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

Back on the Farm

 Good morning everyone, I hope this finds you well... As for me, ...well, I'm not sick, but... Let me say this: Whoever invented singing your heart out in the freezing cold at night aught to be severely punished! My sisters and I all woke up this morning with sore throats.... Now don't get me wrong, it was loads of fun - lots of laughs, getting to see friends, Christmas lights, and then snacks when we got back to church. I loved every minute of it! I had a chance to talk to both of our pastors last night, as well as lots of other church friends. It was a great time. It's funny, but I sound sort of like Elmer Fudd this morning because of my scratchy throat. :) 


 Well, it's good to be home, and today I get to go down to the farm where my bull Columbus is, and also to work with my new cow Penny. I also get to visit grandparents for the day. My only concern: it's not even 40 degrees out side right now, and my coveralls seem to be missing. :( I suppose I'll manage somehow. 


I just remembered that I wanted to tell some about my trip home. It seems that not many people want to leave Japan for Christmas, so there was plenty of room on the long flight. I had a window seat, and the guy sitting beside me moved somewhere else, so we'd both have more room. I was able to sit with my back against the window side, pull my legs up on the seat beside me, and sleep for about 2 hours right before we got to Dallas.  There really weren't any good movies to watch besides Despicable Me, so I used my iPod most of the time for listening to music. When I got to Dallas I never found a piece of my luggage, so I had to go on without it. It's a good thing I didn't wait for it anymore. After going through customs again I took the SkyLink to my terminal, walked to my gait, and walked directly onto my plane! Then when we landed in Jackson we didn't come up to a walkway. Instead, we landed in the middle of an open space, and they had stairs up to the door. I felt like I should have stepped down and waved like the president. I probably would have if there hadn't been a whole line of people behind me. :) Well, my piece of luggage didn't show up on the Jackosn carousel either, so I made a claim on it. They had it delivered to our house, so now everything is 'hunky-dory'. 


Lessons from a future housewife:


 #7 When processing laundry, washing cotton is fine. If you intend to wear the garment again, I would suggest not drying it in the dryer.  Drying cotton shrinks it. 


This lesson has been learned over and over...and over... :) Just don't do it!!!

All my love,
Hannah




P.S. I just decided to add a random picture of me being a wax statue in a phone booth. :) I kind of like it. What do you think?

White Daisies!

Usually I have a witty, nifty, or humorous story behind each title for my blog posts... This post's title has nothing to do with any story I was planning to tell. But I feel that it does require a bit of explanation... White daisies are my favorite flower. I was thinking back over my day while I was mixing a cake batter after dinner... My only conclusion to these thoughts were that I have had a marvelous day! Somehow that reminded me of white daisies. Since I was so happy, and white daisies always seem to be so cheerful, I decided I would spread the good cheer! 

Like I mentioned, my day today has been wonderful. I did sleep a little a lot longer than I had intended to. I remember rolling over this morning and looking at my watch when it said 2:00. Then the next thing I know it's 8:30 in the morning! I even slept through piano lessons! I suppose that either I was very tired last night, or my mind has just learned to shut out the sounds that used to wake me so easily... Perhaps it was a combination of both... But I plan to set my alarm clock tonight so that it doesn't happen again. 


(Just as a random note, I added one of the pictures we had taken while we were at Disneyland... You can also see part of my adorable new sweatshirt. From left to right there's me, Jenna, Melanie, Yukiho, and Satoshi... That was all in our little party. The other picture is one I forgot even existed... It was taken in Nikko while visiting Yukiho and Satoshi's grandparents... You can see all of us sitting around the table during dinner.) 


 After getting up late the whole day seemed so much shorter. After I had a banana and a little coffee for breakfast, I set about my work. I washed dishes, folded clothes, washed mirrors and glass shelves, started loads of clothes, etc. Then I had some time to chat with my mother and grandmother. That was loads of fun! Then I tried a new bread recipe that was just delicious! I am surprised at it's success! It tasted wonderful. It didn't have a baking powder aftertaste to it, and it wasn't yeast-y... Almost the perfect gluten free sandwich bread. Then I packed all of my clothes except the 6 outfits I'll need before I go home. My closet looks so bare. After doing that I do have hope, though, that I'll be able to pack everything into my large suitcase. Whether or not it'll be under 50 pounds is doubtful, but at least I'll have everything and not have to ship it! By the time I finished packing, the bread was done and Eastin was home from school. Since Abi was back from picking him up, I ran to the grocery store for her to pick up a few things... (Actually I walked, but that's immaterial.) When I got back I had something I've been craving for a long time... I had a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich made with Japanese mayonnaise!!! It was wonderful! Then Roger and I took Eastin and Baby with us to the bank to close my Japanese bank account. That was an easy job, and then I brought the boys back here while Roger went to the library to study. 
After I got back I did a little reading with Aidan, and then it was time for the boys to go to their karate lesson and me to my calligraphy lesson.  My teacher also taught me the Japanese green tea ceremony today. It was fun to learn. After that I learned two new kanji. I learned the word or Kanji for 'dream' and 'I love'. I wasn't able to write either of them very well, because my ink was clumpy today and my brush kept sticking to the paper for some reason... But she presented me with one copy of each that she had written. I have thoroughly enjoyed my lessons. The few kanji I know how to write are fun because I learned them and their meanings while also learning calligraphy. Not many American girls my age can say they were taught calligraphy by a Japanese woman in Japan!!! :) 


