This Blog Still Exists?! Wow!

Wow! I bet you all thought I had completely given up on blogging! For a while there, I thought I had, too. I'd like to explain my extended hiatus, and hope that there's still someone out there who is willing to read it.

Here's the thing: Normally, I try to keep my posts here upbeat, and fun. I like to give those few of you that actually read Amber in Asia a small glimpse into mine and Jeremy’s lives here in the Land of the Rising Sun. For the most part, I feel like there is no need to share the not-so-pleasant aspects of life here, because I want to lift you up, and not bring you down. I mean, you all have your everyday problems and annoyances, like I do. So, why would I want to weigh you down with mine? With ours? That’s the main reason that I haven’t posted in so long. Before our Christmas vacation, every time I sat down to write, I found myself so distracted with the negative stuff, that my efforts were a complete failure. 

I am actively trying to move past that so that I can tell you all about the cool stuff we've seen and done. We don't have much time left here in Japan, and I want to spend it doing the things that I love. One of those is writing. Eventually, I will be completely honest with you about the negative things/people/situations that have kept me away from my blog for so long. That will have have to wait until we're back stateside, though. 

For now, I want to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year! 2014 had some really amazing moments for us, as well as some sad ones. We were blessed to be able to spend so much time with our family and friends. One of our oldest, and best, friends married the love of her life, and we were able to be a part of it. We traveled together to a country neither of us had ever been to before. One of my best friends asked me to be the godmother to her soon-to-arrive baby boy. These were some of the best moments of the year! Unfortunately, this was also the year that we lost my grandma. I will always miss her spunkiness, her smile, and everything else that made her her. But, I also know that she lived a very long, and happy life, and is in a much better place now.

While I may be ready to say goodbye to 2014, and hello to 2015, I still plan to make good on my promise to fill you in on all the fun things we did in 2014. I think y'all will enjoy hearing all about it, and seeing some really cool photos.

Happy New Year, y'all, and you will hear from me again very soon!

Time Flies!

Whew! Time really does fly! I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted anything. I am a horrible blogger! I am so neglectful, but I'm sure that everyone can sympathize with life getting in the way of me writing about our life. Ha! I have, however,  started and stopped the same post (not this one! haha!) several different times trying to find the right way to word it. That really doesn't count, though. Or does it?

I've got some great pictures to share and good times to fill everyone in on, but right now I'm trying to get our house ready to move next week. NO! We are not headed stateside! We are moving one street over and three houses down. We can walk to our new house in about 45 seconds. Seriously. Even though we're not going far, it's still a hassle to move, and they might actually weigh our household goods as if we were PCSing. Yep, that's crazy, I know! That's not even the craziest part of this move. But, I'll save that for another day!

I just wanted to stop in and let ALL THREE of my followers (hahahaha!) know that I haven't forgotten you. There is some good stuff ahead, though, so don't give up on me!

Sneak peek of coming attractions:

• Andy Warhol
• Cherry Blossom season
• Army housing madness
• Anniversary in Tokyo
• New house!!!
• Other fun stuff :)

So, if you're one of the few who haven't given up on me yet, thanks for your continued interest in our Japanese adventure. Hopefully, it'll get more entertaining for you soon!

Just a funny pic...I have crazy eyes! Haha!

Holiday Highlights

I was so very blessed this holiday season! My husband got home from Afghanistan the weekend after Thanksgiving, and made my Christmas very merry indeed! 

2013 was a long year. I had so many good times, but they were all shadowed by Jeremy being away. I loved getting to explore Japan, and making wonderful memories, and amazing new friends, but I was so lonely without him here. I'm not going to get all sad and mopey on you now, though! 

Thanksgiving was a fun-filled day at our friends' house. There were so many people, and, ironically, enough food for an army! Haha! We all enjoyed a big meal, and each other's company. We played a game after dinner, which gave us all a good laugh. I was thankful to be surrounded by such a good group of people! I also enjoyed having the opportunity to cook some of both of my grandma's food. 

Home safe!

