Race for the Cure

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of ours here started getting a group together to do the Tokyo "Race for the Cure" walk/run. Unfortunately, AJ is not here, but I had the opportunity to participate. We headed up to Tokyo bright and early this morning and partook in this wonderful event! As most of you know, my mom had breast cancer, so this was something that I was really proud to be a part of. Unfortunately most of the people that did this event with us today have a family member that has been affected by this awful disease. Despite that, we all really enjoyed ourselves. And how cool is it to do something like this in Tokyo? It was the PERFECT fall day here in Japan and the trail was a huge loop around the Imperial Palace, which made for some beautiful scenery! You'll see in the pictures that we had special shirts made as well. It was a great day!


The start/finish line.


Diamondback Ladies!! And our "diamonds"



Some of the beautiful scenery along the way!


Jumping picture...all of us after the race!

D'Backs Christmas Party

Our Christmas season has begun (outside of our own house!). The Diamondbacks Squadron held their annual Christmas party this past Saturday evening. It was a nice get together for us. We had a great meal, sat with some good friends and had a very nice time. It was a treat to have everyone together before the guys head back out on the boat for a few weeks. The evening was a spectacular way for our family to kick off our Holiday season! We hope you all have a great one too!

Christmas with the Clay's....2010 Edition

That's right... we're decorated for Christmas already! Since AJ has to go back to the boat for a few weeks, he felt that we needed to decorate before he left. So, this past weekend, the tree went up along with all the other decorations, and we are ready for Santa to bring some presents....but maybe we'll take Thanksgiving first! ;-)






We have a bit of a "makeshift" mantle...but the stockings are hung!


We felt this one needed to be out also!


The Grinch is also all over the house...and the tree!!

Casa de Zama

We are finally moved into our house in Japan! AJ came home a few days after our move in date so we had a lot going on at once! But, within two weeks, we were finally all set up. We are really loving our new space. Both of us are enjoying being in a house instead of a Navy Lodge room and sleeping on a metal shelf that is attached to a boat . Having all of our stuff and sleeping in our own bed again has been a real treat! We have even figured out how to work our appliances, which are all in Japanese!



Our living room


Master Bedroom


I even found a spot for our "little house."


Japanese houses have "shower rooms." This whole room is a shower. You shut the door and it seals the room off and then you have the whole space to shower or take a bath! Awesome!! The floor is even heated!


We also have a Tatami Room. The mats on the floor are made out of weaved bamboo grass. Very neat!


Our kitchen is quite large for a Japanese house! Which is a good thing because I have a lot of kitchen stuff!!!

Hakuba

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to take a "girl's trip" to Hakuba. Hakuba is a little town right outside of Nagano, Japan. (Some of you may recognize that as the home of the 1998 Winter Olympics). It is about 4 hours north of Atsugi, and we stayed at a small B&B, the Blue Dragon, that is owned by a wonderful Australian couple. They met some Diamondback folks a few years ago, and the Blue Dragon has become a favorite weekend spot for the DBacks ever since. We had the entire B&B to ourselves and we had a great time. We could not have asked for better weather! The mountains there are like nothing I have ever seen, just absolutely gorgeous!! I am excited to go back with AJ (hopefully this winter) and see everything when it is covered in snow! All of the weekend's photos are on my Facebook page, but here are a few to enjoy...






We saw this Japanese lady painting the land scape here. Beautiful!



This was taken in front of the Nagano ski jump. We were able to go to the top, take pictures, and watch the skiers practice. Very high! But very cool to see!



We had a Yukata Party the last night that we were there. Yukata's are the Japanese robes that we have on. Just a fun jumping picture that we took!



This was the last picture we took before leaving to head home. The 5 of us girls in front of the Blue Dragon.

Legal to drive on both sides of the road!

I have accomplished the task of getting my driver's license. I am now legal to drive on both sides of the road, from both sides of the car! I finalized the purchase of car last week and we are now the proud owners of a Nissan Cube.














It has even been "zapped"....just so everyone knows who we represent!

I made it!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted. I did arrive safely in Japan (as most of you know by now). I am staying in the Navy Lodge on base until I find a house for A.J. and I. I have to take a week long class this upcoming week, so it will be a little bit until I get started on the house hunting project! So far, so good over here. I am all checked in, and outside of not having a lot to do, it hasn't been so bad. Everyone is nice and the (very!) small part of the country that I have seen so far is beautiful! I am looking forward to getting out and exploring once the "obligation" stuff is done! Here are a couple of pictures I snapped while I was landing at the Air Force base here in Japan. Many more photos to come!