Can't sleep...

So I am drinking a cup of this...


and unfortunately eating one of these...


*sigh*

It has just been a strange day. The first day in I don't know long, where we were able to take it easy and it was hard to make myself just chill out. I am also pretty restless cause I chopped my hair off yesterday. I wanted it short, and I wanted to donate my hair to locksoflove.org, but it is just suddenly GONE and it feels weird. I don't recognize myself when I see my reflection. it is just going to take some getting used to.

And then on the way over to have dinner at our friends house, Rocky bit his tongue. Not a strange thing, especially for him, he kinda does that quite a bit actually. But four hours later it was still bleeding and he was getting dizzy. So we decided to head home, get our insurance card and go to an emergency room, since that is all you can do late on a Saturday night. I could feel the tension building as we left our friends house. What to do with Hana? How long will the ER take? When will we finally get back to Hana and get home if we leave her somewhere? What if he needs stitches? OUCH! What if they can't make it stop bleeding or some other underlying cause is there and they'll discover something else is the reason he can't stop bleeding? Why do I always let my mind run away with thoughts like this?

Needless to say, by the time we got home to get the insurance card I was really stressing. And yet, the bleeding had finally begun to subside. And we decided to stay at home, and see if it would stop completely. It did, within like five minutes (thank you Lord). But my wound up nerves WON'T stop! My new bedtime of 10pm... well I finally made it to bed at 10:45. Yet it is after midnight and I am still awake. I decided to come downstairs and get a cup of some kind of relaxing tea and unwind a little.

I know, staring at a bright computer screen is not exactly going to make me get sleepy. But what else would I do in a quiet house, late on Saturday night.

My tea is still too hot to drink...

So, my hair. Yep, I chopped it. I wanted to donate it to an organization that makes wigs for sick children who need them. I measured the required 10 inches and thought it would come to about right above my shoulders, and I was happy with that. That long hair was going to make me miserable this summer. So off I went. ONly one problem. I have increasingly found it impossible to communicate what I want to a hair stylist in Japan. WHY do I always forget that no matter what I say they don't listen to me and they just cut it however they want to. He insisted that he couldn't pull it all together in the back and cut it at the nape of my neck, he had to separate it into four ponytails around my head and cut it seperately. He cut the sides about 4 inches shorter than the back. I was shocked when I saw him do it? And right before he cut, I told him that the hair band was high up there, and he could cut less on the sides, the 10 inches only had to be measuring from the middle in the back. He assured me he understood, and CHOP! I am sure my Japanese must have been unclear? right?

Oh well, I don't hate it. It is much shorter than I wanted it, but it will grow. Hair grows. It is nothing to be upset about. And yet I can't stop replaying it in my mind and asking myself, why didn't I INSIST that he pull it into one ponytail in the back and cut it? It's probably going to take me at least 6 months to get the sides caught up with the back. And then the back'll have to be cut short again to even it out with the sides. How will I ever explain to him what kind of style I want then? I don't know if I'll ever trust him to cut my hair again until it is much past my shoulders. I have him well trained in how to cut my hair when it is long...

oh well, it is done. And really, I don't hate it. It is just going to take some getting used to.

Note to self...
IF you ever do this again, cut it yourself first and then go to the salon to get it styled.

OR do it while you are in American so Mom can cut it! She listens to you!

OR just don't ever do this again...

cause even though I really don't hate it (how many times have I said that now) I don't really adore it either.

The problem is, I always envy cute short hair cuts. I want my hair to look like that, be that simple, be that light and cool.

One more note to self...

YOUR hair is thicker than a horse's mane Marla, REMEMBER! It will never look that cute short.
And YOUR hair is naturally wavy-gag-me-with-a-spoon-frizzy, which means in humid Japan, short is not fun!

Thanks self, so noted!

So there you have it. I'm done thinking about it. I am done replaying it in my mind. I am done letting it stress me. It will grow.

My hubby is lying in bed upstairs, snoring away, not bleeding anymore. and my hair is fine, it is short and simple and that is what I wanted.

That's that. My tea is now at a great temperature to drink. I will drink it and hopefully go to bed to go to SLEEP...

good night

Dead and Resurrected!

More than anything, everyday I celebrate the death and resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ. I must say that before I say...

Today I am also celebrating the death and resurrection of my computer.

And to my precious hubby, THANK YOU for all the tedious hours you spent saving my little friend. What can I do to repay you!? I love you sweety! Thank you again!

