#spontaneoussundays

The best thing about our little island is that even though it is small, it is not short on adventures. We can hop in the car and see something interesting or beautiful a few minutes down the road. Our lives are extremely busy, so we don't get to explore as much as we want to, but we are glad we have awesome things to see when we do get the opportunity. Last Sunday we woke up and decided to grab Lexie, our emo hammocks, and our favorite Yeti cooler and hop in the car. We stopped by the grocery store to grab sandwiches and drinks and headed towards our favorite adventure spot. There are tiny little island surrounding Okinawa and we are lucky to live right around the corner from quite a few of them. When we got to the bridge headed to a 4 of our favorite islands, we saw that it was low tide and the kite surfers were out. We thought the tide pools would be great for Lexie because she loves water and running on the beach but isn't a huge fan of waves. We were right! She loved splashing through the tide pools and running on the miles of flat beach. Even after two years living on this island, the blue skies and turquoise water still takes our breath away. 

After Lexie got her running in, we headed across the bridge and over to Hamahiga island, an island over a second bridge from the first island. Miyagi, the second in a chain of 3, is our usual go to. We drove around a bit and found a nice beach with a lot going on. Their was a boat out with jet skiers and  water skiers. Jake had been dying to use our hammocks we bought in the states, so we found some trees right next to the beach and put them up. It was the perfect place to eat our sandwiches and hangout. It was the most beautiful day and a super relaxing time sitting in our hammocks people watching. We will definitely be going back soon, possibly to camp!

The Good and The Bad

The good or the bad first? I'm going to go with the bad, just to get it out of the way. Jake left today (Monday) which was a day earlier than scheduled. Bummer. I survived the last time he was gone so I know I can do it. And thanks to the good later on in this post, I will be a very busy girl. Since this was the last weekend Jake was in town, you would think we would spend it doing fun things together. Not exactly. Even though we had a fun evening of fiestaing (I made my famous enchiladas) and playing games with friends, Jake had the work the rest of the weekend. Double bummer.

On Saturday night we had a date night. We haven't had a nice date in awhile, so we went to a semi-fancy restaurant right on the water called the Sea Garden. The restaurant was beautiful and it had such a fun atmosphere. We got there just in time for a beautiful sunset. We got a grilled chicken salad, the best cheese fondue of all time, and delicious California rolls. Other than it being a bit cold sitting outside, it was a fun evening.

On Sunday I was able to have lunch with a friend at a cute cafe before she left for the States(yep, jealous). It was a beautiful day and we were able to sit outside with a beautiful view of the bay while eating super yummy food! I had a bowl of cheese-topped chicken curry. It was different than regular curry and it was pretty darn good!

After lunch, we sat outside on my deck talking. It was a bit cold, still boot weather, but warm enough to sit outside with a blanket. It was fun to be outside and to catch up! I can't wait to use our backyard all of the time this summer!

Jake was able to make it home in time for a beach walk and grilling out.  We sure are going to miss our Sunday night beach walks together. 

Sick of beach pictures yet??

And now for the good. On Friday and on twitter I had been hinting about some exciting things going on. I needed some time to process, but now I am ready to share the exciting thing going on in my real life. If you thought I was going to announce a pregnancy, you were way off, sorry. Last week I was offered a full time subbing job at the school on base here. As of March 10th, I will have my very own 3rd grade classroom. I am so excited to finally have my own class! It will have it's challenges, especially coming in in the middle of the year, but I know that I will learn so much and it will be a great experience. It is the next step in my journey of teaching. I am going to be super busy, lesson planning, arranging my classroom, etc., but I really can't wait! 

The exciting things in my blogging life will hopefully be shared towards the end of the week! So stay tuned!

Linking up with Monday Morning Gossip and Funday Monday

Valentines and a Beach Camping Trip

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's/Presidents Day Weekend! We definitely had a great one! On Friday night, our friends had us over and we cooked a wonderful Valentine's meal. It was so good! We had steaks, potatoes, salad, bread, and mushrooms. And no meal would be complete without some chocolate! It was such a fun evening. 

