The Girl is Crafty Like Ice is Cold. Or Not.

Well, hello there.

I've been feeling crafty lately, and since we are in the holiday season this is really great timing. Apparently, there is this really easy craft that all the cool Portland people are doing; you finger knit a scarf/garland/necklace. All you need is some yarn and your fingers! Easy peasy, and perfect for me to make for the Christmas party we're hosting on Tuesday.

This adventure starts at the Dollar Tree. Classy, I know. The boys were looking at gloriously hideous presents to buy, and I snuck off to find yarn. Because if there is one thing I've learned about myself it is that spending the big bucks for craft material is wholly unnecessary and usually wasteful. Yarn from the Dollar Tree it is. I bought one package of rad (the boys informed me that no one says this anymore) green yarn and another package of red- turns out the red is actually called something dumb like "country dust storm rose". But, it's red enough for me.

Once home I fed the children and the husband, puttered around the house, and got to crafting.

First stop, pictorial tutorial on a blog. "Finger knitting is so easy and fun! You can even teach your kids to do it if they are bored or not paying attention!" Good sign. I stared at the pictures until my eyes bled, and it still did not work.

Next stop, youtube. "My piano teacher taught me to finger knit when I was 5!" Great! Thirty minutes and much swearing (don't worry, I was quiet so the boys couldn't hear) later, I had made no progress past starting and pulling all the loopy-loops out.

Ugh. Please make it stop. Just then, my lovely sister chatted me from Japan with some encouraging words, but only after she laughed at me for a while after I told her what I was up to. This is a picture of me and my sister- in this shot I am helping her with something she isn't thrilled about. See? We help each other out.

Take three. I found this nice video, which was made by a 9 year old or something. David and I are practically BFF's after tonight. I watched, paused, played his video about 10 times in the making of my garland. And it worked, kind of. It wasn't David's fault though.

The first six inches of my garland look completely, and I mean entirely, different than the last three feet of it. Whatever. Here's my "whatever" face, mid eye roll.

I showed the finished product to Josh, and he got this panicked look on his face then quickly recovered and told me it looked nice. He's the best.

Fall, Falling, Fell

Well hello there. Welcome to Fall. I think it is kind of telling what kind of season this is by the name alone. Who said, "let's name the next three months after something that can kill you!" Or at least skin your knee.

Ok, there are things I do like about Fall. Things like such as Pumpkin Spice Lattes, red and orange and yellow leaves, Thanksgiving, sunny trail rides, and more time for reading and writing.

It's just that this year in Portland our Summer was so short- I still wonder if it even happened. Portland friends, did we have Summer this year? Because I'm pretty sure we had a gray, wet Spring that turned in to a gray, wet Fall. Hmmmmm.....

It may be time for a ten month vacation to Costa Rica. At this point I feel like I could sit my ass on the beach and drink pina coladas and swim in the ocean for a long, long time.

Spirit Week

Well, we have A living with us and it is a blast in a glass (that's for you, Deena). This morning I spray colored his hair red for "crazy hair day", and yesterday he was Harry Potter for "super hero day". Hilarious. And so fun!

The thing about having another person in the house is that I am learning how to take efficiency (read, "mania") to new levels. For example, last night I did the dishes and brushed my teeth at the same time. I am proud of this accomplishment. In general I am trying to reduce my multi-tasking habits to preserve sanity, but there are times that call for a whatever-it-takes, cut-throat mentality just to get to bed sooner.

Thankful

Contentment is a rare feeling for me, but I find that if I focus on being thankful contentment usually follows. We are two to three weeks out with getting our proctor kids, and I am incredibly thankful for the support we've already received from our friends and family. This whole thing would be much more daunting if we were trying to do it alone.

Another thing I am thankful for is artists who are able to express truth and meaning when I am not. Change is hard, and art is a comfort to me. Last night I read "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf". I loved this book, and Ntozake Shange's ability to put words to complex experiences creates a connection with the reader on an intuitive, emotional, and very real level.

