One of the biggest changes is the setting. Rather than exploring multiple towns and routes, the entire game takes place inside Lumiose City. At first, this felt limiting. I missed the feeling of setting out on a long journey across different areas. However, as I spent more time exploring, the city started to feel alive. Pokémon wander the streets, rooftops, and parks, which makes encounters feel more natural than the random battles I remember from older games.

The battle system is another major shift, but thankfully not an overwhelming one, at least after a little bit. I have to admit I was very nervous for this style of battle in a game, I am not great with having to move all around while trying to keep up with battle mechanics, it’s what stopped me from playing many games over the years. Thankfully the game still includes familiar elements like move selection and type advantages, but battles feel faster and more dynamic than in older Pokémon titles. Mega Evolution also plays a bigger role here, which felt like a natural upgrade from what I remembered seeing when the kids played Pokémon X and Y.

That said, returning after years away wasn’t completely smooth. Some mechanics took time to understand, and there were moments when I felt severely behind compared to players who have kept up with newer Pokémon releases. The game does a decent job explaining things, but there’s definitely a learning curve for returning players, more so ones who like me haven’t had a lot of time to game.

One downside is the repetition that comes from staying in a single city. Even though Lumiose City is large, it doesn’t quite replace the sense of adventure that came from traveling across a full region in older games. I also missed the classic gym system, which was such a big part of the FireRed experience. Honestly, there were points where it felt like the tutorial phase of the game was never ending.

Even with those drawbacks, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels like a solid reintroduction to the series for players who stepped away years ago, or someone like me who has only actually beaten the original Pokemon Snap and merely dabbled in the first few games on the Game Boy, with Yellow being the one I played the most. Though as mentioned I’ve been playing some FireRed as of late and it’s enjoyable to play the games in color! It modernizes many systems without completely abandoning what made Pokémon fun in the first place.

Final Verdict:
For someone whose last Pokémon adventure was Pokémon FireRed, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels like a massive leap forward. It may take time to adjust, but it’s an exciting reminder of how much the series has grown. Plus, I have to admit, the Pokemon look amazing and I was very fangirl level excited when I got to catch my first few Pikachu!

Do you have a favorite Pokemon game? Have you played Legends: Z-A? Let me know what you think of it in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

The post Pokémon Legends: Z-A Review — A Bold Step Forward first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

Hello everyone! Here are some giveaways I’ve found online that you can enter to win. Most of the are likely US only, but I will note if there are exceptions to that.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these companies. I might gain extra entries into giveaways should you enter using my links.

Crayola Sandisk Giveaway – US Only – Ends: Jan 28 2026

• 64GB Crayola SANDISK USB-C Flash Drive
• Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable Markers​
• Crayola x Sandisk Sweatshirt​
• Crayola x Sandisk Thinking Sheets ​

Ulanzi Gear – US – Ends: Jan 31 2026
9 Total Winners!

• Three winners will each receive:
   Ulanzi LM07 Photography Rechargeable Flashlight ×1
• Three winners will each receive:
  Ulanzi JJ03 3-in-1 Magnetic Phone Tripod with Remote Control ×1
• Three winners will each receive:
  Ulanzi MT-33 Octopus Tripod with Cold Shoe ×1

Rastelli’s – US only – Ends: Jan 19 2026
3 winners!

Each winner gets:
– (4) 6 oz Faroe Island Salmon
– (6) 5 oz Chicken Breasts
– (2) 6 oz Black Angus Filet Mignon
– (2) 10 oz Grass-Fed Ribeyes
– (6) 5.33 oz Wagyu Beef Butcher Burgers
– (4) 5 oz Wild-Caught Icelandic Cod

Pop & Bottle Wicked for Good Celebration – US Only – Ends: Mar 31 2026

The post Giveaway Roundup 1/18/26 first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

It’s taken me a little longer than I’d like to get back to the swing of writing again, but here I am. It hasn’t been too long since my last post so I’m excited for that.

I am ready to get back into blogging and reviewing and giveaways! Giveaways are just so much fun~!

Life is a lot different now than when I started my blog originally. For one, most of my kids are adults now. I only have one child under the age of 18 so that really has changed how things have been. I wonder if I can/should change my blog name? I don’t want to start all over, but I don’t know if the name fits anymore. I guess I am still a mom, regardless of if all the kids are grown now.

I am working right now on updating the general appearance of the site, it’s a little slow going as I am not 100% sure of what I want, but I’ll get there. Slowly yet surely.

I hope that the start of this year has been good to you. For now, I’ve been really busy and worn out and still recovering from that post holiday slump.

