We're Not in Osaka or The Middle of the Story

I've shared our plot twist. We are not spending 13 hours on a plane today and we will not step off the plane into Osaka.  It is totally natural we'd be "feeling it" during this time when we expected to be on a Vision Trip in Japan. It's totally natural I'd be more emotional about it than the rest of the family - I live big. ::snort:: 

God's story has not changed. Our understanding of the story is being refined. His timing will prove to be better than our timeline.

It is still His will we

Rejoice always

Pray without ceasing

In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for (me) in Christ Jesus.  (I Thes. 5:16 - 18 and it really goes on but I had to stop somewhere).

We choose joy in the plot twist - in the middle of the story.

I read this on a friend's blog - Ann really voices it so much better than I.

Ann Voskamp

... so look, there's a whole bunch of us who are up tonight and sorta stuck here in the middle of the story, God, and we don't know what the next chapter holds.

We've got no idea how our hearts are about to get broken or when, what the doctor could end up saying tomorrow, how the kids will turn out, or what's on the next page or the one after that.
And when you're stuck in the middle of the story? Well, honestly, it's easy to feel at the end of your rope.

And You pull us close, real close: "I’d never forget you—never.
Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands." Isa49:16(MSG)

You've etched the very letters of our name, of who we are, right into You.

You haven't forgotten us or this chapter or this story, and if You haven't forgotten us, we're not about to go forgetting that Your stories always work out in the end -- and if things aren't working out quite yet, it just means we're not quite yet to the end. We'll literally practice our faith -- we'll practice saying thanks in the middle.

Faith thanks God in the middle of the mess,

Faith thanks God in the middle of the night,

Faith thanks God in the middle of the story --

Because it believes in the relentless goodness of Him who will not stop writing till there's good at the end of this story. 

Projects

One area I knew had to be downsized was my "PWOC t-shirt collection."  My friend Rose suggested making a quilt.  Arielle began making squares from my pile of t-shirts. We added in some other favorite t-shirts that are either showing wear or are too small: Nolan's shirt from climbing Mount Fuji (I need to find him another one), a PMOC t-shirt, a couple of squadron shirts...

Yuuki must be involved in all projects

 I've made quilts before - I just need to remember the next steps....Michael is mentioning a border. I need to think on this.  I feel much better making a quilt than donating our favorites or taking nothing by PWOC t-shirts to wear for our life in the trailer.

 

Michael began his first day of leave today. We are "supposed" to be flying to Japan tomorrow. Instead, we worked on a chart listing  aspects of living in various states. We made arrangements to get an estimate on needed water damage in the trailer.

 

We set a date to move Arielle to Oregon. The 23rd of July. This upcoming Sunday will be her last Sunday with us at Beale Chapel. While I listened to the kids Japanese lessons - I remembered. We googled and sure enough - there is a Japanese church in the town Arielle will be in. She is thrilled to attend.

 

Time is marching onward.

Oral Surgeon Part 2

She's  a trooper. I'm not sure WHY this simple tooth extraction bled for hours beyond when Arielle's did....but we're glad her stubborn tooth is out and hoping the others will move into place quickly.

Arielle saw the Oral Surgeon today, too. She's cleared for moving. LOL

Medical Records and "Plans"

These are Michael's medical records - mostly double-sided. There are still a few things missing. This is keeping Michael busy.  He highlights conditions the VA has listed as qualifying for a disability claim, tabs the records, and lists the condition and page number on a front page.  Blog readers know Michael has outstanding referrals.  Our hope is to be able to submit the records to the VA on 1 Nov - his first official day as a retiree. His VA claim will not be fast tracked because we couldn't get the claim turned in while he is active duty. We are looking at anywhere from 1 -2 years of a wait for a determination.

What this means is we will be living in an RV longer than the 3 months we've been thinking. It will also impact our plans to find a way back to Japan - though we aren't sure at this point how. We'll have to determine what "stay close" means....does it mean "be back in two weeks for a meeting," or "be here in 24 hours."  Still searching for answers.

