M&M

Japan

2007-07-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

TOKYO TOWER

MOUNT FUJI

MUSTACHE MIKE

A LONG WAY DOWN

THE TEMPLE AND THE TOWER

GATEWAY TO THE TEMPLE

TEMPLE AND THE TOWER

BUDDIST DOLLS USED FOR WORSHIP

SO MANY!!

THE GREAT BELL

WALKING AWAY

THE HEAVY WOODEN TEMPLE DOORS

POSING WITH THE JAPANESE YOUTH

WHAT?! I CAN'T READ THE MENU...

A PEACEFUL REFUGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY

HAPPINESS!

KYOTO IN THE RAIN

MIKE'S MEGA UMBRELLA

FIVE-STORY PAGODA

MONEY

WHAT A NEAT VIEW

POTTERY SHOP WHERE I BOUGHT SOME THINGS

A SWEETS SHOP

MAKING THE FAMOUS KYOTO SWEET

GOLD TEMPLE (REAL GOLD LEAF)

SERENITY OF THE MOSS GARDEN

TODJI (SP?)

TAKING A LOOK AT THE MAP

PRETTY COLOR

VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL WINDOW

TADITIONAL TEA SHOP

TOO MANY CHOICES!!

TASTE TEST

SO VERY TRADITIONAL

SHE HELPED US OUT A LOT!

A MAIN STREET IN THE OLDER PART OF KYOTO

TINY TINY STREET

MIKE

TOGETHER

PICKED FOR THE TRADITIONAL TEA DEMONSTATION

REAL GEISHA

VERY ELEGANT

SATISFYING THE SWEET TOOTH

We have so many more! It was a fabulous trip over all and eventually it will all make it onto the blog.

Easter

2007-04-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Lord's Day! I was greatly encouraged and supported by my church family. The Lord has blessed me abundantly, and this is only one of the many ways.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name."
— Ps. 103:1.

John Donne

2007-03-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

Holy Sonnet 14

Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow,burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your "viceroy" in me, me should defend, "gov in your stead"
But is captivated, and proves weak or untrue.
Yeat dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break me that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Lillies and Mustaches

2007-03-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

These flowers were delivered this week from someone to special to their someone special as a way to cheer them up about the miles between them!

Mike is growing a mustache!!

Refueling on the way to somewhere.

Bahamas

2007-03-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some pictures from my cruise with my family but don't really have any words left to narrate. I am under the gun to complete three research papers by the end of April. My home has pretty much become the library for the next four weeks and I continue to checkout more books each day! Needless to say all my words are already on paper and the precious few I have left are need for basic survival.

Pictures are worth a thousand words anyway. Enjoy!

We are Alive...

2007-01-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to all those friends that continue to check our blog even though there has been nothing new for weeks. We are swamped with work and school. I have been turning in everything that I write lately, I am finishing my English degree, and haven't had the time or the words to blog.
Another hindrance to blogging is the lack of pictures. Mike and I mailed our camera off to be fixed four weeks ago, the focus was off and the zoom was stiff. It came back looking like new-- except for the fact that the capture button doesn't work now! We should be getting that straightened out in the next couple of weeks and then we can share pictures again. Ok, I am off to philosophy class. I am really excited because last night on Jeopardy there was a question involving John Stuart Mill and utility of which I was able to answer since I had just finished reading about that hours ago!!!

Captain Holmes

2006-12-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

Friday I had the opportunity to pin Mike's Captain's bars onto his uniform. I also met Mike's new CO, Lt Col Brown, who is giving the oath to Mike in the pictures.

The Grand Canyon

2006-11-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

Make photo slide shows at onetruemedia.com

Here is a montage of our day at the Grand Canyon. It is really hard to do justice to the beauty and peacefulness of the canyon. After walking the rim for a few hours there was really only one word to deceive it, Grand! It was good that we had this day of rest and relaxation because on the following day we drove 970 miles from Flagstaff to my Aunt and Uncle's in Dallas, TX!! We won't do that again, drive 970 miles in one day that is! Fortunately Aunt Martha was gracious enough to receive us at 2:30 a.m.

