The Adventures of Jen

Back in the USA

2011-06-11T20:44:00.002-04:00

So we have been back in the US for exactly 1 month. Wow! Time sure does fly by!

We started our time in New Jersey with Hiro's parents. We were super busy exploring Hiro's past stomping grounds, visiting NYC, taking a 2 daytrip to Boston, and visiting a lot of Hiro's friends. Oh yeah- I also gave Jimmy Fallon ANOTHER high five. Awesome-I know.

Then we headed South to Florida to visit my mom and dogs. We had a great time there too! We ate in a restaurant that was the house from My Girl, we ate liquid nitrogen ice cream, took a mini trip to St. Petersburg. It was nice to finally see some sun (the first few weeks in the US and last few weeks in Japan were RAINY) and my mom.

Now we are in Ohio. We got to meet up with some relatives, my brother came for a surprise visit, we went up to my hometown- Alliance, went to cedar point, and visited Ohio University. We are on our way to LA on Monday.

During our down time in the past few weeks, we have been researching our butts off! Looking at cars, apartments, jobs, churches, jobs, jobs, jobs, etc. We are basically going to LA with a 1 week stay in a hotel (thanks mom) and 2 weeks with a rental car. It is a little overwhelming, but I believe that God has a perfect plan for us. It may be hard, frustrating and rough at times, but we will get through it with His help.

We started packing tonight and researched a lot. Los Angeles: HERE COME THE HIRASHIKIS!

Shepherds pie

2011-01-31T10:15:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Dinner a few weeks ago. Yum!

Pierogies!

2011-01-17T07:35:00.000-05:00

Hiro and I made some pierogies new years eve. Then again with rach during winterbreak. We made them for a third time yesterday with hiroya and Rex. We had a fun time making them and even better time eating them!

-- Post From My iPhone

new year's resolution

2011-01-11T22:44:00.003-05:00

2011 will be a big year for us. quitting our jobs, moving across the world to set up again. find jobs, friends, a place to live. i can't believe that we will be leaving japan in about 4 more months.

But before that, I made a new years resolution to be more aware of what im eating. I took out candy, added more water, tea, fruits and vegetables. I am trying to get off the iron supplements completely. so far- everything is good. I even lost some weight without even trying. I think i had a lot of empty calories in candy! So here's hoping i can continue to make wise food choices- not for diet reasons, but for good health and nutrition.

my goal is to maintain my weight, decrease my body fat percentage and increase my muscle percentage. right now my body fat is 22.1 and muscle 22.9 i was surprised how high my body fat percentage was even with all the exercise i do! 2011 is to be more aware!

So off to work- full from a nice lunch of : tofu, miso soup, rice, natto, and spinach salad! yum!

time to start posting again

2011-01-10T19:00:00.002-05:00

wow.... november 30th was the last time i posted. i guess it is time for an update.

december was a busy month, full of baking, a church christmas outreach, the ekiden, and christmas shopping. Somehow i managed to survive until the 23rd when my 2 week break started. Hiro got pneumonia and was out of commission for a week or so. we got to stay inside and watch lots of movies on the projector that i borrowed from school. It turned out to be a really nice, relaxing, good quality time 2 weeks.

on January 2, Rach and i went to franc franc to get a fukubukuro. A happy lucky bag. Many stores sell them and you may or may not know what is inside. All i knew was anything from franc franc would be good. we got there and found a line and an hour left till the store opened. rach went across the street and got 2 coffees and we were good to go!

We had a few game days at a friends house. Catan, Dominion, and lots of chatting and snacks. I really love my friends here and it will be really sad to leave them.

We have set a month. we will leave in may. so soon! Lots of things will be happening in the next few months. My replacement will start feb 1st. Rach and Jenny will move out of the kasugai apt early march. i will finish working the end of march.

We have been looking at potential places to live and work in california. It is going to be a scary move, but a good adventure. I am so thankful to be doing it with Hiro.

I've still been cooking a lot. I really enjoy it. I made shepherds pie yesterday and have big plans for some salmon, scallops and pasta this week.

Its really cold now, and i have lost a lot of motivation to run, or leave the house. I need to get moving because i need to try and register my bike, then head tot he gym for yoga and running. then work.

55 more working days to go! wow!

hopefully ill try to keep this more updated now that i have gotten into a routine.

Ekiden

2010-11-30T08:41:00.001-05:00

This Sunday, I'll be running on a foreigners team in aichi ekiden. I just got my uniform. It's pretty fun! I may be on tv - so if you are in japan- be sure to tune in on Saturday on tokai tv channel!

-- Post From My iPhone

Holiday season!

2010-11-28T07:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, a few of us went to thanksgiving dinner at a friends house. on saturday! I completely forgot on thursday that it was thanksgiving.....

but it was a great time to spend with friends. I really am thankful for so many things this year! 2010 will be a year that i will never forget!

today, Jenny, rach, gabe and felicia and i went to see hiro in his christmas carol play. It had a texas theme. Hiro played a homeless man and a man. He was really good! after the show, jenny and rach came over, along with another friend. we ate dinner and decorated the christmas tree! it makes me so happy to have the decorations up. It really feels like christmas now!

On another note, hiro and i became an aunt and uncle! My stepsister and her husband had a baby saturday morning! yay! I can't wait to meet him the next time we go back!

well im in need of a nice relaxing sunday night.... just gonna call the parents soon, then head to bed. 18 more working days, 24 more days till winter break! I CAN NOT WAIT!

Pictures Pictures Pictures

2010-11-15T09:40:00.003-05:00

This year has been a year of pictures. Printing them, sending them to friends and family, and including them in thank you notes for wedding guests.

I want/wanted to make something special for this year's christmas/new year cards. It's Hiro and my first christmas as a married couple, so it's time to make a special card for this year's holiday season. After searching online for the perfect cards, I found shutterfly holiday cards I am really looking forward to making a great christmas card.

Also, after looking around for the perfect way to print out the wedding pictures, I think shutterfly will also be the place to make a great wedding wall calendar! check it out!

There are so many options for the holiday season, from invitations to ornaments

So why don't you head over to shutterfly.com to check out the options and get inspired to make some special christmas cards this year!

Marathon number 9.

2010-11-15T09:32:00.002-05:00

I finished my 9th full marathon yesterday. Ibigawa marathon. It was my 3rd time running this mountainy course. full of hills, full of pain, full of challenge. i felt good up till the last 10km. i slowed waaaayyyy down but managed to finish in 4 hours 18 minutes. my previous course times were 4:17 (2 times)

i am happy to have been able to finish despite the nagging pain in my hip and knee.

marathon number 10....i am coming... i just need a little time to forget about the pain!

wake up!

