What am I looking forward to regarding moving back to the US?

 At the end of January, I went out to lunch with my 2 really good friends and they asked me this question. What was I looking forward to, about moving back to the US. It was such a perfect question. I had a 100 things rush in my mind all at once. My face lit up and I started naming a few things. And my smile grew wide. It's a question I have been asked a few times since. And I thought it would be perfect for today... to post about it. Regarding my kids, what am I most happy about for them getting to move to the US? As far as my kids are concerned?

For Branden...I am looking forward to Branden getting to go to homecoming dances and attending prom for his junior and senior year of high school. I’m looking forward to Branden getting his drivers license this year. I’m looking forward to Branden going to an American high school and enjoying things like...backwards day, where you dress in clothes that you put on backwards. Or pajama day, where everyone wears pajamas to school for 1 day. Or Halloween... how kids dress up at school. I look forward to Branden going to the school cafeteria and eating with 200 of his classmates. His high school experiences in the U.S. are going to be absolutely *phenomenal.* I can't wait to watch Bran have all these experiences.

As for Noah. I look forward to Noah starting an American Junior high school or middle school. Mine was called a middle school. I'll enjoy watching Noah get the chance to wear regular clothes to middle school. Like Vans and low top Converse. And a Jansport backpack. I look forward to Noah eating in an American school cafeteria. I look forward to..instead of a Japanese JHS life. Where *everyone* is expected to dress alike and be the same and feel stressed out... *all* the time because of the constant tests. I look forward to watching Noah discover who he is as a person, an individual and human being. To not be forced to be in a bukatsu/club and be in said club 24/7 even on Christmas day. To watch Noah flourish and thrive in the US. To watch Noah go to school dances. Dress up for Halloween. To get to watch Noah be a regular tween and teen.... I am beyond excited that half of Noah’s education will take place in the United States. For him to grow up doing the “Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America”, every single morning the way that I did growing up (I did check and yes schools still do this). I am looking forward to him having Taco Tuesday in the school cafeteria or a gorgeous salad if he chooses in the cafeteria. I am looking forward to him getting a few days off every November, because in America students get a few days off school for Thanksgiving in November.

American kids eating and picking what they want for lunch. There is water available. Milk (chocolate and regular) lots of fresh fruit and healthy vegetables. I loved picking lunch in an American cafeteria growing up and it does make me sad, when people talk crap about American school lunches. I always felt they were very nice. Is there crap stuff there too, if you pick it? Sure...but just don't pick it then.

You can pick a sandwich. Or whatever else you like in an American school cafeteria.

Tons of fresh fruit and my school always had a great big salad bar. With tons of types of toppings to make a salad with and about 3-5 different types of dressings too. There are plenty of healthy options. And I look forward to both Branden and Noah getting to eat lunch like this in the Fall.

Yep a great big salad, a fresh peach another piece of fruit and a milk. But again the kids can choose and decide what they want. 

The school cafeteria always buzzed with excitement. And again just an experience I can't wait for my kids to get to experience.

I look forward to watching you Noah, in an American middle school.

Bran's backpack. I wonder what type of school backpack my kids will choose before school starts in the Fall? Hmm.

Or what type of shoes my kids will pick to wear. No more school uniforms for you Branden. And no JHS uniform for you Noah. : )

What am I excited about for myself? To *never* have to “save a spot for undokai” ever again!!! To never have to dress up for an entrance ceremony ever again, yes in America we do dress up... but not to the extreme extent, that we do in Japan... in America graduation ceremonies, the focus is on the kids... not what adults are wearing. To never have to do aisatsu undo (morning greeting) ever again (greeting kids in the morning in Japan, every parent takes a turn doing that) To be able to go to Target whenever I want to... versus once a freaking year. To actually live in my home country. Which means when I make Thanksgiving dinner, *all* my kids classmates and all our neighbors and the whole country will also be celebrating and baking the same thing. Which is so nice... instead of being the only family in our town. To be a short 1 and a half hour flight from my home state, which means I can actually see my family and life-long friends (friends since my childhood) more often.