Here's one of the poems, "One Thing I Don't Need/Sorry":

one thing i don’t need
is any more apologies
i got sorry greetin me at my front door
you can keep yrs
i don’t know what to do wit em
they dont open doors
or bring the sun back
they dont make me happy
or get a mornin paper
didnt nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars
cuz a sorry

i am simply tired
of collectin
i didnt know
i was so important toyou
i’m gonna haveta throw some away
i cant get to the clothes in my closet
for alla the sorries
i’m gonna tack a sign to my door
leave a message by the phone
‘if you called
to say yr sorry
call somebody
else
i dont use em anymore’
i let sorry/ didnt meanta/ & how could i know about that
take a walk down a dark & musty street in brooklyn
i’m gonna do exactly what i want to
& i wont be sorry for none of it
letta sorry soothe yr soul/ i’m gonna soothe mine

you were always inconsistent
doin somethin & then bein sorry
beatin my heart to death
talkin bout you sorry
well
i will not call
i’m not goin to be nice
i will raise my voice
& scream & holler
& break things & race the engine
& tell all yr secrets bout yrself to yr face
& i will list in detail everyone of my wonderful lovers
& their ways
i will play oliver lake
loud
& i wont be sorry for none of it

i loved you on purpose
i was open on purpose
i still crave vulnerability & close talk
& i’m not even sorry bout you bein sorry
you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna
just dont give it to me
i cant use another sorry
next time
you should admit
you’re mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight out
steada bein sorry alla the time
enjoy bein yrself

Bittersweet

I keep trying to post incredibly amazing wonderful posts, but I don't have a camera that I can use to add pictures to my posts to break up my profound words, and I wouldn't want to hurt anyone with a deluge of pure profund-ness. Mmmmmhmmm.

Anyway, it looks like we will be moving out of our condo and into an apartment in the next week or so. I am SO EXCITED to be done living in limbo, but it is sad to leave our first place as home owners. When we first moved here I definitely referred to myself as a "home owner" more than occasionally.

What this move means, however, is that we will get our proctor kids soon! What a crazy, fun adventure that will be =). Our training is complete, our fingerprints are turned in, and we are CPR/First Aid certified. Although if any of the children need CPR or First Aid that will be Josh's department. Just kidding (kind of)!

More details when plans get finalized.

Art Project

This is the story of how I came to do an art project:

Josh: Graham and Mandi invited us over to dinner.

Jen: Yum.

Josh: It's art project night so bring an art project.

Jen: !@#$%^&*&^%$##

I appreciate art. I admire artists. I am secretly (or not so secretly) jealous of people who can create beautiful things. But, I've never had much success with the dreaded "art project"; this probably started with my attempt as a 5 year old to make an angel for the Christmas tree out of a toilet paper roll (what adult in my life thought that was a confidence-boosting art project anyway?!).

So, when Josh announced that it was art project night at our super creative friends' house I just about caught a deathly cold and needed to stay home for the night. Instead I mustered up all my courage, bought a $12 picture frame at Ikea, Googled "how to clean an old painting" (answer from the interwebs: DON'T DO THIS IT WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE), rolled my eyes, turned off my computer, threw some q-tips and cotton balls in a baggie, and threw them in my purse along with a bottle of Dr Bronner's magic soap.

After a lovely dinner it was art project time. This was my art project: cleaning and re-framing an old painting that had been in my family for a couple of generations. The painting was done by my great great uncle in Spain and depicts a flamenco dancer performing in a plaza. It's not valuable, but has sentimental value to me since I remember it in my grandparents' house when I was a kid.

I broke the old frame off (it was literally nailed to the painting, which was done on wood) and got started. Contrary to all the advice on the internet I dipped a q-tip directly into the soap and started cleaning (yes, I'm rocking a horse t-shirt).

See the line on her skirt where it's partially cleaned?!

Ta-da!

It looks great in the frame, but we didn't get any pictures of it and I am currently camera-less. I am so happy that I tried this and that it worked! Check out Mandi's blog to see her super-creative self: mandimakes.blogspot.com. Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by an art project success?

