Kyoto International Manga Museum | Kyoto, Japan

As the wife of an amazing artist, it was a given that we would visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum. The museum consists of multiple rooms filled with shelves of manga. It was really exciting walking through and perusing manga through the ages. Unfortunately, we could not take photos of the actual museum and exhibits. Although, there was one area that we had free reign to take photos, the cafe. I may have gone a bit overboard, but the walls were covered in illustrations from visiting artists. It was incredible.

The highlight of the trip was when we had the resident artist sketch us in manga style. She was so cute and I couldn't resist taking a photo with her. I really loved the illustration and I think she perfectly captured Markus and I. Overall, the Kyoto International Manga Museum is a must-see for anyone who would enjoy an afternoon perusing manga from the past and the present.

Sherlocked | Valentine's Day Card 2014

Every year, Markus illustrates cards for me for every occasion and holiday. He always incorporates things that I love into the cards and this year was no different. If you know me, I'm a huge anglophile and I'm obsessed with Sherlock. We even visited 221b Baker Street when we were in London two years ago. I was so excited to recieve this card and love the little inside jokes. My favorite is "siblings". People always think that Markus and I are brother and sister. Super weird, but really amusing. Either way, this card is perfect and I love it!

Happy Valentine's day dear readers! I hope you have a lovely and wonderful day! 

You're My Favorite Destination | Valentine's Day 2014

Last year, I made Markus a super geeky Valentine's day card about time travel. For this year's card, I wracked my brain for something awesome. I started a few and they were awful. I was about to give up when a burst of inspiration hit me. As you know, Markus and I love to travel and have been to so many amazing places. I have to warn you, I'm about to get a bit mushy and cheesy. So if you cannot handle that sort of thing, just skip on ahead or admire my handiwork.

Markus and I have lived in South Korea. We explored the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We walked the streets of Kyoto as a geisha and samurai. We've ridden emaciated horses to the top of Taal, an extinct volcano in the Philippines. We've walked the halls of Pemberley in England. We've traveled to so many places and experienced so many wonderful things together, but when it comes down to it, my favorite place in all the world is wherever Markus is. I know you're all cringing now, but it's the truth. We could be in the crappiest place, which has happened, but it's still worthwhile because Markus is with me. My life is so much better because of him and I can't wait to spend the rest of our years going on adventures and traveling to faraway lands.

Ganda-Ganda 3.0

Ganda-Ganda v1.0

I can't believe that I've been consistently blogging since 2010. Looking back, I wish that I started on Blogger and not Tumblr, but it's okay. Tumblr was good to me, it just didn't fit my needs. I've been on Blogger for a year and it's been a wonderful one at that. So much has happened in the past 12 months. We finished our final year in Korea, we traveled to Cambodia and Japan and we finally moved back to the States. It's been a crazy year, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

Markus and I have decided that we wouldn't move back to Florida and instead we'll start the next chapter of our lives in Chicago. I wanted to commemorate all the changes in my life. So, I decided to completely re-design Ganda-Ganda. When I created Ganda-Ganda 2.0 and launched it on Blogger, I always had the intention of re-designing, but life took over. It happens, but I'm surprised that I found the time to do this in the past few months. It only proves that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything!

For this new site design, I created all the graphics on my own. Everything was written, sketched and inked by me. By no means am I an artist, but my dear and talented hubby is and he helped me a great deal. He encouraged all of my ideas and steered me in all the right directions. I'm actually quite proud of what I produced and I hope you do too! I hope to keep this new design for quite some time and look forward to creating more personalized graphics for future posts. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the new layout!

Ganda-Ganda v2.0

Ganda-Ganda v2.0 buttons

Valentine's Day Card 2013

When I have the time, I like to create personalized cards for every occasion. Markus is the master of personalized cards. He's an illustrator, so his cards are always amazing. One Valentine's Day, he showed our love conquering Londy Town. On my 27th birthday, he illustrated what the world would be like if I "got my way". It was a wonderful world indeed. One of my favorite cards was the Tardis he made for me, it was even more special because there was a video that accompanied it. I always try to be clever with the cards I make for him. I might not be a great artist, but I think I get the job done. 

It should come as no surprise that Markus and I are big geeks. We spend a lot of our date nights at home watching Doctor Who or marathoning 80s movies. It's with this shared passion that I found inspiration for this year's Valentine's Day card. I definitely went for a time traveling theme and showcased three of our favorite things, Doctor Who, Back to the Future and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  

Dear readers, I hope all of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day with your loved ones and remember, "Be excellent to each other!"