Simple Life

Jason and I spent the morning today with Skip, my step-dad. This was no planned event, rather, we were huddled together over the engine of the little car Jason and I are diving, replacing the radiator that cracked yesterday. We are very fortunate that Skip, a literal jack-of-all-trades, was both able and willing to help us with this little project. "Half an hour," he said. Anyone that has worked on an engine knows that "half and hour" rarely means 30 minutes. 3 hours later, our little car was back up and running. Before I can even begin to express how grateful we are to Skip for his help this morning, there are a few things I must mention. Mom and Skip just moved to a new home and are still unpacking. It is coming together, but no where near done. We were in Wenatchee, where it was in the mid-30's. We had red skin, frozen toes, snot running down our faces, and Skip had blood dripping from his knuckle. A result of trying to fit his hand in a place it was...

Jason and Lily went to spend a few days in Issaquah with Jason's Mom, Leslie. Jax had a dental appt. today so we stayed behind in Chelan. Today, I was reminded of a lesson Jaxon had taught me a few years ago. The lesson was just as confounding and clear today as it was when he was a toddler. As a little one, Jaxon tended to be on the challenging side. I always found myself apologizing for his behavior. I was insecure about him - people were always commenting, "He's all boy!" I don't think that people meant to hurt my feelings, but it did. As a mother, you always want to have a well-behaved kid that people like. I felt that he wasn't well liked. One day his behavior was especially exasperating, and it was then that the lesson of Jaxon really hit me. I remember very clearly. We were at Macy's, Jaxon was strapped into an umbrella stroller. I was doing my usual dash through the store, as Lily was in preschool and our time was limited to just a coupl...

We are still here, in America. We would have done so many things differently had we known... Hindsight. Good stuff right? We are still in the middle of this crazy process that involves several people and ends with us getting back to Japan. We can't really divulge the details yet... What I can do is focus on the now, which is what we have been doing since we got back. Well, we sort of spent the first two weeks moping and acclimating to the time change, then we started focusing on the now. We had some major questions to answer - where to live, what to drive, what to do with ourselves and the kids. The challenge in answering any of those questions was not knowing how long we'd be here. We were hoping it was just for a few weeks. Now we are into our third month. I have struggled, feeling like a bit of a let down. Here we are, in our thirties, living off the goodwill of others and really not contributing much to society. We have two kids to think about. It is not as if ...

We all know that life is short, precious, and should be cherished. We also all forget that at times - most times. It is so easy to get caught up in whatever and get swept into a that all too familiar place where we take things for granted and forget to count our blessings. In the last 5 weeks I have seen four deaths. None were terribly personal or close to me, but all four were tragic. After Jason lost his cousin on 10/7 (age 43, unexpected), two girls that I went to high school with each lost a father. Both men were in their early 60's, and both died completely unexpectedly. Just a few days ago a friendship that dates back to elementary school ended following the murder of my friend, age 31. Again, we weren't close and I have no right to claim any personal hurt. But, I look at the people that are still standing, the families of the ones that have passed, and my heart breaks for them. The wake left after a death can be very bleak and consuming. It is the family left behind tha...

It is Halloween weekend and we are spending it in Lake Chelan. We come to the lake every summer, but this is our first time being here in the fall. This may be my new favorite place to be this time of year. It is absolutely beautiful here, the colors of all the leaves and the crisp bite to the air really make it feel like fall. We are enjoying our daily walks into town, the occasional leaf fight, and some quality family time. Yesterday we took the kids to a local farm where we went on a hayride to the back of the orchard and ran through a corn maze. The next stop was at a row of Ambrosia apple trees where we could pick all we wanted to take home. We were encouraged to sample the apples, straight from the trees. That apple yesterday had to be the best apple I've ever had. Standing in the orchard, sun warming us in the cold air, shoulder to shoulder with the farmer. Amazing. So many people never get to experience anything that simple, yet wonderful. It was great. Next, o...

I haven't written in a while - there's been a lot going on in the Ostrer lives, and not much at the same time. For starters, we are still in the US, and will be through November. We are being told that our paperwork should all be done by then and we should see Japan by December. We are hoping that this is accurate! There have been a few small silver linings to us being here now. While we'd rather be away doing our thing, we have to look for the bright side! My parents had decided to move about a year ago but hadn't found the right house until now. Since we've been here we've packed, packed, and packed some more. Jason has been amazing! I would only expect him to work this hard and be this patient for his own parents. I'm sure my folks would have gotten it all done without us, but I think that in a small way, we've helped. On the 7 th of October, Todd Ostrer , a cousin of Jason's, passed away at the age of 43. Todd had been recovering from...