Catching Up

Well, well, well. It's been a while.

I have been wrestling a lot lately with the idea of self worth/value. Specifically, if I am not spending my days in a "social worky" job, am I still a human being with value. Now, of course, I believe that this is true for other people, but sometimes it is more difficult to apply to myself. Layered on top of that question is the guilt for feeling that way. I am REALLY good at feeling guilty.

Honestly, I am afraid of not spending my time wisely and feeling like a major failure if I'm not moving ahead in my career and working with a specific population. The truth is, I love my new job. I love the people I work with. They are challenging my assumptions about the human race by being transparent, kind, and genuinely caring. For example, today I cried at work because everyone was so fucking nice. I felt lame, Josh said it was good for me, and I remembered the last time I cried at work was because I thought someone was going to die or something.

Anyway, we are about half way done with our foster parent training and I am so excited to get some delinquent children! We are in the process of selling our condo (not cool that strangers walk around in my house and look at our stuff, not cool) and finding a new place to live. I keep showing Josh pictures of cute, little farm houses in the middle of nowhere and he says something about community and being able to use public transportation. Then I say, "What does it mean? Double rainbow!" But I digress.

In the meantime I hope to keep up on this blog better- writing is cathartic and I have read about 800 books this year already so I should write some book reviews to keep track of what I've read!

How is 2011 shaping up for you?

Thanks for reading and for your comments!

Valentine's Day Recap and a Veggie Recipe

First, thank you to all of you who left such nice comments on my last post! It means so much to us to know our friends and family support these irrational choices =).

Valentine's Day at our house is never a big holiday, and this year I relied on that knowledge and the fact that Josh brought me flowers on my first day of work when I made the decision to treat Valentine's Day like any other day. Namely, going to work, spending time with my adorable mentoree (eating pink cupcakes and drinking coffee), riding my horse, and going grocery shopping. By the time I got home at 9:45pm there were a dozen red roses, a clean house, a card, and chocolate waiting for me! I was SO surprised. And happy.

See the top middle piece? This was my favorite- milk chocolate and honey. YUM.

I've made vegetarian meals all week, and so far it's going well. I am not missing meat, but I don't know if I can give up milk and cheese. We'll see.

The first recipe I want to share is this colorful, flavorful, filling baked dish: I modified the recipe from the New York Times (original here).

Veggie Bake

Brown 2 tablespoons, 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped celery rib, 1 chopped small onion, 4 cloves garlic in large saucepan

Add 2.5 cups of water, 1 small can tomato paste, 1 can butter beans or lima beans or white beans, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, 1 teaspoon parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer

Rinse well 1 bunch of kale and rip into small pieces and add to saucepan (leaving out the stems), and stir

Transfer contents of saucepan to 13x9 pan and bake for 2.5 hours at 250 degrees. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 300 degrees.

I served it with pita, hummus, and a sliced apple. The pita was really good dipped in the casserole. I hope some of you try it and let me know if you liked it! Also, I almost didn't purchase the herbes de Provence thinking it wasn't very important, but I think they really made the dish!

This picture doesn't really do it justice- it was actually very pretty =).

Our Very Own Revolution

Hello friends,

Josh and I have made a lot of life changes in the past two weeks, and this post will hopefully shed some light on what we are doing and why! There are a couple of purposes of writing this: to keep you all updated on what the hell we're doing (there has been lots of wondering), and to document for myself (so I can look back and remember).

So, here goes!

1. I quit my job, and got a new job.

The motivation behind this was to leave my job before I got bitter and angry- I was working 50ish hours a week in addition to being on call 24/7. I miss the kiddos SO MUCH but am happy for a change of pace! I am now working at Imago Dei Community, a church in SE pdx that has a large focus on social justice and community service.

2. Josh quit his job, and will be exercising his entrepreneurial/inventor mind.

Josh has wanted to work for himself as long as I've known him, and this is a great opportunity for him to pursue that goal!

