Morioka

We went to Morioka last weekend on a base-organized trip and had a lot of fun. Morioka is about two hours from Misawa and there is a Handi-Works Square there that is a kind of artists' co-op. There is a large central store, exhibition hall, and classroom and then there are smaller workshops around the central area. Each shop features a traditional Japanese craft or food and has space not only for the making of the wares but for the teaching of the craft. Annelise and I went on this trip with Kim, Vanessa, and Vanessa's two boys. A is 7 and E is 4 (?). We went into the main classroom and were taught how to weave bamboo pen holders. The wooden bases had already been cut and drilled and the upright bamboo pieces had been secured to the base, plus a few rounds of weaving had been done. We were shown how to weave our bamboo in and how to start new pieces when the others ran out and were instructed to weave until our pen holder was 10cm tall. Then the ladies showed us how to weave in the ends of the upright pieces to finish off the top. My pen holder doesn't go straight up, I was pulling too tightly and it narrows a little at the top, but it's really cool. Thank goodness for Kim, Annelise got fussy halfway through the project so I played with her while Kim wove and then we switched off.

After we finished with our pen holders, we were free to explore the shops and of course buy souvenirs. We watched sembei being made, they're traditional rice crackers with a variety of flavorings. I bought some honey-peanut sembei and also liked the cheese-flavored ones. (who'd have guessed that I liked the cheese ones, right?) The best part was being able to buy fresh sembei that were still warm, they were very very delicious.

We went into a toy workshop where I bought a rolling toy for Annelise. It's a rat because she was born in the year of the rat. I also bought myself a necklace from the ceramic workshop with a beautifully painted ceramic fragment pendant. After we explored the workshops, we went back to the central area and I bought a kokeshi, of course! Vanessa bought a couple of Mutsu apples, those are my favorite. They are huge and expensive, but she got a good price at the market. Mutsu apples are a little tart and just between American green and red apples in the texture department. I don't like red apples in the US, they're too mealy for me, but I love basically all Japanese apples. Actually, writing about the apples was making me hungry so I took a small break to slice up a Fuji.

After we left the Handi-Works Square, the bus took us to the mall so we could grab lunch and do some more shopping. We ate at Pepper Lunch, it was my first time to try that restaurant, and the food was delicious! In the truly Japanese way of doing things, you put your money in a vending machine and choose what you want to order, then hand the tickets that the vending machine spits out to the lady at the counter. I followed Vanessa's lead and got a dish of beef, rice, corn, green onions, and of course pepper. The rice and corn are already cooked, but they load all of your food (including raw meat) onto a very hot cast-iron dish and then you can cook your meat as much or as little as you want. I didn't realize just how hot the food was until I fed Annelise some of the rice and she screamed and spit it out. Best Mommy Ever! She forgave me when I gave her a fruit twist and then went on to eat plenty of rice and LOTS of corn. I've gotten ok with chopsticks, but I still can't eat corn with them and had to resort to the spoon provided. Well, I can pick up the corn one by one, but I didn't want to deal with that.

We walked around and shopped a bit, I didn't buy anything but I oohed and ahhed over the adorable matching rain boots/jacket/umbrella sets in every color of the rainbow that they had in the kids' store. Have I mentioned lately that I love Japan?? Just before it was time to get back on the bus, we stopped by Mr. Donut to get dessert for the road. I love Mr. Donut and it's a good thing that we don't have one in Misawa because it's addictive.

In all, we had a lot of fun in Morioka and I'd like to go back with John, one day when he's not working his tail off!!

Things to Buy

I have a list of things I need to buy while we're in the States and I figured if I put it online, I'd be less likely to forget something...

Printer toner- Brother TN-330 or TN-360
Whole wheat pasta- shells, macaroni, etc
Pepto bismol tablets that you don't have to chew
FABRIC!!!
Slippers for Annelise
Elmo DVDs, especially the three-pack that we're wearing out
BOOKS! J.D Robb's new one, The Holy Bullet, crappy romance novels, anything that catches my eye
Easter dress for Annelise
Quiet tape
Grill cover

I'll add to the list as I come up with more stuff...

