Pyro Tech Dog

So I’ve been blogging about once a month … what a slacker. In my defense I have been really busy though. We still have not found someone to replace me in my old position, but I hope next week we will. Surprisingly, not many people have applied. When the job was available previously there were many people trying to get the job. Our HR office opens the positions up for two weeks at a time. So if we don’t find someone after the first two weeks, they reopen it for another two weeks. The position announcement has been reopened three times! So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the current announcement is the last one! I was able to pick my own hours and I chose the hours in the best interest of my work. If I would have known it would have been this long I would have chosen hours in my best interest. Normally it wouldn’t bother me, but I’ve barely been able to see Gian during the week and he isn’t going to be here much longer. When he’s gone I typically burry myself in work, but while he’s here I like to be spending time with him of course. Soon he’ll be going to Alaska which I’m excited about for him. I’ve always wanted to visit there and see all the wildlife and scenery. I think we might get a nice camera for him to take so he can take lots of photos.

School is going alright. I have one online class that’s internet and web design. The homework has been easy but the assignments have been difficult. The instructor provides minimal instructions and so we were all kind of lost. I hope the next assignment isn’t as difficult. My onsite class is pretty interesting. It’s called The Psychology of Human Learning. The neat part is that is mostly talks about animals and animal intelligence so I definitely perk up for those topics. A lot of the experiments mentioned in the book with animals remind me of Roxy. Roxy is ridiculously smart and so it’s been a lot of fun working with her. She is a workaholic and likes to learn and perform. Her list of tricks include: sit, down, up, paw, other paw, high-five, roll-over, crawl, open, and close. I want to teach her to play dead and “stick em up” as well as how to fetch drinks from a cooler. I think the paper I have to write in my psychology class is going to be related to her.

I haven’t been riding on a weekly basis but I did go last weekend. I am looking at buying new boots and helmet either this month or next month. I’ve never bought boots from a catalog or store so I hope I can get a pair that fits well. My stuff I have now is just too old! There’s been talk about going to a show in the fall. Unfortunately since we don’t have a full course of jumps looks like my only option is dressage! I want to jump! Heidi has been doing much better and hardly gives me any problems during my lesson. The trainer took my suggestion of doing work with ground rails so last lesson he set one up for us to canter over. I use to be amazing as getting the right distance and not so much anymore. So, I have a lot of practice to do because I usually aim for a distance that’s too long. This weekend we’re going with friends to a city about four hours away to an outlet outdoor mall so I probably won’t go riding till next weekend. We’re really excited to do some shopping and see some American stores! I’m most excited about Gap and Starbucks! I haven’t heard great things … but as I’ve come to find out here that most people’s opinions are not accurate according to me so we shall see!

My Lia Sophia business has started off great. I haven’t been advertising much but have been getting bookings from my first two shows. This month I have 3 shows so that’s exciting. One is tomorrow night and the other is a catalog show at my hostesses’ work and the other is going to be a Japanese show! The fall catalog is out and I haven’t ordered it yet but I can’t wait to see it! Looks like there is going to be a lot of new great pieces! Since I’m new I get to start out in a program called Excellent Beginnings. It has three levels and if you meet the requirements of each level you are rewarded with gift certificates. Well, I met the first level so I got a $200 gift certificate. Also, on my first show I met the required sales for a $100 gift certificate. I bet I can even get the second level of the program and get another $200 gift certificate because my sales are already pretty high. I’m saving my certificates to buy from the new catalog so I will have a lot of new pieces to show off at my shows. So far, for about 9 or 10 hours of work total I’ve made profits of $320 in commission! Not bad at all! Tomorrow’s show is going to be small but I don’t mind since I’m still new and my presentation isn’t perfect yet. I don’t have much time to waste because I want the guest to give me good reviews so my name gets out there and they don’t go with another consultant cause I was boring or something…

Oh! I forgot about the 4th of July! So for the 4th of July we went over to our friend’s house to shoot off some fireworks. The weather was crappy so everyone decided to celebrate on the 5th so we went back to our friend’s house the 5th for bbq and more fireworks. They sell fireworks off base at a store called Homac that’s like a Home Depot. We spend about $350 combined in fireworks so we had our own fireworks show in their backyard that was pretty neat. I have never met a dog that wasn’t afraid of fireworks but my dog wants to be a pyro assistant! She loves fireworks! She would jump on the fence and watch them shoot off into the sky. Or if they sat on the fence she’d stay there watching and she’d try to chase sparklers. After all the fireworks were done she would stare at the fire pit or tiki torch flames waiting for something to happen. It was pretty hilarious. I don’t know how she didn’t get burned but she only cried once and she has a spot on her nose that is scratched or burned but that didn’t discourage her! It was a good time and we had fun with friends. It was a pretty relaxing weekend and nice to have a 3 day weekend.

Here are some pics of her enjoy the fireworks and also a pic of her at the dog park playing with a giant great dane.

A lot has happened!

I don’t even know where to begin!

My coworker recently quit so although I haven’t been working more hours, I’ve been working during the day. It’s different turning into a morning person! Well, it is easier when the sun starts coming up at 3:30 AM. Surprisingly, it stays light out later too. I’ve been wanting to blog for a while, but whenever I had free time to myself I usually spent it doing homework or chores. I worked hard and got all my homework done a week early so my brain is enjoying the break!

I’m going to rewind all the way to the cherry blossom festival in Hirosaki that we went to. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and they were absolutely gorgeous! If I remember correctly, it was a three hour drive. We followed Satoko out there and when it was time to park we wished we could turn our car into a cube and take it to go. We spent a long time trying to find parking and when we finally did it was a good walk to the festival. Inside the festival were many, many trees and beautiful landscaping. There was also a food court area that was packed. It was like a sea of people. One stand sold these round balls that looked like corn fritters, but were filled with banana! They were delicious! We also got fresh corn on the cob that was delicious, but too juicy. We accidentally shot juice into people. It was much warmer than I expected and was miserable in my sweater so I was happy to find a vendor that sold souvenir t-shirts. I bought a brown one that had a mountain on the back with something written in Japanese. These cherry blossoms surrounded the Hirosaki castle. I had seen photos of it before and it looked giant and beautiful. Well, in person it was tiny! We couldn’t get over how small it was! Inside was a museum that had many artifacts and was 3 stories high. At the top we could look out the window and wave to the people who chose not to go. After we had checked out the castle we were all ready to go home. Now, not many of the cherry blossoms are bloomed. There were some late bloomers on base but by now they are about finished and full of green leaves.

Since my coworker quit, I was able to apply for the full time position here at work. I interviewed for the job over the phone with my supervisor in Tokyo and was offered the job. I’m excited to be the supervisor of the lab here and hope we get someone good to fill my part time position. People still have a week left to apply for the position and hopefully soon after that they will be conducting interviews.

