Yuuki's Grand Day

The kids have been teaching Yuuki "tricks". Most are tricks Susi told us she knew before....so she now sits, stays, shakes, rolls over and gives high fives....but when we headed to the beach and I discovered her in my seat.....

Tired after her road trip. LOL 

She LOVES to dig holes in the sand and roll around.

At the end of Akikosan Lessons...Yuuki is exhausted...she does this to herself. 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Love, Bikes, Beaches and Language Lessons

• Reminded yesterday and this a.m. again as I read e100 (I Cor 13 and 2 Cor 5:14-15) that it's all about love...and that has always been my vision and will be my vision and I don't need anything fancier. ::snort::  The love of Christ controls, constrains, motivates, compels, captivates my life...or should. 
• Bike ride with Stacia to the produce market

• Simply can't take another moment shut up in here working on regional Admin stuff - heading to the beach

Not sure WHY they added these after the tsunami
They're great to lay on in the sun

• STUNNINGLY beautiful day - can see the mountains, warm breeze at beach - good call
• Need to create a new map....wish I was more techie
• Created a new "go to" dinner using rice, organic red lentil soup, spices and some veggies - curry rice casserole! It cooked while we played at the beach. 
• Fun lesson with Akikosan. I sure wish we could take her with us back to America. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Morning Bike Ride

I discovered my bike has had a rough winter. The handlebars are twisted, the speedometer and bell are missing, the basket holder is missing. I know it sounds like an old lady bike but it makes me happy. The speedometer and bell are useful for work outs. The basket is great for going to the market and putting produce in to bring home. Oh well......The debate will be - do I buy a Japanese bike or wait a year until we're in the states and leave this one here. Probably the latter. 


This morning was beautiful for a bike ride.  Stacia was happy to go with me and my lopsided bike.

This road can get busy

Most of the roads are rural 

See the mountains! 

I love all the early morning greetings we get as we ride by our neighbors and through the fields.  This is a great time of year to simply observe.

Newly flooded field of rice

This field has dried out enough to be mud. LOL 

After a rather harrowing sharing of our narrow lane with trucks and such...we made it to the smaller produce market. I bought spinach, bananas, apples and an onion.....filled my back pack (since the basket is out of commission).  Stacia bought....

Chocolette icesu creamu.....as Stacia gets a bit steadier in the traffic....we'll attempt to ride to the big produce market by us - the foot onsen/organic restaurant/strawberry field market! 

Choosing Joy!

©2012 D.R.G.

~Coram Deo~

Living all of life before the face of God...

Curry Rice Casserole

I'd never had curry until I moved to Japan - but I like. Kobiashisan told me that curry is "Japanese fast food" like mac and cheese.  I put this together and it's good - though I know Michael won't eat it. I think Michael used to like curry or at least tolerate it until his last deployment. They ate curry every single day. Now he doesn't eat it....I don't blame him...but we like it. LOL  Today I created this go to  dinner.  I'll make a big salad and fish for Michael. 

The commissary began carrying these "all natural soups".  Arielle and I like this one. 

Ingredients - to make a big crock pot

2 containers of Curried Red Lentil Soup
a big onion - chopped
4 - 6 garlic cloves, minced
2  - 3 potatoes (yes, that IS the size of them here and they are EXPENSIVE)
handful of carrots
2 - 4 T of Curry powder
1 - 2 tsp of chili powder
leftover cooked rice - 4 cups

Heat up soup and mix curry and chili with it. Taste. Do you like? If not add more.

Put cooked rice, chopped onion, garlic, carrots and potatoes in crock pot. Pour seasoned soup over all. Turn crock pot on High for about 3 hours. Adjust as needed.

I needed to write this down before I forget what I did.....and I'm going to find a good curry recipe that doesn't use "mixes".


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

"....My Parents Were Married!"

I am a woman of average height (alright already I'm 5'4" when I stretch but in Asia that makes me tall!) I am the mother of a daughter who is very tall for her age. Check out the photo of her playing twister below. She will be seven in August. It's fairly hard for me to cuddle her these days. Growth charts predict she will be at least 6 feet tall.

Having heard from some of my taller friends that life can be awkward as a tall woman, I've begun encouraging her in any of her girly pursuits, I often tell her how regal and elegant she is. Tonight she told me, "Mom, I'm not regal my parents were married - you should know!" ::snort:: But I'm planting seeds.

Barb, herself a tallish woman, hadn't seen Stacia in about 4 months (like the new feather she's sporting  - she waited nearly a year for it). She commented on how much Stacia has grown. She was about to tell Stacia how tall she's gotten when Stacia said, "I KNOW - I'm BIG."  As Barb and I talked she verified I was on the right track. When a young girl hears, "You're big for your age!" She doesn't hear, "I'm tall, I'm elegant, I'm regal."  She hears, "I'm BIG, I'm FAT, I'm a CLUTZ." 

Might we more carefully consider the words we speak in a child's presence? 

I HAVE and WILL teach her about inner beauty, being comfortable with herself et al....but I do think I will be much more careful in the future about the words I use to describe young kids in their hearing...they pick up on them young. LOL  

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Earlier Love

Before God blessed us with Yuuki, the wonder dog, the highlight of our month was to go to Barb's. Not for haircuts but to play with Lucy.......

and Reeses. 

We had appointments scheduled for the week Michael came home from the hospital. I couldn't break away and so we simply cancelled. We finally got gussied up again today. Shew. It was time.  The above kids are pre-haircut.

It's always fun to visit with Barb and watch the kids play with these dogs. They began to worry what Yuuki would think, but we decided they'd just have to tell Yuuki these dogs were their loves before her...but they love her best now. ::snort::

Yuuki seemed to forgive them.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

How Many Gherkins Can You Find?

• TnT - Ps 51 "Renew a steadfast spirit within me." Steadfast...firm...established...fixed in the face of life. In leadership, I'm encouraged to be steadfast in the face of challenges. In my personal life, steadfast in the face of uncertainties, kids flying the nest, child rearing challenges...steadfast. 
• Bike ride with Zander and Stacia through the Japanese farming fields, early a.m. "Ohiyogoziamasu" to neighbors....priceless.
• Fielding ministry emails and praying for a regional brain (admin coordinator) and more. LOL 
• Zander earned $10 after he rewashed the car and got it right! 
• Haircuts for all. 
• Strange incident with an irritated bicyclist.
• We stopped with dinner on base so we could see Michael. 
• Rousing bedtime game of Twister....like the new haircuts? There are four Gherkins in this photo - can you find them all? 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...