spilling the beans -long over due

okay, it's way over due to announce this here,

but I am pregnant!

I am not sure how the time went by so quickly this time, but I am almost 21weeks!!

geez!

 this is my second pregnancy and it often gets forgotten/ignored when you already have a little one to chase after.

finally, I made a point of taking some photos(first time!) of this pregnancy today.

I need to start documenting it more often since most likely this is going to be my last one.

my almost-three-yr-old girl is very excited to be a big sister, 

and she tells me she can't wait to hold the baby when he/she comes out. very cute :)

although we're not going to find out the sex of the baby until the baby comes out, and my little girl thinks it's a BOY,

I couldn't resist this baby sailor dress when I saw it at a local thrift store...

well, it costs only a few bucks!

also I found these awesome kids wooden clogs at the same store!

not sure who makes them. can't find a tag. perhaps handmade?

they are still too big for the little one. she has a few more years to grow into!

belated birthday post

last Wednesday was my 28th birthday.

here goes my belated birthday post.

I tried a new hairdo.

I had tried to do something like this a few times before, but it didn't stay up very well.

so had been wanting to figure out how to make it 'stay'.

 got a hint from Kathleen's recent post, and came up with the way to stay up.

unlike the tutorial, this has no hair band going all around the entire head. 

my husband came home with a bunch of (one of) my favorite flowers.

 it had been way to long since the last time I received flowers from him.

I kept giving him hints for the last five months or so.

and see, this is the result ;)

lastly(but not least, of course!),

I finally came to the realization that birthday isn't really about me.

I came into this world, grew bigger and older so I could stand on my own feet, and am still happy and healthy.

this is all because there are(were) people who loves(ed) me and care(d) about me.

it is a day to thank them all for that and to feel the gratefulness .

 I thank all for being a part of my life.
I am one very lucky girl to have you in my life!

loves!

xo

hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend :)

weekend bits

my mothers day was nothing super spectacular,

but rather a precious ordinary day.

on our way out the door, I received a package(from myself!).

perfect timing, anf nothing like starting a new day with a new pair of shoes.

there we went to a waffle window, down the street from our place.

 the place was pretty packed.

i guess everyone was taking their moms out for breakfast/brunch.

I had an hour of me-time, in the afternoon,

and got ourselves these cute tea balls(?).

the saucer is separate from the teacup, so that you can take it out and rest it on the saucer when tea is steep.

hope everyone had a lovely mothers day weekend,

and had a chance to tell your mom how much you love her!

moved!

last weekend, we said goodbye to our urban farm house,

and moved into out new place.

it went pretty well and relatively quickly. 

and we're already settled in,

well, sort of, with some stuff still in the boxes. 

the cats in the painting above are owner's cats.

but, our cats seem to be back inside with us,

considering they had been outside cats for the past several months.

we're loving to have a space for just three of us + our two kitties :)

just a little update on my end.

hope everyone had a nice easter weekend!!

it's ridiculous how many goat pic I take...

more baby goats on the urban farm!

a little over a week ago, Cici had her babies.

she likes to do it all by herself without anyone noticing her going in the labor.

Zlateh had her babies last Friday.

I got to see a goat birth second time,

and this time my daughter got to see it as well!

she got a bit scared since Zlateh was a bit loud pushing the third, breech baby out,

but I told her she was just pushing really hard for the baby to come out.

now she tells us the story all the time.

"Zlateh was pushing baby, bumbum!"

buck

can you find all 5 babies?

although this place has been really great for us (especially for the little one),

we've decided to move into a different place.

just so we could have more our own time and space.

we are going to be moving in a couple weeks.

packing/moving time is back!!

ech!

seven things about me...

received Stylish Blogger Award from Cecili of Sewing and so on.

upon the acceptance of the award, I am supposed to share SEVEN things about me with you here.

hm, kida hard to come up with seven facts...

let me see...

I used to wear baggy clothes.  casual street style, I guess...

now most of those clothes are happily inherited to my husband :)

I am a couscous omnivore, and eat mainly organic.

all the food we consume is sacred whether they have a face and feet or not.  

I am grateful and thankful for all the life-force that keeps us sustain.

I used to study to be a occupational therapist.  

but decided that carrier wasn't for me, and dropped out of school.

I still have textbooks from anatomy/physiology class -I though it was the best class ever! geeky.

I am very closed to my dad's side grandparents.

because we lived so close by, they are like my second parents.

my parents are somewhat conservative, and my mom didn't approve of piercing. 

but I got them done anyway, first time when I was nineteen. 

now I have three, one on each ear and nose.  nothing extreme. at all.  

I think my younger sis has six, and she wants to get a tattoo.(good luck sis!)