3. We're moving.

We live in a 1 bedroom condo and need a bigger space (in pdx) because....

4. We want to be foster parents.

We've been having this conversation for a couple of years, and finally can make it happen!

5. We are changing how we eat.

Less meat, more fruits and vegetables. If you are super duper interested read "The China Study" ;-).

Whew! We are really excited to be on this adventure together, and we feel amazingly lucky to be able to change our lifestyle at this point in our lives.

Thanks for listening, and I'll be posting updates on how this crazy experiment goes and some veggie-based recipes =).

What I've Learned from the Girls

1. You are not wearing make up unless you have on at least 3 shades of eye shadow and 2 mascaras.

2. Always ask if someone needs to talk "to" you or "at" you. This will save immense amounts of time.

3. The line between teasing them and hurting their feelings is thin, always changing, and impossible to predict.

4. Donuts and/or cookies are a good ice breaker. So is nail polish.

5. If you say you are going to do something you better do it. Or else. They do not forget.

6. Be prepared for your outfit, shoes, hair, make up, weight, nails to be picked apart at least ten times a day.

7. Sometimes "you look like a soccer mom" is a compliment.

8. Going outside is not fun.

9. Answer their questions with "no" about 90% of the time- when you say "yes" they will be so grateful.

10. If you don't pull out your "nasty disgusting gray hairs", they will do it for you.

Best. Spaghetti. Ever.

This sauce is sweet with a little kick, and the angel hair pasta (instead of spaghetti) is more tender and soaks up the sauce really nicely. Mmmmmmmmmm.

For two hungry people:

1 can tomato sauce

1/2 lb Italian sausage

1 splash of red wine

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon sugar (brown or white)

a few dashes red pepper flake, Oregano, Marjoram, Parsley

2 small, or 1 large, Bay Leaf

1 clove crushed garlic

2 small handfuls angel hair pasta

Parmesan cheese

Brown, rinse, and drain sausage. Add remaining ingredients except pasta and cheese. Simmer for 30 minutes- 2 hours. Boil pasta for 7 minutes (add a small amount of olive oil or salt to water) and drain. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of individual portions. Enjoy!

Super Bowl Thoughts

I really enjoy watching football. I really enjoy watching clever, fun advertisements. I really enjoy eating nachos, guacamole, pizza, soda, and beer. I should love the Super Bowl! And I do look forward to Super Bowl Sunday for all these reasons, but I hate the sexism that's become such a central part of the game. Advertisers spend millions of dollars for a Super Bowl commercial slot and, apparently, they try to make the most of it by being as disgusting and offensive as possible.

Top Three Lessons I learned from Super Bowl ads this year:

1. People won't buy sneakers unless Kim Kardashian is half naked and sort of having sex with her personal trainer.

2. Chevy is not only sexist, they're racist too! (really, Chevy, really?)

3. If you ask a woman to take off all her clothes she will, even if she initially rejects the idea. Just ask godaddy.com!

On the other hand men are stereotyped as single-minded simpletons, or as power hungry sexist jerks. So dumb!

On a positive note I award the Darth Vader VW commercial the best ad of Super Bowl XLV! It was cute and funny and original.

P.S. 8 of the players in today's game have had sexual assault charges brought against them. Hey, I have an idea! Instead of putting them on tv and paying them millions of dollars let's send them a message that mistreating human beings is not ok and kick them out of the NFL!

I Love the Weekend.

I really, really love weekends. Sometimes I sleep in and putter around the house all day, and I love it. Other times I wake up early and go to the barn and get caught up on life, and I love that too. The weekends are wonderful because I can choose to have any kind of weekend I want. Two whole days to plan with fun things, or to do nothing.

This weekend we spent a lot of time with friends, played some board games, watched a movie, went to the barn, went grocery shopping, read, and cooked. Cooking makes me feel better- even if I'm overwhelmed it settles me down to cook a meal, and I usually end up cleaning simultaneously so by the time I'm done I have delicious food and a clean house. Pure bliss. Josh's favorite meal is breakfast, and the weekend is the only time that I can make real breakfast food.

