Happily Ever After

Clogged Drain 0 - Brandon 1

abcarlson — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:53:00 GMT

Long story short we had a clogged bathtub drain and I decide to see if I could take care of it myself. Thanks to the below website:

http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2009/06/natural-homemade-drain-o-or-how-to-unclog-without-chemicals/

I was able to unclog the drain without running to the store for drain-o. Below are the same instructions you will find on the website:

Drain De-Clogger Recipe:

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cup vinegar

1 gallon boiling water

Carefully siphon all the baking soda down the drain. Pour in 1/2 of the vinegar, covering the hole so the fizz is forced down, not up (omit this for toilets, please!). Add the second half of the vinegar, following the same procedure. Allow to sit for 15 minutes or so, and then flush with an entire gallon of boiling water.

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This worked wonders for me hopefully it will work for you too! Take care and have a good rest of the weekend!

GO HUSKERS!

- Brandon

Kumo

abcarlson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:01:00 GMT

Today's Japanese word for today is "kumo," meaning spider. ("Kumo" also means cloud, but for this posting, we're talking about spiders.) While "kumo" is the generic word for spider, in this case we are referring to a large, brown and black, furry, thick-legged spider we found guarding our elevator a few nights ago. Lovely surprise, I might add. :) This one wasn't as big as the black and yellow spider we saw hanging out at the Okinawa Zoo, but including the legs, it was the size of my palm. I tried to get Brandon to hold his hand up next to it in the photo, but for some reason, he refused. Can't imagine why. :) We've said this before, but living on a subtropical island with big bugs evidently means we're going to have big spiders.

Just like my Gramma Lou taught me, I calmly explained my spider pact to this new member. I appreciate the fact that he helps keep the bug population to a tolerable level and as long as he doesn't set a foot (any of them) on me or in my apartment, we can live in peace and harmony. I also calmly explained that I didn't earn the nickname of "Fearless Spider Killer" in college for just any reason. I think he understood (smart, bi-lingual spider) and agreed to the terms. :) Gotta love big, furry kumo.

---Arielle

Those selfish, selfish people!

abcarlson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:30:00 GMT

While Brandon and I were out Christmas shopping, we came across this wonderfully, hilarious sign. I've always said the Japanese culture is an extremely polite one. They even go so far as to label themselves "selfish" when they close their store for a few days. Gotta love Okinawa!

---Arielle

Okinawa Ramen

abcarlson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:14:00 GMT

I promised a few posts ago (okay, it's been a while) that I'd explain a bit of the difference between our Okinawa ramen and the slightly scary ramen noodles I may, or may not, have lived off during my college years. :)

We've actually been surprised at the wide variety of ramen we've found in Okinawa. Thin noodles, thick noodles, noodles made from various types of flour, all sorts of meats and veggies to choose from. In our experience so far, one thing remains the same - the Okinawa ramen is considered a soup, rather than just a dish of noodles. In fact, you're served a special spoon to drink the broth after you've eaten the noodles and toppings. Brandon's ramen tonight had thinly sliced pork, tiny green onions, and a purple-ish type of seaweed. He usually gets the gyoza set now (large bowl of ramen, five gyoza, and a bowl of rice) and I get the mixed rice plate (similar to fried rice, but better.) Overall, a wonderful dinner!

---Arielle

Pumpkin cookies

abcarlson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:07:00 GMT

My wonderful husband doesn't like pumpkin (I KNOW - I couldn't believe it either!), so I compromised. I made pumpkin-shaped (thank you for the cookie cutter, Daddy!) Gramma's Sour Cream Cutout Cookies and tinted the frosting orange. Happy early Thanksgiving, everyone!

---Arielle

Egg Shop & Zoo

abcarlson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:47:00 GMT

Megumi and I ate at a nice Japanese lunch buffet where she introduced me to the tropical Chinese fruit Lychee for dessert. The outside of it reminded me more of a nut than a fruit, but it peeled off easily to reveal a white fruity flesh. The closest taste comparison I can think of is a cross between a grape and a pear. It might be one of those things that just tastes uniquely like itself, though. Inside, there is a nut-like seed, so I'm very thankful Megumi was there to teach me how to eat the fruit (and not the seed.) Now that I know my way around it, I'd definitely have a lychee again.

After lunch, we headed over to the Egg Shop with attached Zoo/Farm. While it has the normal "farm" animals on display - donkey, chickens, geese, rabbits, chipmunk, goats, chinchilla (hehehe) - it also is more like a small zoo in the fact that they also have animals such as monkeys, iguanas, emu, ostriches, fruit bats, and an armadillo, just to name a few. We definitely had a fun time wandering around and looking at the animals.

