About Me

Our wedding night 

My name is Erin and I am a mother of a (almost) 8 year old boy, Jaden. I have lived all my life in Texas until I met my husband. We married and he immediately moved to Japan (Navy station) less than 1 month after we were married. 6 months later, Jaden and I joined him in Japan and have lived her for over 2 years now. This has been a journey in all aspects of life. As we near the end of our assignment in Japan, I decided to start a blog to let you in on a little of what we have experienced while we have been here. I believe it takes a certain type of person to be able to survive in a foreign country alone. Culture shock does not even begin to explain it...
I have not always cooked...actually I never really cooked until I got married. My husband made a few meals for us (those days are forever remembered) right after we moved to Japan. I always loved watching Rachael Ray and a few other cooking shows but when I moved to Japan I no longer had any of those channels avail to me. :( So I'm really looking forward to that when we move back home... among other things. :) I make dinner for my family about 4-5 times per week. I usually make a weekly menu (2 weeks at one time) prior to grocery shopping. I learned that the fewer trips I make to the grocery store, the more $ I save! This really helps out with our monthly budget which I'll talk more about later.
I have worked since I was 17 and in highschool. After I graduated I started working full-time and eventually became a part-time student. After meeting my husband, he said I could quit my job (which I was more than thrilled about). I had a good job but never had I had the opportunity to be a stay at home mom (& new wife). So this is a completely new lifestyle for me. I usually surf the web for some menu ideas. www.allrecipes.com was very helpful! Recently I discovered Pinterest which makes everything look absolutely delicious! I guess one of the main reasons I decided it was time to learn to cook was because I lived so far away from all my favorite things to eat... I thought.. if i can find the stuff to make it, I'm going to attempt it..
In just 2 1/2 years, I have grown up! Sometimes I cant believe it myself. When I bought my first house at age  24, my mom helped me with alot with repairs and painting and hanging etc. So if anyone asks me where I get my "craftiness" or "creativity" from, I say my mom. She can pretty much do anything in my eyes.
While here in Japan, I have also managed to pick up a few hobbies. I learned to do my own acrylic nails and also became an Independent Scentsy Consultant and Doterra Essential Oils Consultant.