Life & Love

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Thirty, Flirty, & Thriving

30th-birthdayI haven’t blogged in a hot minute, which is surprising because I thought December was going to be a pretty chill month. Not so much. I got an unexpected – and not particularly desired – promotion at work, so my responsibilities have stepped up there.  I couldn’t even tell you what else I’ve been busy with, because in this moment I have no idea. It’s all a blur.

But somewhere in the midst of that blur, I turned 30. Continue reading →

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How times do change…

When I was in undergrad at the College of William & Mary, of course it mattered that I do well. But “well” became a ratheElle-Woodsr relative term. Failing even one class would certainly never have been acceptable, but the pressure to get straight A’s was suddenly lifted. I was perfectly happy receiving mostly B’s, with a sprinkling of A’s and the occasional unattractive C (thank you, “easy” Intro to Astronomy, to name one of… several.)

Now that I’ve started grad school, however, I am feeling refreshed… energized even! Continue reading →

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Introducing: The Daily…

I’m generally not the type to “re-blog” someone else’s stock images, but I do love Pinterest and save my non-original, copy-cat favorites there. However, some things I find are just too cute/sweet/beautiful/happy not to share here, so I’ve decided to start “The Daily…”

A few things about The Daily…

First, this will most likely not be daily at all, but daily sounds so much better than The Weekly, or The Monthly, or The Twice-Quarterly, if you ask me. So just bear with me and my misnomers 🙂 Subscribers will probably be happy not to have a daily email in their inbox, anyway!

Second, it will vary in nature. Some days it will be The Daily Cute, and highlight my love of adorable (mostly baby) animals. Honestly, this will probably be the most frequent category 🙂 Other days it will be The Daily Happy, or The Daily Inspo (“inspiration” to those of you not familiar.) It will just depend on what I want to share on any given day – on whatever is making me (and then hopefully you) smile at any given moment.

So, to those of you who read, I hope you enjoy my first…

… The Daily Cute! (Did you really think I wouldn’t start out with a kitten?) 🙂

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A Few of My Favorite Things

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I’ve been a bit homesick lately, as the golden hues of autumn spread over most of the United States. Despite all my wonderful adventures here in Asia, I find myself longing to join my friends and family on their foliage-rich hikes, visits to the pumpkin patch, ventures into haunted woods, revelry at costumed Halloween parties, and savoring of the omnipresent pumpkin spice latte. Continue reading →

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Lunch on the Seaside

A friend and I tried a sweet little restaurant in Uruma today, called Soupcon Seaside Cafe. Like many of the restaurants around here, it was tiny and tucked away, but it had great food and the loveliest ocean view… we enjoyed a delightful stroll on the beach afterwards. It is a definite keeper!

Lunch at Soupcon Seaside Cafe
Dessert at Soupcon Cafe (the water was served in wine bottles!)
Cinnamon raisin pound cake
Adorable shrine at Ishikawa Beach
Ishikawa
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My First Visitor

In the week leading up to Typhoon Vongfong, Na Yung came to visit from the Middle East! Mother Nature must be in quite the mood these days, because there was actually another typhoon whipping our coast the weekend she arrived. It was not nearly as bad as this one, but it still put quite the kink in our plans – particularly anything to do with the beach.

Still, we managed to have a great time. We at least saw the beach once:

10711083_10100481927325647_7795237525974207283_n Continue reading →

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Catching up with September

So many mini-adventures in the month of September! Since it’s been a while since I last blogged, I’m going to give an abbreviated version of the month’s highlights. Then at least I can be all caught up and start afresh when I leave for CHINA at the end of next week 🙂

1. Miyagi Island & the “Hidden Beach”

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I had heard a lot about this little spot about 20 minutes and a bridge away from where we live. For me, it fell short of expectations. Granted it was low tide, but the large-pebbled sand was unusually harsh on our feet and the water was mostly seaweed and murk. It’s too bad we don’t have our snorkel gear and special ocean shoes yet, because that’s what I hear Miyagi is truly known for. Still, it was by no means a wasted trip. There were some lovely views, interesting rock formations, and the ride down was an adventure in and of itself.

Little mushroom rock at the Hidden Beach
The treacherous drive down the first half of the “mountain”
It got crazy around that bend!
Decided to “park” and hike the rest of the way down…

2. Southeast Botanical Gardens

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Not a very exciting name – and nothing of particular note to share about it – but a pretty place, nonetheless. The gardens are expansive and lush. Chuck kept commenting how he felt like he was in Jurassic Park! Highlights included feeding the capybara, giggling with the spider monkeys, and having zen moments in the lotus garden 🙂 The giant spiders lurking at random corners though… not so much!

3. Okinawa World

IMG_3363Okinawa World is one of those places that’s mostly gimmicky cultural theme park, but with some really cool surprises – like canoodling with the “lucky” white python above. We hung out with pythons, habus, and boas, and lived to tell the tale. I even tried habu sake, albeit inadvertently (I thought it was some fruity plum wine!) Chuck tried the much safer sugar cane juice. We also toured the 300,000+ year-old Gyokusendo Caves, which were truly awe-inspiring. The low point was touring the “zoo” of sorts, especially when I saw the mongoose. Poor guy was going nuts in captivity.

Okinawa “village”
Beautiful lagoon in the caves
Burmese python!
Eisa Dancers

4. Ziplining at Forest Adventure Park

I don’t think much needs to be said, except that I faced my fear of heights with admirable gusto (if you ask me.) Just watch the video…

5. CATS – as always 🙂

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New babies at Uken Beach means both joy and sadness for this girl. I’m pleased to say that more have survived this month that I originally thought, though a couple are missing… I like to think there are more survivors than usual because of my high-protein visits!

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And then there’s my own precious little fur babies, loving each other hard – as you can see in this pic. They are endlessly entertaining. So far, there hasn’t been any blood. I think they both secretly love it!

Buds?
She likes to chase and chew her own tail…
Now who is REALLY the dominant one here?
Snuggles? No. Please love me, says Momo!