Not Very Bloggable

Hello All,

Since September Mark and I have not been up to much, just handling every day life. Mark is doing well at his new job and I am teaching some English classes and taking some college courses of my own. Ruby and Lucky are doing well. Lucky is continuing to improve and is a true blessing in our household. So nothing really worth blogging, but here are some small highlights of life over the past couple months.

In September we attended the Air Force Ball, as always it is a good time!

Also in Setpember I went to a Portable Shrine Festival on Respect for the Aged Day (敬老の日). This is a holiday that celebreates the elderly within the community. At the festival I was asked by one of the dancers if I wanted to help carry a shrine. As you see below, they are large and heavy, it takes serveral people to carry one shrine. Also, they are not only carrying the shrines, they are dancing around and bouncing the shrine up and down on their shoulders, at one point almost throwing the shrines in the air and catching them. Oh, and did I mention it was pouring rain for the first 30 minutes? It was one of those amazing moments in life where you feel totally alive and in the moment. I was pulled in, robed up and sent to work. 

FYI: There may be some bare butts in the photos below, Japanese men make thongs out of strips of cotton and wear those during festival parades and sumo.

Mark and I have also been doing a lot of hiking. We went on (what we expected to be) short hike near the Ome mountains to see some waterfalls. We walked to one, then decided to find another. We looked on a posted map and between our iPhones and our intution found the road that led to the trail. We ended up driving up this huge grade on a tiny road to get to the parking lot. We started the hike heading in the direction we though the waterfalls would be (we guessed which kanji symbol meant waterfall). We found the 3 waterfalls we were looking for, but then there was a sign pointing up the hill with a 1.5km sign. We thought maybe it was an outlook or shrine and decided to make a go for it. Did I mention by this point it was late afternoon? Prior to this point the hiking had been slightly challenging, but the trail quickly turned into scrawling on a ridge up the side of a mountain...while 90 year old Japanese people whiz on down past you. So we make it to the next sign where we find, you guessed it, another sign. It was just a trail crossing! After that we had to shimmy down the mountain as fast as we could to beat the sunset. We safely made it, happy for a day of challenging hiking.

Halloween came and went, we won best couple in a costume contest! Can you guess who we are?

The most recent thing Mark and I did was travel to Okutama Lake for the afternoon. We ate at a TINY ramen place (sorry I didn't take a picture), but our waiter/chef was dressed in a striped shirt, purple adidas warm-up pants from the 80's and fuzzy slippers. But the ramen was good! We rode on the longest rollerslide in Japan and walked on a floating bridge. Also, WE SAW MONKEYS! Finally, I can die happy, I have seen monkeys in their natural Japanese habitat. It was a good day!

THERE WERE BABY MONKEYS TOO!!!!!!

 

And I guess there was one more thing: Sunshine City! If you are ever in Tokyo on a rainy day (or not so rainy as it was) and want to wander a mall/amusement park/planetarium/aquarium/etc., check it out. Mark had a rainy Monday off, so we found this adventure:

Namja Town

Gyoza City, Mark is in Heaven!

Lef:  Miso-spicy.  Right:  Some multi-colored mystery set.

They taught a California Sea Lion to bow!

Sunset behind Fuji from the observatory

Thanks for reading! 

Fuji San

At the end of August Mark and I climbed Mount Fuji. The climb was extremely difficult, but nothing that we didn't expect.... I smiled the whole way up and Mark frowned.

We started out at 5th Station, and climbed to 3,776 meters, that is 12,388 feet.  The climb is 3.7miles but the elevation gain is almost 1500m (4900ft) in those few miles.

The most popular souvenir from Fuji the the walking stick. This is a pic of our fresh stick. You have the stick stamped on your way up the mountain.

Showing off the fresh stick.

Mark at our first rest, we are already above the clouds.

 

Getting the walking stick stamped.

Below are some pictures of the climb. It is a steep and slippery climb, but it was such a beautiful day!

We made it! This is the center of the volcano!

Mark is pooped.

At the top.

Final Stamp!

After the climb Mark and stayed in Fuji and a Ryokan, or bed and breakfast with an onsen (Japanese jacuzzi bath).

