Friday Faves

Okay so today is not only a Friday but the last weekday of the month and February is almost here y'all!!!!  I'm combining my Friday faves with a new linkup I'm joining called 4x4 which is basically my 4 favorite blog posts, pinterst pins, instagram posts and friends (or friend in your head) posts for the month.

Here we go peeps!

My 4 favorite blog posts

Imperial Palace and the Emperor's New Year Greeting  Visiting the Imperial Palace was a once in a lifetime opportunity (well twice a year opportunity really) and I am so glad that after only being here for a week or so we had the opportunity to be a part of it

Hey! We're your new neighbors! The new neighbor gifts were my favorite thing to do this month. All of my neighbors really appreciated the effort and reached out to us! I'm glad that I was able to find so many awesome ideas

10 on 10 :: January 2015 This will always make the list because it forces me to slow down and smell the roses

New Friends, Birthdays and Double Dates because it was our first kid free date night and we got our Japanese car!

My 4 favorite Instagram posts

If you aren't following me on Instagram yet you should be! You're totally missing out on some cute kiddo posts, the beginning of my crafts posts, some husband and wife "usies" and a bunch more totally cool random pictures of my life that I post

 

 

 

My 4 favorite Pinterest pins

 

This month on pinterest for me is all about Valentine's day decorations and Home décor!

My 4 favorite friends posts

toddler talks | at least they're honest by Kelsey at Pardon my French was hilarious because 1. who doesn't love toddler conversations and 2. There is more than one conversation on this post where the word big was used to describe her and as a pregnant mama that has got to be both hilarious and annoying

We Are All Human....It Happens to All of Us was my first time reading Amanda's blog Meet @ The Barre and I literally cracked up while reading it and then read it again to Isaac when he got home because I thought that it was totally something that would happen to me. She instantly became my blogger bff in my head and I've been reading every day since

Home. by Shay at Mix and Match Family. What's better than a birth story? A heart felt adoption coming together story. I followed Shay's journey to adopt adorable Ashby London and I loved that she kept us informed every step of the way through all 18 days in China and I really loved all of her friends coming to greet them at the airport when they came back as the Shull Five! My heart was so full seeing all of the pictures of so many people ready to love on them.

Basically every single Bachelor Recap that Sheaffer from Pinterest Told me To has written this season! She is HILARIOUS and basically says exactly what I thought during the episode. I almost look forward to these more than the actual episode

What were your favorites for the month of January?!

Click here to see where I am linking up for all of my Friday Favorites and check out some more posts by some awesome ladies!

Fussa Walking Tour....or a portion of it at least

In the name of transparency and so I don't look like a horribly lazy blogger I want you guys to know that I had a very long post written up that detailed every move of this tour. When I brought it up to post it and got called away my wonderful son decided he would try to sabotage me and deleted the post somehow and I cannot get it back. This is just not my week! So now we have this....this horribly lazy last minute post about my walking tour that we weren't able to complete  but are totally going back for.

A few weeks ago Isaac, Logan and I set out to go to the Fussa Walking tour. We got together with our friends Brittany and Korey and walked out of the gate (on what seemed like the coldest day every might I add)  to soak up a little but of culture in this town that we live in. The sidewalks here are small and so we got Logan's umbrella stroller out and started on our journey. We walked for about 15 minutes and we came up on a small cemetery. There were people mourning their loved ones and so I didn't want to tae any pictures but trust me it was beautiful.

Right next to it there was a temple. It was open and people were pulling up to go inside. Me in tourist mode with my camera gave it away so they let us take some pictures before they went inside. There was gold everywhere, the detail that went into the architecture was impeccable and you feel a calm come over you just entering

 After being there for a few minutes we wanted to get out of the way and let them get to their business so we moved on. Outside there was a water trough You are supposed to cleanse your hands in it. It was so cold so I didn't do it but I did grab a picture.

About 30 steps away we came across another temple. This one was much smaller and closed but was a sight to see none the less. This one was Logan's favorite because it was a bright red.

