Atsuko Featured in UofA Magazine

Atsuko has been featured in Arkansas Land & Life in a collection of articles about student internships. The article can be found in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue available in PDF format here. Atsuko's story is featured on page 22.

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It's Cold Here!

Yesterday the Pacific Northwest was blanketed in snow.  Deep, freezing cold snow that shut down everything.  Our friend John is working from home.  Atsuko was told not to come into work for the rest of the week.  And, the only other day I had to work the university closed.  I-5 is basically impassable too.  It is a crazy mess outside.  It snowed over night into Monday morning.  Snowed more Monday afternoon, then hailed, then snowed into the evening.  Stories of people taking 10 hours to get home on I-5 have been all over the news.  It is by all accounts pretty insane!  We are trying to stay warm.  Last night we made a one log fire, today the wood we have is too wet so we are running the heater.  At the moment, Atsuko is baking to keep warm!  I am prepared for a very expensive energy bill this month.   I made sure to get some video and take pictures during the day. It's kind of a hodgepodge of shots both outside and inside, with a few nice ones of our fire!  They are posted are the jump...

Our Christmas Tree

As I said, Atsuko put up our Christmas Tree last night.  It is a 6 foot tall pre-lit tree.  We have it in the corner of our living room next to the sliding glass doors.  It looks great and gives lots of color to the little room.

Pictures From Pike Place Market

We went to Pike Place Market last week to do some holiday shopping.  Took the train, walked around, ate at a nice little Chinese restaurant.  Not a whole lot of pictures of the market itself, but there are some nice ones!

Oh Christmas Tree

It's the weekend and that means Atsuko is putting our Christmas Tree up.  The TV is off, some music is on, the corner has been cleared out, and Darma is wondering what is happening.  Maybe tomorrow we will have some pictures.  In fact, I know we will because I have already been taking them.  Now if I could just get Atsuko to video me playing the XBox my media promises would be fulfilled!

Holiday Season is Here!

I got my very first Christmas tree of my own few weeks ago.  This one is 6 feet pre-lit artificial tree. If we had more space at the apartment, I would have gotten 9 foot tree, but I will save that for the future. We were going to get 4 feet tree at first, but I just could not pass out the bigger one. Finally Wil gave up and let me buy the bigger tree than we had in mind. Yes!!

Accepted!

I just got an e-mail from the program assistant for the MA in TESOL program.  I have been accepted and will receive my official acceptance letter along with my orientation handbook, and instructions on how to register soon.  Hurray, I am going to SPU!

Kinect For XBox 360

We got a Kinect for the XBox 360.  It is lots of fun.  I will take some video of myself flailing around for everyone to see later this week.  It will definitely be good exercise on rainy days when we have to stay indoors!

Darma says "Merry Christmas!"

Merry Christmas from Darma.  Hopefully soon, the Christmas Tree will be up and we can get some more festive shots as Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches.  I hope everyone enjoys this cute picture of Darma dog, and takes the time to appreciate that we got her to stand still.

October Went By Fast!

October went by fast!  There is no doubt about it.  Maybe it is because I was still working the merchandiser job the first half of it, or maybe it was because I was sleeping 12 hours a day because of the job, but no matter what it went by fast.  Atsuko and I still had a lot of fun during October.  Dinner time is now 100% better with our new hot plate.  The 25th marked Atsuko's 26th birthday.  I decided to prepare myself to go to graduate school and applied the last Friday of the month, a whole month ahead of the deadline.  I feel very happy about that.  Even better, it is the season for pumpkin pie and Atsuko makes really good pumpkin pies!

A Present To Our Parents

Early Merry Christmas to you all!

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Pictures Soon

When Atsuko and I get off our duffs, we have loads of pictures and videos that have been taken since the last time we posted in early October.  We are both off on Friday and I am hoping we can sit down and upload them together.  Keep a look out for them!

SPU, Tutoring, and Grad School

It's been a long time since we updated and I can't believe how long it has been.  I am once again on campus at Seattle Pacific University.  I am tutoring ESL students from November 1st to December 9th.  I have four students total, and my first day was great.  Trying to find a parking spot is not easy thought.  I ended up walking three or four blocks.  I have also applied to graduate school at Seattle Pacific University, for those that haven't read it on Facebook or heard from me.  The specific program is for an MA in TESOL, or Teaching English to Students of Other Languages.  The program has a 90% employment rate within three months of graduation (50% at graduation), and will take two and a half year to complete.  It has a six month practicum at the end placing me in a local community college where I would observe teaching methods and eventually teach.  The program overall looks amazing; I just never thought I would find myself applying to a private university.  But, the campus is gorgeous, and the faculty and staff I have met are all extremely nice.  It makes for a great atmosphere; one I hope to be attending classes in soon!