I've tried several times in the past few weeks to sit down at my computer and write a semi-coherent blog post. Obviously that has not happened. But to me blogging has always been about following what's in my heart and if I have nothing to share then I have to accept that and move on. My original blogging break was completely unplanned. Our pregnancy was not a planned one (but we're very excited!) and it snuck up on me pretty quickly. One day I was completely fine and the next I couldn't even move from the floor next to the toilet. It was a huge adjustment for me since I'm someone who likes to be constantly on the move and active. I had to learn to listen to my body and when it said STOP I had to do that. It's not an easy thing though! But no matter what my body has to go through to create this little miracle, I am so grateful for the baby growing inside me. I never realized how much I was looking forward to being a mom until it was right there in front of me. I've been trying to keep things updated on a baby blog I started for my family but even that has been a challenge. For some reason pregnant Sue does not like looking at a computer screen very long. It makes me so sick so quickly! But I'm trying. And that's all I can really do. 

Two weeks ago my bff Jess came to Japan to visit so I was actually forced to leave the house and act like a human. I think I did okay even if I got tired after only a short time. I took lots of fun pictures though and we did some great projects so I'm going to (try to) share them in the next few weeks. For now I'll just show off one of my favorite beaches in Japan so everyone can wish they were here too. Please don't be jealous of my insanely hot hair in the second picture. Most days I don't even have the energy to blow dry!

Today is the birthday of my lovely Jess. She's amazing. Seriously. Best friend a girl could ask for. She has a plane ticket to visit me here in Japan and she'll be here in 123 days! I know that probably seems forever away but she sent me a countdown for my birthday and it's slowly getting smaller! She has something fun for every day until she gets here and every day it makes me happy. I've made sure not to look ahead so it's always a surprise. Last week she told me to try something new with my hair. Ta-da!

I'm not kidding. I wore my hair like that because it said "try something new with your hair."

Today I made cupcakes to celebrate her birthday. Too bad she wasn't hear to eat them with me.

My dear, darling Jess.

I absolutely love you.

You are smart and funny and beautiful.

You are always there for me, even 7,000 miles away.

You are one of my heroes.

You are such a kind and caring person.

You are an inspiration to me, every day!

xo always my love!

I'm a big fan of Birthday Week. I think it takes a lot more than one day to do all the fun things associated with celebrating my birth. If you're curious to why I celebrate birthday week read this post on 1000 Awesome Things. It explains how I feel perfectly. It's not that I'm self centered, it's that I love an excuse to have a party. Don't worry, one day when I have children they'll also get the joy of birthday week. Aaron's already looking forward to his. Every time we picked out a present for me he said, "when it's my birthday I want {insert random boy thing}." This went on for a while until finally I said, "honey, it's not your birthday for another 8 months." But I now have a list of presents that are acceptable for his birthday. Just in case. Now, on to the pictures because they show the joys of birthday week so much better than I can say it.

Pretty Presents 

Tie-dye Cupcakes {inspired here}

Random Happiness

Don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway!

One of the BEST things about living overseas is the mail. I like to shop online just so I get packages and if I'm lucky people send me things. I love getting cards, too. Our fridge is covered in holiday cards, thank you cards, and wedding announcements from my friends and family. It makes me happy every time I see them. And this past week was a great week for mail! 

I ordered these rosette headbands on Etsy (I admit it, I'm an Etsy addict) to dress up my hair on days that I just want a messy bun or a pony tail.

I got this beautiful headband after winning a giveaway that A Little Piece of Me was sponsoring. This was the only headband in this style that she made so I have an "original Salena" that I absolutely love.

Remember how I mentioned that I have a pen pal? Well Jane is fabulous (go meet her!) and yesterday I got a package from her in the mail. It had an adorable magnet from Hawaii (which is perfect because I'm low on magnets) and these macadamias. I didn't know they did different flavors of macadamias but they are delicious! I can't decide which one is my favorite. Every time I pick which my fav is I munch on a different one and change my mind. So I'm just going to savor them all.

Jane is awesome and has a great Etsy store where she sells her jewelry and other pretty things. Right now she's sponsoring a giveaway at Life's Little Indulgences for a pair of her darling handmade earrings. You can also win a blog review in the giveaway so you should definitely go check it out.

I'm going to be posting my Vlog link up sometime this week so be sure to check back for it and join me. I promise, the more people that participate the more fun it will be! And I'm thinking of doing my very first giveaway along with the link up. It's all spinning around in my brain, but it sounds fun to me. What do you think?

