Cartography 101

Either I'm an awesome mapmaker, or I'm really good when it doesn't matter too much where things go on a map. It only took me an hour from start to finish. Yea!

Our Man in Japan

Dear Family,

Sorry about not emailing last week, it was a holiday and there was a place to email. The week before I worked on my BYU application and the week before that no email.

So last week, Thanksgiving Day was transfer day. Unfortunately you can`t really plan much on a transfer day. I think we ate gyoza and rice for dinner.

Random things from the past month:

November 11- I was on an exchange with a Japanese elder, one of the contacts went pretty long because he was trying to convince the person to listen without using The Book of Mormon. I finally pulled the Book of Mormon out of the Japanese Elder`s little pouch (I had already given mine away) and testified about it and the restoration of the gospel and prophets. The guy then proceeded to tell Elder Kudo that he had never heard of the Book of Mormon and we should share that message right away. It was a good learning experience.

November 15-17- Our sink drain wasn`t draining much and we ended up washing dishes in the bathroom sink for a while. We poured drain cleaner, soap, bleach and stuff down to no effect. In the end we filled the sink up with water and I think the pressure fixed it.

November 23- Transfer calls. Elder Kimura is transferring to Himeji, the opposite side of the mission. I`m training again. I was pretty surprised by that call, I was expecting to train last time but wasn`t expecting it this time. We ate dinner at a member`s house in the evening. During the meal at one point the husband said `Honey, why`s there a crab in the microwave`. He opened the microwave and there was a whole crab sitting on a plate in the microwave. Apparently one of there kids brought it home. We ended up eating it. It`s the first time I`ve eaten crab brain.

November 26- Thanksgiving. Ate a few day old donuts for breakfast. Some rice and Tonkatsu for lunch. And some potstickers and rice for dinner. I also went to the Mission Home to pick up a new elder.

On the train ride to the Mission home a couple little girls were standing a little bit behind me on a really packed train. When the train finally stopped at a station I heard one of them saying `Nana... Nana...` and the other one was lying unconscious on the floor. She must have fainted. It`s very fortunate she wasn`t trampled on that train. A station worker ran onto the train grabbed her and ran off.

When President McIntyre was telling us who we`re training Elder Imai (The elder I trained a few months ago) and I were the last ones left along with two new missionaries. President McIntyre read off the assignments in a strange way that left us confused. But Elder Imai just was waving them over and so we assumed he had figured it out. Anyways we went over and hugged our new companions and welcomed them and then Elder Price looked at his letter and was reading it and saying `I`m Elder Price right?`. We realized the mistakes and switched companions and hugged again, but it was pretty funny. The missionary I`m training is Elder Johnson. His mom is Japanese and he`s lived on one of the airbases in Japan for about 10 years so his Japanese is pretty good. We`ve had a good few days so far.

Alright that`s it for this week.

Love you take care. I`ll probably be emailing weekly again.

Elder Andrew West.

Dancing with the Turkey Brine

When Danny started making the turkey brine yesterday, Rebekah loaned him her apron. She put it on him and tied the sash. Danny was okay with it until the camera came out.
Alex showed support by donning my apron - but Danny was still awfully shy of having his picture taken.

I did manage to snap a couple of pictures with quite a bit of swish. Looks like he's dancing...instead of running away from the camera.

My Husband's Double Life

A certified letter came for my husband today. It was from the State of Utah Department of Commerce. ??? Yeah, I was curious. Yeah, I opened it.

Here's an excerpt:

"You may continue to use the title of Doctor in front of [your] name. However, initials of DL (Doctor of Lymphology) and PMD (Doctor of Preventative Medicine) need to be changed. It is in DOPL's opinion that these terms would lead a reasonable person to believe that you are indeed a medical doctor, disclaimer not withstanding. The proposed changes are LS (Lymphology Specialist) and PMS or SPM (Preventative Medicine Specialist)."

The letter then went on to say that the State is seeking a "cease and desist order", and that if this person didn't cease and desist the State would move for civil penalties in the amount of $2,000 per day.

Ouch. $2,000 a day??

The good news is that I'm pretty sure this is a case of mistaken identity...but who knows? Steve did just spend a week in Utah...hmmm. I think I may just have to have a little heart to heart with him when he gets home.

Seminnamonary Rolls?

Carefully balanced on top of my thawing turkey...pan #2 of cinnamon rolls. Pan #1 is on a lower shelf - balanced on the eggs.

Tomorrow is going to be a game day for seminary - not only that, but ALL of the freshmen are meeting together. (Cue the roaring crowd). Potentially twenty six 14 year old boys and girls. Always a good idea to have some kind of treat, and homemade is way cheaper than store bought. Two dozen doughnuts would be well over $10. They don't pay me enough to fork out for that kind of treat very often.

I have an awesome, if somewhat undeserved, reputation for my coffee cake (or, as this year's class now calls it, "seminary cake"). It's a simple straightforward recipe - but what makes it wonderful is that I bring it to church hot out of the oven - so it's still slightly warm at the end of class. The aroma of freshly baked coffee cake wafts through the building. Not only does my class love it, but so do my students from last year...Kids from other classes will come in and try and mooch - if there looks like there are any leftovers. I'm a soft touch (plus I don't want to take it home) - so I make sure that all of the cake is gone before I leave.

The same goes for the cinnamon rolls. I don't make them nearly as often (because I have to think about making them much sooner). I wonder if the name "Seminnamonary Rolls" will catch on?

Full Plate

Steve gets home this morning! Yea!!

Thanksgiving on Thursday, as usual.

Black Friday Seminary Bash...what was I thinking?

November 28th through December 2nd: Birthday (Cindy), Birthday(Sherri), Birthday(Sara), Birthday(Keira), oh, and Steve's Birthday (not necessarily in that order)

Christmas season....

Wedding season...

Serenity now, insanity later.

Retail Therapy

It's always a little dangerous when Steve goes out of town. He is never sure what he'll be coming home to. I have been known to totally make-over rooms...from the floor to the ceiling. It's partly a way of coping - and partly just for fun - especially when I can get a sister or two to come and help.

It's just not happening this time. I just don't have the time and/or energy...not to mention money (remember, we have a wedding coming up!) to do a home make-over.

I did have the time and less money to spend on Amazon buying books. It all started because I needed to buy a book for Danny's literature class. And then there was the "buy 3 get a 4th book free" thing...and then there were some used books that I wanted...let's just say I ended up with more than 4 books. Yeah. I think I ended up with 12 books and 1 DVD. Oops. I think I won't open some of the packages when they come - I'll let Steve wrap them up for me for Christmas.