2010-11-09T17:47:00.003-05:00

Its been a long time since i last posted!!!!! AHHHHHH I have be meaning to update it, but life has been busy. But i think itll calm down a bit after my marathon this sunday.

Life has been good.

work: we had halloween parties a few weeks back. I was alice in wonderland. it was fun. the students seemed to enjoy it we played some fun games and the kids got lots of candy!

marathon; the marathon is this sunday! wow! that came up quickly! i know i will finish, i just hope i will do well. i ran a half marathon a few weeks ago and got a PR of 1:49 coming in 11 place out of 93. That made me happy. half marathons are long enough to be a challenge but short enough to be fun. but this sunday will be my 9th full marathon. wow!

yoga- i joined gold's gym here in japan and its been really great. there are lots of yoga and pilates classes. I've been doing yoga at least 2 times a week. its been really relaxing. my favorite part is the last 5 minutes when we just lie on our backs and relax. love it.

pushups- ive been doing push ups and crunches almost everyday. 5 or 6 times a week. getting stronger!

hiro and i are great. its a little hard with opposite schedules, but we do get to see each other in the mornings and a little at night. married life has been good and we are almost finished with all the final wedding thank yous and picture printing. its about time!

im about to head out for my 2nd to last run before the marathon. an easy 5 or 6 miles. then off to the grocery store. every day is a busy day. i fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow. (and on the nice warm train to work)

a long week

2010-09-30T23:41:00.003-04:00

it was my first full week back after 1 short week and one week of vacation. its friday, and i am tired. but only 3 or 4 classes today and then the weekend!

its been an adjustment having a commute now. it takes me about 50 minutes each way. this is approximately 45 minutes longer each way than my commute before. but, i cant say it is bad. its been pretty relaxing in the mornings. i get up and run, shower, cook, clean, head to work. i have about 15 minutes till i have to leave for today.

its marathon season. the wonderful weather this morning made me happy to be a runner. it made me forget (almost) all those horrible hot summer runs. i ran 10 miles and have a marathon in the first half of november.

well i'd better get all my stuff together and head out! have a good day!

I'm back....hopefully

2010-09-27T22:11:00.002-04:00

Now I can relax a bit and spend more time doing some other things. It was a really busy and hectic few months. Moving to Hiro's apartment, getting married and planning the wedding and honeymoon, working full time. it was busy. Now I have yet to join a gym (putting that on hold till i get adjusted to my new schedule.)

So the wedding was good. It was a lot of work, and we are glad it is over, but it was a nice day to spend with people we love. The honeymoon was great. New caledonia was so nice. and french- speaking.

but now it's back to reality. So far, i've been trying to get my stuff unpacked and the apartment cleaned up.

marathon season is upon us.... so its back to the roads i go. figures this morning was super rainy and i waited til 930 to go run, and now it is turning out to be a really nice day out! at least i got in 2.5 miles added to my yesterday 7 mile run. its actually enjoyable now to have the time to run and the weather is cooler now.

i've been cooking more lately. sunday night, i made baked chicken and mashed potatoes. yesterday, i made stuffed peppers. tonight is left over night. I have plans to make chicken apple quesadillas- possibly tomorrow. I'm open to any fun or favorite recipes!

now that i have extra time, i think i should be able to update more and add pics soon. off to prepare lunch and relax a little before work.

married. officially yet unofficially.

2010-08-17T23:52:00.003-04:00

yesterday we got married. well i mean we got all of our papers approved and got the marriage certificate! so legally we are married. we went to the city hall and rachael and the nozao's came to sign as our witnesses. we turned in all the papers and came back about an half later to get our marriage certificate. i am officially a MRS. now. but we are waiting to have the ceremony count as our real marriage. so 1 more month to go!

on another note- im back to work today. i am thankful for the a/c at work. its been a nice vacation of tokyo, rafting, and hanging out.

well its time for work. my computer has been acting strange in the heat. next time i go to hiro's, ill upload some recent pics

officially summer

2010-07-22T17:24:00.002-04:00

yes, my friends, summer has officially started. and it is HOT. Its only 6:25am and i am sweating. procrastinating going out running.
on a positive note- i now look forward and i am excited even to go to work. the AC is great!

i want to adjust and get up earlier- but its hard to break my 6 am habit. today i got up at 5:50. Baby steps i guess.

well im gonna read for a bit before my busy days begins. TGIF!

Good job parking hiroshi

2010-07-01T22:01:00.001-04:00

Hiroshi once again drives me nuts. Look at his parking ability.

Way to make your small bike take up more space than 2 adult bikes.

Cucumbers.

2010-07-01T21:55:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to report that my cucumber plants have started flowering! Yay! Hopefully followed by cucumbers!

-- Post From My iPhone

Random pics from my phone

2010-07-01T21:54:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

From golden week camping.

popsicles

2010-06-28T21:14:00.002-04:00

i eat popsicles everday. several. i sit in front of my fan and eat popsicles. its hot! wait. not hot. its humid. yesterday, a tiny old woman came up to me while i was waiting at a light. she came up real close to my face and smiled a really big smile! then she said " its hot, huh?" (in japanese) I agreed and told her to be careful, then headed home to eat another popsicle.

Uh oh

2010-06-14T23:46:00.000-04:00

It's almost as tall as me!

-- Post From My iPhone

Yay for old students dropping in!

2010-06-11T08:02:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Thirsty!

2010-06-11T01:40:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Think positive thoughts!

2010-06-09T08:26:00.001-04:00

One good thing about blowing my nose a bazillion times a day and coughing forcefully all day is the ab workout Im getting.

-- Post From My iPhone

Lost

2010-06-07T08:21:00.000-04:00

Recently there has been a constant item in our lobby.

-- Post From My iPhone

Sights on my way home from the gym

2010-06-06T22:18:00.000-04:00

Mailman

-- Post From My iPhone

Jungle

2010-06-06T08:58:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Waiting

2010-06-05T23:55:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Bike garage

2010-06-05T05:10:00.000-04:00

Time to get my bike and head home.

-- Post From My iPhone

Saturday afternoon with hiro

2010-06-05T02:55:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Hot Friday afternoon!

2010-06-04T00:32:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Eggplant caprese with tomato and basil

2010-06-02T23:23:00.000-04:00

Fresh basil from my mini garden!

