あけましておめでとう！

Happy New Year, everybody! Long time no blog!

Here we have a blurry photograph of a copy of the nengajou we sent out this year. I know it’s extreeemely dorky, you don’t have to say anything. I’m not exactly sure if it’s above or below the kind of portrait where the couple wears turtlenecks against a backdrop of New England on the official Dorque Scale… I’m hoping it’s above, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I accept us for the kind of people we are, lol.

So anyway, did everyone have a fun holiday? I’ve been keeping up with some friends through facebook and other social networks, but not everyone, of course! Tell me what you did this season!

Tatsuya and I have just returned to Chiba today after spending the last week in Fukui. It was a lot of fun, and my in-laws always spoil us “kids” rotten as always, LOL. Of course that includes what will probably be our last ever toshidama’s… I think Tatsuya alone scored nearly 120,000 yen this year, most of it being “congrats on getting a job!” money from his uncles. I made off with only 30,000 yen but hey, that’s still making out like a bandit in my book, and now I’ll definitely survive until next paycheck (including perhaps a few treats, of course!) I also got my hair cut into a super duper short boy/pixie cut while we were there. It’s cute I suppose but I’m still not really sure if it’s “me” or not… though I suppose for now it IS me, whether I think so or not! :P It’s potentially the beginning of an interesting experiment, perhaps though. If I let my hair grow out all year, I can see exactly how much it grows until 2012, amirite!

As for the holidays, New Years’ Eve we ate homemade mochi for breakfast and in the evening we watched Kohaku, then went to the shrines around the neighborhood at midnight. New Years Day felt unnaturally long, but that was because we woke up around 7:30 and in T’s and my case, we didn’t go to sleep until around 2am. I don’t know how we made it, haha. It was a fun day though: among other things, we braved a rain/snow torrent in the morning for the annual pilgrimage to Naritasan temple for prayers/hot snacks, and after that we went shopping with Tatsuya’s Mom, played a Bingo game at the local shopping center near home, and it was there that T thought it would be fun to tell me in exquisite detail about a picture he saw on 2ch of a person who apparently pooped their pants while standing in line for Comiket. I then learned that Tatsuya would totally be willing to crap his pants in public if it meant getting season tickets to ManU games, I’m still not sure exactly how I feel about that XD Naturally, though, that segued into an enlightening/disturbing discussion about humiliating acts we’d be willing to do/not do for a variety of rewards. I pretty much almost fainted, I was laughing so hard. LOL, I know this is one of those “you had to be there” stories, but oh my husband ♥ Seriously, we always have the best conversations.

Anyway, overall it was a lot of family visiting, watching tv, and eating food… just as I had hoped ♥ It was just as cold and snowy in Fukui as it was there last year… nothing I’m not used to from growing up in Spokane, but I’m beginning to enjoy coming back to the fair and mild winter weather that Tokyo offers :3

++

I didn’t make any blog/journal entries around this time last year, so I can’t go back and check to see if I had fulfilled any resolutions I may have made. But I figure either way, I accomplished a lot in 2010. That includes, in chronological order:

+ visiting my family in America/saying goodbye to my father before he passed away
+ getting married
+ graduating from college
+ getting a job
+ going to Disneyland… twice!

Haha, I can’t believe that all happened in one year, to be honest. If only I had gotten pregnant, I could’ve knocked out a good portion of my adult milestones all in one go! Oh well, gotta space it out a little bit, right?

I don’t know if I have any specifically resolutions in mind for 2011, though. Still, I’m already on my way to achieve some goals for this year:

+ go to Disney Sea (still gotta buy tickets, but we’re planning to go on the 12th, which is our 4 year coupleversary!)
+ save money (starting next week I’ll be starting my new work schedule with increased hours… combined with whatever Tatsuya makes over the next few months, saving is totally possible!)
+ move to Kanagawa (also officially marked! T’s parents will be coming over during Golden Week to help us. That’s also the week of my birthday so I think an epic housewarming/birthday party is in order, roflmao.)

Also on the to-do list:

+ get a puppy (THIS YEAR FOR SURE OMG!)
+ work on my housekeeping skills
+ start my new sewing hobby in earnest (after the machine we just ordered TODAY arrives! My goal is to complete most of the patterns in my sewing instruction book, and make and wear an outfit I’ve designed by myself, even if it’s simple, by the end of the year)
+ I’ve actually had some small itches to draw again lately! Even if I can get myself to complete just one or two colored drawings this year, that would be great XD;
+ start studying for JLPT 1 (passing it, or even taking the test at all might be a resolution for another year though, HAHA)
+ also on the Japanese front, work on improving my speaking/conversation skills (cuz I’m still too much of a cat-got-your-tongue most of the time, which probably makes me come off like a dummy :/) If nothing else, that means doing some shadowing at least once a week :x
+ plan our wedding, and hopefully a honeymoon trip as well
+ get my mom to come visit!
+ ????
+ PROFIT!

CAN IT BE DONE?? Let’s find out!

今年もよろしくお願いします, y’all :P

PS, sorry for dropping the ball on the 30 day meme, haha I suck. Although it this point it would be more of a “30 questions answered at my leisure” meme, I still want to do it at least! Next entry for sure, I’ll answer a few, mmkay?

Tags: 2011 resolutions, friends and family, fukui, jlpt, kanagawa, moving, wedding, work