things i love thursday

(hi shinshu life, thanks for your comment!)

.remembering i call him #5 on here (ha!!).
.being married to #5.
.mini pumpkin pies.
.doing thanksgiving early means tonight = chinese food date night.
.four day weekends.
.typing in the dark next to the lit up christmas tree.
.climbing into clean sheets.
.smoothies.
.laughter.

things i love thursday

.decorating the house, finally.

.hot dishes out of the dishwasher.

.new recipes (beef stroganoff).

.big bang theory.

.getting #5 to hula hoop with me.

.getting details done for my family's trip in august.

.no jacket days are here!.

.golden week vacation is next week.

.date night tonight.

things i love thursday

.new (to us!) car.

.#5 has been away for work and comes home tomorrow.

.hanging art on the walls.

.visible improvement in my closet.

.jolly rancher gummies.

.light at the end of the (work) tunnel.

.reading snarky posts on GOMI.

.crossing off things on my to-do list.

.an ikea opened 30 minutes away(!!!).

things i love thursday

.people who walk with purpose during rush hour.

.baking.

.new hair "goo" that works.

.dreaming about the future.

.art journaling.

.having a printer at home.

.how i met your mother (tear jerkers!).

.when #5 cooks a delicious dinner.

.getting a raise (still too little too late but i'll take what i can get).

things i love thursday

.motrin.

.making adult purchases (towels! printer!).

.skyping with my bestie from college.

.grocery shopping with #5 on a thursday morning.

.coming home to dinner in the crock pot filling the house deliciously.

.zzquil.

.the glimpses of spring weather.

.dinner dates.

.it's noticeably lighter later (despite no daylight savings in japan).

things i love thursday

.tangled feet in bed.

.nice dentists.

.when the rain matches my mood.

.decisions that literally lift weight.

.a glass of cold water when you're thirsty.

.peggle 2 (xbox game).

.having your hair washed.

.having straight permed no fuss bangs back.

.a heartfelt "you're my favorite" from #5.

things i love thursday

.#5 singing happy birthday to me first thing early in the morning on my birthday.

.creative outlets.

.buying your own birthday presents.

.taco rice.

.singing out loud the whole walk home.

.a clean bathroom.

.looking forward to a year of huge changes.

.folding laundry.

.airplaying music from my phone to the tv.

things i love thursday

.the smell of pledge.

.burger and beer girl talk lunch dates.

.the dishwasher.

.new travel coffe mugs.

.cute penguin stamps.

.arts and crafty saturday afternoons.

.#5 in uniform (swoon).

.bbq pulled pork in the crock pot.

.finding good restaurants and hotels in tokyo.

things i love thursday

.green grapes.

.menu planning.

.snow covered fields.

.surprise flowers from #5.

.productive wednesdays (my friday, so always a struggle).

.purusing the (entire) magazine aisle.

.baking.

.jimmy fallon (the new tonight show!).

.getting caught up on laundry.

things i love thursday

.swedish fish.

.laying in bed with #5 at the end of the day.

.semi success at growing out my nails.

.creative outlets.

.making lists.

.ugg slippers.

.a good back crack.

.#5 getting a snow day on my day off.

.getting caught up on housework.

watercolors

one of my coworkers does the coolest watercolor paintings in a sketchbook she carries with her. i wish so much that painting/drawing was a talent i had or one i had cultivated at some point in my life. my lack of ability didn't stop me from picking up a set of watercolors and a sketchpad at the store today though. one stroke of a water dipped brush made it obvious i bought the wrong sketch pad (needs to be smoother and thicker to handle the water) but it doesn't really matter, i guess. would love to make something we could put in a frame for our currently empty walls but that may be a bit ambitious. just being able to give my overactive brain a rest for a little bit some days would be enough.

finding rhythm

i'm not even sure where to start.

hello?

for the first time in probably 5 years, i haven't even managed things i love thursday posts. but i want to. i have wanted to get back to this space. if only for those weekly posts, practicing gratefulness is something that makes me a happier person. i miss it. i need it.

and the truth? i need somewhere to get my thoughts out and sorted because i am slowly shutting down and just going through the motions of everything.

work is all consuming. i am not sleeping well and wake up in cold sweats or tears or jolt awake from vivid/panicked work dreams. if #5 had it his way, i would have quit months ago. he hates the stress it brings and what that does to me.

financially, that was not an option until i got out of my apartment lease and we consolidated our bills (to close to nothing, which we did, thanks to his work benefits/perks). now that we have done that and i'm spending close to 4 hours a day commuting to a job that is decidedly less satisfying than it used to be (it used to be so much different...) there is a lot to think about.

and then there's a wedding to plan. from half way across the world. ironically enough, as the dollar signs get bigger, the need for that paycheck also increases but the job makes wedding planning slow. it's a catch 22. and my parents are helping out a ton, but sometimes i feel like i'm being micromanaged. i haven't found out x, y or z but they will ask every. single. time. we talk, as if they hadn't already asked. and every facetime conversation is about the wedding. sigh. my dad tries to change the subject and my mom scolds him, despite that i love that he does that. don't give up dad. change the subject as much and often as she'll let us! 

oh and in august, my whole family is coming to japan for a week. and, the agenda is as, if not more, ambitious as always. mt. fuji, kyoto, tokyo, and a wedding party for our japan "family" and friends. i haven't even begun to get that sorted. well, did make a hotel reservation at the base of mt. fuji and my dad made kyoto reservations. it's a start...

i have always blogged from my computer, but i haven't opened my laptop in over 3 months. #5 and i bought a "family computer" desktop, and since he doesn't know about it, it got lost in the shuffle of moving and finding our rhythm. and well, we are still trying to find that rhythm, but i hope this blog can still be part of my song.