Cherry Blossom Adventures

It is now less than two months until Shun & I marry. We have been engaged for over a year now already and I can not believe how fast the time has gone by. Just two months to go until we tie the knot and less than three months now until we return to Japan…

I met Shun when I was 19- I went to Japan on exchange and the last thing on my mind and the last thing I ever thought would happen would be meeting the man I would marry while there. I had never ever thought I would meet someone while I was still that young…but it happened and I am forever grateful.

I would even go as far to say that I have loved Shun since the night I met him. I left Japan less than six weeks later and the majority of our first year together was spent apart…We made it work though and I am so glad we did. I can`t imagine my life without Shun in it.

Did I think when I was 18 that this is how my life would pan out? Definitely not! Am I happy it panned out this way? Definitely…I wouldn`t have it any other way now.

I can not wait to become “Mrs Maru****” and become Shun`s wife and start our life together as a married couple. There are so many exciting adventures ahead of us and I am sure there will be many laughs & happy times and tears and sad times  – but we will have each other and we will work through it- we have come through so much already. We will make it work no matter what comes our way because ultimately our love is strong and nothing can break that.

I love you baby!

How did you meet your partner? Was it unexpected?

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Last night I made Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni for the first time and man was it yummy!!!

I thought I would share the recipe I used (it originally came from a weight watchers cook book but I modified it slightly. It would serve about four people if served with salad. We had heaps left over so I got to take leftovers for lunch!!!

12-16 Cannelloni- I used the instant  kind so that I didn`t have to boil it first.

400g of light ricotta cheese

1 packet of frozen spinach, defrosted with excess water squeezed out

1 brown onion, cut finely

60g of fetta cheese, cut finely

1 500g jar of tomato based pasta sauce (we used roasted garlic

2 clove of garlic ( or garlic paste)

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. Set oven to 180 degrees Celsius

2. mix ricotta, fetta, spinach, onion, nutmeg, garlic and salt and pepper together

3. put some tomato sauce in the oven dish

4. put the mixture inside the cannelloni tubes (this took a bit of effort as we did not have a tube or anything!)

5. cover with tomato sauce and sprinkle with a little cheddar cheese

6. Put in the oven for 40-50 minutes and then eat!!!

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January 7, 2009, Flower on a walk with Abbey-girl, Olympus E520

I think I am going to have to pull out my old camera and start taking photos again. I am quickly running out of semi-ok macro shots…I just wish my new camera would hurry up and be fixed. It is taking such a long time and personally I think Olympus should just give me a new one…I am not impressed.

I still love that camera though, oh how I love it!!!

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I had a bad day. You know those days that start off bad and then just get progressively worse. Well that was my day.

I woke up at 5:15am to my Dad telling me he wouldn`t take Shun to work because Shuns foot was still swollen. Yesterday morning Shun had woken up with a swollen foot that looked to have a bug bite. Dad said I would need to write him instructions on how to get to the clinic so the doctor could have a look at it.

Shun does not have medicare and as far as I know he does not qualify for it and I did not think the normal clinic we go to would take him because of this so I rang the local hospital emergency room explained the situation and they said if he brought his passport and travel insurance info then they would treat him and we would just get a bill.

That bill will be about $250 by the way.

I knew I could not send him by himself- while his English is improving I knew he would struggle. So off we went together…

Looks like Shun has been bitten by a spider, most likely a red back. His foot was swollen (so much so his toes looked like they were going to explode off his foot) and it was black near the bite. He was also having trouble walking. They gave him two shots- one for tetanus and an other of furnurgan an anti-allergy med. Plus gave him oral steroids to help combat the swelling. He was told to sleep it off and keep off his foot for the rest of the day. Shun is deathly afraid of needles by the way so that went down well….