-- Post From My iPhone

A free sample from my gym

2010-06-01T08:28:00.001-04:00

Of.......... Beer! That's right- they gave everyone a mini can of beer as they left! No power bars for us- just a nice lukewarm mini can of beer!

-- Post From My iPhone

My garden

2010-06-01T08:26:00.001-04:00

I planted basil cucumbers and eggplant! The cucumbers are growing like crazy!

-- Post From My iPhone

last weekend

2010-06-01T00:02:00.002-04:00

Last weekend was nice! It was Hiro's birthday on saturday. we got up and took a nice run, ate breakfast and walked back. I got him a gift card for a massage, and while he was doing that, i went and bought smoothie making ingredients! we took a nap, then headed to dinner with some friends! it was really good food and fun!

sunday we took engagement pics. so many pictures. hahah.. then we bought our wedding rings. i guess we are getting stuff done little by little!

it has finally stopped raining everyday, but i am sure itll start up again soon for rainy season! ugh. it has been nice to run and be outside! but my goal of trying not to get awkward tan lines this year has already failed.

now it is tuesday. I am about to go to the grocery store before work. i had a nice relaxing morning. ran 8 miles, cleaned, showered, did 2 loads of laundry, listened to my french audio book, and watched tv! good productive morning!

my cucumber plants are huge, but no cucumbers yet! i am waiting!

i have hay fever! and it is bad this year. i keep taking medicine to help me maintain some normalcy.

other than that, nothing too exciting!

Foaming at the.....

2010-05-27T05:30:00.001-04:00

Armpit?!?!? That right. This morning while running- I noticed that one armpit felt really wet. But why would one sweat noticibly more than the other. So as I got back to my apt area I checked out the situation. I must have not rinsed the soap off very well yesterday because the combination of my sweat and moving arms- I had bubbles foaming. I wonder if people could notice it! Haha!

-- Post From My iPhone

saturday, may 22

2010-05-21T17:33:00.002-04:00

another weekend! thats good! even if this weekend will be busy. in a few minutes im heading out for a quick 3-4 miles. then showering, cleaning, french class, working on a project, studying, studying, studying. tomorrow at 9am, i will be taking day 1 of the DALF C1.

I cant believe its almost june! crazy how fast the time is going! less than 4 months til i am jen hirashiki! yay!

i am really looking forward to watching the season finale of greys anatomy tonight or tomorrow. whenever i have 2 hours... looks really good!

well time to start the busy weekend!

Girls night

2010-05-15T18:42:00.001-04:00

Last night, I went over to a friends place and a few of us had a good time laughing and talking. Lauren made us a good meal and an even better dessert!!!!

Today, it's off to breakfast with some church people, church, lunch, then to the nozao's place. Should be a nice day. Next week on Sunday, I'll be taking part 1 of my test! Ahhhhhhhh.

-- Post From My iPhone

Translation please

2010-05-14T20:29:00.001-04:00

How do you translate this into Japanese?

Dear person who puked their dinner of noodles all over the lobby of the apartment. I didn't puke- you did. I don't want to look at it, smell it, or always have to take the steps. Be an adult and clean up your own mess.

How about this one:

Dear people who own 10 bikes or feel that they have the right to park their bike stupidly or in the way of everyone. Please park your bike in a row next to another bike. Don't just fly in- park your bike in the entrance or middle- making it impossible to get the other bikes out. I don't care how much of a hurry you're in- youre not saving time in the long run since I purposely knock your bike over and your going to have to pick it up later.

Someone has to step up and take action.

-- Post From My iPhone

2010-04-30T10:13:00.001-04:00

We also went to an organic vegan cafe restaurant for lunch. It was pretty good. The layout of the restaurant was neat! I had this really interesting sugar with my coffee. Turns out it was beet sugar. I bought a bag and am looking forward to trying it!

-- Post From My iPhone

Okonomiyaki- Hiroshima style

2010-04-30T10:10:00.001-04:00

Tonight rach and I went with the running shop people and friends to a wonderful okonomiyaki restaurant called lopez. It's run by a guatemalan man and his Japanese wife. It was so good that I ended up eating the entire thing!!!!

-- Post From My iPhone

The man sitting on the right is the running shop owner. Him and his wife were so nice and friendly! His wife could speak English really well and made us feel welcomed and included!

Yum!!!!!

2010-04-29T08:58:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

In Hiroshima

2010-04-29T08:55:00.001-04:00

Rach and I left Nagoya wednesday night at 11pm to take a night bus to Hiroshima. We arrived at 7. Figured out how to leave the station. Woke up at a cafe with some coffee. Found our hotel and checked into find we have a huge room with a great bed and lots of space. We changed and headed out to peace park and area and saw a museum dedicated to the bombing. Then some cutes kids who study English came up to us and interviewed us to practice speaking with foreigners. It was cute. Then we wandered around for a bit and found a running store where they invited us to join them at a good okonomiyaki restaurant tomorrow! Then we had lunch at a good bakery. Came back to the hotel. I went to run on the treadmill for a bit and rach napped. The we read and relaxed for a bit. We went out again for dinner and ended up finding a decent Thai restaurant. Yummy!! Then wandered back to the hotel. I studied French and rach, Japanese. Now I'm getting sleepy so I might call it an early night and head to bed!

-- Post From My iPhone

A nice day for a bike ride!

2010-04-18T03:44:00.000-04:00

Out biking with hiro

-- Post From My iPhone

encouraged

2010-04-13T10:39:00.002-04:00

I just listened to a good sermon on itunes.

i made banana pancake balls with my takoyaki machine tonight.

today was a nice day. I didnt get to run as much as i had wanted, but the sun eventually came out....i was waiting with my running clothes on. i got in 3.5 miles.... hoping for no rain tomorrow to get in a good 7 miler. then I met the nozaos at starbucks. i really enjoy spending time with them. it makes me really happy to chat with them. they are my family here.

work was good. busy but good. ive been trying lots of new teaching strategies this year. learning, and sometimes failing, but learning all the same.

ive still been getting rid of 3 things a day. i can see a difference, but i doubt anyone else can. maybe in another few months. (i hope so!)

its almost my birthday!! yippee!

Friday

2010-04-09T00:33:00.001-04:00

I like Friday. It's Friday! Finally. It's been a long week. Finished the first week of classes of the new svchool year. 51 weeks to go!

I've been studying French a lot! Everyday 30-60 min of listening plus reading practice. I should do some grammar review too.

