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!!

1000 Torii Gates Park

So these are pictures of a park on the other side of Honshu island (the main island of Japan).

The word 'torii' means 'gate' in Japanese. I've never seen them any other color besides red.

They are simply BEAUTIFUL!!!

Fall in the beautiful Oirase Gorge

Let me just start by going on record: I am going to miss this place!

Northern Japan is so incredibly beautiful during all seasons!

We took a short drive up north to the Oirase Gorge this weekend with some girlfriends of mine. We were gone all day and Elijah and I were T.I.R.E.D. when we got home. It was really pretty and we got to eat some tasty Ramen noodles!

Check out the fish on a stick - it's cooking right there! There are hot coals that a sweet, older lady fans to help smoke the fish.

The water in the lake is crystal clear - it's melted snow from the surrounding mountains. That water was about 18 inches deep!

This is called Temple Island.

No I didn't feel like doing my hair, hence the hat....let's just move one......

Elijah looks so grown in this pic!

That gigantic rock is supported by a single tree! There is a legend that an old lady used to live there.......

The Wheels on the Japanese Bus go 'Round and 'Round

Our elementary school hosted a group of Japanese kindergarten students last week. Of course they were the super sweet and very polite visitors. They were able to practice the English they knew with our kindergarteners and participate in American specials (music, art, pe, etc.).

Anyway, I was so impressed by the cute buses they arrived in--- they are filled and covered with so much character!!

Here are the Pokemon bus and the Hello Kitty bus!

Japan Day 2011

It's our last Japan Day........we are so sad:(

Every year the local community come on base and share their arts, talents and traditions with us! It is such a wonderful place to be for a few hours!

We got to write our names in traditional Japanese characters. My name in Japanese sounds like 'Ai'

Seriously, out of the 3 of us ..... Elijah wrote his name the best!

This one is my personal fav

This was Eddie's personal fav

Elijah didn't really care about the masks....because.....5o feet away this show was going on...

sword fighting

sword demonstration

I wasn't too interested in the sword stuff, but I stuck around for 15 min...and then I left them to go to the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony

I came back to check on the guys and they were watching this now.......

music isn't really my thing (but they were really into it) so I left again, but this time I went to horticulture section! Check out the pics!

On our way out, Elijah wanted to play the Koto. He did so well that the instructor applauded him after he finished his song :)

You have to read the music going up and down the page from right to left!

Traditional Samurai armor....SUPER HEAVY!