Preparing to cast my vote for the Presidential election for this November as an overseas American voter and holy crap was that an interesting debate between Clinton and Trump this week. Oh and fwiw, I’m most definitely with her!!!

If you're American and you are living overseas do you vote? I do! When I was a little girl, I would go with my parents to the voting/polling place in Denver, stand in line with them and wait along the side as they cast their very private vote behind the curtain. And I was always told "Gina when you're 18, you will be able to vote. Always vote. Make your vote count." Clearly my family was big on voting. : ) And so when I turned 18, I voted. I would stand in line with my family and I'd give the polling folks my name and show them my Colorado drivers license and they'd check and mark that I was there and was about to cast my vote. I guess it was just a privilege and right, I always greatly respected. So, I have *always* voted. Just always. It was important for my family, so it was important to me. And so, it's just ingrained in me, I guess. : )  I tell my sons, Branden and Noah the same thing. "Kids make sure you vote" Make sure you vote for whoever you want, but make your vote count!" Some folks are very secret squirrel about which party they belong to or who they vote for" And cool if that's you, then be you! As for me. I have no shame in who I vote for. And I don't mind taking ownership of that. I'm a democrat. I'm a liberal. And I've always voted democrat and always will. I voted for Bill Clinton twice and I voted for Obama twice as well. I think Obama was the best president we've ever had.  Before we went to Denver for our summer vacation. I made sure I was already registered as a Denver, Colorado absentee voter. So, I mailed my downloaded forms off. And I'm sure they were in Denver, Colorado by the time we were there this summer. : ) I will be voting via online. And this is wonderful for us Americans to be able to vote this way.  As you know, I don't really "talk politics" on my blog. And I'm not about to start. Whichever way you vote. Just vote! And if you're living overseas like Japan. Don't just think...it's too complicated to vote. It's not! It's super easy to vote if you're living overseas. Believe me, I do it! : ) It's not complicated at all. Anyways, I'm making my vote count, that's for sure! : )

This election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is a huge topic in Japan. Every week either Branden comes home from JHS or Noah comes home from elementary school. And they say, "our teacher was talking about the presidential election in America", today at school. So there is a lot of chatter at the schools. Conversations are started in both my kids classes and kids have opinions. Their teachers have opinions too. And so when the debate came on this week. It aired in the day time in Guam Live... but it also repeated in the evening, so my kids and I watched it in the evening together. We had just finished supper and I asked them if they'd like to listen and watch and make up their own minds.

Hillary Clinton during the debate brought up the fact that in the 70's Trump was sued because he had told all his apartment managers not to rent any of his apartments to black people. And he didn't disagree that was true or deny it. He just said but a lot of people were also sued. @_@ Truly saddened by that. Branden said, "so he doesn't want to rent to minorities, what about Japanese people?" I said, probably not to Japanese either since they're minorities too. He was a bit blown away. Then she said you haven't paid your taxes in about 20 years and Trump didn't deny that either. He said "that makes me smart" The kids were again surprised. They said, "he doesn't pay taxes?" The kids couldn't wait to get to school the next day and discuss the debate they saw on TV the night before.

Anyway, it shouldn't matter if you agree with who I am voting for or I agree with who you are voting for. The most important thing is voting period. Use your vote, don't waste it. And the one thing I know we can agree on is...the worst thing is to be a "Monday morning quarterback" with regards to voting. And while I think all Americans know what a "Monday morning quarterback" means. If you don't...please look it up. What it basically is...is a person who sits on the couch watching the football game and come Monday at work or at the watercooler or at school" they suddenly become an expert on the football game they saw on Sunday. They start criticizing what the real people did. With remarks like. "Oh they didn't have enough defense" or that player didn't run fast enough" or they should have did this. And more of that. When in fact the reality is...the "Monday morning quarterback" couldn't last 5 seconds on the field themselves. probably one of my biggest pet peeves is "Monday morning quarterback people" ...Those Denver Broncos shouldn't have blown that game..they should have...this and that-ed" That always annoys and aggravates me so much. Makes me wish THEY"D strap on some shoulder pads and get on the field and try it! Otherwise shut up! And same with voting. The last 4 years, you know...you hear folks criticizing Obama. And while I voted. I stay quiet and listen. To the "Monday morning quarterback" talk all about politics and how Obama is screwing this up or that up" And I finally ask..."did you personally vote in that election?" And they always say..."ugh ugh no I didn't...because well I'm living in Japan and it's too hard/complicated for me to vote" And I always say calmly...really? Because I live in Japan too and I voted no problem. They usually don't know what to say after that. Again...to me..if you're not going to vote...please don't even bitch about who wins! And certainly don't bitch to high heavens about it for the next 4 years. If you REALLY care. Vote. Then you can at least bitch about it...with a clear conscience knowing you at least voted. Anyway, I am all registered and ready to cast my vote!

