Sicky, Mommy?

Yes, Mommy is sicky. No, not the normal migraine sicky. No, not that sicky, either; don't even think it! But Mommy has strep throat. Oh, poor Mommy.

The chica is at grandma's house because we don't want her to get sick; although, I'm pretty sure that she's the one who brought this home to me. We'll pick her up tomorrow when the fever is gone and the medicine has kicked in a little. Until then, I'll get a full night's sleep, and Josh will actually get some uninterrupted studying done!

OOOO!! Apple!!! Ushy??!!?! OOOO!!!

So tonight after work, I ran home and changed my clothes quickly, and I booked it over to pick up Mara from school. I knew it was going to be a good night when I heard it-- no biting, no pinching, no hitting. Wow! I have to stress that the biting ended a few weeks ago, but the pinching and hitting comes and goes when she's tired--- or when other kids don't seem to understand that she's the queen and rules the room. Anyway, so I picked her up, and we headed over to Anderson Orchard. Yummy and super fun!

Josh had class late tonight, so it was a girls' night. I had a snack packed for the car ride, and Mara was excited for our little adventure. Our camera is broken (suggestions of cameras you love and recommend (and that cost less than my mortgage) would be appreciated), so no pics of tonight. These from the orchard website will have to do.

When we pulled up to the orchard, Mara looked around, and then suddenly it hit her. "OO! Apples? Ushy!?!!!" She struggled to get out of her car seat and was so excited. What she really wanted was the apple cider slushy she'd had before. I have to admit that they're really great! In fact, on our way out, we bought another small one, and the lady behind the register thought that Mara was just too irresistible. She refilled our first and gave us a second one for free.

When we went to pick the apples, Mara was excited to hold the bag. We had to walk pretty far down the path to find some that were low enough for picking, but we had fun. In fact, there was a moment when Mara was eating an apple (don't worry, it was one I had given her, not one from the ground) and looking around, so I took the opportunity to quickly 'boost' myself up onto a limb to grab one of these puppies.

But she looked up when she heard me grab the apple and caught me. She quickly said, "Mommy! GIT DOWN! Gitdown MOMMY!" I had been scolded, and now if I catch her climbing on things, I know that I can only blame myself.....great.

love.......

Some times it's just important for us to remember this word. Wow! Things that I love in life....so many.

There are too many times when our lives cause us to focus on other things. We get stressed out--too much homework, too little sleep, too many things to do, too little time. There are too many tantrums, too little patience, too little focusing on what we have, too much wanting. The thing is, there are too many times when just need to step back and recognize that our lives are what they are and what we make them. There are so many times that we need to just remember the things that we love, and the things we couldn't live without.

So here's my list for today. Things that I love and couldn't live without (the little things)......

-Josh. He's the love of my life; my best friend.
-Mara. Beautiful, lovely, sweet, spunky, independent Mara.
-Watching my husband and daughter sleep in the mornings
-Waking up in the middle of the night to a nice storm and a snuggle
-Sweet bed-head toddler hair to tie into cute little pigtails
-Essays to proof-read
-Dreaming of the future with my husband (school, vacation, career, kids, house)
-Singing to/with my little girl
-Getting her dressed
-Listening to Josh's stories about crazy people at school
-Being tickled
-Talking with friends
-Having a car that runs
-Cooking dinner for my family (I could live without the dishes)
-Having a front door
-My garden (even though it's super tiny)
-Music
-Conversations with my family
-Memories

More to come....

Tagging myself?

Well, this is a first. My friend Danielle got tagged to answer a lot of questions about her husband. I thought it was so cute, and so I decided to tag myself. So here's all about me and my handsome husband...

