Lowkey

I have been really bad at updating this lately but there really isn't too much to tell.

I have lost 9 pounds in the last 3 1/2 weeks.  I am very happy about this.  I have 13 pounds to go before I will be satisfied.  The SparkPeople website has been an absolute lifeline for me and the only reason I have had any success at all.  I have started doing yoga and turbo jam every day as well as riding my bike for at least 30-45 minutes (just to get around town) and a few strength exercises.  On the weekends, I try to go for a big hike at least one day and do a lot more bike riding.

This lead me to believe that there were monkeys there and I was right!!

Last weekend I did a hike up Mt. Daizokyoji.  Apparently this is one of the 100 famous mountains of Yamanashi.  It was about a 25 minute bike ride from my house to the start and the hike took about 2 hours.  It was really cool, beautiful scenery and interesting trees.  There was a sign at the entrance (which is a tiny door in a big gate that I wasn't even really sure I was allowed to go through) with a picture of a deer and a monkey on it.  This lead me to believe that there were monkeys there and I was right!!  But I didn't see any.  I saw lots of things that I thought were monkeys but most were trees or signs or other things...  It was a really good hike anyway and the rain held off until I was almost at the bottom again.

I did the Mt  Atago/Mt. Okasa hike 2 more times.  The scary building isn't scary at all anymore.  When you see it from the front it actually looks quite welcoming with colourful totem poles and things out front.  I really like that hike though and I think it will be a regular occurence.  There are lots of different paths so you can take a different route everytime if you want.  I have pictures now but I haven't gotten around to loading them yet.

This weekend I am going to head out to the Northwest of the city to Lake Chiyodako.  Apparently it takes a good few hours to get to the lake from a nearby sports centre and the paths are all in thick woods so you wouldn't even know there was a city nearby, let alone that you are in the middle of one.  I will bike there which hopefully won't take more than 30 minutes and I think the hike will be about 3-4 hours in total.

I am attending church tonight as well but I don't have to ride my bike as my neighbour is going tonight too and she can drive me!!  yay!!  The service is at the pastor's house tonight but the pastor and his wife are both away (in America) for the next two weeks.  Should be interesting to see what the replacement has to say...

My studying is going well but not as well as I would like.  I have to start making up some ground if I want to be finished my current textbook before my parents come out (which was the goal I had set for myself).  I am on Chapter 20 of 25 with only 3 1/2 weeks to go.  I have to finish at least two chapters, review vocab, and do a bunch of kanji this weekend!!

I spend a lot of time on the SparkPeople website these days.  They have different groups you can join and then you can post on the message boards about whatever you want.  I belong to the yoga group, turbo jammers, canadian veg*ns (vegetarians and vegans), the 100% meat free zone group, and the daily challenge group (they post a challenge everyday, like workout for 45 minutes, or take 20 minutes to eat a meal).  There are a lot of people interested in becoming vegetarian and vegan and I spend a lot of my time posting links, advice, and personal experience on that topic.

And my spending is going extremely well.  I blew my budget last week because I hadn't factored in Byron's food (3000 yen a bag) but I have not purchased anything but necessities all month.  And I still must keep my monthly budget so my own food will have to be skint to make up for Byron's.  I also buy food for the strays outside (their food is 400 yen a bag) and am such a softy I give them a whole packet every day (even though the other man comes most days to feed them as well).  That cost is definitely starting to add up but I can do without some luxuries to make sure they are fed.  I have even started keeping an eye on my electricity meter and making sure my bill will be under budget every month.

To make a long story short, my life is very boring although I am very busy.  I am not having any fun at all but I am the happiest I have ever been.  I feel so good that I am being productive and accomplishing my goals.  I can feel myself becoming a better person every day...