To Jene

I have put off writing this post until the very last possible minute. :( I truly can't believe that I am leaving Jene (okay Andre is cool too)!

I am excited to see our new house, new cars, friends and family - BUT Jene is truly a part of me. Our friendship holds a special place in my heart. You know that deep place where you trust someone, you can call them at any time and cry, laugh or just talk? Jene is it!

The past years have been wonderful because of our friendship!

These are the top 10 things I appreciate or love about Jene: (in no particular order)

10. My secrets are safe with her.

9. Our husbands get along wonderfully!

8. Her bathtub brew is to die for!

7. She listens and doesn't give unwarranted advice.

6. She is super thoughtful.

5. She listens really well......and you don't have to repeat anything that you told her (unlike Andre and me).

4. Great traveler companion - b/c she will totally make all the plans (though she says she is tired of it).

3. She is the only person I know that actually 'gives me a run for my money' in Scattergories.

2. She will share anything with me......EXCEPT her fried salmon - but I can't even blame her for that b/c I don't share my friend salmon with anyone either - that stuff is G.O.O.D!

1. I LOVE that we are as different as night and day! I really do - it makes me appreciate her, because if we were just alike I might have to unfriend her on FB! ha ha ha

Love you Jene! P.S. Stick with the plan!

I walked into Elijah's class to do some inclusion services for other students............

....and found out that he was missing some assignments. I wasn't happy! We decided that it would be wise to talk about it after school. I had a staff meeting after school and wrote a message to Elijah on the white board before he got there. The message told him to sit down and complete the 3 assignments that he was missing while I was at the meeting. After the meeting, I walked into my classroom and saw this note:

That's Q.U.A.L.I.T.Y!! I would have commended him on his ability to express himself, but I was chuckling pretty hard. I had to invite passing teachers into my room to read it too! They enjoyed it as much as I did.

P.S. He completed ALL his missing work too....THAT night!

How do you.........

go from this.....

Yes, he does help brush the snow off my car in the morning -- no one rides for free!

to this in a bit over a week??

Four Brothers

Lord knows I don't do posts! But I can't leave Misawa without doing this one

To my family back home, let me introduce my Misawa loved ones. From left to right:

Andre, Terrance, Jamal, and yours truly ME!

These are the guys who got me through these 4 years here. I laughed, cried, celebrated, cooked and traveled with these guys. They are my TRUE brothers, we have so many memories, many of which I will never forget. Guys, I love you and will miss you all dearly!!!!! I could tell everyone how each of you affected me individually, but that would take too many pages. Remember fellas we are supposed to meet annually in Las Vegas.....when everyone returns to the states!

I'm excited about getting home to my AZ family, seeing my new house, and driving my G37 and most of all RETIRING!!. Just wanted give a final shout out! Here's a toast to the FOUR BROTHERS.

Monster Park at Komaki Hotel

We drove to Monster Park ..... had to see it before we leave! It is a beautiful park inside of the nicest hotel here in Misawa.

I do like the reflection!

YES! It was as cold and windy as it looks in the pictures!

On top of the red bridge....can't come to Misawa and NOT take a picture here!

Now I have seen A LOT of Koi fish in the past 4 years, but these MONSTER-SIZED Koi fish took the prize for the largest Koi fish EVER! They were attacking the ducks that were swimming around them!!

I love my family!

Shipwreck Beach

About 45 min away from the base is Shipwreck Beach. No one is sure what the correct Japanese name for the beach is......but we call it Shipwreck Beach for obvious reasons :)

When we first got here, you could find beautiful glass balls on the beach that washed ashore overnight, but recently the Japanese have caught onto the American market and figured out that we would pay top dollar for them.....so it's a race to find the glass balls........long story short...you have to get to the beach HECKA early to find them!

I mean 5am is a normal time to be AT the beach to find a good glass ball! Hmmmm so needless to say.......I just wait for my wonderful co-workers to go (they have been here forever - and they have hundreds of them) and I ask them for a ball.....they are happy to give me one or two or three!

WOOHOOOO I get to sleep in and still get glass balls! Come to our house and I can show you all of them!

Look what was at Shipwreck Beach!

The world's smallest sand dollars!!

How cool is that!!