Well, my cakes are done now so I'll end this post and go take them out of the oven...


Lessons from a future housewife: 


  #4 - When baking new recipes, especially breads and lasagnas, it is wise to put the pan onto a baking sheet. This prevents any overflowing pan contents getting stuck in the bottom of your oven and possibly catching fire, or even just making a lot of work for your future... (Because it's a lot of work to clean out an oven!) I've found that every recipe has different rising habits, and different dishes produce more liquid than others. Putting a baking sheet underneath the pan(s) is just an extra precaution and work saver.


All my love,
Hannah

Cold, cold, cold!!!

My friends, I don't know what you might think you're looking at in this picture, but more likely than not, you're wrong. :) So I will tell you what it is. This, my friends, represents two hours and fifteen minutes worth of work. What you see before you are 29 lint roller sheets! I have never seen such fuzzy lint roller sheets before in my life! Yesterday morning while Abi was at staff meeting, I took on the load of clothes full of diaper fuzz. It took me over two hours (not including the 5 min. I took to sit down and get a drink) to get those clothes back to a presentable state. Some of them are still better off than others. I did find out who washed that load of clothes but, to protect the guilty, he shall remain nameless. ;) ...Just know that it wasn't me!


 The rest of yesterday went very well. Last night a family from Karuizawa came to visit us, and stayed for dinner. I really enjoyed it! I say a family, because although not one big immediate family, we had three generations here. Parents, children, and grandchild. The grandchild is in her 30's, but it was amazing to see that much of a family together here so far from home! They are very good friends of the Lowthers. They brought me the best Chinese dumplings I've ever had, and taught me to cook them! They also brought sashimi (raw fish) the majority of it just happened to be my favorite - tuna! I've never in my life eaten so much rice, or so much raw fish at one meal! I thought I was going to be sick! We had those things with rice, green salad, potato salad, and BBQ chicken wings. To top it all off Abi made a simply delicious pumpkin cake/bread thing. Everyone loved it! After they left I made a batch of eggnog, and we had it for breakfast this morning.


This morning I woke bright (I can't say early) at 7:20 and pulled myself out of bed. It was cold! I think I was right about being sick.... This morning I didn't feel great... So I went back to bed at 10:00, cold, tired, and not feeling great. When I woke up, however, I was feeling just fine. I was able to go about the rest of my day... For lunch I cooked the rest of the gyoza (dumplings), and had it with green salad. By the way, have I ever mentioned that I love eating green salad with hashi? It is so much easier than eating it with a fork! I don't know why, but it just is... After lunch I went to the store down two blocks to look for white notecards for writing recipes on - or notecards for any color, for that matter - but couldn't find any! It seems like every store in Tsukishima is out of notecards! Anyway, I enjoyed the exercise and fresh air... Then after Eastin had a short piano lesson I did English reading with him. Around 2:00 I took him and Coen to the park. We played there with Eastin's friends until 3:20. After that I took Eastin to karate, and Baby and I came back here. When we got back Roger and Abi were meeting with a Christian drama group who preforms all over Japan. Actually, they are members of an organization who has groups all over the world! It was really nice to meet them! They gave me all of their information when I simply mentioned that I was interested in drama, etc. :) They are very passionate about their work here.


Pretty much right after they left, I started making dinner. I defrosted some chicken, made a spaghetti sauce, gluten free and regular pasta, and sauted some honey carrots to go along with it. Right after I finished eating, I had to run... I went to Toyosu to meet with Megumi, my newest English...partner... She is the 19 year old from Chiba that I've started helping... We went window shopping together, and tried out the crepe place in the mall. (If you don't know what a crepe is, look it up... It's hard to explain...) So from 7:00 to 9:00 we simply talked together, and walked around the mall pointing out our favorite stores to each other. :) It was fun! I was able to tell her about some of our Christmas traditions, and learn some of hers. It was interesting.