The Sport of Kings

2006-11-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday afternoon Mike and I went to our first Polo game. The Okatie Rotary Club played Hargray(local cable co.) for local charities here in Bluffton. We learned several neat facts about the game in between the "chuckers", i.e. rounds. For example, after each seven minute chucker all riders change horses. Each horse rides between 4-5 miles over the 10 acre playing field and account for 80% of a win so a fresh horse is in your best interest if you want to take the match. It was a lot of fun to watch and it was perfect weather, so relaxing!

We are stomping divets at half-time. Each match has six chuckers. We are stomping between the third and fourth.

The House before paint

2006-11-10T06:08:00.000-08:00

Our House

Entryway
Library
Dining
Kitchen
Great Room(facing sunroom)
Sunroom
Upstairs Hallway (facing front of house)

Master Bedroom (taken from doorway)

Just posting pictures to take the edge off my blogger guilt! I will go in backwards order of events showing the house first and working back through our trip x-country.

Our San Diego Church Home

2006-09-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

The count down is on to our last Sunday at NCPC. I hate to leave this tightly knit group of strong believers. It seems we have known these friends for years, yet only last September did they warmly welcome us into their family. Thanks to all those who made our short stay in SD a time of growth, a time of encouragement, and a time to witness the truths of scripture in action. We will miss you all!!

Love,
M&M

Friday Night BBQ

2006-08-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

Friday we had a little BBQ in the park near our house. It was nice to have a majority of our friends surrounding us for on last hurrah. We tried to play some games but turns out that the ground is too hard to drive in the stakes for either volleyball or horseshoes, but we did get a good game of Frisbee 500 in using John's glow in the dark Frisbee.

Safari Dinner

2006-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Inge and Elri

The Group

Emily and Katie

Yesterday Mike and I participated in the church youth group Safari Dinner (progressive dinner). We started at 4:00 with appetizers at Inge and Elri's house where I discovered a great new easy appetizer, bacon covered cherries (don't say anything 'till you try it!). Then Emily hosted us for the main course and Scott and family hosted dessert. We concluded the night with the movie "Firewall" starring Harrison Ford. Mike and I had a blast. It would be hard to find a better group of kids.

Billy Idol

2006-08-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

Billy Idol

Mike and I joined up with Nate and Jen to watch Billy Idol do his thing at the Del Mar Race Track. The best part of the concert was the people watching. I definitely didn't fit in with that crowd. I would have had to don everything black I owned in order to blend. After his famous "White Wedding" we took off for food at Tio Leo's.

Thanks to Nathan for getting the close-up of Billy. Nathan risked life, limb and his health pushing through the "happy" crowd.

Wedding Shower

2006-08-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I, along with Leanne and Heidi, hosted a wedding shower for Kat. It turned out so beautifully. I spent the better part of the week preparing the house and still there was so much left to do on Saturday morning! Thanks to Mike and his brother Jared tables, umbrellas, their stands, and chairs got set-up super quick. Mike made some executive decisions and started decorating the tables a bit they looked great. Meanwhile, Heidi is wrestling with the chocolate dessert in the kitchen. The recipe was 6x'ed and thus it was 6x as hard to prepare. At one point the kitchen was swimming in chocolate...figuratively of course. Amazingly everything was looking sharp by 9:45. At 10:00 the party got started with brunch. Heidi presented the devotional at 10:45 and then Kat opened her presents while the guests looked on. What a wonderful day!

Wanted to let everyone know that Jon was a great help afterwards loading and unloading the heavy stuff. Thanks Jon!!

Mark Your Calendars!!

2006-08-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's official as of today; the movers are packing us on August the 28th-29th! That doesn't mean that we will be heading out of town right away but it does mean that we will be stuffless for the next few weeks until we get orders and start the long drive back across the country. Thanks to Jon and Jess we will have a comfy bed and clean bathrooms 'till we go.

Pictures from V.B.S.

