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!

Beach Love

I love Japan and I love the beach! I am going to be so sad if the next place we move doesn't have a beach... Well I am sure I will be fine... but I will miss it. Here are some photos from my latest adventure...

That is a lie... my latest adventure I took three dogs and decided to leave the camera... and I found a SHARK FACE! I want to go back and see if it is still there to take a picture... it was super gross and stinky and it still had one fin... gross... and it was oozing green!

Antlers

So I heard that antlers are great for dogs to chew on... especially dogs that inhale rawhides... so while I was in Colorado I was on the lookout for some.... I found this antler at an antique shop for $10 score... and I knew Kona would love it!

I am such a great Mom!

PHOTO UPDATE!

K... I am going to bring you all up to speed real fast... get ready for PHOTO OVERLOAD!

I am going to start with the oldest and move forward...

(just click on the title of the album and it will send you to a page with all the photos on it... then if you want to see individual photos larger just click that photo)

Destination: San Francisco

Well work sent me TDY (aka free vacation with stipulation of going to a conference) to CYFAR (child, youth & family at risk) conference to San Francisco... this is my journey to San Francisco and no sooner had my plane landed (at 7 am) and I dropped my bags off at the Hotel I hopped on the public bus and rode all the way to the Marin Headlands and went Hiking! It was awesome! AND then after the headlands I walked to Sausalito and looked at all the galleries and shops and took a ferry back to San Francisco!

The Grand City of San Francisco

all over the fanstastically interesting town of San Francisco... sorry the album is so big... but they were all so interesting!

Across "The Gate" and back

walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, who would have thought a bridge would be so much fun?!?

Nanohana Festival

Nanohana or "Rape Blossoms" are grown and harvested for their seed which contain Rapeseed oil most famously used in Canola oil. But here in Japan they are CELEBRATED! So we decided to check out the Nanohana festival about an hour and a half from Misawa.

Surf, Sand, and a Mutsu Monster

just another day at the beach!

Tsutsuji Matsuri (Azalea Festival)

Thanks to our great friend Beth we has SUPER directions to this great festival celebrating the ancient mountain azaleas at this shrine in Shichinohe!

Shipwrecks and Cherry Blossoms

just having fun exploring shipwreck beach with my family and pictures of our awesome cherry blossoms! I love Japan

Shimokita- Part 1

We drove up the east side of Japan up to "the hatchet" we visited the wild horses at Cape Shira and camped in the Yagen Valley. The next day we spent time at Oserezan the mythical entrance to hell and took naps in our hammocks... it was AWESOME!

Shimokita-Part 2

we found paradise in northern Japan... it was awesome

Spring Hakkoda Day Hike

Well I just had to take my family on a hike in the Hakkoda's we rode the ropeway to the top, summited two peaks and made our way back down to Sukayu Onsen and had a soak... it was fantastic... and we had surprisingly great weather... which... equals AMAZING views!

Leafy Green Goodness

Day hike with the family!

Used & Modern

Took my mom and sister to the Used Kimono shop and Modern Art Museum in Towada

Like the Sea After a Storm

Left on a gorgeous sunny day in Misawa arrived to a super foggy beach at Shirihama... no worries we had fun anyways and then next time we returned with wetsuits!

Goin out WEST!

My mother, sister & I went on a 1 day road trip all the way to the Western coast of Japan by the Sea of Japan and up the peninsula up north on the western side... very cool!

4th of July weekend AWESOMENESS!

Well it was Dericks last weekend before he deployed... the 4th of July... and cherry season... so we picked cherrys... the fireworks got rained out so we had our own on the beach... real fireworks the next day... and a trip up north to the "wild horses" and oserazen... overall successful weekend!

The Farm

Caitlyn and I only had a few hours to spend together... and what better way then the farm? Let me tell you now... there is no better way on earth!

Beccas Wedding Weekend

Well Becca got married and it was Magical! I dont have many pictures of becca... she was very much in demand or of the ceremony since I was the maid of honor... I can't wait to see the real pictures but here is a sneak peak!

Colorado-ish

I stopped by Dericks Mom's house in Kansas on my way to Colorado... had a great night there, then a couple awesome days in boulder with Malinda and then a great week in the mountains... unfortunately my camera died after the first couple of days (I forgot the charger in Japan)

WE PLAY IN TEAM! ocean edition

basically i love living 5 k from the ocean... and i love kellys new underwater camera!

So as you can see... I havent been posting because I havent been doing anything... I havent been posting cause I have been so freaking busy!