Here's what we've had recently for breakfast:
Coconut Milk and Berry Smoothie
Oatmeal with various toppings (fruit one day, peanut butter and Nutella another day)
Crepes, sweet (Nutella or lemon juice and powdered sugar) and savory (browned honey ham, Tillamook cheddar, and mustard)
Italian Breakfast Casserole




YUM. We're hosting a potluck this week, and I think the theme is going to be breakfast foods. Or maybe cereal. To me, cereal is the ultimate comfort food and I can never have enough. Hmmmmmm...... I think I'm going to go eat some cereal now. Bye!

Asian Vacation, part 6

On the way to Tokyo from Shimonoseki I got off the train in Osaka and took the loop line to Osaka castle. Josh had the camera at this point so I don't have any pictures from Osaka. BUT, if you go to Japan, go to Osaka and spend a day in the park and at the castle. And yes, the $5 entrance fee to go inside the castle is worth it.

Tokyo! From our hotel room I could see the Sony, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Microsoft, and Canon towers. There were tons more buildings out there, but I don't know what they are. It was great to go downstairs to the atrium and eat breakfast together then head out on my own. Exploring Tokyo on my own while Josh was at work was such a refreshing and relaxing way to end our trip. I love being alone and definitely felt energized.

Lonely Planet says that it would take several lifetimes to really see all of Tokyo, and that even the locals get lost on a regular basis. I totally agree. When I thought I was lost, I wasn't. And when I thought I knew where I was, I didn't. Confusing!

I started by walking to the train station and hopping on the Yamanote line which circles some of the city. Shibuya was my first stop. Shibuya is Tokyo how I imagined it- throngs of people, dozens of huge screens playing movies, music videos, and advertisements, tons of huge department stores and little hole in the wall shops, and mazes that made up streets, crosswalks, overhead walkways, alleys, bus routes, and train tracks. Whew!

The next stop I made was Harajuku. OMG. I could have seriously dropped thousands of dollars here so fast! I'm not even into fashion, but Harajuku was incredible! It made me want to be cool. Anyway, I took a break from window shopping at the Godiva store where I ordered a delicious hot chocolate. Yum.

Our last full day in Tokyo happened to be a holiday so Josh didn't have to work. We spent the day cramming in as much sight seeing as we could- free elevator ride in a TALL sky scraper, Sapporo brewing company, cheese fondue lunch, and a freaking awesome parasite museum (if you like disturbing and sick things).

We wanted to do something interesting for our last night in Japan so we headed over to Tokyo Dome City. This place is so fun! There were tons of Christmas lights, a roller coaster, lots of shops and restaurants, beautiful walk ways, and a huge spa! We spent about four hours at the spa. It's this really cool combination of hot spring pools, restaurants, spa services, and lots of other amenities. It's separated into mens and womens areas so it was very peaceful and relaxing.

Tokyo is such a huge city, but I really enjoyed it. I felt safe even by myself, there were plenty of small neighborhoods, and the train system was super easy.

This Weekend's Recipes!

1. Two Tablespoon Veggie Stir Fry (you can add meat or tofu, of course)
Heat 2 T oil in a skillet or wok, then add 2 T minced garlic and 2 T minced ginger. While that's cooking chop up any veggies you have in your refrigerator and toss them in the wok (I used broccoli, green onions, carrots, and bell pepper). When the veggies start to soften add 1/2 can coconut milk (I used light, unsweetened), 2 T soy sauce, and a pinch of salt. Let it cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.

photo from here

2. Coconut Milk Smoothie (this is a great way to use the other half a can of coconut milk that's left over from the stir fry!)
2 bananas
1/2 can coconut milk
1 C frozen berries
2 T honey
1/2 C plain non-fat yogurt

