Whew, it's been too long! Sorry, dear readers. I don't know if you've noticed our absence, but I have been meaning to blog for a couple of weeks now and the time and the season is just getting away from us! We hope you all had a great Christmas...we spoiled each other (and the kids) a bit, but it only comes once a year, right? (right??! lol)
Our first batch of pics comes from the Communications Squadron Christmas party waaaaaay back on the 13th of December. It was Masquerade themed, so we had fun picking out our masks and keeping our fingers crossed for a month that they'd arrive in time! I was going to go "all out" and find a big, pink, puffy ball gown (since you're technically supposed to wear a ball gown w/the Masquerade theme) but time got away from me and I just ran out of options...so I went with the standard LBD and called it good. We
thought we had a good time that night, even though we didn't win anything...more to come on that! But we did have a good time with the guys that J works with, though!
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| In case you can't tell because of the masks..this is J and I ;) |
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| J trying on my mask and being silly w/some co-workers |
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| I think I rocked J's mask! |
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| Thanks a lot for the photobomb, horse dude. This WAS my fav pic of me. Looks like he is trying to eat my head. |
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| Me in the mask competition! Sadly, I did not win. |
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| Our awesome group |
The time between the CS party and the Med Group party on the 20th was filled with work, last-minute shopping, and a hiking trip with our Culture Class friend Koji (see hiking pics below). This is notoriously a hectic time of year for everyone, but I truly felt like the time between the start of the month and Christmas day was literally a blink. I was busy with the ESC (Enlisted Spouse's Club) as well this month, including the Book Club & board meeting (I was voted the new Treasurer...woot woot). Plus I think some of the hectic feeling was bleeding over from last month and being so heavily involved with the Cookie Crunch up until Dec 1st. Myself and one of the ESC members, Dana, helped organize the entire event, which brought over 14,000 cookies to the Airmen that live in the dorms on base. It was really fun to help bring them some holiday cheer when they are so far from home and all things that make Christmas seem like Christmas. So, while it was well worth it, I was already tired when December began...I told Dana that "cookie" was the new "c word."
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| View from Mt. Mitake |
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| Shrine @ the top of Mt. Mitake |
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| Koji said that this was a special area to put your dog to pray over him....thought it was interesting! |
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| Cool statue at the shrine |
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| Side building @ shrine |
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| J and Koji |
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| I punked out about halfway up, but this was one of the scenic rest areas :) |
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| The little town you walk through on your way up to Mt. Mitake |
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Tried to get the lil village framed by the shrine gate. These red gates are said to symbolize the barrier between man's world and the spiritual world beyond the gate.
We had a great time hiking, even though a little over halfway up, I got super tired and punked out and tried to get the guys to leave me behind at the cute little rest area. I was perfectly happy with waiting until they reached the top and came back for me...which should have taken about 2 hours. After about 45 minutes, the guys re-appeared, J telling me that Koji said he was worried about me and they turned back to be with me. I felt horrible, but was happy to have their company again. I felt like a giant wuss but what do you do. You start the Couch to 5K program is what you do! Which is what I started yesterday and I'm feeling today...but more on that later as well. ;)
The Med Group Christmas party on the 20th was awesome. I must say that my co-workers know how to party! The food was great, the decorations and the overall atmosphere was really lively and fun. Sadly, we were 0 for about 63 on prizes won between the two parties, but we still had fun getting dressed up twice and getting to hang with our co-workers outside of boring ol' work.
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| Our little stockings, hung by the bookshelf with care. Note the dog's lil bones sticking out of his and the kitty's feathery plaything in his. Yes, they are spoiled! |
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| My awesome hairdo, thank you Allison! :) |
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| The ubiquitous Japanese-peace-sign-cutesy pic :) |
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| My co-worker Maki, tearin' up the dance floor |
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| Lydia and I had matching shoes!! Kinda can't see it, but they were silver sparkly. |
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| Lydia & I :) |
And then the next thing we knew, it was the Sunday before Christmas Eve and we were preparing to have around 20 Airmen join us in our home for our 1st Annual McVey Christmas Eve Movie Marathon. I went just a teensy bit crazy in the kitchen...I made 4 pies, two kinds of cookies, oatmeal cinnamon chip bars, and J helped me with corn casserole, sweet potatoes, ham, and a 26 pound turkey. Actually, I was terrified of the turkey, so that was pretty much all J except the apples and onions that I cut to stuff him with! We basted it w/butter and it was yummy!! We spent about 8 hours in the kitchen on Christmas Eve Eve and it was well worth it, because the next day all we had to do was cook the turkey & do the mashed potatoes & gravy (and heat everything else up) & dinner was on! We fed about 12 people besides us and it was a really great day. The movie marathon went well and we even played some Apples to Apples too...I was so happy to give some of our Airmen a place to just hang out and relax for Christmas. We forced everyone to kick off their shoes and pick a comfy spot...and one of the guys even fell asleep, which I took as the ultimate compliment. I think the whole thing was a success and it really made me proud to open up our home.
Ok, this was a freakin novel and no doubt it will be 2013 by the time you've finished. I can't believe this amazing year is drawing to a close. If this year brought you even half of the happy times that it brought us then I know you'll consider yourselves as blessed as we do. Speaking of being blessed, we also found a new church home in nearby Fussa at Yokota Baptist Church! We are thrilled to have found somewhere to worship & I look forward to maturing in my faith there with their love and guidance. We love you all; thank you for being our dear readers, without whom this would be truly pointless. Have a very Happy New Year!!
Love always,
Liz and Jonas
PS. I always have trouble with signing our names as a couple. Is this just me? I always feel that, in our masculine-dominated world, the tradition is such that usually the man's name goes first. However, this time I wrote the freakin blog, so I put my freakin name first.
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