Tuesday! and wednesday

Tuesday we went back to kokusaidori, and enjoyed the day. we bought a few souvenirs and just had a good time. we knew the following day would rain so we tried to stay out for a while and get a good dinner. this street just wears you out, so much to do! 

cant spill the beans on the gifts we bought just yet ;)

oh also! went to this really cool outlet shopping mall called asahibina or something like that. they had some good prices, but nothing special to talk about. except the A&W. yum.

and wednesday,we just took it easy and chilled out until later in the day. we ended up grabbing some dinner and ice cream and calling it a night after making progress on computer stuff all day :)

The rest of the Okinawan story... *Monday*

Time flies doesnt it? Im going to post this quickly in hopes of coming back and writing more later.

Monday! It consisted of us exploring the streets and finding a beach AND our new favorite restaurant ever to eat at. it was called "la marmite," and literally gave us a 5 course meal plus coffee for 1500¥.. not to mention it was the most DELICIOUS meal in tha world, next to that okonomiyaki. i give it 5 stars, easy.

we got the fish. and made some new friends that we went back to see later haha.

next we went looking for the beach! and found it! it was SO gorgeous seeing that crystal blue/green water! except this beach had an interstate running through the middle, so that kinda sucked, but other than that it was gorgeous. we just laid around being lazy there, getting sunburned, until we decided to walk farther looking for coffee.

we found the coffee! and kinda got lost in the meantime. we took some wrong turns and ended up having to backtrack a ton, in our flipflops- but it was a fun adventure.

Okinawa babay!

I haven't posted in a while, but need to start again when we have more Japanese adventures.

This weekend..... We went to Okinawa!! AH it's so beautiful here!! Other than Mark having to pay almost as much as my plane ticket just to get a ride across the island, it's been great. Our hotel is in a good location, and the first night we went out and just walked the streets looking for a place to eat. Which is when we found.... Okonomiyaki. One of Gods greatests gifts to Japan.

(First picture)

Then, Sunday, we spent all day traveling down kokusaidori (sp?) street, which is filled with a million (no exaggeration) little shops and places to eat. It was SO cool. Got a couple fun things for the house and car, and got a good dinner at cocos that night. But not before....

Burger King. Of course lol.

Will document more asap, loving it so far.

The world's largest dream...I mean city.

Last week I visited the world's largest city by population, Tokyo, Japan. I was just thinking of how incredible of an experience it was, and how I can't wait much longer to write it down before I forget details.

It was incredible for many reasons... The main one being that I was offered an interview, then a second interview, with one of Japan's most well-known English schools, GABA. In order to get to the interview however, I had to take the train 1 1/2 hours... By myself. Dressed in business clothes. I realize people do it every day but for me this is a first. I ended up getting there about 2 minutes late but still making it, but that's beside the point. Literally I have never been such a mix of scared/excited/anxious/stressed/starstruck in my life. Because, this isn't just some trip I'm taking... It's to fulfill a greater purpose, and allow me to pursue something I really care about, for once. AND Tokyo is just so... Huge. As I walk from train to train, there are literally thousands of people crowded around me, all trying to get somewhere fast. It's elbow to elbow the whole way, which is something I'm not used to when I'm walking. It was like Liberty letting out convocation but in tiny hallways underground. And on the train was tough as well, but it was so amazing to see some of the sites-like downtown where the streets are 8 lanes wide but filled with no cars-only people. My words can't do it justice, and I plan to take pictures soon-there was just no time as I was scrambling and so scared I would make a mistake.

The second time wasn't near as hard, and by the grace of God I actually made it back home without the help of a cell phone/Internet. The whole experience was something ill never forget, including the fact that I accomplished such a feat on my own.. And managed to (pretty much) land the job that I hope to take in a few months. Seriously it's hard to believe the strength and knowledge God gives you when you need it most.

If I think of more details I will add them soon, but for now am just very thnkful and still a bit speechless from it all.

Whatever you do, don't get distracted.

"whatever you do, dont get distracted."
the man kept repeating this to us, over and over, as if for some reason we needed to hear it more than anything else. we stood around, waiting for this "game," as it felt like, to start. i could feel the warm sand beneath my feet, and see it for miles leading in to lush grassy fields ahead...but i couldnt start out on the wrong foot by concentrating too much on the scenery. nah, i got this, he said all we have to do is dont get distracted, who can't do a simple task like that?

i dont know who the boy was with us, or the girl, all i know is that we were in this together trying to make it to the end. we were chosen to follow this man, this leader... and i dont know why. i also dont know where we were going or what might lie ahead...all i knew is that we were to follow him, no matter what, and that if we did that no harm would come to us.

