Living and Reading in Japan (4)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

I can never stay on top of this meme! Lots of things over the last month or two with Halloween and now Thanksgiving and seeing beautiful places in Japan.

Books I'm Reading:

1. Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz (almost done!)
2. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
3. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Ticker by Lisa Mantchev
5. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Books Finished:

1. Paper Towns by John Green

Looking Forward To:

Being back home for Christmas! Devoted hubby has to stay in Japan, unfortunately so Gabe and I are headed back home to spend Christmas with friends and family! There are many things I can't get here in Japan so I'll be stocking up on when I get there. Have my bags almost packed and plans to be enacted!

Making:

Thanksgiving dinner not on Thanksgiving but on Saturday the 29th. It won't be crazy since it's just us three and I don't actually make much for Thanksgiving since we always go to my sister's house. Then we have a friend Thanksgiving the day after for more games and ham and goodies! But here it'll be roast chicken from Costco, instant potatoes and gravy, sweet mashed yams, salad, mulled wine, and an attempt at making rolls! Wish me luck!

Watching:

Gilmore Girls on Netflix (this inspired me to add every single book mentioned in the series to my goodreads list under the tag gilmore girls list!), Phryne Fisher's Murder Mysteries, this is the best murder mystery series on TV from Australia. I can't enough of it. The Bletchley Circle, also a great crime mystery series from BBC, a team of all-women decoding geniuses setting up shop in the 50s after World War 2. Gracepoint, a mini series on a murder in a small town in California. Based off of another British series with the same actor but with an American accent now...(Harry Potter's Barty Crouch!)

If you haven't seen The Sapphires with Chris O'Dowd you are truly missing a great movie. It's on Netflix and it's funny and inspiring all at the same time. I love those pleasant surprises.

Things I Did This Week in Japan:

Last week we walked around the Hiroshima Castle and had a picnic and enjoyed the Fall leaves and collected leaves. Then we went hiking up to a waterfall and took more fabulous pictures.

Hubster has been working nights the last 3 weeks and it's been pretty rough on all of us. We haven't gotten out as much as we've wanted. But I'm happy to say he's done with that for a bit! Yay!

Hiroshima has put up their winter lights by the Peace Memorial park. We are heading to it this weekend and will throw up some pics then. I hear it's beautiful!

Grateful For:

For another day on Earth. It's a beautiful place to be and I'm truly lucky to be alive!

Cat Thursday--Thanksgiving 2014!

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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Happy Thanksgiving! I will be celebrating with devoted hubby and devoted son Saturday rather than Thursday. Roast chicken from Costco...but I will be attempting rolls. Wish me luck!

I'm grateful for this Thursday meme! It keeps me sane :)

I'm grateful for my family. My hubby makes enough money so I can keep the home going and the kid alive. My son keeps me smiling. My parents are just the most supportive parents a kid could ask for.

I'm grateful for my friends. I have the best of friends. We drink, laugh, and play and cry together. Amazing.

I'm truly grateful for being alive. Without that, I couldn't experience what I experience.

May you all enjoy Thanksgiving with a grateful heart and warm family and friends :)

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Paper Towns by John Green

I recently discovered that John Green and his brother Hank vlog together. They even have created crash courses on anything from history to chemistry and psychology. They're a great duo and I love watching them. Good stuff.

I also own every book Green has written. I loved "Looking for Alaska." I enjoyed "Will Grayson, Will Grayson." And "The Fault In Our Stars" was also very good. But I hadn't picked up "Paper Towns" yet. It's been sitting on my shelf for a few years. So when I saw him onset for the filming of "Paper Towns," I knew that was a sign I needed to get it read. ;)

A story about a boy who loves a girl and goes on a journey to discover who she really is and in turn discover who he is.

I liked it. It wasn't as good as "Looking for Alaska" but it was still thoughtful and interesting. Green is a curious and scientifically- and philosophically-literate person. He thinks. And it shows in his his books. Which I find really incredible because so many young adult books nowadays do NOT do that.

Can you love someone and still be you and let them go free? Do you love a person or just the idea you have of that person?

I always enjoy the characters Green writes. The women are usually smart and fiercely independent. The men are straight arrows that learn to live a bit through these smart and independent women.

But the story of "Paper Towns" left me a bit cold. He puts big ideas into this story and sometimes that works but it didn't quite work for me here.

Overall, it's a good read and would still recommend it even though it's not his best, in my opinion. And I will definitely give the movie a go when it comes out next summer.

Cat Thursday (36)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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I made it to a cat cafe earlier this week! If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a fun video introduction. I miss all of my kitties so this really hit the spot. It was relaxing to just sit and watch them and to pet them and play with them. My favorites were Reo (a big sleeping ginger cat) and Akua(? I can't quite remember...something like that, though). Akua was super cuddly and purred and even gave me a sweet kiss.

Akua

Reo

Here is my own sweet kitty Wolfy. My sister took this and sent it to me. He's so precious.