What else am I looking forward to? To actually take a REAL vacation. And what I mean by that is. As an expat. I tend to go to the United States once a year... when our big vacation comes. And we spend a good 12 days relaxing and 2 days shopping stocking up on stupid things... but essential things/necessary things like...underwear or bras or deodorant or coffee creamer or Advil. Or cold meds. Or tampons. It will be nice now... that we can actually.... go to for example... Washington DC sometime and see the museums and points of interest. To go to New York and take the kids to the Statue of Liberty and Central Park and maybe Little Italy. To go to South Dakota and see Mount Rushmore. We have been to New York before just once... our kids don’t remember a thing. And we have been to South Dakota and to Mount Rushmore, Noboru and I together, but our kids weren’t born yet. To go to Walt Disney World in Florida. To go to Disneyland in California. To go to Honolulu with *just a  carry-on* sounds like a dream. Meaning no need to carry 2 gigantic empty suitcases to lug things back to Japan. Now we can actually just go and chill and take a carry-on...for each of us. For us to maybe...be able to go to Alaska. Go to Canada. Go to Europe. Enjoy the world. And with just a carry-on. So yeah if you are an expat, you will understand this 100%. Because for 15-16 long years...instead of taking a vacation...I took a return trip home and it was like 90% relaxing yes, but 10% stocking up to bring essential things back to Japan and yes it was exhausting doing that once a year. Hella exhausting. But also quite necessary... if you live overseas. So yeah...it will be nice to *not* have to stock up anymore. And it’ll be *nice* to live in my home country. And it will be nice to be able to start taking real legit vacations. Without the big empty suitcase. If you live overseas. You will “get this” 100% completely.

What else am I looking forward to?  Listen. Some people are adventurous and want to live overseas. They love it. And never want to return to their home country ever except for a short visit, to live permanently overseas. I’m *not* one of those people. I fell in love with my husband. We married. We were to live in the US, that was our life plan and our goal. Then he was asked to live in Japan for 5 years by his work and it snowballed. Granted...I have always *thrived* in Japan. But I have *always always always* hoped to return to the US. If you are my irl (in real life) friend then you know that. I have *never* been shy to say that. I have spent 15 years in Japan, this June would mark year 16 for me, I won’t be here for that Japaniversary thank goodness.. I am so used to head bowing people on a daily basis. How long will it take me to stop doing that in the US? Honestly....maybe a few months. 

In 15 years time. LaCroix sparkling water has become a thing. It’s popular. I have *never* had one. I have always wanted to. But every time we’re in the US, I look for a single can to buy and can’t find one (I only find the box of 12 or 24 and if I hate it, I don't want to buy that many). What else. Panera Bread is hugely popular, I know that. I’ve never been. Also,I haven’t participated in a Black Friday since Branden was 2 or 3 years old and I went back to Colorado for a visit. I am not going to list for you....every little itty bitty thing that I haven’t been able to participate in or experience. But I will just say...it’s going to feel freaking amazing to be a proper American again. Who is actually living in the US. And be able to live there. Have a life there. And have all those life experiences...the experiences that I have sadly had to miss out on.... all these years. So...yeah. So to say that I am happy about the move... is really putting it mildly.

I will finally get the chance to try this. Will I like it? Maybe, maybe not. But now I can actually try it at least.

My girl friends that I grew up with, *always* go here. I have never had the chance. Now with us soon to be....living there. I will actually be able to go in one... any time I want. OMG! I can't believe it.

Panera Bread is famous for their homemade soups. And their salads and sandwiches. And their muffins and pastries. Where we are moving to...they have a Panera Bread. And now I can go. 

Now I can try things, I have always wanted to try. And dreamed about trying. So please, just be happy for me. This is just *so* what we want. A life in the states. 

I am so sick to death of only going to America for our once a year big vacation, once a year. And as soon as we deboard the airplane, I feel like a stop watch has been set and it’s ticking. LOUDLY. And I always feel like 12-14 days goes by too fast. I hate seeing my relatives and they have aged by 1 year... every time I see them again, makes me so sad because I love them, but I hate that a years time always passes before the next time and sometimes 2 years pass by. But now...even if I live in a different state... I’ll still only be a short 1 or 2 hours flight away, this is a domestic trip...that I can take often. It won’t feel like a great big ocean separates us any longer and oh... how I long for that. It won’t be opposite day and night anymore. We'll be on the same day and night and same day...oh what a dream. 