1. What is his name? Joshua Kenji Kuroiwa
2. How long have you been together? We've been married for almost 3 1/2 years.
3. When and where did you first meet? We met at IU our freshman year...7 years ago.
4. How long did you date? Well, we dated before he went on his mission, and we were engaged for 3 months after he came home.
5. How old is he? 25
6. Who eats more? Well, I think it depends on the food, but overall, it's probably Josh.
7. Who said I love you first? I did.
8. Who is taller? Josh is about 6 inches taller than I am.
9. Who sings better? He'd probably say that I do. I think he has a good voice, but I'm probably just more comforatble singing than he is.
10. Who is smarter? That's definitely a strange question. We both have done really well in school, but Josh is getting ready for medical school....I think that's probably all I have to say for you to get the picture.
11. Whose temper is worse? Ummm...hello. If you guys know me at all, you'd know the answer to that. I'm definitely the oldest child-- very impatient, kind of bossy, and I have a short(er) temper. Josh is so patient and understanding and calm. He really puts up with me. :)
12. Who does the laundry? Well, right now Mara's chore is to do the laundry. :) She loves to sit and sort clothes and push the buttons. Of course we both supervise the process.
13. Who does the dishes? We both do, but I probably do them more often. Dishes sitting in the sink is probably one of my biggest pet peaves.
14. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're standing at the foot of the bed, Josh is on the right. I get up earlier in the morning, and I need to be closer to the bedroom door and bathroom.
15. Who pays the bills? I do!!
16. Who mows the lawn? Josh
17. Who cooks dinner? I do. I love to cook and try new recipes. Of course, time is short for cooking when you have a toddler running around. We do like to eat out, too. :)
18. Who drives when you're together? Well, generally Josh, but if it's a long distance, we'll split it up.
19. Who is more stubborn? um....This question is probably related to #11. Definitely me.
20. Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? That would actually be me.....surprised???
21. Whose parents do you see the most? Well, if you're to count how frequently we go over to their house for dinner/get-togethers, then definitely Josh's mom. We see my mom a lot because she's close, but usually it's only for shorter periods of time.
22. Who kissed who first? I kissed him :)
23. Who asked whom out? I don't think anyone did. I think it was a kind of mutual thing. But if it was one person, it was probably me. Josh is more reserved when it comes to things like that, and I'm just too impatient to wait. :)
24. Who proposed? Josh
25. Who is more sensitive? Seriously??? Definitely me. I mean, I cried when I burnt a grilled cheese sandwich, and that was PRE-pregnancy. Wow....
26. Who has more friends? I think we're pretty even.
27. Who has more siblings? Josh has an older brother and younger sister. I have one younger brother.
28. Who wears the pants in the family? I think we both have our own pairs of pants for different things. We're equals.

Now, I tag Tashina, Lindsay, Tiff, Amanda, Erika, and Mindy.

(Thanks Danielle!)

Wish we all could be California girls (...and boy)

Just to inform everyone, we've officially moved to California. We picked a nice little suburb of San Jose called Los Gatos. It's cute; it's quaint. It has awesome weather and a spectacular view. There are amazing parks, great shopping, good food....AHHHHH.....just relax as you picture it with me. Perfect summer weather (and DRY at that....ahhh, no humidity) All.Year.Long!, a quick drive to the Pacific (although it's a bit chilly), and so many things to do!

Well, to be honest, we've moved there in our hearts.....some day!!!! For now we're still in Indiana with the humidity, the HEAT, the same old same old....

Here's an update on our vacation to California.....We went to San Jose to visit my Uncle Paul and Aunt Linda. While Josh spent days volunteering at a dental clinic, Mara and I saw the sights, hung out, and...shopped!

Our first full day there, Saturday, we headed to San Francisco. It was cold and windy, though, so we didn't take many pictures there.

The Golden Gate Bridge... Thankfully, we didn't drive over it! I HATE bridges!

Alcatraz....You can tell it was cold by what the crazy surfers were wearing!

Fisherman's Wharf was fun...if you look at the dock, you can see all the sealions piled up soaking up the sun! They were HUGE!

This is one of the many parks we went to. This play area was in the shape of a ship, and it was surrounded by sand. Mara had fun playing and trying to share sand toys with other kids.

This is the three of us (it's a little dark) on a perfect day! We had tons of fun just hanging out at parks!

I took this picture from the top of one hill. It was on one morning while Josh was working, and I was searching for a park to take Mara to. I just found one on the GPS in the car, and it was way out there...tons of scenery along the way!

I had to stop and take some pictures of us with these cows! As you may know, Mara loves cows (and many other animals). She loves to say that cows say, "mOOO!" It was hard juggling the camera, making sure she didn't get cut on the barbed wire, and watching that she didn't put her little fingers in the cows' mouths!



One afternoon, we drove down to Monterrey. It was even chillier, but it was a nice drive. It was a quaint little town. Next time we'd like to see the aquarium. We didn't have time that day, but we've heard it's great!

Needless to say, we LOVED California! This is just a picture back at home for some people catching up on Mara.

One of her cute funny faces that she likes to do to make us laugh.


Just a quick, funny story before I go back to work (I'm at lunch right now). On Sunday in church, Mara started saying, "Potty, potty, potty, potty," so I grabbed her and booked it out of there. She made it, and I was so proud that she was able to hold it that long! When she got back to our seat, she picked up a crayon right away and said, "Daddy, wanna color?" It was so funny because that's been one of her first full sentences. She's done phrases and tons of words, but that one just came out so clearly and easily. It's like she just decided to finally ask.

