I woke up cranky Saturday morning. I was expecting a weekend of crappy weather and was feeling cooped up inside. But when I got a message from a friend saying she was going to be in our town for an event, I was a little surprised. She’s never down this way. Nobody we know ends up coming this way unless we invite them. She volunteers for the Jaycees and was going to be in town for the Easter egg hunt. She said the weather was supposed to be nice, too. Huh? I checked the weather online and it said high of 71 degrees. What? I noticed it was sunny outside and walked out on the porch, and it felt warm! Aya, Julie’s going to be in town, we are taking Ellie to the Easter egg hunt, get ready.
COOKING CLASS
I decided to do something a little different for my mom this past Christmas. She’s someone who really doesn’t “want” things, or “need” things. “I don’t need that… the one I have is fine,” she’d say. “I’m sure whatever you get me I’ll like because it’s from you.” Spoken like a true mom, right? So instead of something, I thought I’d get her an experience. I decided on a cooking class at a fancy restaurant. It just so happened that she had the same gift idea for me… at the same restaurant! Awww… how about that? My mom and I are going to cooking class together. We haven’t done that since I was nine years old. I guess Aya knew the whole time, but she didn’t let on. The restaurant we ended up at was Pronto in Royal Oak. The class we decided to take was scheduled in March and was called, “Island Fever – A tour of the Greek Islands – Mediterranean Flair -Simple but never plain!”
A VISITOR FROM THE BEYOND?
One evening I got a frantic phone call from my mom asking me if I had seen the e-mail my brother had just sent. Â When I told her no, she started to get excited and started explaining that when he was over at my house, he snapped a picture of Ellie and in the background you could see a ghost. Â Excited was an understatement. Â “Oh wow! Â This is SOOO cool! Â I wonder if it’s grandpa!?” Â Followed by, “don’t tell Aya, it’ll freak her out!” Â All of this information was coming at me so fast it took a while for it to register. Â A ghost? Â In my house? Â Captured on camera? Â What!?
NIPPON
We were very alarmed when we first heard about the earthquake in Japan yesterday. Aya’s whole family lives in Japan. It took us a while to get through the phone lines to get a hold of her parents, but we are happy to say that everyone is okay and safe. To say that Aya is devastated is an understatement, but she wanted me to post some pictures that show some of the beauty and culture of Japan to contrast the horrific images that we are seeing on the news. Our hearts go out to all the people in Japan during this tragedy. Please continue to keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers. Continue reading “NIPPON”
PICTURE PERFECT?
Aya’s longtime childhood friend, Ksenija, is a professional photographer. And by longtime friend, I mean since the first grade. Aya had moved to Japan and back and they still remained friends. So when we decided we wanted a family portrait session, of course we wanted Ksenija for the job. She photographed our wedding, our baby shower, and even Ellie when she was only a couple of weeks old. She was a close friend, and we loved her work. Her pictures are more than photographs, they are art. We had set up a session with her in the fall, our favorite time of year. Continue reading “PICTURE PERFECT?”