I can read

It wasn’t until I started going to other countries, and Japan in particular that I really began appreciating the fact that I can read. Granted its only English, but I’m struck often times with how thankful I am that I can easily read my own language and not even give it a thought as I scan pages or signs.

Since being in Japan as often as I have, the words, “I don’t know how to read” have been said in my head over and over and if I’m completely honest, its very humbling saying those words; borderline embarrassing. Kanji is darn near impossible to read (for me), and no matter how much I think I’ll memorize a particular symbol for a word, its gone out of my memory the moment I step on the train or close down the app that has it. Its hard stuff.

I saw a girl on the train yesterday with a book that said “I Can Read” in English, and it was a story of a fox named Pierre and his cheese, and I couldn’t help but silently commend her for taking the steps to learn English, to the point of reading it. She wasn’t embarrassed to have a very basic elementary children’s book visible, she held it up high and then went for the next one when she was done with Pierre. I hope at some point that I don’t just learn a few key phrases and words in Japanese but also get to learn to read a bit of it as well, no matter how hard it will be.

We finally ventured out yesterday and made our way to the Ebisu Museum (beer museum) and due to a “passenger accident” (I’m thinking someone might have jumped in front of the train), the train was delayed 45 minutes, and by the time it got to our station, it was jam packed.

We got to the museum and naturally it was closed due to the holidays here. Golden Week at its finest; so we grabbed a random bite, stopped to get a massage (best choice of the day) and made the long trek back to the apartment. *not the apartment, but wouldn’t it be neat to live there!?*

G-man goes back to work today so I’ll be putting my tourist legs on and heading out to explore the sites. I’m not sure where I’ll be going, but it’ll be somewhere.

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Rise and Shine

I didn’t think I’d ever utter these words, but 5am wakeup calls are becoming enjoyable. I wanted to say “becoming my jam”, but I’m not 20…or a hipster, so “enjoyable” it is. I was out within minutes of getting to the apartment in Japan Friday. I didn’t sleep at all the entire ten hour flight. I’ve never been a good sleeper on planes; the whole sitting upright thing doesn’t work for me, so instead I watched movies, played games, and learned how to count to ten in Japanese (something I’ve wanted to learn for awhile now). When I got really bored, I took my phone with me and took pictures pretended I was going to climb the stairs to the second level to take a peek (yes, I was really bored). I asked one of the flight attendants if I could go up but she gave me the “can I get back to you?” speech and never heard from her again. Maybe next time.


When I went to L.A. my friend (unexpectedly) asked if I could babysit her daughter beginning at 6, which is why I all of a sudden had a deadline; and with originally thinking my flight was at 1:45, the only time my friend was going to be able to take me to the airport was at 8:30am. I was not looking forward to that!

Since all the times got worked out, I was able to get up with my friend at 7, and workout with her (the Brazilian Butt DVD is no joke, my friends). Then after she dropped me off at the airport, I hopped on the bus and within five minutes of being on the road, I realized I forgot an entire bag of clothes for G-man AND my iPad at my friend’s house. I was so upset. So so upset. Thanks to my dear friend, Amanda, she gave me five minutes to beat myself up over it (after about 30 minutes of constant complaining) and then ordered me not to think about it again. True friend right there putting me in my place. It actually did the trick and though I was worried telling G-man since I felt horrible about it, he actually gave me a lot of grace, and felt bad that I beat myself up over it so much.

The entire weekend has been nothing but relaxation. Though I’m waking up at 5 every morning, it has let me see the sun shine bright, and has given me the opportunity to take naps during the day. Plus, spending some good time with G has been nothing short of great. He made breakfast (steak, eggs, and grits) on Saturday and I made breakfast (crepes and eggs) on Sunday and all we’ve been doing is relaxing in the living room watching movies.

Let me talk about movies. If you want to cry, and I don’t mean “shed a single tear” but “bawl your eyes out” cry, then watch My Life with Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman; because oh my gosh, you will cry and cry and cry. Then once the movie is over, you’ll keep crying and be unable to talk for a good thirty minutes after because, “how could you possibly talk about ANYTHING after that movie?!” When all emotions were (thought to be) in check a couple hours later, we began to bring it up and I had to demand we stop because I started getting emotional again. My advice to anyone is give it a good solid 24 hours after watching to even remotely consider discussing the movie.

I wish I were joking.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty however is a happy movie that I would recommend watching next. It’ll help bring your spirits back up. G-man was miraculously given a couple days off this week, so we’re hoping to either catch a baseball game or maybe even a sumo match! We’re kind of dying to see one, so if we do, you can count I’ll have my camera with me.

What did you all do this weekend?

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It always works out

No matter what, God always takes care of everything. What I thought would be a crazy morning today instead turned out to be perfect. I have to say yesterday where I said I will sacrifice all things in order to enjoy my coffee turned out to be more true than I meant. Well, I guess I did mean it, but I ended up leaving two hours later then I meant which had me scrambling out the door.