* Monday morning quarterback meaning..."One who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight"..."A person who, after the event, offers advise or criticism concerning decisions made by others; one who second guesses"..."Someone who is always criticizing and saying how he would have done something better or differently after the event has passed.

A super fun post! A little more about me. Growing up in the 80’s in America...

I think this is going to be a really fun post for you guys! And it will give you guys a bit more idea of me and who I am.  Being a girl in the 80's in the USA. Denver, Colorado to be exact. Growing up and all the fun things, I personally was into. And all the fun things I personally did and stuff. These are uniquely American things. I don't think many other countries sold Big Wheels or Avon lip balms like we did in the USA. So, again, these are my experiences of being an all-American girl growing up in the 80's. Pictured here are the lip balms sold from Avon. For those of you not American, we used to have an Avon lady. She would leave short little booklets with picture of items, like an ordering catalog. My mom used to order bubble bath from our Avon lady all the time and I would always have my mom order me some lip balms. Avon had the best lip balms. The lip balms of that time, in those days, looked like these. If you are an American girl, back when I was, you are probably smiling looking at these pictures. I had the Crunch bar lip balm, the Crayola crayon lip balms, the cheeseburger, Sunny side up egg and chocolate chip cookie. American girls where I lived in my state, we all collected these. And we used these. I remember fondly looking forward to the Avon lady bringing us our goodies and couldn't wait to open up a new fun looking cool new lip balm. : )

Yep, this was called the "Funburger" Hahaha. I remember this and gee, this was such a good one. but not my favorite one. My single most favorite one was the Crunch bar. 

This was my hands down... most favorite one. I carried this all over. In my little girl purse. LOL. : )

Yep, I remember that Crayola trio and the chocolate one smelled so heavenly! You know...seriously speaking. I think these products from back in the day. Is why so many American adult women today...love Too Faced cosmetics. They make adult cosmetics in fun packaging like this. I own the chocolate bar eye shadow palette, from Too Faced. And they just came out with a PB and J palette in the shape of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ha! I think many of us girls who grew up in the 80's who are now adults, are the ones buying the products from Too Faced. : ) 

Yes, I drive a Nissan Leaf 100% electric car right now. However back in the day, these were my wheels! : ) This was called a "Big Wheel" Every kid in America owned a Big Wheel and many boys owned the "Green Machine" I would cruise up and down my block in my Big Wheel. This was true fun! I may love my car right now, but gee, I sure did have the best of times with my big wheel. 

I owned this rainbow shirt and it was my most favorite shirt! This shirt was *so* popular for American girls growing up in the 80's! Man, I so totally rocked this shirt! : )

Don't ask me why everyone in the USA, back in the 80's loved rainbow clothes. Maybe it was just a more innocent and simpler time, or I don't know. But, I do know everyone owned a pair of flip flops like these! I owned this red pair. And yes, I wore these with my rainbow shirt. Weren't these flip flops the best? If you were a child in the 80's, you are probably smiling and totally shaking your head up and down agreeing with me. But if you were born in say the year 2000, perhaps you are thinking...what in the heck? And not liking these flips flops. However...no worries. Because those of you who know...know how cool these were back in the day. : ) 

And yes, I had this key chain too. My parents bought me every rainbow thing a girl from the 80's could ever want or need. I was very lucky. : ) 

Scratch and sniff stickers were *the* item to have. And I actually collected them, I had a ton of scratch and sniff stickers. Like seriously...tons! Now days kids are glued to electronics. But back in my day...we kept things simple, we cruised Big Wheels and wore rainbow flippies and shirts and collected scratch and sniff stickers. : ) My sons asked me once, "mom do you ever wish you had been born in this time and were a kid our age?" I looked at them and smiled and said..."absolutely not!!!" I added, kids from my days...we knew how to really have fun! I'm glad the era I was born in and I'm glad the era when I was a kid and really coming into my own. : ) Granted the kids of today are cool and alright, but the kids from my day were super cool too! : ) 

Oh yes. The Trapper Keeper! If you are American, and are near my age or from my era. You know doubt, got a brand new Trapper Keeper every year, just like I did! Ahhh, those were the days! 

