Aboard the Jade Lady III.

Tim is the hardest to get gifts for. (Aren't all men?) He always gets me the most thoughtful things and I'm left with this guilt of feeling like I never get him anything cool. (Anyone see that Parks & Rec?) This Fathers Day I kept it a secret and whisked him on a sunset dinner cruise aboard the Jade Lady III. We had talked about going for years now and just never got around to it. It was a little different than we expected but we had a great time.

Highlights:

-Live Music

-Bottomless Sprite

-Amazing Sunset

-Steak AND brownies

-Dancing

-Laughing until our sides hurt when a little boy requested, "Gangham Style," and he totally played it! Even funnier, the little boy and his sister danced to it the entire time.

-Watching a couple who had gotten married on the boat that day dance to a Japanese Wedding song. 

-Slow dancing with Tim.

-Getting the best picture of the two of us in YEARS.

-Watching all the tourists and their crazy dance moves after their 4 or 5 beers.

-Stealing kisses in front of some very conservative Koreans.

-Pretending I was Kate Winslet on the Titanic.

-The YMCA dance ending. Definitely went out with a bang.

Japan

 We had an AMAZING time in Japan. 

We were able to see so many things and though we were utterly exhausted by the end of our trip,

 we had the time of our lives! 

We saw some stunning cherry blossoms!

Got into the anime.

Indulged in some McDonalds.

Marveled at how small our little island of Saipan is compared to the massive city of Tokyo!

Remembered what it felt like to be cold!

Met up with our favorite Japanese friends!

It got a little hectic at times.

Geisha sightings!

And our first family trip to the most magical place on Earth.

Tokyo Disneyland!

It was an amazing time. We toured 12 hours for 6 days, plus a day with our friends in Ueno, a few family days, Disneyland and endless amounts of train rides. We were completely wiped out by the time we came back but we definitely had one incredible time! 

*more photos on facebook if you're interested!

click here to view

Tinian Day Two.

We woke up the next morning and rented a car to see the WWII sites. 

There isn't a lot to see but they are pretty significant in history. Both of us being history fanatics we were pretty excited about it.

The creepiest building on the island. Not even joking. I had to turn on all the lights in my room before I could write this story. This is the old communications building the Japanese used during the war. It's all run down and abandoned now (obviously). It's out in the middle of nowhere, not near any houses or within walking distance of anything. Tim went in first as I was taking pictures of the outside and told me he thought someone was in the building. He heard people talking. We were nervous that maybe some teenagers or even some homeless people were in there and that it might not be safe. We went ahead anyway. After walking around the base floor we headed up the stairs where I heard a man speaking. I thought for sure there was someone up there, possibly a government worker checking on the condition of the place. I actually thought we might get into trouble for poking around. We headed up the stairs and saw no one. We wandered around for a bit and then, as I passed a room I saw a man standing at the opposite end, looking right at me. Tim called me over to look at something and when I looked back he was gone. I kid you not, I saw it. When we left the building I told Tim about it and I was surprised that he didn't refute me at all. Tim is a very logical guy (I mean, he's a Doctor!) but he said he knew he heard voices and there was no one there. We looked everywhere. No one was there but us. 

Holy cow. I was freaked. 

*We spoke to some locals about it and they verified that it's most definitely haunted and that it's not within walking distance to anything so if there were no other cars there then we were for sure the only ones in there.

MOVING ON!!! PHEW!!!

The next place we went is called the Blow Hole. It was beyond beautiful. We must have stood there for who knows how long just watching the waves come crashing in. We kept saying we should go but another big wave would come and we'd say, "Okay, after this one!" It was amazing. We were also completely covered in salt after we left.

We went to see a bunch of old sites but the coolest was the atomic bomb pits and Runway Abel. It's amazing to think of what happened in that very spot all those years ago. It was definitely neat to see.

Taga Beach. You can't go to Tinian without going to Taga Beach. Out of all the beaches I've been to, this was my favorite. Especially sans kids. It was perfect for swimming, the color was beautiful and we had so much fun jumping from the rocks. 

