moving notice

Big news friends and family: We are moving!

In January we're taking this 3 person show on the road and relocating to Yokosuka, Japan. Just a stones throw away from Tokyo! Why you ask? Brandon is being relocated to another restaurant -big move for his career! It's no doubt that we will miss so much about Sasebo, we have really come to love it's charm and the friends we have made here, but there is something exciting about experiencing a whole new area of Japan that makes this news bitter-sweet.

We hope you're ready for all new adventures as the Willett's take on a new city and all it has to offer. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, here is a shot of our first family outing. . .how cute is Ella's head poking out of her blanket there. Ramen shop, of course.

current happenings

This is just a cool picture that Brandon took 2 days before Ella was born. Just thought I would share!

isn't she lovely

First things first. It has been way too long! It's hard to explain why, but it's a mixture of things like the fact that our lives went from zero to "woah we are having a baby", and, "Jewell is working 60 hours a week while pregnant", in one hot minute. It's no secret that I miss my days of wandering the streets of our city and stopping to people watch while drinking a latte but it's also no secret that I have two new things that I love. I couldn't be happier with my job but more importantly, our baby arrived!

Her name is Ella Elaine and we are totally in love with her. She was born Tuesday, October 12th at 6:32 PM, 8 days late and weighing 8lbs 2oz. Her hair is light brown, her eyes are a beautiful slate-grey/blue, her cheeks are super chubby, and her legs are long and strong. She and Brandon are already the best of friends and sometimes when she cries all he has to do is touch her and she will stop. She is so lucky!

Ella. One day old.

The last thing we thought we would become master's of while living abroad was giving birth. Sushi, sure. Exchange rates(which really stink right now), sure. Trains, definitely. But having to go through the most intense and important experience of our lives while only understanding about half of what we were being told, definitely not part of the plan. Through all of the confusion and differences(giving birth in Japan is a much different experience than the USA) Ella still came out perfectly healthy, in the hands of a very capable Doctor, in a very peaceful environment. In the end, that's really all any parent could hope for.

Leaving the birthing center: 5 days old.

Here is a bonus shot of one of my meals at the Birth Center. So, basically I got 3 full meals a day plus a snack and a dessert. All gourmet and all served on fine china. Take that USA.

current happenings

Here is some life.

The new camera rocks.

the one year post

It's so hard to realize we have been here, in Japan, for a year now. Does anyone else out there think this year went by so incredibly fast? It wasn't long ago we were hugging our family good-bye and walking our 4 suitcases up the ramp to airport security. We were so uncertain about what we were doing but excited at the prospect of redirecting our lives - to the other side of the world.

It wasn't long before our possessions began to grow and we began to assimilate into Japanese culture. We accepted the fact that we were going walk everywhere and that we couldn't get dark chocolate as easily as we could back home. We began to enjoy buying groceries in small amounts knowing they were coming fresh daily from the farms in town. We learned to squeeze into a twin size bed and love the firmness of a futon mat on wood. Brandon learned how to cook with no counter and two burners. Actually, we are still perfecting that one. We learned how to fit everything we wanted into a tiny fridge. Then there was learning how to not bump into people while making no eye-contact and knowing when to avoid the grocery store so you didn't get run over by a sweet little old Japanese lady - who is not so sweet when she is trying to get to the last bell pepper.

We have made some wonderful friends, many of whom we have discussed on this blog. This year would not have worked out well with out the new friendships and new traditions built with them.

Lastly, the most important thing that came from this year of new discoveries is our baby. She is six weeks away from her day of birth and we are so excited. It's is so amazing knowing that we are bringing a little person into this big world - and that she will actually know how big that world really is.

Thank you all for stopping by from time to time. It feels so amazing to know there are friends and family who have been able to experience some of this crazy adventure with us. We hope you're ready to see what this next year has to bring! We sure are.

Here are some of our favorite moments from over the past year.

Reggie & Manami

Real Ramen

Conquering the Y105 Sushi go-round.

Conquering trains.

The Nagasaki Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum.

Care packages!

Our not so traditional, but worthy Thanksgiving Dinner.

Laura & Tom. And Karaoke!

Happy 2010!

Baby news.

The return of the beard.

Tokyo!

Kyoto! And Cherry Blossoms! And dragging Mama & Papa Willett across Japan.

Living in a mix of old and new every day.

Well, now we begin year two! Stay tuned!

our new little place

Since we know everyone has just been on pins and needles waiting to see what our new place looks like - here you go! We spent the last weekend putting some final touches on the living areas and starting to unpack everything for Ella Bean's room, which you can see will still need some work...but is coming along! Geeeeez, we can't believe it's almost been a year. It only took us that long to settle in to a great little place and finally feel like we don't have to sit on top of each other or stand in the bathroom to open the fridge!

We hope you enjoy the tour!

Well, we hoped you enjoyed this small photo tour of our new little place in Japan! Maybe we will get another YouTube video up here soon!

Oh, and our new gas stove top boils water in just about 3 minutes! Awesome!

brandon's 29th

Brandon celebrated his first birthday abroad this week! We had a great little celebration with our good friends Reggie and Manami. We walked to dinner at our favorite restaurant and then returned to the apartment for drinks, presents and a surprise cake! Oh, and the non-child bearing people went out on the town after while the pregnant one curled up in bed.

Here are some shots of the evening!

Reggie & Manami at dinner.

After some due diligence I found a pastry chef in town with an oven and a German chocolate cake recipe up her sleeves.

Of course we missed everyone - there is nothing like a pool side party at Mama & Papa Willett's house, but have no worries we still managed to enjoy the night!

Bastille Day!

In honor of Bastille Day we thought it was time to show you our favorite French Bakery, Donq. They make everything from scratch right there in full view and the product travels about 5 feet before it lands on the shelves. If you are lucky enough to get there as this transfer is taking place you can taste the items fresh and hot out of the chefs hands.

Bread cutting time!

Why yes, we would love to support a giant cream cheese roll.

Lady fingers. Strategically placed at every check out. Marie Antoinette would be so proud. Every time we check out I like to think it's her own little victory.

happy Brandon Day

Happy Birthday to the best husband in the world.

something's kickin' pt. 2

Here we are at 28 weeks. And a shot of some progress on the apartment!

love of san antonio

Just a little something we came across while strolling through the Ginza (shopping arcade) yesterday. How random is this??

employed!

We both have jobs now! I have officially started working as the Program & Volunteer Coordinator for the USO Sasebo Center! Woo hoo! I like to plan a good party that's for sure.

That's me, helping at the 4th of July Celebration! My first official program to work! USO sponsored the Hot Dog and Sasebo Burger eating contest. That's right - we are in Japan and we DID experience a food eating contest, and people really did douse their hot dog buns in water. I had no idea what I was doing, but Brandon said I looked like I did. Nice to know I can still wing it!