Okinawan grocery store

Yesterday I couldn't wait any longer to venture off base for some fresh veggies and fruit. I have been wanting to go to Naval Kadena and the Farmer's market for a while now. And to make things better I remembered my camera! I didn't take any pics at the Farmer's market because it was so crowded/busy... maybe next time! The grocery store that I went to is actually pretty small, but still fun. I took as many pictures as I felt comfortable taking. Most of the time the locals were looking at me like I was insane. I guess it would be weird to see someone taking pictures in the grocery store. But anyway, here you go...

Here is what you see when you first walk in. Looks normal, right? Well if you walk past the fruit/veggies you find this stuff. I have no earthly idea what this stuff is. It all looks really weird and being the picky person I am, I have no intention of trying ANY of it!

Here is some of the meat, which has a lot more selections than you would ever find in say an Albertson's. But keep in mind that the Japanese love fish and all sorts of meat, where Americans tend to be a bit more selective. Speaking of fish...here are some whole ones in their freezer section. I gaged a little just taking the pic, but thought you might like to see it. (Did I mention I HATE seafood?)

I can't even begin to tell you what this might be, maybe some type of seaweed? All I know is that it looks D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G

Now for a few things that you might recognize. These are bags of rice, LARGE bags. I don't think there are little bags of rice in this store. Which makes sense, because the Okinawans use a lot of rice. Sticky rice is what the Americans here call it. It is different than the rice we have in the US, much more well stickier. YUM!

I had to take a picture of his for my father-in-law. He loves Mountain Dew and will be glad to know it's even in Japan. The bottles are slightly different and a bit smaller than a two liter bottle.

Pizza inn

Good food at good prices!
Our taco pizza after we took a slice to eat!

Being that it's our last year in Okinawa, Nick and I have decided to take advantage of this time to try new things. Last weekend we ate at two new restaurants: Obbligato (Mexican-obviously) and The Pizza Inn. Obbligatos is known as the best Mexican restaurant on Okinawa according to local papers (although we love Mike's Tex Mex). Nick and I love Mexican food so we gave it a shot. It was actually pretty good. The tacos tasted like the ones you make at home. The chips and salsa were pretty good. They make their own soft shells right here in Okinawa. We wish we wouldn't have got the same thing as each other so we could have tried more, but overall it was a good experience. I will have to take pictures next time!!! On Sunday we went to the Pizza Inn. The waiter tried to encourage us to try the buffet but we opted to order our own pizza. I LOVE taco pizza and haven't had any in ages, so we chose to order one. It was really good! The sauce was just right. As you can see (in the picture)they have an array of different foods. Next time we want to do the buffet so we can try all the different things they have to offer. I was so surprised at how good the food was that we had a both places. I wish we would have tried them sooner. Hopefully this weekend will bring some more good memories that I can share. Have a nice weekend!!! :)

Catch up post

November 18th- I am thankful for cooler temperatures. If finally happened. It started getting cooler around here. It has been heavenly here the last few days. I have been wearing jeans and long sleeves all week. Kara is finally getting use of here little hoodies and warm outfits! It is WONDERFUL!!!

November 19th- I am thankful for opportunities. The opportunity to be a mother, wife, friend, ect. I have been so thankful lately of the things I have been able to experience in my life. I've had the opportunity to go to college and get a degree, to travel to foreign lands, to meet different types of people. In the end, I have come to appreciate these things and what they have taught me.

November 20th- Conner's 3rd birthday. I can't think of anything I am more thankful for than to have given birth to a perfect soul (as my mother in law would say). He was too perfect to stay on this earth. He didn't have any work to do it had already been done by the time he took his first and last breath. I miss him so much and will post soon about how we celebrated his 3rd birthday.

November 21st- I am thankful for good food. I am a lover of food. I love to eat. It is enjoyable to me, probably too much. There's nothing I love better than some good country cooking. Lima beans, cornbread, pot roast, mmmmmmm! However I have come to realize that enjoying food can be done without over indulging. Which brings me to what I am thankful for today.....

November 22nd- I am thankful that I am now 5 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with Kara. I am down to 120. It finally happened on the scale this morning. I know it sounds silly, but I was always a small girl. In high school, I never got over 103 pounds, which was probably too small. I am happy at the weight I am now. I still need toning, but overall I am happy. My goal weight is 118 so I am only 2 pounds away. It is awesome that I have got my weight down without feeling deprived. I still eat most things I want I have just found alternatives in things like baking with whole wheat flour. I also limit my treats. If I want chocolate I eat 3 Hershey kisses and it usually fills that void rather than eating 8 chocolate chip cookies like I use do to. I am thankful that I have the will power to get myself and keep myself at a good weight.

