Merry Christmas to all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hope you all have a very blessed Christmas and wonderful New Year! Christian and I enjoyed our holiday season though it didn’t really feel like Christmas here.

We started Christmas with “decorating” our tree. I cut out a paper tree from some left over cardstock and paper star and ornaments. Here we are decorating.

The tree pre-decorations…

Christian decorating…

Me decorating…

The finished tree…

Us and the tree...

and with our Christmas package from America…

Our tree up with presents (from my parents) under it…

Our Christmas cake…

Us and our cake…it was yummy!

We didn’t take any more pictures but the tree way lovely with all our other presents under it. We loved all our presents. I got two awesome pairs of socks (smartwool) and a beautiful pearl necklace from Christian. I also received a new pair of goggles from my parents. They will be super useful. Christian got a case of root beer and 3 books on bugs, spiders and other creepy crawlies of North America and Minnesota from me and a pair of PJ pants (with white bears) from my parents.

On Christmas day we went over to celebrate with Martin and Chigusa. We enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, salad and green beans. We also had a traditional German Christmas dessert. It was YUMMY! We watched Christmas movies and played games. It was a lovely day!! :)

Halloween

On Halloween Christian and I went over to Martin and Chigusa’s house for a small Halloween party! We all dressed up with awesome costumes, made delicious food and played some games!

My costume was a tornado…

Christian decided to be “Dr. Rick Dagless M.D.” (a character from his favorite British comedy ‘Dark Place’)…

There were 3 couples at the party. Here we all are dressed up…

lantern festival in Murakami

On October 10^th Christian and I joined Martin and Chigusa on a trip up north for the Murakami lantern festival. Murakami is a small city about an hour north of us. Every year they host a lantern festival with handmade lanterns made from bamboo. Lanterns are place all around the cities. Here are some pictures from the trip….

Me enjoying the set up at the shrine.

Christian and me...

The lanterns on the street were beautiful lit up. It was really windy so they continually were being blown out.

more...

They were so lovely all lit up once it got dark...

There are cute little ghosts that are to protect us from rain…they didn’t work!

Christian tried to make some “lantern art” by making hearts and trying to spell my name with the lights.

almost...

Christian's mum visits!

After announcing our engagement to our families, Christian’s mom wanted to come out to visit and celebrate with us. We hosted Jane from September 18^th to the 26^th. Three of us crammed into our tiny apartment were cozy but we did have fun.

We didn’t have a very adventures week but enjoyed traveling around Niigata. We visited our local lagoon in Christian and my city.

We also went to an Alberix game (Christian was very happy)!

And though I had to work 3 of the days of the week, we spent our weekend hiking at a local waterfall.

me and a mini falls...I just like this picture

the first of the two waterfalls (the small falls)

enjoying the beautiful scenery...

Hooray for hiking...

we made it to the big fall...

and last but not least...Christian's unsuccessful frog leap...

SOCCER!

Back in September (9/11), we were lucky enough to receive free tickets to a Niigata Alberix game. The Alberix are the professional soccer team of Niigata. Christian was given the tickets from a co-worker. He was so excited to go since he had never been to a professional soccer match before!

YAY! Soccer…

Sad face…the Alberix suck…

Us at the stadium…

yummy in my tummy!

I know there are debates and arguments over Japan’s whale “research” so Christian and I did our part and helped…

Our plate of whale sushi…

Conducting the experiment…

Christian’s conclusion…tasty but unsure, more research should be done

Colleen’s conclusion…guiltily delicious

WE'RE ENGAGED!

Okay...I know this blog is over 2 months late but it's here...

The day after sumo (August 22) started out as a lazy Sunday. Christian and I were lounging around deciding what to do with our day. He suggested a nice drive to a view near his old home that he loved and a short hike to what he defined as "the scariest place on earth."

We pack up the car, grab a quick breakfast and go. Christian's old home is a good 2 hour drive but we had a blast singing along with the Beatles and chatting away. I didn't even suspect he was going to propose until we got about half way there. The thought crossed my mind and I got a little excited and hopeful.

We finally arrived and we walked down to the edge of the road to take in the lovely view. It really was beautiful!


As I was enjoying the view, Christian pulled me around, got down on one knee and proposed. I jumped into his arms...though not too hard as we were at the edge of a road and said "yes!" Here we are enjoying the view...


And us and my lovely ring...


After the proposal, Christian took me to what he thinks is the scariest place. It is an old water system thing. The place itself isn't actually scary but a place that one would never be found if they fell!

Don't fall!! AHHH!