The Jet Program and Other Thoughts

So thanksgiving has come and gone. It was nice this year and felt a bit less stressful than previous years. I enjoyed the food and the much needed  4 days off from work. I made cheesy potato casserole and it was AMAZING! I was so excited that something I made actually turned out better than I had ever expected. After Thanksgiving we spent the weekend putting up our daughters first "big girl bed". She is doing better than I expected and slept the entire night in it last night. This is a big accomplishment for her considering she has been sleeping with mommy and daddy since birth. Our house is starting to shine with Christmas cheer. Our yard adorned with lighted candy canes and snowflakes hung on our porch. When our tree is finished I will post pictures.
During my time off I also started researching jobs in Japan teaching English.  Derrick and I aren't English experts by any means ( stick around here a while and I'm sure you will find many typos and grammatical errors) so I was happy to learn that most English teachers are ordinary people with a bachelors degree in anything. Unfortunately neither of us have a completed bachelors degree. I am currently trying to get Derrick to finish a Bachelors in General studies online so we at least have the opportunity to seriously consider teaching in Japan. One of the best programs I have found in the JET Program. They seem to get you settled in Japan and in some/most cases pay for you plane ticket.
Its exciting to think we could spend a year(or more) in japan in the next decade and we will still be way under the age cutoff of 40. I worry though about how Alayna would transition but I think it would be an amazing experience for her to have. By the time we would go I also plan on all of us being able to speak Japanese pretty well (hopefully) so I would hope it would make the whole experience much more enjoyable. The website also stated you could suggest where you want to be placed. I'm thinking I would prefer a rural area that is no farther than 45 minutes away from a large city..... does that exist in Japan. I'm pretty bad with the geography of Japan so if anyone knows of a region like I described please feel free to comment.
Speaking of the Japanese language I am trying to figure out how to go about teaching Japanese to Alayna. We recently got two children's Japanese/English picture dictionaries (pictured below) but I'm not sure how to introduce it to her since Derrick and I cant speak much of it to her. We are still learning as well and out knowledge is very small so its not as if she can be exposed to the sound of the language all day as in a home with a bilingual family. I was also thinking of buying the Little Pim Japanese set. The testimonials looked good and I thought maybe I could learn something from it as well. Does anyone have experience with this product? If we decide to buy it I will make sure to write a good review of it.
Well, miss Layna is waking from her slumber so I must go prepare somthing for dinner. Good Night!

A Sad Night

I read a very sad news story tonight about a little boy close to my daughters age that was taken from his home last night and murdered. His parents say he just vanished from his crib. I don't understand how anyone can look a child in their face and cause them any harm. It makes no sense. I just wonder how anyone could look at any child and hurt them. This story unfortunately follows another one from a few weeks ago of missing baby Lisa Irwin who was only 10 months old when she was taken from her home in the middle of the night. This baby is still missing. These towns are all in my neighboring state and hits way to close to home. Later this week Alayna's big girl bed arrives and she will no longer be sharing our bed (hopefully) but now I am feeling extra apprehensive and afraid of leaving her in her room to sleep alone. How can these babies just vanish from their beds? It makes me thankful we have an angel care monitor that beeps within 10 seconds of no movement at night. That may be the one thing to save my sanity.

On a happier note I have been researching the JET program. It seems to be a really nice way to spend a year (or more) in Japan. It seems doable  if you have children and the pay seems adequate. Its all just seems so overwhelming, to get past all of the red tape with visas and such, I'm terrified of making a mistake and being separated from my family. I would hate to get there and then not be able to get them here. They say the people in the JET program help you get everything set up but I wonder if its true. But its something we are looking at, something that won't happen for at least a few years as neither of us have a bachelors degree yet. If we do participate in jet I would like to do it before Alayna is in elementary school though just so the adjustment is easier. If anyone who reads this is involved with JET feel free to comment on your experience with them.

Well that is all for tonight, time for Layna's third bath of the day ( apparently Cheetos make good hair styling product?) and then bed. Good Night!