Next Friday is my bday. I Am not so excited- usually I'm sooooo excited- and I don't know why. Maybe i'm getting old.

27. Wow! This is gonna be a really big year for me too!

Well time to work

-- Post From My iPhone

Easter sunday

2010-04-06T00:20:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Easter Sunday hanami!

2010-04-06T00:18:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Inuyama

2010-04-03T07:39:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Sakura is blooming!

2010-03-31T00:59:00.000-04:00

On my way home from the gym!

-- Post From My iPhone

A new school year

2010-03-30T10:09:00.000-04:00

A new school year starts Friday. My last year teaching in japan.

Wow.

I really wish it would hurry up and get warm and stop raining. My workouts have been suffering. My weight as well haha Hoping to get back on track as soon as the weather does.

I'm really sleepy. So time to sleep so I can get up early to run!

-- Post From My iPhone

Apple gorgonzola walnut tart

2010-03-13T01:48:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

lately

2010-03-10T23:28:00.002-05:00

i've been pretty busy lately at work. trial lessons on top of normal lessons. lots of teaching. im trying not to get discouraged. trying to stay positive and motivated.

the marathon is over. i feel like i have so much more time now. I think im just going to maintain about 25 miles a week plus swimming and aerobics and not go above that for awhile. (at least till my next event) this is a good thing. ive had more time to keep up on housework, reading-both bible and other books, sudoku and ive even been cooking a lot. its been really fun to try new recipes.

i stopped eating sweets and snacking. its been good. i feel good to eat more well balanced and not depending on the sugar to keep me energized. i have taken a few bites of some things if i was out with friends- but thats nothing to how poorly i was eating before.

Hiro and i have been trying to plan the wedding. its hard work. lots of details. and im pretty sure we have to go to tokyo on a week day to get some papers notarized. thats not too convenient.

french is going well. ive been really putting a lot of effort into practicing for the DALF C1 test. I am thinking to take the spring one. hopefully ill be ready.

so yep, thats about it. been busy busy busy. on that note, im gonna make my bed, brush my teeth and head off to work.

Split pea soup!

2010-03-09T07:32:00.001-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Monday cooking.

2010-03-07T22:21:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Tokyo marathon

2010-03-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I ran Tokyo marathon. It was a wet race to say the least. I put my poncho on, my headphones in, and just ran. I felt good for the most pArt. Strong. Ready. The rain didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. But after 2 hours- my fingers were useless. I didn't hit the wall till the 48th kilo. The last 10 min of my run- the rain stopped. I finished as strong as I could. And broke my best time by 30 seconds. I wasn't expecting to do that in the rain. And even better all my five kilo splits were either 29 or 30 minutes. Meaning I ran the most even pace ever!

I was really happy to change into warm dry clothes and see hiro after the race.

My 8 marathon - success!

-- Post From My iPhone

Dinner with jen

2010-03-03T07:59:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Eating with Jen.

2010-03-02T07:52:00.000-05:00

Here's my dinner.

-- Post From My iPhone

the best weekend ever!

2010-02-22T21:19:00.002-05:00

Valentines weekend was the best weekend! It started on friday. I got 10 pink roses sent to me at work from Hiro.

on saturday, i went to french class in the morning, then left early to meet up with Hiro. He ended up taking me to a cat cafe. we got to eat lunch and play with cats for awhile. there was a really fluffy one hiding in a cat house, i really wanted to hold it. so i finally pulled it out. so cute!

after the cat cafe, went to the grocery store and bought stuff to make nama harumaki. both the cat cafe and this we had done when we were still just friends. after eating, we went to an arcade and played some video games.

sunday we went to church. then after church, Hiro said he had something to prepare so he went off, and i went to lunch. a few hours later, i got a mail on my phone, telling me to go to our park. a scavenger hunt! so i went to the park and exit 2 of the subway, was a hint. there were about 5 hints, leading me around the park. reminding me of some good times we spent there! (i accidentally missed a clue and ended up finding a different one- messing up the whole thing!) i wondered if he might propose, but i didnt want to ruin the special moment if it wasnt in the plans.

i got to the last hint and there was Hiro to tell me "happy valentines day!" we sat down on a bench and just chatted for awhile. he asked me what my favorite memory from the park was. i told him, then asked him. He said that he wanted to make a new one.

instantly, my palms started sweating. it was pretty cold out, but i was sweating a lot. he laughed and asked me what i thought he was going to say. then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! of course i said yes! i was/am so so so so so happy to be the future Mrs. Hirashiki!

after that, we went to my favorite french restaurant and had a nice dinner.

it was perfect. Life is good!

so now we are planning a sept 18th wedding. lots of stuff to do, but all in all, i am just looking forward to being married to the man i love!

Beautiful valentines day roses!

2010-02-16T19:23:00.000-05:00

Last Friday at work I got 10 beautiful pink roses- and that was just the beginning of a great weekend!

-- Post From My iPhone

Rainy no work Thursday baking

2010-02-10T23:29:00.001-05:00

I made chocolate macaroons! Yummmmmm!

-- Post From My iPhone

TGIF

2010-02-04T22:58:00.003-05:00

I am always so happy for fridays to come around. i only have 4 classes. and i actually like all of them. every other friday, i get off at 8:20. that just happens to be this friday. so rach and i will go to the cafe on the first floor of where my school is and eat dinner and study.

last night i went to see my good friend tomoko. she is going to have her baby any day now. the due date is the 14th. it was exciting to see her big belly! i am really excited to meet her little girl.

this weekend will be another busy weekend. french class and 2 bday parties on saturday. but i always enjoy the weekend. i enjoy spending time with hiro. being free. drinking coffee. speaking french.

this morning, i ran 6 miles. bringing me up to 36 miles for the week. tomorrow ill do a few more to get up to 38 or 39. it started snowing while i was running. big fluffy flakes. i am really looking forward to a little warmer weather. the weather that makes me feel like i can run forever.

its time to go to work now. ive got a class in 40 minutes and still have to prepare!

have a good weekend!

What a nice morning!

2010-02-03T19:23:00.002-05:00

so after getting up really early this week and running 30 miles in 3 days. 16, 10, 4. i slept in this morning until 8:40. i feel so good and refreshed! its been a busy week. im just going to take it easy this morning, then head into work. only 2 more days. 9 more classes! i really wish it was warm outside. i cant wait till spring. itll feel so nice to not freeze all day!

february!

