Well hello there

I know that I have been scarce and, to be honest I have very good reason.  Our laptop is still...well...sad and though I am uber blessed to have a spiffy iPhone 4S blogging from it is not the most fun thing I could be doing. My darling hubs thought it would be best we took a chance and set up the laptop, I think I was starting to worry him.  Creatively, except for Instagram, I am suffering just a tad.  So here I am doing what I love best, blogging.

(And now I am sitting here wondering what to blog about.  And my darling hubs has music on that is only distracting me more)

About a week ago, while at the park with my class, it suddenly dawned on me that we live in Japan.  We have moved out of the newness feel and are settled.  Our days are filled with children, ours and other peoples, grocery store visits, bicycle rides, runs, moments lost staring out of the window and laundry.  We are happy, happier than I would have thought possible two months ago.  We still have moments of missing everything we know, everything we have held so dear.  I don't think that will ever change, but being here we have learnt to be us.  We have learnt to live.  And the stewardship we have so craved we are finally getting the hang of. 

Some new things we have done, become, now have...the bits I can't fit into a paragraph.

• I am in love with my slowcooker.  It took me a while to muster up the courage to use it, but ever since I have started I can not get enough of it.  It makes cooking so easy and I can bake it in!!!!!!!!
• We eat pancakes all the time.  They are glutenfree, dairyfree and so good.
• We are forever taking photos of things and people.  You start to see the world differently, you are suddenly aware of beauty where you would have missed it before. 
• I eat rice, a lot of rice.  This is not such a positive in my books as I have never been such a fan, but my family get so excited the minute the rice cooker is done.
• Bebe sounds more Japanese than English at times.  We shouldn't be so shocked every time she opens her mouth and we have no understanding of what she is saying, she spends 7hrs of her weekdays with her amazing teacher, who is Japanese.  This also means she understands more then we do.  
• Alexander is happy.  He loves school and often doesn't want to leave.
• We have ordered online...2 times now  This is pretty major as we still don't have a credit card and while we don't really want one, living abroad makes one as useful.  Our lifestyle, with regard to food and cleaning products, is not really so commonplace in our little town.  It took a while but we are getting to a good place and the deliveries of almond milk, almond butter, pure peanut butter, dates (which I forgot to order see my sad face) help so much.  No wait they are such a bonus!  Before coming here I had only yearned to taste almond butter and they deliver COD!!!!
• I am running.  For the first time in my 29 years I am running by choice an enjoying it.

I have so much more but Emiel gave me a time limit and I have passed it and now he's fallen asleep waiting for me to come watch Burn Notice with him.  

Before I go let me leave you with this:

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; 

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increase strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, 

and young men shall not fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord 

shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint."Isaiah 40: 28-31 (ESV)

Be blessed and much love 

Philippa