Winter is hard, and my fibromyalgia tends to flare up worse with the cold weather. Maybe it has to do with the arthritis as well? I don’t know, either way it has been a rough cold season. I’m still kicking it though, working on things as I can. Organizing my pantry (nothing overly aesthetic, I’m not great at that nor do I have the money), organizing my desk/office area, still making sure I take time to engage in my hobbies, and returning to blogging on top of it all.

The kids are aging, the cats are aging, I look in the mirror and I too am aging. One thing that has been stressing me out is looking in the mirror and starting to see how much I am actually getting older. Aging has always frightened me. So I guess I’ll be blogging about that as well, the navigation of growing older even though I’m scared of it.

Still, I hope that we’ll get to be on this journey, and thank you all who have been around during this time even when I’ve been quiet or basically MIA.

I look forward to coming back in full force, but expect that it’ll take me time before I am writing multiple posts a week at this point. Still, I am looking forward to it anyway!

I’ll see you around soon, and hope to write something not just a general little update before the end of next week.

The post Pardon the dust~! first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

2025 was a whirlwind for me. For the most part it went so quickly, but some parts totally dragged.

As I said in my last post I finally am single and not living with someone who is or even was a significant other. I finally told him to move out in May of this year and was just so tired of being “mom” to another adult in such capacity. Honestly, it’s been so nice not having to carry the mental load of a man who refuses to carry weight and causes so much chaos and drama. I’ve decided I want to be probably single for a very good long while, focus on myself and my life. If I do date, I don’t want to live with someone like that. Probably ever again to be honest, at least not with how my past relationships have gone.

Tori – our oldest cat – was diagnosed with Mast Cell cancer in late January of this year, she had a surgery to remove the organ that was most commonly removed for it, and she lasted until the end of October when there was just too much. As she might have had another cancer that all we could do was manage symptoms of, was losing her eye sight, had hyperthyroidism, arthritis that increased quickly in severity, and nothing we did helped her gain weight. She was on multiple medications and supplements, and went from being fine to one week suddenly taking such a drastic turn. There was sadly nothing else we could do. She wasn’t wanting to eat, not even her favorite treats. She couldn’t walk well, her meow changed, she just… we had to say goodbye. Part of my still blames myself. We had a good 8 months after surgery. She was finally growing her fur back well, but in the end you just can’t stop certain things. She made it to 16 years and 3 months old.

The bird we got in 2024, after the loss of Chicken Wing, is doing well. The rest of the cats are well too. Though I will be honest having aging pets makes me worry over every little thing. I am terrible with pet loss, I love them all so much. These little creatures entrusted to me by the universe, well, and by my own doing. Though I am at the point where I will not be taking any more pets until the current ones are… well.. hopefully I have a fair few years with the rest! Right now I’ve decided to enjoy the rest of their lives and not be hasty with anything.

I’ve been busy with hobbies, a job change, and getting used to life as a single mom with no one there who is supposed to help but doesn’t. Things are more calm, sometimes too calm. I’m too used to the chaos I’ve had to spend so much of my life dealing with. It’s lovely not to have it, but I’ve found myself feeling a little lost at times.

I’ve spent the last year and a half or so working on weight loss and my diet. Sometimes way better than others. It’s so hard getting anywhere NEAR as much protein as the nutritionist says I should get. Honestly, it makes me sick and tired of having to eat. It’s so stressful and so much effort, I wish I didn’t have to think about it as obsessively as a the nutritionist has made me to be honest. As it’s hard to enjoy food and life a lot of the times when you obsess over every last little thing to consume. It’s become too much and I am working on trying to recover from badly restricting myself.

I am also in the process of trying to figure out how to save up enough money to move. I want out of the north. I don’t want anymore snow, ice, freezing cold temperatures. I don’t want to worry about my pipes freezing, slipping on icy roads, or anything like that anymore. I want to be down south, preferably in California. I like dry heat, I want to swim, bask in the sunshine, not hurt for months on end ever again. It’s hard to figure out how to move with my current income, so I am trying to plan what I can to do make a move happen. Do you have any suggestions?

I hope that you all have had a good 2025, or at least one that you’ve managed to survive with some measure of sanity and hope for the world. Mine’s there, barely at times, but there. Just day by day, I have to figure out ways to make it.

Here’s to 2026! May we all go into the new year with some measure of renewed hope, and may we have better luck reaching goals we only dreamed of!

I’ll see you again real soon!

