Tokyo, Japan

I just got back from this years big vacation, a once in a life time trip to Tokyo, Japan.  I spent an amazing two weeks exploring Tokyo and the surrounding area with my very good friend and her two children.  My friend, Marcia had been an exchange student living with a family in Tokyo when she was in college, she has remained very close with her host family.  Her host family has made several trips to Oregon over the past few years and so I've been able to get to know them as well, so when Marcia told me she was taking her two boys to Japan for a few weeks, I jumped at the chance to tag along. 

Japan was an amazing experience, and nothing like I imagined.  I assumed that Tokyo being such a large city would be crowed, noisy, & dirty.  It was actually none of these things there were times & places that were crowed but not uncomfortably so, it was never very noisy, and it was super clean.

The family we stayed with lived in the Ohsaki area of Tokyo, they have a small house with a roof top patio, with a very nice skyline view of the district.  The weather was beautiful for most of the trip, there was just one rainy afternoon, when a Typhoon was approaching.  Otherwise it was sunny and in the upper 70's.

I was a little worried about traveling to a country where I did not know the language at all.  But I did not really have any problems.  While not very many people spoke English, a lot of the signs were either in English or had the Japanese words spelled out using the western alphabet. Luckily every restaurant we went to had pictures in the menu, so I had no troubles ordering. We ate some amazing food!  The Japanese people in general eat a huge amount of food, and several times a day.  It was crazy to see the serving sizes that we were given, and almost all meals also came with a bowl of rice AND a bowl of ramen soup.  After the first few days I had to explain to our host mom that I could not eat this much food it was making me sick, and after that she helped me find the smaller children portions.  My favorite thing we ate was Japanese Beef Curry, it was sweeter and more mild then middle eastern curry.  The weirdest thing we ate was coffee jello.

 

We did a lot of shopping, hitting the majority of major shopping areas in Tokyo.  My suitcase departed Japan almost twice as heavy as when it arrived. We also, traveled to Kamakura which is about 31 miles south of Tokyo and was the former capital of Japan during the 12th century.  We visited a few Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and also visited one of the last Bamboo forests in Japan.  It was here that we also tried freshly made rice crackers.

One of our last big adventures was visiting Disneyland Tokyo.  I have never been to any of the Disneyland resorts, so I was extremely excited to go.  It was very fun, and it was also interesting how they built the park catered to what Disney movies were popular with the Japanese .

It was a wonderful trip and I am hoping that I will be able to revisit one day and explore the rest of Japan.

Tiah

Spring has brought a lot of changes for me in Portland.  In March my landlord announced that he was looking at doing a few remodeling projects and then would be selling our house.  So as the rain poured and the wind blew a bathroom was added to our upstairs, new front & back doors were put in, and our beautiful vegetable gardens were removed. 

My roommate Corey and I search through rental ads, touring rental properties, & drove around looking for rental signs.  It is not a good time to be a renter in need of a new home in Oregon, I've heard that there is only a 2% vacancy rate.  I would see a posting for a rental & call in the same hour that it was posted only to be told that the home had already been rented.  We also toured some very interesting homes, one was advertized as having a unique floorplan; it had 2 kitchens, one with a sink & dishwasher and one with a stove & refrigerator.  The first kitchen was on the ground floor, the second was downstairs but you had to go outside to get to the stairs that led downstairs.  Oh the joy of being a renter.

We were able to find a nice small house, just in the nick of time.  We actually had to be out of our old home on Friday night and were not able to move into the new house until Saturday morning.  So all of our posessions were stacked in a garage & a UHaul sitting if front of a friends house.

Its a good house, which needs a good scrub and some polish.  The yard needs some care (a few sunny days to allow us to pull weeds), we are slowly working on establishing a vegtable garden and sorting out what is a weed and what is a poorly taken care of plant.  The neighbors are nice, a younger crowd then the old neighborhood but sill established homeowners mixed in with college aged renters (the house is just 2 blocks from a university campus).

Its a new chapter for my life in Portland...

Tiah

2011

2011 was a pretty normal year for the Marston Girls, no major mishaps or life changing decissions having to be made. None of us left the country or changed jobs but all around we had a nice quite year.