But it's after 10:00 here now, so I should probably close... Before I do, I'll give you lesson number two from "Lessons from a future housewife".


 #2 - Never bake things onto your pans that will not easily come off. (Because it's really hard to get them off when you need to use your pan again.) If you do make the mistake of cooking something really sticky in your pan that leaves a disgusting, sticky, residue on the bottom of your pan, always use steel wool to remove it. 


This lesson was learned today after mochi and sausages were cooked in one of Abi's frying pans... I don't know what on earth all of that sticky, oily, residue stuck to that pan was, but it was not easy to get it back off!! It took all day of soaking in water, 10 min. of scrubbing it with a soapy sponge, and 20 min. of scrubbing it with steel wool to get all of it off... And it just so happened that I was the first one to need to use the pan (for the carrots), so I got to clean it. :) I did feel very proud of myself afterwards, though!


All my love,
Hannah

Count down day 3

Days until Christmas: 23!

Today we have smoggy skies with the sun peaking through in the West. Not much is visible, and the entire sky looks grey from where I'm sitting. (And yes, it is the sky not the ceiling.) The temperature is nice today - a high of 64 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Not much has happened so far today... After taking Eastin to school this morning I had a few minutes to chat with my family and grandparents. Then Coen and I made a batch of gluten free chocolate chip cookies! They were soooooooo good! The recipe made 32 cookies, but there are only 30 on the cooling rack now. Two of them donated themselves to scientific research. ;) I was testing cookies to see whether or not the ones that were broken when they were taken off the pan tasted any better than the others... My conclusion was that they did taste better! :) However, I believe that more research may be necessary. ;) 

Anyway, after I made the cookies, I washed the breakfast dishes. Other than those two rather insignificant tasks, I have done very little today that is profitable. (I have done some things, but they didn't take much time or energy.) 

 Perhaps I can write more later, but after reading that very short summery of my day, I feel rather ashamed of myself... I think I'll go find some laundry to fold or something.... Before I go, I'll also post a very funny picture of Coen... The other day after realizing it was unusually quiet in the living room, I found Coen with both hands in the sugar container, and couldn't resist the 'Kodak moment'. :) 

All my love,
Hannah

If at first you don't succeed, try try again!

Hi everyone! I just had to drop a quick note this evening to let you know that I feel quite pleased with myself! After a day which was not very productive, I made myself feel like I accomplished something today within the past 1 1/2  hours. Aidan got a set of origami paper the other day and has been begging to open it. I have never had much luck with the art, but decided to give it a try since he was having trouble figuring out his lion. I helped him with his lion, made one myself, and then made one for Eastin.... (Then Eastin decided to make a zoo, so he numbered the lions... Mine was number 3, hence the large '3' on its side.) After that, I decided that our zoo needed a pink elephant. I found instructions online for an origami elephant, and tried to make one... It turned out well enough, but I think that somehow the head got folded in upside down... Don't ask me how on earth that happened! I admit I myself burst out laughing... :) Then and there I decided that pink elephants were a little beyond my expertise. Feeling a little beaten, I found something simpler... A nice butterfly... The butterfly worked, and looked good. After that I wanted to make a cube... So I found directions for a cube  and got started.... The cube turned out well! The odd thing about it was that it was a 'magic cube'. The cube turns into a rose! I can not only make it from a rose into a cube, but more impressive, I can turn it from a cube back into a rose! Being my first attempt it is not very neat, but it still looks pretty if you ask me! I am quite pleased with it! While I still don't know how to make a paper crane, I can make a lion, a greenish-yellowish ugly colored butterfly (the color really does look better than it does in the picture), and a magic rose cube!!!

I am so glad that I stuck with it and got it done!!! Enjoy my rose, and have a great day wherever you may be! :)


All my love,
Hannah

Another Week

 Well, I can't believe it's been a full week since the last time I wrote anything! In a way it seems like it's been two weeks, and in another way I can't believe it's been that long! Time does fly... In the last week, lots has happened, but not much has happened outside the ordinary. 

