So my original intent for this Trip was to sit down and post what I did that day but that plan obviously did not work out. so I am gonna do a play by play. Tuesday we flew in. We got a little lost in the airport then trying to navigate are way through the subway system with all of our luggage was a little less than awesome. We were walking through shinjuku trying to find our hotel in the rain. Finally we decided to get a cab. Then we got to our hotel. WE HAVE THE SMALLEST ROOM KNOWN TO MAN!!!!!!! we just through our stuff down and laughed. Wednesday we went to a temple and a park that I cant remember the name of. Then we started our assent of Mt. Fuji. Climbing Mt. Fuji was the most physically difficult thing I have ever done in my life! We got to see the sunrise at the summit. It took my breath away. I will post pics later. My camera broke so my friend Kate has all of the photos. Thursday we came down the mountain. I fell like 100 times! I tried to slide down some rocks on my butt and ripped my jeans. The funny thing is that I didn't notice right away so it kept getting worst until my whole backside was revealed. At least I was wearing cute underwear. lol Today is Friday! We went to went to the New Sanno to ship our walking sticks back home then we went to the Temple. We went to this really pretty park. We had lunch at this vegan place then we had tea at this cute little shop. Now we are at the hotel getting all dolled up. We are going to Shibuya then Rappongi. Probably gonna get sushi for dinner. Tomorrow is Disneyland!

update

OMG I know I have been the worst when it comes to keeping up this blog. My internet is just so horrible. I make it a point to do the big stuff then I am done fighting with it. I started school through BYU independent study. Its looking like if I get accepted for this commissioning scholarship I will probably either be going to UC Davis or UI Bloomington. I am leaving on tuesday for the main land again. This time my friend Kate and I are going to climb Mt. Fuji. We are also going to disney land. You know me, I can never get enough Disney. I have more pics to post but they are on my computer and I am using someone elses. I am house sitting for a few weeks. Their place is way nicer than mine. They have a 360 degree veiw and it is pretty awesome.

Last weekend I had quite the adventure. I went to the aquarium with some friends. It was pretty cool, but not nearly as cool as where we had dinner. My friend Trygve got to pick the restaraunt and he chose this place called the beach rock cafe. We were in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road trying to find this place. It was like silence of the lambs in the jungle. finally we find it. It was a hippie commune and we totally ordered home made pizza from an actual Italian in a yurt in japan and ate it in an awesome tree house complete with fireman pole and swing. It hung over a ravine so under our feet there was nothing but air then jungle.

I also learned that my sense of humor is a little different from the people I hang out with. We played this game, I cant remember what I is called, but you draw a card and it says something like" whats something you would never say to your boss". Everyone writes down a reply and we try to guess who wrote what. The first one was "Something that shouldn't be on your front lawn" I put a Pot Brownie Stand. Another was "something you cant stop" I put People from falling in love with me. And the last was "something you would never say to your boss" I put Your boyfriend says I am a better kisser. I thought it was all uproarious and so did my closer friends. However, I had a lot of people looking at me funny at the end of the night. Oh well I know I am goofy so I should be used to it. Honestly I think they are just jealous that they did not come up with such cleaver responses.  

Yesterday we went to the bamboo forest and to see the wild monkeys.  There was a garden between the two full of azaleas.  They were beautiful. The monkeys were just walking around everywhere. One walked right up to me when I was sitting on a bench. We saw a baby just old enough to wander a foot ore two away from his mama but he still had no teeth. We have some photos of him suckling. It was too cute. We went to a playground for the kids and as usual the blond haired blue eyed baby had an entourage of Asians.

Today we went on a tour and some some different temples. They were gorgeous, the best I have seen yet.  However, the tour was very rushed and we found ourselves withing we had just gone on our own. Tonight we are going to the Gion district to have dinner and see the Geisha.

So quite a bit has happened so far. Last time I posted was Tuesday. Wednesday my cold escalated and I stay in bed fighting a fever all day. I turned out the children's museum we were going to was closed and it rained, so it ended up not being a total loss. Thursday we went to Tokyo Disney Sea. I was still sick but I would have to be almost catatonic to pass up a Disney trip. On Friday we checked out of the hotel and took the bullet train down to Kyoto.

We`re not staying in a hotel. Nope, this time we are renting a little traditional Japaneses house. It is pretty awesome. We got Chinese food for dinner last night and today we went to the tori gate. I have to say. Tokyo was a pretty cool experience. However, I was looking forward to Kyoto the most and so far I have not been disappointed. Except for the fact that it is freezing here, which makes no sense because we are way further south than Tokyo. Making my mistake of packing for Okinawa weather even more regrettable.  There is so much culture here. The scenery is beautiful and it doesn't smell like gas and potties.

I do have photos to post but I cant post them right this moment. You see before the hotel I was staying in was a military instillation so the power outlets were the same as the ones we use in the states. Here, however, we don't have that luxury. I am currently using a computer provided with the house.  I want to save the battery power on my computer So I can call mom on mothers day. After that If I have enough battery power I will put up the pictures. If not I will just have to wait until I get home.

Ok First day out and about in Tokyo. We went to see a temple that cant remember the name of at this very moment.

this was the gate when you first walk in.

These guys are gods. they don't look very friendly.

Some old Japanese lady came over to fawn over the little girls and gave little origami cranes.

Quincey, Josephine and Kimble all have pretty, soft curly hair and the Japanese love it! One lady said they looked just like dolls. We kept getting stopped so people could take pictures with them.

This is carved under the giant paper lantern.

After you pass the gate there is this long street of shops. They sell little souvenir things. After a while I noticed they all kinda carried the same stuff.

Pagoda once we arrived at the temple.