That same weekend, Jeremy got home, and I was truly thankful to have him back home safe with me, and our two fur babies, of course! My nerves were wracked on the way to pick him up from the airport. If I had it my way, I would have gone alone. I wanted my moment. You know the moment, right? You see him, he sees you, you run and hug and kiss...yada yada yada. The way I saw it, since he deployed without his unit, and he was returning alone, we didn't need a big group of people. But, I didn't get a vote, so I shared "my moment" with a couple guys from his office, and his 1SG and CO, who apparently "had to be there." 

Wow. That sounded  a little bitter. I didn't think I was, but seeing it all typed out like that, I guess I was. Or am. I don't know. 

The most important thing is that he is home. Safe. It doesn't matter if all of Camp Zama had gone to pick him up, as long as he got off that plane!!! 

The thing is, I'm uncomfortable around people I don't know well. I hide it quite well, but inside, I'm all nerves, and I get flustered, and then I start to nervous sweat...and that's just not how you want to be when you're greeting your husband at the airport. 

I guess all that is irrelevant, though! 

Jeremy's Welcome Home

Welcome Home!

Karaoke! Because how else would we welcome him home?!

Christmas! Christmas was wonderful! Ever since I was a little girl, Christmas has been my favorite holiday. I love everything about it: the tree, decorations, all the lights, stockings, Santa hats, Santa himself, presents under the tree, Christmas carols, the smell of Christmas dinner, family and friends...it truly is the very best time of year! When I was little, we would go to my grandma's house every year on Christmas Eve, and her house would be full of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I loved it! This year, on Christmas Eve, Jeremy and I had another couple over to open presents and drink a little wine, (not too much, Christmas Day couldn't be ruined!) and play Wii. We had a good time, but managed to get to bed early enough to get a early start Christmas morning!

I cooked a big dinner for Christmas Day, and we were blessed to have a house full of wonderful friends! When I was little, I may have enjoyed Christmas Eve at one grandma's house, but I enjoyed the food at the other grandma's! I tried to recreate some of her yummy goodness in my own Christmas dinner. I'll never be as crazy talented in the kitchen as she, but I loved every minute I spent creating that dinner! It was an awesome day of fellowship with friends, and while we may have missed family back home, our friends here made it easier to be so far away. I hope that we were able to do the same for them! 

A Very Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas apron!

I let her borrow it! 

 

Christmas nails! I just had to share! They were adorable!

 I love taking pictures. Seriously. Normally, I take too many, and someone has to pry the camera from my hands. So, it is with a heavy heart that I say: I took absolutely no pictures while everyone was here Christmas Day. FAIL.

I know Christmas isn't about the presents, but I just want to say that we absolutely nailed it this year with our gifts for our niece and nephew!!! I think we did pretty good with everyone else as well, but the scene stealer was definitely the kids' presents. We kept our presents for each other pretty small. We didn't go all-out. We were just both so happy to be spending Christmas together, that our presents were almost an afterthought!

And, now it's the new year! I can't believe it's 2014! Wow! We had fun New Year's Eve, and then I cooked a nice New Year's dinner the next day. I did it like my grandma used to (Mississippi style!): corn bread, turnip greens, and black eyed peas. There was ham, too! It was pretty yummy! So, I'm hoping for really good luck, health, and wealth this year! Haha!

The girls! Jodi, Brittany, me, and Danielle in front

Japan bestie and me!

Happy happy couple! Happy New Year!

Right now, Jeremy and I are looking forward to him taking a little leave in February. February is going to be a great month! Valentine's Day is coming up, and then our anniversary. We're hoping for a short getaway while he has some time off. I will definitely take lots of photos!

Here's to another amazing year filled with family, friends, and adventure!