Bananas for the monkey....

Eating her food, yum, yum!
Crying because it was all gone!
Falling asleep while eating.
And she's out....

Without even thinking about it I picked bananas as Kara's first baby food to try. Kind of funny being that her nickname is Monkey. She has been eating plain rice cereal for a while now.
But the last two nights she didn't want it so my mom suggest adding some flavor to it. It was a huge hit with her. The video shows her first bite, which was pretty funny. It took her a few bites to get used to it, and then I couldn't get it in her mouth quick enough. She cried when it was all gone so I went and made her a second bowl. She ate the entire thing. Well to be honest it wasn't that much the first time because I wanted to make sure she liked it before I made a lot. It was pretty cool seeing how much she enjoyed it. When she was almost done with the second bowl she was falling asleep. It must have been very satisfying for her. I love days of her firsts....

Mmmmm strawberries.....

I was thrilled to see that strawberries are back in season. I went to the commissary and was drawn in by the smell of them. I was so excited. They taste so sweet and juicy. However at $4.00 a pint, I will have to limit myself or I could just go broke. Yeah, I think I would rather go broke than miss out on their wonderful taste. YUM!

For the love of Chocolate!

Whoever said that diamonds were a girl's best friend was surely mistaken, it's chocolate that is her best friend!! So it seems my little girl is like most women, she loves CHOCOLATE!! Yes the past month or so I find myself wanting Chocolate in all forms, ice cream, candy bars, cookies, and the best thing: FUDGE! Yes it's this time of year the I pack on a few extra pounds from nothing other than the mounds of fudge I eat. I have loved fudge since I was a child. My mom would always make it, among other Christmas treats every year. It was well known that the chocolate fudge was my favorite. This year I am already on my second batch, but this time I plan on sharing a little. Maddy was the only one, besides myself, that got any of the last 3 pound batch. Nick could have had some, but he doesn't like fudge. I know what a WEIRDO; his mother would be appalled. Yes, I still love cheese and peanut butter too. She can't get enough of it.

So anyway I went to another appointment on Monday, to see Bozo, but I have decided to change his name. He actually is shaping up so I will start referring to him by his real name, Dr. Cummings. All my blood work testing for Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome, and various Trisonomies came back negative. I will admit I wasn't too terribly nervous about it, since Conner's were negative also, but there's always that chance. So anyway, he went to check the heartbeat and I go, "So no ultrasound today, huh?" (Nick had told me he wanted us to get one since he will be missing mine next week.) So he goes, "No, was I supposed to give you one?" I replied that I didn't know if he was supposed to or not. Then I hear him call to the nurse to bring the abdominal ultrasound in. Ha ha tricked him!! So we got one that didn't really clear anything up for us. He said he didn't see any boy parts but isn't really seeing girl parts either. So he also gave us a 90% chance of a girl. He was like, " yeah I will say it's more than likely a girl, but you never know!" AHHHHH! I know most people don't get 100% sure but, it still tends to make me nervous. He didn't' measure her so I am not sure how she's measuring, I will find out next week on the 27th. Her heartbeat is in the 150's to 160's. So that's good. Luckily she's still showing as a healthy baby and that's all that matters.

I have decided....

after the events of today I need a nice hot, steamy, sweet, whip creme topped French Vanilla hot chocolate. Doesn't that sound good? You want one now don't you? Well, I am going to stop my whining and blogging for now to go get one. At least the weekend is near.

Love that chocolate!!!

Mmmmm what I would give for one of those right now. Even better if it was white chocolate. I love chocolate. It is so good. It can make a bad day disappear. I could eat a whole dozen of chocolate covered strawberries right now(hint, hint to my not having a good day). Really I could!! I love how they taste. Every time I go to a candy shop it's what I get, assuming that they have some. Sure they cost almost four dollars each but dang it's worth it. I would make some but the strawberries are so expensive here. It cost 5 dollars for a pint, yeah I know it's ridiculous. I have paid that much out of desperation, but being that we are broke from our trip to the states I won't. But I can dream can't I?