I truly will miss a lot about being here

My birthday week was a blast. On my actual birthday we drove down to Haleiwa. It's definitely one of my favorite spots here. The atmosphere is awesome: sort of a vintage/surfer town. We had lunch, got shaved ice at Matsumoto's, and just walked through the shops. Bella made a souvenir penny for me at Matsumoto's.


After Haleiwa, Brian and I walked around the mall for a little bit and then went to Best Buy. He got me Photoshop, so I've been playing with that a lot. It's pretty confusing so far, but I'm trying to figure it out so I can use it when I'm doing my photography thing in Japan.

The week after my birthday we did my birthday dinner at Tiki's Grill and Bar in Waikiki. I wanted a really touristy type place with this being my last birthday living in Hawaii and all. There were about 20 people there. It was awesome to be able to spend that time with so many of the people I've made friends with over these past three years. I can say I truly will miss a lot about being here.

And speaking of missing it here, we got our tentative leave date. We are scheduled to leave just a week after my due date. Depending on how everything goes with the baby, we may have to extend. Then we go home to visit for a month (and to Disneyland!!), and then we are off to our next great adventure (which I've decided to call the Sushi Chronicles).