Winter Update

I can hardly contain my excitement. In two days John and I are going on vacation. It's going to be WARM where we're headed. And on top of that, John's mom just got a plane ticket to come visit us this spring!

On Monday morning we woke up to a blanket of snow, which was initially beautiful. But unfortunately then it rained heavily for several hours creating a much less appealing blanket of slush. At least it was still fun to wake up to. We haven't had any more snow since, but it has been so cold this week! I am so so so looking forward to being somewhere warm for a week. With all the excitement of Raku's baby it's been hard to remember we're off to Bangkok and then Melbourne so soon. It's going to be amazing.

I'm also really looking forward to John's mom visiting. It's going to be so fun to show her around. It's probably really obvious, but we have gotten SO much better at planning for and hosting guests the longer we've lived here. 

Snowy Monday Morning

Star Wars Furoshiki

New Arrival

I met a brand new human being this week, and it was pretty amazing! It's funny to think about because I've worked with children so much in my life, and even nannied in the past, but I think this is the first baby I've met as a newborn since my sister was born when I was four.

That's right, my amazing friend Raku had her baby just a few days ago. He is tiny and sleeps more than I thought he would, and I totally cried when I met him. Raku was so strong and graceful and inspiring through her whole pregnancy and birth (I wasn't actually there for the birth, but I know she was.) I'm not sure why exactly, but I have always been deeply frightened of pregnancy and childbirth. Watching Raku through this whole experience was a really reassuring and amazing gift and I am a lot less scared than I used to be. She's probably too busy and sleepy to be reading this, but please join me in thanking and congratulating her anyways!

Hello 2016

Happy New Year! With the holidays over our Christmas decorations are down, and the Japanese New Year's decorations in the neighborhood are coming down too. Now we're just getting back to regular life, or as close to that as we can.

Yesterday was Raku's due date, and while there's no baby yet it's bound to be soon! It's exciting and strange to imagine what life will be like now. We've been so reliant on each other in creating a routine and stability in our day to day lives. I hope that we still can, but there's no doubt it will be different. Raku is obviously facing some pretty amazing changes, and I am going to have step up the self discipline to keep writing on my own. (Which will probably be harder than ever when I want to hang out with a brand new baby all the time) Anxieties aside, I'm excited for the upcoming year. I anticipate it being full of fun and joy.

New Year's Furoshiki

Best Christmas present ever from my sister!

Birthday cufflinks for John

I've been trying to wear pants more often, but my legs always feel like they're in prison - skirts for life!