The post Reflections on 2025 ~ The end of a year first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

Goodness has it been awhile, I’ve been busy, stressed, and just behind on so many things in life. The past couple of years have been awfully hard and stressful, but I am trying to get my head back on my shoulders and get moving on with things. Which means, yet again, I am going to try and come here and write more often.

I’d love to review more products! Hopefully, I can find some to review and I can get back into the swing of things. Doing giveaways, gift guides, etc.

How are all of you? Did you have a good Christmas?

At the end of 2024 I became single, well October, which I guess is the end enough. This has been the longest I’ve ever been single as an adult. Over a year now. My ex finally moved out, and I have been trying to find my bearings on who I am as my own person without being tied to someone else. This is uncharted territory for me, as I’ve been in relationships since I was a teenager and never really had a break. It’s been good, strange, interesting, but good.

I’ve found new hobbies that have taken a lot of of my time, changed jobs, and am trying to look into eventually moving out of the Northwest. I am so very tired of winter, snow, and being frozen. Unlike Elsa, the cold DOES bother me, an awful lot.

I hope this year has been kind to you, and I hope that you got many things you hoped for for Christmas. I know I did, the kids blessed me with some awesome presents and I even made friends this past year who gifted me as well! Of course, I gifted the kids and my friends too, it has been nice.

I will write more about 2025 not in a post about Christmas, but I just wanted to touch base and say hello, as well as wish you all a happy holiday.

Talk soon, I hope!

~Kisa

The post Merry Christmas~! first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

I have a special family member who’s birthday is coming up within the next few months and I don’t usually buy jewelry for people but I recently saw her looking at pearl necklaces  when we were together somewhere. So, after actually finding myself a ring I love not overly long ago I felt in a jewelry shopping mood. I couldn’t really buy her a ring without asking for her ring size. But that’ll spoil the surprise! She’s hitting a milestone birthday and it seems high time I surprise her with something as lovely as she is.

So I decided: I was going to surprise her with a pearl necklace.

It’s very easy to get a bit of choice paralysis when shopping don’t you think? There are so many ways a necklace can look and trying to find one that suits someone you love can be daunting if I’m perfectly honest!

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go with something more classic and timeless, or if I wanted something a bit more dainty.

Overall it’s a hard choice, this person dresses with lots of colors, patterns, and textures. She’s a very noticeable person when it comes to her sense of style. Where I am more reserved and it can be hard to step out of my own comfort zone when I am shopping for someone. Let alone for something as pretty as pearl necklaces tend to be, but despite that I worry if I go to simple it may not go with what she tends to wear.

Before even looking at options, I had to ask myself a few things:

• Do I want something classic or more modern?

• Will this be for everyday wear or special occasions?

• Would this be something she’d wear and not just put aside?

In my case, I wanted something versatile – something simple enough for her less flashy days, but still able to hold its own with one of her more exciting outfits. A necklace that would sit close to the collarbone felt just right: not too long, not too bold, just quietly elegant.

I found that there are even black pearl necklaces! And you know what, I ended up to get one for myself, because I love the look of them and think they fit my overall style and fashion choices pretty darn well. What do you think? Do you prefer classic white pearls or a different color entirely?

There are so many styles and ways someone can make pearl necklaces! I found some gorgeous ones all over the internet and I was so excited once I finally narrowed it down to one that I think will be positively stunning on her!

Picking out a necklace for her really came down to finding a necklace that spoke to me. One that felt like a celebration of her, one that would fit regardless of what she decided to wear it with.

Note to anyone reading this: If you’ve been thinking about surprising someone you love, don’t wait for the perfect moment. Sometimes just because is the best reason of all. Remember, Pearls are timeless and beautiful. They go with everything so it’d hard to go wrong! If you’re thinking about getting a pearl necklace for yourself or as a gift I totally recommend it. Just be ready to fall a little in love with how effortlessly pretty they are.

The post Shopping for pearl necklaces first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

I’m not sure why my ankles tend to roll and give out the way they do, but I know it happens. Is it being 40? Is it having fibromyalgia? Am I just that clumsy? Either way, one thing I know all too well is how annoying finding a good ankle brace can be to get it to fit in shoes.

The ankle support brace my doctor gave me after the break was rather bulky, making it so wearing shoes meant I had to loosen the shoe a lot and be rather uncomfortable at the sensation. Still, it was what I had at the time and I knew I had to deal with it for the sake of hopefully not re-breaking myself.

I just knew after I rolled my ankle again a few months after being done with PT that I needed something more comfortable for times that I was struggling with my stability. Even if just PT alone doesn’t seem to want to completely solve the problem for me. Meaning that at times, I’ll have no choice but to re-do all the exercises again, and wear something to keep myself from hurting myself too often.

