Last day of 2010

Yesterday we had the priveledge of joining our dear friend Emiko and her family for a morning of mochi making and boar eating. :-) Jeremy and I tried "inoshishi" for the first time - pretty good, and not tough at all like I tough it would be. Aeris had an eventful morning too, a piece of my steak flew out and hit her in the back of head! How many kids can say they had wild boar meat attack them?


And we woke up to snow this morning, more than we have seen yet this year. It even started sticking a bit, but melted before noon.
The view left and right from our hall window:


I also wanted to post some goals for the new year. I neglected this last year as I, like most people, rarely accomplish any of their new year "resolutions"... but I'm determined to make these happen and will keep you updated on my progress! Here's to 2011!

1. Cook a well balanced meal at least once a day. I stink at cooking. I love it, it's one of my favorite things, but little things keep me from it: having a tiny kitchen, not having good equipment, not having access to or being able to afford certain goods, and just being plain old lazy.
2. Keep an organized, (mostly) dust-free house. Again, I stink at housekeeping, even though having a messy home is incredibly distracting and annoying to me. Clutter is one of my worst nightmares.
3. Take a daily walk (weather permitting). It's healthy and fun!
4. Read at least six novels. I'm not much of a reader, though I do enjoy reading and should more often.
5. Make new, long-lasting friendships. I'm a little concerned about gaining a new circle of friends in the new area we'll be living in later this year. I know it's tough making close friends later in life.
6. Lose the baby weight. I haven't even attempted it yet, but will as soon as we're home! I miss going to the gym. I don't have the motivation to work out at home.

2010 was a very interesting year though... Japanese lessons at the beginning of the year, premature labor scares, the general awesomeness of pregnancy, stopping work, changing schedules, the birth of Aeris, grandparents visiting, new teachers, adjusting as a family of three, vacations, and making plans to come back home. If I had any goals for this past year, it would have been to learn Japanese (fail), eat healthy (fail) exercise (fail), and have a healthy baby (success). Ha!