Okinawa Bucket List: Whale Watching

Three winters here, and three seasons worth of whale migrations here in Okinawa, and we finally went this time around! My first winter here I actually saw a bunch of whales off the coast from Cape Manzamo one day: super cool but too far off to take pictures. This time around it was awesome to see them up close. And thank goodness for dramamine, because I'm pretty sure I would have been miserable without it. 

We saw a bunch of them in our time out on the sea. We got to see one breech as our boat was headed out and it was my favorite. No photographic evidence unfortunately. And I just don't think pictures do these majestic creatures justice. One was skimming the surface for a while and it was huge! But pictures don't show that. So glad to see it in person. 

^^you can see the mist from his blow hole^^

I don't think Baby J was feeling too hot from it. Several people told me the baby should be just fine, but I don't think he felt good. He looked a little greenish when I came down and found him like this.

But he was extra snuggly to Victor, which Victor loved.

As my mom said when I told her we were going whale watching, "it isn't hard for you to have fun in Okinawa." True true. There's always something to see or do. Love it. Happy Monday!

Cherry Blossoms at Nakijin Castle

We were a little too late by just a few days to see Nakijin's blossoms at their peak, but there were still some beautiful views from these huge castle ruins. It was a gorgeous afternoon so we had a great time walking around, switching off who carried J because he is getting heavy!

^^his faces. i love.^^

Love our family time. It's been pretty sparse lately, so this was a much needed refill to our canteen.

Valentines Weekend

Our first Valentine's Day with a babe actually turned out to be my favorite Valentines Day so far! If anything stood in the way of ruining it, it was Victor's work, since he didn't get home from work until 2:30am and then went back to work after breakfast. But he came home with flowers for me, so that was great. That's all I require for V-tines day. Flowers. And I made him chocolate dipped strawberries. 

We got a babysitter and had a wonderful date going out to dinner baby free. Unfortunately J has reached that busy baby stage that is starting to make eating out a challenge. So to be able to get dressed up and have wonderful dinner with adult conversation about literature, religion, travel, etc. was so nice! Such a great date night. 

We made a whole weekend of it by heading up to the Orchid Expo the next day. My favorite! It was Valentine themed this year. It seriously is orchid heaven up there and I just wish my mom and mother in law could have come with us because they would love it so much. 

^^so cool how they don't need soil^^

 Happy Valentines Day! Hope you had a great one with your loved ones.

Decorating Updates

Now that the end is in sight, I have officially stopped doing any decorating projects for my janky government house. No point doing anything more now! A lot has changed since my last post about how I have decorated. But I figured I would share these pictures for the fun of it, because I love decorating. 

My living room now looks like this:

Random story. Somebody that came to my house a little while ago asked me, "so what's with the globes?" It was awkward being like, "ummmmm it's decoration?" It was a man. Of course. 

So, this was at the very beginning:

 And then this:

 I ended up buying a new couch for a really cheap price and totally opened up the "living room" by moving the two little arm chairs. I also moved the tv to the opposite wall because of the new couch, so it wasn't the very first thing you saw when you walked into the room, which I didn't like. So it went from this:

 To this:

I felt pretty handyman when I made this shelf over the couch.

The other side of the room is where I put the little Ikea chairs. Still debating if I should sell them? They're handy to have on hand for extra seating sometimes!

In the picture above you can see my new entryway, which used to look like this:

And now looks like this. 

It's been fun making this place feel homey, but I am excited to have a fresh start. I already have a new aesthetic in mind. Hoping for a more classic look and excited to actually have the resources in the States to pull it off. Options are waaaaay limited here for a west elm/pottery barn feel. And thrifting for furniture has been pretty frustrating so I'm excited. But I guess that's been kinda the fun part of decorating this house is seeing what I can do with limited options. 

Next Up in Okinawa Flower Season

SUNFLOWERS!

Sunflowers are my favorite. I have visited the sunflowers here every year and I never get sick of it. Such happy flowers! If only my husband could have joined us for our cheesy photo shoot, but alas, he was working all day (on a Saturday boo). Now I just have even more photos frolicking in flowers with my little motherboy baby doll ;) Thanks to Mickelle who takes these sweet photos for me!

After we took our pictures, we bought some cut sunflowers for less than a dollar a bunch, and now they brighten up my house and make me happy every time I come downstairs. I just love Okinawa sunflowers. Happy weekend!

Half a Year Old!

Happy six months, Sweet Baby J.

It's so strange it's been half a year. Time is a weird thing with a baby. This last month, this kid's personality has definitely started coming out. He has his opinions and he's much more vocal about them now. That means higher highs of pure baby bliss and lower lows of impatience and frustration for me. Even this little photo shoot wasn't as easy as the last ones I have done. We had to take a little nap break and resume. 

I love this wiggly sweetheart so much. All these different poses? Yeah, that's because he moves around ALL the time. 

^^his new little smile he likes to give.^^

 ^^fine J, we will take a break^^

^^his favorite toy^^

Love you, sweet boy!