Once you are healed from breaking your ankle, you’ll deal with the same sort of problems I did. Your muscles will be weak, your foot will feel stiff, and you’ll have to learn PT exercises to be able to walk again without potentially cause more problems. Healing time for breaking your ankle is 6-10 weeks, with about 6-8 weeks of PT. Or at least, that was what I ended up with. During the PT phase you’ll end up needing an ankle support brace, and hopefully can find a more comfortable one for you than the one I showed above haha.

At the time I broke my ankle, I actually also managed to break a small chunk off my opposite knee cap, and sprain my wrist as well. I didn’t have the stability to use crutches, and oh my gods did breaking the ankle hurt for a really long time! I’ve actually recently sustained a radial head fracture on my left arm, and it doesn’t even hurt a fraction of what my injury in 2020 did!

I ended up opting to getting the brace above, since I like the insoles I purchased from them before. As you know I have flat feet and perhaps that doesn’t help with the whole ankle rolling problem I end up having. Needless to say, I’ve been very placed with this ankle support brace, and it’s way more comfortable to wear even in my boots when it’s snowy or icy and gross for far too long of the year up here in Idaho! Ahh, someday I’ll move, but I’ll still probably enjoy my combat boots and need these braces anyway. There are times where my ankle almost rolls me to the ground multiple times a week after all!

What do you do to help support your ankle(s) if you’ve ever broken one? Or even if you’ve just rolled and sprained them numerous times like I have int he past? I’d love to hear what you’ve found that works that I may have overlooked!~

The post The importance of an ankle support after breaking your ankle first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

No wonder I’d been struggling so much and having so many problems. We discovered, finally, that the reason I had horrible muscle spasms around my rib cage was because of the disc protrusion at T6-7. The reason my neck and shoulders are in so much pain and I have trouble some days holding up my head due to spasms, pain, and weakness is the C4, C5, and C5-6 issues, made more annoyed by the T2-3. The neck issues also explained why I am having problems with my arms and hands, the nerves running down them are easily annoyed when things are going wrong in your spine and neck. Go figure. Finally we had some ideas of it all, then we just had to figure out treatment other than “just do PT!”

At that point I’d already been in PT for my neck, shoulders, and upper back pain for almost a year. With basically no big difference, but it kept some of the edge off on the muscle pain. Barely, strength training was and continues to be slow as heck. Fibromyalgia compounds the issue too, so doing just the PT route wasn’t cutting it. With all of these problems in my neck and spine, it makes sense that I have thoracic outlet syndrome, which causes pain, weakness, tingling, numbness, and swelling in the neck, shoulders, arms, and hands. Things I’ve had problems with for a fair few years now but have just been brushed off by doctors.

I’ve finally gotten a provider at a local pain management clinic, and they started doing Epidural Spinal Injections for the pain. Particularly in the T2-3 area, and the T6-7. They can do them up to 4 times a year with my insurance, so every 3 months if we needed to. I’ll be honest when I say that I am lucky that they tend to last about four to four and a half months before they start to wear off enough for me to go “oh no! I need it again ASAP!” Sometimes they can get that done within a week or so, this last time took a month. That month was a HORRIBLE wait. Having the spasms return hadn’t been pleasant in the slightest. Sadly, the only way I know it’s close to time to get a shot again is when the symptoms come back, and once they do they tend to come back very quickly and without any way to stop them while waiting for the next injection.

It’s a well enough known fact though, that needles and I aren’t good friends. So the idea of laying on a table/bed while they take a lot of x-rays and position a needle into my back just enough for the steroids to work causes a lot of anxiety. I’ve had to resort to taking anxiety medicine (Xanax I think?) and needing someone to drive me for the appointments. Still, despite the nerves and how long it takes in certain areas (oddly enough, the T6-7 is harder to position than the T2-3 for my back!) I am so happy I finally have some measure of relief from the worst of the symptoms. My muscles are still tense and in a lot of pain, but the spasms stay away for those few months and it’s bliss.

Sadly, I also have some loss of disc hydration at T7-8 and T8-9, which is now starting to cause spasms just below that was happening for the T6-7. I’m attempting to wait patiently to get the next MRI we need to see if those issues have gotten worse. The pain clinic understandably doesn’t want to do injections into a part that we only have MRI’s from 1 1/2 years ago on, that’s not going to give any of us what we need to know.  Sadly, it’s been almost 2 months at this point because they forgot to send in the MRI order. I think that they still  haven’t, because I asked and they apologized for not sending it in but I still  haven’t heard from the hospital for the MRI. Where as someone else I know with spinal issues was calling in for an MRI within days of their doctor sending in the orders.

