This is our first attempt at loading video to the website. We recently bought a video camera and it got plenty of use during the Schirner's visit. Andrew edited the clips down to a 4 minute music video to The Killer's song "Read my Mind". For those who know the song, the band shot the video for this song in Tokyo as well, so this is our version of it. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving... Tokyo Style!

Hope that you all had a very happy Thanksgiving holiday! While it's certainly tough to be away from family at the holidays, we still managed to have a pretty nice Turkey Day here in Tokyo. We had our friends/neighbors Trish and Seph (and their baby Kate), along with Trish's sister Beth (here visiting from home) and Andrew's co-worker/friend Tom over for dinner. Andrew made the turkey (a 26 pounder might I add- we were all about having plenty of leftovers) and Trish and Beth made the sides. It was a truly fantastic dinner and if you didn't look out the window, you'd think you were back in the USA for sure. I say it was Thanksgiving "Tokyo style" because the night ended at our favorite karaoke place followed by some late night ramen (I was home fast asleep at this point in case you were wondering)!

View from Tokyo Tower

While the Schirners were here we took a trip to the very top observation deck of Tokyo Tower. Taller than the Eiffel Tower (to which its optimistically compared by the Japanese), the tower is approximately 1,100 feet tall and has awesome views of the city. From way up there you can really get a feel for just how HUGE Tokyo is, it seems to go on forever in every direction. In the first picture, you can easily see the building that we call home (click on the picture to view it larger). Its the darker grey building 2 buildings to the right of the big green glass one.

Schirner Visit

Last week our friends Matt and Jessica Schirner came to visit. They were here for just over a week and we really had the best time with them. Its so fun to have friends come and visit! I feel like we really saw and did just about everything while they were here. Some of the highlights were visiting Tokyo Tower, a boat cruise up the Sumida River to Asakusa, Ginza, Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Omoto Sando, Shibuya crossing, the Imperial Palace, Tsukiji fish market, Ueno zoo, Akihabara "Electric town," Roppongi, a night of karaoke, and of course TONS of sushi. They took a two day trip to Kyoto on their own to finish out the trip. Pictured are (in order) Matt and Jessica in front of Asakusa Kannon shrine, Matt wafting incense over himself (this supposedly cures ailments) in front of the same shrine (Matt's not a short guy by any means but note how he TOWERED over the folks over here), me at the Asakusa market stalls (not too exciting but I thought it was a new side belly shot), Jessica and I in front of the Imperial Palace, and Andrew and Matt having cigars at Agave, one of our favorite bars here (its a tequila/margarita bar- imagine how difficult it is for me to go there and NOT be able to drink!).

Moving right along...

Here's a picture Andrew took of me over the weekend. I'm 34 weeks along now. As I type this I'm just waiting for the Schirners to arrive- we're so excited for them to visit! They'll be here through next Wednesday- I'm sure there will be lots of new pictures to post soon!

Another Baby Shower!

Two weeks ago friends Huntly and Annemarie hosted the most fantastic Japanese themed baby shower for myself, Nicola, and Melanie. It was so nice of them and they really put on a wonderful event. I feel SO lucky to have met so many nice people from literally all over the world, and can't believe how much they've spoiled my little guy before he's even here! Thank you so much to Huntly and Annemarie!

Mt. Fuji

This past Sunday was one of the nicest, clearest days we've had in months. There was a crazy typhoon here on Saturday which cleared out the skies. We realized for the first time that you can actually see Mt. Fuji from our apartment (apparently this only happens on the very clearest of days). The first picture is taken from our kitchen window (zooming in) and the second is from Trish and Seph's balcony (two floors up). It takes about 1.5 hours to drive to Mt. Fuji by car.

Kate Hana Jensen is here!

On Tuesday, October 9th friends Trish and Seph welcomed their little girl! They named her Kate Hana (which means "flower" in Japanese). I was able to visit them in the hospital on Day 2, she was so little and cute! Holding Kate makes me both really excited and really nervous to have my own!

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

While in Okinawa we visited the Churaumi Aquarium, the largest aquarium in Asia and the second largest in the world (the first being in Atlanta, GA). Their claim to fame is that they have the largest single fish tank, which houses everything from whale sharks to manta rays (they're the only ones to be able to keep manta rays since they have to have such a huge tank to swim in). I must admit it was pretty cool.

The last picture is of a road sign we passed on the way to the aquarium that I got a real kick out of. The Japanese are notorious for being the most polite people EVER (constant bowing) and this is actually a road sign with a man bowing in apology for the road work!

Latest Belly Shots

Here's two pictures taken of my RAPIDLY growing stomach. They were taken in Okinawa- when I was 32 weeks along. I just thought the second one was really funny- had to share.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

While we were in Okinawa we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary- its been a pretty exciting two years for us! We went back to the same restaurant where we celebrated our 1st anniversary last year. We brought with us a bottle of wine that was a wedding gift from the Emalas- thank you Ashley and Jason!! Andrew got to enjoy a lot of more of it than I did :)

Congratulations to Kelly and Massi, Jessica and Matt, Larisa and Ryan, and Stacey and Logan who also celebrated wedding anniversaries in October!

Okinawa!

Two weekends ago we traveled back to Okinawa for a final "adults only" getaway before the baby arrives. We went there this time last year as well, its definitely one of our favorite spots to visit in Japan! It's about a 2 hour flight from Tokyo.

Onigiri on Fridays

On Friday mornings I volunteer at the Tokyo Union Church, making onigiri (Japanese rice cakes) for the homeless. Onigiri are probably the most popular snack here in Japan, you can find one just about anywhere. Andrew LOVES them. There's a small group of us that volunteer there each week. I'm pictured here with friends Nicola and Melanie, who are also pregnant with their first babies. We're all due within weeks of each other.