Sometimes different is good and sometimes it's...

"Better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times." - Asian Proverb

I couldn't agree more.

And today I feel like I accomplished just that. Two things I've been putting off but have heard about at least a thousand times have been shooting the cosmo fields up in Kin Town...and Zumba. I know what you're thinking, Zumba and cosmos? Well, if those aren't two of the most uninteresting things on the planet and they surely couldn't be any more different from each other if they tried. The truth is, I've photographed cosmos before and I've worked out to music before...BUT I haven't shot Kin's cosmos and I certainly haven't Zumba'd. Is that a word? I may have just made it up!

So, in reviewing my day today, I've decided I kinda sorta like Zumba...but ask me again in a month after I've mastered the moves, my opinion could change. And although I'm bummed I waited too long for cosmos, I still got a couple decent shots. Here are a couple shots from up in beautiful Kin Town, Okinawa.

Hope you like.

Wanted to add a couple iPhone pictures as well.

My Southeast Asia "Bucket List"

Remember, I want to see everything twice and Southeast Asia is a good place to start!

Taiwan

1. Taipei 101.
2. Taroko Gorge.
3. Night Market.

Vietnam

1. Ha Long Bay.
2. Sailboat Ha Long Bay.
3. Take the train over night.
4. Ho Chi Minh City.
5. Day Go Cave.
6. Bai Tu Long Bay.
7. Cao Dai Temple.
8. Bui Vien Street.
9. Hanoi.
10. Hanoi Hilton.
11. Eat Pho
12. Mekong Delta.
13. Cu Chi Tunnels.
14. Drink snake wine.
15. Bike the mountains of Sapa.
16. Opera House in Saigon.

Cambodia

1. Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat.
2. Phnom Penh and the silver pagoda.
3. Battambang.
4. Angkor Thom. The Bayon.
5. Tonle Sap Lake
6. Apsaras dance performance.
7. Eat at New Hope Restaurant in Siem Reap.
8. Take a tuk tuk.
9. Night Market.
10. Eat a tarantula - a delicacy in Cambodia.
11. Stay at The Plantation in Phnom Penh.
12. Visit and pay respect to the killing fields.

Thailand

1. Bathe and ride an elephant.
2. Chiang Mai.
3. Bangkok.

Singapore

1. Little India.
2. Little China.
3. Singapore Zoo.
4. Sentosa.
5. Haji Lane.
6. Singapore Flyer.
7. The White Rabbit.

Hong Kong

1. Kowloon Bay.
2. Avenue of the Stars.
3. Tian Tan Buddha.
4. Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery.
5. Victoria Harbour.
6. Victoria Peak.
7. Central.

My Okinawa "Bucket List"

Traveling the world is awesome, but exploring your own back yard is pretty amazing, too...especially when your backyard is a sub-tropical paradise. My list grows daily. Here are the things I must see and do before I leave this beautiful island.

Okinawa

1. Snorkel/dive with the whale sharks.
2. Whale watching.
3. Zakimi Castle at night.
4. Nago cherry blossoms.
5. Naha cherry blossoms.
6. Bios on the Hill.
7. Naha Tug-o-War.
8. Traditional Okinawa dance show.
9. Drink habu sake.
10. Okinawa World.
11. Maeda flats and snorkel Maeda Point.
12. Dragons Baseball game.
13. Yomitan Pottery Village.
14. Fukushen Gardens
15. Botanical Gardens.
16. Hedo Point.
17. Tadake Falls.
18. Mt. Katsudake.
19. Okinawa Aquarium.
20. Butterfly Park.
21. Christmas lights at the zoo.
22. Itoman lights.
23. Peace Prayer Park.
24. Shuri Castle.
25. New Year Festival at a castle.
26. Higashi Village Azalea Festival.
27. Bull fighting in Ishikawa.
28. Murasaki Mura.
29. Make sushi.
30. Make soba.
31. Camping on the beach.
32. SUP around the island.
33. Watch a sunrise and a sunset on the beach in one day.
34. Photograph a sunrise.
35. Photograph a sunset. 
36. Tulip Fair at Ocean Expo Park.
37. Sunflowers in Kitanakagusuku.
38. Okinawa Santa Run.
39. Yomitan Festival.
40. Okinawa Food Flea.
41. Chinese New Year Bull Fighting Tournament.
42. Orion Beer Fest.
43. Orion Beer Factory.
44. Nago Castle.
45. Visit and abandoned hotel.
46. Kitanakagusuku castle.
47. Nakijin castle ruins.
48. Buddha.
49. Aha Falls and rope swinging.
50. Take a class to learn Japanese.
51. Release baby sea turtles.
52. Aka Island.
53. Henoko Festival.