I took this picture the last time we were in Hawaii. 

I snapped this pic in Hawaii too. I love Target!!! You know what makes me sad? Walking into a Target one of my most favorite American stores. While on vacation. And feeling like....well...I’ll probably only be able to shop in this Target only once or twice for our entire trip. And feeling envious at my fellow American shoppers who get to shop there Every.Single.Week. If they’d like to. To always know that my “American time” and stay is.. *only* temporary. That it’s fleeting and will be over in a blink of an eye. Only 12-14 days and the clock is already ticking loudly, like I already said. I swear, I can hear that ticking stop-watch every trip, every summer. Everywhere I go for that short 14 days.

Noah in orange of course! I snapped this pic of us leaving Target in Oahu years ago. To know that I can too...shop at Target any ol' time I'd like, starting from April. I'm just overjoyed. The city where we will move will have Target too. And Walmart and Costco. And Walgreens.

The city we will be moving to in April will also have a Sonic. They make the best peanut butter shakes. To not have to wait once a year. To know we can go any time we'd like. I seriously can't even fully comprehend it yet. It hasn't kicked in for me yet. Our future city will also have quite a few Pizza Huts. Taco Bell obviously. Wendy's. Real KFC with mashed potatoes and gravy and macaroni and cheese as sides. American McDonald's (which the menu is different than Japan) Panda Express. Dairy Queen, yes our city we're moving to has Dairy Queen too. They have an Olive Garden. And Jack in the Box. Red Lobster. Again if you live in the US...this means absolutely nothing to you. But if you lived overseas and never had easy access to this stuff. Then it will be a huge deal to you, like it is to us. Of course there's way more restaurants, I am just naming a few. 

Yes, my future city will have an Ulta. I can't even believe that I'll have such easy access to cosmetics now. My future city also has a Sephora but it's just one inside a JC Penney....but seriously...beggars can't be choosers. As the old saying goes. So, I am just grateful to what I will have access to. Plus I can order online from anywhere soon, since I'll be living in the US. My city also has a Honey Baked Ham store. Not sure if I'll buy one. But gee whiz...I can buy one if I wanted to. My future city will also have 2 Bath and Body Works too. Plus shopping malls and outlet stores.

I grew up going grocery shopping at Safeway in Denver. The main stores in Colorado were, Safeway, Albertsons and King Soopers. If you grew up in Colorado, those were your stores. Safeway is located in 18 states now days, I checked online. And the state we are moving to, has tons of Safeway stores and Albertsons too. It also has a local chain too, which I won't name. But holy cow!!! I get to shop in Safeway every single, week if I want to now? Starting in April of course. Can't freaking believe it. I still have my Safeway club card, lol. I use it every time we're in Hawaii or Colorado. 

I used to love asking my favorite deli person to freshly slice me some black forest ham or some honey ham and to also slice me some really good cheese that I'd ask the person working there... to slice for me too for some sandwiches for my lunches for the week when we lived in the US, at Safeway. Or the big containers of potato salad in the summer. Or cheese danish for breakfasts. Can't believe this will be us in about 6 weeks again. 

See you soon Safeway.

Every single time I fly out of DIA (Denver International Airport)...and head back to Japan and I have mentioned it on this blog before too. I silently weep/cry as we fly out of Denver International Airport. Because I know...the next time I get there...it could be years. Because sometimes we go to Hawaii. Sometimes we go to other spots in the US. And now...I get to stay in the US for good....forever??? It's still hard for me to believe it. It's just something I always wished for. But didn't know if it would be in the cards for me. And now it is. 

