When you are moving internationally, it is important to cut down on the amount of things you have. Especially when you are moving from a country with relatively large homes (USA) to a country with relatively small homes (Japan). As such, we cut down our possessions significantly. It is amazing how much junk accumulates in just a few years, even when you’re being careful!

I’m excited to “start fresh” though, and redecorate our new home in Japan in a Japanese style. Any Japanese interior design tips or inspiration would be amazing!

March 5th, 2023 is the day Leanne and I completed the Napa Valley Half Marathon. This was my first-ever half marathon and I’m proud to say I ran the entire way.

This was a huge accomplishment for me and proved that if I set my mind to something, even something as crazy as running 13 miles straight, I can do it!

After eating delicious Korean food, we went to a holiday party put on by the attendings for the residents. After our bellies were filled with all the foods and desserts one could imagine, we went to karting for our friend’s birthday party.

Early the next day we dropped Miles off at the sitter and headed for South Lake Tahoe to the Heavenly Resort. How amazing is it we are only a short 3 hour drive away from the mountains!?

At first we did the green slope, but it just came back naturally. We met up with a friend who also happened to be skiing that day in the same resort and she brought us onto the blues. And we did great!!

We hit the slopes for two full days and got a TON of skiing in. Our legs were extremely sore after it!

The last day of skiing right before we hit the slopes was the World Cup final. And what a spectacular final it was! Full of drama, comebacks, and close competition!

Football isn’t the only sport I’ve gotten Leanne into. We all hate FIFA, the corrupt and awful organization that controls world soccer leagues. But once every 4 years, they put on a magical tournament bringing together the best 31 teams and whatever corrupt country bribed the most for the 32nd team (yes, I am butter Qatar got the bid over the USA). Then, they play. The play is fantastic. There are upsets. Who knew Japan could beat both Spain and Germany! Saudi Arabia beat Argentina (the day after was literally declared a national holiday by the country)!

The best part of watching the competition has been getting Leanne into it though. From watching the USA games together in Spanish (and suffering through a borderline unbearable 3 minutes of hearing “gol” screamed every time one hit the back of the net), to making March Madness style brackets, to watching highlights of the best games and goals together, this has been one of my favorite world cups ever.

Leanne went to her first NFL game and was it a good one! San Francisco 49ers took on the New Orleans Saints. There was action non stop and despite the refs trying so dang hard to help the Saints, the 49ers were able to hold them off and get the win!

For our 2nd anniversary, Leanne and I went to a tapas restaurant in Napa called Zuzu. The tapas were amazing! Our favorite was the ceviche with either the lamb or rockfish in close second. The paella was so good as well.

Leanne and I met in Parkersburg, WV. Leanne’s anniversary gift to me was a map of West Virginia with a heart where it all began. She made this by individually hammering nails into the board and with cotton string. It is such a beautiful and impressive keepsake she made me.

After exploring Monterey, we ventured out to Point Lobos State Park. Point Lobos is considered to be one of California’s most beautiful state parks. We can verify this to be true. Not only were there stunning beaches and coves, but we also saw California condors, found beautiful shells, and just had a blast walking through and exploring.

On the way back home we stopped by Santa Cruz, CA, nicknamed “Surf City.” This is a fun beach town filled with activity. While walking down the wharf there, we happened to learn that the wharf is home to a sea lion sanctuary. Hundreds of sea lions were on the wooden beams beneath us!

We started the day by going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a beautiful Aquarium that has won awards for architecture and has been involved in sea life conservation efforts. We saw all sorts of fish, jellyfish, penguins, and sea otters. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has saved baby sea otters separated from their mothers and has nursed them back to health. What’s even more incredible is they have been able to pair up the baby sea otters to foster sea otter mothers who are unreleasable back to the wild. The mother sea otters take to the baby sea otters so quickly and lovingly. Not only do they provide love, nurse the babies, and groom them, but they also teach them how to dive for food, how to crack open shells on rocks, and essentially how to be a sea otter.

We got lunch on the pier of Old Fisherman’s Wharf where Leanne enjoyed a birthday dessert 😋

For the latter part of the day we went through Cannery Row as well as the 17-mile-drive that had amazing views of the bay and fun beaches to explore

We ended the night with a nice dinner. Happy birthday to Leanne! I hope she doesn’t expect this every year now!

Leanne and I have seen 3 of the 63 U.S. National Parks together: Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. On our mission to see them all, we decided to look first in our own backyard. Pinnacles National Park is one of the newest and is only 2.5 hrs away by car. We had a 5 day weekend and it’s also Leanne’s 32nd birthday weekend so we had to go!

On the way we ate delicious sushi at an authentic Japanese sushi bar

We arrived Tuesday late at night. It was too late to set up our campsite tent but we had Michonne, my Subaru SUV, so that was all the tent we needed.

Thank goodness we stayed in the car. It got down to about 34 degrees and rained most of the night!

The next morning we made campfire coffee and then hit the trails.

The hike we decided on was not for the feint of heart. We chose to do the “Best Of” trail that was 12.2 miles with elevation gain of 3,084 ft. We did the whole trail in one day! Our legs were basically noodles when we were done. We saw amazing sights though, including the Pinnacle Rocks, High Peaks, and even a cave.

We hiked about 5 miles over 2 hours today. Miles is tired!