By:
On:
In: Uncategorized

As you can see, this blog has been moved to a new name and location. A while back, the original hamster-central blog was hacked and malicious malware was embedded in various files throughout the site. It got so bad that several search engines and security sites flagged hamster-central.com as a malicious site and blacklisted it. In fact, it was so bad that the web hosting company I used gave us a warning that our site will be shut down soon due to the critical issues it had from being hacked. I tried fixing it but it was beyond what I knew what to do andRead More →

By:
On:
In: Food, Japan, Life

This is our third year of hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Unlike previous years where we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for all our Japanese and European friends, this year we hosted Thanksgiving for E’s Girl Scouts of America troop. It was our troops very first Thanksgiving since it was created a year ago. Everyone brought a dish and everything was incredibly delicious. Since everyone brought something to share, I only had to cook a few things instead of the entire dinner. One mom read a book about the first Thanksgiving and about the pilgrims to the girls so that they could appreciate this holiday. To make thisRead More →

By:
On:
In: Family, Life, Updates

Funny how I posted back in March but then everything went silent again. Yea, I do that a lot these days. To be honest, I was ready to toss in the towel with the blog. Social media is so popular and easy to use these days that I find myself posting a lot on Facebook and on Instagram. In fact, I have three instagram accounts. THREE!! I can barely keep up with those so it’s no surprise I can keep up with everything. However, last night Jason was looking through the blog to show E some pictures from when she was younger. He ended upRead More →

By:
On:
In: Updates

So…I’m back! Again! It’s been 3 months since I last posted and to be honest, I’m still not sure what I want to do with this space. I don’t want to leave it yet since I’ve spent so many years here and it just feels sad to leave it all behind. In fact, I’m not sure why I suddenly felt the need to post today. I guess a large part of it is because E finished up 1st grade yesterday. It’s always bittersweet for me since I like watching her grow up and learn how to be more independent but at the same time, it’sRead More →

By:
On:
In: Updates

I know I’m practically not blogging anymore these days. A part of me wants to just close the blog and call it an end of an era but a part of me doesn’t want to do that either since it’s been a big part of my life in the past. I don’t know what I want to do yet but I will think about it and decide next year. This year has been a busy year but it was a good one. Lots of ups and downs but it was a good year overall. I wish everyone a happy 2016!Read More →

By:
On:
In: Updates

Wow! Has it really been 5 months since I last blogged? I took a much longer hiatus than I had planned and hopefully I’ll be back blogging again. Honestly, a part of me wants to give up the blog. Social media has become such a big part of my life these days that I share a lot on my personal Facebook page or on my 3 Instagram accounts (yes, I have 3!) I seem to do better doing short bursts of sharing than actually sitting down and writing a post these days. But a part of me can’t let go of my blog. I’ve beenRead More →

By:
On:
In: Family, Photography

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015.” Yes, this was taken a few weeks back. We were on our way to a bbq with friends and the girls decided they wanted to look out the window. We had fun that day 🙂 Remember how I talked about writing during me weekend off? Well that never happened. I was enjoying being alone in nature so much that by the time I got back into my hotel room, I was exhausted and too tired to blog. So I didn’t. But it was a good trip. A much needed one since I hadRead More →

By:
On:
In: Japan, Travels

As I’m posting this, I’m on a train traveling a few hours out of Tokyo without my family. Yes, I get a whole weekend all to myself. No kids, no husband. Just me, myself, and I. I’m behind on writing my posts but it’s okay because I plan to write during my solo time. I’m headed down to Kyoto by myself this weekend because I am having serious wanderlust and I really need to recharge myself before summer holidays begin. There are several places I have never been to in Kyoto that I really want to go check out too. And then on Saturday, I’llRead More →