HOME.

Four growing kids and a house full of love. This is home to me. 

HOME (FROM MY PHONE) PART III

Final iphone shots from my time home...I am already missing the simple joys of guacamole, honeyboba...and changing my nieces and nephews diapers. 

FOODS YOU MISS WHEN YOU LIVE IN JAPAN: CHIPOTLE, TRUE FOODS (AKA KALE), CHICK-FIL-A...just to name a few.

Hunty and Cam now sleep in a big bunk bed and one night I came over to babysit so R&J could go out for R's Bday. It was my favorite night because we crawled up to the top bunk and Hunty showed me his Paw Patrol wall of stickers and we read books until the boys fell asleep. 

Quick reunion with my high school bffs...these girls are doing some radical things and I love catching up with them. Funny enough, we found ourselves back at the Mcdolands by our high school eating fries and icecream cones at 10pm...some things never change. 

I was so stoked to finally be back at The Bridge (young adult ministry at CCSB)! My bro-in-law, sis, and ofie gave the announcements that night and it was the best thing ever. Loved seeing all my homies from discipleship and fellowshipping with everyone again! 

Had to spend some QT with rin-sissy (Karin) and the girls! 

Had lunch with G&G one day. Grandma made me a half sandwich and we shared prunes after. Their home will always be a special place for me. 

One of the joys of being back in LA was visiting my former boss and the place that got me started into teaching!! Yuko has been a mentor to me these past few years and such a dear friend. I absolutely loved being back at her tutoring center reuniting with all the ladies I used to teach! 

My fam got to drop by my cousin Kyle at his new place! Kyle and I have gone through basically every life stage together (we're 3 months apart) so it was super surreal being back and sharing stories of Japan while sitting in his house! It's crazy how far we have both come and I know we will always share a special cousin bond. 

Hunter is almost 5...WOWZA...and I loved taking him to school one day, going to trader joes, and the farmers market..and just chatting it up with him as much as possible. He kept asking me, "Bon bon can you tell me a story? Make something up, about animals." So I would try to create this elaborate story about penguins getting stuck in the arctic or something and he would laugh and then say, "you're not really good at telling stories. They're too short." hahah funny kid. 

PRETTY FOOD. Not gunna lie, almost shed a tear when I ate that plate of tacos. Nothing comes close to that in Japan. 

On my last day at home...I was able to spend it at church. That was the best ending to a great time at home. This place holds so many memories for me and my family and I was holding back tears the whole service. I have this distinct memory of being a little kid, and having a church sleepover with the youth group. We were all running around the sanctuary and we would play this game where we started in the very back and would lay on the ground and roll down under all the pews to the very front row. First person to touch the stage won. I grew up on those pews, learning from the pastors that have stood on that stage, and hugging so many familiar faces every Sunday of my life. I loved being back there...and I really had to hold back tears the whole morning! 

And just like that...I kissed all my loved ones goodbye and boarded a plane back to Japan. It was a jam packed 10 days and I was so thankful to have seen so many people! Living abroad has increased the capacity to love in my heart and it really swelled x10 while I was home. Distance really does make the heart grow fonder ! 

HOME (FROM MY PHONE) PART II

One of the main reasons why I went home at the end of April\May was to attend my dear friend Lexi's (and her college bf Garrett) wedding! On Saturday of the wedding weekend we all drove up to Oxnard area to stay at a beach house. My Californian soul felt right at home!

The wedding venue was stunning (McCormick ranch) and totally fit the vibe of Lexi and Garrett's personalities. The weather was soooo nice, the bbq dinner was delicious, and I was able to catch up with a lot of people who Lexi and I both know from home. I love that sweet pic of Lexi hugging her mother-in-law... she is marrying into an amazing family and vice versa! 

I met Lexi back when we were both weee little high school students going to church summer camp. She was the cool drummer girl that rode a fixie bike and worked at Cold Stones and I liked her immediately. We've been best buds every since and I've seen her walk through a lot of seasons in life. I got super emotional (inherited this from my mom) when we were praying for her before she walked down the aisle...I was just flooded with so many memories with her when we were younger and being there on her big day was just so special for me!! 

Who needs a wedding cake when you can have donuts!?? 

Lexi and Garrett make an amazing couple!! 

I stayed at the beach house that Lexis family was renting out after the wedding... and it was convenient because on Monday morning I headed just an hour south to meet up with my college roomie - Abbie!!

Gosh I love this girl. I will forever be indebted to APU for randomly placing us as roommates freshman year of college. Abbie and I met up in Malibu and the best part was...she brought her sister and niece along with her!

OKAY. This child is beautiful. Little Evelyn has the most precious pale skin and gorgeous red hair. I couldn't stop squeezing her! We went to brunch and then walked around some shops before heading to the beach. She was so chill and let me hold her most of the time...and at the store I kept joking with other people like "she is my child. don't you see the resemblance!?"

