Who are we?

We are Keitaro and Jennifer Matsuoka.  We recently graduated from the University of Illinois.  Keitaro  will be studying actuarial science starting fall ('01).  He did some electrical engineering stuff previously and Jennifer learned French.  This fall ('02), she will be studying business!  Keitaro is originally from Kyoto, Japan.  He spent his first 11 years there and his teenage years in Schaumburg, IL, a suburb of Chicago.  Jennifer was born in Arkansas.  She spent most of her life in Galesburg and Peoria, IL.  We both came to Champaign to go to school.  That's where we met and got married!

We were married on May 30, 1998.   It was at St. John's church on Armory and Sixth.  Believe it or not, we haven't gone  on our Honeymoon yet!  Well, Keitaro finally received his permanent residency, but we just don't have the time.  Maybe in ten years :)

Keitaro's immediate family includes Teruhiko (otousan), Junko (okasan), Chiharu (sister) and Indy!  Indy is a eleven-year-old, spoiled sheltie.  Jennifer's families live in Peoria and Galesburg.   Jennifer's dad, John, lives in Peoria with Sonia, Chris and Marie.  They have a greyhound, Joy (whom we call Joy Joy).  Jennifer's mom lives in Galesburg.   Jen's sister and brother also live in Galesburg.  Her sister, Sara, just had a baby!  His name is Carson. She has a family of four now.  Her brother, David, has his own family (Kindall and Alex, and now Issac). 

In our spare time, we volunteer at the CCHS.  We encourage you to do the same. They need all the help they can get!   Their number is 344-Paws.  Jennifer also loves to cook.  And Keitaro loves to eat!  What a nifty combo.  Jennifer also loves to sew.   She got a cool sewing machine for Christmas. She makes clothes that must cost a bundle at the store dirt cheap!  Now she is into scrapbooking.  Take a look at her creation.  We both like football so we plan to watch games together this season.  We couldn't do this before so we are looking forward to it.  We are rooting for the Illini, of course.

Another important part of our lives is our cats.  They are Hazel (orange tabby), Frisco, Midnight (all black), Bandit (tuxedo), Masquerade (calico), and Mercer (all gray with a bit of tabby).  Except for Hazel and Frisco, the rest was our fosters.   People often say, "Cats don't have any personalities."   Well, of course not!  They are not people.  They have "purrsonalities," and we can prove it.  Hazel is a typical cat.  She loves to sleep.  If we open the blinds for her on a sunny day, we know where to find her.  Frisco is a jealousy kinda cat.  He is a mom's boy.  Whenever Jennifer comes home with a friend's pet's smell, he gets upset and won't talk to us.   When Keitaro comes home, Frisco greets him but that's about it.  When Jennifer comes home, he gets excited and sometimes he jumps up on her shoulders.  Midnight doesn't care who gives him love.  But when he wants it, he'd better get it.   Otherwise he cries and cries, and he plops down on whatever we are reading at the time (newspaper or magazine).  We can't say no to him!  We have a soft spot for him too, because he cries like his mom (Patches, who died of cancer) when he wants something.  Bandit is a bandit.  He can't sit still.  He spills food and water.  He doesn't like to get brushed.   He pounces on his sisters and brothers.  He is a handful!  And then, there is Masquerade.  She is the cutest!  She looks so fragile, but she is one tough cat.  She can hold her own.  Sometimes Bandit tries to bully her around, but Masquerade kicks his butt.   And she is the smallest of all!  And now we have Mercer.  He is easy-going so he fits in well.  His name comes from our incident at Mercer Island in Seattle, where we almost ran out of gas (couldn't find a gas station on the island).  He plays as hard as he can, and the next minute he is on the floor, sleeping, like he is out of gas.

As you can see, out cats rule the house.  That pretty much summaries our household.