Some Gave All

"We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies."

...~Moina Michael, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae (1915)…….where the tradition of wearing a red poppy to honor the war dead began.

If You Send Me Fire, I'll Send You Rain



I will get to the details of this swap soon but first I must tell you, that the rainy season has started here in Japan.  It started raining yesterday and with typhoons Chedeng and Songda headed towards the island, I’m thinking it isn’t going to stop raining any time soon.   

I’m not too thrilled about six or so straight weeks of rain, but I am excited about all the Japanese umbrellas!

Japanese umbrellas are traditionally made of rice paper, wooden spokes, and often have artsy designs printed on them…..like one you might imagine a Geisha would carry around. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE, all the spokes…..don’t you?  Lucky for me, I found a more practical version of a Japanese umbrella in a local department store called Joyful Honda.  (No, this place doesn’t minimize my mourning for Target.)

Twenty-eight spokes. 

It is delightful and brightens any rainy day.  I love it.

So here’s the deal.  I need someone to send me 3 bottles of Cholula Hot Sauce.  Yeah, you heard me…….hot sauce.  I need it for my Salsa and Sweet-N-Spicy Garlic Dill Pickle recipes.  If you agree, I will send you an umbrella like mine. (Any color you want though.)  I’ll also send you some $$$ for the hot sauce.

Sure, I could have my mom send me some, but this is a lot more fun, don’t you think? 

All you have to do is comment on this post and I will randomly select a winner next Monday (June 6) from the thousands and thousands who will enter.  Or it could be like my first giveaway, and only four people will enter.  Surely I have become more famous in the past 6 months…don’t you think?

If not, Mom……could you please send me some Cholula Hot Sauce?

Update:

The winner of the umbrella is Ashley and she told me she’d send me some Cholula.  So Ashley, the umbrella is on the way and I am looking forward to adding extra spice to my life!

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Linking with Army Tankers Wife , Carrie With Children

I Want To Be A Photographer When I Grow Up

You might have once or twice heard me complain on this blog, about wanting/needing a new camera.  You will be happy to know that it finally happened!  For Mother’s Day, my husband pulled out all the stops and got me a new Nikkon D3100 with a bunch of extras.  The camera wasn’t exactly here on Mother’s Day though.  It showed up in the mail about 15 minutes before we left for Kyoto, Japan on a little trip. (Which again is why, I haven’t been blogging that much.)

I quickly figured out that 10 minutes alone with the owner’s manual, isn’t quite enough time to learn to be a professional photographer.  Regardless, I am addicted and I have found my new hobby.  Now I can be one of those, drummer, hairstylist, jewelry-designer, clogging, photographers.  Yay me!

I have so much to learn about lines and leading the viewer's eye…….

Slowing the shutter speed…….

Finding things that are visually interesting…….

Portraits…..

Portraits……

And more portraits……

Not perfect.....but much better than my old camera! I am so excited I might just cry my pants. (That’s when you don’t know whether to pee your pants or cry.)  Thanks baby for the new camera.  I love it!  I love you too….even though you are weird sometimes!

Why I Haven't Been Blogging.....Biber Fever

I just wanted to tell everyone who is emailing and facebooking me about my blog posts……or lack thereof, that I PROMISE there will be more.  I have just been so busy lately.  I won’t go into details on exactly what I am doing, but it includes my mother-in-law coming and staying with us for FOUR weeks.  So you understand, right? 

Just kidding Sandy, I am totally thankful that I have a mother-in-law that I can tolerate for four weeks!

The real reason I haven’t been blogging much is because all three of the girlies have been sick.  We went to the movies a couple of weeks ago and just haven’t been the same since.  The symptoms the girls have been having are jumping up and down, squealing/screaming, and ringing of the ears.  The squealing sound is similar to the sound I once made at a New Kids on the Block concert, and the ringing is this “eenie-meenie-miney-mo-lover” sound….over and over and over.

I took them to the doctor yesterday to see what was up, and it turns out that they have a Japanese form of what the US calls Bieber Fever.  In Japan, I guess they call it Biber Fever.

The only way to cure the girls of this Biber Fever is to take away their iPods, don’t let them hang out with their friends or go to school, and keep them far far away from the May 17 Justin Bieber concert in Tokyo .  It’s going to be rough.  Grandma Sandy has been known to buy the girls things….and I wouldn’t put concert tickets past her.  Especially since the room we are letting her sleep in is covered with posters like this…..

So there it is.  We are gravely ill at the Three Girlies household.  I promise I will give my blog the proper attention it deserves over the summer.  I miss it and I miss the compliments, attention, praises, and love I get when I write in it.  I hope you, my faithful readers, understand.