Japan - the first month

(I just logged in again and forgot I had started this post back in September.  I am going to post it since I wrote it when these things were fresh, but working on a big post now to reflect on the past 3.5 months. I really want to blog while here, but I am on the computer so much for work, I'm having a hard time feeling motivated to get on the computer at home...maybe this long Thanksgiving weekend will be the time...)

It has been just over a month since we made our move to the other side of the world.  It has been a month full of adventure and excitement, with just a little bit of sadness mixed in once in awhile.  Of course, we miss all of our family and friends that we are used to interacting with on a regular basis, but the distance does not change the depth of the relationships.  I want to try to blog at least once a month to try to keep our memories of all we do and experience in one place.

When we first arrived, we were able to move right into our apartment and get acclimated.  The first couple of days here were very busy with activities related to registering as citizens, getting ready to go to work and school the next week and just trying to get our body clocks adjusted to 13 hours difference.    We came with very little, just what we could pack into suitcases and bags.  Our apartment is furnished with both short and long term leased furniture.  There are some things we will give back when our own furniture arrives (was supposed to come around Oct. 5th but currently delayed and expected Oct. 29th) and some we will use for the entire time we are here.  Our apartment is very white and modern - a big change from our old, colorful house in Pennsylvania!  But we are really enjoying the change.  We are eager for our furniture to arrive so we can make it look and feel more like ours, but it is a really nice place and we are very comfortable here.  Jon and I have talked about wanting to live in a city but always thought maybe it would be after our kids were grown, but we are LOVING living in a high rise and being able to step out our doors and having access to everything within walking distance.  We live in a very convenient place for traveling all over Japan, with the major railway system just a few blocks away from our apartment.  Our apartment has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room and a combined kitchen/dining room.  The best part is the huge windows in every room with an amazing view of the city and the mountains.

When we arrived, it was very hot and humid and is just now (mid-Sept) starting to become tolerable.  Because of the weather, we didn't really do anything the first couple of weekends we were here, but then we decided that we only have 2 years and we don't want to waste any of it just sitting around in our apartment.  So, last weekend we explored Osaka and this weekend we got out to see a little more of the city we live in - Kobe.

The kids are loving school.  It is such an amazing school with kids from over 40 nations represented.  They are both taking Japanese 1 hour a day and it is their favorite class.  Sophia is changing classes every hour and so has many teachers and many cool classes - such as design class where they rotate through cooking, sewing, woodworking, fim and technology and drama class where they are spending the entire semester learning how to do improv - - such great life skills!  Anthony is still in a traditional classroom with 1 teacher all day and he really likes her.  He does have a few different teachers for things like physical education, Japanese etc.

Work is going great for me - I really like the people I work for and with!

The Kid's Bathroom - 99% Complete

I love how this room turned out!  I am not going to point out the 1% that still needs to be done :)

A Mini-Makeover

I've been itching to redecorate my living room for awhile, but with all of the other projects going on around here, there just wasn't the time or money.  I was talking to my bff {and decorating advisor extraordinaire}, Bethany, about how I felt stuck with my color scheme of brown/red/gold/sage green because of my furniture and rug.  I have had those colors for over 10 years and am so sick of them but am not ready to take the plunge and get new furniture.  She encouraged me to add some new fresh colors in and specifically suggested teal blue.  The next day I was at Target and found a few things I thought would work and after a trip over to TJMaxx, I had everything I needed for a mini-makeover.  After a couple of decorating advice sessions via text (messages and pics) with Bethany, I am very pleased with the outcome.  I spent less than $250 and feel like I have a brand new room!

The Transition

It's official - we have a tween!  ahhhhhhh!  I promised Sophia that for her 10th birthday we would re-decorate her room that she moved into when she was 2.  It took us almost a year, but it is finally done!  She and I had a lot of fun picking things out together and I am hoping she likes this for quite some time (like when she's ready to go to college...)

 

Decorating!

My favorite part of doing the addition is finally here - - decorating!

We got a table for this extra space in the kitchen (much to Sophia's dismay - she thought this was the ultimate dance floor - especially at night when she can see her reflection in the window).

I am loving having a table to fold the laundry on (washer/dryer in that double door closet)

Because I used 2 of our dining room chairs in the kitchen, I had to get a couple of new chairs for the dining room

I have always wanted to have a couple of upholstered chairs - I love these and think they really complete this room!

We also found some time over the long Easter weekend to re-paint the living room.  We had to do this because when we had the basement done, there was some cracks in the living room wall from the shifting/re-settling of the house.  I decided to go with a much lighter shade to brighten up the room.

Now we are working on finishing up the kids bathroom - Jon got the shower up and running and I just have to paint some trim and some closet doors and then we will be done with that room.  A few more little projects lefts such as painting the office, tiling the entryway and doing a little trim here and there and we can officially wrap this project up...well except for fixing the damage to the backyard from all the construction vehicles, gutting and re-doing the master bathroom and finishing the basement....but you know what I mean :)

Anthony's room is {almost} finished!

It feels so good to have one room that is DONE (well, besides air conditioning vent covers and a tiny bit of trim). I am so happy with how this turned out!

I love that we have these beds because Jon and his brother grew up on them and so did Jon's mom and her sister. The extra bed will be used when we have overnight guests that we put in Sophia's room as well as for sleepovers with friends.

Things I Should Have Blogged About in 2011

Looking back through my blog, I did 50 posts in 2011! Which is more than 2009 and 2010 posts combined. Much of it had to do with documenting our addition we put on our house. But as I think back over the year and compare it to my blog posts, there are definitely a few things missing.

Like, when I got to meet Jude in September! Jude is my best friend Bethany's fourth baby.
He is a precious little boy and it was so much fun to get to spend a weekend at their house. I loved being there without my kids because I got to enjoy her kids so much more than I usually do (our kids are the best of friends and we love it, but they are usually off playing together).

Eden Dawn (my namesake)

Truman (a.k.a. Tru-dawg, Truey)

Briar, who I call Bean or Beanie or Brizee Bean. She and I really bonded on this visit - she was my little shadow all weekend and I loved it!

It was great to have some one-on-one time with Bethany too and just get to catch up. I miss living near her so much! I am so grateful for those 4 years we had near each other, but it makes it even harder to have her far away since I now know how great it was.

Also, I never blogged about my in-laws, who both had a lot of health problems this year. Jon's father had a (successful!) liver transplant in 2010 and was doing well in his recovery, and then we found out Jon's mom has ovarian cancer. She had surgery and went through chemo and responded very well {that sentence doesn't touch what she went through - it was quite an ordeal}. She was just feeling somewhat normal again, when we found out Jon's dad had to have his pancreas removed, so he just went through that surgery. It was a trying year for them and I am so grateful that they are both still with us. They are wonderful in-laws and are a great Grammy and PopPop to my kids.

love these two so much!

Lastly, I didn't get a chance to do a post about our the new addition to our family - - Siena! We finally decided that the time was right for our family to get a puppy. We got her on December 10th and are all completely in love!

the night we brought her home

Sophia has wanted a puppy for sooooooo long!

Anthony wasn't sure if he did, but he is now smitten!

I am loving her! It's like having a baby in the house again.

and even Daddy, who was somewhat against getting a dog, is quite taken with her!

in fact, it was him that took this picture of her...I mean, come on, who could not fall in love with that face?!

Finishing Work

Well, I promised an update, so here it is...this is the part that is so tedious. Jon has been trimming out all of the windows, closet doors etc. and we have both been doing a lot of painting. Still a few little pieces of trim to do, but we are loving having the doors on the laundry area!