Back From The Brink

The brink of death that is. Friday we had some friends over for a game night and all was lovely and great until about 11pm when everyone left. I got a stomach ache and figured I ate to much pizza so I tried to sleep it off. I woke up an hour later to hell on earth. I will spare everyone the graphic details of the next six or so hours but it landed me in the ER begging for a shot of anything to stop the war raging in my body. I was finally released from the hospital Saturday morning with a script for zofran and strict instructions for a liquid only diet. I survived 50 hrs on 3 jello cups and 1 can of chicken noodle soup. Today I woke up feeling much better and was able to actually get some food down. I'm disappointed my whole weekend was ruined by being stuck in bed but I'm just thankful for feeling better. I was looking forward to planning some interesting things to blog about this weekend but just didn't feel up to it. Just wanted to check in and say I'm still around, just slowly recovering. Sorry for not adding something Japan themed but I'm using my iPad to post and it isn't the greatest to type on. Good night!

Top 5 Things I Look Forward to Seeing and Doing in Japan!

I Look forward to doing many things in Japan but I thought I could compile a list of my top 5 for tonight's blog.

Number One: Cherry Blossom Trees!
I think these trees are beautiful. I cannot wait to be in Japan sitting under a big a big ol' Cherry Blossom tree.
I would love to be able to plan our visit to be at the same time as the cherry blossom festival but I also fear having to fight a big crowd around those times as well.

Number Two: Onsen!
There is nothing I love more than a long hot bath, so what better way to spend my day than relaxing in the Japanese hot springs. I want to seek out the interesting onsens as well that have wine and green tea baths. I can't wait to walk out of there feeling like a limp noodle from all that relaxation.

Number Three: Ryokan!
No thanks big fancy hotels, I can't wait to stay at a ryokan. We want to get the most out of our trip so we decided we will be staying at a ryokan for the most authentic experience. I have heard great things about staying at a ryokan such a friendly staff/owners, great food, and super comfy futons.

Number Four: Food!
Now I'm not a big fan of sushi (yet) but I love Japanese rice, teriyaki chicken, and miso soup to name a few. I can't wait to try all of the yummy authentic Japanese food. I definitely want to visit some good ramen places as well.

Number Five: Sight Seeing!
I think one of the most enjoyable activities in Japan will simply be walking around sight seeing. I look forwards to visiting quite a few temples and rock gardens. I also look forward  to shopping and bringing home lots of Japanese goodies for our friends and family.


So that concludes my top 5 list. There are a ton of other things I want to see and do and perhaps one night when my toddler isn't shredding toilet paper and trying to mame our cat I'll make my list a bit more in-depth.
Good Night!

A Little About Our Family.

To start off I though I would make my first post a little about our family. I'm 22, mommy to a beautiful little girl and currently working as a medical assistant. My fiance Derrick is also 22, the greatest daddy in the world and currently works data entry on the night shift. We have been in a committed relationship for almost 9 years and have been engaged since 2007. We have been dreaming of a trip (or move) to Japan for almost 4 years now.

In 2008 we got into watching Anime. I fell in love with the art, characters, and language. I started researching Japan and all in entails. I read about the culture, the people, the land. I fell in love with everything about Japan. I realize in hindsight I romanticized Japan with unreal expectations but I have since learned to appreciate the culture for the good and bad and most of all for the vast difference between Japan and America.

So in 2008 I told Derrick "I want to go to Japan" and that is what started our long journey of finding a way to make it happen. We started planning, budgeting, and researching. We bought books on learning the language and customs and spent countless reading on the internet.

In 2009/2010 I became pregnant and we had our little girl. We sort of fell off the Japan bandwagon with all the stress of a new baby. We spent our Japan savings and forgot almost all of the language we had learned. Now our baby is turning into a rough and tumbly toddler and we are more than ready to start planning again. I made this blog to document our journey to making our dream come true and to share my crazy everyday life as a mommy. I also hope to meet other people who also want to visit or are currently staying in Japan.

Our plan now: start saving money and learn as much Japanese as we can! Hopefully very soon we will be able to make this a reality.