2006-08-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

Vacation Bible School

2006-08-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

During the week of July 24- 28 I was teaching kindergarteners the truths of the scriptures at North City's VBS. Sounds so easy when you say it like that!!
I, along with Katie Tullsen, volunteered to teacher one of the kindergarten classes for the whole week. We started out with 13 kids and ended with 12, no there was no "accident"... just... behavior troubles... yes, that's it. Our curriculum covered some tough subjects for most 5 year olds but I think we got through to them.
We started out the week talking about God's creation. That's an easy one. We just needed a few pictures of animals and a picture of a man and a woman. Pretty easy to communicate that God spoke and the earth was created.
The next day was a tiny bit more challenging, The Fall. Most kids understand disobedience so it was easy for them to understand why Adam and Eve we cast out of the Garden of Eden.
Wednesday presented a challenge for more than one reason. Middle of the weak exhaustion hit pretty hard and the heat was just plain oppressive (yes I know it's SD but I'm telling the truth here). It took a little creativity and "here are the rules in this classroom" speech but we got off to a better start than we had any other morning. The lesson used the story of Abraham and the covenant God made with him about his descendants to demonstrate God's overall character and covenant relationship with us, His people. The kids took to it pretty well but in the end I think the will remember Karen the Camel (pin the tale on...) and the desert animals in sand.
The last two days were by far the most difficult to teach in my opinion. We taught salvation on Thursday and Glory on Friday. For me the idea of salvation is so complex that I really had a hard time communicating the basic ideas and answering their complex questions with comprehensible answers. My favorite memory was made on Friday. We were talking about heaven and what it would be like. Everyone was pretty good at telling me what would happen in heaven but the ran into trouble when I asked them to draw me a picture. One little guy just did a lot of random color on the page, or so I thought. Turns out the gold represented the streets, the other colors the jewels, and the red blob in the center was Jesus; red because of the blood he shed for us.
By the end of the week I had learned as much if not more than the kids had. It was a wonderful teaching experience and a blessing to see the children grow in the knowledge of Christ and His holy word.

Sand Castle Commentary

2006-07-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

I tried to include this commentary on the previous post but it kept coming out uber-tiny.

We went down to the beach with some friends to see the sand castle contest. It was pretty impressive, although, according to some it was didn't meet the expectations. It was certainly better than anything I could have done. The best part about the whole excursion was the fact that it was over cast, 15 degrees cooler than at home and the beach, duh!

"Beach Budda"
"Hidden Ace"
"Giant Octopus"
"Narnia"

Sand Castle Contest

2006-07-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Montage

2006-07-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

I got back into movie making mode and created a little montage of our San Francisco trip. The other couple in our movie is the Ashmores, who followed us from Meridian, are our neighbors here in San Diego and will be moving to Beaufort soon after we do. Our anniversaries also happen to occur within two days of one another. Coincidence? I think not! :)

Create your own video for free at http://www.onetruemedia.com/create?&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=embed

The First Year

2006-07-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a montage of our First Year!

Create your own video for free at http://www.onetruemedia.com/create?&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=embed

Camping in Cleveland Nat'l Forest

2006-07-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend M&M took the youth from our church on a camping trip in the Cleveland Nat'l Forest. I protested the whole thing from the beginning because Mike was going to the boat that week and even though he told me he would be back on Wed. I somehow doubted that. It's the military were dealing with here; they always try and ruin the best-laid plans of mice and men. Sure enough I organized the whole thing and found out on Thursday afternoon that, at best, he would be coming into port around noon on Friday.
Well, the kids and I left at 8:00 Friday morning according to plans. It was a tight fight packing all that gear and 10 people into two vehicles. Everyone had to suck it in while doors were being closed. We set up a nice campsite and cooked some hot dogs for lunch before setting out on a 4-mile hike through a hot and dry meadow. Everyone was baking like a toasted cheese-it. On the return hike we looked over our shoulder to see huge plumes of black smoke not that far off. It scared me a little and I was wondering if we should break into a run, get to the campsite, pack up and leave. Fortunately the native Californians were a lot calmer. It turned out that the fire was 20 miles away (not that far really) and under control. Apparently a car had caught on fire by the roadside and the flames spread into the field next to it. After a few rounds of "Would you Rather..." Mike finally arrived on site. Everyone cheered and ran to help him unload and set up. The rest of our evening was spent cooking dinner, playing games and stargazing. Oh, there was one other thing. Upon completion of stargazing it was deemed necessary that we sneak back to camp military style and scare the Assoc. Pastor and Justin. So, divided into two fire teams we silently (pretty impressive for a bunch of teens) back to camp. We communicated solely by hand signals and spent a lot of time lying face down on the pavement but in the end everyone had a blast even if Nate was more annoyed than scared. Next day due to the heat we all piled into the cars and drove home and spent the afternoon together at the beach. What a camping trip!

