An Update...

Please excuse the long absence! Things have been very busy around here lately. We found out we're having a baby (but we're not pregnant, only Chickadee is), took a lovely vacation to Seoul (photos forthcoming), prepared for Millinophile's first deployment, and waved goodbye (very sleepily). Since Chickadee is busy gestating and Millinophile can't tell you about any of the very interesting things he is no doubt doing, future blog posts are probably going to be much more domestic in nature.

Oh, and the above picture is of butterflies frolicking, in case you can't tell. This is what Millinophile spends his commute home doing--taking pictures of interesting bugs for Chickadee. So far, he's shared numerous photos of butterflies, spiders, and a particularly massive cluster of ants. 

Milky!

Millinophile brought these home from the grocery store yesterday. "Milky" is a pretty accurate description, since they're little vaguely vanilla taffy things. Chickadee and Millinophile both thought they were pretty good.

Our Apartment!

Finally! We managed to take some pictures of our apartment to share with you.

 Our entryway. As you enter our apartment, the kitchen is to your left and the living area is directly in front of you.

 Our kitchen. It's pretty large, with tons of counter space. My only complaint is that both outlets are next to the sink, which means that counter gets really crowded with appliances (that's part of why the toaster is on top of the microwave--don't worry, we take it down before we use it).

 At the end of the kitchen, we have this large pantry. To the right is the pantry cabinet and to the left (not pictured) is a large bookcase. Also, this pantry is freakishly tall. 

 Our living room.

 A plant by the window that's next to our table (you can't see it in the above picture). This plant keeps trying to hide these icons.

Chickadee's nesting dolls. The king and the egg-shaped lady are from Chickadee's grandmother. The rest are from Millinophile's mother.

 The hallway leading from the living area to the bedrooms (exciting, I know). The cabinet to the right is a huge linen closet. 

 On the left side of the hallway is our laundry room.

 Directly across from the laundry room is the bathroom. Yup, it's tiny. Chickadee keeps dropping things (such as her toothbrush) into the tiny chasm between the sink and the bathtub.

 The smaller bedroom, which is our office/icon corner.

 This is the first time our icon corner has actually been in a corner! We also finally have icons for all of our parents and siblings (except the Apostle Philip--icons of him are particularly scarce for some reason).

 Our bedroom. That lump is Millinophile. Chickadee gave up trying to take a picture when the bed was both made and unoccupied. This quilt is from Millinophile's grandmother, and it's the perfect weight for the summer months. During the fall/winter, we use a heavier, larger quilted bedspread that we received for our wedding. Oh, and Chickadee made those curtains--they're semi-blackout and totally necessary.

The other half of our bedroom. Things on the wall above the dressers: Millinophile's commissioning document, both of his bachelor's degrees, three post-graduate certificates, and a master's degree. Chickadee's bachelor's is notably absent, since it's a weird size and she hasn't bothered to buy a frame for it yet. That door leads to a fire escape, and makes furniture place awkward.

Marriage Enrichment Retreat

Millinophile and Chickadee went on a marriage retreat a few weekends ago. Run by the Chaplain corp, the retreat is offered free of charge to active duty military members and their spouses. We were able to spend 2 nights at a Japanese beach front resort.

It took us a little bit to figure out that this card reader right next to the front door had to have a key card in it, or we wouldn't be able to turn on the lights or the AC.

Because you need your own tiny teapot when you're brewing your morning cup of green tea.

Balcony complete with obligatory outside slippers.

The view from our balcony.

One of our friends in Charleston had a blacksmith make him something like this fire basket (though this one is gas instead of wood-burning).

The pool, which we never actually swam in.

The retreat was nice, though the Japanese have a very different idea of what a resort is. For example, you had to pay extra to use any of the pool or beach chairs. On the plus side, the onsen (Japanese bathing house) was free to use.

Mugwort Steamed Bun

Millinophile and Chickadee decided to try this green mugwort bun from a local bakery. Millinophile did not particularly like it, but Chickadee thought it was tasty! It reminded her of a spiced cake, though it doesn't really taste the same.

SpoCha

 Several weekends ago, Millinophile went to SpoCha with some work buddies. SpoCha is basically several floors of games that you can play (at this SpoCha, you paid for a time, like 9 hours). This picture has a foam ball game where you shoot at the other team.

 They had a bouncy house full of giant balloons.

 A fishing pond stocked with real fish.

 A mechanical bull.

 Ping pong tables, and so much more. Millinophile particularly enjoyed the tiny motorcycle racing track, where you could ride tiny motorcycles around.

 A mechanical horse racing track. These seem to be really popular at casinos.

And, if you want to play for your ice cream instead of just buying it from a vending machine, you can!

Millinophile said the only downside was that lunch was expensive and tiny (like 5 chicken nuggets for $5). Also, it was raining the day he went, so the outdoor sports (archery, batting cages, etc.) were closed.

Kannonzaki Park

Millinophile and Chickadee went to the Yokosuka Museum of Art several weeks ago. The museum has art by artists from the surrounding area, so most of it was weird modern art. 

After the museum, we decided to walk through Kannonzaki Park up to the Kannonzaki lighthouse (which we helpfully didn't take a picture of). This stone alley is on the way back down.

A battery we passed in the park.

Yokohama Chinatown

 This isn't actually in Chinatown. We pass this house on stilts on our way to church every Sunday.

 Yokohama Marine Tower. We didn't go inside, but we did sit in the nearby park and eat pastries.

 One of Chinatown's smaller gates. The bigger, fancier gates were all being renovated. Yokohama Chinatown is the largest Chinatown in the world. It was really busy when we were there. 

 The Kwan Tai temple, dedicated to the Chinese Imperial General Kwan Tai.

 Where else can you get a whole duck for $30?

 These and other similar tiles lined much of the sidewalk.

 The Mazu Miao temple, dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu. This is the largest temple in Yokohama Chinatown.

Leaving Chinatown.

Chickadee and Millinophile weren't very impressed with Yokohama Chinatown. Sure, it was big, but it felt very tourist-y, and all of the shops and restaurants seemed to carry the same overpriced things.

Birds!

These little guys are all over base, White Wagtail, Motacilla alba.

These birds are also all over base. Commonly referred to as "seahawks," they are actually kites. They're famous for swooping down and snatching food from unsuspecting Americans. Black-eared kite, Milvus lineatus.

 Kites in flight. They're brown, but the high contrast in these photos makes them look black :(.

Matcha Mochi

 This is a ball of mochi filled with matcha ice cream.

It's utterly delicious (at least Chickadee thinks so. Millinophile is inclined to complain that it's too bitter). 

Daruma Doll

This Daruma Doll was a gift from Millinophile's boss, who is leaving Japan. Daruma Dolls are good luck symbols crafted from paper mache. They're supposed to resemble Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. You're supposed to make a wish or set a goal and color in one of the eyeballs. Once you've been granted your wish or achieved your goal, you fill in the other eyeball.

Banana Chips

These are banana flavored potato chips. They were not good. They tasted very banana-y, but they had a bitter aftertaste that was unpleasant.

A Little Park

Millinophile and Chickadee stumbled onto this little park on one of the side streets hear the Yokosuka JR train station. It had tons of stray cats.

We don't know what this is, but it looked like a commemorative obelisk with a small shrine.