Here's my husband, Brian.  Isn't he the most handsome guy ever?

I love going to living in Saipan with him, and I love how I always feel safe when he's there. 

I love what a good man he is, and how he is kind to everyone.

I love spending lazy Saturdays with him, reading our books side by side at night, and how he always holds his hand out to help me when we are hiking.  Thankful for my man.

i love Brian and i love Sam

 Here's my family on a walk in our compound last week.  This is the lot directly across from our house and we really love the sunset view.  It's so nice to let the busyness or stress of the day melt away while we sit on our porch and look at the view.  

Brian always reminds me to pause during the day and to soak in the beauty of the ocean.  When you live on a small island, it's easy to take the beauty of an ocean view for granted because you see the ocean literally all the time.  I like it how Brian reminds me that we will not always live near the sea and to enjoy it each day we're here.

Paddle Boarding

A few weeks ago, Brian and I went to the beach with a couple of our friends for some paddle-boarding.  It was my first time and I thought it was actually super relaxing.  The water was calm and clear, and I loved paddling slowly with nowhere to go.  These are some of the only pictures I have (we left our camera at home!) but hopefully I can find and add some more later. 

love this beach

Samantha

i love this puppy face.

We've moved into our new little rental house up on Navy Hill. It's two small (very small) bedrooms, and is located on a compound that we share with about 6 other houses up on the hill. I love how shady the area is, allowing us to use less air conditioning! That is so important because electricity is much more expensive here in Saipan than what we are used to in the US or Taiwan.

My very favorite part of our new rental house is the view of the ocean from the porch. Our neighbors just recently cleared a lot of trees which was blocking most of the ocean view... now we can see the sea from our bedroom window!

Brian and I are both busy with all day summer camps right now, and getting the new house all organized. There were a lot of unfinished projects when we first moved in (no air-conditioning, leaking toilet and shower, broken water heater), but our landlady is finally ironing all of those out. Pictures to come soon.

Weekends on Island

Beautiful Hyatt Beach. We packed up little Sam in our blue Toyota and headed to the shore.

Brian and his friend Jake trying to coax Sam into the water. She's recently developed a small fear of the ocean, after being a true water doggie the first few weeks we had her. The dog books say that she's in the "fearful" puppy stage and will outgrow it, so we're just letting her chill and get in to swim when she wants to.

Naughty digging dog... trying to bury my flip flops

me and my best puppy ever

I love Hyatt beach because it's so relaxing and the water is super clear. It's located right behind Hyatt hotel, but is still open to the public, as all beaches are in Saipan. Many people bring their dogs or rent paddle boards on this beach. I love how clean the sand is- some beaches here are filled with gross sea cucumbers and seaweed, making it hard to wade in your bare feet.

A tropical storm was sweeping through the area north of us this week, and our little island felt the effects of it. Here is the big storm I saw outside my work window on Friday afternoon. The palm trees were swaying like crazy.

tired puppy

4th of July Weekend

 4th of July BBQ with good friends last weekend

 Playing Presidents, my new favorite card game

 President and VP heck yes

Brian and Grant @the potluck

Chris showing the guys some old bullets and a grenade he found from the WWII invasion of Saipan

Kara, Ashley, and I at Hyatt Beach, getting ready to paddle board with Brian and Lingie.

Lau Lau Beach

Happy Independence Weekend from Saipan!

husband and I

A few pictures I forgot to post from our anniversary night back in May

Ahh how I miss this pool, now that we've moved out of this apt. complex. Luckily, our friends Laura and Joe still live here, so we can still go visit and swim!