2010-02-01T23:02:00.002-05:00

looking forward to february! lots of nice things happen in february. tokyo marathon, valentines day- the holiday of pink! today i became a jockey ambassador. so i got some nice new running gear to wear at some races!!! its really nice! looking forward to my run tomorrow.

monday i ran 16 miles. today 10. im tired! but tomorrow is an exciting day! an old friend who i met in ohio. hes italian. is coming to nagoya. so itll be nice to catch up!

this morning, while running, i fell. again. hahah. this time, i only scraped my thumb. but it must have been a sight to see. i was wearing my running backpack and it was pretty heavy. i was trying to go up this cement hill, but it was still wet from yesterdays rain. i slipped, and because my backpack made me off balance, i rolled into the muddy grass. i kept rolling. i picked myself up, saw that no clothes were damaged, and laughed it off as i continued running.

now i am off to work. i am excited for next week. we have a planning/ open house day at work on tuesday and then thursday is a holiday! yay for breaking up the routine!

happy february!!!!

a long awaited blog. maybe.

2010-01-25T23:51:00.003-05:00

so i am back. its just been busy since we came back from the US. working, running, hanging out, trying to read more, watching the office, and somtimes trying to clean my room.

work is going well. its crazy to think that our school year ends in about 2 months! it will be sad to see some students go. but we are really hoping to get lots of new ones. its been good.

running is taking up lots of time. im in the middle of my tokyo marathon training. about 5 weeks to go. or a little less! my long runs probably wont top 18 or 19, however my weekly mileage is above average, so thats good! i just did my 14 miler this morning. (I have had to do my long runs on tuesdays before work becasue i am taking a french class on saturday mornings) but it feels good to get it out of the way and done with for the week!

ive been trying to read more. i have already read 2 and a half books this month ( i started on of them last year and just finished it up)

im addicted to the office. i cant stop watching it! good thing episodes are only 21 minutes!

i got my results back from the 10km race i ran a few weeks back. i had a PR of 47 minutes, making me 25th our of 170 something women! yay!

another goal i have made for this year is to not buy anything until i use up the stuff i already have or get rid of 3 things for every 1 thing i buy. (exceptions- food things, gifts, etc) i am trying to downsize and get rid of things. i wish there was a big salvation army i could drop all kinds of stuff off at. instead i have overflowing bags of stuff that i want to get rid of but dont really know how to. its a waste to throw it all away!

last night i got to finally talk to cara! it was good! i miss her! hopefully ill get to see her sometime this year.

well i am off to get some stuff done around the house, get groceries and get to work.

hopefully i get back into the swing of things with blogging!

im back

2010-01-06T08:25:00.003-05:00

so i am finally back from my trip to the US. it was a great great time. ill tell about it little by little over the next few postings.

hiro and i got on the plane to tokyo. only to find out our plane to NYC was cancelled. so with a random group of others we ended up getting free vouchers for all our meals and a free night in a hotel. while it wasnt the best option (would have much rather gotten to the US earlier) it wasnt completely a waste! it ended up being a nice mini vacation before the real one. finall the 20th we got on a plane and got to NYC at 8am.

hiros dad picked us up. we were pretty sleepy. i fell asleep in the car. we relaxed a bit and showered then we went to church. it was a neat experience going to a vietnamese church. afterwards, there was a lot of food. so i enjoyed trying some good food!
i fell asleep again on the way back to the house that evening and was really happy to sleep.

ill tell you all about monday in the next post. it involves jimmy fallon!

Winter wonderland

2009-12-18T19:03:00.000-05:00

Woke up to a white snowy morning! That was a surprise. It does look nice even if it's cold. But as iride the train to Nagoya- there's less and less snow.

I'm on my way to the US. Kasugai to kanayama then to centrair. NGO to NRT to JFK!

-- Post From My iPhone

USA Here I come!

2009-12-17T22:34:00.002-05:00

tomorrow this time, ill be in the plane taking off! yay! so exciting! I have lots to do between now and then- so as soon as im done with work, i am going to be a busy packing girl!

today i met with leslie who is back in japan for a few weeks.... it was great! it really felt like old times and that it hadnt been like 8 months since we had last seen each other!

last night, hiro and i exchanged christmas presents. he gave me some beautiful earrings that match my necklace he gave me last year! he also got me a pink gym bag and some plants!!! yay!

im so excited for this trip! well off to the drug store before work to get some last minute things i need. then at 8:10- i will be done with work for 2009!

5 more days!

2009-12-13T17:09:00.002-05:00

I'm getting really excited! one more week of work. it should be a fast week too! im pretty busy! i pulled out my suitcases last night, but that just made me more excited! tonight my friend will come over to hang out for a bit. tomorrow im getting a haircut. friday my good friend who used to live in japan is coming from canada and ill get to see her! all so exciting. then saturday, hiro and i will be heading to the US!

yesterday was a great day! actually it was a great weekend! saturday i met up with my friend kanako for lunch and shopping. finished my christmas shopping for the most part. then i met up with hiro and hung out with him. always a nice time.

sunday we had our church christmas party. we all ate a potluck lunch and had a gift exchange. then watched some christmas movies and had dinner. just a nice relaxing day!

now, im gonna head out for a run and then head to the gym for latin aerobics!

5 more days!

新しい友達

2009-12-05T08:11:00.001-05:00

今日はshootersに行きましたいろいろトランプgamesやりました本当に楽しかった！二人の男の子会いましたたくやとたけし

-- Post From My iPhone

Bad manners

2009-11-28T02:22:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

The ticket says something about having bad manners or no manners. Haha.

Nagoya city 10km

2009-11-27T23:51:00.001-05:00

This past Monday, we had a holiday. Nagoya city had a 10km race. I ran with a friend and paced him. We finished in about 54 minutes. It was a nice short enjoyable run. I really like pacing people for sub 1 hour 10k races. If anyone wants me to pace them someday- let me know!!!!!