I did have my calligraphy lesson on Wednesday morning. It went well I think. Eastin and Hinako soon tired out and left me writing all by myself. Below, you can see two examples of my work... The first one is the word (or kanji) for dog. The stroke on the bottom right hand corner of the character is very difficult to master. If you had seen my first attempts at it, you would be proud of my achievements with this one... Also, the two small characters on the left hand side represent my name - ha-na - spelled in katakana. On the second page of kanji that you see, I've written the words for 'one', 'two', 'three'. The word for 'one' is a single line... 'Two', is two lines, and 'three' is three lines. The numbers get much more complicated after that. I am quite proud of my work. It doesn't look nearly as good as my teacher's, but she's been doing it for a long long time. She gave me, as a gift, one of her pieces of work. She gave me the kanji for 'dream'. It is quite lovely. I just have to find a way to get it home undamaged! 


I suppose the next big thing that happened was the vision fair on Saturday afternoon. I think I went well. There were some people there I never imagined would come. It was great! Most of the people from church came, and lots of people that we know from around here. I was able to stay outside on the deck most of the time with the boys so that they didn't have to sit still in that little room. I also managed to see both videos that Colin made while he was here. Everyone seemed to enjoy them...especially the one where they interviewed random people on the street! 


On Sunday Jenna and Melanie came from Chiba to go to church with us. It was great to finally get to meet Melanie! (She is a new teacher for the missionary school, and just arrived last week.) I think the three of us are going to have lots of fun together. We have already planned how to spend every weekend together until I leave for Christmas. :) It's gonna' be great!

I don't think I've said anything about Eastin's "railroad tracks." Eastin got hurt two weeks ago, and had to have seven stitches on his forehead. On Thursday he gets to have them taken out! His cut has healed amazingly! He will only have a very small scar left afterwards. The first time he saw himself in the mirror after getting the stitches he said,  "Mommy, I have railroad tracks on my head." :) So now I always refer to them as his 'railroad tracks'. 


Well, I finished my share of a big bowl of popcorn and a glass of milk, so I'm as happy as happy can be. Now I'm pretty tired because I feel like I've been going like the energizer bunny practically all day, even though I don't guess I've done that much... So since it's 9:00, I think I'll hit the sack, turn in, go to bed, or whatever you want to call it! :) You know... I didn't feel that great when I started writing... I felt like I should write something, but didn't really know what or where to begin. Now I feel great, and feel like I could keep going except that I'm so tired. :) Writing makes me happy! It doesn't matter to me that I'm no Charlotte Bronte or Louisa May Alcott. I just enjoy writing down my thoughts and sharing them with others! :)


May God bless you and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace.
Good night!


All my love,
Hannah

Safe!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to thank you for praying for Colin as he traveled home. I also wanted to let you know that he made it home safely, and the rest of the family loved having him back. I could hear the pleasure in Momma's words as we were chatting over email after they got home from the airport.:) I'm sure it was very different at home with both of us gone ...

  Last Tuesday was a good day overall.:) It was a full day, and I stayed busy most of the time. That morning started early for me. I got up at 6:30 and fried some eggs for everyone's breakfast. Then at 6 : 45 I woke up Aidan so that he could get his homework done and eat breakfast. Although I set my alarm clock for 6:30, that isn't what woke me up. Colin jumping out of bed to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise is what woke me. That was the most beautiful day that we had had since we had gotten back from the states ... Then around lunch time, Colin and I left for the airport. We got there in time for some looking around. It took about an hour and a half to get there ... We walked around for a while just chatting and laughing at all the little souvenirs you could buy. I think the only thing we ended up buying green tea kit-kats. (I do believe that you can only buy those here.) Then after he walked through security I walked up to the 4th floor and out to the observation deck. I found his gate and took pictures of his plane. I would put some of the pictures on here , but haven't taken them off of my camera yet ...

Since Wednesday and Thursday were relatively dull days, I'll skip on to Friday when something exciting happened!:) On Friday afternoon I left Tsukishima and traveled an hour out to Honda. After arriving at the station I walked half a mile to Honda Chapel and the missionary school where Jenna teaches. She met me there and together we walked to Bob and Sharon's house. We had planned to watch a Dr. Who episode called 'Blink'. I have heard that is is the scariest episode featuring David Tennant as The Doctor. I must admit that at one point I think we all screamed.:) You can't blame us though ... If you have ever watched it you know what I mean ... Imagine all three of us sitting around in a dark room - two on a sofa and one in the chair on the other side of the room ... I, the only one who had never seen it, was the lucky one to be separated on the other side of the room! It wasn't so much scary to me as just startling. It was fun to get to see it though. That night Jenna and I spent in the guest bedroom there. 

