I am ready for 2011...

 Other than the obvious which is to be an awesome superwoman like wife and mother, here are my 2011 goals:

a.)   Immerse myself in Yoga. I feel I have veered off my Yogi path since moving to Okinawa. I plan to take advantage of as much reading/educational material, workshops & classes as my new life will allow. When I was practicing yoga on a daily basis I can't tell you how much peace and clarity it brought into my life.  Yoga is my passion. It is something that I want to share with everyone because I believe it can be life changing.

b.)   Lose most if not all of the weight I gained during pregnancy by June 15^th.  I started off at 127lbs. (That is 5lbs more than I would have liked to have started out with. I gained 5lbs after moving to the island.) And right now I am at 164lbs with 4weeks and 6 days left before my due date of Feb. 8th.  Per my mother and grandmother, "You don't want to be a fat mommy."  and I couldn't agree more because I am vain like that.  I will be a happier person once I reach my goal and you know what "they" say, "When mommas happy everybody's happy!" ;) Now vanity is only half of the reason for this goal. The other half is I want to be  healthy for my husband and daughter, so I am able to take care of them and have enough energy to keep up with  everything that life is about to throw at us.

c.)   Read at least one book a month. To educate myself, broaden my mind and vocabulary is what I hope to obtain form this. Plus, it will help me with my next goal.

d.)   Blog at least once every two weeks. I have decided that blogging is therapeutic and helpful. If I blog more I will be more comfortable when it comes to writing which is a HUGE fear of mine from an educational stand point.  In addition to that you are able to vent, put down your goals, hopes, dreams and experiences in black and white; with a few color pictures here and there. It is a reminder of what you set out to accomplish, how much you have changed or grown and a story for others to follow.  

It's about time...

I have to be the worst blogger in the entire world. I have had this blog for over a year now and I have zero blogs. Have I let anyone down? Maybe two people the same two that are reading this now...yes you mycousinsarah and myfriendkim. Where do I start? We all know my memory is as good as Dory from Finding Nemo, so a years worth of events will be a stretch for me. I owe it to you my faithful followers (mycousinsarah and myfriendkim) to try my best to bring you up to date of events past, so here goes nothing.....

Moved to Okinawa from Dallas. I soon found out that this place was NOTHING like I thought it would be and have been pretty miserable ever since; minus the time I spend with Matt.

Went home for a month for X-mas (2009). Leave has it's ups and downs. Up: You are home and get to see everyone you care about. Down: You are traveling constantly and stay tired.

Back in Okinawa. (I do not like it here one bit!)

Got hitched in Feb. We got married at City Hall..ehh not how I imagined getting married, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. We plan to have a "real" wedding when we are back in the states, somewhere around our 5th anniversary.

Surprise!!! I got knocked up in May. We will be having a little girl (God, help us all!) and her name will be Maia Liliana. She is due Feb. 8th. Still hasn't sunk in that I am going to be a mommy. WOW!!! I am a wife and a mother...who would have ever thought. 

We decided that we needed a bigger house and that turned out to be a big mistake. It ended up being freaking haunted, so we left faster than my family and friends can throw back bottle of wine. We are now living on base and I feel a lot more safe here, but still hasn't changed how I feel about being on this miserable island. 

Matt decided to get of of the military (I loved this decision) after being pulled every which way and it sank in that he was going to be a daddy. 

Came home for my grandmothers 80th birthday as promised before I left the states and my baby shower that mywonderfulcousinsarah, myfriendkim and Heather threw for me. Not enough time home, but extremely grateful that I was able to and I was able to spend time with my family and friends even if it was short lived.

Now we are counting down the days until Maia arrives (44 days left) and we leave this wretched place and let me tell you neither can come soon enough.

So now that you have been brought up to date on my little life I shall do my best to keep you current. I will post pictures and everything.

Bon Voyage

This is Sarah, Amanda's cousin. Amanda will not have cell phone or computer access for the next day or so as she is en route to Okinawa.

I dropped her off at the airport this morning a little before 6:00 AM and she was anxious "to be in Japan already." No tears were shed. I think we were both too tired and anxious.

She managed to pack most of her belongings under the maximum baggage allowance after packing and repacking several times. She expected that one checked bag would be over the 50 lb limit but it was still within the 70 lb max. Impressive! I know she was worried about that.