Every single time that I am in the US. I fit in like a glove. I naturally just fit. I don’t have any food problems or adjustments. I love the chitter chatter. I always feel so completely at home in the states. And it always tugs at my heart when I leave the US. It is emotionally shattering. Leaving a country that you don’t want to leave. Granted...I was happy in Japan, don’t get me wrong. But I just blend in so seamlessly there. It’s effortless for me. I belong there, I feel it in my heart, I feel it in my bones. I have *always* felt that and known that.

Will I have a bit of an adjustment? Of course. I think I will be head bowing people for 2 months straight.... more than likely. I will probably feel like I am on vacation for the first month that we’re there...and only then... will I slowly start to realize..."umm Gina you live here in America now." So no need to stock up anymore. In Japan small talk is quite uncommon. But in America, it happens everywhere. So, yeah...I am going to have to adjust. And also...simple things like...driving on the right hand side of the road. My blinkers (turning signals) and windshield wipers are opposite to where they are placed in Japan. So I am sure I will be turning my windshield wiper blades on 3-5 times a day for a few weeks. So...yeah...am I going to have to adjust? Of course. But...I think we will adjust just fine. And by the time me and the kids are adjusted. Noboru will be moving there. And then we will be complete

Bits and Pieces...

Americans love peanut butter! It's true, we do! And we have a love for peanut butter ice-cream. I am pretty sure... there are at least 3-5 different types of peanut butter ice cream in your average American grocery store, at any given time. And as you know, I even make my own here in Japan with those big tubs of Kirkland vanilla ice-cream as my base. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find this for sale in the little city nearest my town last week. Skippy brand peanut butter popsicles with a peanut butter soft inside/filling. So, for testing purposes, I had to buy some. Noboru happened to be with me the day I was in that store and asked him if he wanted one. He was like yikes...and no thanks. : ) Hahaha. So just picked up 3, for the kids and myself to taste test. What did we think? Branden said they were a 6 out of 10 for him. 10 being the best. Noah....said that he didn't care for these at all. And that to me, says a lot because he can usually find something nice to say about anything and everything. So for him to not like these. I was now curious to try for myself. I tried mine last and I have to say... I wasn't blown away by this. And would I repurchase this? Never! And this is coming from a peanut butter loving family....so that should tell you something. Let me explain in better detail. For starters peanut butter icecream is delicious and this was more so a peanut butter popsicle. No big deal...I knew that, when I bought it. But...the outside or regular part of the popsicle had a very bland flavor to it. Meaning if you didn't know it was *supposed* to be peanut butter flavored...you may never guess peanut butter. So the outside Popsicle main flavor was bland and didn't really taste like anything. The inside filling was weird. Granted it tasted a bit more like peanut butter, but it was just really unimpressive. 

Anyways...regular life still going on here daily. Of course. And on this day I made green chili enchiladas.

1 large chicken breast. Boiled. shredded and seasoned. Corn tortillas bought from Kaldi, slightly skillet fried beforehand and blotted with paper towel. Shredded my big hunk of cheese. And started to roll them.

Baked in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. This gave me time to make some Spanish rice. And get some ice out for our sodas.

Chicken cheese green chili enchiladas and a side of Spanish rice some chopped up lettuce on top of my enchiladas for a healthy little crunch. And a coke with ice. Yum! : ) My family love these!

Ordered 2 new pair of Vans for B. Because his feet keep growing. He keeps growing.

ABC Mart is an official retailer/seller of Vans here in Japan. 

Bran is now a size American men's 11 in shoes. And a size 29 cm. 

A preppy navy blue pair and a black and white checkered pair. 

Beats just came out with new ear phones/buds. 

Bran picked black.

Noah picked blue. The sound on these is absolutely incredible. Even better that the last model of Beats ear buds. 

Thanks Dr. Dre.

Cart pic from our Costco run last week. 2 rotisserie chickens. Dinner rolls. Big shrimp and bacon. That's it. Our total came to like $40 or $45. We can have shrimp 2 or 3 times in March now. And we had rotisserie chicken sandwiches last week with these rotisseries for supper that night. The kids also took some rotisserie chicken sandwiches to school the next day too in their packed lunches. 

Noboru and I went to Coco Ichiban Curry House last week for our once a week lunch date.

