Kira-lina Dreamin'......: Okinawan Lily

We have been in Okinawa about a month now and we are JUST getting settled in. It took us 2 weeks to move into a house here on base after looking at about 12 apartments off base. The problem with Japanese housing is that it is not made for big old American furniture. We like our base house though. 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 1200 sq feet. Quite a downsize, but HUGE for here.

The whole bottom floor is ours. It is the only multiplex on the street and the neighborhood is one of the quietest on base. The neighbors are friendly and quiet too. Okinawa is beautiful. The weather is hot and humid during the day, but beautiful and cooler at night. We have been going to the beach every weekend....and why not...it's 5 minutes from our house!

Lily, of course, loves the beach. We have had lots of trials since we have arrived it has not been an easy transition. The first week we were here, the island endured the biggest hurricane it has endured in 13 years. We were in temporary lodging at the time. Some parts were scary, other parts were comparable to a hard summer storm in SC.

Things have settled down tremendously since that first week and we are starting to get settled. Our express shipment arrived with some of our household items and the rest of our things will be here next month. We have cable and internet (finally!) and a house phone with an American number. We are making do with the government furniture, but we miss our things. It is hard to write about everything that has occurred in these past weeks, but so much has happened and the world has kind of been turned upside down. For now...here are some cute pictures of Lily Grace from here on the island and from our overnight stay in Seattle on the way to Japan. Lily LOVED the Eisa Drum Festival.