These were the toys from our days. It's called The Waterful Ring Toss. And what did we learn from playing this fun game? Patience! Unless you were at your last straw and tilted it to cheat those last few rings! Hahaha! Remember? I do! What innocence we had back in the day. These were the fun times! 

Simon anyone? I think we all owned this back in the day in America! It was such fun. And it helped us have such great memories. Right?! Gosh this was fun!

And we all owned Speak & Spell's! I loved mine. I remember when we would go for drives in the mountains and stuff, I would play this in the car the whole way. Speak and Spell was bomb dot com! 

My friends and I collected all the American soda flavors of Bonne Bell lip balms. And remember the super sized lip balms too? Ha! : ) 

Forget Rollerblades! We roller skated! Going to the roller rink, every Saturday me and my 2 best girlfriends. My mom would drop us off. And we'd skate the 12-2pm skate. She would drive us to the door and pick us up at the door. We felt so "adult" being able to go skating for 2 hours unattended. hahaha. We'd be roller skating to all the good songs. We'd backwards skate. We'd do the limbo. And we all brought lunch money and sometimes we'd get a hot dog combo with chips and a drink or a pretzel and soda. I absolutely *loved* my childhood. And I think about that skating rink every once in a while. Oh and this is funny. Last time we were in Colorado 3 years ago, we drove passed and my old skate rink was still there. I pointed and nearly screamed...happy eek type scream... to the kids in the car....pointing..."That's where mommy used to go roller skating with her 2 best friends!!!" I said their names. But...the kids were like...really? And I said yep! : ) 

I had this same exact, Easy Bake Oven. Every little girl in America had one. This was such fun! 

Anyone remember the Tootsie Roll commercials in America? How many licks does it take? The boy takes it to the wise old owl. And the owl licks it 3 times and then bites it. And he then says..."3, it takes 3 licks!" to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. : ) 

I owned this Snoopy Snow Cone maker. And the shovel scooped out the ice. This was bomb! So much fun!

Anyone remember getting book order forms at school? For us in America we would get book forms that looked like this. And of course, everyone orders something. I would order a few books and maybe a poster. And then on the day the orders arrives and the teacher passes out the stuff everyone ordered. She would usually pass out our stuff on a Friday. Seriously...it was so exciting receiving your books and stuff ordered at school. That was the best! Don't ask me why, but I clearly remember ordering a poster with a kitty on it. @_@ Hahaha. Don't judge! I was just a kid. So ordering a poster with a kitty on it...totally A-okay and acceptable. : ) 

Yes I had this same very E.T. doll. And yes now I think...why did I want that doll? I don't know...but back then. I had to have it. Everyone had this doll. : ) 

Yes, I wanted to have Punky Power. Didn't you? : )

Remember when everyone who was anyone rolled their jeans? Yes, that was the cool thing to do. So roll my jeans, I did. : )

Remember how the side pony tail was EVERYTHING back in the day! And yes that is DJ from from Full House. That show was so good back then. And yep, I know they have a reboot on Netflix.

Remember how Mork & Mindy was the show to watch? Did any of you own Mork & Mindy suspenders? I did. Should I admit that? @_@ I did. I loved this show because it took place in Boulder, Colorado. And Colorado people have lots of Colorado pride. So every beginning of the show. We would go..."look there's Boulder!" Hahaha. : ) 

Phoebe Cates was everything, if you were a brunette girl growing up in the 80's! Sorry blonds have more fun girls... but we needed our role models too, you know! : ) And by the way...didn't Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) have the most insanely cool style on the Cosby Show. 

Fact of Life was life, if you were an American girl growing up when I did. And, yes I remember when Molly Ringwald was in the old episodes of Fact of Life, before she became a brat packer. Loved Alf too. And also loved Small Wonder with Vicky the robot girl. And the Wonder years. And the TV show Perfect Strangers, with cousin Balki. Remember..."Don't be ridiculous!" LOL. And of course, Who's the Boss. Charles in Charge.  

Remember making mix tapes? I do! : ) 

The original Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I owned all of them. And I swear I sniffed them a billion times because they smelled so fantastic. : )

I remember having this cereal too. 

