Two Crazy Beautiful Years

I cannot believe in just a few short weeks I will have a two year old. I wanted to take a few moments and share about my last two years and the things I have learned from them. It has been the hardest two years of my life, but they have also been my favorite years as well. And it’s not just because we added a child to the picture. No, it also includes, moving overseas, spending one entire summer living in six different places, packing up our whole lives into nine small boxes, saying good-bye to family, and diving head first into a new culture. Oh, and jetlag. But that’s another story.

And I have slept less and I’m not caught up on the TV shows I used to watch and certainly haven’t a clue about what has been happening at the movie theater. And I have had food poisoning (twice), had morning sickness, and went through labor and breastfeeding. But I have grown so much as a person and I wouldn’t change it at all. I have had more joyous and happy moments than I have in other years and my heart is so incredibly full. So without further introduction: What I have learned in the past two years.

I’ve learned that family will always be there. No matter how far the distance and no matter how long it is in between visits. I’ve also learned that family isn’t just the people who you are related too.

I’ve learned to not worry so much about money. Sometimes you don’t know how everything is going to work out. But I’ve also learned not to look back and try to figure it out…because it does work out, and most of the time it doesn’t make sense.

I’ve learned that I can in fact live without Target and Chickfila. And no, my friends, this isn’t a joke.

I’ve learned that it’s ok to cry. Even if there isn’t something specific to cry about or even if there is. It’s far worse to hold it inside, trying to be strong. Because eventually the tears will come, whether you like it or not, and it won’t be quite as pretty.

I’ve learned that learning a new language is tough. I’ve learn to celebrate the little accomplishments of learning a language instead of looking at the big picture. Because the big picture seems impossible. And you might just give up if you don’t celebrate the little things.

I’ve learned a whole lot about what it means to be patient, and how I wasn’t patient at all before little feet ran around my home.

I’ve learned that you can substitute almost anything when it comes to cooking. There are countless ways to get around ingredients when you live in a country that doesn’t have them.

I’ve learned that love gets oh so much stronger when you share beautiful moments together. Our little family has never been this close and this in love, and it’s because of the moments we have been through, good and bad, over the past two years.

I’ve learned that it’s never easy to do the right thing. Like a big move, or breastfeeding, or waking up in the middle of the night to feed a hungry baby. Just to name a few.

I’ve learned that most of life does not turn out exactly like you had planned it to. And I have also learned that it is perfectly ok for that to be true.

And this is just a small look into what I have learned. I know even as I am pressing the publish button on this posting I will think of another thing I should have added. But that’s ok. It’s been an amazing two years. I am partly sad to see it pass, but oh so excited to see what the future has for us. So, here’s to yet another beautiful year, full of new adventures and discoveries.

The Overseas Mom: Times of Loneliness

Today is a lonely day for me. I miss my family. I miss my friends back in America. I miss having conversations with new people when I am out and about.

Living overseas can be at times a rollercoaster of emotions. And I am sure there are many of you who live overseas currently who have felt that exact same way. Sure, you love this country, this place you call home at the moment, but there are times when living in another culture can be so very lonely.

And making friends is not easy when living in another country. Some places are friendlier to live than others but you will always have that aggravating thing called language barrier to deal with. I mean how far can a conversation go when you know so few words?

I have struggled with this when I spend time at the local children's center with Noah. Just last week a very nice Japanese woman with a child about Noah's age was trying to communicate with me. I wanted so badly to hear her story, to know about her little girl and to start a friendship. But after about 10 minutes of us struggling to answer basic questions we say our goodbyes and continue playing with our children. I continued in my lonely state because there wasn't much else we could do.

And then there is that realization that you have left your group of close friends back home who speak the same language as you and have similar life situations as you. I have days where it is so hard not to want to attend the Women's Night out at my church back in Texas or just visit a good friend who I haven't seen in months.

So, what can we do when we get lonely? Here are a few things I have done in Japan that have helped me a lot:

*Take the opportunity to grow spiritually- I know many times since I have moved to Japan and have been lonely it has been a sweet time with the Lord. I have felt closer to Him then I have any other time in my life. Take time to pray to Him. He is always there.

*Keep learning the language of the country your living in- I know when I have had these moments of frustration when speaking to other moms around me in Japanese it has pushed me to continue my studies of the Japanese language. So maybe next time I will be able to add one more sentence to the conversation.

*Keep in touch with close friends back home- You might not be able to sit in a living room and play a game together like you used to but there are many ways you can stay in touch with friends. Make Skype dates, keep up on facebook. Talk to them about your troubles and your accomplishments. Let them know how they can pray for you. Keep those connections strong so when loneliness sets in you know just who to call back home.

*Connect with any other moms in your area from America- I have two other moms here in Nagoya who I am so blessed to have in my life. It would not be the same without them. I know some of you are not close to any other moms in your area but those of you who are blessed to have that company you should start a new support group. It is amazing how many times I have felt lonely and have been able to call up my friend down the street and after spending and afternoon with her life doesn't seem so bad.

Well, I hope these have given you a few ideas. What other ideas have you come up with?