Das Boot

2006-07-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

Last week, I carrier qualed at the CVN-74 USS John C. Stennis, one of the Navy's newest aircraft carriers. I had a blast. This was my first time going to the aircraft carrier in the F/A-18 Hornet, however I have been to the boat before in the T-45 Goshawk. All Hornet pilots are required to obtain a carrier qualification toward the end of initial Hornet training. Now that I'm complete with my carrier qual, I'll be shortly headed to a fleet Marine Hornet squadron in Beaufort, SC, where I will be stationed for about three years. Let me tell you a little bit about my experience at "The Boat."

All pilots were required to get a minimum of 10 day traps, 2 day touch- and- go's, 6 night traps, and 2 night touch-and-go's. Each landing attempt, or "pass" is gradeAll pilots were required to get a minimum of 10 day traps, 2 day touch- and- go's, 6 night traps, and 2 night touch-and-go's. Each landing attempt, or "pass" is graded by the LSOs (Landing Signals Officer) on a 4.0 scale. The LSO--affectionately called "paddles" because of the large signaling paddles they used to carry to communicate with the pilot about to land-- does more than just grade you. He's also your mentor, and the calming voice who will help you land the aircraft when the deck is pitching, it's raining, and the fog limits the visibilty to less than 100 feet! If he see's that you're getting a little low, he will tell you to add a little power, and you'd better listen. Your life depends on it!

Life on the ship was an experience in itself. It's really a floating city. There are tons of places to eat, but we ate most of our meals either in the wardroom right next to our ready room (very convenient) or on another wardroom further away that was almost always serving one meal or another. I'm pretty sure they served about 6 meals every day. And the wardroom was always open so if you got hungry between meals you could get a PB&J or maybe even a makeshift root beer float. Aside from flying and eating, we played a lot of cards, read a little, and tried to sleep.
CQ took me three days (and three nights) for a total of 6 flights. The nights can be pretty scary, especially the last night, when you couldn't even see the boat until about 15 seconds before you touched down because of clouds! I finished on Wednesday night, but couldn't get off the boat until Friday, so that gave me a whole day to read, eat, play spades, and watch the guys who hadn't get completed CQ. Now that I'm off the ship, I still feel like the world is rocking around me!

More of San Francisco

2006-07-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

San Francisco

2006-07-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the trip. I will continue to publish details of the trip along with more photos. Enjoy!

Mount Soledad

2006-06-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Jon, Jess, Mike, and Me

Mike our alien

As I am sure you know the cross on top of Mount Soledad is going to be removed or at best modified into something other than a cross. The cross and the area surrounding it is dedicated to San Diego soldiers who fought in any battle. It is a beautiful memorial. It is also one of the best views of the entire city. You can truly see everything from the mountain. Jon, Jess, Mike and I went up to take some pictures before it is gone in August.

We saw a alien trying to jump to his death and took a picture.

