will you be my Valentine?

i had a little group of my retired Japanese pals over, on Wednesday, for a mexican lunch and American Valentine's party. now, Japanese people's pallets are super sensitive to spice. so in planning the meal i took this into account, especially since i was cooking mexican and i have a mouth of steal.

tdub made a batch of his homemade roasted salsa for them and left out most of the fire, we both thought it tasted like tomato sauce with a hint of garlic and cilantro, thats how un-hot it was. i asked them as they were eating it if it was too hot, and in their very polite and gracious way said "almost too hot, just a little ok." needless to say there was a lot leftover. and queso too. (yay! more for me.)

in honor of a traditional Valentine's day, i asked them to bring little notes or cards and maybe a small candy for all the other friends. they did as i asked, cutest little candies you have ever seen, (they make an apple look like it should be a diamond ring the way they wrap things here). i had decorated paper bags with doilies and their names and they had a jolly time distributing their candies and cards to one another.

here is a picture of them with their bags, happy as little clams. i didn't have the heart to tell them that the only other people this Valentine's day that will be this excited about getting a paper sack with treats inside, are the kiddos in kindergarten.

look how cute they are.

Happy Valentines Day, friends.
give some love away today.

nine.

hi.

so, a couple of days ago (on the 9th) we celebrated our 9 month anniversary. well, i use the term "celebrated" loosely, we did nothing other than say "happy nine months" to one another, but i just cant believe it's been NINE months. where has the time gone? when i think about what i was doing this time last year...i was in the middle of having showers, opening presents, writing thank you's (which i am still doing...so if you haven,t gotten yours yet, it IS coming! so sorry!), was deciding on who would make the cut on the guest list ;), trying to find bridesmaids dresses, getting fitted for mine every other day, thinking about cakes, flowers, decorations, favors, photography, picking what food we would eat, what music we would listen to, learning/praying and being counseled on how to be a wifey and what a marriage means and looks like when it's glorifying to the Lord and so, so much more...WHEW!

all i have to say is, i am glad i will only be getting married once. i am so much happier on this side of the wedding...can i say...crap? ha! engagement was a wonderful and fun season and we were so blessed by the way family and friends surrounded us to celebrate us and our togetherness. (thank you!) but yay!yay!yay! for being married. there are so many things i love about being married. mostly, i love living with my best friend. i love doing everything and doing nothing with him. drinking coffee, going to the farmers market, playing Wii, running and hiking, washing the dishes, hosting friends in our house, laughing at the Japanese Engrish that surrounds us, eating ramen noodles, riding the train to a new town, hanging pictures, painting walls, falling asleep and waking up is all sweeter with him by my side. these have been the weirdest and the greatest nine months of my life.

i am grateful to the Lord for giving me my, Handsome.
here's to many more "nine month anniversaries".
to bring you up to speed on what we've been up to, here are some of the adventures and memorable moments from the last nine...

traveling around the TX Hill Country

a funny little man we met in Wimberly, he makes grills that look like spaceships


little brother graduates from A&M. whoop!


fourth of July at the lake

after i finished the summer at camp i joined Tdub for about two months in Little Rock. this is the fun we found.




ghetto gator farm. tdub touched the gator, they almost threw us out.



my 28th. started with birthday cake in bed (our new tradition) and ended with Tdub trying his very first martini. definitely an acquired taste.



the place they filmed the opening credits to Gone with the Wind. havent seen the movie, but this is what we imagined the movie to look like. we'll keep our day jobs.


visiting the fam in CO one last time before we move!



st. arnolds brewery in Houston.

nikko autumn festival and parade

the very famous "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys, come from this shrine

Yokohama china town


visiting an orphanage

family comes to visit for Thanksgiving...
first stop: the Hakone Hot Springs. they pour different liquids on you in the different baths...
coffee.

wine.

and green tea.

parks, leaves and little trees.






ramen museum.


shrines, temples and kimonos




Christmas festivities


no words.

trying again. doesnt look like it's been "acquired" yet. :)

our friend, Gabe and I both came out winners from the evening!


our Christmas tree

we only allowed ourselves to eat and drink out of red or green dishes all day long.



happy new year!

joined the Yokota Striders Running Club...running all over Japan. a couple of the races we have run:
looking a little rough after a 13.1 miles

Mt. Fuji Racing Speedway

a day at mt. fuji w/ our friends Quinn and Kristen





and you already know about sumo :)



hopefully you won't have to look at the next 9 months in one post. :)

more posts to come soon of our trip to Okinawa among other things...
talk soon.