Youth Group Christmas Party

The centerpieces I made

This year's Youth Group Christmas party was a blast!! We set up the room nicely for a delicious home-cooked dinner of enchiladas and salad. Then we went out and did some Christmas caroling in what felt like a blizzard. After that we came back and did a gingerbread building competition! Below are the pictures of their edible creations.

Robot

Rapunzel's tower with her long rope of candy hair

Hanzel and Gretel

Santa's Workshop after a 9.0 earthquake

Pretty candy castle

iPad and iPod with matching edible earbuds

another pretty castle

Colorful retirement home complete with indoor garden and electric fences. haha

Samurai Christmas Party 2011

Everybody has really been looking forward to this year's Samurai Christmas Party! We had it at a hotel in Hachinohe - in a restaurant/ballroom overlooking the twinkly city lights. It was a great venue, but unfortunately our party bus taking us down there got stuck in Friday night rush hour traffic so it took 3 hours to get there! The party was worth the wait though. Everything was beautiful, the food was good and the games were hilarious. At the end of the night we said farewell to a dear friend and then most people went out for karaoke into the wee hours of the night.

On the party bus

The venue

Our party favors - label designed by James!

Japanese Christmas Dinner - Sushi

Another Wingman Song - this year set to 'Jingle Bells'

Our commander offering some final words

Saying farewell to our Weapons Officer

Over all a fun night!

Lady Samurai Christmas Coffee 2011

It's that time of year again - lots of holiday parties!! Last Wednesday, our commanders' wives hosted our annual Lady Samuari Christmas Coffee. They decorated the house beautifully in blue and white lights, set out a delicious spread of finger foods for dinner, gave us an update on some news and upcoming events - and then we moved on to the main event, our combat gift exchange!! Basically, we all brought a nice gift worth about $20 and put them under the Christmas tree. Then we drew numbers to see who would pick first. One by one, we went up and chose a gift at random to open, or we could steal a gift from someone else that we wanted. It got pretty competitive because there was a lot of good stuff!! I was excited that people were fighting over the gift I brought. I made a custom calendar with my best travel photos from Japan. All the people who wanted it but didn't get that one have placed orders for one so lots of people will have my photos hanging on their walls soon!

Our gift from the hostesses - stemless Lady Samurai wine glasses

New Health Challenges

I am mourning the loss of some of my great loves. Some of them are warm and soft and comforting... others are cool and sweet and always cheers me up. Somehow my life seems a little less fun and cravings a lot less manageable now that I have to give up cheese and ice cream. Yes - it's true - I am lactose intolerant. =^( This unexpected turn of events seems doubly cruel since this discovery was made weeks before our big Christmas trip to Italy. Unbelievable.

But Kim, how could this happen? You ask. I don't really know. I can only assume that my gall bladder-less gut is no longer able to process more than just fatty foods now. Don't worry. I can still eat things like pizza and yogurt and MILK Chocolate (SO uncool)... It's not like it sends me into anaphylactyc shock or anything. But I definitely pay for it later.

Over the last few months I've had a lot of discomfort and pain as a result of eating. They told me it would take a while to get back to feeling normal again after having my operation, but after a year and a half you'd think I'd be able to eat something simple like breakfast cereal without feeling like a bloated pincushion.

As it grew worse and worse this fall, I began to suspect a food allergy. So right before our trip to Tokyo I decided to experiment and completely cut out dairy, gluten and sugar and slowly I did start to feel better. I also noticed that, although I hadn't altered the amount of food or how much I was exercising, only the type of foods I was eating, I lost three pounds in three days and my belly flattened out significantly. That got my attention, for sure.

I went to the doctor who ran some tests and thankfully ruled out some more serious possible causes like ulcers and pancreatic stones. He says its possible that I've got some scar tissue in my side near where they took my gall bladder out that may be causing me some pain. But there's not much they can do about that. Over all, though, through various food experiments we've come to the conclusion that gluten and sugar, in moderation, don't hurt me nearly as much as dairy. After avoiding the stuff for a few weeks I decided to treat myself to a birthday sundae from Baskin Robbins and - well - let's just say it was pretty clear that ice cream will be a major no-no from now on. =^(

So, I suppose we are now beginning yet another stage in my food journey as I once again retrain my brain and learn to live without some of my favorite foods. It's not too bad when I'm at home cooking for myself. But traveling will be more difficult now and I need to work on my self-control a bit more. Thankfully they make some pills that help people like me break down lactose so I can still sample some of the local fare while we're in Italy.

I think the real challenge over the next few months will be trying to rectify my relationship with food. Working from home is really hard on me when it comes to diet control because I am definitely the type who eats when I'm bored or lonely or stressed out. Most of my comfort foods are now off limits so I've got to adapt and grow and strengthen my self-control. I also need to learn to take some of my own advice and go to God to help fill me up first and foremost. Prayers are much appreciated.