we started out walking close to him, he was not too far ahead. the area was beautiful, and up ahead we could see a house we were to enter. the house seemed nice enough, but once going inside it was much more run-down and dark than expected. we looked around a bit as we were walking through this path inside the house the leader had lined out, but didnt turn our heads much. but then i look up- and i dont see him. i knew he was still there, he was close, but i couldnt see him anymore. i strained my neck but guessed that i should just keep going straight, assuming he would show up eventually. i heard people. sounds like a party going on in one of the rooms.. soon enough we were walking through the party room, people to my left dancing and having cocktails in their nice black party dresses. then suddenly someone tries to pull me away..."come on kelsey!" she said. "come eat with us, theres a bunch of people over here waiting on you." the urge was suddenly so so strong to go with her....no. i cant. the goal, i have to keep it in mind. im supposed to follow him, always. but, then again, i cant even really see him right now...will he even notice? ah i wanted to go so badly, so irrationally. the girl who was with me in this game gradually walks over to the side of the room with the party. i yelled for her to stay with us, even grabbed for her, but it was too late. she was never coming back. she had no chance of winning this game now, she will be stuck there until who knows when....

i finally made up my mind to keep walking with the guy who was still left in the game. why was my mind acting so irrationally?! is it really that hard to follow one simple rule: dont get distracted. what was my problem, im a grown, educated, and logical woman, what could that group really have to offer me thats better? i had cleared my mind a little for now. still didnt see our leader but felt that we were getting closer. suddenly a man comes out to talk to us. he is asking so many questions and talking about what he needs from us. i have never seen him before, but he has a sneaky-ness about him....a countenance that makes me feel as if we will be taken advantage of if we tarry any longer with him. i wanted to talk to him so badly and find out what it was he was needing so desperately...but we kept walking. and as soon as we got past him it was as if i felt a sense of immediate relief. just like i felt when i walked past the "party" that had sucked in my friend.

we continue down this hallway in the house...there are so many distractions now. everywhere i turn it is as if something is needing me, wanting me, or offering me something so so tempting. but i resist, somehow. i dont know how, because at this point it is as if i have to put my head down in order to just make it past these things a few more steps.

to my right there is a door cracked open. seems like just a plain, grey colored closet door, but man do i want to know what is in there...its dark inside. so pitch black. the guy who is left in the game wants to know whats inside even more badly than i.... before i know it, he is walking off the pathway toward this door... i yelled for him- stop! dont do it we are so close! we have almost made it to the end!!! but to no avail. he slowly and intently creeps up to it and opens the crack a little wider....and starts to walk in..... whatever was inside must have been intriguing, because thats the last i saw of him.

now, by this time, i just felt so defeated. i felt as if i had been trying so hard this whole time and seen no results at all. i mean, what was this whole thing even for anyway?? it didnt seem to matter that i didnt know details at first, but now...now, after i worked so hard to just stay focused on this so-called "path" that would get me to the right place, laid out by the man who called himself a leader... now i really want to just know WHY. everyone else failed! this was so much harder than i expected, but now i feel that i have earned something havent i??

regardless, i keep walking. my head is always down now, just staring at one foot ahead is about all i have left in me. suddenly, its a little brighter. im not inside the house anymore. and, gasp! is that him? the leader! hes right in front of me! standing on the lushest grass ive ever seen. ah i feel so tired now, so worn, but yet fulfilled.  i am overcome by a sense of guilt for ever doubting he didnt have my absolute best in mind.. and mostly, a sense of peace fills me, inside and out. its ok that i had to work so hard on what should have been an easy task.. its ok that i know others who didnt make it. its OK. he's here. and he's with me. and we made it. i won, and i dont know what my prize is yet, but all i can see is Him.

Top 7 Crazy Things You Now Look Forward to After a Deployment

its here! its finally FINALLY here... the (almost) end of a very long and frustrating deployment... as all are, no matter the length or situation. and now im totally and completely engulfed in my excitedness to see him, my passionate love and care for him, and just plain giddiness over the stupidest things. so i decided to compile a list of the normally "crazy" things that i (and probably many other military spouses) now look forward to since he has been gone so long....

#7   listening to him snore

seriously, this can be the most annoying thing EVER especially when you havent been sleeping well...but when hes been away this long, i would pay anything just to hear him snore while hes laying beside me.

#6   buying extra food

yayyy now i have to actually plan out all my meals and buy extra food to feed a 180 lb MAN. but to have him home, ill do it:)

#5   sharing a bathroom

sigh. where do i even start. thankfully he doesnt take too long in there...but it can really put me behind. but now, all i can think is...hes IN...our....bathroom! right there! like 5 feet away! ah ive missed him so much!

#4   waking up at the butt crack of dawn to fix him breakfast and see him off

i always feel guilty for being mad to get up at the time he does (usually 0630...ugh), but now i am going to be so so happy just to wake up next to him, no matter the hour. ill freakin cook him a 5 course breakfast psh (um dont let him read this! lol!)