Right about now is when Logan really started to get cranky. He was already not having a good day and so it was a risk going on this day but I had to get out and do something and there is so much to see here. I honestly wish I could go explore every day. I am learning to pick my days more carefully thought and rescheduling things on days where it may not be a good idea to take him out for him to act crazy lol 

On the way out of the area where the shrines were there was one more temple and then a ton of statues dressed in hats and jackets. Google became my best friends and I later learned that they were Ojizousama statues. They are divinities that are supposed to look over children, travelers and the underworld. I am looking forward to running into more areas where Ojizousama are.

We walked for another 10 minutes to another temple. Logan told us in more ways than one that he really wanted to get home because he was cold and wasn't in a particularly good mood so I knew this would be our last one (and I was secretly glad because I was getting chilly and we were not prepared for the temp to go down)

I snapped this in someone's front yard

The last temple

The day didn't turn out like I had hoped and we didn't get to go on the while walking tour but it was filled with beauty and I cant wait to go back and re-explore fussa

Lately

Soooooooo

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately but this move is kicking our butts. I am trying to decorate and make it feel as much like home as I can even though our furniture and other stuff isn't here yet. I am noticing we are functioning much better and are much more settled now that we are in our own home and things are starting to calm down a bit, especially for Logan. He thrives when he is on a schedule, we are all in the same house and we are more stable so I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rest of our things. He keeps saying "How is this our new house when our sofa isn't here?" and "Are the movers going to bring my toys back soon? Its taking forever!"

While I've been waiting I have been filling the time with....

Buying a bunch of stuff I don't need....but is too cute to pass up....like my new chairs from Ikea

Building things like that awesome table to display Isaac's grandmothers radio that they used to listen to everyday before she passed away (So happy that we finally have a place to put this) and our entertainment center that I love! They both came from Ikea also (I spent waaaay too much money there this past weekend and the building ended in an emergency Jack Daniels run for Isaac haha)

Play dates where Logan squared discovered that team work makes dreams work

Getting ready to start my valentines day crafts

and a meeting with Isaac's commander where I am convinced to become one of the key spouses for the squadron

I promise this week I am going to be much better at blogging! I've got the recap from our Fussa walking tour from a few weeks ago, I'm trying a new recipe of stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon (mmmmmmmmm bacon) and obviously the reveal of our valentines day décor coming up!

Thanks for being such awesome bloggers, being patient when I haven't posted as much as I should have and for reading and commenting on old posts when I didn't put anything new up! I love you guys for that 😘😍❤️

Click here to see where I am linking up!

Friday Favorites

It's the weekend! This week was filled with joy as we got the keys to our home for the next 3 years, frustration as Logan is a Threenager and is driving me crazy, hilarity as Logan is, again, a Threenager and I learned what that term was and it cracked me up because it is so true (and this life is at times pretty hilarious), and the mundane boringness that comes with having temp furniture and not really being able to start decorating until our HHG (Household Goods) arrive NEXT MONTH, which is a month later than promised!

Now on to my Friday Favs:

 

1. White Walls and White Walls Marketplace

(Photo from: White Walls Online)

Ever wondered where you could go to buy all those awesome (and of easily movable from home to home) crafts and décor that you see in the homes of your favorite military families?! Well now there is the White Walls Marketplace where you can go to one place in internetland, browse all of the amazingly beautiful creations made by military members and spouses, then when you see something you like, click on it and it takes you right to their website or etsy store to purchase it. Super easy right!? This awesome idea was the brain child of the White Walls Blog and corresponding Facebook page Founder Erin Morris and Co-Founder Megan Smith. Those are sites made specifically for military families to come together and share their decorating ideas to make the white walls that we inherit at each base feel more like home. Super cool idea that I love and look to for inspiration for basically every decorating need in my home, especially with this move. What better way to support military families than to support their small businesses?! The White Walls Marketplace is exciting, new, creative and fun! Don't want to buy anything? Just check out their blog, facebook, pinterest or instagram pages to get some home decorating inspiration!! You won't be disappointed (If you are a military business owner who wants to sell your home décor on the white walls marketplace you can follow the instructions to join the marketplace here and start selling!)