 On Saturday morning (after a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast) Jenna and I decided to walk over to the Chiba mall. She wanted to show me how different it was than LaLaport ... I must admit, it was very different . We had intended to ride bikes there and back since it was within easy riding distance. Well, it just so happened that a typhoon came through the night before and it was still raining by the time we left. So we walked the nearly 2 miles there under umbrellas, and got pretty well soaked. On the way back it was raining even harder! We had waited until around 2:15 to leave, hoping the rain would stop ... So now we had to go back in the rain! We got to the house around 3:00 and changed out of our wet clothes. They looked like we had fallen into a swimming pool! Then we made a lunch that we had picked up at a little grocery store. Then we headed back to Tsukishima. On the way back here, we were sitting on the train and Jenna suddenly said, "Look, there's Captain Jack." I thought that she meant the Captain Jack from Dr. Who, because there were people standing in front of me and I couldn't see anyone out of the ordinary ... Then I happened to look up, and I said "Jenna! There's Captain Jack!":) So when he happened to get off at the same station where we were changing trains, Jenna asked if we could get his picture ... As most Japanese guys are, he was kind enough to oblige us. 

 Sunday was a good day. I can't really remember anything extraordinary that happened, but I do remember that it was a very good day. We had choir rehearsal here after church, and Fukuda-San, Iori, Keiko, and Mitsuo-Kun came. Jenna and I had made chicken stew for dinner, and we had hot chocolate for dessert. I think it was all good! After that Jenna, Abi and I watched Pride and Prejudice. 

 Jenna stayed over on Sunday night as well. On Monday morning she and I went to LaLaport. (Don't worry, we had no intention of buying anything!) We went, because we wanted to talk to one of the girls we had met who works at Perfect Suit Factory. Her name is Keiko, and she lives in Tsukishima. We wanted to invite her to the vision fair that Grace City Church Tokyo is having here next Saturday. After we got back, we stopped at a Mos Burger for lunch . That was absolutely the best fast food hamburger I think I've ever had! Simply delicious!!! Then Jenna and I planned out our Saturdays until I leave Tokyo in December! I think we have every Saturday packed, and we're still trying to squeeze in some things that we want to do together ...:) 

 Today she and I took Coen to the Imperial Palace with us for a guided tour. The whole tour was about 75 minutes long, and covered approximately one and a half miles! I had lots of fun there, took tons of pictures, and learned lots of interesting stuff. For instance, I learned that the most beautiful keep on the palace grounds, the Fushimi-yagura keep, was originally built in Kyoto, disassembled, and rebuilt in Tokyo during the reign of the third Shogun in the 17th century! I would never have guessed! Then we came here and all took a nap since we have stayed up until midnight for the last three nights, and we got up unusually early this morning!:) After that Jenna had to go back to Chiba, and I did reading with the boys and made supper. Pray for Coen, because I don't think he feels well today for some reason ... I don't think it's anything serious, but do pray for him ... Perhaps he will feel better in the morning.

  Tomorrow morning I have my next calligraphy lesson. This time Hinako's grandmother is coming here and bringing Hinako so that she, Eastin, and I can all write together! 

So, now I think I'll go to bed!!! 

Good night (or morning as the case may be) to all of you!!!!

All my love,

Hannah

Hello Again....

 Well hello everyone, whoever and wherever you may be... I am me, sitting at a dining room table somewhere in Tokyo, Japan, with a baby in my lap. I have sad news... Colin is on his way back to Mississippi. Right now he is sitting somewhere near the middle of a Boeing 777 over the Pacific Ocean. My room looks so empty. The entire house seems just a little sadder....especially me... :( I hated to see him go. I wish his stay could have been longer... But why dwell on that when I could be telling of all the fun we had together while he was here! We had 13 wonderful days together, and I hope always to remember the fun we had.  Since it's been too long to go from where I left off last time to today, I'll start at yesterday, work my way backwards as far as I can remember until I get too tired to think... :)


