Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Right Moments

Monday brought with it a whole lot of negative. I woke up, and I was completely and utterly exhausted. I was burnt out on work, on fundraising, on Mia's activities, on household management, and had even started to feel disappointed in several people. On top of all of that, my phone completely died on me. Black clouds people...seriously stormy weather. I even typed up a hugely long blog post on how tired I was.  

However, all of those tired thoughts and negativity completely disappeared when I sat Mia down for breakfast. I looked over and saw this...



...well not really. I actually took a picture of her eating a strawberry, but that is still on my camera...but she was so happy sitting there...eating the strawberries that we had provided for her. I also thought about Ten who was hard at work, and something clicked in my mind. I had to refocus on what my purpose is in this life, and it is definitely not to sit around and be in a bad mood. I was concentrating on all of the small, negative things. I wasn't focused on the right moments.

So, I went downstairs and got some pain au chocolat and sipped on some hot chocolate. I took a nice, long shower. I chatted with some friends. I played and loved on my little baby. I started to tackle that never ending list of things that need to be done. I also read some encouraging words.

I almost immediately started to feel better about my situation. I realized that I am here to provide a happy, safe, and comfortable life for my baby. I am here to be a partner to Ten. I am here to be a friend. I am here to give a helping hand or even simply a smile to someone who needs it. I am here to make everything that I touch better and never worse. That is my goal. Having the same problem? Maybe this video will help.







Thursday, February 21, 2013

Hitting the Double Digits

Dear Mia,

You are now 10 months old...just two shy of the one year mark and you have been one busy lady this past month.


You are learning all kinds of new things. You can now go under the water by yourself in swim class, blow kisses, dance, and even stand up by yourself for a few seconds at a time. It is also very cute when you clap your hands together when we say "Itadakimasu!" or sing "If your happy and you know it."


At 10 months, you love to watch Yo Gabba Gabba! Though you don't get to too often. You also like to play with the elephant your grandma got you. Your favorite foods are probably curry, pizza, tofu, and carrots....but generally you still eat pretty much anything as long as you can feed it to yourself.


One thing that you definitely don't like is hair bows...I'm not sure why I even try. You also aren't too fond of sitting in your high chair for long periods of time or sleeping by yourself. 


If I had to describe you in one word, it would be ball of energy...and yes, I know that's three. You are always on the go. Crawling and destroying everything in your path.




Mia you are so much fun. You laugh all of the time and always make sure that all eyes are on you, and we love every minute of it.


10 Month Old Mia with her First Two Baby Teeth

Love, 

As you call us Mom and Dadada


Friday, February 15, 2013

Valentine's Day...at the last minute....

With all of the holidays that we celebrate, I was thinking...something has got to give. So, I had fully intended on cutting out something. My mind immediately jumped to Valentine's Day. I thought...hmm..can totally do without it...and then February 13th around 10 pm...something hit me...and I just couldn't do nothing...so I thought...I will at least make my two Valentine's something special. So, I busted out the old construction paper and made them each a giant Valentine.




February 14th rolled around, and my two sweeties both loved what I had made, so I was feeling pretty good about it. Me and Mia were watching a Charlie Brown Valentine's Day cartoon...and cupid struck again!


I mean look at this cute face! How could I not celebrate a day that is supposed to be all about love. So, I rushed out to the store and tried to scrape together whatever I could to make it a special night.

I bought this journal and added  some foam letters. We each wrote down what we love about each other, and we plan on doing this every Valentine's Day going forward. Cute little new family tradition.

Mia's presents. A small baby doll and some snacks.

Our Valentine's Day dinner: sparkling cider (served in whisky glasses...don't ask), red velvet cupcakes, strawberries, heart shaped chocolates, and homemade chicken parmigiana. So yummy.

 
 We ate a really yummy dinner and watched Mia throw herself around the pack and play (hilarious) and filled out our new book of love. Ten also surprised me with these chocolates... I love this company, so I was so excited...I'm only allowing myself one per day...moderation folks....but he is such a great husband.


We had the perfect (for us) Valentine's Day. Love my two Valentines.



Monday, February 11, 2013

A Visit from Nemo

No, not that cute little clown fish. I'm talking about the blizzard that we just had here on the east coast. I find myself talking more about our experiences in natural disasters than anyone should have to.

However, this one was really quite fun. I LOVE winter and snow. If you ask Ten, he will tell you I love every season though...which is so true. I love all of the unique foods, smells, colors, holidays...just everything that each season brings.

On Friday, Mia and I headed down to her Japanese class. We had to battle ice, snow, and rain to get to the subway. The whole time I was thinking, this is so not worth it...turnaround and go home...but I continued on...because I mean the class was already paid for. We hopped on the train....and it stopped....for a good ten minutes...once again...I was feeling the regret. But, we made it down there and back just in time for Ten to call and say that he was coming home early because of the snow. 

On Saturday, we looked out our window and saw this...


I was so excited! After 1:00 (and the blizzard winds had subsided), we headed over to Riverside Park to play. Hopefully, this picture gives you some idea of how much we got. Wonderful!  


How did Mia like her first big snow? See for yourself.





Didn't crack a smile...haha. I think we will have to give it a few more tries.

Anyway, so I made snow angels while Ten pelted me with snow balls...you know...family bonding and all. No, but we had a really good time.