Cruisin' on R&R

So, I'm reading this book, and the main character owns a small town newspaper. As I was reading about her deadline, and her staying past midnight to get the paper to print, I realized that I had all but neglected my blog. I do enjoy writing here. It's nice to have an outlet for my thoughts and feelings. I enjoy sharing my experiences, my joys, and, even my woes. It seems, though, that the longer I go between posts, the harder it is to get back into it. Take, for instance, my trip to MS in September. I was so eager to get back and write all about it! I mean, I had fun with my niece and nephew, my parents, and, most importantly, Jeremy had two whole weeks of R&R! We got to take a cruise down to Mexico! I had such an amazing time, and just knew that I'd get back to Japan and tell you all about it. Today is November 20. What?! What happened? I have no idea! But, I'm going to make up for it now. So, how about I start with my Jeremy time first? If that takes me a while, I'll just have to do a whole other post about my fun with family and friends!

You know, Jeremy has been gone for months and months. Our time apart has had its ups and downs. There are days I miss him so much I don't even want to get out of bed. There are days that I have so much to do that I literally do not have the time to miss him. Until bedtime, of course. Going to sleep in an empty bed night after night can get to be pretty depressing. So, you can imagine just how excited I was when his R&R got approved! However, the thought of sharing him with family that whole time was not exactly appealing. That's why I came up with the idea of a short cruise. I mean, New Orleans is only about an hour and half from where we'd be in Mississippi, and they do offer those little four and five day cruises. Lucky for me, Jeremy agreed that we needed some alone time, and he was on board with the cruise plan! 

New Orleans just before boarding

Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, so I told Jeremy before we left that it was possible that we could be the rare people that didn't enjoy cruises. I wanted us to keep an open mind, and have fun. I also wanted us to be honest with each other, and if we (or just one of us) didn't like the cruise, then, that was okay, too. Honestly, though, I had nothing to worry about, because, we both had a great time! We did make some "first time cruiser" mistakes, but live and learn. The most important thing was that we were together again (and also that we were alone)!

Photos from the Mighty Mississippi

The ship pulled out of New Orleans on a gorgeous Monday afternoon. We sat outside and enjoyed the scenery on the Mississippi River as we headed toward the Gulf of Mexico. I never realized how beautiful it is in that part of Louisiana! All that time I spent living in, and visiting, New Orleans, and I missed out on so much beauty just to the south! Of course, I was a bit of a city girl back then, so I probably wouldn't have cared to venture too far into the swamp! Unfortunately, we were already asleep when the ship entered the Gulf, but the next morning we awoke to another beautiful day! We had room service breakfast, followed by amazing massages in the spa. I did get a little seasick that first day, which was weird, because I've been on tons of boats, (I mean, I grew up on the coast of MS!) and I've never gotten sick before. But, Jeremy was awesome, and he got me these bracelets that magically keep you from getting seasick (I'm sure it's not really magic, but science was never my thing). He's an awesome husband! We spent the rest of that day in and around the pool. It was a ton of fun! We did get a little too much sun, despite my valiant attempts at keeping us covered in sunblock. That night was the Captain's Dinner, and we got to dress up! We hadn't eaten dinner in the dining room the night before, so this was our first time meeting the other people at our table. I think we got very lucky with our table mates. They were both older couples, and pretty much polar opposites of each other. It made for interesting dinner conversation! And, all that sun we got that day? Well, it made us look amazing in our dress clothes!

Captain's Dinner

Us and our waiter

The second full day on the ship, we really felt all that sun from the day before. We were docked in Progresso, but neither of us felt like leaving our room, much less the ship! That may sound boring, but it wasn't. It was a rainy day, anyway. The point of us taking this cruise was for alone time, and relaxation. If you can tell me anything more relaxing than a day in bed, I'd be amazed. I woke up, and Jeremy was reading. He was hurting a little from the sunburn, and we were both just tired. The sun will really zap your energy! I asked him if he wanted to explore Progresso, and he said he wouldn't mind staying in bed and reading. And, honestly, I wanted to stay in bed and sleep! I did wake up a bit later, and we both enjoyed reading our books for a while. We did venture out onto the ship that afternoon, and then we had dinner again in the dining room. It was a great day! 