Today we took the kids to a jumpy place - not sure what it's called, but it's a big room full of blow up slides and jumpers for the kids to play on. I sat in the corner, quietly re-reading "The Shack" while the kids ran around playing, bouncing, racing, and basically just letting loose. There were a couple really great moments in that 90 minutes of play time. At one point I looked up to see Lily being the first born that she is. She had taken it upon herself to befriend a 2 year old and help her climb on all the toys and play safely. Sitting and watching her I could just see the mother or teacher that she will become, and be so great at it. She is a natural nurturer, which I sometimes mistake for maturity. She is a motherer , but that doesn't mean that she doesn't still need a mother too. She is only nine. Sometimes I struggle between pushing her to grow and mature, and recognizing the little girl she still is. Later, Lily and Jaxon were both playing...

Yesterday, or the day before, marked two weeks that Jason, the kids, and I have been back in the US. We are here for an undetermined amount of time, waiting patiently (...sort of...) for our work Visas. We are living at my mother's house (who is in the process of packing to move in two weeks...) with nothing of our own. We are using her things, eating her food, driving her car. We homeless, feeling a little listless, and a lot pointless. It is hard to find inspiration in waiting. We have small tasks that we can work on each day - but nothing that actually creates momentum. All that we want each day is to receive that email that says our paperwork is on the way and that we will be returning to Japan soon. It is hard to sit here, in a holding pattern of sorts, just waiting to go back to living. Aside from not feeling any sense of accomplishment, there is a sense of slipping backward. We were gone only a month, but in that time a lot of adjusting happened. Lil had almost sto...

Our lives are what they are because of the choices that we make; and to a lesser extent the choices that those around us make. Occasionally when I am feeling a little romantic, or lazy even, I allow myself to subscribe to the thought of a master plan full of destiny and fate where our choices aren't as elemental in our lives. It all just happens like it's supposed to. Of course, I don't know which is the real direction that our lives follow, it could be a symbiotic relationship of both. We spent the weekend in Yakima with a few of our closest friends. It turns out that 2 days is not nearly enough time. When we left a month ago, we assumed it was for at least a year. We made a clean break and said our farewells. Going back was certainly bittersweet. We absolutely loved the weekend and our time with everyone, but now we are sad and mourning all over again. I'm not sure if there was a great lesson in any of this but either way, we went, we saw, and we drug our tir...

There is a city near us in Kanonji called Marugame. It is about a 40 minute drive on a good day, despite being relatively close. The roads on the island of Shikoku are a lot like Highway 99 at home, congested with businesses and traffic light after traffic light. It also doesn't help that the maximum speed limit is 50 km/hr. That's equivalent to about 35 mph. Anyway, Marugame is a great city, a lot larger than ours with everything you could possibly need. One of the cool features of the city is castle built up on a hill. It was started in 1587 and evolved over time. It has been preserved and is now a museum of sorts. Being one of only 12 wooden castles left standing is Japan, it is a big tourist draw. The castle sits high on a hill with stone walls protecting the hill. Inside the castle are little holes that guardians of the castle could open, slide out a gun, and shoot any intruders. The kids thought that was pretty cool.

We spent Lily's birthday as a family, not really doing much. One fun little detail - we went to her favorite beach to hang out for the evening and watch the sunset. We were all out in the water, waist deep for Jason and I, and a giant swarm of fish came at us. I know that fish swim in schools, not swarms, but this was certainly more of a swarm. These little fishling things that were only an inch or so long came swimming toward us. There had to be thousands of them. They were very active, jumping out of the water over and over. In hindsight, it was pretty cool. However, at the time I was having visions of tiny little Japanese Piranhas attacking, ninja style of course.

My bio-dad was a real peach. Fortunately, none of my faithful blog followers have had the opportunity to meet him. To call him bigoted or racist just doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Some of my earliest memories of him are the sound of his voice using derogatory terms for anyone that wasn't white and straight. I always knew he was wrong. I think my first defiant move was to decide to have "rainbow babies". I wanted a white baby, a black one, a brown one, a yellow one, pink, red, blue, it didn't matter. I just knew that the world was a beautiful place, and the colors of all the people made it so much richer and brighter. I'm not talking just about skin color, but color in general, color in the terms of people living their lives out loud, loving who they want to love and being who they want to be. Fast forward 20 some years and I still feel exactly the same way. Yes, I recognize that I have me some pasty white babies, but I promise you this, t...