#3   sharing the tv

yea uh not my favorite thing to do, esp when its something about cars. but for a while, i will probably just be watching him as he watches tv...so its a win win ;)

#2   picking up after him

hes not a baby. but hes also not the wife lol, which means theres a good bit of extra cleaning on my plate now. but for real, who cares. hes out there saving the world from enemies, foreign and domestic...ill pick up his socks off the floor if it means making his life that much easier.

#1   doing his laundry

all i could think today is man, i cant WAIT to do his laundry! just the smell of him around, and "having" to fold and hang that uniform... im so blessed. i love you, my sailor. <3

must...be...fit.

i seriously have GOT to be in better shape. i am done with excuses, done with being weak...and done with feeling like i could be doing a whole lot better than i am. so, i decided to create my own workout routine from a combination of ones i found that will target every major body part and hopefully will show me some results. and i must remember, it is not about the number only about being fit and healthy.

MONDAY and THURSDAY:
45 mins cardio
arms-
45 second plank
15 one armed rows
15 chest press
15 seated shoulder press
15 flys (laying on back)
15 lateral raises
15 chest press (on ball)
15 tricep dips (on bench)
15 alternating bicep curls
15 lying row and rotation (on ball)
15 chest press (on ball)
15 reverse flys (sitting on ball)
15 laying tricep extensions
45 second plank
stretch


TUESDAY and FRIDAY:
45 mins cardio
butt and legs-
20 squats
20 pile squats
20 donkey kicks per side
20 fire hydrants per side
20 circling donkey kicks per side
20 weighted lunges
30 hip lifts
20 lunge kicks per side
repeat 2x
stretch

WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY:
45 mins cardio
abs-
25 in and outs
25 bicycles
25 reverse bicycles
25 crunchy frogs
25 crunches
25 scissors
25 hip butt ups
25 heels to heaven
25 roll v ups
25 leg climbers
25 kayakers
repeat
stretches- cobra, childs pose

gifts and curses...a breakdown of the meaning of our song

long ago, back in me and my husbands early days of dating (so what it was only 5 years ago...), we decided that the song "gifts and curses" by yellowcard on the spiderman 2 soundtrack (which just so happens to be our most favorite bonding topic) would be "our song." at the time, it was so very sweet and had some to do with our lives, but mostly meant a lot to us because of the comparison to our favorite fictional (or nonfictional...) character, Spider-man. it wasnt until tonight that i realized how much it actually parallels everything we are living at this moment...look and see what i mean.


"Mary belongs to the words of a song. 
I try to be strong for her, try not to be wrong for her."


always has he always had this attitude toward me. my love is so much of a romantic, and ive always seen his effort in trying to be everything i need, and more. but this isnt even the best part....



"But she will not wait for me, anymore, anymore."


honestly, there have been some days where waiting on him is the last thing i want to do. he has been gone so so long, soon i feel like he will have been gone from me longer than he will have been with me. and as of right now, that is more than true of our married life, while about 6wks of our marriage has been together, with about 6 months apart. not really what i had pictured.



"Why did I say all those things before? I was sure."


i feel like he feels this so so often...there are moment, like we all have, that he has felt so sure that this is the only thing he knows he is supposed to do, other than be with me. but in some moments... being sure of this whole navy life waivers, as does faith in other things...



"She is the one, but I have a purpose."



he needs me. i need him. but i am not his entire life. he is living his life, and trying his best to place his life into God's hands, in hopes of fulfilling a greater purpose. maybe that purpose is saving the world through means of the US Navy...maybe that purpose is learning a new trade in a completely new place...maybe that purpose is exploring the world... but if i am the one, are any of these things possible?




"She is the one, and I have to fight this."


it is possible. i promised to him long ago that where he goes, i go. where he leads i will follow. what he loves i will love. my heart will always be with his, to the end, no matter what. and in this case, it means following him to the ends of the earth literally halfway across the world, it means living the same dream,..it means finding out that our dream is shared, and ultimately is just to love each other. so now, with these choices, we must both fight through in order to get to what means most...each other.




"She is the one, a villain I can't knock down."


so many times, i feel as if im not careful i could easily get in the way. he would never allow me to say that, but i know that my support instead of my opposition will allow him to go on, learn more, and be more of a man. my interference with that will only hurt us both.


"I see your face with every punch I take, 
and every bone I break, it's all for you. 
And my worst pains are words I cannot say, 
still I will always fight on for you."


its all about him, and it always has been. he says the same...its always been me, set apart solely for him since the beginning. we both take our own set of "punches" and "broken bones," and each time its as if all i can see is him, waiting for me with open arms. sometimes the pain of him being gone is more than i can bear, more than words can describe...but it will never be enough to cause me to stop fighting for him, and he for me.




