Valentine's Day!

  I truly cannot believe it has been nearly a month since the last time I posted anything on my blog. Since that time lots of things have happened. I have prepared and served two Japanese style meals, delivered three goat kids, participated in the Dixie National Jr. Livestock show, etc. etc. etc...........

Three little darlings

Before I loose my train of thought, I want to comment on the weather this week. Today we have had a wonderful day... After my mother and I came home from getting a hair cut, we had a yummy lunch of ham-sandwiches. After that I went out to clean off our front porch with the help of one of my sisters. She started pretending that we were on a HGTV home improvement show. :) She was the homeowner and I was the cleaner person. It was a fun way to get it done. The temperature is 72 degrees outside. After we finished with the porch three of us started a game of catch with an abandoned tennis ball we found outside. We were laughing, running, and having an overall good time in the warm weather.

Ok. So I want to tell all about my Japanese meal. :) I was quite proud of it. After one of my friends at church telling me that he works in an Asian grocery store I decided to check it out... It couldn't hurt to go look even if I didn't buy anything, right? When I got there and started looking around I got so excited! (You can ask my brother... I couldn't stop talking...) It had soooooo much Japanese stuff! There was green tea icecream, gyoza, seaweed, rice, tofu, seasonings, etc. They even sell ramune, the Japanese soda! After that I decided I had to make a Japanese meal when my brother's friend came to visit. I bought frozen fish and cooked it like Abi taught me how in the Japanese seasonings, fried some gyoza, made Japanese rice, cooked some mochi, and opened some rice seasonings and seaweed. I think everyone liked it. I surely did. I even made everyone use their hashi that I brought from Japan. I also bought some tofu and miso to make a miso sauce to go over the tofu. I made Japanese style green tea and served it without any sweetener. After that I gave everyone a taste of the Ramune. If I had not been going to a movie between the times I went to the grocery store and when I made the meal, I would also have gotten some of the green tea icecream. That'll have to be for next time. A few weeks ago I made some miso soup for my family to try. I also stuffed some mushrooms with cheese and seasonings... They were really really good. I haven't made any onigiri since I've been home yet, but I think I will before long... Now that I have my driver's license perhaps I can go to the Asian grocery store more often... :) HEHEHE

The midwife: Me

 Now I want to get to the really exciting news... Our goat finally had her kids!!! After thinking she was about to explode nearly a month ago she had her kids last Wednesday, and I got to deliver them! To check out the entire story you can go to brightarrowsfarm.blogspot.com . But I can tell you that two of the three kids were stuck and I had to go in and pull them out. It wasn't as bad as it sounds... Well, I say that, but some people would not have been able to do it, I don't think... But after pulling the first one I thought it was dead. Then I saw it struggle and breathe. I was ecstatic. The thrill of a new born life flooded over me. I suppose parents have the same feeling when they first see their baby, only more, or in a different way at least. The second one was stuck in a position that could have killed it, its mother, and its younger brother. I had the amazing sensation after I pulled it that said "I saved their life!" After many prayers and a call to the vet God gave me the calmness, ability, and knowledge to keep them all from dying. They are soooooooooooo cute! Unfortunately they are all males which means we probably won't be keeping any of them. On Sunday afternoon we got them all out of the pen and let them run around in our back yard. It was adorable to watch them try to run. They kept running sideways and then falling over with a surprised expression on their face. :)

Mommy goat 1 month ago!

Other than that basically the only other exciting thing to happen has been the livestock shows recently. Our goats did amazingly, our cows not so great.... We still think our cows are great and are going to be wonderful for our herd.... The judge at the last show was not looking necessarily for good herd animals. It seemed that he was mainly looking for big, fat, show-feed fed calves... I don't know... Maybe he just didn't like our cows...  For two weeks we spent up to 12 hours a day outside in the barns at the state fair grounds in below freezing weather. Mississippians are just not made for/used to that type of thing! Even in three and four layers of clothes we were still cold! We had to bathe and clip cows in that weather, and it was not fun to get sprayed with the hose-pipe with freezing water!

 Well, my Daddy's home from work now and supper is nearly ready. I just want to leave with this note to Melanie and Jenna (in case you read it). I miss you both! I can't wait until you come home and we can all get together and visit one another. I have been thinking recently, as people still ask me how I enjoyed my time in Japan and whether or not I'd like to go back at some point. I've decided that while I miss the food, the trains, the different and interesting things, etc, I really miss the people. I almost can't read my blog without getting sad and missing everyone. I remember playing with Coen, reading to Eastin, and helping Aidan find Lego pieces. I remember Saturdays and Sundays and sleepovers with my two best friends (outside my family). I remember Dr. Pepper runs, grocery store runs, park runs. :) I miss Keiko and Yukiho, and even when Ju Young would tease me about killing a deer... :) Anyway, all that to say, I still miss the people, even though I've gotten used to not having everything else. Enjoy what you have when you have it! Love the people around you, and realize the blessings God has given you!!!

And Happy Valentine's Day!!!

All my love,
Hannah