As for other work related news, I became an advisor to Lia Sophia. I was interested when I went to my first Lia Sophia party that Kim hosted. The advisor at her party told us all about her business and I talked some more with her privately because I was so interested. I love the jewelry and it was expensive, so I thought this would be a great way to support my jewelry habit and earn some extra money on the side. I even hosted my own show at home and invited all my friends and their friends. I believe we had 13 people over our home for the show. My friend Krista helped me out big by making a lot of the food and I made civiche. It came out pretty good! Everyone liked it and it was gone by the end of the night. The party was a success and not only was I the hosted, but it was my starter show as an advisor. So, I even made my start show goal and was rewarded with a gift certificate. I also got huge discounts and free jewelry. I have a good size show collection to start with and my first show is in about two weeks. Laura and Heather booked shows with me so that they could benefit from the hostess benefits. Learning about the business and putting my own show that I hosted under wraps has also kept me pretty busy. This week I hope to be learning a lot about the business so I am well prepared for my first show. Today all the jewelry came in from my starter show and there are some really gorgeous pieces! There were two items of mine I didn’t care so much for so I am returning them for something else. It’s pretty exciting and also a good way to keep busy while the husband is away.

Riding has been going well too. The last time I rode Heidi she was great and I really enjoyed the ride. She trotted over a ground rail and small cross rail with such calm and ease that it was wonderful. I actually had the chance to work on my equitation with her behaving so well and was pleased with the video. But as soon as we tried to canter over the cross rail it was a different story. She gets too excited, takes the bit and runs over the cross rail. She doesn’t respond to my half-halts and the trainer doesn’t seem to have any great suggestions. Part of me wanted to make her stop in her tracks and back up and allow her to proceed over the cross rail only when she went calmly. The trainer wasn’t crazy about that idea though and so my next suggestions was just to incorporate ground rails into her flat work so that they aren’t such a big deal to her. I didn’t ride last weekend but I hope to this weekend. I need to get some new boots as the ones I have now are on their last leg. I would also like to get a new helmet. I didn’t realize how old my equipment is until I counted the years. Definitely time to get some new things. I also need to get in shape and strengthen my legs. I know this will help overall as well.

And to do that, I bought an elliptical! I couldn’t find one at any of the BX’s in Japan, so my Japanese friend helped me order one from Japan Amazon. The day my elliptical was delivered to the house, the BX got the one I originally wanted! So what did I do? I bought that one too. So, now I have two but one has been promised to a friend who wants to buy it in about two weeks. That will then pay for the one I bought at the BX. The first week I used it for usually an hour a day and lost 2 lbs. But then I got slammed with work and homework and haven’t been able to work out again. I hope to work out again tonight and continue on as much as I can. It is in my office and has really been a joy to use right at home.

Later I will blog about our trip to see the golden temple!

Back to riding!

I thought yesterday was my first ride for this year, but apparently I rode right after New Years! Not that it counted much since it was just a trail ride in the snow. Anyway, the snow has finally disappeared out by the barn and the arena was in good condition. It wasn't as cold as we thought it would be and was actually nice being outdoors. Satoko had her lesson first on Sandy and I got to ride Heidi. I was expecting her to be difficult because I was under the impression she didn't get worked much during the winter. Whether she did or not, she did surprisingly well. She was filthy and it took me quite a while to curry and brush her. I suspect they thought it would and that's why they pulled her out of her stall while Satoko hadn't been in her lesson for long. I wanted to watch her a bit because we talked about her bouncing problem on the drive over. She admitted she was frozen up top from being nervous so I advised her to try and relax to be loose so she wouldn't bounce as much.

We both plumped up over the winter as we complained our pants were too tight. What was worse was not only were my boots really hard to get on, but that they felt like they were cutting off circulation! So I did the unthinkable. Once I got them on and Gian pulled them up as much as he could and it was still uncomfortable at the top I cut a small slit into them! I knew I would be really uncomfortable riding in them and told myself I need to get new ones anyway so I cut them! They need to open up about an inch, mainly on the left leg. Either my calves are unevenly built or the boot was made a little too small on the left. I got them custom made when I was 16 or 17, so I suppose its understandable that they don't fit 6 years later.

Heidi was a brat while I was grooming and saddling her. She paws frequently and tries to nip when I'm close by. Gian just stood and watched with Roxy and said that she reminds him a lot of a brown horse he once met (Napi). Not only does she act like Napi, but she looks like him too! The only difference is that she is a mare and that she is gray! As soon as I got on her the other members who were busy working on a deck stopped what they were doing to join Gian on the bench to watch. Satoko told me later that they were curious to see how I'd do after the winter break. To their surprise, my equitation was about the same as before the break! I try to explain that I've just been doing it for so long that breaks don't phase me. I'm not sure why, but they seem to have a hard time with equitation, particularly with their leg position.

Heidi responded well and the most trouble I got from her was cantering away from the barn when she would break down into a trot. She definitely takes advantage of my weak legs! Not to mention not long into the lesson my legs were already aching. She sometimes also gives me a hard time picking up the canter, but I could be better about asking for her to canter. She prefers to be collected and organized before picking up the canter. She's easier to get on the bit at the walk, so it's easier to pick up the canter from the walk rather than the trot. Her neck was stiff and she was leaning a lot on me, but with a couple bends she loosened up and gave into the bit. She needs a lot of work on the canter though. She likes to take the bit, pull and run. She works better on a circle, but as soon as we continue straight she sort of flattens our and leans on me. So while she was cantering, I tried to get her to carry herself and to slow down, but she's a bit reluctant.

The trainer took some photos to show Heidi's owner and just now I checked the trainer's blog and there's the photo. I called Shiho right away to read me the post. It wasn't very eventful but I thought it looked cool, so I took a screen shot.

Highspeed Taxi Ride

On Friday the 26th, I had a pretty awesome day. I was signed up to take a Taxi ride on an F-16. From time to time they offer taxi rides for spouses and I think I was lucky to go on the first opportunity. We were originally signed up for 6 in the morning, but the day before they changed it to later in the morning. We arrived just on time and headed down to the pilot's locker room. They had a pretty neat locker room with all their lockers lined up with their names engraved on them. An airman there gave me a flight suit to put on over my clothes and then fitted me for a helmet and harness. The flight suit was pretty comfortable and the helmet wasn't bad once I got use to something snug over my nose and mouth. Once all four spouses were fitted we waited in the pilot's snack bar until it was time for the briefing. I'd never seen such a decked out snack bar before. They had a bar with stools, chairs, large screen TV, a POPCORN machine, and personalized mugs with the pilot's names on them! Once it was time for our briefing we met our pilots and went to the conference room for the power point presentation. They explained what we would be doing and what to do if something went wrong. We were also given speaking parts on the radio and our lines depended on what jet we were riding in. After the briefing we were given a quiz and I was the only one who answered my question with "That's the best answer yet". Go me for paying attention!
We then headed back to the locker room to pick up our gear and then Gian, the pilot and I walked out to our jet. I thought one of the best parts was that since Gian is a crew chief, I was able to see what he does at work from inside the jet. Even though he wasn't in uniform, they let him launch us out. Once we got to our jet, I waited until we could get in. Once it was ready for us, they put a ladder up to it. The pilot showed me how to get in and then came down so I could give it a try. It was a little awkward trying to get in without being able to put my feet on the seat but I did it. Once I was in, Gian came up to strap me into the seat and then the pilot to double check and to help me get my helmet on. It was extremely windy and my hair wasn't allowed to be in a pony tail so it was really challenging to get my helmet on with my hair blowing all over the place. But before I could put my helmet on I had to put ear plugs in and those suckers were hard to get in and I was all thumbs up there. I was worried about dropping them because if I dropped them and couldn't find them some poor crew chief would have to spend the time to find them. Eventually I was able to get the earplugs in and my helmet on. Once I was ready to go I just sat tight until the pilot got in.
It was pretty chilly from the cold so he put down the canopy so we didn't have to sit in the wind. Before we could leave the pilot and crew chiefs did their "pre-flight" check. We were connected via radio with the crew chiefs so I got to hear Gian do his job and see him from time to time. Once the check was done Gian had to stand outside in the wind until we were ready to go. Poor Gian was freezing out there and it was taking longer than it should have. But once we were ready to go Gian started to launch us out and when he was finished and saluted us, the pilot told me to salute him and give the panther claw. I only got around to saluting him, but I bet it was amusing from the outside for Gian to see the pilot and I salute him. We were the 4th jet in line and so we headed out to one end of the runway behind the others. They all looked like birds flocking together to me. When we pulled up, we waited for our turn. I got to watch the others go and they took off so fast. We could see their afterburner, which was pretty neat. I've seen it before at night when they do night flying and it looks pretty cool. Once the other three went it was our turn! The pilot said, "Are you ready?" I was like "Yeah!". So we took off and it was so much fun but way too short! We went about 120 mph down the runway and then came to a stop. It was a similar feeling to taking off in a roller coaster at a theme park. We went so fast that my face and body was sucked back to the chair and I couldn't help but to laugh and giggle. Gian watched from the hanger and said I had the best ride out of all of them cause the nose of the jet even came off the ground. That's cause my pilot was cool ....

