My First New Year's Kiss

Happy New Year, friends and family! 

We have had a great and very lazy New Year's weekend (six days off work - I love Japanese holidays!). Apparently New Year's is the biggest holiday in Japan, but it was so quiet here that you would never know it. There was one exciting thing that happened, though. I got my very first New Year's kiss! Yeah, I know it's pathetic, but I feel that this statement requires some explanation...

...take a journey with me back into the archives of James and Emily's New Year's History...

2011:  Laie, Hawaii. Let me preface this entry by saying that last year was the final year that fireworks were legal on Oahu. That said, it was also the year that James and I each received an iPod Touch for Christmas. In the Sinkovic house, James was busy expanding his vocabulary by playing Boggle on his new iPod, and I was busy...being asleep. Midnight came and went, and I woke up at about 12:15 to the sound of Laie exploding and James shaking me awake, saying "Sue, wake up. Happy New Year! It's time to drink Dr. Pepper!" Thus began the Annual New Year's Eve Dr. Pepper Belching Contest. The fireworks continued until about 5:00 the next morning, but I zonked again after I chugged my soda (and won the contest). So no New Year's Eve kiss that year. Maybe a 12:15 kiss, but it's not the same thing...

2010: Lindon, Utah. James and I were at that awkward stage of pre-dating life where we liked each other, but our relationship wasn't "official" yet. James had already asked me to be his girlfriend and I had already told him no. (Not sure why he chose to stick around, but I'm sure glad he did!) He was visiting his brother in Utah and decided to spend New Year's Eve with me. We were on our way to a friend's house for the New Year's countdown, but ran into a few problems on the way. The number one problem was called my license plate light was broken. The number two problem was called a cop pulled me over. The number three problem was called I didn't have my driver's license with me. When the cop pulled me over he looked in the car and said, "Did you know that your license plate light was out?" I told him no. He then leaned over and motioned to James and asked, "Is this your boyfriend?" I sputtered for a few minutes, debating whether or not I should explain the whole complicated relationship to the nice officer or not, and finally just settled with a half-mumbled, "Um, yes?" I blushed as James looked at me with a big smile and raised eyebrows. The officer told James, "Well, you make sure this young lady gets that light fixed, ok?!" James agreed and we drove back to my house to get my license so we didn't run into any more trouble on the way. Unfortunately, that meant that we had to welcome in the New Year while driving to the friend's house, and everyone knows it's not safe to kiss and drive, so there was no New Year's kiss that year either. 

So I am very happy to report that my handsome hubby (who is now officially my boyfriend forever), gave me a big smooch right at midnight on New Year's Eve. We happened to be at a friend's house playing games and I yelled, right out loud in their house, "Wow! My first New Year's kiss!" It was rather embarrassing, and James had to quickly explain my excitement.

We did finish the night off with the Second Annual Dr. Pepper Belching Contest, the one day a year where belching is legalized in our house. I remain the undefeated Belching Queen. Here is a short clip leading up to the moment. Sorry I couldn't catch the champion belch on camera. You will just have to trust that it was a good one.

And a few pictures of the fun winter weather that we have been having here.

My walk to school. Looks dangerous, huh? It is. My bruised knee can attest to that.

This tree just looked so vicious to me!

Icicles!

Our beautiful castle covered with snow

This is a most amazing fruit box sent by Uncle Peter and Auntie Linda. I've always heard about people sending fruit boxes for New Year's, but I've never actually been the lucky recipient of one. Now I know why it is such a popular gift! Fresh fruit, all at the perfect ready-to-eat stage, in the middle of a very cold winter is amazing! Does wonders for my soul. 

Ok, this is my new designer handbag...aka my old t-shirt that had a hole in the armpit (why do my shirts always do that?!). I promised Anna (my beautiful baby sister) that I would make her an Asian-style dress for her birthday. The bag project was my pre-practice stage. Next is pajama pants. Then the dress. I'll keep you posted. Now that I know how to thread a sewing machine (not an easy feat!), there will be no stopping me!

And one more tidbit of random information: I finally narrowed my grad school choices down to three. Drum roll please...University of Oregon, Portland State University, and University of Denver. So now I enter the fun stage of trying to get three applications together. It is such a relief to have narrowed next year's fate down to two states...unless, of course, I don't get accepted. But that is another basket of cherries?...or bucket of eggs?...oh! can of worms, right? Whatever...you know what I mean! :)

Anyway, Happy New Year!