So that means, I can finally share pictures... BUT, it is 9:20 and I am sitting here in a pool of sweat cause I just finished my workout, 40 mintues of pilates and 30 minutes on my NEW elipitical trainer (more about that later) so I must grab a shower and get to bed. I have been in bed by 10 every night since we came home and I am not about to change that now, I am loving my early mornings!!!

Quick snippet about my eliptical trainer, it cost the same as about 5 months of gym membership, we decided it was a better deal to get one for home. Maybe Rocky will join me in using it! It is a simple, pretty inexpensive one but I really enjoyed my first run on it tonight! I was sweating, that is pretty much all I care about!

Loving my new pilates videos too!

Anyways, off to shower and get to bed. If you could smell me from there, you would thank me! ;)

nighty night!

Ahhhhhhhhhh...

Back from the states! But unfortunately having computer problems. My laptop just shut down on me the day after we got back, and it is taking forever to get it up and going again, because we are so busy! So I hijacked Rocky's computer this afternoon while he is working on me.

Oh goodness, where do I begin. Well, the states was AWESOME, but long and exhausting. We were so ready to get home. And can I just say this, I am so Japanese. I shock even myself sometimes with how different I am, and I how I just don't fit in America anymore. I still love America don't get me wrong, but I think after 11 years (YEP ELEVEN years!) this is home. I could not wait to have some noodles or rice and get into a Japanese bath! ahhhhhhhhhhhh, it is heaven!

Hana is doing well being back. She is a little shy speaking Japanese, even her teachers at preschool say she spouts off to them in English a lot. She REALLY prefers English right now. She is LOVING the food though, she has stuffed herself silly at most meals. I made spaghetti last night and she was disappointed... she scarfed down her salad though. I can't blame her, I'll make more Japanese food tonight!

Well, on the health and wellness side of things, I did not gain a single pound in the states! However, I was not able to work out much at all, and I know I lost muslce and replaced that with a little bit of fat. So I have some work to do. To decision about the gym is official, I am not joining again. We ordered a home eliptical trainer (which comes tomorrow, I can't wait) and I brought home some DVD's with me. I have been working out to DVD's for the past few days and I like it. Especially when I have the eliptical trainer, it's gonna be great! It is rainy season, and I went jogging the other morning and came back pretty wet even though it was only a drizzle outside. Once rainy season is over it is going to be miserably hot out, so I am thankful that we got a home machine. It was really inexpensive, and about 4 months of the gym would have equalled the cost of the machine. So we will be ahead in no time! Plus Rocky is going to use it too!!!

I am now officially an early bird! For the last week I have gone to bed by 10pm and gotten up by 6am every day! I am really liking it. When we married, Rocky and I were at total opposite ends of the scale. I loved going to bed at 10 or so, and he loved staying up to till 2 or 3am. We sorta of met in the middle, and often were in bed by midnight or 1am at the latest most of the time. But I have never really liked that so much cause I just can't get up before 7am if I got to bed that late. And I almost always need a nap if I do have to get up early. But I took advantage of jet lag (and an ailing computer) and started going to bed early every night. I so enjoyed the early mornings, I am determined to stick to it. And now, not going to the gym, I can easily do it! If Hana is in bed by 8, I can easily be done with my workout by 9 or 9:30, shower and go to bed. OR, if I get up at 6am, I can easily get my workout done in the morning before she wakes up! I have yet to try working out while she is up, we'll see how that goes when we are forced to!

This new schedule means the loss of a few things, mostly being able to chat online with people in the states. But I'll make changes where needed for that. I was spending way too much time on the computer late at night before anyways.

Well, I'm sure I have a million more things to share about the states but that'll have to do for now. I am just glad to be home! There will be more pics coming soon, when we get our computer issues worked out. And be sure to keep up with the ministry over on that blog! There'll be lots of Hana updates coming soon too.

My precious daughter!!!

One of the most precious pictures I've ever had the priviledge of being in! THAT is MY precious daughter. I'm still amazed that I get to be her Mommy!!!

My precious family!!!

I just had to share...


We had our pictures made today! They turned out GREAT! I love my sweet precious little family. I just wanted to share!

Some fun pics...

(This post was supposed to be on Hana's blog, I blame it on jet lag ;) )

This little girl has fallen in love with animals, and especially Bam's horse... Gizmo!


Riding with Bam..


Watching TV with Granny... (Great Grandmother)


Playing with Aunt Kay... (Great Aunt)


Saying Bye-bye to Uncle Bud and Aunt Shortie... (Great Uncle and Aunt)



One thing is for sure... this little girl is LOVED!!!!!!!

Stateside for a month...