Anything new to add? My hair is done now...thanks to me going to the hair salon last Friday... and I am happy to have gotten it over with. My hair is as straight as a pin now and freshly colored and trimmed too. I was there from 9am until 1:20pm. A lot of sitting. And 2 hot coffees and 4 chocolates (for free) and an amazing shoulder neck and head massage too (for free too). Still an a-line lob. : )

Branden and I decluttered... the heck out of his room this past weekend too. We were relentless with it. We still have to do it 2 more times to call it done. But a step in the right direction.

Clearing out our shed. Getting rid of so much. Hard, but necessary because of the move...

Two weeks ago on a bitterly cold, but semi sunny day. Noboru and I went out in the backyard and decluttered the shed. Absolutely 100% necessary. But also honestly....a little bit emotionally hard for me. I get attached to things. Granted I go through the shed once a year and I am by *no* means a hoarder. I have absolutely no qualms at all... to purge stuff....getting rid of unneeded no longer useful to us... stuff that we'll never use again, is not a problem for me. But yeah...I'm also human. And on certain things...I do have a hard time getting rid of a certain item or two. The inflatable pools. I have 1 that my kids used as toddlers. My kids haven't been toddlers in forever...but I held on to that. And then I bought a much bigger deeper pool. This one pictured. And honestly....it was nice to fill it with iced cold water on a hot summers day and even though my kids didn't swim in it any longer...they would sit in it and cool off...I would do that too. So...I always kept it. But again...with our move in April. It was sadly time to get rid of both pools. And no selling a used pool.....would be more trouble than it would be worth. The shipping would cost the buyer of my said pool...the shipping would be too much. They'd be better off buying a pool from their local DIY. Pools are heavy. And since I asked everyone I knew close by...if they needed one...no they didn't. So we tossed it.  

A big bag of water guns. Funny....as the mama, I recall where I bought each and every one of these water guns. Either Trial or Cainz. : ) How water guns and our big backyard was always something my 2 boys would love to play with each and every summer. And frankly speaking, who would want to buy a used water gun....when you could buy one at your local DIY store for less than 500 yen. So again...something we just tossed. 

Dryer rack/holder that attached to my old washing machine. I am using my same dryer...but since my washing machine changed last August or September I needed a new dryer holder. So this old dryer holder... had to be tossed. I felt no sadness about seeing a rack that held my dryer go. This stroller on the other hand. My lovely beloved stroller. Was honestly *the hardest thing* I had to part with. This was the item that nearly killed me. Emotionally. For starters, I did have one of those gigantic strollers in America when Branden was born, the kind that hold their baby seats. But in Japan that was so outrageously ginormous...it was ridiculous to use in Japan. When I went back to Denver for 6 weeks when B was just a toddler, 2 and a half or so in age. I went to Babies R US and found this one. It was called the Graco Citi Lite. No, not City Light, lol. It was black and royal beautiful blue. Not that rank off color Thomas the Tank Engine is, sorry Thomas. But a vibrant bright blue. This stroller was so slim and light, it opened with just 1 hand. Japanese strollers I looked into... but their baskets were so super teeny tiny and harder than hell to open. This Graco Citi Lite was the best. As slim as a Japanese stroller, bigger wheels/tires and a way bigger basket. You could open it with 1 hand. Skinny enough for Japanese supermarket aisles. Big basket to hold a bunch of stuff and it was like $80 US. I used this on Branden until he didn't need a stroller anymore. I also used this on Noah his entire baby life and toddler life. When I think how many times this stroller went to Tokyo Disney Sea. Tokyo Disneyland. How many times this stroller flew to Guam. Or strolled my kids around Hakone or USJ. How many times this stroller flew to Saipan (twice) how this stroller flew to Seoul South Korea once and carried a 1 year old Noah all around when the 4 of us were on vacation. How this stroller went to New York. Knotts Berry Farm in California. San Francisco. Minnesota about 25 times. PDX...Sea-tac. This stroller has carried my most precious things in the world to me. It carried my baby's. My sons who I love and adore. When I think about how many times I took the stroller cloth off and washed it. How I had those snazzy bag holder things on the back of my stroller (just a few bucks)...thank you Japan for selling those amazing bag holders for strollers (are those even available in the US?). How I attached little toys on the front of said stroller so my kids would have something to play with, while they were out and about. So for all in intensive purposes.... this stroller carried my most precious cargo. My children. And yep..while I could give my kids out-grown clothes away to friends. I could *never* give their stroller away. I respected this stroller too much. Just so much history, so many memories associated with this stroller. Maybe you're reading this and you'll "get this" and maybe you won't. Either way is okay. But...yes for all these long years...the one thing I could never get rid of...was my stroller. Out of respect or maybe emotional attachment or both. Until 2 weeks ago. For me...the hardest thing to throw? Hands down my stroller. It wasn't the cost or value. It was the emotional attachment. That stroller was *always* with me. Just always. How could I throw it away? Until then...I never could. 

