Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It has been quite the holiday season! It was our first Christmas away from home and a bit different then the cold weather and loads of snow. We were sad to be away and happy to hear from family and friends, but luckily we were very busy these last couple weeks and were able to get through the holiday season with no tears. :)

I had two weeks off of school and it has been WONDERFUL! While I was off, Matt only had to work three days. I took those days to catch up on lesson planning and to actually go to my first dental appointment in over a year. Unfortunately I had two cavities. Luckily I know of a dentist who was able to fit me into his busy schedule and got them taken care of right away.

We celebrated Matt's birthday and Christmas Eve by throwing an "Ugly Christmas Sweater" party. After A LOT of cooking, cleaning, and shopping, we had a blast with all of our friends. Due to having only one clothing store on base and a lack of ugly Christmas sweaters in stock, some people were pretty creative at making their own ugly sweaters.

Matt and I in our ugly sweaters

Some of the girls

Hanging out on the balcony

On Christmas day, Matt and I spent the morning together eating apple puffed pancakes, opening presents, and watching "Elf." Chile tried to celebrate with us, but he was VERY tired from the party the night before and was unable to help us open our presents. For lunch we went over to a friend's house for some delicious Mexican food. We had a nice time eating too much food and relaxing with friends.

Christmas breakfast

The weekend after Christmas, Matt and I heard of an auction that was going on, on base and we decided to check it out. Our first auction was a success and we came away with some pretty interesting items. It was a fun experience and I still want a certain wall hanging, so we may try again later!

On New Year's Eve we attended a Red Carpet party. We got all dressed up and got our pictures taken on the red carpet. It was a very fun night. We all counted down to midnight and celebrated with kisses, champagne, and fireworks. I think this may be my first year without the actual countdown on TV and watching the ball drop. It was interesting how I have relied on that for so long. :) I was not a very good photographer this night, so I will post pictures when I get some from others.

To start off the New Year a group of us went to Forest Adventures. It is a zip line and ropes course that is high up in the trees and has the longest zip line in Japan. I was very scared to go and actually was not planning on attending, but on the same morning I bought my ticket at the last minute. When we got there we were bused to the course, got all strapped in to our harnesses, and listened to the safety procedures. It was so much fun! The hardest part for me was climbing the rope ladders and standing on the platforms waiting for my turn. Once I was cruising down the zip line it wasn't as scary. Matt loved all of it. Unfortunately part way through, the weather was not cooperating and the rest of the course was closed. We all got free day passes for another day and plan to return to finish the course.

Matt and I in between zip lines
Me on one of the platforms...holding on tight!
The Group

Well that is about it for now! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and we are counting down the days until we can see all of you (which for Matt, is in less than a month)!