After the high speed ride we taxied to the end where we lined up to do some after flight checks with crew chiefs. After the check we taxied back to the hanger and the pilot parked the jet. Before the ride and after I had small radio parts. I had a switch to flip to speak on two different frequencies. I think one was for between the jets and the other to the ground tower. I did my speaking parts well and it wasn't too hard because the pilot told me what my line was when it came up. When the ground tower responded I could not understand a word the Japanese said, but that's OK because the pilot did.

So the photo below is of me afterward. I think I was still a bit high from the rush. I wish the jet would have gone up in the air! We waited for our pilot to finish and then headed inside. I returned all the gear and then met the pilot at one of the counters where they printed out a certificate. The certificate was to back up the proof that I did in fact get to experience a high speed taxi ride in case anyone didn't believe me! The pilot signed it and told me it was going to be worth some money some day.

Naqua Shirakami

Well clearly the first spring term kept me from blogging! I didn’t have much free time and when I did, blogging was low on the list of priorities. Next term I’ll have 2 classes instead of 3, so I’m hoping to have more free time.

So, anyway! This post is dedicated to our snowboarding trip at Naqua Shirakami!

Naqua Shirakami was about two or three hours away, but still in the same prefecture. When we arrived we changed in the hotel so we could snowboard until it was time to check in. There were several different runs and on the first day we had low visibility so I’m not even sure what the mountain looked like. We took the gondola to the top though down a beginner’s run which was real nice. The gondola fit six of us and it was nice walking on and off and not worrying about falling off any lifts. We had some good runs and I was finally being able to go on my toe edge to go right.

After two runs we were pretty tired so we headed into the hotel to check in. We were also hungry so we decided to head down to the buffet. Luckily there was a wide assortment of food so we were able to find something to eat. Our friend Chris wanted to try something interesting, so he got cuttlefish intestines. Gian also decided to be brave and tried what looked like apple custard, but it wasn’t near the desert section which should have been a red flag. Gian took a heaping spoonful of it and about threw up because to him it tasted like lard. Chris got most of the people at the table to try the cuttlefish intestines and they all weren’t crazy about it, especially the aftertaste. Chris wanted me to try but I refused because I didn’t see the point in being that brave. To be even grosser, he mixed the intestines with Gian’s apple lard and then offered it to me. I told him the only way I would eat it was for $100. That was definitely the wrong thing to say to him! Chris pondered for a second, pulled his wallet out, counted his money and offered me 7,000 yen. I told myself … wow … just for swallowing something quickly I could make 7,000 yen so I told him, Ok. Everyone at the table couldn’t believe I accepted the challenge since I stay with safe food choices and so they were all pretty excited. Laura’s husband even whipped out his iphone to take a roll of photos to capture every moment. I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal as the contents of the cup only equaled to about one spoonful. So I placed it in my mouth and tried to swallow, but I couldn’t! I kept telling myself, just swallow it, you can do it! But I felt paralyzed and I couldn’t and then the flavors started seeping into my tongue and so I threw up onto my plate. It was disgusting, but everyone was thoroughly amused. It was so amusing that Chris wanted to pay me even though I couldn’t swallow it. I have gag reflex whenever I think of it and when I see ramekins.

After dinner the boys and Satoko went back up to snowboard at night. They wanted to go try some jumps and I really wanted to go, but I was just so exhausted. So in reward for my dinner performance I treated myself to a massage. That night I also did another brave act … I went to the onsen! I said I would never go to a public onsen, but I knew if I wanted to snowboard the next day it would really help my muscles. Entering the Onsen and seeing a lot of naked women was really strange at first. Luckily, no one "stared at the foreigners" and so Laura and I didn't feel as odd. I was surprised to see all of the products they had stashed down there for pampering and now understood why the hotel room had the bare minimum in products. Luckily I snagged a large towel so I could try and cover myself up as much as possible because unlike the Japanese, I wasn't comfortable just hanging out in the nude. Before entering the Onsen everyone must wash and scrub themselves thoroughly and so after we did just that, we headed into the onsen. I don't know what this particular onsen had, but the water was hot and made our skin feel smooth. They even had an outdoor onsen so it was neat sitting in the hot water looking at the snowy scenery. All the girls just hung out chattering away like it was no big deal as Laura and I sat in the corner hiding from everyone. It wasn't as bad I expected and I felt really good after, but I don't think I'll be going again! It's just too weird for me. After the onsen we went to sleep to get some rest.

On Sunday, Laura and I were still sore but we agreed it probably would have been worse if we hadn't gotten massages or gone to the Onsen. Once we were up we headed to the breakfast buffet and we were glad to see some western breakfast items. In Japan breakfast usually consists of rice, soup, salmon, and salad. Luckily there was ham, bread, cereal and delicious milk. So after dinner we checked out and packed up the car except for our snowboarding gear cause of course we were going up again! This day it was beautiful out and we could see a lot better going down the mountain. I was still pretty darn sore, but I pushed myself to keep going to make everything worth while. On the first run Chris took a pretty good fall and when we all got to the bottom he lifted his pants to show us his knee and it was about the size of a melon! It looked terrible! He called it quits for then and decided to go get off his knee. Since Laura and I were real tired we decided to keep him company while the others went back up again. We got some drinks and hung out inside the hotel and rested. When the others got back down we decided to go up for one last time. It was hard to finish, but we did it and it was fun. On the way home we stopped at a mall that had McDonalds. It really hit the spot and there was some store that got the guy's interest so while they went to check that out the girls and I went into this large pet store. I wish they had one closer because they had some really great things! Since Kyle was watching Roxy for us I brought her home a little gift from the pet store. They had these cool toys from Hart called Orka. They are really tough and since she destroys so many of her toys I wanted to get one for a test run. It's lasted since then so I think I'll buy some online. And one photo from the trip that I can get to now...