Abbie has been such a constant friend in my life the past 7 years (wow!) and being able to spend the morning with her, her sister, and her niece was such a blessing.

I drove back home Monday afternoon and was stuck in a bit of traffic on PCH...I looked over to my right and saw this view from my window and thought to myself...."man, I love California."
I do love living in Japan...but there is something about that salty ocean air and that PCH drive that will always feel like home. 

HOME (FROM MY PHONE) PART I

I took a lot of cute photos of the kiddos on Joel (my camera) but I also carried around my phone and snapped a lot of shots so I'll go through those first! 

I arrived back in LA on a Thursday afternoon, which was perfect because Thursdays are "family dinner nights" where Gma and Gpa Komae come over and we squeeze 9 adults and 4 kids around the big table at my parents house. That is a good thing to come home to. 

My mom told me that my dad and Hunter would be picking me up from the airport...but my sister and Eden (who I call Ofie) came too, as a surprise! The last time I saw Ofie was when she was just a weeee little baby at 2 months...and although she is still small now, shes a lot bigger than when I left!

A huge part of my life is being an auntie...and because my nieces and nephews come to my parents house everyday, I have had the privilege of spending a lot of time with them...changing their diapers, feeding them, going on walks, disciplining them, giving them their bochas (baths) and basically being a super nanny which it the most fun!   

It was really special to see my grandparents again. I have spent a lot of time with them as a kid, and I drove them around every week when I lived at home last year..so seeing them again was one thing I was really looking forward to. Also, the purple flowers on the Jacaranda trees were in bloom which was the BEST because they always remind me of home. 

My request for my first meal back...my moms grapenut (yes the cereal) coated flank steak. AMAZING. She also made agedashi tofu and my 36 year old brother made a design on my takuan (picked raddish) like a child haha. Boy, did it feel nice to be home!

Friday was a fun filled day. We all walked to the park in the morning and then had a chic-fil-a picnic lunch back at home. Also, I took Hunter to Target which was the best! 

Okay...let me just say... America is the land of cereal, and Japan is NOT. In Japan I have to spend $8 on a tiny box of weird chocolate cereal..so when I walked down the cereal aisle in Target I was in breakfast HEAVEN. Who knew there were so many flavors of cheerios!?!? 

I have taken it upon myself to be that "fun aunt" that buys the kids things when they go shopping because I don't yet have my own kids so I can do things like that...so when we were walking through Target Hunter saw his favorite Paw Patrol characters on underwear and I bought them for him. Unfortunately, Hunter is growing at a rapid rate and is so big for his age so the undies were too small...we put them on our heads instead. 

Friday night I went out to Santa Monica with my R&J and the boys. We went shopping around third street and enjoyed the beautiful weather. 

We went to this awesome fancy Taco place my sis-in-law found and I had my first bite of Mexican food in 8months... glory hallelujah! 

A day is not complete without icecream. We found a bomb dessert place and I ordered the cookie sandwich with coffee icecream! 

Love spending time with this crew! 

After Santa Monica...I came home and waited for the arrival of my two besties - Nati and Liana! They drove up from SD after work and I was so so stoked to see them (and Nati's baby belly!!) We had a sleepover and had the best time catching up and sharing stories of what we've been up to lately. Saturday AM we woke up and went straight to the beach. 

This is the longest I've been away from the California coast...and when I stepped out of the car for the first time I immediately smelled that salty ocean breeze! It was a weird sensation. I have never noticed how strong the ocean smelled until that moment, and since I had been away from it for so long I almost cried because I was so happy to be back by the sea...especially with my two best friends!

EAT YOUR HEART OUT! We had my fav Uncle Bills for breakfast and I was in corned beef hash/salsa/coffee heaven. Yowzah. We spent the morning walking around the strand and buying baby clothes (Nati is 6 mo preggers) and at around noon we had to head back to my house and part ways because I was heading off to the next big event...

LEXI'S WEDDING!

To be continued...

BACK

yowzahhh! and just like that...I am back in Japan.

What a week that was! I arrived back in Japan Monday night (7pm). On the plane ride back the Japanese lady next to me kept looking at me when I answered the stewardess "apple juice, please" or "I'll have the chicken" in English. At the end of the flight the lady asked where I was going and I told her I was going to Kashiwa, where I am an English teacher. Her eyes widened and she said in Japanese, "ohhh that's why your pronunciation is so good!" haha I guess she thought I was a native Japanese speaker! I laughed at the encounter and knew I was definitely back in Japan...where I get complimented for speaking English well haha. I'll take it! 

Well, as of now I have A LOT of photos to sift through and will be blogging a lot about my time back home. I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend back in LA eating as much guacamole as possible and hugging my nieces and nephews extra tight. 

My favorite tree on my street at home. Love this place.