Random update

It didn't snow much in November and December here in Misawa. I had heard that measurable snowfalls started in November so I warned my parents to pack boots and such, which they didn't need at all. Well, they needed the coats, it was chilly. We got some snow right before Christmas, just enough to be pretty, not enough to be hazardous. And then 2010 arrived and brought with it all of the snow we hadn't received yet this year. We've had over 18 inches of snow in the last week. That's a crazy amount of snow for someone from Texas! There has been a lot of shovelling and a little bit of hibernating because I don't want to take Annelise out in the cold and drive on icky roads.

Annelise has 8 teeth now and she's growing like a weed. Well, she's taller anyway; she hasn't gained much weight lately even though she eats three meals a day, plus snacks, plus still nursing whenever she wants. Annelise rarely stops moving, she'll sit still for a little while if Elmo's on but moves even in her sleep. She also talks almost nonstop, she has entire conversations with people on the phone and Skype and sometimes with herself. I'm working on teaching her more words and a couple of new signs but it's hard to not try to keep her as my sweet little baby. She has this little grin that melts my heart, it's a cross between sweetness and looking for trouble and it makes me want to hug her close. Today she was super snuggly, which I cherished because she so often would rather run around and play. Annelise is also showing more of an interest in books. It's amazing that my child didn't have much love for books for such a long time, but now she brings them to me to read and it makes me so happy!

Well, I guess that's enough of an update to keep my sisters happy for now. We're getting ready for our trip to TX/IN, so I'm staying busy and will probably not post again for a while.

Christmas in Japan

I have been informed by my sister that I was supposed to make a Christmas post, so here goes. You'll have to wait a while for the pictures to be posted on Shutterfly though, we have a lot going on right now!

On Christmas Eve, we went to the children's Mass and then drove over to Derick and Lisa's house (there blog is listed under Los Gees on the right side of this page) and had lots of fun. Annelise was afraid of their dog Kona at first, it's been a while since we were at their house and Kona is a big dog, she's used to being around much smaller dogs. She got used to Kona by the end of the night, thank goodness. We had fun hanging out with our friends and meeting some of Lisa and Derick's friends, and the best part was playing Guitar Hero!! It was Derick's Christmas gift from Lisa and he got to open it early so we could all play. I don't know most of the songs on there, my childhood was filled with George Strait and this game is full of classic rock. I did sing along to Willie Nelson's 'On the Road Again', though, no one else really knew that one. John had lots of fun playing the drums and Annelise was our groupie, she stood in the center of the room and danced her little heart out.

The next morning we got up bright and early to open gifts. Our parents went a little overboard on the gift-buying this year so we spread out Annelise's gifts throughout the day. Santa brought her a wagon, a chair, some clothes, books, and a couple of other small toys. Annelise also received lots of adorable clothes from our families, some really cool toys, and her favorite gifts, a spoon and some socks. Why did we bother buying toys for her?

John received a Kindle from me this year, he's starting his Master's soon and since we're overseas it will make things much easier to be able to just download most of the books instead of having to wait for them to arrive in the mail. In general, our mail service is great, but there are always exceptions and those exceptions are always the things you actually NEED instead of stuff you just WANT. He also got a few new shirts and some other stuff, but he was most excited about the Kindle and plugged it in right away. He received several Amazon gift cards and I think has already spent them all on Kindle books!

I got some amazing gifts this year, Annelise gave me a gift certificate for TWO massages, I really needed them! John bought me some sewing accesories, like a tote full of thread and supplies and a case for the machine that I bought with my birthday money. He also bought me a hand-blown vase that was made not far from here, it's something I'll treasure for a long time. I also love the gift I received from John's brother. He actually bought me a very nice gift, but the part I was most excited about was a bar of soap that he got from his room in the Plaza Hotel in NYC. We were chatting when he was there a few months ago and Danny went on and on about how great the soap smelled so I told him to swipe me a bar. It turns out that it is Bulgari soap, and you Janet Evanovich readers know why I'm so excited! One of the main characters in her books is the mysterious, very handsome, very sexy bounty hunter named Ranger and he uses Bulgari Green shower gel and now I have soap that smells like him! I think I'm going to put it in my dresser so all of my clothes smell extra yummy.

On Christmas Day we were able to talk to our families and Annelise showed off her toys for the grandparents on Skype, but she really was most excited about the spoon and socks. We went to lunch at the dining hall on base with several people from John's office. The base leadership serves lunch and the dining hall is open to everyone instead of just the people who live in the dorms and we had fun helping one of the airmen win a bunch of gift cards.