Temple

These are giant sandals. They stay there so if the Gods come to visit they can wear them.

I told you people were crazy about these girls.

The view from the top of the temple stairs.

The ceilings were painted. I couldn't get a good one of the dragon.

The shrine inside the temple. It looks blurry because it is behind a chain male curtain. I have never seen that much gold in one place. it was beautiful.

Cool Samurai fountain

You wash your hands with the ladles then turn, clap your hands together and bow to the temple.

Kimble with tuna all over her face lol.

I thought this gut looked way nicer than the other two.

I could never eat food that has been sitting uncovered out on a street side.

I haven't seen one of these since I left the states.

This is a scaled model of Tokyo

Its supposed to be the Olympic flam but the boys called it the golden turd.

Over head view of the street of shops.

This is the skytree. Its the tallest building in Tokyo.

All in all today was a fun day. We are all exhausted. My sore throat has evolved into a full blown cold. So depending on what is on the agenda for tomorrow, I may stay behind and try to sleep it off.

I arrived in Tokyo last night. I am reading The Game of Thrones book series, so the flight went by quickly. Using the Subway system with all of our luggage was a bit of a headache. I have a sore throat and I'm hoping it doesn't get any worse. We are going to see some temples today. I will start taking pics today. We tried to go to the hard rock cafe but it was closed until June for remodeling. The kids have a ton of energy but they make things fun. It is so hot in Okinawa, it didn't even occur to me that it would be any different here. Needless to say I am getting ready to go down stairs and by a jacket from the Exchange. Our hotel is lovely and its a military hotel so the pricing is super low. They charge according to your rank so the price would be much cheaper if I want to come back on my own on a later date. Well that's the update as of now. I will post more later.

Tomorrow I leave for Tokyo!!! I am so excited about this vacation. I have had so much going on I feel like I need a break. I finally am getting taken off meal card. Soon I will be able to buy my own food and not get sick to my stomach every time I eat. I will be sure to post lost of pics of my trip.

I don't have any cool pics or videos to post right now. I am going to Tokyo and Kyoto in may. So I should have lots of stuff to post then. I want to go back in July to climb Mt. Fuji. I am doing a run tomorrow morning. I wish I could do the half marathon but I am not there yet. I got airman of the quarter for my squadron. Hopefully I will get below the zone and make rank six months early. Then maybe my package for ASCP will be accepted and I can go back to school then commission. I would end up serving for an extra two years but I would be getting paid a lot more and I would be able to finish school in the states without having to worry about deploying in the middle of it all.

I wish the weather was a little better. During the work week it is gorgeous then the weekend comes and it rains. I just want to go to the beach and get some sun. I saw Hunger Games today. Pretty good movie I hope they make a sequel. It made me want to read the books.

whale watching

So I finally figured out the video thing. It was a pain in the rear and I dont like that I have to go through you tube. Anyway, one of the NCO's in my lab gave me a video camera so hopefully I will get more videos up than pics.

My whale watcing trip was amazing!!!

blog issue

Ok so I have an awsome video from my whale watching trip and I cant post it without going through YouTube. I think thats sucks so I might change to a different blog site. If anyone knows of one that will let me upload videos directly, shoot me an e-mail.

The rest of the Iwo Jima Pics!

This Memorial was dedicated to everyone who lost their lives at the battle of Iwo Jima. The battle lasted about a month and it had the highest death toll in the history of the marine corps. 

This Memorial was dedicated a few decades later by both American and Japanese WWII veterans.

The top of that volcano is our destination

Massive cannon! I dont know why but this was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

I noticed this rock looks like a mans face right side up and upside down.

Another Memorial

By far one of the most moving parts of the trip. These are the dog tags and insignia of all the service members who have come to pay homage.

I got to leave my dog tags there.

Close up

This was where that famouse photo of the five marines and one navy corpsman posting our nations flag was taken. Three of those boys were killed in battle a few days after the picture was taken.

I dont know the last time this volcalno erupted but there is steam coming up out of it. The picture doesnt show it.

Lol I see a lot of water on a regular basis

Joining the airforce is by far one of the best things I could have ever done. I rock the uniform lol 

feb 26 2012

     I am sorry I can't get pictures up more often. I can only upload like 5 or 6 at a time and it takes forever just to do that. I don't ever find myself in one place long enough to sit and do it. I think I am the kind of person that isn't really happy unless I am stressed out about something. I thrive under the pressure. It seems that I am always looking for different things to concern myself with. I am very happy with my life, so I have decided its ok.
     I went camping last weekend up at Okuma. It wasn't my best outing but it was fun all the same. We hiked up to Hiji falls. I don't know if you could really call it a hike because there was a path pretty much the whole way. I am going on a real hike next weekend up to the summit of Mt Yonaha next weekend, if the weather permits. It rains here a lot. Mt. Yonaha is the highest peak on the island. I thought it would be good practice for climbing Mt. Fuji in July.
     So it turns out my fear on the ocean is way worse than I thought. I have always had to force myself to get in it and every time I go I try to push myself a little out of my comfort zone. However, last weekend I went way out of my comfort zone and it was terrible. My friends wanted to go wake boarding and the water was really choppy. I should have stayed on land but I agreed to go out on the boat with them. I almost cried I was so terrified. Had the water been any more rough I probably would have had a panic attack. I did a great job of making a fool of myself. lol Next weekend might also be whale watching!

There were 11 mi of underground tunnels on the island, which is pretty cool considering the island is only 7.5 mi long.

There were a lot of marines

These little guys are all over. There is one that lives in my room. I named him Eduardo and I told him he could stay if he eats the bugs.

There is a lot of remnants of the war left on the island.

Me and A1C Underwood. We were the only AF E3's

The only way to get to the island is on a marine C130