I can't believe we have been here for a whole month. Time is flying by! It has been a HUGE blessing!!!

We have so enjoyed the fellowship with new and old friends and family. It has been sooooooooo wonderful to spend so much time with people we don't often get to see.

We've eaten lots of great food! But I'm being good. Keeping control of portion sizes and not drinkinng too many Dr. Peppers! But indulging quite a bit! I'm enjoying myself, but I haven't gained ANY weight!!! I've only been able to work out about 3 or 4 times though. Just hope I don't lose too much tone, but we'll see.

The weather has been CRAZY! We've had record high temps in some places we've been, we had a snowy day in Colorado, and we've seen LOTS of thunder storms with plenty of thunder and lightening and hail! Thankfully, no tornado's, but we ARE still in Texas!!!!

Hana has been an AMAZING little girl. I can't remember a single time she's complained about all the hours in the car, all the meals that she doesn't really prefer, all the concerts she's had to sit through. Really she has thoroughly enjoyed all the attention she is getting and she is such a GOOD girl! We are so blessed!!!

We've got one more month to go! I'm looking forward to it!

Love from Texas!

Update over on the ministry blog

There is a link to the right to our ministry blog. I was able to share quite a few pics and a short update on our last few days. our time online has been limited but we are having a blast, and are so blessed!

I'll hopefully have time to blog more soon. Love from Colorado!

A sick baby...

Hana caught something at preschool this week. She'd been coughing for about two days when she woke up Saturday morning with a pretty high temp. I think around 102F (38.8 C), our thermometer is C so I'm not sure and am too tired to go find a converter online and convert it! LOL We got her some meds, and the fever just climbed higher and higher throughout the day. I prayed over her every time I layed hands on her. By night time her fever hit 40.2 once. We kept up fever reducing suppositories as often as allowed, ice packs around her neck and cold compress on her forhead, etc. She did not sleep well and when she finally did fall asleep at 2am after another fever reducer brought the temp down a little bit, I couldn't sleep! I think I was awake until 4am and then when I did sleep it was a very light sleep because I was so "aware" and every tiny noise woke me up. I am so exhausted today. I'm missing Sunday morning worship for the first time in I don't know how many years!!!

This morning she still had about 40 temp but it finally began to break after breakfast! Praise the Lord! I enlisted some of my online friends to pray and that did the trick! She is upstairs taking a nap right now, and I should lay down for a while too. I think in all I got maybe 2 hours sleep last night.

My Mommy spent many many many nights up with me while I was that sick. I had a very weak respiratory system and asthma and was sick a LOT. I never could understand why she was so worried about me. Last night, I finally understood. To see that precious face look up at me with feverish glassed over eyes, and hear her lay there and moan, well it was just not fun. I love that precious little girl so much it is impossible to describe.

I'm so glad she's feeling better. Now Mommy needs a nap!

Amazing Grace

Too adorable for words!!!!!

The Lord's Prayer

This is just too precious!!!! (by the way it is not Hana, and this little girl is two years and 8 months old) WOW!

Dancing with the Stars, Marlee Matlin

I am in love with this show. I would give anything to compete in this, guess I gotta become a star first! ;) But this years cast is really great, and I am sooooooo impressed by Marlee Matlin. I have always loved her acting, but this just amazes me that she can dance like this. I wish I could watch it live, and vote! She and Priscila Presley are really impressing me...

My sweet little family...

This is a picture my good friend Riz took of our little family recently. I just love it! I wish I had someone following us around with a camera all the time!!!

My sweet little family. We all have nick names for each other...

Hana is...
Hana-baby
Hana-banana
munchkin
sweety
Hana Bell
My baby girl (reserved only for Mommy to use, according to Hana)
precious baby (Daddy is allowed to use this one, cause "baby girl" is reserved for Mommy) LOL
and more!

Mommy is...
Sugarpie (to Daddy)
Mommy
Mama (when Hana is doing baby talk)
Honey
Ma-cha
My special Mommy (a new one she started using several days ago)
and more I can't think of at this late hour!

Daddy is...
Rock star
Sugarpie (to Mommy)
Honey
Sweety
Dada (again, baby talk)
and others too sometimes...

But tonight was so precious. During our Afureru! meeting Hana was sitting in my lap and she was kissing me on the face and whispering, "I love you Mommy." and stuff like that and then at one point she started saying, "This is MYYYY Sugarpie." and she said it over and over again. then she reached for Daddy and crawled into his lap and proceeded to tell him over and over again that Mommy is HER sugarpie. And Daddy gently argued with her that I am HIS sugarpie.