View from our window at the Ryokan.

Mark in his yukata, customary wear at a ryokan.

The next day we drove around Fuji Five Lakes, a town at the base of the mountain that has, you guessed it, 5 lakes!

Mark is plugging up Fuji!

Both days were beautiful and the climb was an amazing experience! I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a challenge and some minimal body torture.

Friendship Festival

On August 18^th and 19^th our base hosted a Japanese American Friendship Festival.   176,000 Japanese Nationals flooded the base to view the planes, eat American food, and shoot pictures of all the blondes and babies. Yes, I had my picture taken at least 100 times over the weekend. No, I am not exaggerating. It is a very intense situation; as soon as the gates open people race towards the planes.

Look at em' go!

 Saturday Mark and I were part of the crew at the Hot Dog and Gatorade Booth. Mark also announced the planes in the mini air show, he did so good! 

We are ready to sell some hot dogs!

what a cute announcer!

There was an Obon Festival and a Bon Jovi cover band that night. Here is an explanation for the festival straight from Wikipedia:

Obon (お盆^?) or just Bon (盆^?) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.

Bon Odori dance

BON JOVI!

I believe after watching this preformance a little seed has been planted in Mark's brain. He may now have aspirations of singing in a Japanese Bon Jovi cover band post retirement. At least being a roadie?

Sunday morning came and we now were on the flight line. I spent my day dressing Japanese people in flight suits and placing them in the cockpit of a helicopter. Now Japanese people are shy, they do not want to do anything that might make them stand out or be foolish… so it was quite a feat to get them to want to dress up, but we were successful. 

 Once we got started the young and old were on board!

There were some really awesome flybys during the weekend. We saw a U2 (this plane goes so high the pilots have to wear space suits), and a parachute drop out of a pair of C130s. Fred, the C5 made a late appearance on Sunday, prior to that he was, you guessed it, broke.  FYI for my non AF readers, C5s are constantly broken, it is kind of a big joke.

The C130 drop.

We worked hard, had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it all over again next year.

The Pacific Tour

Hello All,

Before I dive into this adventure I wanted to update you on Mark's and my new extension. we just received the official paperwork to extend out stay here in Japan until November 2013. So if you haven't come to visit yet please get a ticket, pack a bag and come out to see us! After all we just put new furniture in the guest bedroom. Don't forget treats for Rubinator and Lucky the Munchkin!

So I recently (well maybe not recently, but this post has been in the works for a couple weeks) arrived back in Japan from my 5 week long Pacific tour including Hawaii and Northern California. I cannot express how grateful I am to everyone who opened their homes, refrigerators and hearts to me on this trip. I have never felt so loved.

This trip started to evolve last year when Mark and I set a date for our Hawaii wedding reception, June 23^rd in Hilo on the Big Island. We booked tickets and were set out to fly on the 20^th. Well, as the trip got closer I learned that part of Mark’s family would be in Hilo early: my brother in law Jason, my sister in law Jacque, and her two little girls. After that I could not stay away so I changed my ticket for June 12^th and left poor Mark to fend for himself in Japan and make the voyage to Hawaii alone later in the month.

I spent over a week bonding with my new Mom and Dad, siblings and nieces. It was great to spend some non-rushed, real time with this part of my family. The funny part about this is that none of Mom and Dad’s “real” children made it out to Hilo until after the 19^th.  They only had their haole children in law - what I like to call The “J Team” or “J Crew” because all 3 of us have J names...Jessica, Jacque and Jason (as pictured below at our Tahoe wedding).  

 

The J Team and parents were able to have a lot of fun together - we went to the Farmer’s Market, fabric shopping, and to Kapoho with relatives to play on the beach.

Then the rest Enriques family children arrived on/around the 19th and we celebrated Mark’s and my wedding again at the Nani Loa Volcano Resort in Hilo on the 23rd. The food was good, the service was nice, the friends and family who attended were amazing. We were so blessed by how many people were able to come, including some of Mark’s and my family from the mainland. Thank you to everyone who pitched in to set up, put together favors, tables, ect., manned the welcome table, took pictures, made food and helped clean up. We could not have done it without you!

Much Dancing Ensued

Mom and Dad Enriques, they are so cute!