Amira @ Shades of Gray organized an awesome pen pal program a few weeks ago. She asked if we wanted a pen pal, we answered yes, we got paired up. Simple, right? And because of Amira I met Jane. 





Jane is a fellow milspouse and the lucky lady lives in Hawaii. Seriously, how jealous am I? You guys want to live in Japan with my 27 degree weather? I want to live in Hawaii! Jane has a cute Etsy shop called Jane's Cellar where she sells beautiful handmade creations that remind me of summer and romance. 





Of course I wanted one as soon as I saw them. Then I received a package in the mail for Valentine's Day from Jane, complete with my very own rosette necklace. It was even in the perfect colors for me (seriously, half of what I wear is pink/purple/red)! You can't top that. I absolutely love it and I'm already planning the perfect outfit to wear with it (possibly for Valentine's Day, even though we're staying in). Hopefully she'll love her V-day present half as much as I love mine!

PS On a completely unrelated topic... Does anyone else watch TV shows, get way too emotionally involved, and then feel really silly? I just caught up on One Tree Hill and I'm seriously feeling anxiety. Over a TV show. Judge me all you want, I've been watching it since season 1 way back in high school. Now I feel old.

Dragon Fire Balls just sounded delicious to me. I had to try them & they did not disappoint. Today I had a daddy-daughter date. We're the only two in the house who enjoy sushi so it's our special thing & Mikado is our place of choice. As far as "American sushi" goes, it's quite good. Nothing beats Japan though. 

 I've been continuing with wedding planning, Aaron missing, family/friend time & general merriment. Saturday night was the Utah-BYU game & Utah kicked some serious trash. Sometimes it's great being the only Utah fan in my family. It was also a going away party for my friend Melissa. She's beating me at the moving-to-an-island game and left for Hawaii this morning. She doesn't really need to go, she's already quite tan, especially when you put her next to me! Not to worry though, we already have plans to meet up in both Hawaii & Japan so we will not be parted for long.

I've also been making play dates with my girlfriends in anticipation of spending the next 2 years (or 15 years) very far away from them. I really have the best friends and I'm not at all worried about keeping in touch. I've always been a free spirit & moved from place to place so they're used to me not actually being here. It doesn't matter though, we're friends no matter what!

Also, I decided to try a new look.

What do you think?

Meet Miss Maggie. 

I pierced her ears for her on Saturday.

We do nails together. 

I'm lucky to have such a cute neighbor friend.

Life has been nothing short of chaotic lately, 
but the little things really make me smile.

These are my sweethearts, my precious little girls. I used to be their nanny and now they are my cutest little friends. McKenna, Ruby & Josephine are going to be the flower girls for our wedding and they are so excited. We spent quite a bit of time today with them telling me their wacky ideas for our wedding. I won't be using them but it was definitely fun to hear their creativity! I love these little girls so much.

We have one more flower girl who isn't in these pictures, Miss Ella is my friend Katie's adorable baby and she will be one at the time of the wedding. She may or may not be walking down the isle but she's going to be adorable in her purple dress and hair flower!

Tell me, do you have this kind of energy?

The title says it all, my girlfriends & I have started a new tradition. We get cute and we get tacos. It's pretty much amazing. 

And I love Brit & Jenn. 

My friend Melissa is awesome. She graduated with her bachelor's degree yesterday & I am so proud of her. We had a huge graduation party last night to celebrate. Although I forgot to pull my camera out for the actual party these came before. I love her!

I got my hair done today. There are few things I enjoy more than this. Katie is my amazing hair stylist & I always feel wonderful when I leave her. Today she added more highlights, made me more blonde & gave me cute bangs. My neighbor Kate was sweet enough to model with me for some pictures, what do you think?

After hair pics Kate decided she needed to try on my shoes. She's learning young. Heels are a girls best friend.

Tonight's delicious dinner was southwest chicken wraps. Tasty. Amazing. So many flavors. They made for a wonderful meal. What will I turn out next...?

Today is my best friend's birthday. I absolutely adore my Jess. She's such an amazing, beautiful, strong person and one of my favorite people ever. Last night we went out for Cafe Rio salads & had a movie night to celebrate. Today my mom made her delicious homemade enchiladas for Jessi's birthday dinner. Then I made her some of my fabulous homemade doughnuts. It was a wonderful two days celebrating Jess. I'm so lucky to have this wonderful girl in my life!