We went back after dinner to watch the sunset. That was a real treat. We see plenty of beautiful sunsets in Saipan but most from our yard. Kids and the beach that late in our routine just doesn't really work. It was so  nice to not have a schedule or worry about holding tiny hands. It was beautiful and relaxing. A really great night.

And then Tim made me ugly laugh all the way back up to our room, making me just another annoying tourist. :-)

Tinian Day One.

I took Tim to Tinian for his birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise but I spilled the beans when a Saipan had a small plane wreck 3 weeks before our reservation. That and I'm really bad at keeping surprises from him. Tinian is really close, only about a 10 minute flight time in a 6 seater plane. You can see it from Saipan as clearly as you can see Managaha. I have to admit the small plane made me nervous but seeing the islands from the sky was beautiful.

The Tinian airport is tiny and really relaxed. I found it pretty hilarious that there was special "Islander," parking and random coconuts lying about.

 

The hotel grounds were really pretty. We spent the first day mostly just getting our bearings together and looking around. There was a man in that coconut (you can see him wearing a green shirt) that was throwing coconuts down to the tourists at the pool and they were literally swarming to get them. I was dying! It's funny how crazy they get over the smallest things.

It was still Christmas at the hotel (we joked that they kept it all up for his birthday) and it was beautiful. We had an amazing Japanese meal for (sans cake though, sorry Tim!) where the entire restaurant staff waited on us hand and foot. It was pretty uncomfortable to us to have someone refill our water after just a few sips and lay out our napkins for us. I don't think we'd make very good royals.

And one more shot with the naked lady. 

It felt so much like our Vegas honeymoon with all the "casino-y," type stuff around I just couldn't help it!

Tinian Island Getaway.

We went to a nearby island called Tinian for Tim's birthday weekend. (The big 3-0!)

Tinian is only a 10 minute ride on a tiny plane away and locals of the islands get a discount. We had been wanting to go for such a long time but I was reluctant. I had never left the kids overnight before and I was worried I'd just panic the entire weekend and ruin it. I finally mustered up the courage to do it and it was SO MUCH FUN!

We definitely missed them but seriously, this getaway rocked my socks off.

We joked that this was our second honeymoon since our first one was short and cheap because we were both still in school. It was perfect that our hotel was actually a casino as well because it reminded us of our original honeymoon in Las Vegas. (We married in Salt Lake City though--no drive thru wedding in case you were wondering!)

Highlights of our trip:

-flying in a 6 seater plane. terrifying and glorious all in one. Getting an aerial view of both islands at once was amazing. On our way back I actually sat in the co-pilot seat! 

- sleeping in.

-staying up as late as we wanted without guilt or regret the next morning.

-the buffet dessert table.

-WWII sites. We got to see both atomic bomb pits and several old war buildings. It was interesting, sad and really spooky. One building we went in I swear on my life, was haunted. Like, really. 

-Taga Beach. My favorite beach I've ever been to. It was clear, rock free, deep and had a cliff jump! 

-Tim's Japanese Birthday dinner. Best meal we've had since leaving the states. 

-Dateline on TV! It was on at around 2 am and we were so excited! When Tim worked late at the pharmacy during his residencies we used to watch it together before and talk through it before going to bed.

-Alone time.

-Icon Match Game Marathon in the lobby. We went to check something online (and "come up for air," ha!) and we got a little carried away. That game is addicting! It was pretty hilarious to hear each other spewing out answers and the inevitable groans of, "I was robbed!" when our answers were wrong.

- Did I mention alone time?

-The Blow Hole at the reef was beautiful. We probably stood there for almost an hour watching huge waves come in and out of the shore line.

-Sunsets. For once we got to watch it from the actual beach, alone, without kids to push us apart when we kissed. :-)

Seriously, people, it was crazy amazing. 

I'm so glad we went, so glad my husband was born (the 11th of 12 kids! Bless Maureen's heart!) and so glad I was able to spend so much time with him.

Love you forever Tim. 

Happy Birthday.

happy new year.

We spent New Years Day recovering from trying to stay up until midnight, falling asleep and then waking up several times to the sound of our neighbors lighting fireworks all through the night. 

And what better way to recover from a fitful night than to spend the day at the beach? 

On days like this I don't think we'll ever leave.

2012 rocked our socks off! 

Happy New Year to all!