I was not quite sucessful with my 2011 new years resolution -

I did manage to knit a sock a month all year and was able to now have 6 pairs of handknit socks to wear this winter. I am quite proud of this.

I did not manage to read 52 books this year, although I did come close, but a book a week was just not possible. I was able to read a number of books, which I truly enjoyed across different genres. But I think my favorite book that I read this year was 24 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. The book was a collection of letters written between Miss Hanff and an employee of a used bookstore in London in the years right after World War II.

I hope everyone had a wondful year and I hope 2012 is a nice beautiful year...

Tiah

What a Summer

It is hard to believe that summer is over. It has gone by so fast that I'm not sure what happened.

August was a fun filled month which started out with the Little League Softball World Series, here in Portland. I volunteer every year, and each year I seem to do a little more. This year the university the I work for, hosted the girls in the hotel on campus. So myself & my friend Kristine were volunteered to act as activity coordinators. So we hosted fun activities for the girls at the hotel in the evenings - we had a movie night, pizza party, bowling night, ice cream social & swim parties. It was a lot of fun meeting the girls, coaches, & families from all over the world.

Right after I was done with that, I was lucky enough to have some visitors travel to Portland. Meagan's good friends from Scotland visited for a week. I was able to take them to Forest Park - which is the largest urban park in the United States. We spent the afternoon hiking on the hottest day of the year, luckily it wasn't too bad in the park, just a little humid. Meagan & my parents were able to come down one weekend and have brunch with them as well, before Meagan took them traveling up to the Olympia & Seattle area. I was really glad that I had the opportunity to show off Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

My good friend from Japan was also able to visit this year. I love when she visits, because she always teaches me a new Japaneese dish - this year we made gyoza's. We also did several marathon shopping trips, coming from Tokyo everything in America is inexpensive.

It was a wonderful summer, but I am looking forward to a peaceful autumn.

Tiah

Update

Wow! This summer is flying by. I can't believe its been two months since the last time I blogged. Well, summer has been rather busy. In July, I moved from north Spokane all the way across town to the South Hill. I absolutely love my new neighborhood! I can walk three blocks to the grocery store and I am just about ten blocks from two of the most beautiful parks in spokane, Manito and Cliff.

Also in July I was the maid of honor in one of my best friends weddings. The wedding took place north of Spokane at the Camden Ranch in Elk, WA. We had beautiful weather for the outdoor ceremony, although it was a little hot! It was so much fun getting to be there for Shelyn and Jason's special day!

This summer I have also found myself with a new hobby that I quite enjoy, even if that might just suprise most of you. Fishing! I went back in May with some friends from work and found that I rather enjoy it. I've caught about five fish, worth mentioning. We normally go to a lake just outside of Cheney called Williams lake and rent a boat and head out for the afternoon. Its a lot of fun. We also went on a little camping/fishing trip to No Name Lake just outside of Newport, Wa. We didn't catch any fish but we had a lot of fun.
School starts the week of September 6th for all of the disticts in the Spokane. I haven't been hired on at a specific school, although I have my fingers crossed still, but I am planning on working as a substitute teacher as well as at Costco. I have also been choosen to be the Chapter Advisor for the Alpha Xi Delta Chapter at EWU. I'm really excited to see what new challenges that brings for me!

KelliJean

Sock Summit 2011

Sock Summit, the biannual sock knitting convention happened again in Portland this year. It was 5 days filled with 6,000 knitters in the Convention Center, classes, workshops, lectures, demonstrations, shopping, and even a flash mob. You will have to do a YouTube search of Sock Summit Flash Mob, to see a video of people dancing with skeins of yarn, it was supper fun.

One of the most interesting events was a sheep to foot competition. In 6 hours groups of 5 people had to shear a sheep, clean the wool, spin the wool, and knit a pair of socks. It was fascinating to watch.

My favorite time at the convention was being able to attend a lecture by my favorite knitter & author Stephanie Pearl-McPee. And after the lecture I was able to get a picture with her holding the sock I was knitting.
Very Exciting!

