Cinderbug

Cinderboo, bugaboo, nubbin, ropebutt, big lips, boxhead, long tongue, loco, wiggles, dootybooty... 

(she didn't like the bandana...)

Married to love

I LOVE being married.  It's so much better than I ever imagined it could be.

It only seems to get better and better with time and wonderful memories.
Love can be simple and natural with the right person.  I've been so caught up in 'love' lately.  Love is everywhere.


 
Also, congratulations to all the newlyweds out there!  A happy and momentous time in history.  Love in abundance!

Everyone deserves to love.

 

Bringin the South to Southeast Asia

 We finally got a charcoal grill!  The first things we grilled, burgers...up next BBQ Chicken.  If anyone knows of any great marinade recipes or how to grill delicious veggies, please let me know!  We are going grill crazy.

Yomitan Pottery Village

 Yomitan Pottery village is in our neck of the woods, and is like a neighborhood of about 50 different potters, with individual old school kilns where they fire a years worth of work in 1 week.  We were told that before they light up the kilns, they have a big party with lots of music, saki and dancing to bring good fortune and luck.

 The kilns are gigantic, made of a thick mud and rise up a hill making the space inside smaller and smaller.  This is to create different temperatures inside each kiln, as different pottery needs to fire at different temperatures.

 Here is a look inside one of the larger kilns.  It was pretty cool!

 Of course there is a lot of shopping to be done here.  The pottery above has a very distinct Okinawan look.  These designs and colors are very traditional.  The pottery below was one of my favorites...I love that blue!

This will be a great place to bring the Fam when they come visit.  My mom will go nuts in these shops.

Ryukyu Village

 plus a little sanshin and drums.

 

my friend Jane and I were able to attend Ryukyu Village, a tourist trap with traditional Japanese folk music, clothing, gift shops etc.  It was like a greenhouse with a remake of an old Japanese village inside.  It turned out to be a neat experience.

 The guy on the left is playing a sanshin, which is an Okinawan musical instrument.  It's covered in python skin, has 3 strings, (or in this case his had 2 necks making 6 strings), and it sounds like a Japanese tweaked banjo...take the folk out of the banjo and add some Asian flare.  I must admit, this concert was entertaining for the first 2-3 songs...by the 5th I was about to fall asleep in my chair...the plucking of those sanshin strings was like a lullaby.  But every now and then the girl on the right would BEAT on the drum and I'd be jolted back into the present.

April Wedding

The immensely talented Katie Anderson of Pink Shoe Photography took some really great photos at our wedding/blessing.  We had already been married for a year, but decided that a wedding celebration was a must before we shipped off to Japan.  Here are the amazing photos that I received in the mail recently of that gorgeous April day.

 My bestest friend surprised me at the wedding...she flew in from Portland last minute to be there...I thought she couldn't make it.  BIT!!!!!

 Stud!

 Love this...too cute.  Adam's shoes are super nice :)

 Not sure what i'm doing here...goofin off and cheesing out.  Adam likes this one of course...

 Grand entrance, drove right into the hangar reception, while Cake's Love you Madly was playing! yess!!!!

A wonderful time.

Snorkel Sunday

 

We headed to Maeda Flats just near our house for one of the greatest snorkeling experiences ever!  This place is known in Japan and around Asia as a top diving/snorkel spot.

We've seen the divers out in the deep water off Maeda Point, but we had never gone to Maeda Flats, where there are beautiful beaches, formations in the shallow waters, and amazing snorkeling all the way out along the reef.  As soon as the reef meets deeper water, there is a sheer drop of 100 ft. 

 The water was so clear, you could see very far in all directions.  There were quite a lot of people diving and snorkeling while we were there.  Who can resist?

 While we were snorkeling, we probably saw 100 different species of fish.  Some were huge and swam slow, others neon, striped or spotted...some were so camouflaged you could barely see them.   Can you see them?


Adam took these pictures using our Olympus Stylus Tough camera.  If anyone is in the market for a waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof, crushproof, indestructible camera...this is a great one to look into!