-- Post From My iPhone

sorry

2009-11-22T16:43:00.002-05:00

I've been bad abut updating. but sometimes, theres not much to talk about.

its day 3 of a 3 day weekend. its been a great weekend! friday night we decorated the christmas tree! it looks good!

saturday i went out for what i planned to be a 9 mile run, however my knee for some reason decided to hurt. so i had to stop at 3 and then walk back. it still hurts and ive decided not to run the race today. ill let my knee rest a but then see how it feels.

saturday afternoon i relaxed and cooked and cleaned. the nozao's and tomoe and hiro came over for a thanksgiving dinner. it was so nice. we had a good time talking. ill have to put some pics up soon.

sunday, hiro and i spent some time at his cousin's new house. it was so fun to play with the kids and eat some good food!

today, monday, im going to go cheer on friends at the nagoya 10km race. then i may do some christmas shopping.

ibigawa marathon

2009-11-12T22:09:00.002-05:00

What a great marathon. and coming back stronger than ever. I started ibigawa marathon with a 4:30 finishing time in mind. at halfway, I was 20 minutes ahead of schedule. the last 10 km were tough as usual, but i sucked it up and kept on going.

i ran my fastest marathon ever in 4:12 (my time from when i started the race, however it took me 1 minute to get to the starting line and so my official time is 4:13) I felt great until the 33km. which is strange because 33 is my favorite number. but i seem to always fall apart at 33. but with less than 6 miles to go, i knew i could finish. worst case in 4:30. i actually was on pace for awhile to finish in 4:05.

it was a beautiful course. lots of runners. lots of hills. lots of people cheering. what a great time. and at the halfway point i got to see hiro-my friend got him on a journalist bus so he could get to the halfway point to see me!

i took the week off from running. i swam wednesday and today and took an hour walk on thursday and will probably do another tomorrow. back to running on monday! about 3 months till tokyo marathon with a few 10km thrown in for fun. actually in about a week and a half, hiro and i will run the nagoya city 10km! hiros first race! should be fun!

well its friday and i am happy about that! 4 classes today and off at 8:10! whoohooo!

a few more scary halloween stories that my students wrote!

2009-11-05T18:17:00.002-05:00

the black cat

once upon a time, there was a black cat.
she was 30 years old.
she liked to eat tomatoes and cheese.
but she didnt like milk and fish.
so her bones were not strong.
one day , the cat jumped off of tokyo tower and broke her leg because her bones were not strong.
but she want to try again.
so she tried to drink milk and eat fish.
her bones became stronger and stronger.

---------------------------------------

the pink skeleton

once upon a time, there was a pink skeleton.
they lived in a pink house and pink city.
they liked pink.
one day, the pink skeleton was very sad.
her body color changed to blue.
and city's color changed to blue too.
everyone in the city was sad-so they decided to play a game.
they played UNO and one person took a color change card.
so the color changed to green and they were sad again (so can you tell i play uno with my students often?)

-----------------------------------------

the smelly witch

once upon a time, there was a smelly witch.
she lived in kasugai, near ochiai park.
her best friend was jen.
she was smelly too.
the witch and jen went to geo to rent a video.
they rent kureyon shinchan and enjoyed to watch in witch's house.
they became hungry.
they decided to cook dinner.
the food was very bad and they died.

--------------------------------------------

the mean ghost

once upon a time, there was a mean ghost.
he didnt have any friends.
so he went outside to make friends.
but he was not able to be watched (seen)
so he cried "look at me!!!"
one dog heard the voice and approached.
he cursed (put a curse )the dog.
soon the dog died.
the mean ghost was happy.

--------------------------------------------

the horrible zombie

once upon a time, there was a horrible zombie.
he was hungry and wanted to eat humans.
there was a piece of cake which looked so delicious.
he always attacked people at night.
people were scared of the zombie's attack.
one night the zombie went to one man's house to attack and eat him.
but he saw the cake.
he was so happy.
he ate the cake after ate the man.
cake was more delicious than humans.
so he stopped eating humans.

well thats enough fear for now! hahah. more to come!

the marathon is coming up! today -friday, i am just taking it easy and getting some stuff, mostly cleaning, done that i havent had time for. i am a little nervous for the marathon. its been a year and a half since my last one. but ill just go try my best. it wont be fast, but i am happy just to finish. to be able to run again is great considering last year this time, i couldnt walk without horrible pain, let alone run! so ill take it!

Adult halloween

2009-11-02T08:06:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

What a guy!

Halloween at the English school

2009-11-02T08:02:00.000-05:00

-- Post From My iPhone

One year of greatness

2009-10-27T19:22:00.000-04:00

I forgot to put these pics up in September- but better late than never. Hiro took me to a nice French restaurant. It was a great and special day!

-- Post From My iPhone

Jr high and high students

2009-10-27T19:17:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

halloween stories

2009-10-27T19:03:00.002-04:00

Its that time again! that wonderful time of the year when i have my jr high and high school students write stories about halloween. i come up with the title and they each write 1 sentence and pass is to the next person, until the paper fills up. its always fun to see how creative the students cant be!

enjoy!

The moldy monster

once upon a time there was a moldy monster.
he was sad because he didnt have any friends.
so he wanted to die.
but he couldnt die.
so he tried to make friends.
but he couldnt make friends.
he decided to find some friends on the internet.
he found another moldy friend and they were happy.
---------------------------------
the smelly cat

once upon a time there was a smelly cat.
he wanted friends.
he decided to go shopping for some perfume.
he bought a very strong perfume.
he became a good smelling cat.
but the perfume was very very strong so he couldnt make friends.
he went the trip to look for good smelling perfume.
---------------------------------

the scary witch

once upon a time, there was a scary witch.
she was 100 years old.
she liked to eat people.
sometimes, she went to a city to get people.
one day she came to kasugai to find some delicious high school students to eat.
and a person call kazuki was gotten. (kazuki is a boy in the class)
but kazuki won.
the world became peaceful.
--------------------------------

there are more to come.

weve been halloween partying this week at KIS. fun games, cute crafts and fun times. ill add some pics after i remember to take some.....

stinkbug

2009-10-20T19:10:00.002-04:00

monday was finishing up like any normal day of teaching. I was in the last 15 minutes of a high school class of boys. i had the window open a bit to have some fresh air and not use the air conditioner. a little green bug flew in.. i quickly grabbed the fly swatter and prepared to swat, when my students yelled "STOP"!! i looked at them and asked why. they told me that it was a bug that smelled very bad.

well over the next few minutes, the bug flew around the room. a boy, who plays on the badminton team at his school, took the fly swatter and tried to hit the bug out of the window. it didnt work. the reactions of the other boys were great. they were screaming and running like little girls! hahah. at one point, my coworker came in to see what the noise was about. when we told her there was a bug, she screamed and ran into the other classroom.