3. Broccoli Chicken Bake
2 chicken breasts
2 stocks broccoli florets
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 box dry stuffing mix
Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook chicken in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and chili pepper flakes. Meanwhile, steam broccoli until crisp but tender.
In a small bowl mix together the soup, stuffing mix, and milk. In a 9x13 inch baking dish layer the chicken, broccoli, soup mixture, and sprinkle cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

photo from here

4. Shrimp Pasta
1/4 package angel hair pasta
1 cup shrimp or prawns
2 tomatoes (quartered, optional)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
fresh basil
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon butter

Boil pasta. Cook shrimp in butter and garlic until heated through. Toss pasta with shrimp, tomatoes, basil and Parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste.

photo from here

Asian Vacation, part 5

Our adventures in Shimonoseki and Yamaguchi are somewhat out of order chronologically because we spent time there both before and after Kyoto.

So, our first time arriving in Shimonoseki consisted of waking up on the overnight train from Tokyo and transferring about 500 times until we finally made it on to the right train, going the right direction and speed! A friend of Matt's boss met us at the train station. Her name was Keshi and she greeted us with hugs, a huge smile, and great English- all of which were welcome by this stage of our journey. Keshi drove us to Beth's school and toured us around the gorgeous campus, then dropped us off at Matt and Beth's apartment where we promptly showered and slept slept slept.

Matt and Beth got home from work and the four of us went to an incredible traditional Japanese dinner in downtown Shimonoseki. The restaurant is owned by parents of a friend, and they seated us in a private room with tatami mats. Matt and Beth ordered (in Japanese) sashimi, fried chicken (really big in Japan), beer, fried octopus, and a couple other local specialties. YUM! Even though I was still sick at this point the food tasted amazing.

The next day we decided I needed to go see a doctor. A few phone calls later we were headed to the doctor's office with one translator, and another on the way. Going to the doctor in Japan is the best. They asked a couple questions, didn't touch me at all, and wrote three prescriptions. Then we walked next door, picked up the prescriptions and were on our way!

From the doctor's office we walked across the street to get to the bust stop and went down to the pier and fish market. We wandered around the vendors' stalls and ate some sushi on the boardwalk. Very Seattle, actually. After lunch Keshi picked us up again and drove us to her home in Chofu, a town that neighbors Shimonoseki. She had baked us an apple cake and served it with ice cream, coffee, and tea. More yum. After cake she drove us to a Samurai house in Chofu. Chofu is a really cute little town with lots of traditional houses and cobblestone streets. The Samurai house also had a beautiful garden out back, and Keshi showed us a little bit of how to participate in a tea ceremony. The following day we left for Kyoto.

My second time in Shimonoseki was after Kyoto, and when Josh had gone north to Tokyo to work. I trained down to Fukuoka to meet Beth and Matt, and walked out of the train station into a mall and huge, covered plaza with Christmas lights, a Christmas tree, and a band playing. Pretty awesome. We walked through a shopping area and found a restaurant that looked good, and although they spoke exactly no English, Matt was a great translator and we got the food we wanted. After dinner we decided it was time for bubble tea; I got hot chocolate with "bubbles" in it (now I'm craving it, so delicious).

Matt and Beth had to work the next day so I went grocery shopping- so fun and much easier than expected. That afternoon Matt met me at the apartment, we went to his school across the street, and I got to participate in the English club he leads! The topic of conversation was holiday traditions and travel, and Matt and I ended up trying to explain egg nog to the students.... "It's like yellow milk, but made out of eggs". EW! If only they could just taste some I'm sure their opinions would change...

The next couple days Beth and Matt had to go to Yamaguchi for a JET conference so I tagged along one of the days. I listened to Matt's presentation, went to lunch with some other teachers and ate super good ramen, then hopped on the local train to explore Yamaguchi City for the afternoon. Beth recommended a nice, quiet plaza with a coffee shop so I got a table outside for a couple hours to people watch and read a book. It was quite lovely. After some more meandering I got back on the train, met up with Beth and Matt, and we headed back to their apartment to watch the Last Samurai (what else?).

