Our first anniversary and our first visitors!

SHOUT OUT TO ALL MY FANS!!!!

**NOTE: I wrote this post in September after my mom and Rich left but I've been meaning to add pictures (because what is a blog without cool pics) and I didn't get to it until JUST NOW so it's a tad bit late. Ah there is so much to say and so much has happened but time just flies by and I forget so bear with me :). I hope you enjoy this update! Although it's very late and very long (sorry I went picture crazy).

Because Okinawa is still beautiful and I'm still in awe every sunset.

It has been a busy, wonderful couple months, hence why I have not written a blog post in a while. Aside from the "routine" of going to work, cooking dinner, and binge-watching Chuck (the show), some exciting things have been happening. Prepare yourselves people.

1. Arthur and I celebrated our one year anniversary and if you didn't catch our cheesy love-bird Facebook posts, now you know. This year has honestly been amazing. I knew marriage would be good but I really did not expect this. I am so in love with my husband and each day we are together, the more I realize how perfect this man is for me. I'm not saying it's always sunshine and rainbows, we have definitely experienced tough times and arguments, but those are nothing compared to the joy we have experienced together in this past year. Needless to say, we have grown tremendously just in this past year in how we communicate, show each other love, and just how we interact with each other. I'm excited for the next 85 years. (I'm being optimistic and hoping the longevity of the Okinawans have rubbed off on us.. so we will live past 100).

Anniversary dinner

Drove to the beach for our anniversary :)

2. We paid off our loans! Our goal before we got married was to pay off my school loans and Arthur's house loans before our one year anniversary and we did it! (Mainly Arthur, but I tried to contribute ;)) Although I love to make fun of him for being a nerd, I love how intelligent my husband is. We aren't making a ton of money here, and my salary is not one to brag about, but somehow, we managed to pay off 50k in loans. And by somehow, I mean that Arthur knows how to save like a pro, how to buy and sell all different things for a profit (cars, pianos, etc.), and he finds other odd ways to make money. I do have to take credit for the excellent budgeting ~~he forced me to do~~ I wanted to do! It also helps that we rarely go shopping here. NOT because there is a lack of stores because there is definitely a surplus.. but how do I say this...? The Japanese are small, and I'm, well... not so small. So all of their clothes fit me wrong, which I suppose is a blessing in disguise :).

3. We are going to Thailand! I've always wanted to go! Arthur surprised me for our anniversary with a trip to Thailand next year, and I CANNOT wait. We are going to Phuket and it will be amazing. Side note: where do they come up with the city names in Thailand?? (Phuket, Bangkok??) I don't understand.

4. We had our first visitors! My mom and Rich came to visit us for just under two weeks and we had such a great time. It was so nice to see my mom again after 9 months and it was fun to just be able to spend time together.

We took them around the island, to different shops, sites, and beaches, and of course to all of our favourite restaurants. MMM. We also spent 5 days on mainland visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. There really wasn't enough time to see everything there nor in Okinawa either.

The day we decided to drive around the island it ended up pouring (like monsoon rain) but it was still fun. It was so weird though because while we were up North, we looked out into the ocean and it all was this reddish brown color for miles! It was from all the farmland erosion of soil that was flooding into the ocean. It was so cool to see!

Back seat adventures with vending machine coffee and jungle excursions :)

We took my mom and Rich to the Northern tip of the island!

My beautiful mother and I.

Bird man husband.

LOVE him.

In Tokyo, we stayed in a really nice Airbnb with the nicest host ever. We explored the city and visited different areas of Tokyo. We had the best sushi ever, shopped around, visited the government building with the best panoramic view of Tokyo, and rode about 600+ metros.

Tokyo

The view from the top of our Airbnb.

Another view of the top of our Airbnb.

Insanely busy metro

We went on the best roller coaster EVER in Tokyo near Tokyo Dome and almost lost our voices from screaming so loud. It was so scary!

It's hard to tell from this picture, but that's the first drop you go down. It's almost straight down!

Tokyo: you can see the roller coaster to the left of the ferris wheel.

Of course while we were in mainland, we visited a lot of little bakeries because they are everywhere.. and they have the best, tastiest, and cutest little baked goods. I can't describe the deliciousness so let me just show you:

Need I say more?

We then took the bullet train to Kyoto, which was our first time being there. It's not nearly as large as Tokyo, and looks a lot older in style as well. It's a good place to visit if you are interested in shrines, temples, and castles because there is a plethora. We stayed in an amazing hotel outside of Kyoto with a view of the largest lake in Japan. Regardless of the more "authentic" feel of Kyoto, it still had some great shopping that we got to experience. We finished our day by going to a ramen restaurant where the chefs light the ramen on fire before you eat it. It was.... scary... oishii.... and would absolutely be illegal in the states. But it was FUN and that's what matters, right?!

Fire ramen restaurant

We left Kyoto after dinner and headed for Osaka. My first thoughts while arriving in Osaka that it looked like Tokyo but a smaller version. I wasn't there long enough to be able to say I liked Osaka better than the other places, but just from the looks of it, I really liked it. It was clean, tall buildings scattered around, and a nice size whereas Tokyo can seem overwhelming coming from lil' ol' Eugene. We spent the day exploring around, shopping in two of their famous shopping districts, and of course trying the good food. I really wish we had more time to spend in all three places but we still had so much to show my mom and Rich in Okinawa.

Dinner at the fire ramen restaurant

Kyoto

My pretty mama!

We headed back to Okinawa and thankfully they had a few more days left before they headed back to the states. We took them to our church and went shopping and ate some more delicious food and just enjoyed our last few days together.

The day before they left, they got to experience their first typhoon! It wasn't bad, just windy and rainy. It was nice to relax at home and watch movies and cook food together. Their last day was sad but nice. We went souvenir shopping, stopped at random places they wanted to see, and finished by going to our favourite (and theirs too now!) restaurant. We dropped them off at the airport and said goodbye for now. I'm so happy that my mom was able to see where I've been living, and what everyday life is like here. Now when we Skype she'll know what I'm talking about when I say that I am going somewhere. :)

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Those are the main updates for now. We still love life here. Work is going well for both of us. Church, work, and friends keep us pretty busy but we still find time to have adventure days and explore this lovely island. We haven't been able to go to the beach as much as we would have liked (still pretty white) but we were able to yesterday and it was so relaxing. I'm getting excited for it to start cooling off but I know it probably won't until the end of November. For now, I suppose i'll just enjoy the sun a little longer, enjoy my husband, and enjoy every day here. I can't believe it has already been around 9 months of being here. Only a year and three months left... WHAT.

Here's a few more random pictures of our lives in Oki: