Sunset Dinner Cruise!

I love these friends of mine and I feel so blessed to have the in Saipan.  They are so wonderful, caring, and FUN!! :)  I'm going to miss them more than I can say!  

A few weeks ago was my friend Kara's birthday and we spent a whole day doing fun things to celebrate.  In the evening, we went on a Sunset Dinner Cruise.  It was my first time to go on one, although by the time you've been in Saipan for two years, most people have gone on multiple dinner cruises!  I thought it was SO much fun- here are some pictures of the night.

 Below: On the dock, getting ready to go out to sea

 The dinner cruise is on a large sailboat (ours was called the Jade Lady) that makes a big loop inside the reef to Managaha island and back.  It lasts two hours and includes drinks, dinner, and dancing!  

Here's where you go.  And there's our 2nd favorite island- Managaha!

pic via

The live music by our musician, Jerry, was so good.

Laura and I

All the girls on the boat and birthday girl Kara with her bday shells and lei.

The dinner was also so yummy- steak, rice, and veggies.

When the boat starting making it's way back to Saipan, we were sitting in the front of the boat with our feet over the edge and the wind in our hair.  As Saipan came closer into view, I thought about how much I love this little island that has been our home for the past two years.  That moment is one of my favorite memories from Saipan.

Last but not least, a little video from the night.  Thanks so much Kara for the pictures and video- love them!

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.

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!

Weekends lately

 Our weekends lately have been spent taking our dowgie to the park...

 Enjoying American Memorial Park

 We're house sitting for another couple here on the island for a few weeks, and their house is way up on Mt. Topochau.  We've been enjoying the wonderful breeze they have up here- you really don't need air conditioning at all.  On Saturday, we had some friends up to enjoy some good old cable... something that none of us have had all year!   MTV, TLC, VH1... I really missed you guys.

Little Sammie dog

 Cable watching party :)  Sitting by Brian is Chief, the best dog in the world!!  We are watching her too while her family is away, and she really is the most well-behaved, sweet dog I've ever known.  Her and Sam love to play together, even though Sam really annoys her at times.

Brian chillin with Chief.

Biking up to Mt. Topochau

One of the best decisions we've made in Saipan this year was to have Brian's bike mailed to us from America. One of Brian's good friends was so great and took the time to get it out of our storage unit, pack it up, and mail it over here (not such an easy process!). Brian has been on his bike just about every day since!

He loves riding up Navy Hill to the top of Mt. Topochau. When you reach the top, there is a breathtaking view of the whole island of Saipan, including the ocean all around you. I've never biked up there (haha!) but I love driving up there at sunset and seeing the view.

Here's some excellent picture my husband took from up there- I love the ocean view in the background. Enjoy!

Rachel's Dad in Saipan

I really LOVED having my dad visit Saipan last week. He stayed for a week, and we really packed a lot in to each day. He was tired in the evenings, but had such a great time hiking, visiting the war memorials, snorkeling (his favorite), having bonfires and foil dinners on the beach, meeting our wonderful friends here, and taking the ferry to the little island of Managaha. Brian was able to take off work Monday through Wednesday to be with us, which was even more awesome.

My dad especially loved our Thursday evening Street Market, which is a big event every week in Saipan. A street in Garapan (the tourist district) is filled with stands from local restaurants, and my dad had a great time choosing skewers of BBQ from each of the stands. He also tried Poons, my husband's favorite Chinese restaurant, during Street Market.

Bonfire night at Wing Beach

Visiting the Suicide Cliff Memorial.

Saturday morning, waiting for Brian's race to begin. My dad was really excited to be here to see it, and I can't believe we both stayed at the race site for 6 hours!

Hiking down to the beach of with Forbidden island in the background.

It's a rainy, rainy weekend here on the island of Saipan. Right now I'm sitting at Coffee Care, which is up on the hill above our house and has an excellent view of the hills below and out to the ocean. The rain is coming down in slanty sheets and it's gorgeous.

With our races over, we've had some nice, relaxing time lately. Tonight was supposed to be our camping night for Brian's birthday celebration but it will have to be postponed b/c of the rain, and we are having a date night instead.

The year is starting to come to a close :( as I only have 8 more weeks of school, and Brian's school ends the second week of June. We're looking forward to our weekend trip over to Guam in April for Brian to take his Praxis Test and to do some touring. (They have a Coldstone and a Little Caesars Pizza in Gaum... how I've missed those two!

Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright

Hello everyone, happy Friday.

In two weeks from today I will be on a plane flying to the states. This will be the first time that I have been home in a year and a half and I can't wait to give my family a hug. My gramma Wilma passed away last month, and I know that this will make it a difficult Christmas in some ways, but it has also made me so anxious to see my Grampa and Gram, and to spend lots of time with them over my trip.

My wonderful Gram and I are going to spend time doing one of our favorite things together: browsing the Nelson Art Gallery in Kansas City. I can't wait to have lots of lunches with her and for her to show me all of the new things that have been built in KC while I've been away. My Grampa and I are planning a day of looking through old pictures at his house, which I am so excited about. I can't wait to find and frame some pictures of my Gramma, who I will miss so much this Christmas, but who is healthy and happy in heaven right now.

Brian is going to be here in Saipan for Christmas (this will be the longest we've ever been apart since we've been engaged!). I am so thankful for him and how he still wanted me to go to visit the states when we found out we only have enough money for one plane ticket. I have a wonderful, thoughtful man! He will have many of our friends here who are also staying on the island for Christmas, but I also know that he would love lots of skype calls from friends and family. Also, I can give you our address here if you would like to send him a little Christmas note.

Happy Holidays from Saipan!

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