No more undokais/sports days. So no more need for a table and chair combo. Again...didn't feel sad about this. 

Good bye to all our outside Christmas lights. The Christmas lights that lit up outside our house every single Christmas season. How cars would pass our house....because this is the inaka and not many houses are lit up in our town. And so yeah...people/families would drive past and see the warm happy house... all nicely lit up American style. And these were a pinch sad for me... to see us throw these away. But...I did remind myself that....after Noboru moves to the U.S. We will get another house and decorate again. So..the lights were about a 2 out of 10 for me on the sad scale. The swimming pools were about a 3 out of 10. The stroller was about a 20 out of 10, for me. Anyways...I know these lights will not be the last. So...with that in mind...I could let the lights go. However...I know...that stroller would be the last for me. The last stroller as a mama...I would ever own. And so...the stroller for me was freaking beyond hard. Two bikes also went. Again...auctions online...we saw bikes for sale for 500 yen and even then ...people were not buying them! Plus shipping...would not be worth for a buyer or for us to sell. In America we have many Good Will or Salvation Army type places. We have garage sales too. But that really isn't the type of country I'm in. So...and I can't just stay in Japan... until I sell a bike for 500 yen either...that's not logical either. At some point you gotta cut it as a loss... and move on. You can't move forward, if you're stuck in the damn past. 

Trash day. All our stuff carted away to the trash spot. I dropped off Branden at 6:20am and I saw our beloved items and it sorta hurt. Logically I know it *must* be done. I came home. Made sure Noah got his packed lunch and homework and whatnot. Put Noah in the car... drove past our stuff yet again. I looked at the stuff. And on the way coming home, I stopped for about 30 seconds and snapped this picture. Just for my own memories sake. 1% of me wanted to drag my stroller back home and into the shed. But then... I had to snap myself out of it. But by the same token.... You have a lifetime of memories staring you in the face. You remember every squeal and splash that your child splashed in that pool. You remember how your child zoomed off on that bike and the smile on their face. Or how they chased each other and shot each other with their water guns. How many undokai obentos my family enjoyed on that table. Was it a little hard to say good bye to our stuff that day? Of course...I'm not a robot. I'm a living and breathing human being with feelings. It hurt... to say good bye to the stuff.

But I know...3 years from now. We're going to be *so* completely settled in our lives in America. And I'm going to come back to my blog and read how sad that I was... to say good bye to this stuff. And I'm going to laugh at myself for it. So maybe...for today. This post is for me. : ) And for you too. Like I said...you will get to see. The easy parts of moving away and letting go and the hard parts too. That day...was a hard part of letting go. Onwards and upwards. : ) Thanks for taking this journey with me, you guys. : ) 

Anyways...any new news? It's snowing here today. But it's the kind that melts when it hits the ground. But it's gray skies and bitterly cold outside right now. My hair appointment is tomorrow as you know. Starts at 9 or 9:30am. Should be there all day long. : ( It'll be worth it in the end. 

Valentine's Day 2018...

