Well I am officially back in Japan, and officially back at work (with no classes today). I hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays! I enjoyed mine quite a bit. It was great to be able to spend the holidays with my family and enjoy the indulgences such as warmer weather, shopping, and hot running water!

I headed back to the USA on December 21st and was there through this past weekend. Fox flew out to Phoenix and spent Christmas with me and my family. It was really great to see him. While in Phoenix I got to spend time with all the family, head up to Sedona with Fox, and even trekked down to Tuscon to visit Fox's brother and show Dev around the University of Arizona. Also spent probably too much time shopping, but i needed more work clothes and winter clothes to layer up with!! I had an excuse.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas:

























next on to sedona:















hiking the south mountains near my parents house in phoenix:





New Years eve we went to a nice restaurant for dinner then headed home, took a few pictures, and then my dad fell asleep and dev finished packing then headed out to a party. so my mom and I were the only ones still awake in the house as midnight approached, so we decided to pack up a bottle of wine and hike up to a look out point (near the house, where we could see most of the valley) to toast the New Year and see a few fireworks.