Japan does parks to the extreme. We went to a park today that had an incredible play toy for the kids. The toys were huge. Jason kept commenting on the fact that if he were there as a kid, he'd never want to leave. His mom would have to bring him sustenance for his life at the park. Once the kids were settled on the play toy (Jaxon and Lily with friends Mia and Teryn) and the men were immersed in a game of see-who-can-be-the-most-impressive-football-thrower-and-catcher, Lindsey and I took off for a hike up the mountain. We found a trail and followed it. There were signs along the way, but of course they were in Kanji so we had no clue. The trail was pretty steep and rugged, a true hike. It was beautiful. Along the way we crossed streams, ducked away from massive spiderwebs (spiders included, black and yellow), and stopped every 5 minutes to gawk at something amazing. Later we took the kids and husbands on a mini-hike to check out some bridges, a waterfall, and a couple s...

We have survived our first typhoon/hurricane/weather event in Japan with no pain. I cannot say the same for Japanese beer. For starters, the typhoon. It was kind of great for us. We're in a fifth floor apartment and the wind and rain really got crazy up here. We had our front and back doors open and it was like a wind tunnel in our living room. Walking from the car to the apartment building we got drenched, in seconds. Really pretty cool. Unfortunately, there was flooding and damage to homes, injuries, and loss of life here in Japan. They say typhoon season is over now and that we should start to get some more fall-like weather. Can't wait! Now, about the beer. Jason teaches a few adult classes at a local business. One of the ladies was telling him about Japanese beer and which to try. Now, if you don't know this already, Jason is not a drinker. He likes beer, and will have one now and again, but he's not one to drink alone or have one because the day ends in y....

We're in a typhoon! It's really pretty cool. The wind is blowing like crazy and the rain hasn't stopped all day. I love the sounds of it! I realize there is some danger here, but, it seems minimal and the newness of it outshines any fear. This picture is of Miss Lily after we walked home in the rain after putting our car in a secure garage to protect it from possible flood damage. She's already dried off, but wanted to show you the wind blowing her hair. The funny thing is, we thought that was strong. Now, 6 hours later, that was nothing!

I had a pretty rotten day the other day - just one thing, then another. Despite sleep and the start of a new day, I was still pretty cantankerous. After work a (brave) friend took me and the kids to the beach. It was amazing, truly. Something about being the only people on the beach, floating in the warm water while the kids played and caught crabs, and being showered with warm rain just melted all the junk away. I left that little soak in a way better place. Reflection tells me that it was the amazing water, the privacy, the feeling like we were in our own little spot. However, it was also the company. This friend of mine is not new to me. As a matter of fact, we have known each other since 7th grade. We have never been close, having come from two worlds that didn't intersect much. But, here we are. We both laughed at the idea that out of everyone we each knew, the two of us were floating in a sea together in Japan. These pictures were taken on a different day, but at the same a...

Japan is the land of the vending machine. I have never seen so many vending machines in one place. it's like walking through a casino in Vegas - slot machines, or in this case vending machines, everywhere. The benefit is that you are never far from refreshment, be it water, juice, soda or beer that you desire. At first I found the idea of beer vending machines strange, but I've gotten used to the idea. What I haven't accepted is that the Japanese version of Gatorade is called Pocari Sweat. I just don't want to drink anything with the name sweat in the title. For those of you that know Jaxon, you know he is a money magnet. That kid can find loose and forgotten change anywhere. Before we left the states he'd developed a habit of getting on his hands and knees in the checkout line of the store, looking for dropped change. Amazingly, he usually found some. Just imagine him here in Japan, vending machines on every corner. Let's just say that we cannot wa...

Many people are familiar with the Japanese legend of 1000 cranes. Basically, anyone that completes the task of folding 1000 cranes is due to receive a wish from a crane, a sacred creature here in Japan. Cranes are thought to live 1000 years and have the ability to grant long life, health, success, etc. Here Lily is looking at a cluster of 1000 cranes left at a prayer wall at the Zentsuji Temple. The Zentsuji Temple was stunning. None of our pictures do it justice. If you're interested in learning more about the temples here on the island, search "88 temples of Shikoku". It's pretty amazing stuff. I don't know that we'll make it to all 88, but we got started today! After our time at the temple, we followed signs to a park. We weren't sure what we'd find at the end of our drive, but that was half the fun. We ended up at this AMAZING park! It was beautiful. It had beautiful gardens, huge play toys, sculptures, activities, ponds complete wi...

So much of our decision to come to Japan had to do with learning to live another way, differently than the routines that we had fallen into. Some would ask why we had to come to Japan to do this, why couldn't we just make changes to our lives while living in Yakima? Well, I guess the simple answer is that this felt easier. It sounds strange to me, even as I write it. How is uprooting the entire family and giving up 99% of our possessions to move halfway around the world easier than making changes at home? The truth is, making changes at home, like spending less, saving more and slowing down is all well and good until you tire of it and give up. We've tried. It always started out well but little indulgences would creep back in. "Of course we don't need Starbucks right now, but it's right there and there is no line at the drive through...it just sounds good." One trip through Starbucks would lead to another, then we get too tired to cook dinner, next thin...