The Overseas Mom: Homemade Baby Food

So today was the day.

Noah was 5 1/2 months old and it was time to start solids. A few days before I knew this adventure was going to begin I decided I'd better scope out the different kinds of baby foods and price them out. When I had finished my investigating I was pretty shocked. First of all, I realized I could not read anything on the labels so I had no idea what ingredients were actually in the jar. And then I could not believe a single jar of baby food was around 128 yen plus ($1.50 each).


Now on a missionary/teacher budget that was going to be hard. This is when I decided that I would make all of Noah's food. I was pretty overwhelmed at first with this task. It stressed me out that I was going to have to make two sets of food for our family every day. But after careful research, I realized it wasn't going to be nearly as hard of a task as I thought it would be. In fact, after I found out about homemade baby food cubes things were even easier! I wanted to share with you one homemade food and the recipe for it for each month that Noah has been enjoying since we jumped into the world of solids:

5 Months- Homemade Baby Rice Cereal
6 Months- Crock Pot Apple Sauce
7 Months-Oatmeal Cereal
8 Months- Pumpkin Yogurt (Although I used squash)
9 Months- Red, White and Yellow Saute (Puree before 10 months)
10 Months- Sweet Potato Pancakes
11 Months- Tofu Nuggets

I know I am writing this as an overseas mom but really and truly any mom can do it and I am pretty sure it will save you money no matter where you live (I think).

Want more info? A very helpful website for homemade baby food is Wholesome Baby Food. If you want to purchase a book in case you will be in a country that does not have Internet, I think the best one is Super Baby Food. I loved this book!


Does any mom reading this have any baby food tips they want to share? Any new moms have any questions about the homemade baby food process?

The Overseas Mom: Our Quiet Moments.

Disclaimer: In no way is the following example supposed to illustrate that I do not enjoy being a mother, living overseas, or being the wife of a teacher/missionary. I love it. Without these things my life would be pretty boring.

I am always busy. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am constantly trying to figure out how to live in a foreign country. How could I not be?

In fact, here is what a typical day might look like:

I wake up at 6:30am to my "alarm clock" (aka: Noah Thomas Perry). Before I can even be completely awake I am already feeding Noah breakfast. Then I make sure Justin has breakfast and help him with any last minute things so he can get out the door for work. After Justin leaves, I spend a few hours entertaining Noah, changing diapers, etc. We might even throw a trip to the park into the mix. Noah takes a nap at 9AM. Now I can eat breakfast, take a shower, possibly brush my hair, practice a few words in Japanese, throw in a load of laundry, do the dishes that I couldn't quite finish up the night before, clean...oh, Noah's up. So, I feed Noah a snack, get him dressed and we are out the door to grocery shop. This will take roughly a while because I have to go to two to three different grocery stores walking (or biking) home between each one in order to get all the groceries home. (Of course I don't grocery shop everyday but there is something that takes up this time if it isn't grocery shopping.) Nap time for Noah again. Time to do more laundry, straighten up the house, possibly do a few things on the internet, work...oh wait, there's Noah. So now there is feeding, changing, and playing with Noah time. Daddy's home! I hand Noah over to spend some time with him to start dinner. I make dinner, eat dinner, clean up after dinner. Bath and bedtime for Noah starts right about now. While Justin bathes him I will get his night clothes ready and his towel, make sure his bed is in order and whatever else needs to be done during that time. Then I feed Noah and put him to bed. It's 8pm. Time to finish up the laundry, catch up with my hubby, maybe fit in a page or two of a book I'm reading and then...oh wait, I am totally asleep and crashed out for the night.

So, that long paragraph I just wrote was to ask the following question. What is missing in all the hustle and bustle of my day?

My quiet time.

It was nonexistent. In fact, for a while it had been weeks since I really had spent quality time with the Lord. And I'm not counting a quick prayer that the foam Noah just swallowed won't cause us to spend a day in the hospital or the Bible verse I read when I opened up the Bible and pointed to a random verse. I am talking about real time, purposely spent with Him. I would go through my whole day, get to the end of it and feel extremely guilty about the fact that I didn't make time for a quiet time, vow that tomorrow would be different, and guess what? It always ended up the same.

One day I just realized it HAD to change. So, this is what I decided to do. I eat an english muffin or some kind of toast for breakfast every morning. Our toaster oven takes 12 minutes to even begin to toast anything. 12 minutes?!?! This used to frustrate me to no end. Do I look like I have the time to wait more than 12 minutes for a piece of toast? But then I realized wait, I could do my quiet time during that 12 minutes! And so I put my bread item in the toaster oven, start the timer, grab my Bible and start my quiet time. Once I get started I usually end up going through my eating time and a little more than that.

And you know what? I manage to get everything else done by the end of the day. Amazing right? I can even see a difference in the way I handle things. Life just seems a little less stressful. It's near impossible enough trying to be a mom and/or wife without a quiet time. I would never ever ever recommend trying that. But when your doing these things overseas while juggling different ministries you MUST do this to survive. Spending time with the Lord is something that has to be a part of your day or you will never do all the things Christ has set out for you to do.