I have naturally lighter hair for Japanese. 

my middle/high school teachers thought it was dyed and gave me a couple warnings.  so silly!  

most of the Japanese schools has lots of rules regarding length of hair, length of uniform skirt/pants, etc...  

and no makeup rule of course.  

so conservative and surplussed!

my biggest bug enemy is cockroaches!  

they usually come flying by whenever I encounter.  oh, they KNOW!!  

I am so happy that (so far) I have never seen them over here in North America.  

I guess their preferred inhabitant is humid and warmer(tropical) climate...?

well, it was fun getting to re-know myself.

now I am suppose to pass it down to seven bloggers.

hm it's even harder to pick so few out of many!!

grainline

clever nettle

esther-fromthesticks

Sew I Thought

all dressed up and nowhere to go

Jorth

A Beautiful Mess

Kennedy Holmes

cheated little, and I listed eight, instead of seven...haha

no pressure, but hope to read more about you ladies!!

my mother in law sent my husband these old pictures.

most of the pictures from his childhood burned in a fire.

and these are a few of remaining... so precious.

chelsea vol.1

this afternoon, I received a package from Japan.

 it was from satomi!!

I had been super stoked about it ever since we made a deal.

(well, it was more like an offer from her :) sweet person!)

I throughly enjoyed reading/looking through Chelsea vol.1, the little paper she made about her trip to Prague.

great pictures and writing, which made me feel like I was on this trip withe her.

I especially wish I was really there to eat all those tasty looking yumminess!!

I am a food lover :)

and look at all the souvenir goodies came along with the paper!

I don't think I could use the baby deer tissue, too cute to waste... awe.

hahaha 

thank you, satomi :)!!!

hope you'll get my package soon.

new years resolutions vol.2011

goodbye the year of 2010.

and hello brand new 2011!

the whole year flew by, yet another one started.

the last year was a new start of our life in Portland, Oregon.

we're loving it and enjoying the life here so far, yet there is so much more to explore in and around the city!

I still need to keep working on my last year's new years resolution,

I have many more for this year!

here goes the list.

-go on Candida cleanse/diet-

although this year's christmas was much better than the past years, and we did not overeat and did not eat much sweets and baked goods, I decided to give it a try.  even if I don't have any dietary sensitivities and we eat pretty well, I think it will be very beneficial for my body.  I just ordered a book called 'Body Ecology Diet' through library.  it was recommended by my husband who is also known as food Natzi.  can't wait to read it and give it a go. 

-learn to bake non-yeasted bread-

I had been wanting to try baking a non-yeasted bread for a while now.  we buy good organic natural leaven bread from Wholefoods, but it would be awesome to bake our own at home.  I'd probably get a starter somewhere, and try that first to see how it goes.  does anyone know a good source for a bread starter?? 

-start a recipe book-

over the last few years, I have been collecting some cooking recipes, and more recently really good gluten-free(and some are also sugar-free) baking recipes from one of hubby's sisters.  they are all over my notebook, unorganized...  it would be nice if they are all neatly written and in order.

-print photos from computer-

it is as bad as the recipe deal,,, well it's worse actually...

all of our great memories are on a hard drive, and almost all of them have never been developed as photo...  I would like to get the good ones printed and have real photo albums.  especially the pictures of our little daughter since birth.

 -knit a sweater-

I have been knitting quite intensively lately as I freaked out about making christmas gifts to people(as always). made some hats and cowls(hope to do a post on this).  I like quick projects that I can get it done in a couple days, but if it is a "real" knitting project, it intimidates me and make me feel almost anxious... plus, I am not sure if I have that kind of patience.  I may developed more patience and my knitting-speed might be a little faster.  hm,,, maybe it's time to try knitting a sweater(or cardigan)! 

-keep the sewing room(aka closet) nice and tidy-

oh why is this so hard?!  I tend to leave my (so called) creative mess in the middle of a project or in between projects, especially because I don't have a chunk of time to finish it up in one session.  but clean organized work space definitely make the performance much better/faster.  so, yes,,, I should keep that in mind. 

-be able to draft my own patterns-

I am very excited for this patternmaking class that I am going to take at Porland Sewing!  I worked out a child care deal with one of the neighbor mamas, and was able to register for it.  I had been wanting to take a class on patternmaking forever, and this is such a treat for me!  it will be nice to have an official "me-time", and take a time apart from my child(and it is good for her as well).

so these are very few of my new years resolutions for 2011, but plenty to keep me busy for sure!

wish you the best luck and happiness for 2011 :)

明けましておめでとぅございます。

今年もどぅぞよろしくお願いします。

happy holidays!