To say I’m frustrated would be a bit of an understatement at this point. -_-;; I’m positively annoyed at being kept like this while having spasms in my back that make even standing to go into a store for 10-15 minutes become agonizing. Having had a taste of relief from some of the worst of the back symptoms, having them come again like this and being kept waiting for relief is hard. It’s also exhausting, it’s hard to keep doing even just day to day life when things hurt this badly.

Hopefully soon I’ll get that newer MRI, and soon after that I’ll be able to update that I got the sweet relief that comes with getting an injection or some sort of treatment for the spasms I’m having now. The pain I carry around is already exhausting, these problems added to it all have been crushing. I’ll keep up you all update, and will write again soon!

The post Health problems and getting Epidural Spinal Injections for pain first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

With Fibromyalgia my energy is already not great, but lately it’s been rough. I slept the majority of my last physical therapy session’s last half. Where I usually am able to engage in some level of talk with my physical therapist, I  just had no energy and kept coming in and out of being asleep. Indeed, when I came up that afternoon I was too weak to walk much without relying on furniture to keep my from falling over.

Thank goodness my oldest is 24 and can drive, she was able to get the youngest from school so that I didn’t have to risk driving. Even taking a longer nap did not give me enough energy to go work that evening. So I had to keep a low profile and just try to survive the rest of that evening. That was just this past Thursday, the 16th. So only a few days ago, my energy levels are still pretty low, but at least now it’s not nearly as detrimental.

I have got to admit, even after so many years of living with Fibromyalgia, it doesn’t make anything easier. As I get older age related problems just seem to compound everything that goes along with my condition. On top of it all, I’ve had a lot of doctors appointments I’m not sure I’ve talked about. There’s been many MRI’s that have found spinal issues, and even a lesion on my brain. It’s not something big enough they’re going to do anything about, but it does cause a small bit of problems sadly. Not enough that they are willing to do anything, doing a surgery or anything would likely be more of a risk I suppose. Unless it gets bigger. But at least it is being monitored here and there.

I’ve begun getting epidural steroid injections in two parts of my spine, and it is likely that they’ll be adding a third injection point soon. If they remember to actually send the referral in for the MRI, which it has been over a month, and even after having reminded them and them apologizing I haven’t heard anything.

I’ve had so many weekly appointments for the past year that balancing my days has begun to get harder. Thankfully one of the appointments is therapy, because trying to cope with things isn’t easy. But, I’ll continue to try. I am going to set an alarm to come here and make sure I write hopefully once a week. Hopefully more fun and exciting things. Hopefully reviewing more things, and a gift guide again? I’d love to do one, perhaps I can put together a summer fun gift guide. I should have enough time to put one together.

I hope everything is going well for you all, and I look forward to writing again soon!

The post A New Year, with new chances first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.

Sadly, for the first time since my blogs opening, I wont be doing a Holiday Gift Guide. It’s strange, not getting a bunch of packages and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season. I only just started Christmas shopping, and usually I start it in September!

I hope everyone has been doing alright this year. It’s been rough, but we’ll pull through. Right?

I look forward to having more content to put up here soon. I want to post, I want to write, I want to try out new things and review them. It’s so much fun, and I greatly enjoy it.

Soon enough I hope to return to doing what I’m used to doing. Writing. Preferably at least once a week I can get a post up here for everyone! It’s been so many years of doing this and I know I’ve been slacking. Too many health problems for the entire household has really taken a toll on my energy levels. Which, with Fibromyalgia, I don’t often have a ton of.

The end of 2023 and first half of 2024 took a toll on us all. We lost Shadow in early December 2023. Creamy spent almost a week in the emergency vet for kidney and bladder problems they didn’t think he’d make it but he pulled through. From there we lost Freyja at the end of February 2024, Chicken in April, and Baby (a bird we had a short time) due to an accident in May. Needless to say emotions have been rough and seeing the light in the darkness has felt impossible at times.

I started a new hobby this year that takes a fair bit of time, but I enjoy it. It’s not something I’ll share here, as I want to keep that me and my usual me as separate entities.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. May we all survive the coldest and shortest days and come out better on the other side as we enter 2025.

I hope to return with a Valentines Day gift guide! Let’s see how that one goes!

Love and blessings to everyone, stay warm, stay cozy, and I’ll write again soon

~Kisa

The post My deepest apologies first appeared on Ohayo Okasan.