"Mary's alive in the bright New York sky, 
the city lights shine for her, above them I cry for her."


sometimes i wonder, how beautiful is the ocean? he sees it every single day, and still can not get over its beauty. even when i see such beauty though, my prime thought is how badly i want to share this beauty beside him.



"Everything's small on the ground below, down below. 
What if I fall, then where would I go, would she know?"


i have to face it, even though the navy may not have half as many casualties as some branches or places of war, my husband risks his life on a daily basis. and im not there to be beside him daily, to know where he is or even how he is. the reality is, i would not know if at this moment he was hurt or sick, and i have to be ok with that, and put an endless trust in my God that he will take care of him, and me, and know that He holds our hearts as well.





"She is the one, all that I wanted, 
She is the one, and I will be haunted, 
She is the one, this gift is my curse for now."


now we know, with no question...all we want is each other. and now, we are blessed with the gift of our incredible selfless compassionate endless love...while dealing with this curse of a great responsibility that is called our purpose.
I see your face with every punch I take, 
and every bone I break, it's all for you. 
And my worst pains are words I cannot say, 
Still I will always fight on for you. Fight on for you ...

too long...

yeaaa its been how long since i posted? the hub is still underway, but i havent exactly posted with my daily "something new." instead, my sister came to visit!!! it has been a great summer...trying to learn a lot of new things, including recipes, japanese, places, and how to successfully drive on the left side of the road lol. among all of those things and more, im trying to really keep my mind sharp as im finding that is harder and harder to do while living the daily "wife life." my following posts will hopefully be a little deeper than they have been...

something new #32

mmm monea made us shrimp cocktails tonight, they were awesome. also! i decided to finally make those biscuits ive been meaning to practice! they actually turned out pretty good. i was pretty proud of myself lol. thats about it for today, biscuits are no easy task (especially "his mommas biscuits" oh dear...)

something new #31

well. ya know today was nothing special except I BOOK OUR HOTEL FOR THAILAND!! ahhhhhhh!!!! omg omg omg...i cant even believe im going! and *Lord willing* he will have most of the time off and we can chill on the sands of pattaya and drink pina coladas at the pool...seriously im gonna pass out if i think about it too much. heres a pool i have to look forward to...

oh and nbd or anything, but its on the roof of the hotel :D

something new #30

on the 5th... omg. i went. to. THE BEACH. in japan! at zushi beach- i had never been there before, and it was soooo great. the weather was perfect, i got just the right amount of tan for one day, and i even got in the water lol. man i cant wait to bring mark back there, i just loved it....it was only barely incomplete.

me and monea <3

something new #29

so on the 4th...i cant remember at this moment. i hope i didnt fail and forget to do something new. i watched a movie! i just cant remember what it was...

something new #28

on the 3rd, not a ton happened but i did manage to buy our first coffee pot since being married!! i had a better one back home, but this is the first one we've bought together and will have in our real home together. its a cheapy but itll get the job done. yeaaaa...

something new #27

waking up to his voice, even over a call, is always the best way to start your day. so thats what i did. sadly i wont hear from him again for a while, but that was amazing nevertheless. i had carne con something something from monea haha, it was this delicious mix of finely chopped steak sauteed in spices, over french fries topped with tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream. yea gotta do that again.

something new #26

well, first of all let me say that on the 1st I GOT TO TALK TO HIM! on the phone! for a long while. so so exciting, it literally made my day. while i was talking, i decided to walk out in town, by myself, to pick up some stuff for gifts for people back home. definitely the first time i was out in yokosuka, going a long way by myself. and i had some candy that id never had before, including japanese jelly beans which were awesome and these weird little chocolate strawberry cookies. ill put up pics if i can remember to take them. good day sir

something new #25

wow today was beyond productive. i took legal action for a problem mark and i have been having with a situation, as well as inquired about job shadowing a psychologist or counselor, and got some really great help. not sure if its going anywhere at this point, but just knowing i tried made all the difference. plus the people there were so so nice and helpful, it refueled my passion for helping others all over again. this all happened, not including dealing with other problems and hitting the gym to get my stress out...good stuff today. good stuff.

something new #24

saw antwone fisher for the first time, man how had i never seen it before?! so so good. such an inspirational movie, plus its navy so how great is that? haha

something new #23

had a sleepover with the girls saturday night! woowoo! with christine and baby luna, monea and liz...it was a lot of fun, we had pizza, watched a new movie (away we go-LOVED it) and made some wicked awesome strawberry shortcakes. i was pretty proud of our creation and wanted to document it :)

something new #22

i vow to never see the vow again. nuff said.