Then the entire way there (it’s a 5 hour drive) was nothing but heavy traffic and bad drivers. Cue the stressed driving. By the time I made it more than half way there I realized I still had plenty of time to get to LA, and began relaxing a bit and lo and behold, I arrived just a few minutes before 6pm, which was when I needed to get there.

Now, the whole time I thought my flight left at 1:45pm. This.whole.time. But then I looked (for probably the tenth time) and FINALLY noticed it said 3:45pm! That (thankfully) changed EVERYTHING, because that meant that I didn’t have to be at the first airport at 8:30am like I thought, but instead could be there at 12:45pm. I can’t tell you how much of a relief this was because I had my final exam to take, that was a two hour exam, and no matter what, I couldn’t figure out when I was going to be able to take it (and I only had two days!). SO, since I had all morning, I was able to get it done (in just over an hour, I might add), and now I’m completely, officially done with my Spring classes! YAY!

God just has it all figured out, He really does. I think of Him sitting there patiently waiting for me to realize my correct flight time, and that it all will come together.

With all that, I am now going to get ready, rearrange my two suitcases…yes, I had to bring both suitcases and they’re both SO heavy! and get my little fanny out that door for my ride. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Japan! Woot!

((my “I’m two hours late but finally on the road” face))

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Exceeding the limit

I’m packing things up today and what’s sad is I only have about 15lbs available in my suitcase for my own stuff. 15lbs! That’s like three pair of shoes and my toiletries bag. I’m bringing so many things for G-man that I’m going to have to get inventive with my own things. I’m about to breakdown and bring a carry on but the thought of lugging a 50lb bag alongside a carry on suitcase through the busy train stations during rush hour is anything but appealing.

But I might have to do it. I’m going to choose to not think about the pain of it all.

The next couple of days are going to be busier than I planned. What was supposed to be a nice leisurely five hour drive to LA, arriving at any point I wanted in the evening, has turned into me having to get there before 6pm. And what was supposed to be a nice Thursday morning where I could get ready at my own pace and arrive at the airport for the shuttle to the other airport between 10-10:30am, has turned into having to be there before 8:30am.  It throws some really huge kinks into things, but I have to go with the new flow in order for it all to work out, so I’m doing my best not to dwell on it too much.

I’m currently sipping on my second cup of coffee as I battle my power cord for my laptop, planning out the morning’s outline; and I can’t help but think, regardless of how much I have to do, stopping to enjoy my coffee takes top priority; even if it leaves me running around scrambling to get out of the house in time a few hours from now.

Since I’m reading the photography composition tutorial, I’ve been following along with the exercises they have, and subsequently have been enjoying every minute of it. Needing an “action hero” for the exercise yesterday, I improvised and used a toy car from my parents tub o’ toys for the grandkids. He was the perfect little subject.

Doesn’t he look happy? It was all about lines for this exercise.

Last night, my Dad suggested we watch a movie together since he’d be gone before I woke up this morning, so we had a little father/daughter time together, which was nice. That’s kind of our thing; watching movies together, so it was nice to do since we haven’t done it in a long time. We watched Everybody’s Fine, which I’ll tell you is really sad; really really sad, so you might not want to watch that with your Dad (since its about a widowed Dad and his grown kids..).

Happy Hump Day to you all. Next stop, Japan!

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Keep away

I remember when I was in my early twenties and was able to list at least two tv shows for each night that I would watch. Every night, except Saturday, but I watched that much tv because I loved it (and all the great series were on then, not like today). Even when nothing was on, I would flip through every channel repeatedly and if all else, just have it on in the background while I did stuff around the house.

I got rid of cable a few years ago and I couldn’t believe how much better things were. I would do things and only found myself watching a movie or Netflix for about an hour at night after work. It was refreshing, but I started relying on my computer to fill the mindless hours and before I knew it I was always on my computer. With school online, you can barely pry it out of my hands, or off my lap, its glued to me.

Yesterday, I backed up my computer and figured it would take ten minutes to do but when it stayed at 3% for 15 minutes, I knew I was in for the long haul. It ended up taking almost three hours, and in that three hours I got up and did stuff. Cleaned, organized, did laundry, wrote letters (I’m looking at you, Amanda), wrote birthday cards, made a delicious breakfast, and just kept busy and I have to admit I loved it. It was so nice not being glued to my computer. Not to be so dependent on it, or mindlessly staring at websites wasting half my day (or all of my day). I went the entire morning and half the afternoon without my computer, and when I came back to it to look up a couple things, I found myself getting sucked in again, unwilling to get up because I had to check one.more.thing. It has such a hold on me, its crazy.

With the next few weeks off from school, I’m hoping to really reduce my computer use and get out more. Go exploring, or actually pick up a book (or my kindle) and read. I haven’t wanted to read for a long time, and I want to enjoy that again. I gave up Facebook because I became addicted to it, I’ve scaled back on Twitter because I found myself checking it all the time, and Instagram will soon be following (though as bad as it is, that will take a little more effort).

