Labor Day

I spent my Labor Day searching for a job.  How's that for irony?!  We did however enjoy a great Labor Day weekend with some family.  The last time we spent Labor Day weekend with our family was during our "big" wedding in 2009 so this was a nice treat for us.

My cousin and I started the morning by making our great grandmother's potato salad.  We had a blast in the kitchen together and we can't wait to try out some more of her, and our grandmother's, recipes together.  It doesn't look like much but it's the only potato salad I've ever liked!

Jason picked lunch, California Kebab and Beer Garden.  The food was delicious and there was a nice little view of the beach.  We'll be back for sure!

After lunch we spent a few hours on the beach with a million other people.

I get to call this handsome fella my husband!  He saw this photo and said "that doesn't even look like me".  That is because 1, he has a beard (I have to say, I feel like I'm kissing another man with that thing...it's weird!) and 2, I caught a genuine smile, not the fake smile that he usually gives me in photos.

My cousin, Tina, and I at Pacific Beach.

Jason's dad lives about 2 hours away so he came down for the weekend.  It is so nice to be close to some family again.

After the beach we went back to our place and grilled then introduced Tina to the awesomeness that is Settlers of Catan.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend!

another weekend recap

This was the 2nd weekend in a row that was jam packed full of fun!

Friday we ordered pizza and played domino's with our neighbors

Then went to a going away/just because party at a friends house

On our way home, we ran into a group of co-ops heading to the community club and decided to join them.  I freaking love these guys! {and really need a good point and shoot!}

Saturday was an incredibly long and incredibly fun day!

We started out at he Giant Kite Festival at Sagami River to celebrate the Japanese holiday, Children's day

That last kite weighs about 2,000+ pounds and required close to 100 people to fly it....it was amazing to watch them get it in the air!

Jason finally got to try taiko today...I think I was more excited than he was though!

After the kite festival, I attended a baby shower

I love this onsie! {In case you can't read it, it says "Made in Japan with American parts"}

Then I met back up with Jason and we headed to a roller derby bout that was held here on our base

HIP...

CHECK!

I'd never seen roller derby IRL before and I have to admit I had no clue what was going on most of the time. Even still, I had an absolute blast out there today!

We ended our Saturday with a relaxing dinner and the company of our wonderful neighbors

I can't believe I leave for the States in 2 days!  Time to start packing!

great weekend

Every single weekend this month has been MISERABLE!  It will be nice all week and as soon as Friday rolls around, the temp drops and the rain begins.  It's been awful!  Finally this weekend, we had PERFECT weather and we took advantage of it to the fullest!

Friday it rained all day but cleared up just in time for dinner so we headed to the local sushi-go-round with one of our favorite couples, the Robs.

When we 1st started going to this sushi-go-round, I got hooked on a certain plate of sushi.   I haven't seen this particular sushi in over a year though.  Every time I go, I look for it, but I never see it.  I don't know what it's called, therefore I can't order it.  So you can imagine my excitement when the friends we were with ordered some sushi and out came THE sushi I have been looking for for over a year now!

I still have no clue what it's called but I now have a photo to show the sushi chef {or I could just ask one of my students to tell me the name of this}.   After sushi, we came back to our house to play a few games.

Saturday, Jason and I went to the local Home Depot/Bed Bath & Beyond store called Viva Home.  We needed to pick up a runner for our hallway so Buster can walk without sliding around like he's on a sheet of ice and some herbs/veggies for our "garden".

We settled on basil, rosemary, thyme and tomatoes and okra {Jason INSISTED on okra}.  I can't wait to have enough tomatoes and basil to make tomato sauce and bruschette!

That evening we had our first neighborhood BBQ of the year.

We are so blessed to have some wonderful neighbors!  I'm looking forward to a summer full of great BBQ's!

Sunday we attended church then brunch at the community club on base {thanks to some free tickets, we don't usually fork out $18/person for a mediocre meal}.  After brunch, we headed out on our bikes.

I love my new cruiser...except when I have to go up hill and only have one gear!  I'm really hoping our next base is in a flat area!

We went to a park and tossed a softball for a while but mostly just rode around town enjoying the beautiful weather.

We topped off our wonderful weekend with what has become one of my favorite Japanese meals, udon and tempura

and a pretty good earthquake.  A weekend in Japan couldn't be complete without a little shake!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Weekend update

We had the most beautiful weather this weekend, I wish it could be 70-80 and sunny EVERYDAY! We made the best of it by spending ALL DAY Saturday at a rugby tournament on post.





There was a bit of drama with this lady



who thought she was the field police. She seemed to think that we were not allowed to have our cute little puppy at the field.



So she called the MWR (Moral, Welfare and Recreation) on us, who came and told us "you can come to my boss's office on Monday and he'll show you the regulation", to which Jason told him he would not leave until he saw something in writing. The MWR guy told us if we didn't leave he was going to call the MP's (Military Police) to have us escorted off the field. The MP showed up and basically told us that there is no sign posted so they can't enforce the "rule" and told the lady to stop bossing people around...Jason was thrilled to have "won" the battle! (at one point, she was trying to get people to agree with her and we were standing there with about 5-8 of our friends and I really thought a West Side Story type turf war was going to break out. Luckily for them, it didn't!)

Oh, and back to rugby, OUR TEAM WON the tournament!



Unfortunately, we had other obligations that evening and we weren't able to attend the after party (if you've never attended a rugby party after one of their matches, GO DO IT! They are total mayhem but so much fun!).

We went to dinner with our awesome friends Mike & Kristi, then went to see the Harlem Globetrotter Legends at the gym on post.




Today we were on our way to watch the Bengals beat the Ravens when we found this guy in my tire:



This makes the 2nd screw I've had in my tires in as many months =( and this one isn't repairable so we have to buy a new tire =( =(

At least the Bengals won, which made me feel a little better about the afternoon.

I'll be back in a bit to post the awesome fajita recipe I made for dinner tonight!