Day 2: colors & the radio

Sounds like readers thought the tone of my first post was somewhat down and sad, so this post will be more upbeat and happy!!!

I've been fooling around on my computer, trying to tweak the page and make it look nicer. So far, so good. I'm choosing nice 'beachy' colors to convey my life out here in sunny California! It's amazing how some of the introductory photo editing tools work nowadays, it's like you really maybe don't need to learn Photoshop - and you can still produce amazing artwork!! I'll continue to keep taking photos and learn more about the newest software :) I'll work on getting my photos organized in a nice way for everyone to see as well...

It's already mid-March! I love DST - since it brings in more sunlight and working late doesn't seem so bad. We still get to see the sun shining when we leave the office. The worst is when there is no sunlight during the winter, and it's so dark :( The beach produces so many beautiful colors of pinks, purples, reds, blues and oranges when the sun is setting and I have a good collection of photos of the beach... yummmmm....

Work has been stable but slow, and it seems like that's the case everywhere. At least I have a job right now though! I used to think it was just my company treating us unfairly and letting people go - to 'clean up' the company - but it really is almost all companies now! I keep my head straight by listening to PRI - Public Radio International (find link in my Favorites!) - other countries have interesting perspectives on how they view the US and the current economic situation... and how it affects other countries in the meantime. Dad sends me a lot of articles on current events but I don't really have time to read all of it, so I try to skim through... :-P

Eve Kushner is a free-lance writer I came to know about recently through a podcast broadcast through THE WORLD, which is part of PRI. She blogs about Kanji, and newest book is called "Crazy for Kanji" -- you could tell that she is well versed about the Japanese language, culture and of course, kanji. I've never written to writers but I figured she would just not respond - and that would be the worst case scenario. So I decided to email her, and ask her how she got her exposure to Japanese, and what really sparked her interest in learning Japanese. I also told her about my current status being here in California, and turns out - she is SUPER nice and responded to my email in just a few days!! It was very surreal, but a very genuine, warm feeling to have a complete stranger with similar interests connect with you. I guess we really are in a technical world, connected to each other more than ever!! She shared her thoughts about international marriage with me, since her husband is from Pakistan, and she is Russian-descent. She said there were many cultural barriers she had to get through, but their differences in background actually helped them become a better couple.

It has been somewhat of a struggle just recently to communicate to family that John is still in the middle of his graduate degree and is working simultaneously. I know I have very high expectations of his future growth into a more international individual, since he is committed to me (and those important to me consequently), but I think it takes some more time - and things are usually easier said than done. He just finished his first class in Japanese 3 months ago, and he's thinking about taking another class in the semester to come. We're planning weekly 'meals' over Skype during the weekends when we are not busy with work to connect with each other - and this should relieve the silence issue. This week, I'd like to talk about John - where he's from, and where he's going with me. I'll probably write up an agenda and schedule for future get-togethers to send out :)

Tonight I have my final belly-dancing class with Amanda (although I'm not going since I want to just hang out at home and be lazy!), and it really has been fun times learning this new dance! I feel in touch with myself and aware of my body parts (as weird as that may sound) since John's initially crazy idea of working out 4 times a week for 3 months is finally paying off! I think it really should have been 3 times a week - and 4 was a little bit too ambitious. I'd like to continue exercising and eat right with LOTS of veggies!! People keep saying how much I'm losing weight! And yes, I feel so much better! Yay!!

It truly has been a WEDNESDAY today, and the week is dragging. At least there's a vendor coming in this afternoon for a presentation on carpet - that should be interesting and informative... (okay, this turned out to be NOT true... bleh!)

Let me know your thoughts about my page! I did some quick color work with my header using Picasa. I love that program! It's so awesome yet so easy. I'll probably use Photoshop as well but I know that's gonna take a little while longer...

Happy Hump Day is over! Woohoo!!

Day 1: start up & mogura

I really have a hard time starting off something like this, because I have too much of a high-expectation for myself.  I feel like, in order to have a good blog, I need my own domain name, with fancy graphics and cool pictures throughout the website.  However, I don't really have time right now to start building a website.  I really wanted to start it now -- to share my thoughts and daily life with the world -- mostly my family at this point since they are far away in Japan.  

So here it is, my first blog post.  We have been having some issues with communication, and I hope that this will relieve some stress since they can come here to read about what's going on in my life - and see pictures and videos if I choose to post those.  I do take great photos, and I am excited to be making use of those!!  

Tonight, after work - John and I had a brief talk at home about our future together - my expectations, my fears, what I'm excited about, what we need to work on as a couple, and as always, there were tears that came with the discussion.  However, we discussed a few things - how to raise kids, where, John's language barrier - and that he will work on his Japanese very soon - and we were off to the beach for some 'mogura' talk.  This is the type of talk where you just pick each other's brains and talk about random things that you are thinking about.  I used to do this with mom a lot when I didn't feel like being social with my high school friends - because they were all too trendy for me.  We talked about how he can get through to my parents, what he can improve on... although there were no definite answers, it feels good to think that we are taking the time to make a difference, and really break through this handicap of living aboard without family around.  

We've also arranged for a weekly dinner/lunch with the family - to make an effort and take the time to talk about daily things that are happening in our lives and since we want to share this with them... I hope this all works out.  I really love my family a lot, and miss them dearly, but also love John so very much as well - and I don't think there's anyone else that can make me whole.  Wow, that's corny, but it's just so true.

I will leave you with a beautiful picture of Redondo Beach's wave...