Trip to Hokkaido - be prepared, it's long!

Our trip to Sapporo was awesome! The main attraction was the famous snow festival. Each year they construct amazing sculptures out of snow and ice. It was extremely cold and we wore thermals, turtlenecks, sweaters, down jackets, gloves, thick socks, hats and boots. At night it went down to about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, which feels as cold as it sounds. Surprisingly the streets didn't have as much snow as I expected, but they were as slippery as everyone had been mentioning. We were pretty sure one of us was going to fall at some point, but we were lucky and no one fell. We packed so much into a few days so the whole trip is kind of a blur but I'll try to write about what I remember.

On Friday morning we left from the local train station. I was pretty excited since it was going to be my first train ride that wasn't a subway. This train went under the sea floor for about 20 minutes to get to Hokkaido. I thought it was going to be more interesting ... but it was just a dark tunnel. After one or two more train changes we arrived to Sapporo. Our hotel was called the Hotel Fino and was right outside the train station so we didn't have a far walk with the luggage. The hotel was beautiful and one of the best smelling places I've been in. I don't know how they got the entire hotel to smell so amazing ... but it was like a eucalyptus smell. The hotel rooms were very small, but was still plush. I was expecting it to be less comfortable since Japanese hotel beds are usually really hard but this bed was comfortable! Downstairs they even sold some winter gear and cute nick knacks so I got a pair of thinsulate gloves cause the ones I had just weren't cutting it. I got the last pair and later that night they put a bunch more out and designs I would have preferred. Hate it when that happens! Unfortunately I couldn't find a cute hat since I'm not a hat person, so I ended up wearing some pretty hideous hats. It was so cold that I didn't care what was on my head!

The first night we went to the main strip where all the snow sculptures were. Along with the sculptures were many food vendors and souvenir shops. We were going out to dinner afterward so we didn't eat, but we had an American dog (corn dog) and almonds. Gian really wanted to try these almonds and they were amazing! The staff was from Germany I think and they made the almonds in these giant kettle looking barrels. They were really expensive though and a small was about $7. For a large plastic cup with an assortment of them was about $25. I would have loved to of gotten more, but I thought they were a bit too pricey. The sculptures were amazing but I thought there were going to be more. My favorite sculptures were of the Korean building and the animals. They were huge and detailed to perfection!
After we looked at all the snow sculptures we began walking and found a place to have dinner. I can't remember what it was called, but it was interesting and not bad tasting at all. After dinner we grabbed some desert and headed to a very tall building where we could see the view of Sapporo. The elevator went from the 6th floor to the 38th floor! We all wondered what was in between the 6th and 38th floor. Satoko wanted us to use the restrooms up there because they had the most amazing view.

On Saturday we grabbed some breakfast at convenience store across the hall and checked out of the hotel. We left our bags at the hotel and would come back later to pick them up and head out to Otaru. We went to catch a bus that took us to the Tsu-dome site where they had more food and snow activities. We waited in line to tube down slides made of snow. It was a long wait, but I thought it was worth it! Even though it was short we had a lot of fun sliding down the slides really fast. After we walked around a bit we got back on the bus and headed back to the train station area to catch a subway to see the Sweets Factory.
We've heard stories of people being squeezed into subways and terrible things happening when a bunch of people are squeezed together, but this was the first time we witnessed and experienced it. You really have to be quick and latch onto the people you are with to make sure you get into the subway with them. It is easy to get left behind because you didn't fit if you don't pay attention. See how stuffed this subway was? Good thing it's a short ride. The sweets factory looked really neat on the outside. Sort of reminded me of Harry Potter or something you see in a theme park. On the inside they had many rooms dedicated to the history of chocolate. So not only was it a factory, but it was also a museum. I thought the best part was being able to see the factory workers making cookies! These cookies were amazing by the way. Once we were done visiting all areas of the museum we headed to their cafe. They served fondue and so Gian and I of course had to have some! They also had some parfaits that looked amazing but we were trying to be conservative. Once we were done with the Sweets factory we headed back to the subway station to catch the subway back to the Sapporo train station. At some point, I think after out visit at the factory we stopped at the Starbucks in the train station. It tasted amazing! I hadn't been in a real starbucks for 14 months! (Just thought that was worth mentioning.) We went to the hotel, grabbed our luggage and headed back to the train station to catch the train for Otaru. It was an hour long train ride that went along the water so that was pretty cool. It was full by the time we got on though so we ended up having to stand the whole way. When we stepped out of the train station there was the main strip that we walked down to get to our hotel.
Otaru was currently having a lantern festival so all throughout the town you could see snow sculptures with candles inside. They are also known for their glass art, which many of the stores featured. It was very beautiful, but pretty expensive! And so here are some photos of Otaru:
This is the famous canal where it features most of the snow sculptures and lanterns. On the water they string across the glass float balls with candles inside them. My camera doesn't do this scene justice.



That night after the sightseeing we went to a Vikings in the Beer Garden of Sapporo. Here we got to drink and eat as much as we could for an hour and a half. We ate a ridiculous amount of food that no one should consume in one sitting. The outside of the restaurant was decorated with a bear and her cub which I was not a fan of. If it were fake that would have been cool, but I felt bad to see a mom and cub bear stuffed for decoration outside the restaurant. I hope they were already dead when they found them and decided to stuff them for decoration!
After dinner we waddled ourselves back to our hotel and crashed. Being on our feet all day walking was exhausting and we enjoyed the much needed sleep.
On Sunday we had breakfast at the hotel. It was a typical Japanese brunch that was nothing like an American brunch. For one, there were no eggs. Secondly, no bacon or sausage. The Japanese enjoy rice, salmon, miso soup and salad for breakfast. I found some corn flakes, bread and ham to eat for breakfast with some milk tea. After we had breakfast we headed out to check out the local stores. Most of them were full of glass art but we did find some chocolate shops and a wine shop. Gian bought some dark chocolate and I bought a pair of dark orange flower earrings made of glass. I wanted a sparkly reddish flower charm made out of glass but put it back to buy the earrings. As I went to pay for the earrings Satoko was buying something and I asked her what she had bought. She said it was for me and it turned out to be the charm I put back. She was like a ninja! I didn't think anyone even saw me put the charm back and she happened to see me, go get it and buy it for me! She's too sweet. After shopping we headed to the hotel to grab our luggage and walk to the train station. We were then the first stop so we got ourselves some seats on the side that would go along the ocean. When we got back to Sapporo we changed trains and were headed back home. On the way home we passed this beautiful mountain...

