lately via iphone

universal studio's japan. went a little cray on the games... 

flight delayed. so schoolwork on the floor. holler. 

ty & drey on flight of the hippogriff, hogwarts! 

i always need a mister donut. #sofat 

really the only reason we went to universal was to spend too much time here for drey. and it was closed. awesome, right? 

our yummy farewell cake. 

1 hour down, 9 to go... byeee japan!

cinco de mayo in osaka

there was a cinco de mayo celebration in osaka this past week. we had no clue what to expect but because we figured there'd be tacos, we went. it was actually a little bigger than i'd expected. there was a fair amount of food booths & a stage with singing amigo's. and because i couldn't have one, i craved a margarita the whole time. yuuuum.

it was weird seeing mexican food being eaten with chopsticks. you're supposed to pick up your tacos and burritos and man handle the shiz out them. right? i felt like that old lady in the insurance commercial standing there staring at all these people thinking that's not how this works.. that's not how any of this works!

so anyways. we stayed for a bit, walked around, tried out different foods (a little sketchy but hey..), had some amazing churro's & did some face painting. 

we had fun. felt like home! like just another saturday afternoon in utah haha. 

these next few pictures were ones that drey took. he begged me for my camera so i let him hold for a bit. pretty much all the ones he took were blurry haha, but he snapped his best. ps -- yes that's my ass and no we don't know those people at the bottom.

courtesy of drey

the other day when we went to tys scrimmage game, we stuck around afterwards while they had a little mini practice. dreydan walked around with my nikon and captured some pics that he was so proud of haha. and it was so cute to watch him strut like a boss with a huge camera around his neck. he's the coolest.

it's the little things

today we went to watch tyler & his team play in a scrimmage game against kobe university. believe it or not, it was the FIRST time on my own (with drey, obvi) taking a bus, train & taxi all during one trip. pretty much, i can do anything now. toss me in the middle of downtown osaka and tell me to get home, cause i can! just kidding, please don't do that, i won't make it.

anyways, we got there a little late. no biggie, just a scrimmage. then they had practice afterwards so we hung around until they were done. drey loved running around on the field, playing catch with the players, and watching his daddy play football up close in "real life" haha. he also begged me for my nikon so he could go around and take pictures. i just let it happen. i haven't looked at them yet so i'm a little anxious to see what he snapped.

today was good one. i'm grateful for happy reminders that my life is blessed. i have a husband who takes the best care of us & loves us so much. together we have a son who is healthy, energetic, smart, wild & everything in between.., and a sweet baby girl due in just a few short months. i'm just a lucky girl.

what about you? what are your 'little things'?

how i get my fix // and my new page.

everything is different in japan. what i've becomed accustomed to in america is not normally readily available here. like netflix, or my car, or a delicious mexican restaurant for me to eat my weight in chips & guac, or grass to lay on, or a gallon of milk. princess problems, i know. but the worst of all... the thing i miss most... fountain drinks. they have little "gas stations" (they aren't really gas stations because they don't sell gas) on every corner, but none of them have fountain machines. sometimes a girl, in my case pregnant, needs her ice cold fountain dr. pepper with extra ice. last summer i was on a like a weird soda strike (long story), so i didn't care as much. but i care now. i care!

so how do i get my fix?

there is a 7/11 at the end of our street, like 3-4 blocks down or something. i walk down there & go to the back where liquor section is...

there, they have little cups of ice you can purchase  

and then i pick my poison. coke, coke oooorrr coke? blech...

once i get home, i pour myself a drink. a mini fountain, if you will. and when i find 'fujita'. i might share with him/her.

and then i enjoy my mini sorta fountain. as much as one can enjoy a coke.. a bottled coke.

they actually do have dr. peppers here. i've seen them in vending machines. but they aren't common and they definitely aren't at the little corner markets or stores. boooo.

and also! my blog now has a facebook page.. i've told myself i never needed one or wanted one, but i know my friends & family sometimes get bored of my shares that i'm sometimes required to post. so i transitioned. like a boss! ha jk.. will you help me not look like a loser and go LIKE my fb bloggy page? i'll forever owe you. thanks lovers.

sometimes {thor edition}

sometimes you have to make quick store runs. with the rain. and thor. the looks we get around here for just being who we are ... ahem, white... are constant and on the daily. so adding the weird things dreydan does in public, it's like triple haha. but hey, we're just americans. we don't know any better. we are trying to fit in, do you notice his crocs? *thumbs up* ehhh ooh!

jurassic park // universal studios japan

last fall, for my birthday, tyler took me to universal studios here in osaka. i was ecstatic because i was finally going to diagon alley & hogwarts. i mean, a girl couldn't be happier haha. best day of my life & you can read about it here. you know you want to.

aside from that, dreydan finally got to visit jurassic park AND he got to ride the ride! he isn't tall enough to ride it in america, but in japan he's right on the edge. that little boy was in heaven! since 2yrs old, he's been watching jurassic park on the daily. and then we introduced him to the 2nd & 3rd, because we're good parents like that. he knows more about dinosaurs than i've ever cared to know. he can name like 25 different dinos, no problem. he knows which ones are herbivores vs carnivores, which ones can run fast vs really fast.. he will literally watch documentaries on youtube about dinosaur bones. he's just so nerdy and smart. his 3rd & 4th birthdays were dinosaur themed and his 5th will probably be too. he wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up AND he can't wait to see the new jurassic park movie coming out this summer. he's obsessed.

so yea, the boy was jumping out of his skin to be in the "real jurassic park" park. and we convinced him the dinosaurs you see on the ride are real. he thinks the only living dinosuars are in the universal studios rides. again, because we're good parents like that. otherwise he wouldn't be scared and obviously we wanted him scared haha. it was a good day.

dreys face haha.. fave picture ever.

drey & i are trying to talk tyler into taking us one more time before we leave japan forever next month. so far, we haven't accomplished much. but i'm confident that as time goes, he will ever so happily take us, huh ty :)) yay!