Oooh Boy....

I can't believe I haven't been posting lately.... 0_0 It's not that I've forgotten to, it's just that in the past month, things have been extremely busy, and not in a fun way. Our furniture came in a few weeks ago, so we had to do lots of unpacking, reorganizing, and have been trying to piece back our life and home together little by little. It's looking so much better now though, but the work was so exhausting! x_x Still, we aren't quite finished yet. There's still some little things that need to be taken care of (mainly just buying a few things that we need to replace our old furniture that we weren't able to take with us, restocking our cabinets, figuring out where to place our gaming systems, etc.), and one big thing.... we still have to find a way to bring our cats here.... It's taking much longer than anticipated. We know that they're okay where they are staying at the moment, but we miss them like crazy! I miss Blair following me around everywhere and sitting in my lap for hours on  end, and I miss Sundae's constant meowing (I never thought I would say that). In the little time we have had them, they've become such a big part of our lives and we have come to  love them very dearly. We can't wait until they're back in our arms again!

Thinking about our cats can't help but make me think of our guinea pigs and rabbits, too... It makes me feel awful that we had to surrender them... We would have had to give them up anyways when they got here, though, since we're only allowed to have two pets living on base. :( It hurts thinking about them, but I can only hope that they have found loving homes with people who can take care of them properly, especially the rabbits. They can't be kept in a cage all day and need their running space, can't be put under stress, need their areas cleaned at least once every two days, need to be petted and loved often so they don't shed and so they warm up to you, and need lots and lots of timothy hay to help their digestive system. Taking care of them is a lot of work, and I wonder just how many people have the time and dedication to do that on a regular basis. Some people eventually start to neglect their pet rabbits after the initial excitement of having them wears away too, or so I've heard. I don't want that to land up happening to them.... I can't help but be worried about them so much. My husband says to remain positive, but sometimes that's a bit difficult, especially when we don't know where they may be now. I wonder if I will ever stop worrying about them...

Kawaii Nails!

I ordered a set of nails from kawaiinails.com a couple of weeks ago, and they finally came in today! x3 I was surprised that they looked just as pretty in person as they did on the site! The only thing I was a little sad about is one of the nails was missing rhinestones.They stated on their site that sometimes rhinestones will be missing, though, and they aren't responsible for rhinestones falling off, so I can't really pin that on them, but still... I wish they would have provided more replacement beads with in their little baggy of backup rhinestones and jewels so I could fix it properly.  Oh well, not like rhinestones are that hard to come by, anyways. :P Overall, they're very nice looking, and the glue that comes with the nails seems to dry instantly on contact with your nail bed. I didn't have to press down on them for too long at all in order to get them to stay. 

I ordered a small, and for the most part, they seem to fit comfortably enough, but I think next time, I'll order a medium and see how that works, or I'll just order custom sizes. I almost wish I did that, but I didn't realize that was an option when I got these. ^^:

Amazingly, they're already holding up better than other press-on nails that I've tried in the past. The real test is seeing if they stay on while I'm asleep, though. I've had nails just randomly disappear on me overnight, never to be found again... Q_Q I also worry about how well they'll hold up in the shower, since in order to remove them, you need to soak your hands in warm water for about 30 minutes. I'm just curious if being in the shower for that amount of time would have any effect on the glue... I'm hoping it doesn't, because I really don't want to accidentally lose one down the drain or having to keep re-applying them constantly! >.< 

 If they hold up well, I'll definitely stock up on these and get other sets. They're cheaper than getting acrylic nails done at a salon, and you can get more uses out of them. Plus, it seems that these are far more gentle on my nail beds than acrylics, too, which I totally love since my nails really can't take much abuse (they're paper thin and always have been since I was little). I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

We're Finally All Moved In!

