May

May was an exciting month. I was preparing for the arrival of Nathan and mom and Britt. I was pretty busy at work and on my down time, I was working on my house and getting the guest room in order. On May 21st, I graduated Grad school, so I officially have a Masters Degree now too!! Good times! Other than getting ready for everyone to come home and end of the year stuff at work- there wasnt much going on in May! But the most exciting was that I HAVE MY MASTERS!!!

Cherry Blossoms

These are sooo beautiful! We were able to bask in the beauty for a few weeks here in Northern Japan... Dezi loved them as well. At school we had a BBQ at Train Park with our students and their families! We were able to enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms.. It was just so dad-gum cold.










On April 26th, the Wades, me, and Tanya took another ITT tour to Hirosaki to see the Cherry blossoms. It was not a pretty day. This day is easy for me to remember, because my baby neice turned 7. As we were in Hirosaki we had our last snow fall of the season. But boy did it snow. We got home hours late.. it was miserable. It was cold, wet, and snowy on this trip. Another reason why I do not care for ITT trips.. :) Not like it is their fault! :) We just have not had great experiences.

If you have never seen Cherry Blossoms.. they are totally worht seeing. The whole base and off base is.. pink!!!!! So pretty.

April

Girl Scouts was going along great. We were about to have our end of the year celebration! The theme was JAPAN! (imagine that)... My friend, Sadie- who is also my co-leader, and I headed to Towada City and went to the 500Yen Kimono shop. We both left with 2 very cute Kimonos! That was a very fun time!!







Misawa Idol was in full swing during April. Kim and I tried to go every Saturday. It was something nice to do every week- that we looked foward to. Kim and I hung out a lot while the boys were gone- and we are a lot alike. We were most content sitting at the house. We do not go out and party and stuff--- so Misawa Idol was a nice welcome!!

Goodbye's are always so hard. A friend of mine left this month- and her two beautiful little gals. I had to go see them off... it was sad!



Along with these fun things-- we were THAT much closer to Nathan coming home again. He was doing good. Some days he hated it- others days he was happy! Skype was a FREAKING life saver.. we skyped daily.. several times a day! :) It really helped our time apart not seem so far away!!

March

One of the most AWESOME months ever. I was offered a job teaching 6th grade Language Arts at Sollars Elementary School. It was not a guarantee for next year--- but I got it! IT was something that I waited for and waited for. I am once again reminded about how blessed that I am!!! I was just entering my last three classes, expected to be the most intense, of grad school! March was a great month- getting to know my students and fellow teachers!

Along with getting a job- we were getting THAT much closer to Nathan returning!!

February

The 2nd month Nate was gone was continued subbing, grad school, and with friends. The beginning of Feb. Nate finally arrived at his final destination in Iraq. Once he got there, there were many emotions coming from both of us. He was finally there- and he was about to begin his time away. He was now living in a room with tons of boys, no privacy, trying to get use to his new life for the next four months, and being away from us. But my boy is strong, and he did great.







Kim and I traveled to the Towada Snow Festival with ITT during February. It was a good time, but not really. Does that even make sense? We should have driven ourselves. It was bitingly cold... and just wasnt worth sitting there for hours and hours!!! I will go back this year again, with Nathan- but we will drive!





The second month of Nate being gone- came and went... I continued to work hard with school.. and Nate continued to work hard in Iraq. Once again, I was reminded of how blessed that I truly am!!! God has blessed me so much- I live in this amazing country, I have awesome friends, and my husband is truly great and serving the country!!

January

Nate left on January 2nd for his deployment. This was going to be a very long deployment. He spent a month stateside for training and then headed off to his destination in Iraq. I am ever so thankful that the Shaw's brought Dezi with them so that I would have her here while I was without Nathan. It helped more than words can ever say. The day at the airport was emotional. It was very neat to me that Nathan's family was able to be there with him to say goodbye! There is something about military leaving that is just so... emotional.









After we sent the boys off, we headed ice skating off base. I had been introduced to Kim, her husband left with Nate. He is a firefighter- but he works on the different shift. she went with us. This was the beginning of another great friendship. She had been trying for a year to get pregnant. A week after the boys left-- she was SHOCKED to find out she was expecting. It has been very nice being able to bond with her over the last six months and letting our relationship bloom. I am blessed with the friends that I have in Japan.







Late January Abbey and I headed to Aomori City on a Women's Retreat with the women from our church. It was a wonderful time. Ab accepted Christ as her savior and we just had a wonderful time. The snow was very deep in Aomori- and it was truly beautiful!!

December 2008

Nathan bought me a new computer for Christmas last year. All of the pictures from our first six months here are on the other computer, so I am going to begin with this past December- when the Shaw's were here visiting and before Nate left for deployment. We had a great time. They brought Dezi to us and stayed for three weeks.. A great time. Here are a few pictures of when they were here...

We went to several different places and went skiing. It was a good adventure. We were able to pur our snow boards to great use!! I am not sure still how I feel about it.. but Nate did awesome! We took the Shaw's to the beach and stuff.. We spent a lot of time playing in the snow.. Dezi learned to love it! We took them for Sushi, which they hated! The ladies and I, well minus Hannah, went shopping A LOT! We just spent a lot of time as a family, playing games and having a good old time.

Our closest friends, Abbey and Ryan, pretty much spent every single day with us. We have created such a bond with these people. It is amazing how with all the family that has visited, the Shaws, mom and Britt, and the Wade's brothers-- how we have all clicked like one big family! We tend to go to the airport together for all arrivals AND departures. They are some of the best friends that we have EVER met through the military!! :)