Yes, Please!

Life has been a bit crazy lately with moving into the new house, G starting school at an international preschool and getting into the thick of it at work. We are so grateful to be in our house and excited for the arrival of all of our household items at the end of the month! Slowly we are feeling more and more at home!

We haven’t ventured out much…. but have managed to hit up the beach and an amazing park! Oh and how could I forget I ate my body weight in sushi! YUM! We did take a break from getting settled and organized to take a walk to the beach and check out our “backyard”! It was stunning. We are so happy we were patient and waited for the right one to come along. Luke and G have already ventured out on none school days to treasure hunt at the beach!

We celebrated the 4th at the beach with some fireworks! It was beyond surreal to watch the sunset while relaxing in the water with our little family. I looked at G in that moment and felt so grateful for all that she has already experienced in just 2.5 short years… not to mention all that she will while we live overseas. It was a real big pinch me is this real moment!Not a bad view, right!?

We have decided that our new motto for life is, “yes, please”! We are committed to trying everything (at least once) while we are here. We made the decision to move our family out of the country to break the cycle of being complacent. Getting too comfortable in our marriage, careers and life in general. We spent the last 4 years as two ships passing because of crazy schedules, commutes and commitments. We were grateful for our Saturday’s together to explore Texas. When the idea of moving came up we struggled with the pull to move closer to family… enjoying the chance to make memories together but also had the desire to see the world and expose G to things we would never be able to teach her. Also excited at the opportunity to “reset” and get back on track with the goals we first set for our life when we got married. So we made a promise after we decided to pull the trigger on Okinawa… we would be “yes” people. Always saying yes to trying a new food (even when we have no clue what it is!). Yes to getting up every weekend to go on an adventure. Yes to growing our faith. Yes to communicating how we are feeling as we make the transition. Yes to making sure our marriage come first. Yes to being patient parents to a strong willed child. Yes to slowing down and breathing in each moment. Yes to letting go of the unhealthy things in our life. And just YES! to living life and making every day count.

As a person who was/is anxious about making big decisions and questioning every detail once the decision was made… it is freeing to just say yes! Knowing that it won’t always be the perfect situation but it will always be worth it and an opportunity to learn.  Usually it makes for a great story and memory either way! I have learned it’s OK to be a work in progress but it is such a confidence booster to force yourself out of your comfort zone every day. Eventually it gets less uncomfortable and more and more exciting as what will be next.  A year ago I couldn’t imagine myself even having a revelation such as this…  but it literally took me facing many of my fears (all at once) in the face in order be here in this moment in Okinawa.  I am grateful for the support system of friends and family that picked me up on my darkest days of self doubt and a good therapist (no shame in my therapy game!) to help be the unbiased kick in the pants when I needed it. We all have sh!t in our lives that can bring you to your knees from time to time but it’s the empowering moment when you can look back to where you were and forward to where you are now…. laughing that at one point making it through seemed near impossible.

The best part of becoming a yes person is that G is building the confidence to do things that scare her and the joy that comes from seeing it through. She has been very shy in the past and we have seen her grow so much recently. She has really embraced spreading her wings as she takes on this big world.

This blog has helped continue to be my therapy and opportunity to reflect. Give myself those moment to laugh at what I once thought was impossible. When I go through my album pulling pictures and thinking of what to write about… I see how being a yes person has forever changed me, my marriage and our family.  Our journey is perfectly imperfect and Japan continues to heal the parts deep within we didn’t even know needed healing. Life puts right where you need to be, when you need to be there… even in the short time we have been here the people of Okinawa and the island itself has already given me so much. Cannot wait for what else is in store!