I’ve known this for awhile but yesterday really showed how much I let my computer take over my life; even when school is out, I’ve become comfortable with it always on my lap and even feel a little lost without it. Weird, I know!

Here’s to a little more freedom.

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These days

Things have been getting nice and mellow here for me. Kind of the calm before the chaos again, but I’ll take the slower days and mindless stares to the stresses of schoolwork. Though I admit, I don’t know what to do with myself during the day. I’m in my last week of Spring classes, and I’m excited! Only one assignment left to submit, and a final exam to take, and I’ll be done done done.

In the middle of that, I’ll be driving down to Los Angeles to stay the night with a friend who will then take me to one airport in order for me to get to another airport. I figured taking a bus to LAX, while my car sits at my friend’s house is far better than paying another $600 parking bill at LAX. Wouldn’t you agree?

Surprisingly, since returning from Japan, I’ve only experienced one night of insomnia. This is a huge improvement from my previous returns where I would have 3 or 4 or more nights where I couldn’t sleep a wink. What was great about it (if there is anything great about not sleeping at all), is I was able to write an entire six page paper and create a PSA flyer on my topic. I did it from start to finish in those dark quiet hours, and I was quite proud of myself. Horn tooting over here.

Since I’m having  a little more free time, I got a photography composition tutorial (that you may or may not have seen floating around the blogosphere), and have been enjoying reading about how to achieve better composition within my photos. I’ve been in quite the rut lately with photographing the sights, and am eager to pick up new skills. This rut might be partly the reason I haven’t shared the countless photos I’ve taken from my last trip to Japan. I haven’t felt much love toward them and find myself looking through them, deleting the real bad ones, and tucking them away in a file where they’re ignored.

These days I’ve stepped up my treadmill workouts. I don’t have access to one in Japan, so when I’m back home, I get on that thing as much as I can, and though I hate running, its been going really well! To add to it, I’ve programmed my alarm clock 6 days a week, twice a day to do pushups and planks. I’m finding the afternoon alarm is getting ignored a little more with each passing day, but I’m hoping I fight that urge and get to doing them again. Ever since I read about the bones in my nutrition textbook, it has me want to do more strength training and impact cardio, to help keep them dense and strong. As I was texting my friend just last night, my lower pooch is, well, a pooch, and this isn’t a normal thing for me. Also, what’s not normal is what I used to do to eliminate it isn’t working now, and it has me realize my age might be a contributing factor. The older I get, the more I have to workout to get the results that used to come easy for me. I’ve heard of this, but actually seeing it becoming a reality on myself is less than desirable.

While I was in Japan, I had a rep with ASU send me our mascot for his little world tour, so Sparky arrived, and I took him with us to Mt. Fuji and had a little fun posing him in all the places we visited. They took my quotes and added to the photos they used and I thought they worked out perfect, don’t you agree?


I still think about sharing my flight experience with Singapore airlines, but I’m flying them again on Thursday and figured I’d wait until after to go on and on about them. Just to be sure I have another amazing experience before I rave about them. Hoping you all had a fun weekend.

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A day in Napa

I’m all over the place these days. Though I have a bunch to show from Japan, I’m jumping ahead to my Napa and San Francisco trip I took over the weekend. Yep, I’m back in the states, but once again, only for a short time. My car was costing me close to what I would pay in rent, sitting in the airport parking, so it was a must I get it out fast. Needless to say, I won’t be parking my car there for five weeks again.

My sister called out of the blue asking if I wanted to ride with her to Napa, since she was taking her friend to the airport and wanted a buddy on the way back, and after agreeing, she asked if I would drive, and then asked if I would pick them up at her house, in the opposite direction. I couldn’t help but laugh, but I agreed to driving and she agreed to come to me. Good compromise, I say.

We stopped in Yountville, which is right outside Napa, so we could stop at a very popular bakery. There was a constant line out the door the entire two hours we were in that little town. Their fresh baked breads and pastries were delicious, and I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone going to Napa.

We drove into Downtown Napa to walk through the shops. We stopped at coffee shops, décor and home good stores and tasting rooms (of course), but given that I was driving, and my sister’s friend had her daughter, no tasting actually went on. We still had a great time exploring, even if I was walking 10 paces behind them slowly because I wore brand new sandals. The thing I love about little towns is how they’ll have random statues or furniture or the steps to the rumba laid out for you on the sidewalk to learn. Little things that make their town standout. It’s so fun.

On our way to San Francisco, I had to stop at this beautiful French winery so they could see the grounds and their gorgeous views. G-man and I went to Domaine Carneros in December and seeing it in April when the vineyards are beginning to turn green was perfect.

Eventually we made it into San Francisco but the fog was waiting there for us, and killed our plans to see the parks and walk the bridge. (picture by my sister)

There’s no way I would have walked that bridge in the cold fog. So we had dinner, dropped off her friend and daughter, and made the long late night drive back home. It was a long day of driving but it was nice getting out with the girls. That’s not something I get to do, ever.

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