Jonas and Liz's Japanese Adventures: 1月 2014

Happy 2014, ya’ll! Seriously, has it been 6 months?! Whoa…here’s a rundown of what’s been happening since July:

August: J took the kids back Space-A and had no trouble getting there & back relatively quickly! Hooray! One of the moments when Mil-Air is a total blessing and I must say we deserved it after all the bad luck we had getting them over here in May! Other than that, August was very low-key…saving moolah for our Christmas trip home and for purchasing those small fortune plane tickets for that trip!

September: By far the most exciting thing to happen to us in September was meeting up with my beautiful cousin Rhonda in Tokyo! She was visiting a friend and so we met up at Ueno Zoo and spent a wonderful afternoon catching up and meeting her lovely little family. It was so surreal to meet family while we are both living on the other side of the world…we both talked at length about how blessed and adventurous our lives have become. It was so awesome to catch up with her after something like 20 years (neither of us are sure, suffice it to say it’s been a LONG time lol)…and it was even more awesome that she was just as sweet as I remembered her being. Can’t wait to see her again soon! She’s living in China right now, so maybe much sooner than later (I hope!). J

October: So, October brought me OLDNESS…well, I guess it ain’t October’s fault, but still…33 sounds ancient! But definitely I’m blessed to be here and I shouldn’t complain. I just remember being in my teens and thinking that 30 was “so old” and all just like everyone else before me did as well. Anyway, all oldness aside, J and I headed up to Fuji Q Highlands Amusement Park for my birthday celebration…and it was AWESOME! The location was amazing (Fuji so close you could touch it, hence the apt name of the park) and it was great weather for snuggling while waiting in line for the rides. J I got totally spoiled by J and by my wonderful Japanese friends…counting off another amazing birthday spent in Japan! I really am blessed beyond measure. J here: Fuji Q had the most insanely fast coaster ever. I launches you out at about 118 KPH! Nobody was screaming and we couldn't figure out why. Then we rode it. I have never had a ride cause such complete sensory overload. It is so fast you have no idea what to do. You look around a little like how to I stop this thing, but you can't even move you are pressed so hard into the seat. Once you come out of the tunnel at insane speeds you go around a bit and then straight up 70 feet or something then straight back down. I was seeing stars! I didn't pass out but I have never had a ride get me that close before. It was pretty awesome and terrifying!

November: So we had three big events in November! First, we had the wonderful Sarah Pagano take couples pics of us…after being married 4 years and never having any “professional” pictures done, we decided it was definitely time to splurge a bit. It was a fun session and the pictures turned out beautifully, which made for great Christmas gifts for family. J Now we just have to decide on which ones to put up in the house…maybe the one below? SO funny, J gave an 8x10 pic of this silly one to his Mom with the “real” picture behind it in the frame and she loved it so much that she said she was going to put them both up! How cute is that? I guess I can see where he gets his silliness from. J Next was our anniversary dinner and stay at the New Sanno hotel in downtown Tokyo! The hotel is military-only, so it’s fun to have our own little piece of America in downtown Tokyo! We ate at the Japanese restaurant , Kikuya, in the hotel and the food was wonderful. The waitress heard me say it was our anniversary and they brought us the dessert below…how thoughtful and cute, right?! Then we spent the next day shopping for Christmas presents in the Kappabashi district of Tokyo, famous for its chef gear and supplies. We found some great presents as well as a few lil somethings for us as well. All in all it was a great anniversary and we’re blessed to have had 4 wonderful years together! Here’s to 60 more, babe! J Man…J will be REALLY old by then! ;) I could only be so lucky as to spend that many years with him. Ok, some of you are probably puking by now so I’ll cut that out (hehe)…next we get to the last event of November, our 1^st 5K together! And L’s first 5K race!! It was SO fun and made even more so by the addition of a few friends to run with us AND the beautiful view at the Tokyo Imperial Palace Gardens. It was great weather and I was able to run a decent time, I finished my 5K in 36:44…not lightning fast, but not bad at all! Considering my first 5K time was over 38 minutes, I’m happy! It was a great time and I really enjoyed running beside J because he is very good at pacing and helped me a ton because I tend to take off like a bullet and then get burned out. I’m guessing this is a classic rookie mistake, but it was so very nice to have him help me keep a pace that I could sustain. Nothing I can’t do without you by my side, babe. J It was a great experience and I think we’re going to have to do another run for fun while we’re here in Japan. Please enjoy the scenery below from the nearby park…it was a gorgeous day!

December: The beginning of December is kind of a blur due to the upcoming WE’REGOINGHOME anticipation. J and I worked until the 17^th and then we hopped on the bus the next morning to head to the airport! The trip was fairly easy and I was thrilled to sleep about 3 hours on the ride over to San Fran…on our original trip over to Japan I only slept about 30 minutes! Anyway, we made our way to Travis AFB and spent a day or so hanging out with friends and catching up…and grabbing the kiddos too! We all made our way to Kansas City and enjoyed a few days with J’s family and friends. We had an excellent Christmas, even though I had the stomach flu for a couple days (as did Ashley). The kids got some snow and got to use an empty ramen box as a makeshift sled. J Then we headed down to OK to stay with my family for a few days and it was great to see everyone again after so long. J and the kids had to head back to KC to fly back, but I stayed another 10 days with my bestie and sister too! So, all in all it was a great trip, despite the being sick nonsense. I hope we get some family over here to visit us this year cause there’s SO much to see…and Japan isn’t bad either. ;)

That pretty much brings us up to date…so far my only resolution for 2014 is to keep on running and I’m thrilled and greatly anticipating the arrival of our new treadmill! I need to just simmer down though cause they told us it will ship next week but could take up to TWO MONTHS to arrive. By then the weather will be nice enough to run outside again! But, again, we are blessed so I’m gonna keep my chin up and just keep on waitin! We’re heading out for some winter fun with our good friends this coming Monday…since it’s “just sledding” I’m figuring there will be no broken bones, sprains, etc. I hope 2014 is treating you well so far and continues to do so! Love to all and please enjoy some catch up pics below!