Last weekend was a girl's day out snowboarding. Laura, Satoko and I had so much fun! It was Laura's first time going snowboarding so we weren't sure how it was going to go. Turns out that Laura did fantastic! She even was brave enough to go on the lift twice so we could ride down the mountain. She had her share of falling, but it wasn't severe and the next day she was still functional when the soreness settled in. It was a hot day and so the snow wasn't powder fresh. It was melting and so I wasn't sure if this was going to be good or bad. Part of me expected it to be bad conditions because I thought the snow would be icy and we would be boarding on ice. It wasn't icy though, but not powder-like. I think it benefited us better because it slowed us down. I was so proud of myself because I did so much better this time. I didn't fall nearly as much as I had previously and had only about two good falls that I felt. I made it half way down the mountain without falling and then I sat myself in the snow to wait for Laura and Satoko to come down. I was also able to go right, left and focus on where I wanted to go. I had overall better control of the board and so it was much more fun.
Afterward we went to lunch at a tiny place in Shichinohe where we had some yummy fried rice, salad, soup and a parfait. That night I was exhausted and fell asleep pretty early. The soreness settled in that night but the next day I was surprised at how good I felt. We said we can't wait to go the weekend after we return from the snow festival but I just realized it would be on Valentine's Day. It's still cool with me but I'm not sure if anyone else has realized this and if they still want to go that day.




This week I've been really busy with trying to get all my homework done before we leave for Sapporo. Gian has had a ridiculous work schedule working all different hours, but 12 hour shifts. So today was the only time we had to get things done for our trip. I still feel behind as I wanted to be packed and the house cleaned before I had to work tonight. I would have also of liked to of gotten a new pair of gloves and a cute hat. I dropped Roxy and Zelda off at Laura's house and I miss them so much already! I get sad when I think about them, but I know they're in the best hands here and that Roxy will have lots of fun. It's just the first time we'll be away from Roxy for more than just a day! I hope Roxy behaves her little self and doesn't give them too much trouble and I hope Zelda doesn't get too stressed about being somewhere else. As soon as we got there she went behind the sofa to hide and then underneath it.

After work tonight I'll head home to pack and clean a bit more so we come home to a somewhat clean house. Then tomorrow morning Satoko and her husband will be at our house and we'll take a taxi to the train station. I've never been on a train before so I'm pretty excited about traveling this way. Sometime we'll have to make it on the bullet train before we leave Japan. It's about 10 degrees there so I hope we'll be warm enough!

Fun in the snow

Today I discovered that I made my privacy settings a bit too private. Anyway, my blog should be available now and also commenting. It might not appear on your reading list but if you click on the link for my blog it should work fine. Why can’t they just make a setting where only people who are my friends and logged in can view? Just too simple I guess.

The fall semester is finally over and on Monday starts the first spring semester. I’m taking three classes in 10 weeks, so I will be plenty busy. The professors I have now is really slow on grading our work so I’m not sure yet what my final grade is in the current class I’m in.

Yesterday I attended a winter driving class on base. Gian got the information via email and I thought it would be good for me to sign up. Turns out he got the email because of my accident in December. The first hour was a PowerPoint lecture on vehicles and driving in the winter. It was very detailed and even equations were involved. More than I cared to know about weight, velocity, etc. The second hour was spent on their driving course where an instructor climbed in my car and told me what to do around the course. The class from earlier in the day pretty much tore up the course so it wasn’t that great. I was able to tear it up out there though and only pulled off some fishtailing. I didn’t slide at all though when I slammed on the breaks so I couldn’t practice breaking. After I figured out how to recover from fishtailing just fine I decided to head back and they said I could go back whenever I wanted to practice. So next good snowfall with ice I will be out there practicing how to stop and slide. Those instructors are kind of extreme. My instructor wanted me to go faster but I didn’t go any faster than 40 KM/HR. He said some people get up to 60-70 KM/HR on that small course and I told him I’d never be going that fast over this type of terrain so it’s not necessary. I need to learn how to recover over ice so I’ll just have to wait to practice. They showed me two types of breaking techniques to use when I’m sliding. Now I see why ABS is a nice feature to have!



The first snowboarding trip of this season was fun. Our gear came in from the states and Laura’s husband came over to help us put it together. I practice a few times trying to get up on my board in the living room and it was so difficult. Her husband showed me a cool trick though and that’s what I used to get up and going that day on the mountain. It’s great that I can get up but the trick I’m using to get up requires that I use mainly my right side of my body so it’s a pretty uneven workout. We started off just by walking up the slope and then riding down. Eventually it got to exhausting just to climb up because I am ridiculously out of shape so we decided to go on the lift. I wasn’t a huge fan of the lift because you have to get on the lift and travel on the lift with only one foot strapped to your board. It’s a bit awkward walking, or I should say sliding over to the lift with only one foot strapped in. The first time on the lift they slowed it down or maybe even stopped it for me to get on so that was cool. However, at the other end of the lift when it was time to get off they didn’t care to be so kind so I sort of fell off the lift and rolled down the hill. There were two options once we were at the top of the mountain. We could go down left or right. Gian stood up and started sliding to the right so he said he guessed he was going that way and bye. Satoko and I went down the left and I made it down slowly, but it one piece. Once we got down there we found Gian waiting for us and so we went inside to take a break and have some juice. I went to find a bathroom to fix my clothes, because apparently I don’t sport the right underwear for snowboarding! After we were done with our break we headed back out to get on the lift again. The lift went so much better this time and I was able to slide to the side to strap my other foot in and then just go! This time we all went down together on the left side. I did really well going down this time as well and was able to go slower, stop and a little to the left. I was exhausted by this point but thought I had it in me one more time to go again. What a bad idea! Gian and I had some pretty good falls going down this time and we were in more pain once we got to the end. We called it a day and left to go find some Ramen for lunch. The pain started pretty bad and I was not looking forward to later. That night I was in so much pain all over, but mainly the right side of my body. Of course the next day was very painful as well and the only thing that relieved me some was Epsom baths. Tylenol and Bengay didn’t seem to do anything for me. It took four days to be pain free so next time we go I am definitely taking it easier. I think Satoko and I are going again on the 31st and hopefully Laura can come too.


Tonight we’re going to the club for a going away get together. I don’t know who is going away, but they are coworkers of his. We also better be watching some Lost! I want to finish season 3 so we can borrow seasons 4 and 5 and not have to watch them online.
Tomorrow I’m not sure what we’re doing. If we don’t make plans I’ll probably take Roxy to the beach to play with the ball launcher. In the afternoon or evening we’re hanging out with Laura and her hubby at the mall. We’re going to go look at snowboarding equipment at Sports Authority and a Japanese sports shop. We’re hoping to fine helmets for snowboarding. Everyone is a little freaked about hitting their head on the snow and having an accident like Natasha Richardson. It is guaranteed that when you snowboard for the first few times that you will fall many times so a helmet would be a good thing to have. My weekend of no school is going by too fast!

Break is over and now back to work ...

I thoroughly enjoyed my 10 days off from work and was even more thrilled that Gian had most of the same time off too. But of course now we're back to our regular schedule. Nothing beats coming back to work on a Monday after a 10 day break and with a cold. I'm surprised I've gotten sick ... I had been doing so well. It must have been all the holiday mingling.

