As fate would have it, Aaron and I had the opportunity to adopt a second puppy into our family. We've been talking about getting another dog so Twink has someone to play with and socialize, and to prepare him to no longer be the center of attention when the baby comes. When this little puppy happened into our lives we fell in love with her instantly and we're so happy she's staying in our family! She's a dapple gray & black dachshund and she's 16 weeks old. We named her Tally Zorah. I picked Tally after one of my favorite fictional characters in a book series and Aaron added the Zorah to name her after one of his favorite fictional characters in a video game. We are a family of nerds! The good news is we're aware of that so you don't need to point it out. At first Twink wasn't sure about his new sister but after spending some time together he's become very attached to her. The feeling is mutual because Tally adores her big brother. But really, how could you not love this little girl?

xo Sue

Baby Girl is officially at 20 weeks. We're halfway through this pregnancy. I know I haven't posted much about it on this blog but I thought this deserved a moment of celebration. We're getting there slowly but surely! We began to set up baby's nursery today. It was absolutely wonderful.

xo Sue

Word of advice: When you're pregnant and hungry do NOT get on Pinterest. You've been warned. With that being said, these were delicious- and easy. Easy is the most beautiful word when it comes to cooking. When it comes to every day cooking I always prefer to keep it simple. Today I had a craving for crunchy pickles and since I no longer live in Salt Lake City where I can stop in at Squatter's any time that craving strikes I had to visit Pinterest and find a recipe for myself. This recipe for fried pickles is the one I used and it turned out better than I had hoped. I only made about 25 of them but they were gone within minutes of Aaron sitting down next to me. 

Fried Pickles

• dill pickle chips
• 1 cup beer
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• cooking oil

Pour oil in a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Whisk together beer, eggs, & flour to make the batter. Dip pickle chips in the batter, then fry them in the skillet until they're golden brown on both sides. Serve warm.

Aaron prefers his fried pickles plain but I like a little something to dip mine in. Unfortunately, baby girl is picky and won't let me eat most dressings/dips because they're just too rich for her. I found this recipe for greek yogurt ranch that literally took me two minutes to make and was better (and MUCH healthier) than any ranch I've ever had out of a bottle. I'll never go back. This dressing was great for both dipping my fried pickles and topping a homemade salad.

Greek Yogurt Ranch

• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 packet hidden valley ranch mix (dressing, NOT dip)

Whisk together in a bowl and chill 1 hour before serving.

xo Sue

If you want to read more visit our baby blog!

xo Sue

I'm still playing catch up from when Jess was visiting a month ago. We had such a fabulous time while she was here. The aquarium was one of our favorite spots we visited. Yes, I know, you can go to aquariums in the US too. It was still fun! And of course the best part was the dolphin show. They are so adorable- I was asking Aaron for a pet dolphin by the time it was over.

I pinned these back at the beginning of time (or at least when Pinterest began) and I've been meaning to make them ever since. They were so delish and easy and (the true test) Aaron loved them. I will definitely be making them again!

(find the recipe here)

One of my favorite things about living in Japan are the beautiful temples and gardens. And this one is my favorite. I probably should know the real name of it, but I just call it "The Big Buddha" (as do all the Americans here). This is my favorite place. And please don't mind my new baby bump. I look at these pictures and try not to see fat. Everyone says pregnant girls are cute but I sure don't feel it!

Early in the summer I darkened my hair and added blue, but eventually I got bored with that and wanted my ombre hair back. I loved it, I'll be honest. But since I have yet to find a fantastic hair stylist in Japan I decided to just do it myself. At least if I screwed it up I had no one to be mad at except me, right? That was my logic. Plus I've been doing my own hair for years so I figured I could handle it. I found really easy instructions here and just set to it. Jess helped me when I needed an extra set of hands or eyes. I'm pretty sure I could have done it alone but it would have taken me longer. Anyway- long story short, I'm quite happy with the results. What do you think?

I've tried several times in the past few weeks to sit down at my computer and write a semi-coherent blog post. Obviously that has not happened. But to me blogging has always been about following what's in my heart and if I have nothing to share then I have to accept that and move on. My original blogging break was completely unplanned. Our pregnancy was not a planned one (but we're very excited!) and it snuck up on me pretty quickly. One day I was completely fine and the next I couldn't even move from the floor next to the toilet. It was a huge adjustment for me since I'm someone who likes to be constantly on the move and active. I had to learn to listen to my body and when it said STOP I had to do that. It's not an easy thing though! But no matter what my body has to go through to create this little miracle, I am so grateful for the baby growing inside me. I never realized how much I was looking forward to being a mom until it was right there in front of me. I've been trying to keep things updated on a baby blog I started for my family but even that has been a challenge. For some reason pregnant Sue does not like looking at a computer screen very long. It makes me so sick so quickly! But I'm trying. And that's all I can really do. 

Two weeks ago my bff Jess came to Japan to visit so I was actually forced to leave the house and act like a human. I think I did okay even if I got tired after only a short time. I took lots of fun pictures though and we did some great projects so I'm going to (try to) share them in the next few weeks. For now I'll just show off one of my favorite beaches in Japan so everyone can wish they were here too. Please don't be jealous of my insanely hot hair in the second picture. Most days I don't even have the energy to blow dry!