My Ever Wanderlusting Heart...

"We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams." -Gypsy Proverb

Sakura's, Birdie Butts, and Butterflies!

It's that time of year again! Sakura's are beginning to bloom here on Okinawa. Make sure and head up north if you want to catch a glimpse of these beautiful blooms. 

Mt. Yaedake, Okinawa. January 23, 2015

Birdie Butt.

White-eyed Japanese bird.

White Sakura's on Mt. Yaedake, Okinawa.

Butterfly Park in Nago, Okinawa.

I want to take you back...

but just to last year and only because it's still fresh in my mind. So, I'm writing it down.

Last year, in general, seemed to be a tough year...and not just for me. Looking back, it's true...2014 was tough and I don't want to sugar coat anything here so if that's what you need you'll have to look elsewhere.

Last year I realized relationships change, people change, and life never stops, even if you want it to. But I really wanted it to. I just wanted it to stop for just a week or a month even, maybe longer...but then I'd be greedy, always wanting more. And that's just it. That's military life for you, when your husband is gone more than he's home, you are always wishing you had a little more time. And seriously, sometimes the only reasons were so that we could talk about the shitty stuff...you know, like how to properly reprimand our 14 year old for his sudden lack of respect for his mother, or discussing whether we should continue to allow our beautiful and quickly maturing ten year old daughter to wear short shorts to school, or even touching base on the dreaded "we should have a budget and stick to it" talk...that's my least favorite. Those issues can't be resolved on a unified front if your other half is gone and so I'm left on my own struggling to find the answers and hoping they are the right ones. And often times they aren't.

So, last year I was trying a lot on my own. And I got myself involved in trying to help with stuff that wasn't even mine. All that dirty relationship stuff that wasn't even mine! What the hell was I thinking? I mean, I have my own stuff so why would I take on more? And it nearly killed me. It really did. And that's why this year will be different. This years focus won't be about other people. It's going to be about me. Sound selfish? Yeah, maybe a little but everyone needs to be a little selfish. A high school friend of mine said so and since he said so...I'm taking it!

I encourage all of you to be a little selfish this year. Listen to your body and your mind. If it's telling you to take a break, then take a break. If your body wants to be healthier then eat a little better and walk a little more. Explore the wonders this world has to offer. Explore outside and explore within. I'm excited to find myself again. We were once best friends then I took advantage of me and allowed others to do the same.

This is my year and I'm taking it!

In the beginning...

there was a child who wandered.

A wanderlust's heart is forever searching for just one more place to go...just one more thing to do. I want to see everything twice. I know this because my seven year old self wrote it down in a time capsule book that I just recently stumbled upon. So, this has be a thing, right? This constant searching for more and never feeling like I've ever done enough or seen enough? Yeah, it's definitely a thing...and it's my thing.

What's so fantastic about this journey I'm on is that I've found my place. I feel like I'm on the right path and that it will lead me somewhere. Well, somewhere, duh, but to the "where" that I'm meant to be.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” - Mark Twain

I certainly don't expect to find out why I am here, at least not for a very long time, but what I can say is that I'm delighted to be alive and I feel like I'm breathing for the first time! You could call this day maybe the third most important day of my life as it's the day I truly started living.

I've started blogs before. That's another "thing" of mine. These sudden bursts of creativity are great and I mean well, really I do. But, they don't last. A wanderlust who struggles with follow through. Yikes. This has the potential to be a disaster but don't worry, I'm prepared. I have at least another 10,000 brilliant ideas in my head just waiting for their chance to sweep me off my feet. 

This new blog of mine will be meant to capture my life as it unfolds. Yes, it's dramatic and chaotic and fast-paced and super boring and fantastic and shitty and I promise you will LOVE every moment of it! So, sit back and enjoy the ride...and thanks for reading!

Kina the Ryukyu-ken beauty...

Update: Kina has found her forever home!

She is such a fiery little brindle! 

Kina at 10 months old. 

Beautiful Kina!

Kina and Yuki playing in the sand.

All tongue.