Turning 25

I had a wonderful birthday this year. My favorite thing to do here is to eat dinner at Pepper Lunch in the Shimoda Mall food court and then see a movie at the theater there. It's sad but the sizzling and spicy rice and meat and veggie combo is one of the only types of Japanese food I really crave. And since our theater here on base is terrible, I couldn't wait to start catching up on some recent flicks.

Several of our friends joined us for dinner on Saturday the 26th, and then we went to see The Three Muskateers. It was entertaining enough for the occasion but not stunning. I mostly enjoyed eating some caramel corn (which served in place of birthday cake, I suppose) and laughing with my Misawa family.

On my actual birthday, James took me to see Puss in Boots at the base theater (TWO movies in one weekend!!) Then we went to church in the evening. While we were there, some of our friends in the squadron invited us over for what turned into a delicious impromptu birthday dinner.

Most of the weekend was pretty low key and I didn't get any pictures. But I am thankful for my friends and my wonderful husband and all of the fun we had while celebrating the fact that I'm now a quarter century old.

Deck the Chapel

The day after Thanksgiving the Protestant and Catholic youth groups got together to decorate the Chapel for Christmas. I can definitely say that working at the chapel has given me a big appreciation for what it takes to make a modern church run. How many people really think about how many man hours it takes to put up the trees and lights and pointsettias and nativity scenes that we all love being surrounded by during advent? Thankfully our chapel is relatively small and we had an army of 25 or so teenagers so it didn't take TOO long to get the place looking nice and festive.

No, the real challenge was painting our new chapel Christmas card. Misawa has a tradition where all of the base organizations design and decorate a large plywood Christmas card each year. Then all of the cards and put on display in the round-about in front of the Wing Headquarters as a way of spreading holiday cheer. Up till now the chapel has been conspicuously unrepresented (I think because the "chapel" - being a government agency - technically has to represent all of the different faiths on base and it would be a headache trying to decide what message to convey with a card.)

But our Protestant Parish did some research and realized that we count as an organization and could have our own card if we wanted to. So we decided to take a big stand for Christ with our card. My friend Erika Meister designed it before she moved in October. Then the guys in the men's ministry cut out the nativity silhouette in the wood shop and the youth were tasked with actually painting it. That was quite a job so after they were done with the basics, I called James in to help do the detail work. He was a good sport and put in a good three hours of work. But I think the finished product is worth it. The design is eye-catching enough during the day (as it is pictured below). But the real treat is when it's lit up at night. We have one light that shines on the lettering to make sure you can read it in the dark, and then one light that shines on the translucent white sheet behind the nativity scene which makes the stable and star glow!

So Merry Christmas season from Misawa Air Base!

Thanksgiving 2011

Once again, we spent Thanksgiving at Derick and Lisa's house. Once you've had a taste of her Martha Stewart-style turkey, there's just no going back. Word must have spread because we had no less than 35 people crammed into their house that afternoon. To make sure we had enough food, Lisa made TWO turkeys and an extra turkey breast. My friend Kendall also brought a huge ham. The rest of us took care of sides and dessert. Every flat surface in their house was crammed full of so many delicious things its a wonder we could fit into our pants the next morning. I started taking pictures of the appetizers and drinks and then got overwhelmed and gave up. Either that or I was too hungry and needed to swap out my camera for a fork. I can't remember which... That afternoon is kind of a savory haze now...

While the afternoon was largely an unplanned free-for-all of edible pleasures, we did take a moment before digging in to bless the food and share some thankful thoughts with the group. James and I were surprised and humbled when some of our friends immediately turned to him and asked if he would pray for us. I was so proud of him! He did a great job. Then many of us talked about how thankful we are for our families and the good things in our lives. We had a good laugh when many honestly admitted that they were thankful to be spending the holiday with their Misawa family which provided an escape from the usual drama back home. Sad, but funny. I made sure to thank Derick and Lisa for their incredible hospitality - not just that day but also after the earthquake and many, many times before and between that memorable time and now. Their house is definitely my home away from home here in Misawa and I'm going to be devastated when they move in a few short weeks. I think we all will be...

 After everyone had let their first course settle, we started up the Dance Central and had some dance battles. Yes, I definitely had some powerful flashbacks to our post-quake parties that night. But I think it was a good sign that we were all so caught up in the fun that we didn't notice the sizable earthquake we apparently had that evening.

Wentzel Show-Down

 The rest of the evening we just hung out, grazing on the left overs till they were largely gone. At one point, many of my friends (who had had several glasses of champagne and other concoctions and were feeling rather brazen) decided we needed to go take a family photo with our neighbors obnoxious inflatable Christmas decorations. Thankfully their house was also packed with partiers who didn't notice us stealthily creeping into the yard and striking this pose.

I'm thankful that, if I must be thousands of miles away from my family, I've got a group of people who love me so much and are willing to go to such lengths to make sure my favorite holiday was a memorable one. =^)