Huh???? - Culture Shock....

Things that make me go "Huh?" here in America. Look how close these carts are to the cart corrals? Two different days....

It would be too great of an inconvenience to walk 20 feet so your cart doesn't damage another's car? This sort of  what - self-centeredness? Lazieness? Lack of thought? is stunning after living in Asia for four years.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Bit of Humor

Arielle found this online and the dog barking sounded so familiar.....we shared on FB but I know some aren't on FB. We are thinking this may be fun to do.....we haven't yet....but we HAVE found great humor in this as we face our challenge with dog noise....and I HAVE done the "hey, hey, HEY," thing when Yip and Yap are getting loud...and they quiet down to listen. It makes me smile.

 

When we get home, we'll make more of an effort to get to know our neighbors. I'm sure that will help. They HAVE turned the light off that was shining in our windows.

I figure they are having to put up with new kid noise in the back yard - they probably think the dog noise levels it all out. Maybe it does. As long as the dogs go inside before 10 - 11 p.m.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

It's ONLY Wednesday?

I drove with Michael to base today and kept the van. I was able to go to the fitness center and get a work out in....which was nice. 

The kids and I  decided to take advantage of having wheels and go explore our area. We didn't find a thing we set out to find. We did discover the Yuba City Airport, a big amphitheater, lots of corn and cows.  We found THESE on our doorstep when we came home for lunch. Thanks, Valerie. We're sorry we missed you and the girls. 

Our big goal for the day was to go back to base and get our laundry done before we picked up Michael.  It was hot and run down...but functional. We have clean clothes.

We saw our first coyote as we left the housing area. Unfortunately, a truck hit it just as we saw it. 

I said earlier today on Facebook I really needed a date night but didn't think it would happen until after our trip. When we got home Michael asked where I'd like to go. We put  pizzas in for the kids and headed for Chipotle. YUM - vegan bowl....very good. 

There was a little store next door which sells and repairs phones. We went in and discussed phone options....we really don't want a two year contract....burned too often on those with our lifestyle.  You don't WANT to know how much it cost us in Japan to leave at the "wrong time". LOL Still researching. 

We stopped at Sam's club and decided we'll go back tomorrow night and pick up some furniture. I want a futon before Bre gets here. She needs a mattress and we plan on getting one anyway.

We hit Lowes and came home.....This cracked us up....doesn't show up well - but our 15 pass parked next to a really tall truck. Michael said, "We aren't in Japan any longer are we?"  He suggested you could drive many Japanese cars under the truck. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Yip, Yap and Ugly

Woot! Today I met Laura. Laura has been a Facebook friend since we found out we were moving to Beale and is the local PWOC president. She came bearing home-canned spaghetti sauce made from her freshly picked tomatoes, SHOWER HOOKS (my children rose and blessed her name), a gift from PWOC and her vacuum and long-handled duster for us to borrow until Thursday. 

It was a great way to start the day. 

I called several places and was finally able to find an indoor, place with room - and friendly folks - to board Yuuki for a bit.  It's a vet hospital in town and they'll  most likely become our vet. Two birds with four phone calls. LOL 

We learned today that after-lunch walks are not predictable in CA. Arielle is not sleeping - she's sun bathing. ::snort:: 

We found yet another park.....

Yuuki pulled up to a tree, laid down in the shade and made it clear she didn't want to budge. Luckily we were a block from home. I was thirsty as she drank all my water.

Summer Reading

Nolan did what I could not do. He climbed on the camp chair and was able to reach the cobwebs in the bottom of the high window. He couldn't reach the top - but that appears to be unreachable until ladders are unpacked. ::snort::

In Family Circle we read Luke 14:26-35 and discussed what it means to be a follower/disciple of Christ and what it means to count the cost. It was a good discussion.....

However, the best mommy moment came when Zander shared, "I think if God shut the mouth of a lion for that man in the Bible, he could shut Yip, Yap and Ugly's mouths too."  We prayed the dogs either shut up or our ears are shut up. ::snort::  It's 10 p.m. and they are still yapping.

We need to get to know our neighbors...which we will do when we return. We need to know the dogs' names, maybe that will help to settle them.

After family circle Michael trounced Zander in a game of Acey Deucy. He had won Nolan the night before. I joked  I would play him and win....and I did. I rolled about 8 Acey Deucys and many doubles. Great fun.

The kids taught me a Japanese card game they learned on their trip south last month - Dohoku or Dofuku....It was pretty fun. (South in Japan that is).

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Spa People....

The pretty purple colors tell a story. The first night in the spa, I felt sting-y and got a bit of a red burn. My silver Japanese courage necklace also turned black where it had been in the water. 

We adjusted. 

The next time I noted Stacia's new purple suit had lost its color.

We added more water tonight...and I need to buy a car over the phone so I can find a pool store and buy something new for this Gherkin soup. ::snort::

Maybe we aren't spa people....no, we can figure this out. We'll figure it out by Thursday because Bre - the elder Gherkin - is coming to visit and is bringing her suit. She's going to drive to the WEDDING with us. ::grin::

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

First Monday!

