First Okinawa Thanksgiving

This past week has been pretty hectic between Jake coming home, Thanksgiving, and getting Christmas presents sent off in time. Jake has been super busy with work since he got back but he did have some time over the long weekend to relax.

We spent Thanksgiving with two other couples. We all cooked some of the meal, but my friend was nice enough to host and to make the turkey. She did such a good job, especially for her first turkey. I told her I was super glad she did the turkey because I hadn't ever done one either and I didn't want to mess it up All of the food was so good and we probably had enough to feed at least 15 people. We had fun eating, playing games, and staying up really late. It was so much fun that it helped us keep our minds of off missing family during this holiday. I would say it was a successful first Thanksgiving on the island.

I didn't get any pictures of the people on Thanksgiving, but don't worry, I managed to get pictures of the food

Those are just the appetizers

Sausage balls, my favorite Thanksgiving tradition

Friday we slept, a lot. Mostly because Jake was still catching up on sleep from his trip. We also ate tons of leftovers. I did a bit of Black Friday shopping online and wasn't one bit sad I was missing it back in the states, since that is my least favorite Thanksgiving tradition. That night we went to our favorite ramen place and then to see Catching Fire. Ramen the day after Thanksgiving may be our new tradition. The movie was pretty good, but as always the book was better.

Saturday morning we watched the Cowboys game on rewind while we ate pumpkin pie. I knew Jake was sad about missing his tradition of watching the game on Thanksgiving, but he was a good sport about it. Somehow we managed not to hear the results of the game before we watched it. The rest of the day we unpacked and cleaned. The house got a bit out of control when Jake got home. If you know anyone in the military, you know how much gear that have. It looked like the Marine Corps threw up in our house. That night we had a photo shoot with a photographer on the beach for our Christmas cards. Late, I know, but not by choice. Hopefully we will be able to get them out before Valentine's Day.

After dinner at a local Japanese restaurant Saturday night, Jake got a call that he had to go into work on Sunday. Let's just say I was not a happy girl since we already had plans to get out and explore. I tried to hide my disappointment so I wouldn't make Jake feel bad since I knew he wasn't excited about going into work either. We did have some time Sunday morning to make breakfast, get some Christmas shopping done, and grocery shop, our favorite thing to do together.

While Jake was gone, I managed to get some Christmas decorating and wrapping done. I don't go all out with my decorations, but I do like some little hint of Christmas here and there. Christmas cheer always puts me in a good mood.

This DIY felt garland was easier to make than I was expecting

As soon as Jake got home from work, we went for our Sunday beach walk. I have to say, the weather here has been absolutely incredible. I won't ever complain about not getting a fall if I can have a winter like this. The mornings and evenings are cool, but the days get up to the low 70s and it is perfect. I have only been through 2 seasons here so far, but I am really thinking that winter might be my favorite.

Lexie loves laying outside all day

That's about it. Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to share. This week I am finishing up Christmas shopping so I can start preparing for Thailand. Less than 20 days, how crazy??

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you do any Black Friday Shopping?

Linking up with Logan, Sami, Kimberlee, and Carissa