Thailand Paintings... Finally

So while we were in Thailand we bought these awesome elephant paintings... but to get them home we had to take them off their frame supports and roll the canvas up and put it in a shipping tube in Dericks suitcase... well the lady at the gallery took them off off packaged them up and we put them in Dericks suitcase... 

And as of yesterday there were still in the tube... BUT now that Derick is home and have been revitalized to do projects... I have like 5 going on right now... I am sure they are driving him crazy (he hates disarray) but he doesn't say anything cause he know how much I love to projectsize all over the house!

So I went to "HomeEc"the Lowes of Japan and bought wood... I then took it to the wood shop since I have no saw (except a hand saw and hell no to cutting 45 degree angles with that) and told the dude what I needed and two hours and $10 later I had all my wood cut. 

This is me assembling the frames... Derick was asleep on the couch so I had to use my feet to hold the stuff in place, it probably worked out better this way anyway... cause I got to do everything how I wanted with out his "help" ; )

I just built a frame like you see here using those little middle metel peices to support it before I screwed the wood together for real support, then I added support beam across each corner and strung and wire in the middle and stretched the canvas across....

NOW THEY ARE ON MY WALL! 

FINALLY!

Air Force Ball 2010

Derick and I at the ball... he always looks so good in his mess dress, and it reminds me of when we got married!

 Special thanks to Haley for the fantastic dress! It was perfect! 

I had "plumage" in my hair... i walked out after I did my hair and Derick was like "really... more feathers?" 

DUH! I love feathers!

Here I am with some of girls from our squadron, they are all fantastic!

Our place cards... "Oar" Gee... so classy

 Derick in his new party shirt he had made in Korea... 

M I Z... Z O U

 Everyone from our squadron that was there. WOOD!

Underwater Hokkaido Pictures

These are photos I nabbed from my freind Kelly who has an underater camera... they are all from Hokkaido. 

This first group is from Shiritoko National Park, there is a "hot waterfall" where all the geothermal activity heats up water and it come up out of the ground and forms this waterfall... it was fun, although we couldn't hike as far up the waterfall as we wanted due to falling rocks. 

and we were the only people lounging in the pools of the falls... everyone was looking at us like we were crazy.. it was awesome

These photos are also from Shiritoko but from the very northern point you can drive to... we got out even though it was rainy and explored.. it was really cool

WWHS (whole wheat honey sweetened) Cream Cheese Marble Brownies

Here is another one of Derick's favorite recipes! He LOVES brownies and has missed them since he went on his diet four years ago... SO being a super awesome wife I adapted this recipe for his birthday last year... and now I am sharing it with you... enjoy... guilt free!

Cream Cheese Marble Brownies
Adapted from "Cookies Brownies & Bars" by Elinor Klivans p.84

for the brownie batter
1/4 cup butter at room temperature
4 oz. chocolate semi sweet chocolate mini chips
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cut honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

for the cream cheese filling
6 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1tsp vanilla extract

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325. Press a piece of aluminum foil onto the bottom and over the sides of a 9x9x2 inch baking pan. Butter the foil.

2. To make brownie batter, in a metal bowl (I used glass) that fits the on the rim of a saucepan, combine butter and chocolate. Place the bowl on the saucepan over, but not touching, barely simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, 3-4 minutes. Gently lift out the bowl and set aside to cool slightly. In a small bowl sift together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl combine the eggs and honey and whisk to blend, about 1 minute. Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is evenly colored. Whisk in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

3. To make the cream cheese filling, in a bowl, stir together the cream cheese, honey, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

4. Pour two thirds of the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the filling over the batter, Pour the remaining batter over the filling and, starting in 1 corner swirl a spoon through the batter and filling creating a marble pattern. Repeat starting from another corner.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes our with moist crumbs attached, 35-40 minutes (mine took 50 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool until the top is room temperature, about 1 hour. Holding the ends of the foil, lift the cooled brownie onto a cutting surface. Using a warmed knife to cute the brownie into 25 squares. Store the brownie in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Surfing

I LOVE SURFING!

