Just in case you missed Saipan on the map.... it's very easy to do!

There we are: Saipan, in the southern end of the Northern Mariana Islands

Here's how very little we are!! We are in the Northern Mariana Islands box

Some interesting facts about the war here in Saipan

Sunset sillhouettes

moi

mon amor

me and Laura

A Beach Bonfire

Eating some dinner, watching the sunset

love these girls

my handsome husband

Starting to build the bonfire- Brian and Jen built most of it

Packing up our dinner so it didn't get washed away when the tide came up

Brian collecting sticks for the fire

Elizabeth, Jen, me, and Laura

cute picture....

... then we saw a crab

love this pic of Brian

It's not our anniversary...

But I still just wanted to post all of these wedding pictures... I love them

I can't wait to see my Grampa again

Our family prayer at our wedding

On our way to Mexico for our honeymoon

We took these by ourselves maybe a week before our wedding

On our honeymoon

Fall in Saipan

Inside of a cave near Bird Island- this is where we hid our stuff while we swam

We had to use a muddy rope to climb down to the beach

Can you see Brian in the red shirt

Hello everyone,

Here's some things that have been happening on our little island.

- We are just loving our small group Bible study on Monday nights. Everyone brings a dish, and it's held at one of our church members houses- up in the mountainous area of Saipan, so it has a gorgeous view of the island and ocean down below. Brian actually led it yesterday, and did a great job. We're doing the series "The Greatest Question Ever" right now. We love the friends we're meeting there, and have been doing some hiking/beach trips with some of them on the weekends.

- Brian is starting a hiking club at school and he's had lots of teachers and students who are interested in helping/joining. They are going to go on one short-medium length hiking trip per month, and he's going to focus on teaching skills for hiking and navigating. I'm really excited for the first one- I'm going too and I'll get to meet some of the teachers at his school.

- I'm joining a weekly yoga class with two of my friends here- so excited for it to start this Thursday. We were looking at one that they hold at one of the resorts here (there's like 8 to 10 vacation resorts here on the island- it's nice for us because they have great food!) out on the beach, but we opted for a less expensive one. Yoga on the beach would have been aaa-mazing, though- maybe next time!

Other things that have been happening:

- swimming in the ocean

- snorkeling

- cooking lots

- nursing prerequisites for me... studying studying again..

- ultimate frisbee

- checking out some of the beautiful war memorial sites

- driving around on our scooter and getting poured on sometimes- by a raincloud out of nowhere!

- stargazing (amazing here out in the middle of the ocean)

- looking for a tutoring job for me... nothing yet- keep your fingers crossed!

Can't hardly wait

Today I'm just feeling REALLY excited for our plans in the future. And thanking God for our blessings in Saipan.

I can't wait to see my family in 13 weeks!

date night

so glad I'm in Saipan with him♥

Gettin a little tan

On Monday, we all had the day off of school, so we boarded a ferry and headed to our favorite island again: Managaha. Tourists pay about $40 for the ferry there and back, but we have local id's, which get us there for free as long as we sign up a few days in advance.

Brian, Josiah, Josh, Elizabeth, and Laura waiting to board the ferry

Here's Josh and Brian snorkeling

Saipan and Managaha both have lots of tanks, wreckage, and some guns left on the island from the war. There's a tank near the coast on the west side of the island that's partially covered with water- Brian wants to swim out there and check it out. This day at Managaha, we found two huge, rusty bolts that were most likely left over from war equipment.

Success...

We've done it... we're officially back to cooking at home. Really cheap, delicious meals for under 5 dollars.

Ahhh... the life of a small budget. But it's all in the name of TRAVEL and so worth it.

And it's also all in the name of buying a plane ticket back to Kansas City, MO (etc.) for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cooking in Saipan

Have I ever mentioned that I adore "western" food? I love you, Taiwan, but I definitely do not miss your food. I'm loving being able to go to the grocery store and easily get everything we need for a meal again. It's also been really nice (and cheap) to cook at home again.

Here's some pics of the other night- our friends Josh and Elizabeth taught us how to make some great Mexican food, complete with homemade corn tortillas.

We all decided to carry the dining table set out to the balcony to have dinner there- here's the view (from Laura and Josiah's apartment)

And the view from their balcony again as the sun was setting. ♥