Our plan is what it's been for months, "Move into the trailer until we can work out details to get back to Japan."  It looks like it will take a bit longer than we expected. Michael and I plan to begin Japanese lessons from Arielle and Nolan's senseis (Hey Ryu and Kim).

Five Wins and a Fail

Our science fail from last week needed to be redeemed. We used corn starch today and it worked perfectly to illustrate a non-Newtonian liquid. Win.

Next we explored the freezing point of juice....and made sorbet! We were supposed to shake the bags for 15 minutes, but we decided it was fine to eat at 5 min. I will do this in the future in the ice-cream maker and make sorbet. Win.

A lot of shaking....



We were happy to share with Arielle &
Arielle was happy to have yummy soft food

 Next we talked about gas and how we can't see it, but it fills the space around us. We put a paper in a cup, turned it upside down...

 

  Submerged the cup in water and the paper stayed in place - and dry.  Win.

This was supposed to be simple - blow a bubble  - watch it expand....but the kids can't blow bubbles. Fail. 

 

Checking out gas - which turned to liquid when it hit the cold mirror. Win.

Our last experiment took some work! I had checked 3 grocery stores last week and no one had pop rocks. I was going to order them online, but I didn't want a huge box of pop rocks. I asked on Facebook and gas stations were suggested. I check 3 without finding pop rocks. I was even told that  they "weren't allowed in CA." I came home to order them, and several suggested a dollar store. We ran up to Dollar General. The saleswoman told me they didn't carry them, but as I picked up some supplies for another experiment, I spotted them. After dinner, we were finally able to use the pop rocks.  The gas expanded and filled the ballots.

Five wins and one fail....It will be fun to have Michael around for these - I suspect we'll have much fewer fails. ::grin::

Cookie Dough Butter (Vegan)

Who doesn't love cookie dough? I had never heard of Trader Joe's Cookie Butter and now that I have - I don't think this is the same thing. This is not made with broken up cookies - but it's good.  After seeing a post for Cookie Dough Butter - it dawned on me - if I put the yumminess of dough in a jar - leaving out the egg - it would be a great snack. Here's the original recipe - which is gluten free, low carb (?) and primal. 

It was simple to make it vegan - though it is certainly not "sugar free" with honey, agave nectar or Rapadura added in.

I just throw it in a bowl until it tastes good - but here's the general idea:

Ingredients:
1 C nut butter (I use almond but cashew, peanut butter etc)
1/2 C Earth Balance (butter if you aren't worried about being vegan/cholesterol - TASTES better)
3 T whole wheat flour (or coconut for gluten free)
3 T Agave Nectar (honey or Rapadura)A dash of nutmeg (optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp vanilla (I used more)
3 T mini chips (chocolate chunks, vanilla chips, peanut butter chips etc)

Directions:

I simply mixed mine all together and stored it in a jar.  For finer directions check the link above.

How have we used it? Dip animal crackers in it, frost graham crackers, on pancakes, dip apples in it, on top of rice cakes (don't judge), frost breakfast oatmeal muffins,  and BY THE SPOONFUL.

I don't mind if the kid snack on this.

Nolan's New Look

We have no clue what motivated the change...but this afternoon Nolan shaved his beard off. If you've not seen a recent photo check the last photo of yesterday's blog post.

 

Just like that he looks 16 again. 

 

He's still helpful way beyond his years!

 

The other happenings of the day include chapel. We were so happy to see Angel and Jeremy. Angel was at our very first assignment, Malmstrom AFB,  as a 5 - 7 year old girl. She is now here with her husband and baby. Full circle. 

 

We grabbed lunch at Panda Express.

 

We have a HUGE box of water bottles we wanted to recycle. They would only let us turn 50 in at a time. We'll just be taking 50 at a time over - it's mad money for our trailer repairs.

 

Arielle seems to be feeling a bit better this afternoon. She can still barely open her mouth.

 

We took some measurements on the trailer (Caboose) and took it back to the storage lot.

 

That's about it.....the highlight of the day is certainly Nolan's new look - and the Gin Rummy the others are playing.