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In: Life, Parenthood

Today was E’s last day at her daycare. She officially begins preschool next Monday. It was really sad watching her say goodbye to her friends and teachers at her daycare especially since she really loves being there everyday. Her teachers even began to cry when they were talking about how much they’ve enjoyed watching E grow up this year and how they wish her happiness at her new school. Both A-chan’s dad (A-chan is E’s best friend) and I began to tear up over the whole exchange too. This was bound to happen one day since many of the kids are getting older and willRead More →

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In: Family, Travels

This past weekend was the last official weekend of this summer for us especially since E officially starts preschool next week. Since we didn’t go anywhere this summer because of the heat and humidity, we decided it’s time we took a trip to the beach. Beaches in and near Tokyo aren’t very clean looking (or clean in general) so we traveled farther south to the beaches of Shimoda, located on the Izu Peninsula and as far south as you can go by train on this peninsula. We also opted for a family friendly hotel with a pool over one of the many nicer hot springRead More →

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In: Updates

It amuses me how E reuses things around the house. At least this is much cheaper than spending money on toys that end up sitting in a corner somewhere collecting dust. (yes, that is Tupperware on her head).Read More →

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In: Family, Photography, Reflections

If you can take only one picture, what would you capture? This was a question that a speaker had asked us at one of the lectures I attended a few weeks ago. It’s an interesting question especially since we live in a time where digital cameras make it possible for us to take limitless amounts of photos. I almost feel as if the ease of the digital age has made us think less about what and how we want to capture something because you can just keep taking a photo until you get the right one. I also find it quite thought provoking because youRead More →

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Ellie turns 3 today. She’s been trying to hold up 3 fingers on her own but it seems this is the easiest way to do it. It’s really amazing how it’s been 3 years since she’s been born. Everyday is interesting with her in our lives. She talks so much these days and she can be so clever with the way she words things. She still speaks mostly Japanese but we know that she understands English perfectly fine. Sometimes we think she is way too smart for her age, especially since she can remember certain things so well that she will bring it up whenRead More →

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In: Family

I never shared much about our trip back to California in December. Part of the reason was because I didn’t feel like wading through the 4,000+ photos I took when I was home. I think it’s about time I got back into the rhythm of things and started sharing some of those stories. I know, I know, it’s already February so it’s weird talking about things that happened 2 months ago but there are some pretty funny moments that just need to be shared. So let us start with the one with all the sprinkles. E and I stayed with my sister for a weekRead More →

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In: Life

In one month, E turns 3 years old. It always amazes me how quickly time passes by. I still can’t believe that we’re already in February… Where has all the time gone? *sigh* Hopefully, I’ll be on more consistently. Emphasis on the “hopefully” since I’ve been distracted with a few things I’ve been busy with. I’ll share more later.Read More →

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I tend to get really gratitude happy during this time of year. It’s mostly because of all the holidays and the idea of spending the last few weeks of the year with family and the people who mean most to you…it puts one in an appreciative mood. There’s a lot of big and little things I love about my life. The big things are are obviously Jason, E, my family and friends. But there are also a lot of little details and moments in my everyday life that makes me happy and grateful and I want to record all these little things I was inspiredRead More →