finally i had the genius idea of turning off the light in the classroom, thus making the bug fly to the hallway, and eventually out of the front door. (my school is really small so the front door is about 2 feet away from my classroom. it worked. the bug few out into the hallway and landed on the ground. we put a box over it and put it outside in the box. then i made the students go back into the room or the last 5 minutes of class

and boy oh boy did it smell. it smelled bad. we spent the next 5 minutes talking about kamemushi-stinkbugs. looking at their faces, trying not to breathe in deeply, i started laughing and told them to get out of the smelly room and go home. we all felt a little nauseated. its amazing how a little bug can stink up a classroom so bad! one student told me that if someone were to put a stinkbug in a small box, it would die due to its own stink. and if you touch it, you cant wash the smell off for awhile. interesting.

anyways, we left it in the box overnight and i hurried to work on tuesday to see what became of the stinkbug-but it was gone! so i wonder what happened to the bug and to the person who found it!

tokyo marathon

2009-10-14T01:25:00.002-04:00

last year was a big disappointment in not being able to run in tokyo marathon. its so hard to get in, and to waste my entry by not being able to run was disappointing. but i got another chance. in february, i can try again. it will be marathon number 8. and i am determined to stay as healthy as possible and train smart and efficiently! yay for another chance!

the next races are:

ibigawa full marathon 11/8
kasugai 10km 1/?
tokyo marathon 2/28
kanazawa marathon 5/?

and hopefully i can get into the triathlon again.

but i need to find a good marathon for my 10th full marathon. sometime next fall.

Obama, je ne suis pas d'accord

2009-09-29T09:43:00.003-04:00

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

I read this article on yahoo news. It is frustrating to me in a few ways:

First of all, American kids spend more hours in school than kids in asian countries. Since I live in Japan and teach here, I'm only going to say what I've seen. I know that most of my students go to juku- basically after school subject tutoring. Some of my students go 2 hours a week, some everyday for 2 hours. During vacation times, they can go all day. So, technically some kids in Japan spend a lot of time in "school"- all day in school then go to their club, then go to this tutoring, then go to english classes or other things. I'll admit, my students are good at math (maybe obama should make us take abacus classes as children, like lots of kids in japan do). But I'll tell you what, I have many many many students who are incapable of using their brain, learning abstract things or thinking for themselves.

I'd say the majority of my students are burnt out and just plain tired of studying by the time they are in junior high. Starting their day early and finishing at 9pm is not a great habit to get into. But I'm always surprised by how many students really have a day to day schedule like this.

Parents have to pay for school here. There are about 40 students in a class. Teachers work horrible hours. Kids clean the school.

So basically if Obama wants American kids to go to school longer, just to keep up with math and science scores, he's gonna have to change a lot more than just the hours. Who's going to pay for the extra time the teachers work? What about the kids who don't come from well off families and need to have a part time job? What if the above average kids keep staying above average and the below average students just stay below average? what was accomplished?

Sure, tests can be good, but do we really have to focus so much on state tests, nationwide tests, and worldwide standards? What about the things that cant be tested? What about kids who aren't good test takers? What about teaching kids real life things? Letting kids be kids. Once they get older, they won't have a summer vacation.

Just because kids get better math and science scores in other countries, doesn't mean that they don't have any weaknesses.

more triathlon pics!

2009-09-26T09:10:00.003-04:00

Irago triathlon

2009-09-26T08:36:00.008-04:00

a few weeks ago, i participated in my first triathlon. it seemed easy enough. 1km swim 40km bike and 10km run. i trained a bit, but as the day grew closer, i became mor and more nervous. finally it was time. on saturday, my friend naoko and i went to nagoya dome to run in a fun relay with some friends. then we made the couple hour drive to irago to sign in and join in the festivities of the weekend. hiro came and set up his tent next to our hotel.

sunday morning was the day. we got up early. ate. prepared. i was nervous- not knowing what to expect or what i was capable of doing. checking in our bikes and getting our numbers on and setting up our transition area was both fun and terrifying at the same time. it did help to have hiro, naoko and our new friend next to us to take my mind off of the upcoming events.

finally it was time to head to the starting line. i hate fish. i am not a fan of the ocean. and here i was about to swim 1km with 450 other people in the ocean-out kinda deep- with fish. it was the longest kilometer of my life. i got stuck in a pacck of swimmers and couldnt break out of the kicking hitting mess. i thought i'd never finish. but i did. 27 minutes later. i ran to the transition- and was out of there in about a minute. i headed out quickly to make up for lost time.

the bike course was a straight 3.5m lading to an 11km loop (3 times) and back the 3.5. i sped through it. felt great. i was able to maintain 30kph for most of the ride. felt really strong. i finished in 1h29m much better than i had anticipated.

the run. oh the run. i thought i would be a rock star for the run portion. boy was i ever wrong. my heavy legs did not want to move-let alone run up 2 huge hills and back. i decided that my slow jog was slower than walking. so my 10km run was really a quick uphill walk and anytime there was a decline-i sprinted. finally the last kilometer was downhill and i had to give it all i had. hiro met me at the finish line and we ran in together! finishing the run in 1h04min.

total time- 3 hours. i was really happy with the time! i came in 20th out of 60 women. 250th overall (410 finishers-450 entrants) and 1st out of foreign women. (uh lets not think about the fact that i was the only foreign women in the race)

the best part was that i wasnt even really sore after. my body was tired and muscles were tight-but not even comparable to a marathon.

it was a great experience and i really want to try again next year and change up some things!

but now its time to train for marathon season. (so so so not in long dist. running shape! todays 12 miler wore me out!-6 weeks to go!)

Uncoordinated

2009-09-24T06:11:00.000-04:00

Today I got up and ran. A beautiful morning and I really enjoyed my 8.5 miles. Afer I got back- I changed and headed to the gym. There was an aerobics class I've never tried so I decided to try it. It was the longest hour of my life. I just bounced and skipped around trying to minimize how stupid I must have looked. Turns out that this class is the highest level class. No wonder. Haha. That's the first and last time. I think I'll stick to simply aero.

The kicker was that I was in the back of the studio- next to the giant windows. Showing my awsome skills to the entire gym.

-- Post From My iPhone

bud in japan part 6

2009-09-21T18:28:00.005-04:00

so the last full day, we got up in the morning in kyoto. we went to a place that has hundreds of orange gates. we walked through them about halfway up the mountain. after, we headed back to nagoya. it was a long ride but we made it. came home, took a nap, got ready and bud and i went to the nozao's for a very good dinner!