Of course, we knew the next day we'd be in Cozumel, and that was our big day! Cozumel was the dolphin day! We were going on an excursion where we'd get to swim with dolphins. We were both so excited! They said it would be about three hours, and we spent almost every minute of it in the water with the dolphins. It was amazing! They had lots of dolphins at the place we went to, and our group had one to ourselves. Let me see if I can remember everything we got to do with him: pet him, kiss him, he kissed us, we held our hand up high and he "stood up" out of the water and touched our hand with his nose, we watched him underwater, he "stood up" in the water and we rubbed his fins, we put our arms underneath him and he arched his back putting his nose up and his tail up, I splashed him and he drenched us, and, most awesome of all was this: we got to hold onto his fins while he swam!!! What?! It was simply amazing! I never thought I'd do something like that! Jeremy loved it, too! It was definitely one of those experiences that we'll never forget!

The following day was another day spent at sea. It rained a couple of times for a few minutes each time, but other than that, it was another gorgeous day. I was very aware that my time was growing short with Jeremy, but I tried to hide that. We had a blast that day! Jeremy had discovered that he likes pina colodas, and he actually had a couple drinks with me. We stayed in the pool most of the day, although, we did take advantage of the water slide, too. It's possible I gave them a show my first time down the slide...it was a complete accident, and Jeremy thought it was hilarious! Luckily, most of the other people in the pool were drinking pretty heavily, so I don't think they noticed. We did the slide several times, and after that first time, I learned to hold the top of my swimsuit in place, so there were no more wardrobe malfunctions! I was also more diligent about keeping sunscreen on us, so we didn't burn again that day. We enjoyed another nice dinner in the dining room, and then it was time to pack up.

That five day cruise flew by! We're thinking that the next cruise needs to be more like seven (or more) days, and we'd like to be on a bigger boat, too! Don't get me wrong, we loved that cruise! But, the bigger ships have better restaurants, and more on-board activities. We saw an advertisement for another cruise ship, and we were like, "Yes! That's the ship we want next!" 

Jeremy and I also had lots of fun with our family and friends, but I think I'll tell y'all about that next tine! I'll leave you with a few adorable towel buddy photos from the cruise...enjoy!

Scuba Diving in Japan

Before Jeremy left, I promised myself that I would do more writing, and I have failed, miserably, in that aspect.  So, in the interest of keeping that promise to myself, I thought I'd tell you about a recent adventure of mine.  While I'd like to be one of those cool, outdoorsy type people that are always kayaking or canoeing or hiking or whatever else those types of people do, in reality, I am more of a sit-on-facebook, or let's-go-to-a-bar type of girl.  That being said, I do love the water!  Whether it be a gorgeous beach, floatin' on the river, or just a swimming pool, I really love being in the water, or even just near it.  Naturally, then, when my new friend, Emiko, asked me to go scuba diving with her, I was like, "YES!!!"

Y'all, I'm really like a fish.  I love to swim.  I don't have any real technique, though.  I took swimming lessons for two years when I was little, and they just didn't take.  I was beginning to think that I'd never learn.  But, my childhood best friend, Amy, didn't give up on me!  She did what those instructors couldn't.  She taught me to swim!  I guess we were somewhere between four and six years old, so I'm sure you can imagine that Amy's way of swimming wasn't the conventional way.  She didn't teach me the butterfly, or how to swim with a perfect stroke.  That didn't matter, though.  The fact is, I learned to swim, and loved it.  I was never the girl that liked to lay out by the pool; I wanted to be in the pool.  Now that I'm older, I do enjoy laying by the pool, but I still love being in it, too.  I've swam in lots of different bodies of water, and with one exception, loved them all.  (That one exception is a non-issue.  I saw how big the waves were, but went in anyway.  I was a stupid girl, but mistakes are how we learn!)