Christmas was wonderful and it came and went so fast. There is so much hype for one day that it just flies by when it finally arrives. On Christmas eve we went to a friend's house where they had a large dinner party. I had never seen so much food! It was a good time though and Roxy enjoyed being out in their lawn with their dog. The other dog's slobber on Roxy's coat had turned into ice after a short while. She didn't seem to mind the cold though. After the party we headed home to wait till midnight to open our gifts up. I was eagerly waiting to unwrap my ipod touch. I absolutely love it! My other favorite gifts were my uggs slippers and coach purse. The ipod touch is to help me with my new year's resolution of losing 15 lbs. So far it's been helping by keeping me occupied at the gym. I added TV Shows to keep to help the time fly by during cardio. On Christmas day we went to a party that Laura threw. They cooked a delicious ham and the guests brought some yummy food. We played pictionary and of course that was amusing.

For New Year's Eve we stayed in. We made tomato basil soup and a chicken mushroom alfredo pasta. It was soooo yummy. We waited till midnight till we popped open the imperial rose bubbly. I had remembered it being better than it was, but it was still good. On New Year's Day we headed out to some stores to do some shopping. New Year's Day is the equivalent to Black Friday in the states. I went to my favorite Japanese clothes shop to buy some shirts and a sweater.

I went riding twice during my break with Satoko. The first time we went on a trail ride and I rode Sandy. I'm sure Heidi would be crazy. It was a lot of fun and afterward we went to Hakkoda mountain to take a ride on the rope way. They closed the rope way down due to wind but we stayed to have lunch there. On the way to the mountain we stopped at a crazy second hand shop to scope out snowboards. There I found the snowboard that was made just for me. It is bright yellow with white flowers. It is my size and is in great shape. The best part of it all was that I only paid 500 yen which is about $5. Yesterday we ordered Gian snowboarding gear and bindings and boots for my board. I can't wait for it all to arrive so we can start snowboarding on the weekends. We're planning a trip in March to go to a resort to snowboard so I need to get up to par to fully enjoy the trip!

Yesterday we went riding again and this time we couldn't even drive to the barn. Only 4 days before we were in Satoko's little car and this time my tonka couldn't even make it cause there was so much snow. So we waited for the trainer to come pick us up in his awesome snow truck. It was a lot of fun to ride in. Laura, her husband and Gian came along but they dropped us off to go riding while they went to the Big Buddha. When we were all done we left to go find the new Tony Romas. It was soooo good! Really overpriced though, but it was great to have some American food. I checked out one of their menus in FL and the prices were about doubled here. And it's not like you get extra food. We were sad when we ate all 5 pieces of our calamari appetizer.

Now I'm going to take it easy until I get rid of this cold. Then I'll start going to the gym again...

Sitting at work waiting to go home

I should have more time to blog now since I withdrew from one of my classes this term. The class was miserable and the exam just pushed me over the edge. It was a very difficult and long exam that the professor gave us on Thanksgiving Day and wanted it due on Monday. So I said …. Forget it!

On the other hand, my other class is doing well and so far I really enjoy this professor. She is more relaxed and so I don’t feel stressed or rushed and am actually learning! It’s easy to get by with not learning much with online classes. If you put the same amount of effort in an onsite class you are still bound to learn more because you have to sit through lectures. So you are getting some exposure that doesn’t require you do to anything besides listening.

Anyway … enough about school.

Thanksgiving Day was great and the Turkey was delicious. I really need to blog more often because I’m getting frustrated trying to think of exactly what happened that day. Well, for now I can’t really remember. There were 9 of us total and I was in charge of the Turkey; the guests were in charge of the side dishes. My new meat thermometer was murdered when I accidentally put it in the oven too early. The bird was supposed to cook for 30 minutes at 500 degrees and THEN the thermometer was supposed to be inserted after I lowed the temp down. Due to extreme heat the thermometer obviously started to melt and the face bubbled but seemed to still work so I left it there. I became suspicious that the thermometer was not working properly about four hours later and the 20 lb bird was only has 100 degrees. I asked one of guests to please go get one of their thermometers because I didn’t want to risk pulling a turkey out that wasn’t completely finished. He came back fairly quickly and the bird was way past it’d due temperature so we pulled it out. It looked great but began to fall apart because the meat was falling off the bones. After it stood for a while Gian was able to transfer it over to a plate and then I began to prepare it for photos. And tada … here it is!

After dinner we hung out and talked some. Roxy was out in the yard with her friend Kenai. It has been raining so the yard was flooded and they had a ball playing in the mud together. We had never seen Roxy so dirty before and the amounts of sand that came off of her was massive. I made Gian give her a bath since he had me bath her earlier that day, which I had told him was pointless. While he cleaned her up Laura and I cleaned the kitchen up. We then started a game of Pictionary with our remaining friends. It was very entertaining and we should do it again soon.

Two days after Thanksgiving was Gian’s work party at the club. This year we got lucky and won two prizes as opposed to winning nothing last year. First, Gian entered a singing contest al capella and went against two other guys. I was worried for Gian because lately his head has gotten big with all the praise he receives from karaoke singing, but this was different. Once I heard the other two go I knew Gian was going to win … and he did. He sang a verse from Let It Snow. They gave him an envelope with cash in it and later our ticket was picked out of a drawing where Gian picked out a number off a tree that corresponded with this little bear. He started walking back to the table with the little bear and I was like are you serious? A bear that cost less than a dollar? But the bear wasn’t the prize … it was the $100 gift card it was holding!

I almost have all my Christmas shopping done! I have three people left on my list because they’re the tough ones to shop for. Hopefully I can find stuff this weekend and get everything shipped out on Tuesday. I can’t wait for Christmas because starting the 23^rd starts my 10 day vacation. The day off will be much needed by then since I’m working extra hours because my supervisor left for a month on vacation. But I also can’t wait for Christmas because of my presents. Gian bought me an ipod touch and some other gifts that are surprises. I have some ideas of what they could be but it throws me off when he says I have no idea what it is. Uhhhg .. I wanna know!

That’s it for now!

New Home

Our new home is so beautiful. The move went smooth and everyone who helped did an awesome job. Nothing got damaged ... I'm so impressed!

We are almost completely unpacked. There are 2 boxes left to unpack and paintings to hang. My desk also needs to be assembled but some screws are missing. I still haven't found some blackout curtains for upstairs but I think I'll find some at a Japanese store called Nitori. We even got the Christmas tree up! All the bulbs are not up yet ... but they will be soon.

Roxy loves her new yard but the little brat figured she could crawl under the gate so she's gotten out. It's been so wet out and since it's a new neighborhood the grass hasn't grown in and so it's sandy and muddy. She tracks in so much dirt from outside even though we wipe her paws off before she steps a paw on the wood floor. Gian said he couldn't wait for it to start snowing so she won't be bringing in sand, dirt and mud. I'm sure she'd have a ball if she could get out and tear up the flooded yard.

Today we got the satellite installed, but still waiting about another week for internet to be installed. I really don't like being without internet for so long! I depend on it way too much. We've been without a washer because a hose needed to be replaced and when Gian replaced it the hose leaked after. Tomorrow they're finally coming out to look at it and fix the problem. There is so much laundry to do. Gian is leaving in a couple days for South Japan for a week and so we needed to go over Laura's house to do some laundry. So Laura and I are over at school and the boys are at home playing and doing laundry. Sounds like a nice arrangement ....

