If you’ve ever had the experience of packing your entire life into one (or two) suitcases, you come to realize that you can accumulate quite the assortment of stuff in a relatively short amount of time. Even now, I find myself trying to sort things by what is junk, what I immediately need for Japan, what I can ship to myself later, and what I don’t necessarily need for now, but would like to retain for sentimental reasons. With less than five weeks left, I find myself scrambling a bit more everyday, but I’m sure things will work themselves out in the end.

Upon sifting and sorting through what seemed to a countless number of items (pictured above) I managed to find my old passport from when I initially emigrated to the United States from the Philippines. Inside of it I found an old photo of myself, as well as my original boarding pass and the date I arrived in Portland, Oregon. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read that “Northwest Orient” was the name of the airlines. I’m still laughing about it. Hahaha. Wow. Anyway, I can’t see myself parting with items such as these, including all of the awards, placards and gifts that I received throughout the years. After all, most of these things probably aren’t worth anything to anyone else, however, I think I’d be stupid to just throw them all away.

It wasn’t until I was actually cleaning out the closet that I realized how many pairs of shoes that I own. Robin even made a comment about how I have more shoes than she does. Hahaha. Sadly, these aren’t even all of the shoes I have. None-the-less, I’ll probably be getting rid of most of them during my combined yard/garage/estate sale with the Kagi’s. If you guys know anyone interested in some house furniture (couches, a dining set, and a variety of other furniture) let me know as we’ll be craigslisting some of the larger items this upcoming weekend. For those of you interested in our garage/estate sale, however, it will be held during the weekend of July 11th-13th. Also, if you send me a message (via email or Facebook) I’ll give you the address we’ll be having the sale at. I won’t be hosting the sale at my place.

In other news, ever since I gave my chickens away, we’ve hit the backyard pretty hard with a massive makeover. Kara worked from home, all week long the other week, and helped with the landscaping of the backyard. Pat worked on a few repairs in the house, and Robin (along with Kara) did some painting and touch-ups in and around the house, as well. It should be up and ready to rent once I’ve finally left for Japan. Kara has already hired a rental agency to manage the house, but if you know anyone that might be interested – the house will be rented for about $1395-$1495/month via Blue Key Property Management.

Aside from all of the planning and preparation for Japan, I went to Saburo’s with some classmates/friends, last Monday, and it was a great time. My friend Minori told me that I should savor this sushi while I can, because once I’m in Japan I’ll never get sushi this big, for so cheap. Hahaha. Everyone also recommended that I eat some Mexican food before I leave, as well, as I probably won’t find any while in rural Japan. With that said, my friend Tony suggested a place that we go to sometime before I leave, and everyone seemed pretty excited about going.

Overall, I’m trying to enjoy myself as much as I can before I leave, despite the fast-approaching deadlines coming up. In other news, ever since I graduated from PSU I’ve managed to drop 7 pounds and maintain a steady gym routine. Not only that, but all of this free time has also allowed me more time to cook from home. Also, my mom just flew in from Texas, yesterday and I’m currently house-sitting for the Kagi’s until Tuesday, so my schedule seems pretty full and hectic as my countdown continues. The Kagi’s are even holding a graduation/congratulatory/early birthday BBQ for me on July 26th (a month before my birthday!) which we’ve decided to call my B6 (my Bye-Bye-Birthday-Baccalaureate-BBQ-Bash). It should be a good time.