Michael went to work.

I baked my first item in the new house.

We had breakfast. Trying to get a feel for where furniture will go. 

I put the broom to good use and tackled  cobwebs…unfortunately there are a few windows far higher than I am – even with the extension and standing on a camp chair.  We unpacked all the bags - which means we found the farewell quilt shown below (I didn't read it). This photo shows Stacia on the landing of the 2nd floor - to the right are the art squares and the windows with cobwebs (inside) and pigeon poop (outside) are higher still. 

Arielle needed some alone time… the rest of us went to explore the neighborhood. 

We are blessed with a MUCH cooler day today. Still lots of sun but really pleasant for walking. We found a bigger park a few blocks away.  The boys noted this is the perfect set up for Bunko! 

Zander willingly showed Stacia how to go down the pole. She decided to wait "until she's 8."

We heard chickens in a back yard....and since we have dogs barking all day long on either side of us...chickens may not be too noisy. ::snort:: 

Stacia sat in the hot tub for hours....don't worry about the "heat"....I didn't turn the heater on and the water was at 80 degrees.  We've discovered she's like Krista - she bronzes rather than burns. She'll be stunning in white in a week. 

As we unpacked I found a few more "last minute" items for the mantel.....the glass floats Stacia and Zander found on our last trip to Cape Shiriya, the Sayonara doll the chapel gave us at our farewell (I'm still not reading it), and the memorial flag from Dad G's funeral.

Our first dinner in our home...salad, artichokes, roasted asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, fruit salad and popcorn chicken.

Japanese style 

 No, they are not giving us their rapt attention during family circle....they are watching the PIGEONS...which we've discovered have a NEST above our high window...that explains a lot.  We will go to war when we are settled...we're also tracking down some mice. LOL

Finally, please pray for our adjustment to our new home. We are thrilled with the house. Moving in to the house brings home the reality that we are NOT simply traveling, we won't be going home in a week or two....and this has been hard....especially (today) for Arielle and me. Another prayer request is we find a used car which will work for us and get good gas mileage. It will help when we can explore the area, while Michael is working. ::wink::  I'm finding it really difficult to drive a 15 pass van after driving small Japanese cars at slow speeds for four years. I'd love to find a Nissan Prairie Joy in the states. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Happy and Sad at the Same Time

I woke up today in our new home. That made me very happy – and a tad bit sad as I remembered our home in the rice fields of Misawa and our neighbors.

It made me happy to have my first cup of tea in our new home. I happened to have this one tea cup from our Korean trip….and I found a pot to boil some water. LOL

I was alarmed to discover I’d forgotten to buy a shower curtain. In Japan you have shower ROOMS – no curtains. It had totally slipped my mind.

We attended our first service today at the Valley Chapel at Beale.  We really loved chatting with folks. We look forward to getting to know the faces and names we met this morning. That made us happy…but it was happiness tinged with sadness. We missed the familiar faces from the past four years.  I noted there were only two youth besides ours (at least that I saw from my seat). It made Arielle miss her friends.

We were invited to lunch with a family from chapel and that made me happy….but we got out of the chapel too late to join them. That made me sad.

We went to Sizzlers. Sizzlers is the restaurant where I met Michael’s parents for the first time. Happy memories…tinged with a bit of sadness as Dad G won’t be going to Sizzlers with us again. I got a text from Mom G which read “@ Sizzlers – proceeding to Buffet.” That made me smile.

We are learning to make the most of our trips to town – it’s at least 25 minutes to anything from our home. ::snort::  We were in Yuba City so we decided to stop by Target for some home essentials (shower curtain, toothbrush holders, garbage cans…).  We headed to Wal-Mart for the things which Target didn’t have and for a few more grocery items (those things I didn’t need Sam’s Sizes).

It made me happy to see Michael sneaking Internet on his ipad at Target and Wal-mart…and I’m anticipating “blazing fast” wifi in the home by tomorrow night.

It made me happy to see little homey touches coming to life.  It made me laugh to discover I forgot to buy the shower hooks.

Shower brought to you by AT/T

It made me really happy when Michael was able to get the adhesive residue off our front windows.

It made me happy to see Yuuki in her new bed (with old blanket). It made me disgusted to see her corner a frog and go after the poor thing.

It was a joyous surprise to find a bit of color in our yard – not sure what type of plant this is.

It made me happy to see old family routines returning to our lives.

Note the square alcoves above their heads

It made me happy to see new family routines beginning…..

Bring your suits if you visit. Michael says I can’t do this onsen style. I warned him it’s sure to happen so he’s thinking of how to get some privacy back here. ::snort:: We need to fine tune the chemical levels - it was a "bit" strong tonight. 

It made me happy to be transported back to Japan in my memory as Arielle and I sat in the hot tub…..it made us both sad to think of dear friends we’ve shared onsen soaks with in the past years.

You truly can be incredibly thankful, joyful, happy and sad at the same time. It’s a familiar feeling.

Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...