Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary!

We had a whirlwind first three weeks, and now that we are recovered, we are finally posting our 2nd anniversary! We'll keep this short and sweet and just share with you some of our favorite photos from our wedding! We've got more to share on our 3rd Anniversary! Thank you to our awesome photographers from Next Exit Photography!

I've always wanted to create a shadowbox from our wedding goodies, and I finally did it! Now I gotta figure out where to hang it....! Too bad I couldn't fit my dress and veil in there cuz it's taking up a lot of space in the closet!

Next Exit Photography link : http://www.nextexitphotography.com/ ...Love their work!

Narukawa-Lightvoet Wedding Fun!!

First of all, congratulations to the marriage of Chiaki & Tom! Danny and I couldn't be more happier for them, and it was wonderful to take part in their special day as the Matron of Honor and Groomsmen. Not only did we have the delight of seeing our two friends back in the OC, but we got to meet and become close with Chiaki's family! It was really great to see Chiaki and Tom's family come together and make unforgettable memories.

Apart from the wedding, we had an amazing time showing the family around to some "hot spots" of Southern California. So, not to bore you with too much text, here are some fun photos for you! It was extremely hard to narrow my choices down as there were tons of great photos!

Wedding : Family Portrait Photos on the Beach

Wedding : Ceremony at the Church

Wedding : Reception under the Fabulous California Sunshine

It was an honor singing for your First Dance!

Disneyland : Everyone Letting Loose Days After the Wedding!

Yup, Captain EO is back!!!

Hollywood/Santa Monica : Letting Loose Even More!

Coming to the End of an Amazing Week

I can't express enough how great it was to see all the families come together and

enjoy one another's company!

One of the amusing things to see when the families got together was watching the kids interact!

Boys : It's amazing how video games can bring two kids so close together =D

Girls : Even with the language barrier, they knew how to play and have fun with each other!

Winding down to the last day of Chiaki's family visit to the OC - drained but satisfied!

Friends Forever!

Chiaki and Tom, it was really great to see you guys and as I said in my speech, " it meant so much to us to stand up there with you and watch our closest friends get married today. You make things entertaining and exciting for us, and we’ll always cherish your friendship because we love you guys to pieces." Hope to see you soon!

* photos courtesy of Chiaki L. & Mutsumi N.

Best of 2009

Before bringing an end to another year, we'd like to look back at notable moments of 2009! A lot happened this year and it was hard to narrow down our choices! Danny and I hope that you had a great 2009!

JANUARY/FEBRUARY
We welcomed a new member to the family - Chappy! Our adorable pet turtle! She was really shy in the beginning, but she warmed up to us really quickly and we're glad to have her company in the living room, hehe.

MARCH/APRIL

Since we didn't launch our blog site til later, this will be the first time posting pictures of a Tokyo trip we took in April!

We had the chance to visit a hot springs in Hakone, which Danny really enjoyed! It started with a tour bus ride through Tokyo and to the Asahi Beer Factory. Danny and I aren't really the beer drinkers, but the fresh brew Asahi beer was tasting REALLY good!

Once we left the factory, it was off to the hot springs in Hakone. Hakone has been known for their numerous natural hot springs. Before heading into our lodge, we grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby soba place, and I think it was the best soba we had ever tasted!

Our lodge included an inside and outside hot springs and a delicious traditional Japanese-style dinner awaiting us after taking a nice dip in the water.

The following day we boarded back onto the tour bus, and just before arriving into Tokyo, it took us to an outlet mall where the view of Mt. Fuji was far more interesting than the shopping!

We had the most wonderful opportunity to attend our really good friend's wedding in Tokyo and I had the honor of singing at their reception! I've never felt my knees shake so much, but it was all worth it to see the couple tear up as they watched me perform =)

In honor of our attendance to their wedding, they were sweet enough to give us the piece of cake that they had cut out. Our waiter had informed us of this when the dessert was being passed out =)

MAY/JUNE

Probably two of the most busiest months of the year! ...Let's not forget that May is when we first started our blog, and we couldn't be happier to be able to share moments of our marriage life to friends all around the world!

My really good friend was staying in the OC for a few months, and we took a spontaneous trip to Vegas! That was a great trip, Chiaki!!

I took a trip to Europe (Switzerland, Italy, Austria) which I still have to finish blogging about!!

Danny and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary with a Anniversary cake! Yu-mmy!

JULY/AUGUST

Danny had an awesome camping trip to Sequioa National Park! He's been wanting to go for so long, and I'm really glad he had the chance this year. Probably next time I will join them on the nature trip!

It's become a yearly occurrence of us to visit the Gilroy Garlic Festival, but this year we stretched our trip just a tad and also visited Monterey Bay to see amazing fish, and also eat amazing fish (at a fish restaurant!)! Our drive back down to LA, we stopped by Solvang.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Seeing Crown J perform at the Los Angeles Club Nokia was a new experience for me. I had a really great time taking photos of the performance and Danny did a wonderful job of maintaining the hyped-up atmosphere of the event.

Knott's Scary Farm was a blast!

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

Not only did Danny and I go to Tokyo (again!), but we had the most awesome experience of visiting Loralee & Dan in Okinawa AND having them come along to the Tokyo visit.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* SEE YOU ALL IN 2010 ! *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*