Because of my love for the water, and for swimming, when Emi said scuba diving, I thought, "Piece of cake!"  I'm sure, then, you can understand my frustration when, after listening to the instructor, and putting on all that heavy equipment, the first time I put my face under the water, I was terrified.  I'm not sure that really conveys my emotion at the time, maybe TERRIFIED!!! is a better way of putting it.  You know, the people you see on tv scuba diving make it look so easy.  They just toss on that vest with a tank, and roll off of a boat.  First, no one can just toss that stuff on.  It is seriously heavy.  It's not just the tank that's heavy, that vest has weights in its pockets.  I had no idea!  I would normally say, "Second" here and launch into why they can't just roll off the boat like that, but we didn't use a boat, so I'd just be basing that off of my own opinion, and not fact.  But, in my own opinion, with all that equipment on, rolling off a boat wouldn't be easy.  Falling off of one?  Yes!  That would be very easy, and would probably happen to me!

I got a little bit sidetracked, there.  Let's get back to why I was so terrified.  I think that I let one little fear worm its way into my brain, and there it multiplied.  It started when I got water in my mask, and the next thing I know, I'm picturing myself being deep underwater and not being able to come up.  Yep, I went to crazy town!  There were several times that I went under, and couldn't stay there longer than a minute or two.  The whole thing is just very weird feeling at first.  You're underwater.  You're breathing underwater.  It's not natural!  And, if you start thinking of all the possible things that can go wrong, like I did, it is very scary.  I kept coming right back up, and I was starting to feel like this wasn't going to happen for me.  I was about thisclose to just giving up.  I seriously wanted to quit. Emi kept saying, "It's ok, you'll get used to it."  I was thinking that she was a crazy person and that no normal human could ever just "get used to it!"  

Then a very crazy thing happened.  I went under, and I wasn't scared.  What?!  I did, indeed, "get used to it!"  I don't know how it happened, but I am so very thankful that it did!  Had I quit when I wanted to, I would have missed out on such an amazing experience!  Y'all, I got to feed fish.  Underwater.  Out of my hand!  It was awesome!  I saw a baby octopus, sea urchins, and tons of fish!  At one point, I looked around, and I was in the middle of a huge school of fish!  I don't think that I can even think of the right words to use that would do justice to describing my experience.  I've got pictures, though!  

This was the first time I used my underwater camera...I can adjust the settings so that the photos turn out clearer, but I didn't know that in time for this trip!  Next time, the photos will be even better!  (This is the school of fish)

My flippers!

I'm feeding fish!  It's just too cool!

That's me!!!  I can't wait to do it again!

Also, the place that Emi took me to for this little adventure is called Osezaki.  Google it.  Right now.  Haha!  Seriously, though, this was probably (definitely) the most beautiful place I've ever seen in person.  It's like a little cove.  It's not a white sand beach, it's more like gravel, but that does not take away from the beauty.  Actually, it feels nice to lay on, with a towel between you and the gravel, of course.  As beautiful as the beach is, it is nothing compared to the view.  On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji right there from the beach!  It is quite literally breathtaking!  I think that may be the first time I have ever used that word, but it's true, and I wasn't even there on a clear day!  I have to go back there.  I have to see that view again, and God willing, it will be a completely clear day!  Even if it's not, the view is still amazing, and I'll still love it.  You can still see the mountains even when it's not clear, but you just can't see as much of them.

Seriously, have you ever seen a place more beautiful?!

If this had been a clear day, you'd see Mt. Fuji in this photo!

I threw this one in for fun! These poor baby crabs were all dried up!

Scuba diving taught me a lesson in perseverance, and I am so happy that I did not give up!  I am thankful that Emi and the instructor were patient with me, and kept encouraging me.  You know what else?  I am so very thankful for my wonderful husband, without whom this experience might never have happened.  I love him so much, and miss him every second of every day.  I did learn that scuba diving will take your mind off of your deployment woes, even if only for a little while!  

Here are a few more photos that I took while walking around the area by the dive shop.  I think they're pretty nifty!

Torii Gate (usually these mark the entrance to a shrine or temple)

The torii gate and Emi

I can't remember what this is. Possibly a temple.

Torii gate and shrine

This is where you wash your hands and mouth before entering the shrine

Not a clue, just thought it was neat! Ha!

This tree is alive, but looks like drift wood! Crazy!