We are finally in our new home! We had been staying at the hotel on base for over a month, and we were actually supposed to be out of there last week, but some things had come up, delaying our move-in date. Amazingly, our new place is very much like the hotel we've been staying at. The layout of the place is very similar, only bigger. Lols! When we first moved in here a couple of days ago, I didn't like it very much since We had absolutely nothing to cook with aside from an oven. There were no pots and pans, no microwave, no toaster, no spatulas... zip. :P Needless to say, it made preparing meals rather difficult. Thankfully though, yesterday my husband had stopped by the Airmen's Attic and got us a microwave, toaster, pan, and a huge comforter for free (they were all used things and were donated by people who were moving away and needed to get rid of their stuff right away)! ^.^ I'm a lot happier now! :D

Slowly, this place is turning into a home. I really can't wait until the rest of our furniture and belongings come in... It's hard to believe that we've been here this entire time and our things still haven't arrived. -_- I guess my husband and brother weren't kidding when they said that the Army is really slow about things like that. I wonder why it takes so long...? Even the stuff we order online make it here quicker. :/ There has to be some sort of process they need to go through or something... Either way, we have no choice but to wait for them. xD

Machida!

Ahh.... So this post is kind of overdue... ^^; I got into one of those moments where I started writing, but then got distracted by something else and completely forgot about the whole thing! @_@ Anyways,we went to go spend time with my husband's friend and his family over the weekend! ^_^ They met us up at Machida Station, and then they took us out to see the lovely city of Machida. I don't know why, but every time we visit new place out here, it feel like I've stumbled into some magical world. There's just always so much going on, something new to see or to try... It's incredible! Each place we've been to offers up something different. :)

Walking out of the train station!

Le wild cosplayer appears.... :O

Their main goal was to show us this one store called Animate, which as the name might imply, stocks just about anything and everything pertaining to anime, video games, and manga. xD I'm actually amazed with just how many stores they have out here that are dedicated to nothing but anime. Though, maybe it shouldn't come as such a surprise since even convenience stores carry things like mini figures, manga, and even what looks like hentai magazines. :P It seems like almost anywhere you go, you'll find something anime. 

But yeah, Animate.... It's pretty awesome! My husband and I were walking around staring in awe over various items and drooling over them! It was so packed with things in there, that it was actually kind of difficult to move around. ^^; 

This is pretty much what you see as soon as you walk in Animate. You can kind of see how much is in there already, sort of. It's a little hard to tell with Sena the floor map in the way, but yeah, my husband really likes her for some reason and wanted a picture of her.

We really had to control ourselves while we were there, since there were so many things that we wanted! xD  We landed up getting a few things that we really liked though. ^.^ We got:

A chie figure....

The September issue of Newtype Magazine....

I screamed in delight when I finally found this! I've been looking for Newtype all over since we arrived here in Japan! xD I was such a fan of Newtype USA and had always made a trip to Barnes & Noble every month just to get it up until it was discontinued. It was so disappointing... :(

A P4 Poster of Rise...

Annnd.... This fan.... -_-

I swear this isn't mine. =_=

After that, we went over to my husband's friend's house (I don't want to give out his name, so sorry that I keep referring to him as "my husband's friend"....). We spent the rest of our time just talking and playing with their adorable son. :3 He really is a funny kid and made us laugh the entire time. xD He even made my husband wear this mask in the picture below:

We also landed up eating dinner over there, all prepared by said friend's wife. :D It was really delicious (we had rice, vegetables, and what seemed to be pork fried in a sweet sauce with sesame seeds, along with a couple of other dishes that I'm not very familiar with... all I know is all of it tasted amazing!) and we tried to practice our Japanese etiquette while sitting at the table. ^^; For dessert, we had the peach roll that we had bought from Cozy Corner! <3 Never in my life had I bought a cake with such fresh tasting fruit! :O  I also liked how it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, and how fluffy it was. I was really impressed! I'll definitely be going back to try out other things from them in the future. ^.^ If any of you are visiting Japan or are planning to, keep an eye out for this place! :D

*Ahem* Now that I've finished raving about Cozy Corner, back to our little adventure... There actually wasn't much to it after that, but we didn't land up leaving until 9 pm, and didn't make it back home until 1 am. O.O We accidentally had landed up getting on the wrong train, and had to take another one back... ._. We're still trying to get used to the whole train system out here, but we're slowly learning. Lols! It's a good thing I don't mind getting lost at all, because I'm sure we'll land up getting lost again on our next big trip. xD It makes it more fun, in a way. ^.^

So yeah! That pretty much sums it all up! :3 Everyday here so far has just been truly wonderful, and I'm really loving it! My husband is too! We're really considering permanently living here already. Lols! Anyways, see you guys in my next post! 

So Pretty~!