Now I usually start work at 7am (I like to get in early and leave early) meaning I catch a train at 6:05am. Of course this did not happen today since we were at the hospital. So it was almost 8am by the time I got to work- this also meant that the train I catch was more crowded than usual and while I got a seat a couple of stops after my stop an overweight gentleman sat next to me- he was sweaty and yuck and practically making a pancake of me by squeezing me up against the window…

Then it was just one thing after the other. Other people not doing their jobs correctly meaning more work for me, not getting the correct info when I should of and dealing with difficult co-workers and just other work crap that I just did not want to have to deal with today.

Honestly, even though I started late, I still left early. I walked out at 3:15pm and did not want to go back- I will go back of course. Tomorrow. Maybe. I have calmed down now but I was just so pissed off and just wanted to cry (I didn`t though!)

I don`t usually write about work on my blog much- I feel it could open myself up to trouble but I just do not care. People were just shitting me off so much.

Then I come home and dad has invited mum for dinner- now that is fine….my mum is always welcome. But of course I had to prepare it, and clean up before she arrived (because she can be very dissaproving/critical if I have not hung up the clean washing properly or the kitchen benches are not sparkling) so I ran around getting the washing off the line, cleaning the bedroom and the bathroom sink and not to mention the kitchen. Plus I had to cook dinner.

I feel as if I am only now relaxing after what was an extremely crapola day…yet it is already almost time for bed.

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January 26 2009, On a walk near the water, Olympus E520

I spoke again with the camera place on Friday and they are still waiting for a part for my camera which won`t be here until March 20th!!!!!!!!!!! They have already had it for almost 3 weeks. I am so sad. I just want my camera back and in working order…

Another Monday is over- I have another 8 Mondays left of work and another 9 before the wedding. Time is flying by so fast. I have another 14 or so until we are back in japan.

Last night I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time- it is one of my dad`s favourite movies so I ordered it for him off the internet (can`t really get it in the local dvd shops) and we watched it all together. It is one weird movie. I can`t believe how young Susan Sarandan and Meat Loaf looked though……I like the music in it though. Time Warp is a classic…

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11 months down in my 101 things in 1001 days challenge…I managed to cross a couple of things off but not as many as I probably could or should have.

18. Send all invitations

Done- they were sent earlier in the month. We have even started getting RSVPs which is very exciting…soon will be the fun part of figuring out where everyone will sit…

30. Go to aqua aerobics (or swim laps) at least five times

Completed this. Will continue to go most weeks leading up until the wedding…

32. Lose another five kilos

I am extremely happy to finally be able to cross this one off as it seems it has been a long time coming. I managed to have lost just over 10kg at the beginning of the month meaning I can also cross of my first month of maintance. I am still trying to lose a bit more…

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (1/6)

One month down and five more to go. I have to stay under 73kg for this to be accomplished.

51. Participate in macro monday every monday for 12 weeks straight (12/12)

Done! Will be my 13th tomorrow. I am really enjoying it but think I would of had more fun if I had my camera to play with.

68.  (Buy)A plane ticket back to Japan

I am very happy to cross this off the list!!!! We bought my ticket back the other day and changed Shun`s flight date also. We fly out of Brisbane on May 25th which is a Monday. Shun will start back at his work the following Monday and I will begin my job hunt after we land (if not before)

94. Go to the cinema 20 times (6/20)

Saw two movies this past month. One with my mum & Gemma last weekend. We saw a really girly flick called Bride Wars. It was funny in parts.

Then yesterday Shun & I went to the movies and saw Gran Torino! I didn`t mind this one but it was a little violent in parts.

We are sticking to our budget quite well although had a couple large outgoings this month with my plane ticket, changing Shun`s ticket etc. I am also still on top of our monthly tasks.

This month I want to try and organize the wedding favours so they are ready to go, go to the movies again, back-up my computer plus put all our photos on CD as back-up (I have sorted them though!), meet another blogger, and try to figure out what sort of trip the country Shun & I can do. If possible would also like to blow the dust of my Japanese study books and get stuck into them…

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