You know what is also good....cafe mocha after. We made our own home version...there are probably way better ones out there...and if you know of a good recipe...please share.

Here is what I did though:

1 tsp of instant coffee and half a package of hot chocolate mix...pour in hot water and add a dash of milk....seriously good folks.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Likes and Dislikes -- Part 1

Here are some things that I'm liking and not liking so much right now.

Dislikes

1. Taxes -- Ugh I hate having to deal with taxes!! Also, it doesn't help that we have to do them for two countries. You know, I hate to say it but the Japanese system is so much easier to deal with, and we have those 90% finished. Compare this to one of the U.S. forms that indicates that it will take a total of 37 hours to complete...yeah...for one form...haven't gotten the energy to even crack open that file yet.

2. Library Books on Hold -- I recently checked out Shogun from the library, and then I was told that I couldn't renew it because someone else has requested it. This book is more than 1,000 pages long!! No way I have time to finish it and enjoy it in two weeks. What's worse? I actually started the book, so I just feel like I wasted my time with it.

3. Facebook -- Though I do share my blog posts on Facebook and some pictures of Mia for mostly family to see, there is really very little of anything interesting on it anymore. It is like one huge medium to forward junk mail to each other. I would so delete my account, but I do use it to keep in touch with people and store pictures....so I guess I just won't check it that much.

4. Idiots -- Yeah, this may sound kind of harsh, but I'm definitely not liking them right now. I don't want to say too much because people may get the wrong idea....but in general people should realize that you do have a right to have your own opinion, but you may want to think twice before you share said idiotic opinions or tidbits of "wisdom."

5. Lack of planning -- I have a weird idea...if I was more organized and better at planning out my day, week, and month...then I would get more done. I would have a beautiful blog that wasn't so random, be super in shape, have a shiny apartment, be on top of all paperwork and randomness, have so many Japanese activities planned for Mia, and finding more ways to make money for the family. However, I only think that this is partly true. I probably can't live up to my own standards, so I don't know where that leaves me...hahaha

I also dislike hugely long, rambling blog posts...so I will leave it at that for the day...and post my likes (which are more than 5 luckily) next time.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Setsubun 2013

While most people were having Super Bowl parties today, we were celebrating Setsubun....and we had so much fun...well me and Ten did...I think poor Mia was mainly just scared and thought we were crazy.

Ten ran down to Times Square today to Sunrise Mart to pick up some goodies for us. He brought back so many great things...including jasmine tea for me...and dorayaki....and he brought me peanut butter cups the day before. I have no idea what I did to get so many great sweets, but I better keep doing it.



I digress. If you aren't familiar with Setsubun, briefly, it is the day where the beginning of spring is brought in by getting rid of evil spirits and letting the good luck in. 

In the morning, Mia finger painted these oni masks, and we hung them up on the door. I was kind of hoping that it would help her get used to them, so she wouldn't freak out too much when we got ready to chase her around the apartment wearing a demon mask...no such luck people...



Later, we presented Mia with her ehomaki, but she decided to share it with us since she couldn't eat it all....and we didn't eat it facing the proper direction...or in silence as one is supposed to...mainly because we just wanted to enjoy it...maybe next time.



Sharing a pre-made bento, ehomaki, homemade miso soup and crab rangoon, with jasmine tea....heaven.


After that, we all put on our homemade oni (demon) horns.


I thought they were super cute and fun...but Mia on the other hand was having none of it...totally freaked out.


Once she got to play with the cute oni....she felt a little bit better.

After her breakdown with us only wearing the horns, we decided it would be a good idea for me to go outside and storm into the apartment as the evil oni so that Ten and Mia could throw beans at me while saying "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!" .... you know.... "Demon out, good luck in!" .... She didn't like it folks. While Ten was throwing beans at me...which I found to be hilarious...seriously being hit by roasted soybeans may be one of the funniest things I've ever done....she had a mini breakdown...so sad. So, we stopped and tried to let her throw beans around...she wanted nothing to do with it. Ten and I quickly munched down our soybeans (according to our age, one bean per year)....and then cleaned up. I actually can't wait until next year because we really did have a lot of fun.

P.S. here is the mask we used for Setsubun...there were cuter ones but we decided to make the hardcore, scary one...hahaha....and yes...made by me, none of those store bought ones this year...looks fantastic if I say so myself.


P.P.S. If our neighbors happened to spot me standing outside with this mask, I'm pretty sure they must think we are part of a Satanic cult.







Friday, February 1, 2013

Happy February

I don't have any special love for the month of February, but for some reason I'm excited about this one. We are looking forward to Setsubun this weekend along with a visit to the Children's Museum.

I'm also looking forward to creating a special day here for Valentine's Day, and our Japanese playgroup is starting back up this month. Lots of things to look forward to...and hopefully we will find one new and special thing to do.

One more thing that I wanted to share, I was reading a blog yesterday called the NieNie Dialogues.... and she had a really interesting post related to a video she had watched online....and I wanted to share it here. Even if you cut the religion out of it, it is a pretty wonderful little video clip...and I will say that it is an LDS video...

Anyway, here it is....



Have you ever read anything from the LDS sites? They actually have a lot of uplifting and motivating material.








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