Now, I'm starting to get a little bit older now...and this was my first most favorite perfume. This smelled so good. Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson. 

Remember, when Swatch Watches were THE thing to have. By now I'm a tween or teen. And my mom asked me, what I'd like for one of my Christmas gifts. And I was like...I really don't have like a huge long list or anything. But, the only thing I really really want is the black Swatch with the big black X on it. And I pointed it out to her while at the mall, back in November, back in the day. And so Christmas rolls around and I unwrapped all my presents, they were all great and then she saved it to the last present and she said...oops you forgot to unwrap one more Gina. And so, I looked and I was like ...looking and it looked to be around the same size of a box for a watch. And I ripped open the package and there it sat. I was so thrilled. She remembered to get me the very single watch, I superly wanted. I wore this watch everywhere. I loved this watch so much!

I had a Johnny Depp poster on my wall. in my tween-dom. 

I loved and watched all the John Hughes movies. John Hughes had such a good understanding of American youth. 

Sorry Johnny Depp, but my first crush went to Jake Ryan. From 16 Candles. Boy was he dreamy. I had a poster of him too. *swoon* : ) One of Jake Ryan and one of Johnny Depp. 

Madonna was the shiz. Everyone loved Madonna. 

Madonna's style was second to none. Her songs were so good. She was so cool. 

And then we all got older and I went to high school. In high school. I was in student council. I was a cheerleader. I loved all the school dances, homecoming, prom. I loved it all. : ) I had my own car. High school was amazing and such a fun time for me. I did have a boyfriend in high school. We dated for a long time. And then we broke up. On good terms. And then I went to uni. I decided, I didn't want to date or meet anyone in uni (meaning not looking for a serious relationship), although yes I did enjoy uni and had fun in uni. I wanted to just buckle down and just get my teaching degree, enjoy my youth and hang out with my friends in my spare time. And as for future goals, buy myself a nice house. And if love happens it happens, I'm sure it would... but, I wasn't actively looking either though. And in uni, during one of my classes, in walked Noboru. I kept with my studies and completed mine, he kept with his and completed his. We dated all throughout college. It's kind of amazing that this little American girl who grew up, collecting Avon and Bonne Bell lip balms. Who wore a rainbow shirt and rainbow flip flops and used to cruise a Big Wheel. And wear a side pony tail. Go roller skating. Wanted Punky Power. And used to go around saying..."don't be ridiculous" just like cousin Balki did from Perfect Strangers. Who played Simon and had a Speak and Spell and played the Water Ring Toss, is now living in rural Japan! Kinda funny how things work out in the end, right? And I wouldn't have it any other way! : )  

Team USA wins World Cup, defeating Japan 5-2...

This morning for us in Japan was the Women's World Cup 2015 between the USA versus Japan. A match our household has been looking forward to all weekend. Granted we much prefer American football, over soccer, any day. However, if it's an important match, we all want to watch. We have been lightly keeping up with, who had been loosing or winning matches. And on Friday we were all like...holy crap, Monday will be the final match between, the USA vs. Japan.  The boys being hafu. I want them to root for whichever team they want. I asked the boys, which team were they rooting for. Both said matter of factly, Team USA, of course. And that's fine.The match was this morning while the boys were at school, but Noboru and I watched it together. 

Good job team USA! 

Girl power...American girl power!

A well deserved win! So proud of you ladies!!!

Some of the most beautiful, and cheerful fans!

USA...USA...USA!!!

It's true, what my cup says. I am proud to be an American! I have had this coffee cup, since my university days. I made my morning coffee in this, right before we started to watch the soccer match, this morning! Anyway, I am sure Americans just like me all across the world are cheering for our ladies who won the Women's World Cup 2015! Amazing job ladies, congratulations! You made us so proud! : ) And if you are wondering who Noboru wanted to win. He really didn't care either way, since he's more into American football. However, he did say this (this morning). The American women soccer players are so beautiful, he mentioned most of the American team had long hair (just in buns or pony tails) and looked feminine to him... while he thinks, the Japanese women players all looked like men (he specifically said, flat bodies, no curves, and manly faces and he said something about manly haircuts, please don't shoot the messenger here), @_@ I didn't say that, I repeat, I did not say that... he did. @_@ Clearly we now know why, he ended up with an American wife here. So, did he mind team USA, won? I don't think he minded one bit. @_@ Anyway, congrats team USA. : )