About a week or so ago, my husband and I decided that we would check out the BX (it's sort of like a tiny mall) on post. We came across this one store that was selling a ton of Japanese toys and antiques, and we were automatically drawn to it. xD While we were in there, I spotted these adorable Hello Kitty figurines, and I couldn't stop eyeing them up. They all were dressed in different kimonos and  carrying different items such as fans and toys... They were all so cute! x3 I was really hesitant about leaving that store because I wanted them sooo badly~! 

Until today, I haven't really thought about them since then. The only reason why my thoughts have returned back to the dolls was because today after work, my husband came home, and told me to close my eyes because he had a surprise for me. He told me to hold out my hands and placed a box in them. I ran my hands over the surface trying to figure out what it could possibly be. I eventually gave up trying to guess (I kept thinking it was food-related).  I opened my eyes, and to my surprise, I saw a picture of one of the figurines that I had been admiring! I couldn't wait to get it out of the box!

I still can't stop staring at it as it sits so beautifully on top of our table! My husband sure does know me well. ^_^ I didn't think that he would even remember how much I had wanted it... I kind of forgot, myself, so there was no way I would have expected him to! I feel like such a lucky girl to have someone who thinks so much of me and who just wants to spoil me all the time. xD  Now, I'm going to have to think of way to return the favor.... ^.^

Simple Matcha Green Tea Mask!

As I've stated in my Bath Time Beauty Tips post, green tea is great for your skin. ^.^ It's loaded with antioxidants and does wonders for your complexion! So, here I'm going to teach you how to make your own homemade matcha green tea mask! It's all natural, and won't irritate your skin at all! You will need:

1) A clean face
2) A small bowl or container
3) A spoon
4) Matcha powder (the brand shouldn't matter)
5) Some water


Instructions:

Take about a fourth cup of matcha powder and pour it into your container. Next, add in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of water (adjust as necessary). With the spoon, mix the two ingredients together until it becomes thick and gooey. You are now ready to start applying it to your face! Leave it on for 10-15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water!


Easy, right? So the next time you treat yourself to an at home spa day, be sure to try this out!

I Think I Love Seiyu

Really, Seiyu is actually a lot of fun to shop at. >.> It's almost impossible for us to go to a Seiyu and not buy something. O.O We went yesterday to go buy my Tamagotchi ID L 15th Anniversary Version (I'm kind of a freak for Tamagotchis... I'm currently taking care of 3 at once!), and we landed up not only buying that, but green tea and vanilla ice cream flavored kitkat bars, a Tamagotchi Nano (which my husband had wanted for himself), some yokan (a gelatin-like dessert usually made from sweetened red beans), and mitarashi dango, among other things. ^^; We always seem to walk out with more than what we came in for. It's kind of dangerous.... What makes it worse is that it has a pretty good-sized arcade on the very top floor, so we spent even more money playing Taiko Drum Master and even Pachinko there. xD

Either way, I'm so happy I finally have all of the latest tamagotchis~! They're so much fun, even though sometimes it's so hard to keep up with them all. @_@ But yeah... I've been wanting the 15th Anniversary one for a little while now. It's so cool, because with the 15th Anniversary one, they added some of the older and original Tamagotchi characters back in! I think it's pretty cool that you're now able to see them in full color and in more detail now. ^_^

Ignore the mess in the background.... Just focus on the pretty  Tamagotchi....

Isn't this surprising? I actually got a purple one instead of yet another pink!

My Princess Spacey ID L and my husband's Tamagotchi Nano side by side.... Look how tiny it is! It's also very reminiscent of the older Tamagotchis....

Oh! And also, while we were shopping, I also found this super cute Alice in Wonderland stationary set!

I've already opened it and have written out two letters for my mother and my brother so far. I thought it would be nice to actually send them both a handwritten letter. It's so much more personalized than typing out an email to them or talking to them through Skype. It's such a shame that not too many people write letters anymore... I used to love receiving letters from my friends in the mail when I was younger. It was just so exciting! There's just something special about them... I still have all of the letters from my friends to this day, and every now and then I love to pull them out and re-read them.^_^ It kind of gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling inside! Does that sound strange? 

I kind of went off topic there.... xD Oh well. :P It's my blog, so I guess I can do that if I'd like~! ^.^ Plus, it's more fun if it's random.... Or at least that's what I think. Anyways, I think I'll end my rambling here. Bye bye, everyone!