Typhoon Kompasu

After spending the majority of the day waiting for Typhoon Kompasu to hit (currently is), I have spent plenty of time on the internet. Go figure.
I have found that I have not posted a blog post in quite some time!

Lots has been happening here in Okinawa...

I recently got back from my last buy trip to Thailand. I have one more trip to China for work and that will be my last and final buy trip! Sad... but it's time.  My travels for the gift shop have included 4 trips to Thailand, 2 trips to the Philippines, 1 to Vietnam, and now 3 trips to China.

Nate was planning on deploying up to Camp Fuji today, but plans got delayed due to Kompasu's arrival. He should be heading out tomorrow or Thursday for a couple weeks. Despite the promise of having to climb Fuji for the second time this summer, he is VERY excited to head up to mainland. He has been told there will be opportunities for live fire, grenade throwing, etc... All things guys love to do!

We have about 10 months left on island! It truly has been amazing how quickly our time on our little island here has gone. We look forward to spending the last months here traveling, hosting visitors, & just enjoying this little place we call home for now!

Like I always say... I will do my best to keep up at posting!

Tootsa Turns One!

Support Team Thompson

Ann will once again be participating in the Race for the Cure Indianapolis in April!

Support Ann, Craig, Ella & Makenna!!

Back from Thailand!

Nate and I arrived back to Okinawa yesterday with news of an earthquake and tsunami possibly on it's way! It turned out that the tusnami didn't hit Okinawa, but a small tsunami did hit northern mainland Japan.

We had a wonderful trip to Thailand and will have many pictures to send out once they are uploaded! Some of the highlights of our trip:

Chiang Mai
-going on a trek
-laying with big tigers
-Nate bottle feeding a baby monkey
-Nate getting two suits made by a tailor:)
-eating grasshopers and worms: (

Phuket
-SCUBA diving off the coast of Phuket
-taking a speed boat trip to Phi Phi and Khai Island (we went to Maya Beach where the movie The Beach was filmed
-renting a scooter and exploring the island for a day

Bangkok
-going to seeMuay Thai fights (Thai Boxing)

It has been a while since we have been in touch with a lot of people! We hope that everyone is doing well and we look forward to catching up with everyone !!!!!!!!

Our February donation has gone to Oceana. Check out their website if you are interested!

He's a Spearfisher

Here are some shots of Nate's spearfishing adventures!

He calls these big daddy and little guy... not sure what type of fish they are.

Grouper on the left & a parrot fish on the right

up-close on the teeth

Another grouper....

 Nate & Ray at Okuma with their fish.... 3 of these were Ray's.

Nate with his gun & a stringer of parrot fish.

Helping Out Where We Can

So with the New Year comes resolutions ... and of course we all have/had them. I had been trying to figure out what Nate and I were going to do for other people this year as part of our resolution.

Well things got busy and my plans got pushed to the side .... until one day on Facebook (go figure) I came across a post by Kate Weikert that Susan had re-posted to her wall. It was a lovely note Kate had written about (I am doing her eloquent writing no justice) giving and donating what you can, when you can. No gift is too small. To make a long story short ... what she wrote inspired me to get back on track with my "what we can do for other people" part of my resolutions. (If you would like to read what she wrote just let me know and I will email it to you.)

After talking with Nate about this we have decided that we are going to make monthly donations to charitable organizations that benefit areas in crisis or anything that relates personally to our lives or anyone we know at that time. We decided upon a money range that we would donate each month. Then came the hard part of finding which charity to donate to (there are tons of them) and so on. In Kate's post she had mentioned Charity Navigator, so I headed to the internet and spent some time researching on http://www.charitynavigator.org/. There is so much helpful information there! Please check it out!

In the wake of the Haiti earthquake we have decided that we wanted to support the people of Haiti and the many people who are helping this tragedy for our January donation.
We finally decided upon the Save the Children organization and their "Haiti Earthquake- Children in Emergency Fund "

We plan to post each month what charity we will be donating to and also their website if you are interested in donating or just learning more about the organizations we choose.

Help out where you can! Donating blood is also a great way to give! If you have been to any "third world" countries you will be turned away. Nate and I are not qualified to donate at this time. :(

FYI... A lot of companies will match your donations! If you donate, check to see if the company you work for takes part of that specific organizations matching program.

Just a little fun fact: You can provide a family with a goat for only $30!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010!

Nate and I rang in the New Year at our apartment with friends.

We watched cool fireworks from our porch. So pretty! I love how much the Japanese love fireworks!

Happy New Year to all!