Later that day we went over to Yazmin and Dave's house for even more fun. I made a brisket and yummy rolls and we enjoyed taking time to just relax and hang out with friends. We even played Guitar Hero again and I'm learning the words to more songs. We also had not-good margaritas and then I had a yummy amaretto sour and a delicious mudslide. I think they realized that I'm a better singer when I've had a few drinks in me...

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas. We missed our families and this was the first year that we didn't celebrate any part of the holiday with any of our families, but our friends helped fill in that gap. We had a 'slightly white' Christmas where there was a little snow on the ground but the streets were clear. So our first Christmas in Japan was a success and we're looking forward to next year!

Christmas Letter, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas from Misawa, Japan! We’ve certainly been busy since our last Christmas letter! The Minear Family packed up and moved to Misawa Air Base at the end of January, courtesy of the Air Force. We moved to a small farming community in Northern Japan and love our new life here. We live off-base in a very interesting house, our kitchen and bathrooms are very different from what we were used to. We also purchased two used cars and John finally got a TV of his own, instead of the hand-me-downs we had in New Mexico. We are enjoying getting to know our Japanese neighbors, Annelise and I walked to the air show with them in October and had a lot of fun.
This year has been filled with a lot of travel, John has to leave town every month or so for work and we took a family vacation to Guam in July. We had a wonderful week there and Annelise LOVES the beach! We also made a trip to Florida this fall; John was already there for work so Annelise and I took a military flight to Seattle and then made our way to the Southeast. I had a lot of fun shopping and buying things as simple as Pepto-Bismol tablets that you don’t have to chew and my favorite scent of deodorant. We have everything we need available on base, but there are times when you want a specific brand or color or scent and you have to make do. Of course, I also bought plenty of clothes and Christmas gifts while I was in Florida as well! The best part about our trip to Florida was visiting Disney World. My parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law and John’s mom, aunt and uncle met us there and we had a blast. Annelise enjoyed all of the attention and John and I enjoyed spending time with family and not having to carry her everywhere. My parents were just here for a week over Thanksgiving and I think they really enjoyed their trip. They tried several new foods and we showed them our favorite spots around Misawa.
In between the big trips, we’ve also made several small trips around the Aomori Prefecture (our region of Japan). We went cherry picking, to a baseball game, and to a number of festivals. Our favorite festivals are the Cherry Blossom Festival in the Spring and the Misawa City Festival in the Summer. John was able to climb Mount Fuji this summer after going to Tokyo for a work trip; he was able to see the sun rise from the summit. Our favorite place in Japan, however, is Shipwreck Beach. There are five or six wooden ships there, partially buried in the sand right on Mutsu Bay. We love going to Shipwreck for picnics and to search for sea glass and other treasures. I’ve got a bunch of sea glass just waiting to be made into jewelry and other crafts, if only I had the time.
We have made many new friends here in Misawa. I learned from living in Clovis that you have to get out and get involved in order to meet people, so within our first month here I took a pottery class and got involved in the squadron and the Misawa Officers’ Spouses’ Club. We’re lucky to be in another great squadron, I was definitely worried that I had been spoiled by the Wizards and Fireballs at Cannon but was pleasantly surprised by how involved people are here. It really is true that you band together when you’re overseas and so far from family. I am now on the board for MOSC and am still wondering how I got roped into it. John really likes the people that he works with and some of them are even married! So we’ve been lucky enough to make friends in the squadron, through my adventures, and even some ‘hand-me-down friends’ that I met through one of my old friends from Clovis. We are truly blessed by this and my parents said that leaving here was a little easier knowing that we have such a great group of people who care so much about us.
My favorite thing about living in Misawa is how beautiful and colorful everything is. From the flowers that start in the spring and last well into the fall to the amazing foliage all around, Japan is such a beautiful country. John’s favorite thing about living in Misawa is exploring the country. Between ski trips in the winter and all of the festivals, we have been able to see quite a bit of this part of Japan. Annelise’s favorite thing about Japan is definitely how friendly the people are. She loves waving and saying Hi to everyone, and all of the Japanese people adore her.
Speaking of our beautiful little girl, Annelise just turned one! As I said, my parents were here for Thanksgiving and her birthday (which was on Thanksgiving Day this year) and I tried my hand at making her cake. She had lots of fun eating the cake and playing with her new toys. She is growing and changing so much, she picks up new tricks every time I turn around! Annelise and I have been going to Water Babies, a swim class on base. The class is almost over but she has had a lot of fun and is no longer scared of going under water, now we just have to keep up with taking her to the pool so she doesn’t forget what she learned. She can’t swim yet, but we’re hoping to take the class again next fall. Annelise has been walking for a little while now and we’ve had to put up baby gates to keep her off of the stairs and away from the Christmas tree. She loves Elmo and would watch Sesame Street all day long if I would let her; she was very excited to get Elmo pajamas and books for her birthday. Our sweet girl is so very friendly; she has never met a stranger. She took to our families right away when we were in Florida, even though we hadn’t seen them since January, and even waves at people when we’re driving down the street! If you are on Skype, look us up because Annelise loves talking to people on the ‘TV’.
We are planning a trip to the States in a couple of months and again for my sister’s wedding this summer. Hopefully we’ll get to see most of you while we’re out there, we certainly miss our friends and family. Please continue to check ajminear.blogspot.com and ajminear.shutterfly.com for updates and photos of our adventures and leave us comments to let us know what you think!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Love,
The Minears
John, Angela & Annelise

