Merry Christmas

I know that we are a little late, but we wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! Although we were not able to be with our families in person, we were with you all in spirit. We had a very memorable and warm Christmas. Here's a little something to show you our first Christmas in Okinawa.



Sorry there aren't more pictures from Christmas Day - we spent most of it on the phone!

Tonight is New Year's Eve in Okinawa. Happy New Year to all!

My Sweet Wife

I noticed that Linds has been putting up pictures of me but you haven't seen her for awhile. Lindsay has been in particularly good form the last several months, and some of my favorite pictures of her on our island explorations follow.






































Also, due to gentle criticism regarding a shortage of photos with both of us (this one's for you, Kate!) we give you this picture.
















As we prepare for our first Christmas so very far away from dear family and friends, we hold you close in our thoughts. A very merry Christmas to you all, and may 2010 be filled with love, the blessing of good hard work and its rewards, and joy!

Getting ready for Christmas and other things

I'm sorry I've been a little distracted lately! We've both been getting ready for Christmas for the last two weeks -- mostly me with baking!


Last week, Joe had a day off and helped me prepare for Wigilia (traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner) by making pierogi. Pierogi are a little crescent-shaped bundles of joy. :) It's a sour cream dough filled with potatoes and/or cheese (if you're fancy like my grandma, you could do sauerkraut or prunes). You first roll out the dough, and cut out little circles. After filling the circle, you fold it in half and press the edges together.

We forgot to take a picture of all the steps (as you can tell). Once they're pinched you boil them in water. You could eat them now, but what fun would that be? Of course the Polish think that frying their pierogi is a best next step :)

Delicious! We've got them in the freezer, ready to go for Christmas Eve. Add a little sour cream and a sledgie, and you're all set!

The weather here has cooled off considerably since we got here in July. We're not quite at a white Christmas, but it is cool enough to wear pants and sweaters and try a hot beverage...

Remember the vending machine post? Well not only to vending machines vend cold cokes and teas, but hot green teas as well! This was great! It was a hot green tea, it a little metal can.

Joe, the Navy Dentist

Some of you have asked for a picture of Joe all Navy-ed up. Last Friday, he had a dress uniform inspection. Here he is in his dress blues:


In regards to Joe's dentistry, he recently inherited this office space. The clinic he was assigned to is undergoing renovations for the next year. So, Evans Dental Clinic is now in a temporary facility (the barracks). Joe was lucky enough to snag this little office. His window looks out to the East China Sea.

Thanksgiving

I know I'm a little late in posting this -- it's been a busy week! I was baking, baking, baking Christmas cookies and getting ready for my preschool program.

Joe and I had a lovely Thanksgiving! We cooked our own Butterball Turkey... ...with the help of Joe's birthday gift from Mom & Dad Szwed.

Unlike many of my Thanksgivings growing up, I just let Joe carve the bird (and ate a little that fell off).

We had one other dinner guest, Chun. He's one of the dentists that works with Joe.

We even talked him into playing our new favorite game, Carcassonne (thanks Colleen & TJ!)

And of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without:

Pecan Pie

Christmas Vacation (kind of weird to watch with the ocean right there)

and Pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream!

Sushi with the Farrands

Right before Thanksgiving we had the Farrand's over for some sushi-making. The Farrand's are friends of Joe's family, back in Indianapolis. So, we all went to the Awase Fish Market to find some sashimi fish and came back to our apartment for some sushi making!

We had vegetable rolls....

Some octopus sashimi and salmon and tuna nigiri.

We also made spicy tuna rolls....

Those turned out wonderfully!

We all had a great time and no one left hungry!

Missing Rock Bottom

The weather has started to get cooler here, which in turn makes us miss certain things from home. One of our favorite activities in Indiana (in the fall) was to walk to the Rock Bottom Restaurant by our apartment in the evening. On a Thursday night we would order a pint of the Double Barrel Pale Ale, have some Spicy Spinach dip & pretzels and a bunch of $.25 Stout BBQ wings. Those were the days.



Anyways, we were able to find some Sam Adams Octoberfest beer, so we thought we might try to re-create the Rock Bottom experience! Unfortunately, the only thing that came out well, were the pretzels!

At any rate, we had fun in the kitchen :)

Yakiniku

One of the "road signs" on the way to our apartment is a Yakiniku restaurant. Yakiniku is the Japanese version of Korean BBQ. (Meaning that you grill your food on your table).


The Yakiniku restaurant by us has a LARGE gorilla out front. Neither Joe or I are sure why exactly, but it makes for a great direction: "When you pass the giant gorilla, turn left!"

Anyways, we went last Sunday and it was pretty good. I think I prefer the Korean BBQ better, but this was an experience. For a set price you get appetizers, drinks, meat, veggies and dessert. It was kind of like a Japanese Ponderosa. There were tons of kids in their sports uniforms and families. I guess it was the place to go after the game!