Tiah

Staff Retreat

Our fiscal year activities have finally completed and we are beginning the "slow" period before the students arrive back in September. As a reward for all our hard work during the year, my boss usually takes our accounting office out for a special treat each year. In the past it has always been lunch and a movie. This year he decided to change things up a bit, probably will a little advice from his wife, he decided to take the office out for pedicures. The 5 ladies in my office, myself included, were very surprised and excited for this turn of events. So Friday we had our staff retreat, lunch and then a walk downtown for pedicures. My boss had his first pedicure as well, in which he had American flags painted on his toes. A great start for the new school year.
Tiah

Commuting

I live in a city where there is absolutely amazing public transportation. It is true, and it has been true for awhile. However, I really like to drive to work, I love my 15 minute commute, I love the fact that at any moment during the day I can hop in my car and go. For years I have ignored all my coworkers telling "think about the money you would save on gas and parking," "think about all the free time you would have to read."

With gas prices on the rise I finally decided to give public transportation a try. Last week, I gave up my parking permit and became a commuter. I have to say, it hasn't been that bad. It does add 30 minutes to my trip to work, but I get a short walk in and because of where I live my whole trip falls in the fare-less zone. So I actually have a free commute now, no paying for the train, no paying for parking, no paying for gas.

What do I do with my 25 minute train ride? I knit!

Tiah

My New Hobby

S'mores Brownies

Chicken Pot Pie

S'mores Cookies

Shortbread Cookies dipped in Chocolate





Pork Chop Skillet

I picked up a new hobby over the past few months. Baking. It is one of my favorite things to do. I love finding new recipies and trying them. Some turn out amazing and others aren't even good enough to eat.

-KelliJean

Las Vegas!

Well, I'm trying to catch up on my blogging (trying being the keyword). May 12 through the 16th Tiah, my roommate Shannon and I traveled to Las Vegas for one of my best friends weddings. It was a nice vacation. We enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather and most of all getting out of Spokane for a five days. This Shannon and my second trip and Tiah's third. We spend our mornings at the pool, days shopping and taking in the sights and enjoyed the nightlife. On Saturday May 14th, Britnee and Chris got married at the Little Chapel of the West. The wedding was beautiful and it was great getting to see them on their special day. All three of us were very sad to make the trip back to Spokane, especially when we found out it would be raining when we arrived. I guess thats the Washington in Spring. I can't speak for Shannon and Tiah but I am ready to go back!

Liberty Lake Hike

One reason that I love the Pacific Northwest is all of the great things to do outdoors. I love to hike, so yesterday a friend and I decided to hike the Liberty Creek loop. Its located just twenty minutes from Spokane. The hike wasn't too challenging but it was so nice to get outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine and nature that is right in our neck of the woods.
- KelliJean

April & May

Where has the time gone...April and May just seamed to vanish and not because of any sunny weather. It feels like spring is only begin in Portland. With sunny days being few and far between.

My new garage was finished and it is so nice being able to store stuff without worrying if it will get wet or maybe even have a roof cave in on it.

I did finish my April sock for my sock-of-the-month. Sadly, however the May sock was never started. Instead I knitted 3 baby sweaters, 3 baby hats, an elephant & a puppy dog. I am hoping to catch up and knit 2 socks during the month of June; we'll see how that goes.

I am still trying to keep up with my 52 books in 52 weeks

April:
week 14 - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
week 15 - Room: a novel by Emma Dohoghue
week 16 - Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
week 17 - The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff

May:
week 18 - Come Into the Water: A Survivor's Story by Merlyn Magner
week 19 - Girl with a Peral Earring - Tracy Chevalier
week 20 - Becoming Jane: The Wit & Wisdom of Jane Austen
week 21 - Lady Susan by Jane Austen

All pretty good books I have to say that 84 Charing Cross Road was my favorite. It is a book of letters between the author and a small used bookstore in England written between the late 1940's and early 60's. I love this type of book.

Come into the Water, was a book I received from the early readers group of LibraryThing. So I was able to read & review it before it was made available in stores. It was a heartbreaking story about the 1972 Rapid City, SD flood.

Tiah

Garage

The small garage project has turned into quite an adventure. Morphing from a fix to a replacement project, from a 1 week to a 4 week project.
We started out with sunny weather but of course mother nature had other plans and decided that it wasn't quite time for Oregon to have spring. So talks with the contractor began to be about pouring cement during a hail storm versus just rain. I learned that it is okay to pour cement in the pouring rain which is what they did.
The project is moving along slowly and hopefully by the time spring/summer does finally arrive I will have a nice new garage to store my gardening tools in.