We had another day in Shimonoseki before it was time for me to go to Tokyo so we rented Love Actually, walked around the city, went to the mall, went to the beautifully designed library, went to an opening party at some restaurants including a wine and cheese bar, and ate more sushi. I had a great time in Shimonoseki- the city was really pretty, I got to spend a lot of time with Beth and Matt, and we had plenty of time to just hang out together.

Next up, Tokyo!

Time for a Smoothie Recipe

Hello dear readers,

I've been experimenting with different flavors and ingredients for making smoothies since we got a Magic Bullet blender a couple months ago, and this one's a favorite.


PB&J Smoothie

1 banana (optional)
1/2 cup frozen berries (or use ice and no sugar added jelly)
1/2 cup milk
1 heaping tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (optional)

Blend until smooth. YUM!


photo found here

More Shit the Girls Say

"I'm going to name my dog after you so I can tell it no as much as you tell me no."

"GIVE ME ANOTHER PANCAKE SAUSAGE ON A STICK! I AM SOOOOOOO HUNGRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Did you know that babies are born out of your butt?"

"Don't quote me, Jen, I ain't said shit." (from that lovely Boyz N Da Hood song)

"What would you do if I was pregnant? I'm pregnant! Just kidding, I'm not. No really, I am. Ha! Just kidding!" etc. and on and on

So.Stressful. But I love them =).

Asian Vacation, part 4

Kyoto, beyatch! I have been putting off this post because Kyoto was my favorite city we visited, and I can't do it justice here. But, here are lots of pictures and hopefully a glimpse into this amazing place.

Josh, Beth, Matt, and I traveled to Kyoto via train from Shimonoseki (we landed in Tokyo, overnight trained to Shiminoseki, spent a couple days there, then headed out to Kyoto- more on Shimonoseki later). Side note, my Japan Rail pass kicked serious ass. I used it almost daily (and often more than once a day) for the entirety of our time in Japan, and the last time I swiped it was at 11:58pm on the day it expired! This was a really special trip because Beth and I haven't traveled together since we went to Spain six years ago (!), and the four of us have wanted to travel together for a while.

Anyway, on the way to Kyoto we stopped off at Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a difficult experience to put in to words. It was very sobering. The atomic bomb basically flattened the city, and burned it to the ground. We went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and it was so gruesome (burned clothing, pictures of people who had lived and died after the bomb, witness accounts, etc). The museum is surrounded by a park and there are many international events held there each year.

On a brighter note we ate okonomiyaki for the first time in Hiroshima on the way back to the train station. So dericious! Okonomiyaki is a type of layered meal with a crepe-ish base, cabbage and other veggies, super sweet bbq sauce, hot sauce, and an egg and/or meat and seafood stirred in. Yum!





We arrived in Kyoto in the early evening and walked to our hostel, which had opened just a couple weeks prior to our arrival. The hostel is near a huge shopping center that we walked through and ate at a few times. The cool thing about this shopping place is that it covers a few acres and has been a shopping street/area in Kyoto for hundreds of years. A highlight was a tea shop called Lupicia- the store had many teas to sample and smell, and they even gave us a lesson on how to make macha! The store was run by a man from France who had lived in Japan for a few years. The best part of our whole trip would have been Matt breaking out his French to talk to this dude, but that didn't happen.

Kyoto is a big, modern city with tons of history. This means you can hop on a bus and see beautiful buildings and architecture, then walk through centuries old temples and castles and parks and neighborhoods. Pretty sweet. Beth was a fantastic tour guide; she navigated us around and read from Lonely Planet at each site.









After a couple days Beth and Matt headed home to Shimonoseki and Josh and I trained south to Nara. Nara was the first permanent capital of Japan and also has a lot of historical sites. In Nara we fed and petted the rampant deer population (they run that town because they have been there forever and used to be believed to be messengers from God). We also saw the world's oldest wooden building which houses the world's largest Buddha.







From Nara I headed back to Shimonoseki and Josh went the other direction to Tokyo.