38th Birthday

Talking to Paw.

I was down south in Miyazaki visiting Shojiro. Paw called in the morning to sing to me.

Visited the beach.

And ran into some kittens!!

They made me happy.

Power Spot

This small shrine tucked back in a cave is known as a power spot.

The area is scattered with little piles of stacked rocks.

So I had to stack up some myself.

Orange

I spotted this matching butterfly and cosmos flower while hiking with
Sho at Takachiho in Miyazaki.

It was a beautiful day, as you can see.

Rushing around Tokyo

I saw this guy in a frozen rush in Shinjuku.

Of course, I had to join him.

Amsterdam

Thought I'd start sharing some travel pics.

Ann Frank's house

The Chuo line

The 70s are BACK!

Sho and I attended our friend's 40th birthday party and had a blast! The party was a 70s themed party. What do you think? Do we look groovy?

I do believe I was rocking the 70s shades and pleather jacket.

Sho looked pretty sweet in the afro too!

Big News!

Shojiro asked me to marry him. I said "yes".

Junior College Graduation

Here are some of my students at their graduation reception. Aren't they cute?

This was my Oral Communication class. We tried to do a little jumping,

but I didn't have my good came with me.

Here's their jump. Not bad for heels and formalwear.

Here's my favorite pic of the day. This is a perfect example of Japanese girls and dessert time!!! Mmmmm......it was yummy.

Tokyo Tower

They are currently building a new tower called the Sky Tree, but I'm a fan of the original Tokyo Tower. Isn't it pretty? I love how it's red color turns orange when it's lit up at night.

Maw does Tokyo!!

Isn't she so pretty??

Cherry Blossoms Viewing Time

In Kichijoji Park

The Samurai

I spotted this samurai carrying a case of beer in Kichijoji Park.

Cherry Blossoms with Maw!

We were really lucky that Maw got to see some blossoms while she was in Tokyo. We went to Shinjuku park and this is Maw with a cherry blossom beard.

Not all of the trees were in full bloom, but we managed to find a few.

And this tree had pink blossoms and red blossoms!! It was gorgeous!!

Childhood memories

Hey Y'all! Let's go walking in the creek!

I spent most of my time between 11 and 14 stomping around in the creek on my parent's property. Isn't it gorgeous?!?!? I hadn't seen water in it in a long time, but this trip home it was full. I couldn't resist going for a little trip down memory creek.

I introduced my sister's foster kids to the joy of creek stomping-cold feet, muddy butt, and all. They loved it!

Lillian, Martin, and Nicholas had a blast! And so did I.

Takaragawa Onsen in Gunma

was very cold and snowy! Here's where we stayed.
Our room was on the 1st floor.

The hot springs were amazing!! There were 4 outside baths, and 3 of them
were mixed for both men and women.

Women wore towels, but they were short towels. I kept bending over and showing Shojiro how short mine was. Ha! He told me to be more "lady like," but that is difficult for me sometime.

Of course, we jumped!

The food was really good too! Here Shojiro is eating bear soup.
That's right, BEAR!! It tasted like tough beef not chicken.

This was a grilled river fish. Sho kept calling it a "liver fish." Ha! I just love Japanese 'l's and 'r's. They can be so entertaining.

Cheers!! Kanpai!!