Japan Day 1 & 2 Continued...

Japan Day 1 & 2

Okay so this is about the millionth time I've tried to work on this blog and post pictures, but it is taking a ridiculously long time to load a single one and I know all of you are sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear to hear aboutJapan and see all the pics. and such. I am going to have to put up the pictures over several posts though because there are just too many.First of all, I should state that we went to Japan to work with the teens of one of the churches there in Okinawa. A family who used to go to our church here, is stationed there and asked if we would be willing to come out and work with the youth group. And we said of course!!! Who wouldn't want to visit Japan?? And I have never been out of the country so I was super stoked!

We departed for Japan on December 14th and stayed for a little over a week. Today I will give you a little glimpse of our first two days in Japan. Day 1 and 2 were planned to be relaxing due to our loooong travels (30 hours) and the time change (Okinawa is 14 hours ahead of us). So we got to take a little tour of the city, visiting Kokusai Street and a Chinese Gardens (built in 1992 to commemorate their relationship with their sister city in China) and then we got to meet all the kids we went to see. Kokusai Street is a long strip of booths where you can buy just about anything you need or want.

Eating Soba and drinking Calpis! Yummmm....

Kokusai Street

The fish market

You can buy all kinds of colorful fish!

Anyone need some clothes?

You can purchase your sweet heart some beautiful flowers!

Or you can choose from a million different little Shi-Shi Dogs...I'll tell you about those later.

Here's something for all you liquor drinkers out there. What you are seeing above is Habushu, containing two poisonous snakes inside. It actually didn't taste as bad as I thought it would.

Or for the more healthy eater...you can get yourself a nice big ol' raddish!

Potato Bread...from a purple potato, it was so delicious! It tasted like funnel cake.

I will have to finish uploading pictures of the Chinese Gardens another day, it is taking FOREVER to load a single picture! Oh and P.S. in case you freaking out about the snake liquor, I didn't actually drink it! Ewww...

2011

Wow! I can't believe it's 2011, this year has really flown by and unfortunately for you, I did not do a good job at updating you on the goings-on of the past year. Soooo...hopefully within the next month or so I can do some highlighting of things that happened in 2010. Seems like right when summer hits, things don't really calm down for a long time.

With that being said, I will leave you with a scripture in dedication of the new year. I know I, as well as many of you I'm sure, make plans for the upcoming year, whether it's goals/resolutions or plans to buy a house, or plans to start a family, or to change jobs etc. and sometimes it's easy to get caught up in all these plans and get discouraged when they don't work out and lose focus on God and what his plan is for our life. And no, we are not planning on starting a family, but we are going to try and buy a house! But we'll see, it didn't work out last year, so we are holding our breaths (and praying), hoping it happens this year!

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."

Grahams Move. Sad Day.

A couple of weeks ago Chad's sister, Kristen, and her family moved back to Virginia. For those of you that don't know, they moved here pretty much at the exacttime we moved here. Brett and Chad both got jobs here in the Tampa area at the same time, which was AMAZING. They lived about 15 minutes away and it was so great to have family close by, not to mention really good friends. Brett got transferred back to DC (he works for the FBI), but at least they still have good friends there as well as their church family. I miss our weekly dinners and game nights and our sweet little niece and nephew! Maybe at some point we can plan a visit up there. We love you Brett, Kristen, Kate, and Ian and we miss you!!!

Apple Dumplings

MMMMmmmm......these were sooo delicious and not fattening at all! This is another recipe from Pioneer Woman and if I have learned anything, it's that she does not skimp on butter in any recipe! This is incredible easy to make and incredibly addicting.

Apple Dumplings

• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 2 cans (8 oz.) Crescent Rolls
• 2 Sticks Butter
• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Cinnamon to taste
• 1 can (12 oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

1. Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9x13 buttered dish.

2. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

3. Serve with ice cream and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Italian Meatball Soup

Italian Meatball Soup (from Pioneer Woman)

Meatballs:

• ¾ pounds Ground Beef
• ½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 cloves Garlic
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Oregano
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

Soup:

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 7 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock
• 2 cups Water
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• ¾ cups Onion, Chopped
• ¾ cups Carrots, Chopped
• ¾ cups Celery, Chopped
• 1 cup Russet Potato, Chopped (do Not Peel)
• ½ pounds Cabbage Chopped
• Grated Parmesan Cheese To Serve

Tied in a Cheesecloth Bundle:

• 4 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
• 2 whole Bay Leaves
• 1 teaspoon Peppercorns

1. To make meatballs combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Shape into small balls and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Gather 4 tablespoons parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a cheesecloth bundle. Tie to secure.

3. After meatballs have chilled, heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a heavy pot. Briefly brown meatballs, then remove to a plate. Add beef stock, water, tomato paste, and herb bag to pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Add onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Simmer 15 more minutes. Remove herb bag.

5. Add cabbage and meatballs. Bring to a boil, then simmer 8 to 10 minutes.

6. Optional** Serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

This recipe was okay. It wasn't awesome for the amount of time it took me to cook it (pre-warning...it took me 3 hours total! Although I'm pretty slow at cutting veggies.), but I'll probably cook it again during the cold months. I also omitted the cabbage and celery. I know it's good for you, but I just can't stand celery and as we all know, vegetables that Chad eats are few and far between. Oh, and fyi, the soup tasted better the second day.

Grandparents, Knitting, & Baseball

Whew, I haven't posted in a while! It seems like it's been a really busy past few weeks. First of all I am happy to say that I have increased my caseload by two and so I now have 5 children I see on a weekly basis, yaay! My two children I picked up are both only 4 months old, so sweet!

A couple weeks ago Chad and I went and visited my grandparents in Sebastian, FL. We had a really nice visit with them and Gram taught me once again (for about the hundredth time!) how to knit. It's just one of those things that I start and then stop and when I want to start again I don't remember how. Here's me and my grandparents. Awwwww.....

And here is how my knitting is coming along! Actually I must admit, I did all of this the afternoon I visited them and haven't picked it up since. BUT, I will not give up on it like I have so many times before! I just need to catch up on a few other important things beforehand. I know, I know, that's what I always say. But I'm determined this time.

We also went to a spring training baseball game with Chad's parents while they were in town. We saw the Tigers vs. Braves. It was a fun afternoon and one of the first days of nice weather. I liked playing around with the camera's different color settings.

We took the youth group kids ice skating this weekend, which was really fun. I hadn't been ice skating in a very long time. I used to go all the time with my dad, but sadly I'm not as good as I used to be (not that I used to be great). I forgot our camera, but Chad took a couple with his phone so maybe I can post some later.

Oh, I almost forgot! We also went to the strawberry festival! But that will be another post for another day.

The next few weeks will continue to be busy, so I don't know how much cooking we'll be getting in. I'm already two meals behind where I should be :(

Hope everyone's first day of Spring was fantastic, although I think about half the states got several inches of snow!! I miss snow...not ice mind you, but snow. Snow is so clean and fresh looking, not to mention a blast to play in!

Happy Spring!