Later in the car, this debate started again. It was so hilarious. Hana would not give up, and insists that I be HER sugarpie. She was even coming up with other names that Daddy could call me. She even told him that he could call me "my special Mommy" but that "MY sugarpie" is hers now! SOOOOOOO funny! I don't know where she got this from, that certain pet names are reserved for only certain people to use. She has always been insisten that she is "Mommy's baby girl" and Daddy can't use that name for her. But this is the first time she has laid claim on a name for one of us, and been so determined to have it for herself!

It's funny and so cute. It makes me feel so loved by her. When she does things like that, it melts my Mommy heart!

Isagenix...

Ok folks, I just can't NOT talk about this company. It is amazing! I've got about 5 people cleansing right now and everyone is so positive about their results. One of my associates has lost 22 pounds in the first month! She's amazing!!! Several others are just in their first few days of doing a cleanse, but have lost 3 or 4 pounds a piece. And I have a couple others who will begin their cleanse soon!

Everyone is talking about how good they feel while doing it. It is about so much more than the weight loss. The products are so packed with good nutrients, I think our bodies are screaming with joy for finally giving them some good stuff!!! It is amazing what a difference it makes.

If you haven't seen my blog where I talked about my cleanse and shared some other info, you can read it here. And if you are even the slightest bit interested, let me know! You owe it to yourself to try this.

And as a side note, but incredible as well, I've made some significant extra cash in the last couple months! I didn't set out to do that. I just shared my excitement about these products with others. I'm telling you, this company is amazing! I just love love love it!!!

work out Work Out WORK OUT!!!!!!

Whew! I just got home from the gym and wow, I feel sooooooooooooooooooooo good! I went back to my same old same old workout that I WAS so bored of and had been avoiding. WOW, it felt great! I finished feeling that feeling I usually LOVE after a workout, exhausted but refreshed, tired but energized! You know I been trying to mix it up with Pilates and stuff, but it just isn't the same. It really felt great tonight, and I guess even though it is boring, I should stick with what's been working for me for so long. Maybe I'll have time to do Pilates now and then, but I don't know about sticking with it strictly.

I spent all day today designing a new pamphlet for our minsitry. I can't wait to show it off, I'm pretty proud of it! I hope I can turn it into a pdf and show it here in the next few days! Or I guess maybe I should say I'll get Rocky to turn it into something I can show here! (thank you sugarpie)

Well, tomorrow is a holiday for preschool, so I better hit the hay so I have enough energy to keep up with my munchkin tomorrow since she'll be at home all day tomorrow.

I'm gonna sleep good tonight!

I love Spring!

I just love Spring time. Growing up in West Texas I never really understood what was so great about all the seasons of the year. In Texas, it is either cold or hot, and it's windy all the time (or it seemed that way to me). I only knew about Fall colors and Spring flowers from stories and pictures in books.

Here, I get to enjoy clearly defined seasons. Four distinct seasons and the change is obvious. This week flowers are blooming everywhere, my nose alerted me to this even before my eyes did (hay fever)! Today as I was going to pick up Hana in the morning, I noticed nothing in the trees lining the street we take to school but by this afternoon there were 6 or 8 blossoms peaking out on almost every tree along the street. Hana and I played in the park for a while on the way home. She picked a daisy and was so in love with it. She cried when she accidentally forgot she was holding it in her hand and crushed it while playing a game of chase with me.

I love being able to open the windows in the house, and the temperature be comfortable all day. I love when my clothes that I hang out to dry actually get dry by afternoon! In just a few weeks, they'll start getting dry within a few hours of hanging them out!!! I love the feeling of the warm sunshine, and the smell of the flowers blooming in the air. I also love hearing birds chirping outside. I love Spring!

This week would be perfect except for one thing, a thing I hate. COMPUTERS! They can be so infuriating. They can make your life so simple and wonderful, connect you to your friends and family, be a source of joy and laughs, a quick source of info when you need it right away, etc. But they can also make your life a living nightmare when they don't work right. Mine is trying to drive me to the looney house at the moment. You remember when computers used to take several minutes to carry out every command you gave them. Like opening a program took at least a minute. Or better yet, turning on and booting up the computer took maybe 5 days, or maybe that was more like 5 minutes, but at any rate it was close to an eternity! Well mine has decided to act like it was made back in the day when that was the norm. It is taking my poor hubby many extra hours of effort to figure out what is causing this. Bless his patient soul. I, on the other hand was born with my father's tempter. For those of you who didn't know my father, let me translate for you... if it were up to me, I would throw this computer off the top of a mountain right now! Just to teach it a lesson!!! LOL