I love feeling the pull and swell of the waves... the rush of them crashing beneath you and the feeling of flying over the water when you catch one! I love the feeling of your arms being SO tired from paddling you can barely move them but you want to catch just one more... always just one more! I love fighting to get into my wet suit and then peeling it off when I am done like a banana! I love sitting and waiting for the perfect swell, and I love when I see my shadow on the bottom of the ocean and it freaks me out cause I think its a shark! IT IS AWESOME! I have done quite a bit of surfing this summer with my friend Kelly! She is fantastic and loves adventure just like me. AND she just got an underwater camera! here are some photos from one of our surfing adventures...

Here I am waiting for a swell... I look pretty serious

We went out after I got off work and the sky was gorgeous!

Catching a wave!

Kelly dug herself a hole and I am making a sand angel! What could be better?

and it finally got too dark to do too much more surfing

and we finished off the day with the perfect post surfing meal... SUSHI!

Whole Wheat Honey Sweetened Banana Bread

This is one of Derick favorite things I make... he has many favorites... but I think this one is pretty high up there... on his diet he eats only 100% whole wheat and no processed sugar... so I adapt my favorite recipes with whole wheat flour and raw honey. They usually turn out delicious! When cooking with whole wheat I often find my recipes turn out dryer and more crumbly... but throw in honey... and they are moist and tasty! Whole wheat and Honey are the perfect marriage of ingredients.

This bread is more hearty and filling then its bleached flour cousin... also if you are not used to eating whole wheat it might taste a little denser and have a stronger wheat flavor. Derick and I both prefer whole wheat now that we have made the transition... I think it tastes more real... like I could be in the Little House on the Prairie and eat this bread...

Anywho... the inspiration: These beautifully ripe bananas I found at the Commissary for a buck!

Secret Ingredient (besides whole wheat flour and honey): Fresh Ground Nutmeg. I love nutmeg and this fresh ground nutmeg I found at an international foods store here in Japan is AMAZING!

Whole Wheat Honey Sweetend Banana Bread

(Adapted from Better Homes & Garden "The New Cookbook")

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/5 cups mashed ripe banana (5 medium)

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven 325. Grease 1 inch up sided of loaf pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking power, baking soda, salt cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl combine eggs, banana, sugar and butter. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts.

4. Bake for 45-55 min. or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (if necessary cover wit foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over browning).

5. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan. Cool completely. Wrap; store overnight before slicing.

Tanbo Art

In 1993, the people of Inakadate, Aomori were looking for a way to revitalize their village. Archaeological exploration led to a realization that rice had been grown in the area for more than 2000 years. To honor this history, the villagers started a rice field behind the town hall. With the paddy as a canvas, the villagers cultivated and used four different types of heirloom and modern strains of rice to create a giant picture in the field. To allow viewing of the whole picture, a mock castle tower 22 meters high was erected at the village office. In 2006, more than 200,000 people visited the village to see the art. ~ Wikipedia

For the whole days adventures...

which include a Buddhist Temple and a drive up death road click HERE

Here is the view from the City Hall Tower... it covers multiple rice patties and is AWESOME

View of the tower from the ground

Close up of the rice

Directions to Inakadate from Misawa:

so it is right before Hirosaki, we got there by going to Lake Towada and then following 102. So just go out the POL gate straight (there is a small y when entering Towada stay left) until you get to a do not enter sign in Towada... turn left over a bridge. Follow the street signs for 102... it will be a right turn. When you get to the lake turn right to keep following 102. About 5km outside of Hirosaki is the town of Inakadate... its going to be on the right side of the road and look for a really tall black and white pagoda building... you cant see the paddies from the main road but there are flags and lots of cars! And its free but they take donations!

if you google map Inakadate Japan you can see the location on a map!

I hope this helps!

Misawa Costume Festival

I dont even know if there are words...

I will let the photos speak for themselves... Here are a few...

for the whole album click HERE

Super cute little Kids playing instruments

Super cute little kids dressed up as astronauts doing a space dance!

Men dressed as women holding hands.... wait WHAT?

Sumo wrestlers.... for the other view click on the link above ; ) YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

4 Michael Jacksons doing thriller along with a man with gorilla hands and Nipple star Rocky!