 Yesterday morning started off well. After taking Eastin to school, Colin and I took Baby and left for the Imperial Palace. It was only a short train ride and walk away, and the weather was perfect for a long walk outside. It was overcast (good for picture taking), breezy (good for...something), and cool (to keep you from getting too hot walking for so long). I pushed Baby in the stroller the entire time, and we spent the whole morning just walking around the imperial gardens. It was amazing, not necessarily for the interesting landscape, but just because it was so big! There were actually huge patches with just grass and a few trees! I was continually commenting on the amount of grass! It was pure beauty! :) We took some pictures, but they are all on Colin's camera, so I don't have any to show yet... Perhaps soon. Then for lunch we ate at a little cafe type thing. It reminded me of a small corner place in London in the 1960's. The atmosphere was wonderful (not to mention the hamburger, fries, onion rings, and drink), and the music was all from the late 1940's to mid 1960's American.  Perhaps the prices weren't that great compared to America, but we each got all of those things for less than 1,000 yen. I thought it was pretty good, considering that just a coke in a restaurant here can cost up to 400 yen! Then on the way back we got lost for a while in Tokyo station. But we found our way, and then I picked Eastin up from school and we spent about an hour here. Then, Colin and I went to Hinako's house for a calligraphy lesson from Hinako's grandmother! I learned to make three kanji. We each did the word for 'big', and 'mountain', and 'earth'.  Hinako's grandmother even gave me my own set of calligraphy materials! I love it! I love doing it! She also presented one of her pieces to each of us. The one she gave me is 'mountain', and his is 'earth'. I love mine! :) After that we came home and had a full Japanese meal. We ate rice, yakitori (chicken on a stick), eggplant, fried lotus root, and Colin and I ate some Chinese rolls made by the mother of Eastin's friend! Everything was super delicious!!! After dinner I had pumpkin icecream. It was ok, but green tea icecream is still by far my favorite! We tried to watch an anime movie, but I fell asleep about 15 minutes into it, and didn't wake up until the end credits. :) I think Colin stayed awake for the whole thing, but I still don't have a clue what it's about... I'll have to watch it again some other time. :) 

  The day before that, Monday, Colin filmed me taking Eastin to school. I hope the video turned out well since he was having to film around all the other children and their mothers taking them to school. It was really cool, because the mothers kept saying good morning to us (as usual), but this time he got it on video so that I can always remember these days! My brother is amazing! After that I came back and made some bread while Colin worked on the video he's making for Grace City Church Tokyo (GCCT).  I think it's going to be good! Then we went to take pictures of the outfit I bought on Saturday. I bought the dress, boots, and jacket, and let Colin take pictures of it all. Then he and Abi went to film another part of the movie while I stayed here with Coen. I don't remember what we had for dinner that night, but I'm sure it was good too. :) We also watched an anime called "Princess Mononoke". It was in Japanese but had English subtitles. I really liked it. I had seen it before, but had no idea what was going on. Seeing it that night with subtitles made all the difference! 




On Sunday... Wow... Last Sunday was probably the best I remember since being here. I can't really explain what made it so different, it just was... And so totally better! I felt good all day, and everything seemed brighter and less foreign, and Coen was good during church, and the boys were good after church, and there were English words to all of the songs, and...I don't know... I just enjoyed it a lot more than usual. After church Colin, Jenna, and I went to LaLaport, the mall. That was lots of fun, too. We stayed until about 9:00. After that Jenna had to go back to Chiba and we came back here and went to bed. 




 Saturday was lots of fun. Colin and I spent the entire day out (didn't even make it back for supper), and had loads of fun. In the morning, we went to the Meiji shrine, made when Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken died in the 1960's (I believe). It is truly huge, and took all morning to explore! This picture is one of my favorites. It is me standing beside one of the huge arches outside the shrine. Seeing me standing beside it really helps put it into proportion... and I'm over 5 and a half feet tall (about 176 cm.)! I'm the tiny thing wearing white... Then after that we went to the Oriental Bazaar. I love that store, even though it was obviously designed for tourists. It has everything in it basically, and at more decent prices than you usually find... For lunch we stopped in a little two story cafe and had Italian. We just both happened to be craving something Italian. I don't think the fact that it was after 1:00 and it was the first restaurant we came to had anything to do with our decision. ;) We stopped at a Starbucks for a green tea frappachino after that, and went clothes shopping. Then we came home and had onigiri, sushi, and popcorn for dinner. (Only Colin had sushi. I wasn't in the mood for it. I just had a small onigiri and some popcorn while we tried to watch a movie.) I fell asleep during that movie as well, and Colin was working the entire time it was playing, so he didn't see it either. :) 


Now I'll skip to Wednesday, because I don't remember at the moment what we did on Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday Colin and I went to Chiba for the English worship service at Honda Chapel. I was so excited, and thankful, that I was able to find it on my own. We got to the station and I led the way to the church from there. It was the first time I ever remembered walking that way before, but we made it with no problems. Colin was able to meet the Chiba team (or most of them), and we ate lunch with them. He enjoyed talking to Mr. Drews during lunch. I also loved the English service. It was a full service, with hymns, a sermon, and the Lord's Supper. It was great. 


Well, I'm pretty tired now, so I'll have to fill in on more details at a later date. Perhaps tomorrow...? 


Remember to pray for the safe arrival of Colin!


All my love,
Hannah

Day 4...again...