I'm not too small to admit that I'm jealous. Jason is *rocking* this teaching thing. The Japanese people love him! He's a natural entertainer and has already been promoted to full time. Now, whether or not he considers this increase in hours a promotion or not is still in the air. I, on the other hand, am not some fabulous teacher-rock-star. I guess it's the traditional teacher in me, but I am having a hard time adopting the curriculum. It's a great curriculum, it's just geared more toward fun and less toward traditional academics. Every lesson is supposed to include a game, a song and a story. With the lessons only being 30-50 minutes, that doesn't leave much time for the text. I guess the key here is exposure to the language more than anything else. Like all new things, I will struggle for a little bit but will ultimately grab hold and do well. ***having a little faith here*** Jason and I already have some favorite classes. We both enjoy the...

We have a mailing address! We're choosing to use the address at our office to receive mail. Here it is: Jason and Tawnya Ostrer 1-4-10 Sakaemachi Kanonji-City Kagawa 768-0072

Our apartment backs a canal. I'm not exactly sure what the canal is for, but there are many fish, birds and turtles living in it. People are not allowed to go into the canal or fish from it. Of course, we didn't know that so Lily and Jaxon headed down a little ladder that leads down into the canal and played around for awhile. Here is a picture of an empty turtle shell they found and brought home. So cool! Of course, it would be better with a head... Today Lily caught herself a little lizard outside the grocery store. Naturally, she wanted to keep it. Next, we went to the Daiso, a dollar store. There she found little plastic bug cages for kids to keep pets and things in. The picture showed some sort of roach or something living inside. She wanted that too. Another veto from me. I know she missed the cats but the last thing we need are pet cockroaches! The headless turtle will have to do for now.

We're here! We made it safely to Japan with just a few inconveniences along the way. Overall the travel here was relatively painless. Now, a few days into our time here we're trying to acclimate to the seemingly 1,000,000% humidity. Supposedly August is the hottest month. Quite honestly, I have never looked so forward to fall! We are loving it here. The town we live in is small and relatively untouched by Americanism. We thought that there would be more people here that would speak English- there really are very few. We also thought that there would be more English writing on packages. Again, very little. It makes grocery shopping slightly intimidating, especially for me, the queen of reading labels. Oh well, guess that's just part of the adventure. We live in Kanonji. It is near the sea and very clean as far as little and human waste is concerned. There is never trash on the ground. And despite the warning I received that men are legally allowed to (and wil...

We left Yakima yesterday. Leaving meant something different for each of us. I can only touch on the tip of the various emotions that we all felt as we drove west. The kids were both sad and excited. Both seem to be looking forward to what is to come, however, neither like to be reminded of what we are leaving. For Jason, leaving meant working his last day at Macy's. He is walking away from an almost 20 year career in retail management. He's mentioned a few times how much he is looking forward to NOT working at 3 AM the day after Thanksgiving this year! No matter the level of freedom that he feels for leaving behind the retail machine, I have to believe there is a little sad in there too. Jason has always been very well liked by his teams and enjoyed being a leader. I think that the sadness is diminished by the brightness of the uncertainty we are moving toward. For me, leaving Yakima is more than just moving out of a house, away from a city, or even...

Last Thursday night we had dinner with a family that has been an important part of our lives here in Yakima. The family has been family to us as we lived in Yakima, away from all our blooded relatives. We won't see them again before we leave so this dinner was our goodbye. All was well and normal until the end when it was time to leave. As Laura and I hugged and prepared to part ways for some undetermined amount of time, I cried. I'm sad to be leaving her and I believe that she is sad to see us go. While being sad, she is one of our biggest supporters. She is very excited for us and the adventure that we are beginning. The goodbye was hard, leaving her was hard. But, she and I will remain friends and support each other from anywhere that we may end up. Knowing that made it all hurt a little less. Laura and her family were the first of many goodbyes that Jason, the kids, and I will have to make. I want to hug everyone and assure them that we will see them again, that ...

The house is set and staged for an estate sale. Everything that we own is taped and priced, available to whom ever thinks they need it in their lives. I feel like I should be sad looking around at my life represented by things that are all about to find new homes, but I'm not. I'm not sad to see my vases, my pillows, candlesticks and other accoutrements leaving my life. In all of my fond memories, I cannot think of a single one that would be made worse by lack of a large red vase with fake grass or a striped pillow. We are leaving behind the tangible, taking with us only those precious collected items that we carry with us daily but that cannot be see by anyone else. This process of stripping down has really shown me that I do not NEED stuff. Sure, I like it, and I want it. I'm pretty sure that will never change. I just cannot imagine a day that I walk by a unique shop and it does not beckon me in. I guess the point is that I think I have let the line of need and ...