Dinner with friends

2009-09-13T07:01:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

bud in japan part 5

2009-09-08T08:39:00.008-04:00

i guess its time to update the rest of buds trip before i forget what we did.

day 5. stlll in kyoto. we woke up, went out for a quick breakfast then bud had his appointment to dress up. hahah it was so fun to see bud get all decked out in some japanese clothes and play samurai. he walked all around and said hello to everyone and basically protected the area.

after that, we had big plans to visit the bamboo forest. we walked a lot. so tiring. then we went back, got cleaned up and rested and headed to a culture show and a ramen dinner and then some karaoke. such a fun day!

Thursday

2009-08-27T00:54:00.000-04:00

Time for work. I like Thursdays so hopefully today will be a great day!

-- Post From My iPhone

bud in japan part 4

2009-08-23T23:50:00.008-04:00

whew! part 4. bud took a lot of pictures!

day 4 we went to kyoto. we got up, headed out but due to floods and a lot of rain, our train was delayed by about 30 minutes. then when the 1 train came, it was so so so full. it continued to get fuller and fuller as we stopped at the next 4 stops. now ive been on packed trains before, but this was the fullest train i have ever been on. there was no space left at all. unless i would have jumped up and sat on the baggage rack. now looking back, this couldve been a possibility haha.

we finally made it to nagoya and decided to take the shinkansen-or bullet train- to kyoto. its only 30 minutes by shinkansen, but 2.5 hours by normal train. but its also double the price. anyways, we set out and 30 minutes later, we were in kyoto. we got bus passes, checked in at our hostel and then set out to explore the city.

first we stopped at sanjusangendo. this is a place with lots of statues. then we made our way to kiyomizudera. after that, we were so tired and starving so we took a break and ate. then walked back a long way to our hostel since the buses were full. the boys (hiro, bud and hideki) went out to a nice meat filled dinner, while rach and i opted to rest and just eat a small dinner at the hostel.

bud in japan part 3

2009-08-23T23:05:00.007-04:00

sunday we woke up, went to church and went to lunch at tiger cafe. after lunch, we met up with hiro to go to a toyota museum. it was much more interesting than i had anticipated. we spent the afternoon there. then we went to eat sushi! it was conveyor belt style so bud was a very happy boy. after that, we met another friend and went to a game center where we played some video games, took pictures and then headed home. a good day!

buds trip pt 2

2009-08-21T21:21:00.009-04:00

day 2. saturday. we got up and biked over to a coffee shop to get morning set with the Nozao's morning set is unique to this area of japan. if you order a drink, you get a free toast and boiled egg. so we went to Komeda and had breakfast and introduced bud to the Nozao's. after a nice morning, we headed into town to Osu. Osu is a shopping area in town and we went around and looked in some places and bud ate a kebab. then we went to sakae to go to the 100yen shop (1 dollar store) there, he was able to find all kinds of fun things. then we met up with Hiro, went to starbucks and then went to the basement of the department store. in japan, the dept store basements are full of food. already prepared food. all kinds of it. so we walked around. bud loved it. so much fresh fish and interesting things to see and eat. bud and hiro bought a few things to try and then they chased down a japanese man wearing a florida gators shirt to take a picture with bud.

then we headed over to nagoya castle. there was a festival happening in the evening. so we waited for it to open, then we walked around, played some games, watched the dancing, looked around the castle, and ate some good festival food. snocones, yakisoba and takoyaki! yum!

then we went to an australian bar for a friends goodbye party. after being there for a bit, we were so tired and we trekked back to kasugai to shower and sleep!

buds trip pt 1

2009-08-21T21:10:00.003-04:00

So bud came to japan. He got in on friday and hiro picked him up at the airport. they made their way to kasugai, dropped off his stuff at my place and came to my work. i planned to invite some students to come meet him and speak english with him. some came. takumi, katsunobu and ayumi. they were nice and tried to talke to him, but a little shy. they taught him origami and we ate watermelon together. after that, we went to eat with my boss, coworker, rach, hiro, me and bud. bud first japanese food eating in japan. he has miso katsu which is breaded and fried pork with miso sauce (i dont know how to describe it so well) we sat on the floor in the restaurant. then we went back to my apartment and bud unpacked all the goodies he brought for me. thanks mom and bud. then we went to bed because we were going to busy busy busy for the next 5 days!

Some pics from buds trip

2009-08-15T00:45:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

another nice day

2009-08-04T09:31:00.002-04:00

it didn't rain today either!!! got to ride 18km and then i went for a 1km swim. im really tired now at night from this training! tomorrow is a run day. maybe about 7 or 8 miles. time to sleep!

Weather

2009-08-03T00:36:00.000-04:00

Yay. It's not raining! I got to go on a nice run this morning! Off to work now.

-- Post From My iPhone

2009-07-30T19:32:00.001-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

More summer party pics

2009-07-30T19:32:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

Last weekends summer party

2009-07-30T19:23:00.000-04:00

-- Post From My iPhone

pictures from camping!

2009-07-24T21:51:00.007-04:00

The Adventures of Jen

Back in the USA

Shepherds pie

Pierogies!

new year's resolution

time to start posting again

Ekiden

Holiday season!

Pictures Pictures Pictures

Marathon number 9.

wake up!

a long week

I'm back....hopefully

married. officially yet unofficially.

officially summer

Good job parking hiroshi

Cucumbers.

Random pics from my phone

popsicles

Uh oh

Yay for old students dropping in!

Thirsty!

Think positive thoughts!

Lost

Sights on my way home from the gym

Jungle

Waiting

Bike garage

Saturday afternoon with hiro

Hot Friday afternoon!

Eggplant caprese with tomato and basil

A free sample from my gym

My garden

last weekend

Foaming at the.....

saturday, may 22

Girls night

Translation please

Okonomiyaki- Hiroshima style

In Hiroshima

A nice day for a bike ride!

encouraged

Friday

Easter sunday

Easter Sunday hanami!

Inuyama

Sakura is blooming!

A new school year

Apple gorgonzola walnut tart

lately

Split pea soup!

Monday cooking.

Tokyo marathon

Dinner with jen

Eating with Jen.

the best weekend ever!

Beautiful valentines day roses!

Rainy no work Thursday baking

TGIF

What a nice morning!

february!

a long awaited blog. maybe.

im back

Winter wonderland

USA Here I come!

5 more days!

新しい友達

Bad manners

Nagoya city 10km

sorry

ibigawa marathon

a few more scary halloween stories that my students wrote!

Adult halloween

Halloween at the English school

more scary stories!

One year of greatness

Jr high and high students

halloween stories

stinkbug

tokyo marathon