 Well, I've been back in Japan for four days now, and it already seems like a week and a half has passed. I feel like I have done so much, but at the same time it feels like I haven't done anything. So let's see if I can take it one day at a time and tell what happened... :)


 On Saturday Colin (my brother), Roger and Abi went to Ginza to interview people. They are making a short movie about Grace City Church, and wanted to interview several people for that. I stayed here at the house with the boys while they did that. While they were gone I got bored and was trying to stay awake, so after I made sweet tea I washed the fronts of all the cabinets, cleaned all the glass (windows, doors, mirrors, etc.), and then I sat on the sofa to read Lord of the Rings. I ended up falling asleep about halfway through the chapter though... :( But overall it was a good day.


 On Sunday, ...I won't even go there. I had better just say that it was a very hectic day for me that started out too early, was too full in the middle,  and ended with my tripping coming up the subway station stairs and nearly tearing off my toenail! The weather was nice, though, and it was cool enough for me to wear my favorite tiered skirt. Colin was filming on that day too. They are making two different movies. This one is about what all goes into making a church in the middle of a huge city where you rent a room for four hours every week as your sanctuary. I think that both movies will be very good when finished.



 On Monday Colin and I went to Asakusa, to visit the major Buddhist temple that is there. It is a major tourist location, and I felt that it was worth seeing since I had never seen it before. There were SOO many people there! Colin and I took lots of pictures while we were there. We also explored the surrounding area. I think it was possibly the best day I've had in Japan the whole time I've been here.  I feel like I keep harping on this, but having someone to talk to and with whom I can relate makes an entire world of difference!!! We had lunch together in a little ramen shop a little ways away from the main tourist stream. It was very good. I love this first picture for several reasons. Not only can you see a glimpse of the old and traditional ways of the Buddhists as this woman gives an offering and prays before entering the temple, you can also see the flood...the masses... of tourists in the background as they make their way up the street. I took this picture after we had come through that mass of people. As I turned around to leave the temple this scene caught my eye. I couldn't believe I had just come through that! The other two pictures are fairly good as well. In the second picture you can see Colin and me in front of the temple doors. The last one is a picture of the gates leading to the temple itself with the huge lanterns. Colin took many more on his camera, and perhaps I'll be able to share them later. We got home around 3:30, and then I did the boys' English lessons with them and baked potatoes for dinner while Roger and Colin worked on editing the movies. I took the boys to the park to let out some energy right before it got dark... Then after I had cleaned the kitchen, and everyone had finished practicing instruments and editing movies, we watched a movie together. I liked it a lot. It was called 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. I sat on the edge of my seat almost the entire time... It was suspenseful yet funny. Also, it had James Stewart as the lead character, so that made it all the better. :)

  Well, I suppose that is about all the interesting things that have happened lately... Of course, just being here and the every day things in life are interesting, but they are far too numerous to relate! I'm sure that in a few hours I will think of something else I meant to write, but I don't remember anything else at the moment. :)


 It is nearly lunch time, so I suppose I shall go and find some leftovers to confiscate. :)


All My Love,
Hannah

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

  Hello everyone, I hope your last day of September has started well! My last day of September is ending well... This morning I dreamed that I had to get up at 2:00 am, and about two minutes later I did wake up at 6:30 am! It didn't exactly make me want to get up! I think what woke me up was me saying to myself (aloud) "...Sleep, beautiful sleep. I just want sleep." :) Why I woke myself up saying this I have no idea. I slept very well last night! It just so happened that I had a dream about waking up at an absurdly early hour... When I did wake up enough to look at my watch and realize that it wasn't 2:00 am I realized that the weather forecast had been correct....rain. It has rained all day; not a heavy rain, just a gentle...slow...wet... sort of rain. When I took Eastin to school this morning (which I love doing) I took Baby along too. He had not been happy most of the morning, so I decided that a nice stroller ride would do him good. Well, as soon as I stepped into the elevator I remembered that it was raining. I had taken one umbrella for me, and given one to Eastin. But I had neglected to attach the rain cover to the stroller. It simply slipped my mind! Thankfully it was barely raining at that point, so neither of us got very wet. After that I put Coen down for a nap and sent a few emails. Then Abi and I left for Sassoon Pro Ginza. That is the most reasonably priced hair salon in the surrounding area, and especially for Ginza. (I don't remember whether I've mentioned that Ginza is one of the top shopping areas in the world as far as prices and money transfer!) So getting a hair cut in Ginza is very impressive. =)  
We left around 9:30 and got back a little after 12:00 noon. After realizing that flip-flips weren't the best shoe choice for the day, sending a few more emails, and eating some lunch I started folding a load of clothes. Something interrupted my process, but I don't remember what it was... Oh yeah... The flip-flops... I realized after walking to the train station, riding the train, walking about a mile to the salon, sitting with wet shoes the entire time, and walking a mile back to the station (all in the rain) that I had made a poor choice of shoes to wear... Oh well! I don't think I'll die from having wet feet for a few hours. :)
  When Abi went to pick up Eastin,  I went to my room to lie down. I had intended to get up when she got back with Eastin so that we could do his English school. But we had an impromptu visit from two of his friends that ended up staying about an hour. So I slept for nearly that long. After that we did his English school and Aidan's. Then I made pizza!!! I used garbanzo bean flour and tapioca starch for the crust, and topped it with sliced pepperoni, olives, and mozzarella. They turned out really good, and I think that was the best pizza I've had in the last 5 months put together! The only thing it needed was some Tabasco sauce!  