****No they aren't sponsoring this post I just think White Walls is super duper awesome haha

2. Sweet Chili Sauce

 

I am not sure why but I have basically been putting sweet chili sauce on everything that I can. After having it on some popcorn chicken at my friend Nikita's house last weekend I became obsessed and now if I'm home and it sounds like it may be a good idea I am throwing it on there. This also means I am having a lot more popcorn chicken and chili sauce snacks than I should be during a day. I had only ever had it on Lumpia but it is so yummy on everything else too! Who knew haha

 

3. Project Paper Hearts

 

I read about Project Paper Hearts on Jo, My Gosh and then within the same week I saw an instagram post about it from Munchkins and the Military so this Thursday I took a break from packing up to move to our house from TLF and got to crafting with my little. Project Paper Heart collects handmade Valentines Day cards to mail to the children at St. Jude. Her goal is 200 handmade cards and as of January 17 they still had 168 to go. I hope that ours make it in time!! If I can do it with my obvious lack of crafting skills then you can do it too....so join us! It's so awesome to make a child smile and we are all so blessed in more ways than we can count.

 

 4. Military Spouse of the Year Voting and Marissa-Ellen Patterson

          (Photos From: Military Spouse Magazine)

 

It's the time of year when Americans and military spouses are encouraged to vote for their favorite military spouse that is contributing to their base, their community and country. I nominated my dear friend Marissa-Ellen who has made not only a huge impact on my life when I was first starting out as a military spouse but the woman who I hope to be like one day (even though we are just about the same age). She is passionate about helping military spouses adjust to this life, especially moving to a new country for the first time, she is active in her Enlisted Spouses Club and volunteers with AWAG (Americans working around the globe). I admire her, her chosen career working with veterans in whatever capacity she is able (before they PCS'd to England she worked with the Wounded Warrior Project, something I also wish to do and now assists veterans as they transition from military to civilian life) and how awesome, active and involved she is as a mom and dedicated wife. She does all of this while still making sure they make the best of their duty station and traveling around the world. I am so honored to be able to call her my friend. If you don't already have a horse in the race please take some time to vote for her here. There are so many other amazing spouses nominated this year that you can see here so even if you don't want to vote for Marissa there are so many other options. (They just released the winners for the base level and she won for RAF Lakenheath!!! Next round of voting begins February 4th with the top 18 spouses)

5. My "I'm your new neighbor" move in gifts

 

 

We finally moved into our house this week!! Remember when I listed all of those awesome ideas to help you introduce yourself when you move into a new home? Well we moved in this week and naturally I had to follow my own advice. I couldn't decide which one to do but I ended up combining both the popcorn and the measuring cup ideas (I bought much more candy but I stress ate it during the move). Our tower (building) on base has a Facebook page and when I introduced myself on there a few people reached out, welcomed us and were very friendly so when I made them for my floor and those 3 other people. I hope it will be well received and that they enjoy them (Isaac said that they're too corny and he would throw it away...I know RUDE!) I just dropped them off so hopefully when they wake up and get the day started they will see them and they will be well received! I'll keep you posted

**I got beat by my neighbor in the new neighbor gift department. Our awesome next door neighbor and her handsome little brought over some flowers tonight after dinner and before bath...she caught an epic tantrum and didn't even blink....I see a new friend in my future

Soooo those were my favs from the week! I hope everyone has a great weekend and check out who I'm linking up with here!

New Friends, Birthdays and Double Dates

This weekend was packed full of fun, the normal weekend boring times and all of those cool things in the title

On Friday we got together with my new friend Ashley and her husband Mike and headed out for a double date. It was our first time meeting each others husbands and their first time meeting each other as well. Sidebar: Isn't is crazy how when you hang out with a friend for the first time it is like going on a date?! You get nervous, you hope that you get along and that you get invited to hang out again. The first time I hung out with Ashley that's how I felt and I thought we clicked but you never know so when we got invited on our double date I high fived myself, called my husband and told him we got a second date! lol The second we brought our husbands to meet each other we both had that feeling like we had set two people up and we were hoping they liked each other and would click like we did. It was soooo nerve wrecking! They clicked and I think we both secretly did a happy dance so now we can hang out as a group too!! I hope other people out there feel the same way and I'm not completely crazy!

