Tune in Tokyo!

So, Marissa has asked that I, Jesse, write a little something about my recent trip to Japan. I was able to spend a few days in the Land of the Rising Sun as part of a school assignment. We visited a few companies, saw a few cultural sites, and ate some great food. Rather than tell a bunch of boring stories, I'd like to just show a few pictures. Here you go:

This is a very large Buddha. Makes Big Buddha from Fox 13 look like a shrimp.

Yes. I rode the bullet train. Yes. It was fast.

This is the group visiting a Japanese manufacturing company.

These deer roam the streets of Nara, an ancient capital of Japan. I've lived in a third-world country and these deer smell and look worse than any stray dog I ever encountered. 

This is the Golden Palace or Pavilion, I can't remember which one. It's plated in gold. Pretty cool.

I guarantee you've never heard anyone sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as well as Patrick and I. Real Japanese Karaoke.

Shrine of 1,000 gates. There were more like 100,000. They wind their way up a mountain. When we reached the top, we got lost and started our own little adventure in the Japanese mountains. Eventually found our way back to the hotel.

This is Tokyo. It's endless city no matter where you look. 30 million people in the Tokyo area.

This is the Rock Garden. Zen Buddhism was born here. We had a very peaceful experience here. I enjoyed it.

This is dinner with the group. Okanamiyaki is something like a large pancake. The chef cooked them on the large grill right in front of us. They were nummy. I got pretty good with the chop sticks.

So, there you have it. I had a great time. The food was awesome, and the people were too. Hopefully Marissa and I will be able to go back someday.  

Fancy Food

Fancy looking food makes me happy!...especially when its my husband taking me out!

Jesse surprised me and decided we still needed to go out now that he is home and try one of the fancier restaurants in Logan-Elements-for a little 2 year anniversary celebration dinner. We highly enjoyed it!...and I couldn't resist taking a picture of some of our fancy looking food we ate!.. :)

next post will hopefully be Jesse posting a little about his trip to Japan!

Preparing me for motherhood.

I watched my nephew Max this last week while his parent's were enjoying there time at an all inclusive resort in Mexico. I already told them one of the reasons why I was so nice to do this is because I will know I will want the favor in return someday (especially after hearing about there relaxing trip). There are a lot of places I want to go and know none of them are going to happen before our little boy is here. And I didn’t really have much to do this week since Jesse was gone as well so I wasn't too big of a sacrifice I guess...

My week was basically waking up at about 6:30 every morning. Him telling me “sun up…sun up!” or “Nana upstairs!” (Which means grandma is getting ready for work) and me groaning and acting like I was still asleep. Then making breakfast –sometimes twice- because Max is a big eater in the mornings but you can't blame him when he just woke up from sleeping 12 hours! (I definitely enjoyed that part) He is a very smart boy and knows basically every ones names-He used to always call me Jesse but I have tried to teach him either “Mar” or “Rissa”. He made sure I took care of the dog that he always had food and water. He loved my mom’s dog-I can’t say the dog loved him back just as much because he would just attacked him. Max made sure I exercised everyday because he always wanted to go outside on a stroller ride in the morning which was good for me. He loved being outside-he could be from sun up to sun down everyday! That just meant I couldn’t get much done I felt like. He loved playing with his cousin “Ili” (Eli), so we spent a lot of time with him all week.

Here are a few cute pictures from throughout the week!

I put him to bed at 7:30 at night-which was nice-but I was pretty exhuasted myself by that time. But I guess it's just preparing me-in about 2 months I can't quite imagine how I am going to feel with my life changing quite a bit with a new baby and of course lack of sleep. I am praying for a good sleeper! please. I guess I can thank Max for keeping me entertained this week while Jesse was away so I was never alone. Now I really just want Jesse back home..Hopefully he'll write a little something about his adventures in Japan!

Everythings gettin bigger around here.

This is what happens when you send a prego hungry lady to the grocery store to get buns for pulled pork sandwiches. You get one Grande sandwich out of it! It seems to be the theme with our food lately...last post about my big ice cream cone...wow) Maybe its because my belly is gettin bigger?...but for the most part I really can't complain and I don't seem to notice, some days I must say I do feel quite big.

Jesse is away in Japan right now for school. He is having a great time. I sure do miss him though. This is the biggest/longest time away from each other. Absence sure does make the heart grow fonder. ha ;) It was our 2^nd anniversary yesterday…and sadly we could not spend it together. But being his thoughtful self made sure I received these beauties. I might have shed a tear...I sure do love him!

His Grandparents were also very thoughtful and made sure I still had a good day. I went out for lunch with them and Jesse's Mom and later went over and played cards. It was so nice of them and I wasn't left alone! (Even though I was watching Max, my nephew, all day)

Ice cream.

I can't express how much we LOVE ice cream. Basically any flavor any kind. (we like to switch it up) I could honestly eat ice cream every day...multiple times a day. And that is why I can't just go buy a carton and have it at our house because we would eat it all the time. -Not a good thing- But we do tend to go get ice cream often because it is so good!

This weekend was the first time in a LONG time we actually stayed in Logan for the whole weekend And I must say it kinda felt good not to have to drive anywhere and just relax together here. And we went and enjoyed one of these things. Talk about a soft serve dip cone.

We did share this thing...even though I sadly can admit I can eat quite a bit of ice cream..