I hope you all had a really nice Valentine's Day this year. Ours was low key as always. But really nice. In January as soon as Valentine's chocolates were for sale in my nearest small city... nearest the town I live in. I bought my 3 guys their Valentine's stuff right away. I bought these for Branden and Noah this year. The Tirol golden variety box, I bought 2 years or so ago, my kids love them and so when I saw the same big golden box, I bought both Bran and Noah each a box of those. Those were only like 348 yen a box each. And the Mary's chocolates this particular type was chocolate nut crunch. They were 3 packs for 900 yen, so I bought Noboru a bag and one for each of the boys too. I didn't take a pic of Noboru's chocolates... but they were exactly the same Mary's chocolates as the kids received. I also took Noboru to Starbucks on Valentine's Day and we each got a coffee and a slice of cake too. My small little treat for *my* Valentine. Noah was with us too... because his class was closed due to the flu. So it was a Valentine date with the 3 of us, instead of just the 2 of us. LOL.  It was okay...it just couldn't be helped because the class was closed. And so we were all fine. And besides after this many years of marriage... we're practical yes and also parents... so we were fine with a Valentine's date of 3. : ) And he took me/us for lunch before our Starbucks run. So we each in a small way celebrated each other that day. I'm glad that happened to be his day off. : )  

The woman I bought the chocolates from at the mall... gave me gift bags and decorative stickers and stuff and Valentine's morning, I wrapped every one's small gift. Yes in our family we celebrate Valentine's Day... the American way meaning we give gifts to each other on 1 day.... versus the Japanese way of the boys giving gifts on White Day instead. In our house we don't celebrate White Day, we get it out in 1 fell swoop. : )

What did I get for Valentine's Day? Noboru always asks me what I want for Valentine's Day? I honestly don't think you should shell out boo-koo bucks for Valentine's Day. I prefer my husband and I keep it under 1000 yen for a gift for V-day. And sure if we want to go get some lunch or coffee that we could both enjoy together? Awesome. But nope you will see no... big fancy expensive gifts here for V-day. After Noboru always asks me what I want. I always just say...the same chocolates as last year is fine. I love those. They're practical. They're what...700 yen. No need to do more, in my opinion. So, I received my fave Ferrero Rocher. I also received gifts from both my sons this year too. First time ever for me. As it wasn't suggested by a teacher. It was done 100% completely on their own with no prompting for any outside force. 2 weeks beforehand, my boys asked me...."mom what would you like for Valentine's Day from us? I was super surprised. Pleasantly so. : ) I told my kids. "Seriously do not spend more than 300 yen on me, okay? I don't need it. But thank you though." That's $3 US for you Americans. : ) Noah bought me this box of chocolate covered almonds. I love these. They were affordable, so I didn't feel guilty about my kids spending money on me. And they felt so good about giving me a gift too. Branden asked me too. He said exactly this..."mom my school is near a Kiehl's and a Body Shop" What do you want for Valentine's Day? I told Branden...buy me one of those delicious clear teas. And that's enough for me, kiddo. I too told him...please no more than 300 yen. 

Branden came home Valentine's Day after school with this in hand for me. A fancy bar of chocolate and a clear tea. I felt so happy this Valentin'e Day. What 3 sweethearts, I have. I'm truly so lucky!!! 

Branden has a legit girlfriend. Almost 1 year they've been dating. A blonde American cutie by the way. But anyways...that did not deter Bran from getting a ton of Valentine's Day goodies. Hafu girls/classmates. Or other 100% foreign classmates. Or Japanese. But he has quite a bunch of girls that like him... like him...meaning that wish to be his girlfriend. 6 gifts from his classmates. Which means...I will be baking for White Day. Again this year. @_@ Holy goodness. 

Also the 11th grade grade peeps got back from their trip to California. And 2 girls gave Branden some American treats. That was more so... friendship candy/tomo choco.

Branden received homemade brownies, and so many homemade variety of cookies. But these I thought were so pretty...the butterfly cookies. Makes me want to find a butterfly cookie cutter now. Hahaha. Bran gave me a small taste of these and they were delicious. He also gave Noah a bite too. : )

I'm wondering what kind of Valentine's Day, my kids and I will have next year in the states. Hmm. It'll be interesting. : ) And new and exciting. : )