El Sweato

2006-06-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

Mike spent this week in El Sweato (El Centro) bouncing for the boat, very hot. A friend of mine, whose husband was bouncing also, and I drove over for a day and a half to watch and see what it is that these guys are doing out there. It was 108 degrees when we got there. We arrived in time to see the de-brief of the afternoon flights and then a brief for that evenings flights. After the briefs and a quick bite to eat Jennifer and I rode out to the "shack". It had cooled down to 92 degrees by then. The Landing Signal Officers sit at the end of the runway near the middle of the carrier box and talk the planes down to the deck. (The carrier box outlines a portion of runway that represents a carrier deck.) The LSO's are responsible for making sure the aircraft is coming in safely and will be able to trap (hook a wire) when they touch down. Needless to say you are pretty close to the jet as it takes off and lands. Jennifer and I were able to stand outside next to the runway while our guys took off in full afterburners! My body was shaking from head to toe from the power and noise! COOL! Once inside the shack the LSO's let us respond to our husbands ball call with "Roger Ball" and one "Right for Lineup”. Jennifer gave her sexiest Marilyn Monroe "Roger Ball” for the XO!! Over all the trip was such a neat experience for us wives to see first hand what our husbands are doing day in and day out. It was 106 when we left El Sweato.

Squadron Tour

2006-06-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

Shin with a model airplane.

Katie in her flight suit.

Emi with another model airplane.

On Saturday Mike took a few people from our church to the base and gave them the tour of his squadron. The kids were so cute! I think that Kei wants to be a pilot now for sure. She and her whole family were so intrigued by the military in general. Katie, Josh and Dan enjoyed themselves too. Katie was ready to hop in the jet and take it out for a spin.

County Fair!!

2006-06-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

The moment you enter through the fair gates your senses go on overload. Living in a large city you expect there to be a multitude drifting in and about the grounds in search of the largest stuffed animal for the cheapest price or the world's largest sausage or even, simply, a plate full of fried batter dusted with powdered sugar affectionately called "funnel cake". At this county fair you could barely move let alone take your eyes off of the people you are with for fear one or all of you might possibly be swallowed up by the masses. We were not 5ft from the front gates when Mike and I were scammed, $4.00 for a med sized cup of apples and caramel. I guess it really is like Jessica A said, "If your coming to the fair, you'd better come fully prepared to be scammed out of all your money."
Next came the part I hated most, the dreaded "please just ride this one ride, pretty please?!" There is something about roller coasters, tilt-a-whirls, and the Zipper that makes my palms sweat. I tried to explain to Jon, Jess and Mike, I just don't enjoy being scared out of my wits. I think I have an over dose of mothering instinct. "Don't touch that! You might get hurt! Come down from there! Don't you know how dangerous that could be?” my thoughts as I am forced into line behind bubba and four totally excited kids. The ride is basically a much faster version of the average tire swing, much faster; and Mike tried to tell me "Watch, that thing isn't really going that fast." (Mike is following the ride's motion with his arm). NOT THAT FAST MY BUTT!! Needless to say that was the first and last ride for me that evening. I hold firm to the position of 'holder of all things valuable' while others scare themselves repeatedly. Anyway, $60 or $70 some odd dollars later we retreated from the chaos with full bellies and powdered sugar covering our lips. I still think the fair is fun, even if I can only ride the Farris Wheel.

Mirrors and the Gym

2006-06-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the gym. Jessica A. and I rode together and worked out "together". Our workouts are made up for us by the super fit Amy at the Semper Fit gym. One thing that I have noticed since I became a gym goer is that "have mirror will look" holds true for anybody. Of course when you first darken the door of the gym you keep your eyes lowered and focus on getting smoothly on and off the equipment, otherwise you will have an incident like Jessica A. did on the treadmill, nearly killed herself, arms flailing in the air and uncontrollable laughter from me. Anyway, a few weeks after your first gym experience you happen to glance up as you are lifting a free weight and notice something different. "Is that definition?" you may ask yourself. "Could it be possible that my butt looks smaller"? Then everyday after you begin to search the mirror non-stop for a new muscle or sleeker profile. It is madding to me that I can't keep my eyes off myself!! Surely all I'm really looking for is verification that the time I spend lifting, pulling, lunging, and tugging is really paying off. Surely?

2006-06-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

Do I really want to start this? On more thing that I have to keep up with and remember a username and password for. I love reading other friends blogs so I suppose that I will enjoy thinking that my friends are enjoying mine. Enjoy!