My Research Methods in Psychology class has been going well so far. The other class, Social Psychology has been going ok. He gave us a group assignment on Monday that required us to pick a topic and write two papers and have it due by Thursday. We thought the due date was a mistake since it's hard to get all the group members to talk and decide what parts to do in such short time. We have been doing ok because our other group member has bailed, and I got lucky because the other member is Laura. We have one paper left to read and write and I'm procrastinating. I'm too tired to read something remotely exciting.

I'm back! For now ...

Wow ... it's been too long.

I guess I'll just try to go over the main highlights of the last two months.

Day to Day -

Work has been going well and I still really enjoy my new job. I hope next month goes well because it seems as though my supervisor is leaving me for a month. So I hope I will be able to survive at work! It will be more hours, so the extra money will definitely help.
The fall semester 1 is finally over on Sunday. I took my final exams and only have one lab to put together and then finished! I wish there was more time in between, but one term ends and the next day a new one begins.

We are moving! Gian and I had discussed moving into a home with a yard for Roxy. She is too energetic for our current home. We went out one day to just look and found some great homes that were just built. It's really nice being the first ones to live there! It is 2 stories, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 2 car garage, has a balcony, central heating, and fenced in yard overlooking a forest. Tomorrow we get the keys and will start moving, but probably won't move completely in until Saturday. We're so excited!

I've continued to ride once a week and I began riding Heidi. She's their newest horse who is a dappled gray TB mare. She's really pretty and the first two times I rode her she was very difficult. I was a bit bummed that she was so difficult, but on the second ride we had it out and we started to work together well. The other students try to ride her but have a hard time so the trainer said she's like my horse. Which I think is just great :) They also ordered me some wood to make jumps and that's been really fun! I've missed it! Unfortunately, they only got 4 poles and 1 cavaletti. There's been some talk about me showing her next year but I'm not sure how that will go because she can be really spooky. Anything new just spooks her and they don't take her off the property at all. Taking her to a show sounds like it could be a nightmare unless they start getting her out more ...

We went to Hotokeguara, which was just awesome! It's a series of cliffs and rock formations about four hours north. Satoko had invited us because it's her favorite place. So the three of us, including Roxy were gone all day traveling North. It was so beautiful and so much fun because there were many tide pools with lots of sea life to see up close and personal. There was also a glass bottom boat ride that we all took which was a lot of fun too. Everyone else of course was more interested in looking at the cliffs from the boat view, but I was more interested in looking at the sea life below. I had never seen so many star fish and sea urchins! I even saw a jelly fish treking along, which everyone missed cause they weren't looking. The parking lot where we parked was pretty far up in the mountain and we took many stairs to get down. Going down wasn't so bad ... but doing up was horrible. I'm so out of shape and that really winded me. It was pathetic ... there were old Japanese people going faster than I was. It was miserable...
We were even lucky to see some wild monkeys! There were quite a few of them and they seemed pretty interested in Roxy. But we didn't stick around long enough to find out how interested...

But anyway here are some pics ...


That's about it for now!

Snazzy New Layout

I finally found something I like! I did have to edit it a little bit, but now I'm content with it.
This week has been pretty quiet, but we had a lot of fun over the weekend.
We participated in a festival in Schichinohe. Miko's parent's dressed us up in Kimonos and afterward we headed to the festival. By participating I mean pulling the parade floats! They are man powered and they aren't so bad to pull unless you have to go uphill. Everyone needs to pitch in and trot up the hill to get that sucker up there.

Each neighborhood had a float and we were part of Miko's neighborhood float. Satoko's neighborhood had a small team so we helped them get up the biggest hill. The floats are decorated and on top sits drummers who play the Taiko drums.

After three hours of walking and pulling a float we were done! It was great the first few minutes and after that I couldn't wait to get out of the kimono. They may look comfortable, but they are not. There are so many layers and wraps underneath that it was hard to breath and very warm. Thus, why I had to have some ice cream shaped like Snoopy! This was during the break. After the parade was over we went back to Miko's parent's home and dressed back into our normal clothes. We left to go to Satoko's parent's home for dinner. Satoko wanted to make us burgers like we made for her and her friends at my birthday party. It was so cute ... she had gotten buns, lettuce, cheese and pre-made patties from the supermarket. We had to give her a hint about ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and tomatoes. After we finished our burgers she gave us a bowl of tomatoes. The next round of burgers she toasted the buns and added ketchup, mustard, and mayo. They tasted pretty good!
When we were finished with dinner we headed back to Miko's parent's house to try and call Miko on skype. She didn't answer though and her dad wanted to take us out so we left. We walked down the street and went to two different bars. Satoko and I were driving so we only had tea while Gian and Miko's dad drank. The second bar we went to was the same one we went with Miko and her dad back in the winter. The crazy hostess was there who just cracks us up. She knows a little English so it's funny listening to her talk. We also sang karaoke cause we just can't go to a bar and get away with not singing. Which is fine for people who actually sound good!

Laura and her husband were nice enough to puppysit for us so we decided to call it a night and head home to pick up our baby.

My new job is going well. Yesterday we had a lunch with the VP from headquarters down south. He took us all to a sushi restaraunt off base that I'd never been to. It was ok, but very traditional sushi. We also sat on the floor which kills my legs after a while. I was the second person to leave lunch so I could make it in time for my massage appointment. Laura bought me a gift certificate for helping her out while her hubby was deployed. It was so relaxing and I want more now.

This weekend we're having a bbq at home for Gian's birthday and our good friend's girlfriend's birthday. Gian is at the fish market down in Hachinohe buying shrimp and tuna now. Wish I could have gone but I'm stuck at work. The good thing is the house needs to be cleaned but I won't be there to do that! Tomorrow Satoko and I have riding lessons so I hope we won't be out too late tonight. They might want to go out after dinner for some drinks.

Working...

This week I started my new job. I am officially a lab monitor in the Department of Information Technology of University of Maryland University of College. So far my job consists of monitoring the lab, computers and students. I'm also required to assist any of the professors when they are having computer troubles in their classrooms and to open the whole building up when it's only me. Soon I'll be trained to administer proctored exams. The great thing is that my boss lets me do pretty much what I want during my down time. So I am getting a lot of my homework done while I'm at work. I don't mind the hours working from 4 pm to 10 pm but the only downside is Gian is working during the day. But this is good for Roxy so she's not left alone for a long time. When she gets older, hopefully Gian can switch his schedule. I am easily occupied by the internet so the time actually goes by quickly for me.

On Thursday Roxy had a rough morning. She had used her kennel to go to the bathroom in twice and when I woke up to take her out she tried to pee several times. She squatted to pee about 10 times in five minutes. I brought her inside and she continued to do it inside. I knew something was not right and suspected a bladder infection. I've had them before so I recognized what she was doing pretty quickly. Our vet on base was closed since they only work 4 days a week so I called the Japanese vet that I've heard good things about. They said I could bring her on in. Even in the car driving over there she was trying to pee. The doctor said she has an infection and put her on antibiotics. She peed on the floor after the exam and they took a sample for testing. They said no red blood cells, so no blood in the urine but later that night she did pee with blood. Since then she has been improving each day but she is still urinating more than usual. Next week I'll collect another urine sample and take it in for testing to see if it has cleared up.