That reminds me of a story my Mom used to tell. One day she was at home with us (or maybe it was just when my brother was a baby) and Dad was out on the tractor. They communicated with each other by CB radio. Mom had been radioing to get his attention all afternoon but he never responded. When he finally came in that evening and she told him she'd been trying to reach him, he got so mad at the CB radio for not working he marched outside to his pick-up, reached in and ripped the CB radio out with his bare hands, and threw it up into a tree. I bet that radio hung there for years! As a matter of fact, I may even remember seeing it there in my younger days... LOL

Well that is precisly how I feel about my computer right now. It better watch its P's and Q's cause I am about on my last thread of patience with it! grrrrrr!

I'm praying for patience, and for healing for my computer!

EIGHT years!

This last week was our 8 year wedding anniversary. I can not believe 8 years has passed!

There was a very important church meeting scheduled on the evening of our wedding anniversary though so we weren't able to celebrate on that particular day. Rocky never mentioned specifically any others plans for a date so I decided to surprise him with a special evening out! I started planning it more than a week in advance, and I am still amazed he never found out about it.

We always go to our church's cafe on Friday so I made plans for someone to take care of Hana that afternoon and evening from cafe on. As soon as we got there, I got Hana's belongings situationed with our friends, and two notes and a bag of nice clothes in place for Rocky. Then I disappeared!

After I had been gone a while, delivering other notes at specific points along his journey, I sent the signal for them to get him started at church and he was handed a note from me. It told him that we are going to celebrate our anniversary tonight but I have vanished and he has to find me! He was instructed to change into the nice clothes provided and get a ride to the train station.

From there he received notes from various people along the way, he had to go from one train station to the next, to a snack stand, to the barber shop (including get his hair cut and a shave), to Hana's preschool, and finally to our supermarket! He just died laughing when he saw me at his last destination!

It was so fun. I think I went around with a stupid grin on my face from the moment I snuck out of church until he arrived at the supermarket. It was so fun imagining him going through the steps of his "scavenger hunt". Over dinner he told me all the details of his hunt, and I told him all the details of trying to plan it without him finding out!

We had a wonderful romantic evening alone. Hana did awesome spending the night with friends. It couldn't have been more perfect! Now the only problem is, how are we gonna top that on the next special occassion?! Rocky's birthday is the end of this month, but I am exhausted from the anniversary surprise, I hope a simple birthday cake with friends will do this time!!! ;)

Spring has Sprung...

OH MY GOODNESS today was SUCH a beautiful day! I wanted to stay outside ALL day long. It was sunny and only the slightest hint of lingering coolness in the air. I walked Hana to and from preschool today and walked as slowly as I could to enjoy every second of it. It was awesome...

And what a perfect week for Spring to come. The 11th was Rocky and I's wedding anniversary. 8 years! WOW, time has really flown by. I can not believer we have been married ofr 8 whole years. It has been so fun and a non-stop adventure it seems. I am so so so so so blessed beyond words. He's still my best friend, still makes me tingle, I still adore him and love to be with him! He's an amazing father and husband, and ministry partner. He's just amazing. I still wonder when someone is going to wake me up from this dream. I could go on like this for 80 more years, and you better believe I'm gonna try!

Unfortunately though, our anniversary was a busy day filled with life responsibilities and no time for fun. I hope we can remedy that soon. Maybe we'll have to mix anniversary and his birthday into one celebration. Spontaneity really changes when you have kiddos.

Our random busy schedule is getting in the way of my fitness and healthy eating too. I'm not doing terrible, not falling off the wagon or anything. Haven't gained any weight but just not able to work out as much as I'd like and eating out more than I prefer. I am hoping the next four weeks before we go to America I can better control things in this area. Just wanted be really in tip top shape before this whirlwind tour where I doubt I'll be able to work out much at all.

Isagenix by the way, the company where I got the cleanse I did recently and blogged about it, TOTALLY rocks! I can not tell you how awesome it is to be a part of this company. I am loving the products and the extra money it brings in, and every part of it! LOVE IT!

Hana is doing GREAT right now. She is in a very loving obedient stage. She is just such a joy to be with. Her talking ability is getting better all the time and it is so fun to communicate with her about what is going on in her mind. She's just too precious for words.

Have I mentioned that I can not wait to come to the states???!!! So excited!

Gotta run!

Country Music, ain't nothing else like it!

OH, get ready to laugh until you hurt. This is so cute!!!

Oh, and sugarpie, I'd blow it all on YOU!!!

This is fun...