 Now I will proceed to give you a run down of the day ahead of me... The first day of October!
 Tomorrow is another 'iasumi', or holiday/vacation. My English lesson with Hinako and Eastin is from 10:00 - 12:00. After that Eastin is going to Hinako's house for lunch. Aidan and Baby will be here at the house the entire time, most likely. Then at 3:30 Roger, Abi, Aidan, and Eastin are leaving. Eastin is going to a friend's house for a sleep over, Aidan is going to karate until 5:00, and Roger and Abi are going somewhere else. (I'm not sure where.) Aidan and Baby and I will have dinner here and spend a quiet (hopefully) evening by ourselves. Thankfully tomorrow only has a 20% chance of rain. Perhaps it won't rain and we can take the boys to the park for a while during the day. That would be fun!


Anyway. That's all for now... I probably won't have time to post anything tomorrow, but we'll see. I can't believe it's only 5 days now until I go home for my own iasumi! :) I haven't even packed. Honestly I can't really pack until at least Saturday. See, I kind of need my clothes to stay unpacked as long as I can... Thankfully I'm planning to travel pretty light. I plan to bring back some flours and other cooking things that can't be bought here. Well, I am pretty tired, even though it's only 8:30. I have downloaded The Cat of Bubastes as an MP3. Perhaps I will listen to a few chapters.


Good night...Or morning!


All my love,
Hannah


P.S. This is a picture I took yesterday when I went for my walk. It is one of my favorites! Enjoy!

Japan: Day 140

...Windy day, the sunshine's ray,  rainclouds rolling away...
...Blue skies, terrific buys, watching waves rise...
...Preschoolers in their blue smock, pleasant walk around the block...
...Happy day........what else can I say...???

Bridge along walking path

(Bad poetry, I know... :) But it pretty much sums up my day! I had a wonderful day filled with sunshine and smiles! I don't know what made me this way all of a sudden, but my attitude seems to change with and like the weather! Hmmm...tomorrow predicts rain... :-/ We'll see...)

All my love,
Hannah

Cutest baby boy in the world

Spring Tea Party

Hello all, I hope you have had an absolutely wonderful night, and have a wonderful Saturday!
I just had to share this picture with you. I hope you can see it well, sorry for the quality. The original is a pencil drawing on a random piece of construction paper. :) I don't flatter myself to be an artist, or even an artist want-to-be. But sometimes I get random urges to draw. I absolutely love drawing with a sharp yellow pencil on a piece of blank paper.  
In this picture of a lovely spring tea party, we see three young girls who have prepared a wonderful little picnic of lemonade, strawberries, and little cakes, all set up with their mis-match glasses, wooden table, antique tablecloth, and miscellaneous chairs. Although they would call themselves little ladies if you asked them, when no one is watching they still cling to their childish ways. We can see this by the way they have abandoned their proper little tea party to play dolls or take turns on the old oak swing. The little set of daises at the bottom is just part of my signature since they are my favorite flower. :) 
I suppose after thinking this much about a picture that started out in quite a different direction shows that I still hold on to my childish ways at heart a little too. :) I say it started in a different direction because the thing that gave me the desire to draw was Eastin's sketch pad that had Winnie the Pooh on the front. (crazy, huh?) Then when I made the tablecloth and lemonade pitcher I decided to make it a little old lady's dining room... Then I started drawing the cups and glasses, and the idea for a little girls' tea party came to me. I like the way it turned out, myself, even though I know it's not very good artistically. I have taped it to my closet door so that I can look at it until I tire of it. 


Let me know what you think! :)
I will probably post more about my day later on.


All my love,
Hannah