One Year Old

I've been putting this post off because it's bittersweet. Annelise turned one year old on Thanksgiving and I can't believe our sweet, sweet baby is now a toddler. My parents were here for the week before her birthday and we had lots of fun showing them around. They taught her some fun new sounds, she now makes a high-pitched noise to try to whistle. We went to the doctor this week and although Annelise hasn't gained much weight since her last appointment, she's met all of the milestones for her age. She has been slow to gain weight because of all of the walking she's doing, along with her swim class. We only have 3 classes left and I hope that she starts packing on the pounds once we're done.

We started Annelise's twelfth month with a short jaunt from Ft. Walton Beach over to Pensacola to spend the day with Auntie Kim and Nana Peggy. We met them at the Navy base and watched the Blue Angels practice and then went inside the museum and got autographs! Afterwards, Mommy got to go back 'home' for the first time in monts, we went to Hobby Lobby. We had a lot of fun that day and then went back to our hotel to prepare for the big trip to Orlando.

On that Friday, we left for Orlando as soon as Daddy got home from work; the drive took over 7 hours but it was worth it to see the family and go to Disney World. We got to the hotel after midnight and you stayed up for a while playing with Babi, Grandaddy, Grandma, Nanna, Kyle, Lusa, Trent, and Uncle Greg and Aunt Karen. That's right, Grandma surprised us by bringing some relatives that we had never met! We had a blast the next day at the Magic Kingdom, riding rides and seeing the sights. Buzz Lightyear and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad were everyone's favorites and you loved being held by everyone and basking in the attention. Because it was Halloween, you were dressed in the adorable dress that Aunt Karen made and the whole park was decked out! That night we went to a restaurant that Mommy really liked but apparently some of the others weren't huge fans of. That's what they get for ordering the same old-same old, I was adventurous and lucked out!

The next day we took some family pictures and then packed up to go back to Ft. Walton Beach. It was a short weekend, but so worth it. We had so much fun with family and can't wait to go back to Disney World when you're older. We also want to make a trip to Tokyo Disney before we move.

The rest of our time in Florida was spent shopping and spending time with Daddy. We flew back to Seattle and ended up having to wait a day to get on the Patriot Express because of maintenance problems. The motel that Mommy picked was kind of shabby, but it was next to a Denny's, down the block from a convenience store, and had a free shuttle to/from the airport. That was all very important because the airport only had two restaurants outside of security and Mommy was tired of them. Plus they did not have Dr Pepper in the airport, while the convenience store did!

We made it safely back to Misawa and you did so well on all of the flights. Annelise, thank you so much for being such a good traveller, it makes life a lot easier. Once we got back to Misawa we cleaned the house and unpacked all of the stuff that we bought and mailed in Florida. Daddy came home a week later and then we started prepping for Babi and Grandaddy to visit!

When Babi and Grandaddy came to Misawa, we took them to Shimoda Mall, Hachinohe (the fish market and Niitori), the Pacific Ocean, and Hirosaki Castle. You and I took kimono pictures with Babi and we also had one-year-old pictures made of you. We had a great time and made lots of memories. But now for the real reason they flew thousands of miles: your birthday!!