Table decorations.

Mount Fuji cookies for favors!

After the reception life in Hilo settled down, we were able to hang out, learn the water cycle boogie (see below), go on small adventures to Kona, participate in stand up paddleboarding (both Jacque’s and my new favorite sport).  Even my nieces did great and went out on the boards! Unfortunately I do not have pictures developed yet :(

The whole family in front of the Hilo house.

But before I left I did happen upon this little gem, "Hilo's Ofiicial Tsunami Lookout Tower," one of many reasons I love Hilo.

 

The time came too soon when I had to depart Hilo and head to the mainland for the second half of my tour.  I landed Friday night, June 28^th, and some of my favorite girls picked me up the next morning for a wine tasting tour ending at the Robert Mondavi Winery for an O.A.R. concert.

On our way to OAR!

 Yes, you read that correctly, O.A.R, at a winery, with great girlfriends. This obviously evolved into an epic time. Much wine was purchased, much dancing ensued, much picnic food was eaten. It was such a blast.

The next day, Sunday, was the busiest day of my trip. First off I stopped off at the one year birthday party for Luke/going away party for the Sherdt family. They are really good friends of ours who were recently reassigned to Germany and they have a one year old little boy named Luke.  I pray for them daily that they settle into their new German life!

Next, I drove over to Lincoln where my best friend’s (Cortney) little brother Travis, fresh in the Navy, married his highschool sweetheart Emily. They did a cute little ceremony wearing personalized jerseys. They are young and in love - we wish them all the best. They are currently based near Fresno, CA.

Also during that event my nephew (at least by love), Cortney’s son Andy, was getting his 1 year pictures taken. Isn’t he adorable?

 

Lastly on that day I drove to Loomis where I had the pleasure of attending Morgin Fraser and Jesse Records' wedding held at the flower farm. Morgin took my breath away in her gown. The whole reception was beautiful.  After the wedding they honeymooned in Hawaii then Morgin moved to Washington to be with Jesse.

 Yes, that was all in one day.

 

The next week was filled with visiting friends, shopping, eating good American food. One of my best friends, Krista Veal was in town visiting from Michigan so I was able to spend a lot of time with her.

I don't know why we are making this face.

Here is the list of Merchants I shopped at while in the US:

Target, BBB, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Victoria Secret, Macys, REI, Wal Mart, Best Buy, Joannes, Lucy, Ross, Petco, Sunrise Foods, Barnes and Nobles, Old Navy, Trader Joes and Ulta.

Here is the list of Restaurants I ate at:

Lucilles, Chevys, Chipotle, Old Spaghetti Factory, Old Town Pizza, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Inn N Out, Cold Stone, Mikuni’s Sushi (American sushi and Japanese sushi is very different), and Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill in Folsom. Now here is the thing; TKILTB&G is also in Vegas, they have the best burger I have EVER eaten. I would not recommend the restaurant in Folson, the food is nothing like the one in Vegas.

Whooo, the best of California right there. Now I normally wouldn't write the above list out, but when you live overseas it is a common question "Where did you shop? Where did you eat?" We, as overseaers, lust over American shopping and resturant establishments.

That weekend I was able to spend time with my family as we celebrated my sister Rachel’s birthday at a BBQ. I truly love good old American BBQ’s.

My sisters and I

Greg even gave a lecture on the growth of corn! How very American.... and cool!  Don't worry Greg, everyone is having corn crop problems this year :(

On July 11^th (7 11) I celebrated Slurpee Day with my sister Rose.

As the weekend of July 14^th, my last weekend in California and my friend Shelley’s wedding approached there were many preparations made and on that day. I was lucky enough to stand by Shelley's side as she married her best friend Erik. It was a beautiful wedding followed by a very fun reception. The entire evening was set at the Forest House Lodge in Foresthill, CA.  I would recommend this venue to anyone.

What would a wedding be without KARAOKE????

On the 15^th I was able to see my Loomis girls one last time, and BBQ again with my family before heading back to SF to fly to Japan.  At the end I was so grateful to have been able to spend that much time at home, but ready to get back to my husband and dogs.

Thank you everyone for loving me so well on this trip.