My Valentine

Our husbands surprised us by telling us they are sending us to Ishigaki Island for a birthday getaway. They will both be gone for our March birthdays again this year, so they wanted to do something nice. We are so excited for a little girls weekend getaway to a beautiful island about an hour south of Okinawa. Thanks boys!

The beautiful Ishigaki Island (photo credit)

One of my favorite things to do is make Valentine themed breakfast, so that is what we did Saturday morning. Turkey bacon that failed to look like hearts and heart-shaped egg in a frame. The rest of the day was spent running errands to get ready for our camping trip the next day, walking on the beach, and grilling out that evening. My new favorite thing is to get a local cabbage and grill it!

Sunday I grocery shopped in the morning and then watched the Cats lose, unfortunately, and then we packed up and headed West for an evening of camping on Torii Beach. The weather was great. It was slightly overcast with a little breeze, perfect for snuggling up next to a fire. We made a fire, grilled hotdogs and brats, made s'mores, and watched the sunset. It was pretty much perfection. We ran out of firewood around 9, so we decided to head to bed. We slept great, besides being woken up by a cat raiding our campsite. In the morning we packed up quickly and rushed home because we got a text from the person who went to take Lexie out that she wouldn't go outside. At the point we had been gone a good 18 hours, so when we got home we were surprised she hadn't gone to the bathroom in the house. I guess her diva tendencies allow her to hold it for long periods of time. 

S'mores

It was such a fun, relaxing weekend! We foresee many more beach camping trips in our future. 

Linking up with Monday Morning Gossip and Funday Monday

High Five For Friday 01/31 + Link-up Announcement

This week was my first full week subbing. I really love it and it is definitely one of the best jobs I've ever had. I feel like I get lots of the perks of teaching, such as interacting with the students and teaching the lessons, without having to deal with the stressful stuff. Of course, I can't wait to have my own classroom, but this job has been perfect for me right now. I also love having a routine. Thursday I subbed all day, drove an hour to my English class, taught for 2 hours, then sat in traffic for 2 hours home, which got me home at 8, then I cooked dinner. It reminded me of my hectic college years and I kind of enjoyed it. I am definitely the type of person who likes to be extremely busy. That being said, I have forgotten how I balanced things back then, which means the blog got slightly neglected this week. How do all of you with full-time jobs keep up with your blog?? Please share!

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While we are on the subject of blogging, I wanted to announce the What's In A Name link-up I will be hosting next week! As I was writing a post about the meaning behind the name Bell Bliss, I started to get curious about the meaning behind the name of all of the blogs I love. I thought it would be fun to read about how everyones' blog name came about. So write a post about the name of your blog and come back next Wednesday, February 5th, to link-up. Even if there isn't some exciting story behind your blog name, I would still love to hear your inspiration. I can't wait to read all of your posts!

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Have I mentioned how much I love the food in Okinawa?? It's not just the typical Japanese like ramen and sushi(which I love), but the food at the little cafes is amazing too! I went to lunch with a friend at our very favorite place, Transit Cafe. It is hard to find good salads at the restaurants here, but this cafe has one. Of course before we eat our salads we always get the cheese fondue. And it's pretty much the most amazing thing I've ever put in my mouth. Cheese is my favorite food group(yes, food group), so I have dreams about this fondue.

The other night I went to dinner with some girls at a curry place, A-Danny. I had been wanting to go to one because I heard the curry in Okinawa is fabulous, but Jake hates curry so I haven't really had the opportunity. I fell in LOVE with the curry restaurant we went to. It was hands down my favorite meal since moving to Okinawa. The cheese naan was so great dipped in the spinach and chicken curry. I would eat there every single day if I could!

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I know that those people experiencing the polar vortex, so basically everyone except those in Cali, are not going to want to hear this next one. The weather here this week has been absolutely incredible. The perfect temperature, sunny, and not humid at all. I wish it could stay like this all year long. Jake got home before sunset one night this week, which was the first time that has happened in months, so we took advantage of it and headed to the beach. It was a beautiful night and reminded me how simple and perfect life is on this little island. Lexie decided to dig holes in the sand, which she has never done before, so we are now scared there is a dead body or something buried at our beach. Or maybe it was just a sea creature burrowing, but that's not as interesting. 

