Aloha November 2009!

Aaron and I headed out for a much-needed beach vacation on November 7th. It was our first trip to Hawaii, and it definitely won't be our last! The Rainbow State is breathtaking! Here is a rainbow pic taken while basking in the sun at Kailua State Beach.

We visited the Pearl Harbor monument while we were here on Oahu, and it was a very moving day.

Then we moved on to more fun and less sad! Here we are with Diamondhead in the background. We did the hike to Diamondhead, with me in a skirt and flip-flops (it clearly wasn't planned for that day). Stunning views!

A scenic view!

On the recommendation of some good friends, the Listons, who lived on Oahu, we tried lots of yummy things like Kona beer, delicious shaved ice, and found a favorite party spot at Dick's! I want Liquid Aloha cups!

Aaron enjoying a tasty mai tai at Dick's. It was heaven in a glass, and counts as a fruit serving with the fresh pineapple:)

We also attempted to do some snorkeling at beautiful Hanauma Bay, but between the rip currents and jellyfish warnings we did more viewing from above than from in the water!

Sayonara Nihon!

Ok, I'm finally going to blog again. I'm making it my goal to get caught up on my 2009 posts in 2010 and then hopefully get back into the swing of things

In April, 2009 it was time to head home to Arizona and say good-bye to all of our dear friends in Japan. We had so much fun in Japan and the year flew by so quickly! Thus began a few weeks of farewell binge drinking. Here are some of my lovely ladies that made Japan a blast! Ana, Danielle, me, Lisa, Karen, and Alli! So off to Rickey's Bar we go!

Note to self: when you start making this face, you really don't need more to drink, probably shouldn't go for karaoke, and are not sober. But, we all know I don't listen to these kinds of ridiculous arguments!

One of the funniest things about living in Japan were the very descriptive picture signs. I've learned that we don't have nearly enough picture signs in the USA!

Now it is time for karaoke with many of our neighbors. Despite my natural tendency to not like to sing because I have the voice of a 5 year old, it turns out that I LOVE karaoke. I'm not sure if we were signing My Humps or some other fabulous song at this point. Good times!

Then we had a more official sayonara party in Nagoya the next night. We began with a churrascaria for some Brazilian tabehodai and nomihodai (all you can eat and most importantly, drink)!

This is my good friend, Mer, who speaks awesome Japanese if I do say so myself and was a real trooper for coming to the nomihodai party to wish me farewell despite being pregnant! That is a true friend!!








After eating and drinking, it was time for more karaoke. As I mentioned, I love karaoke! We even got to sing some NKOTB. Try not to be jealous. Here I am with Lisa and Lorie, two wonderful friends who I hope to see again in the USA!