Anyway Ashley's parents are in town and so they graciously volunteered to watch the kids while we headed out. Remember when I made my goals for 2015 and I said I wanted to be more intentional about making sure I have kid free time with Isaac? Well Operation Date Your Husband is off to a good start! It is still January and I was determined to not let this month pass by without a date night. This was our first Logan free date since June (I know, I know that's a long time but to be fair he was in Korea until December and we did move to a new country so I get a little bit of a pass) and so I was really excited. We headed out to a noodle place (I'm not sure what it was called) They had benches where you could sit and watch them make the food or tables. When you walk in they had a machine to place your order and it gives you little tickets (a different one for each thing you order). You give the tickets to your waitress and she brings you your food. If you ever go make sure you hold on to your own little tickets because if they get mixed up you will get all kinds of extras that someone else ordered haha

I ordered noodles but since I am learning I am not much of a noodle person I also ordered fried rice and a coke (which they looove here and have everywhere haha) My dislike for noodles was confirmed (I am going to try thin noodles next time and see if that changes) and so thank goodness I got the friend rice which was super yummy and I ate with my chopsticks with minimal food dropping between bowl and mouth (HIGH FIVE FOR ME!)

We hung out had some awesome grown up kid free conversation and then did what every super awesome kid free group of parents does on date night. We went for ice cream!!!! I got my usual super adventurous flavor of Vanilla, Isaac got some banana and chocolate fudge mixture that he devoured and Ashley got this gorgeous concoction.

I didn't taste it but it was too pretty not to take a picture of!

Saturday we went out to shop for a car and that was a bust! It didn't work out but that was fine because we went shopping instead which always makes everyone feel better. Later that afternoon we went to (Ashley's daughter) Kami's Blues Clues Themed 2nd birthday party! I love a good kids birthday party. I know to most that sounds crazy but I love to see a bunch of kids running around together and the joy on their face because they are eating things they don't normally get to eat. Plus I can eat as much cake and ice cream as I want without being judged. It was super fun and we had a great time and BONUS there were hardly any toddler fights!

 

Sunday was the regular Cunningham Family rest day filled with movies, popcorn, lots of relaxation and lunch at Chili's so that I could get their Cajun chicken pasta which I have become addicted to in only a short time here ( I know I know I'm in Japan and should eat more Japanese food...I'm working on it) Oh and guess what? We got a car!!! It was unexpected but a last minute base Facebook swap page search worked in our favor and we got a cool little car that is perfect for the three of us for $1000 under budget from a nice Chief and his wonderful wife. (Seriously she was so nice! I instantly wanted to become best friends but that totally didn't happen. There's always tomorrow right? Maybe I'll have another awkward first friend date planned soon)

That night Logan, who is going through a growth spurt which is awesome for him but not awesome for that money I just saved on the car, went to bed at 5pm and I went next door to watch a movie with another new friend Nikita and her boys (Isn't it cool how many new friends we are making here?!) After being there for half an hour Logan sensed he was missing out on the fun, woke up and joined us. There was pizza, popcorn, pretzels, yummy chicken and chili sauce and girl chat, super sweet lovable polite boys and the beginnings of a couple of awesome friendships. Fun Fact: Nikita's son is also named Logan so I just call them Logan squared when they are together and they call each other Big and Little Logan

Monday was a bonus day off since it was Martin Luther King day and we used it to pick our new car up from the nice lady who I want to be friends with, grocery shop and watch a marathon of Disney fairy tales that came on AFN. Logan actually got really into Beauty and the Beast and was really sad when it ended. We will have to watch it again soon. We ended the night with Homemade pizza, Jeopardy where I was doing well enough that I  thought it was important enough to share, and the first round of the Australian Open Men's matches were on which I dread because they seem s o much slower than the Women's. We watched anyway because we can't ever go a year without watching every major, no matter how boring it seems. We are hoping to head to Australia before we leave Japan so that we can hang out at the open

Soooo that was our pretty regular weekend not filled with the Japan adventure I am sure you were hoping for. We move into our house next week and should begin to get some semblance of normal, or as normal as we can be without our furniture, so hopefully you will get a super fun weekend recap next time!

How did you spend your weekend??? OH and before I forget CONGRATS to the Seahawks and the Patriots!!

Click here to see  which awesome ladies I am linking up today!