.hope everyone is having a nice warm happy christmas with your loved ones!

we're here on Quadra Island, BC, to spend the holiday with my hubby's family.

had a delicious turkey dinner last night and opened gifts this morning...

a lot of eating, sitting around and socializing, but quite chill christmas here.

I had been wanting to get myself a DSLR for a quite sometime now.

doing a little bit of research, but haven't had much to familiarize myself to the world of DSLR...

a friend of mine who is way into photography recommended me this one below.

<pic>

but as I said before I am a real beginner at camera/photography.

so, if you own a DSLR, I have a few of questions for you!

-which one(maker/model) do you have?

-what was selling point of your DSLR?

-any good site to visit to read up on DSLR, and to buy one? 

and any input/recommendation are more than welcome, and I really appreciate that :)

wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year!!

xo

japan trip part2

Hi, everyone!

hope you haven't completely forgotten about me... :I

I know it's been way too long since the last time I really blogged!!

we came back five days ago, and finally jet lag is fading away.

I always find it harder to get use to the time difference back home...  wonder why that is...

anyhow, I know I have to post about LOTS of things, but still not so motivated...  sorry... :(

I will post pictures from the second half of the trip to hold you over for now!

hope you enjoy them!!

at a local beach.

she had a blast! 

that we had to go back!

 with her great grandpa & great grandma watching birds eating tangerines on the tree

 her friend came back to play again :)

right before the loooong plane ride back home...

ahhh, good to be back home and get back to the regular routine, called life!

I will try to post a how-to on the passport case in the next few days.

so please stay tuned!!

******************************************************************************************************

P.S.  I am having a LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS SALE over at my ETSY shop! 

please go visit my site, order, and receive 20% off via Paypal after purchase.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

******************************************************************************************************

a little over a week left

sorry for not updating the blog much lately....

little miss and I have been having a great time here in Japan,

reconnecting with people and visiting lots of places.

here is a little sneak peak of our trip so far.

 @SF airport right before the looooong plane ride.
she did really well on the planes, except when landing...
her ears were hurting.  I tried to feed her something, but she didn't want to eat/drink...
does anyone have a useful tip for little kids on releasing the ear pressure?

 my folks' place

 family tangerine orchard

 her great grand parents come to visit every morning & evening

 visited the kindergarten I went to.

this whale slide has been here for ages!! 

it looked so big to me back in the day, but now I know it isn't!

glad I got a chance to take my daughter there.  precious memories...

 also went to an aquarium and zoo.

she had FUN!

only a little over a week left...

we also have a few hours in Tokyo...
not enough time to go out and about outside the airport...
hm what to do...?

 

P.S. thank you all for the comments on the last post!

my mother's computer/Internet is really SLOW,

so, I will get the how-to's together as soon as I get back home...

thnak you for your patience :)

Japan trip(coming up) & Sale announcement

at last the completion of my US immigration is in sight( well, we hope!).

I received a letter for an interview, as well as travel document from USCIS two weeks ago.

we had been looking into getting a flight tickets to Japan.

this wold be the last chance for my little doll to fly cheaper and go see mama side family and friends.

I had a hectic time finding a good deal both cost-wise and time-wise,,,

I guess traveling is no longer so affordable especially when you have a kid(s).

anyhow we got a ticket, and little miss and I would be in Japan from November 18th to December 10th!

three weeks is not really enough, but better than nothing.

so excited!

because I won't be around much for the pre-holiday season,

I decided to have a little early pre-holiday sale over at my little Etsy shop.

[SALE] 20% off on all the items listed in my shop.

[time] today Oct 22nd(Fri) - November 7th(Sun)

[deal] please mention about the sale in your comment to the seller when you proceed to purchase.

you will get the 20% refunded via Paypal after purchase.

hope you enjoy the opportunity!

happy weekend :)

xo

 

zucchini salsa!

fall is here.

we are harvesting last bit of the garden vegetables.

we also got LOADS of giant zucchinis from our housmates' friend who manages a community garden.

we made zucchini bread four times,

also made some zucchini patties a few times.

but we never seem to be able to consume enough of them...

we still have LOTS!

 I mean, LOTS!!

so, I decided to do something different with them.

looked up recipes for zucchini salsa.

found this one, which has great reviews.

so, gave it a shot.

I eliminated the sugar and cornstarch that the original recipe called for,

and cut back the vinegar by half and used apple cider vinegar.
oh, and you know my secret?
I used vita-mix to chop up all the vegetables!
it would have taken me hours to hand-chop them otherwise...

 indeed it was very tasty!

I canned most of the first batch,

and made the second batch and canned some more a few days after since we still had a lot of zucchinis.

we have a year or more supply of zucchini salsa :)!