Yesterday I went riding and Satoko, Gian and Roxy came along. I rode Sandy again and she was really grumpy. She has started to nip when we tighten the girth and the trainer said she bit someone earlier that day. The new horse arrived and to my surprise, it's actually a pretty nice horse. It's a big dapple gray mare named Heidi. She is probably 16 something hands and looks like a Thoroughbred. They said she is 25% Appaloosa, but she looks like a full Thoroughbred.
My ride went well but I'm having a hard time keeping my outside rein short and the inside rein lose. I always want to keep them even so I'm constantly having to readjust. I just want to glue them where they're supposed to be! Sandy gives me such a work out cause she is lazy and it's a lot of work to keep her going or try to get her to extend. In transitions I also lose her frame when she sticks her nose out and fights the bit. Soon I'll get to ride Heidi which I'm excited about. The trainer said he rode her for 30 mins that day and she bucked twice. So hopefully he'll work all the bucks out of her first.

When we got back into town we got ready to go to dinner with Laura and her husband. We went to our favorite sushi place. Of course it was delicious! Today I'm at work and not quite sure why I'm here. As far as I see, there are no classes today for my school. There was one this morning for a different university and drug testing going on. I'm here from 8-5 too with an hour lunch break that I'm going to take soon. Gian is cooking me lunch so I'll leave when it's ready. We went shopping at the BX yesterday and when we left they gave us a flyer for Labor Day. Great ... we could have bought everything today and saved money. There is a grill Gian wants to get and it's 50% off right now which is a pretty good deal so I think he's going to get it.

Tonight we're going to Satoko and Miko's hometown called Schichinohe for a festival. Tonight is the night time festival and tomorrow it's during the day. Miko's parents are dressing us up in Kimonos so it should be interesting...

My Birthday

For my 23rd birthday, I decided to have a party at our home. I hadn't had a birthday party since I was about 8 years old, so I was pretty excited. But before the party started, Gian and I spent the day cleaning the house so it was in order and presentable. Laura and Sky called us around noon to invite us to my favorite place, the Cake House. They are so sweet that they bought us lunch for my birthday. I can never say no to cake house!

As for the party, 11 of our friends came and 2 of their dogs between 6 pm and 7pm. We had a wide variety of food and it all turned out delicious. Gian made his famous dip for tostitos, hot dogs, sweet BBQ chicken legs, and Korean beef ribs. Bhea, who is Phillipino, made Lumpia, a noodle dish and some sort of rice cake desert. Kyle and Heidi made the infamous Sully burgers that I've been hearing about for the last year. And now I know why, because they were amazing! They were large burger paddys and the center was filled with cheese and bacon bits. The outside of the patty had a piece of bacon wrapped around it. A total heart attack waiting to happen ... but amazing! Satoko and her friends brought yakiniku pork that was also great. The most phenomenal item of food was my birthday cake! Satoko's family owns a chain of bakeries and they were nice enough to make my cake! Not only does it look great, but it is delicious! Satoko also brought a pretty rose candy that her brother made. I don't remember what he does for a living, but he makes candy as a hobby. It's fascinating! You wouldn't know it was candy unless they told you because it just looks like a glass decoration. It came in a nice display case so I put it up in the entertainment center. I'm not sure if I'm going to eat it. It's just too pretty!

Kenai played with Roxy inside and that was entertaining to watch. Satoko's friend brought their border collie, Maru, but he was afraid of the other dogs. He's beautiful though and loves people. It was a good time with cool people and great food. There were a lot of dishes to wash, but everyone did really well with keeping the house clean. I was actually the one making the biggest mess! I flung a beer and it spilled everywhere and I got cake all over the table.

After cake some of our friends went home and then others decided to go out! We hardly ever go out ... I think the last time we even went to these bars was in the winter. Although we had fun, I remember why we didn't go out much. It's pricey, and you have to deal with stupid people. First we went to a Russian bar outside the main gate of the base. It's tiny, crowded, expensive and the drinks are weak so we only stayed for one drink. We then headed to a bar called Peek A Boo for some pumpkin pie shots. Those are pretty tasty. Then Chris wanted to take us to a bar around the corner for devil's brain shots. Those were pretty gross ... and then finally we went to a bigger bar called My Place. It's a popular bar owned and ran by an American who lives here. In the first five minutes some loser decided he had the right to speak to me and even have the nerve to tell me I looked pissed off. I shot him the dirtiest look I could muster and blew him off. We were able to snag a nice, big table at the back next to the darts board. Laura, Heidi and I sat there and talked while the boys played darts and sang karaoke. They were so entertaining that I was having a great time just watching them. During Gian's first solo song a random girl came and rubbed up on him and then ran away. Second stupid person to interfere with our group in a short amount of time and hence the stupid people at bars. All I can say is she was lucky she left it at that otherwise there would have been three girls putting her in a corner. Once we had enough drinks we decided to call it quits before we started to get sick. Gian decided to not call a cab and walk home so our friends headed back to their homes on base as we walked down the Japanese streets to go home. I wasn't prepared to walk since I was wearing heels and hadn't worn heels in forever so my feet were crying. Gian felt bad so he carried me about half the way, gave me his shoes for another quarter of the way, and then I finally decided to just go barefoot cause my feet hurt swimming around in his big shoes. As silly as it was because we had money for a cab, and didn't have to walk home, I sure did feel the love as my poor husband gave me his shoes and carried me home.

When we got home, Gian took Roxy outside and somehow Zelda snuck out the front door like a little Ninja. I thought she must have been locked in some closet or drawer because she didn't sleep with us that night. Roxy was such a good girl and she let us sleep in until 8. Maybe even later, but I figured I had better get up to feed her breakfast and take her out. After I did that I decided to search for Zelda. She was no where to be found and I started to get worried. Then I heard a faint meow and I tried to locate it. Finally I went and opened the front door and Zelda walked inside. She must had been out there since about quarter to 4 a.m. I checked her over and was glad she was ok and that she knew to come home. She only had a little cobwebs on her ears. I thought after a long night out she would be weary of the door but nope, she is still wanting to go out. We have stray cats right behind us and I don't want her anywhere near them! I was keeping a special eye on her during the party cause I figured she might get out because of all the people going in and out but no, she snuck out when we came home late.

Today we layed on the couch and watched TV for the whole morning. We were feeling a little crappy so we were just waiting for it to pass. We then took a nap and woke up to cook dinner. We had a skirt steak marinating for two days that we didn't cook last night cause we had more than enough food. I didn't want to see any leftovers so I sent our friends home with lots of to go containers. I did such a good job of sending out leftovers, that I think we were the only ones having to cook today! We also made Spanish yellow rice and asparagus. It was a quick, easy, and delicious dinner! We're going to go on base soon because yesterday I tried a new mascara my mom bought me and I can't get it off! It's a waterproof one my eyelashes feel awful since it's been on for 24 hours! Hopefully I can find something good to take it off.

Tomorrow is my last day at the kennel .. woohoo!