We started the day with some rain. Then Mommy had to run to Yokomachi because we forgot to thaw the rolls. Then we got to eat Thanksgiving dinner! It was definitely better than last year's, Daddy makes a much tastier turkey than the hospital. Mommy decorated your cake with pink and purple icing and yellow and pink flowers. It was not as elaborate as I would have liked, but I keep reminding myself that all that mattered was that it tasted good. Your Tio David and Tia Yazmin came over to help celebrate and we sang Happy Birthday to you. I helped blow out your candle and then we let you dig in to your cake. You enjoyed rubbing icing on your face and in your hair while the grown-ups ate cupcakes, and then Babi took you upstairs and hosed you down in the bathtub.

Annelise, you are one blessed little girl. So many people who love you gave you birthday presents. You got lots of pretty clothes, winter gear (a coat, two hats, gloves, and some boots!), several books and puzzles, and lots of toys. My favorites are the Little People toys and your favorites are the push toy, Cookie Monster doll, and spoons and forks. You're not very good at eating with them yet, but you like to pretend they're drumsticks!

This month has been a busy month for you, little girl. Not only did we DO a lot of fun stuff, a lot of fun stuff HAPPENED! You got your sixth tooth not long after we got back to Misawa and I can tell that you're working on getting two more. You have different waves for Hello and Bye-bye and have started pointing at things. You say Grandaddy very well and also sing 'I Love You, Yeah Yeah Yeah', it's so cute! You can now climb stairs, we had to go to a Japanese store to find a baby gate wide enough to keep you off of our staircase. The craziest thing that happened was that you managed to turn on your Elmo DVD by yourself! The best we can figure, you were playing at the entertainment center and pushed the power button to the bluray player. Because of the way it had previously been turned off, it started the movie without you having to hit play. All I really know is that I was washing dishes and realized that you were watching Elmo, but I hadn't turned the movie on! You also got sick for the first time this month, you got a cold that lasted about 48 hours. The snotty sneezing was pretty gross, but I credit breastfeeding with the fact that you recovered so quickly. You also got some new shoes this month, they have squeakers in the soles and you love to toddle around making noise. Sadly, we have misplaced one of the shoes so you have been squeak-less for a week or so.

Annelise, you're so grown up now! You are very independent and love walking everywhere so I cherish the times that you're sleepy and want to snuggle. This last year has been so wonderful and I look forward to what the next year with you will bring!

November 18, Ten Years Later

I saw Bonfire being built once, on an October Saturday in 1999. Just a few short weeks later, Texas A&M was all over the news because the stack had fallen in the wee hours of November 18th. I took a lot of crap from people I went to high school with, I spent a few hours worrying about friends on campus and if they were OK, and I got my acceptance letter a few weeks later and officially became an Aggie, it was a turning point in my life.

Freshman year I went to the memorial and cried the entire time, in the rain. I've only been to the official memorial once to read the inscriptions and stand on that hallowed ground and I've never seen the off-campus Bonfire burn, I'm waiting for the return of the real, official Bonfire to campus. When it does, I will go back to College Station from wherever I am in the world with child(ren) in tow. I will stand in the crowd of my kinsmen and cheer, celebrating the lives of all Aggies and the 'burning desire to beat the HELL out of t.u.'

I bleed maroon always, no matter where I live or how long it has been since I stepped foot on campus. I am drawn to buy maroon clothing and shy away from anything orange, even if I know I'll look good in it. I wear my ring proudly and 'scope' other people's hands for Aggie rings as well. When I see a fellow Ag, I know I am with family and feel perfectly at home. I know that, between my Aggie family and my Air Force family, I am never alone and am even more grateful when those families overlap. Non-Aggies are amazed when I go right up to someone with an Aggie ring and introduce myself, they just don't understand how I could walk right up to a General or a random person in an airport. But then again...

From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. From the inside looking out, you can't explain it.

Today I remember the twelve who died when Bonfire fell and the many, many more who have given their lives in the service of our country. After the service academies, Texas A&M has commissioned more officers in the armed forces than any other university. We have actually commissioned more officers than the Air Force Academy. We have a long history of loyal service to our God, our Country, and our University. I am proud to be a part of that history and hope that I make Aggieland proud of me. It is so much more than a school, it is the beginning of the rest of your life.

So in memory of Aggies past, in honor of Aggies present, and in hope for Aggies future, I answer, Here.