Have a great day!

NOT IT!!!

So my friend Erika "tagged" me to share 8 unusual things about myself that you may not know. Wow...I've actually been thinking about doing this for a while, but it's been hard to think of things. My friend Andrea got me thinking about it when she wrote 100 unknown things about herself. So when Erika tagged me to share 8, I decided to go ahead with it. I mean, sharing 8 is a lot better than 100! So for what it's worth (and for all the 5 people who will read this), here you go....

1. I LOVE to pick things (and from reading some other people's lists, I guess I'm not the only one!)!!! Zits, splinters, skin, anything. My husband hates this crazy, disgusting fetish, but I've had it all my life. He said it's probably because women are picky and like to seek out imperfections. :) Ouch! I remember when I was little running around outside barefoot almost hoping to come back in with splinters that I could pick out. Oooo! I'm getting giddy just thinking about splinters!

2. I am a grammar fanatic! I have always had a thing for grammar. Over the years I've become a little more silent about this passion. I just think about correcting the poor grammar I hear at work and don't really vocalize said corrections. Although mispronounciation of words really kills me. My thought is that if you can't say "specific", use another word. "For example" could work nicely. I don't judge people about it; it's just more of a pet peave for me....nails on a chalkboard.

3. I have one leg that's longer than the other. When I was younger, my mom used to get upset when I'd be walking and suddenly run into her. She thought I was just a 'lazy walker'. If you listen carefully, you can even hear it in my footsteps.

4. When I was younger, I could get whatever I wanted if I just waited to ask my mom after a certain time at night. The magic time was generally between 8:30-9:00 when she'd just be tired and not really pay attention to what I was asking. I feel guilty for that one now.

5. It was always a secret dream of mine to be a Rockette when I grew up. You know the group. They're the awesome tap dancers who are always beautiful, tall, and thin. Yeah, not me. That's why it was a dream.

6. I wanted to be an actress. I was pretty good in high school, too. My best friend and I had a plan to move to California, become the next big stars in a movie together, and go on Letterman. Of course, I think we dreamed this up while watching movies and eating Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk one night. In retrospect, Ben & Jerry probably weren't helping us on our way to stardom.

7. Which brings me to my next one..... I LOVE ice cream! I could eat it as a meal. Anything chocolate would be my favorite; however, it can't have anything hard in. Big huge pieces of chocolate, like in the aforementioned New York Super Fudge Chunk, don't quite work for me. That's probably why my favorite would have to be "Half Baked" by B&J. YUM! In fact my first job was at an ice cream shop. Hey, they say to do what you like, right? I was definitely working in my field of interest!
8. Now this is one that not many of you will know. I'm becoming a Zumba instructor! I LOVE it! It's a funky, hip-hop, Latin, aerobic class, and it's awesome! I'll be certified in June, and I will be teaching soon after. I love it!

Now it's time to hear back from you. I don't think I can "tag" people back, but I would like to hear your 8 if anyone gets the chance. Some people I'd like to hear from?

Amanda
Tiffany
Rachel
Lindsay

Anyone else who would like to share!

Some Pictures

Well, we're still missing Mexico pics....I guess I only downloaded them to a cd instead of the computer, too--strange. But here are a few since I'm behind anway.

From the HUGE snow storm we had around Valentine's Day. Notice the child that is actually under all of those clothes and coats who LOVED the cold weather. Seriously, she loves cold things. Mara gets such a thrill form cold air!



Mare loves apples. She calls anything that remotely looks like one, an apple.




Probably one of her favorite things is the phone. She loves to say , "HELLO!!!!" while reaching for our phones. One of these pictures shows how Josh's cell phone probably bit the dust. The guy at the Sprint store said that it was probably because the phone came in contact with water. Josh said, "Could baby slobber have done this??" hmmm.... we wonder.





The long awaited Potty pictures, too. Yes, she's wearing an ACDC shirt. Thanks Uncle Paul. I'm the little hard rocker!



Last one-- We had some of Mara's friends over one morning. Here are Nea, Kai, and Mara eating granola bars and watching Leap Frog ABC's. As a side note, Mara LOVES these kids! in fact, she'll be sitting in the car and start saying, "Kai? Kai. Kai!" She'll say it when she sees him (or any member of his family, for that matter) come through the door. It's pretty cute! (As a side note, she's screaming Kai right now because she saw him on the computer) We'll be sad when they move this summer to Boston. :(

Well, hopefully I'll be able to post again soon. Mexico pictures next time!