Tiah

Spring in Spokane

I woke up this morning to snow! Its April and we have been having gorgous weather, just not today. There was about 1/4th of an inch of snow for a while but it melted but it is still snowing.

Lemon Bars

We had a sunny day yesterday, which being unexpected was a very nice surprise and called for an impromptu tea party. My roommate Corey made scones and tea while I made lemon bars.

I found this great new recipe that turned out to be sunshine on a plate. It had a coconut shortbread bottom made with: 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, & 1/2 cup coconut. All mixed together and backed at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

The filling was 1 whole lemon (quartered) put into the food processor with 1 tablespoon flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs & 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt. The filling was then poured over the hot crust & baked for another 20 minutes.

The Greek yogurt really made them creamy.

Tiah

March

Wow, the month of March just flew by.

I was able to complete my sock of the month as well as starting a baby sweater for my friend at works new grandson.

I was able to keep up with my book of the week as well for the month.
week 10: Expiration Date by Sherril Jaffe
week 11: Extraordinary, Oridinary People by Condoleezza Rice
week 12: How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
week 13: Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

And to add to the month, work began on fixing the falling down garage at my house. As you can see the fixing did not really go so well, so it is in the process of being rebuilt. I am very excited to be able to store my yard equipment with out it getting wet in the never ending Oregon rain.

Tiah

Why I take my knitting everywhere

I get teased quite a bit, mainly from my sisters, regarding the ever present knitting project in my purse. For the most part I don't leave the house without my knitting, and usually there is room in my purse to stash a small project like a sock or hat. You just never know when your going to be stuck someplace with valuable time to knit. This practice was justified this weekend, coming back from a short trip to visit my parents. Driving down the gorge there was a pretty bad accident which had traffic stopped in both lanes. I was actually stopped for 45 minutes before traffic started inching along. So for 45 minutes, I was not going out of my mind with boredom or falling asleep or thinking about how long it was taking. I was sitting calmly in my car knitting my sock.

Tiah

Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is always a big event in my house mainly because we love all things Irish. This year we invited a variety of friends over for an Irish themed dinner which included the basics - corned beef, cabbage, & potatoes; as well as a selection of Irish cheeses and Irish soda bread.

We learned that when making Irish soda bread it is very important to cut a cross in it (to let the fairy's out, as the old wives tale goes) otherwise it continues to rise in the oven until it hits the top.

I also invited some friends who were vegetarian & vegan which provided a fun challenge to come up with a tasty Irish meal for them to enjoy as well. I finally decided to make a vegan "Shepperd's Pie" which turned out to be quite good. At our local Fred Meyers I found vegan "meat" made from lentils as well as vegan Worcestershire sauce. I mixed in a variety of veggies - carrots, peas, & corn. Then topped it with a potato & sweet potato mash. A very sucessful endeavor.

Tiah

February Happenings

Well, February just flew by before I knew it. I was a little late finishing my sock of the month but I did finish it within the first week of March so I am still counting it as keeping my New Years resolution. So now I have one complete pair of sock done toward my goal of 6 pairs for the year. Yay!

I also kept up with my reading keeping on track for my 52 books in 52 weeks.

week 1: New Faces of Small Town America by Edgar Sandoval
week 2: Affairs in Thrush Green by Miss. Read
week 3: The Lost Art of Reading by David Ulin
week 4: Breath of Autumn by Lillian Beckwith

All very good books.

February started with some very nice weather in Portland, which fooled me into thinking that it was spring and that I should do some yard work & plant flower bulbs. And then of course in promptly snowed. This last week the weather has turned warm again so I'm hoping that spring really is on the way and I may start getting my raised vegetable beds ready for planting.

Tiah

Update

My, my, my it has been a looonnng time since I have blogged. Me, being KelliJean. So I guess its time for a quick update. I finished up my undergrad program, YAY!!!! So now I am currently working for Costco, where I got a new position working in clothing. I start that in two weeks and I am very excited for the change even if it is only for a few months. Also I have started working as a substitute teacher in the Spokane area. So far I have worked in the second and fourth grade. It has been a lot of fun, although very challenging. Well thats it for this quick update, I'll try and get back on soon. Bye!

KelliJean