Since the weather was so great, I also decided to show my friend the little beach we always go to. She appreciated the beauty just as much as I do. It was fun searching for shells and sea glass and talking about how beautiful Okinawa is. I will never get used to the amazing colors of the water. We both decided we hope we never take this place or this opportunity for granted.

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Today we also discovered a new grocery store! It is so nice to have the commissary with all of the American products, but it is also nice to have the local markets with all of the awesome fresh food. I have been getting all local produce and it has been so fresh and tasty. The chicken is some of the best I have ever tasted. They have higher standards of meat here, which I appreciate, even if they do eat weird parts of the animal. I also got fresh shrimp and fish to cook for super cheap! Joys of living on an island. Jake's favorite is the to-go sushi trays, way fresher than the ones you find at the grocery store in the states!

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We hadn't plugged our TV in since we moved here almost 5 months ago (wow, cannot believe we have already been here that long). That doesn't not mean we haven't watched anything, since we our on our iPads and computers nightly watching all of our shows. It has been nice not having the TV be the center of our living room, but we decided we missed the nights where we sit together on the couch and watch a show together. Since cable is not an option for us in our off-base house, we decided to get an apple TV. Best $100 investment ever. We can watch Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and so much more. We can also play anything from our iPhones, iPads, or computers wirelessly on our TV. The other day I got to watch the UK basketball game on our TV and it was beautiful! We are slowly learning the ins and outs of life in another country. 

I definitely appreciate the weekend a lot more again now that I am working almost full time. Most people here have Monday off since the Super Bowl is on Monday morning. We are still learning all of the little adjustments we have to make in this new country, such as the Super Bowl not being on "Super Bowl Sunday." Each day here definitely brings a new experience. Happy weekend everyone!

Linking up with Lauren, Darci, Rebecca, Casey, and Jennie

Christmas in Koh Samui, Thailand

It's been almost a month since Christmas, but here is our Christmas in Thailand recap!

After a twelve hour overnight train ride, a bus ride, and a ferry ride, we made it to our resort on the island of Koh Samui around noon on Christmas Eve. 

We checked into our incredibly beautiful resort and were upgraded to a private bungalow. 

For the afternoon, we decided to explore the resort, sit by the pool, and walk on the beach.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Gala on the beach provided by the hotel. There was a buffet and live entertainment. The food was so good and the entertainment was better than we were expecting. We ate and laughed and danced to the music. It was the perfect Christmas eve. 

We started Christmas morning with the incredible breakfast buffet at our resort. The fresh fruit was the best part, other than the view. (Ignore Jake's face, he really was happy)

After breakfast, we claimed our spot by the beach/pool. Then, we got Thai messages in a bungalow on the beach. It was the best message I have ever had. They put you in all sorts of weird positions and even throw you over their back. I would have loved to have pictures of how funny we looked. It will probably be the best massage I will ever have, and only $10!

We spent the rest of the day reading by the pool, walking on the beach, drinking fruity drinks, and eating a lot. It was the perfect weather, not too hot. I did end up getting extremely sunburnt.

Our spot for the day(and all the days we were there)

On the beach in front of our resort was this little food stand with corn, egg rolls, shrimp, chicken, and fresh fruit. There was always a line and is smelled so good, so we had to try some. The food was awesome, especially the corn! Jake was hooked. 

My favorite was the pad thai lunch deal the resort brought to you at your beach chair. It was so good!

There were also vendors walking along the beach selling items. Jake got a fedora and I got a swimsuit from the sweetest lady. 

Most of the day we forgot it was Christmas. When you are used to cold, fires, and hot chocolate, the beach doesn't always feel so Christmasy. It was fun, though, and lots of people were in the Christmas spirit!

That night, we got dressed up and went to dinner at the Fisherman's market down the street. We walked around the market looking at the different booths and food stands and then relaxed in some of the cute cafes. It was a really fun night!

It was not a traditional Christmas, but it will be one we always remember. It was so fun to spend time together and to appreciate the opportunities we have been given. 

All of our days in Koh Samui kind of blended together because we did the exact same thing everyday. We ate breakfast at the buffet, laid out, walked on the beach, got messages, went to dinner, walked around the night market. We used the time to relax instead of sightseeing, and we were so glad we did. We would definitely go back to Koh Samui some day!