'm going to make them again tonight for the 2nd time this week! 

another hiatus?

It may take me a little longer than I expected to get back to regular blogging because I cannot stop reading these books!

Have you read these books?  Did you like them?  If you haven't read them I suggest you do!  These are not the type of books I typically read but I cannot put them down!  (Plus they're $5, $8.40 and $7.14 on the Kindle, and who doesn't love cheap books?!?)

this is too good not to share!

Before I get to the point of this post, I have to warn my fellow mil-spouse readers, especially those with deployed husbands, the song I'm about to discuss WILL make you cry!


So there is a singer/songwriter that I LOVE name Ernie Halter (you can read all about how my obsession with  love for singer/songwriters started here) .  Last week, the pop sensation Justin Bieber sang a cover of one of Ernie's songs called "Come Home to Me" at his concert in Hong Kong and posted a link on his twitter account.  

This lead to an increase of 30,000+ twitter followers for my dear friend Ernie.  I'm so incredibly excited for him. he deserves every one of those followers!

To return the favor, Ernie recorded a cover of "Baby"

Justin just happened to be in Tokyo this week and after his concert here last night, he flew back to LA and then drove an hour to a show Ernie was doing and surprised him.  Justin even hopped on stage and sang "Come Home to Me" with Ernie.

This is such a huge moment for someone who has worked so hard and I just wanted to share it with the whole world (or at least the part of the world that reads my blog)!

I'm still here

I have been busy nothing to say a total bum no excuses for the lack of blogging but I'm back.  The last 2 weeks have been relatively uneventful but here's a little recap.  

I taught English. 

I cooked lots of yummy dinners.

I spent MASSIVE amounts of time hanging out with my awesome neighbors enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

I taught more English.

I spent 2 days in bed trying to sleep off a migraine/PMS.

I ate lots of sushi.

I attended my 1st ever FRG meeting.

I completely FAILED the 52 in 52 challenge.

We found out the company Jason is supposed to be taking command of next month will no longer exist at that time and I had a brief panic attack.  We still don't know when/where he will get a command now but we're trying to be patient and believe it's all God's plan for us.

I went to the Dr twice for a rash that covers most of my legs and they (I had 3 Dr's looking at me) were "stumped" both times.  They have tentatively diagnosed me with Schamberg disease which basically means I will have this UGLY rash on and off for the rest of my life.  At 1st I was grateful that it isn't something worse but the more I think about it the more upset it makes me.  Not being able to wear dresses/skirts/shorts without being uncomfortable/embarrassed is crushing my spirits.  BAD.  None of the Dr's I saw were dermatologists though so I'm still waiting to get a 2nd opinion.

We booked a trip to Taipei over Memorial Day weekend =)  I'm a little crushed now that I know this rash won't be gone by then but I'm trying to remain positive.  I plan to invest in some new cute maxi dresses before we leave (any recommendations?)!

I guess that's about it.  Hopefully this won't be the last time you hear from me for 2 weeks!

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Thank you Military Spouses for all you do to support your spouse who fights for my freedom!

more for me than you...

Wow, what a crazy week it's been huh?  I'm not going to talk about anything y'all haven't heard 1000 times this week, but part of the reason I have this blog is so that I have a record of events in my life.  I want to look back and remember how I felt about things at the time they were happening.  This is one of those times.

In the week that I have been back in Japan, there have been devastating tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a beautiful celebration of love in the Royal Wedding and then the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been killed.  Talk about a roller coaster of a week!  Such emotional highs and lows, one right after the other.

After the announcement was made about bin Laden, I had to make my self stop opening my facebook page and turn off the news.  The celebrations I was witnessing were making me nauseous!  I read a blog post by a fellow milspouse today that expressed my feelings better than I ever could on my own.

"So why am I not rejoicing in this moment?...My friends spouse's are still there. My friends are still there. My friends children are still there. My fellow countrymen are still there. Still there preparing for the next days activities. Still there under fire from a really pissed off enemy."

If you'd like to read the whole post, you can do so here.

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I've also been focusing on a Bible verse that I would like to remember when I think back to these days:

Ezekiel 33:11

As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

I'm going to turn the comments off on this post, like I said, this post is more for me than anyone else.