The egg shop offers fresh, organic eggs (from their chickens) and a variety of homemade desserts. Megumi bought cream puffs for Brandon and I to try. I'm in love with the Japanese presentation and packaging, just in case I haven't mentioned that before. :) We got a cute little bag, just big enough for the two large cream puffs, complete with a sweet French saying (I don't know why French is so popular here, but it is when it comes to desserts...and wrapping paper - go figure) on the outside and a small frozen gel pack on the inside to keep our cream puffs cold on the ride home. They just think of everything! Brandon and I both agree, the cream puffs were delicious and we'll definitely have them again. Thanks again, Megumi!

I added lots of photos to the gallery to show off some of the animals we saw. Enjoy!

---Arielle

Happy First Anniversary!

abcarlson — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 11:39:00 GMT

Today was our first wedding anniversary! We can't believe how quickly time has gone by! It's been a whirlwind of a year with many, many changes. Last year on this day, we were married on the beautiful beaches of Jamaica. Then the traveling adventures really started - I moved to Nebraska, we flew back to PA for Christmas, less than a month later we repacked everything and moved to Okinawa, we spent a wonderful week in Italy, we flew back to NE for three days, we flew back to Okinawa for two weeks, then flew back to PA for a week.

We have enjoyed getting to know each other more and learning about the Japanese culture together. We have enjoyed watching movies together and expanding our action figure collection. We have enjoyed living in the same house and not having to catch a flight every few weekends so we could spend 24 hours together. We have enjoyed experiencing adventures together and can't wait to see what another year holds!

Happy Anniversary! We look forward to celebrating many, many more!

---Arielle

Happy Halloween from Okinawa!

abcarlson — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:41:00 GMT

Brandon and I went down to American Village to check out their costume contest and grab a bite to eat. (Check out some of the costumes we saw in our photo gallery.) It rained off and on, so there wasn't as big of a turn out as predicted, but it was still fun. Maybe next year we'll go dressed in costume. :)

Happy Halloween to you all!

---Arielle

Halloween Cookies

abcarlson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:37:00 GMT

As part of my on-going "Dessert Diplomacy" efforts, I made these cute Halloween spider cookies. They are frosted and decorated Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Brandon says they taste good. (I don't like chocolate cookies, so I've only sampled the frosting, which I can say tastes "delicious!")

I took them to our two neighboring Japanese housing agencies this afternoon, much to their delight; Brandon and I delivered them to our apartment-mates this evening; and I'll send some to work with Brandon in the morning.

When all was said and frosted, I made 65 of them! Now we just have to figure out what to do with the left over box of Trix cereal...

---Arielle

Soup Soup!

abcarlson — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:24:00 GMT

Megumi and I had a wonderful lunch at Soup Soup on the second floor of Max Furniture and right across from Today!OK. And no, I'm not kidding.

We both chose soup sets. I had a bowl of their clam chowder, which was soy based with peas, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and pieces of clam in it. It was good, if you could overlook the mushrooms and onions. :) Along with the soup came an all-you-can-eat roll bar, where you could choose from all sorts of rolls; from the usual wheat or butter to the more interesting squid ink or seaweed. Megumi and I both enjoyed the black squid ink rolls (they are more sweetish tasting than scary.) Megumi also tried their minestrone soup, which she said was very good and she enjoyed her "white soda," a mix of something like a club soda and a white Japanese sports drink.

Overall, we had a nice lunch out together at a cute cafe above and across from furniture stores, munching on squid ink rolls. Only in Japan, right? :)

---Arielle

Doyle Wedding

abcarlson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:02:00 GMT

And now, for the main reason we were back in PA in October - Joy's wedding! We were so happy to be able to be there to celebrate Joy and Sean's big day in person! It was so wonderful to get to see the Entwistle family again, and meet Sean's family, as well.

The day couldn't have been a more beautiful northwestern PA autumn day (complete with rich, gorgeous colorful leaves) and we can't wait to see the outdoor photos! Joy, of course, made a beautiful bride and I was so happy to be standing up for her. And we're happy to officially welcome Sean into our "family." I've included a few photos from before the wedding and the reception in our gallery, so be sure to take a peek.

By the end of the evening, jet lag was definitely getting to me, so we made our farewells and Daddy drove us out to the airport so we could catch a few hours sleep before we had to wake up at 3am to catch our flight back to Okinawa.

Overall, we had a wonderful trip! We're happy to be back in our own time zone now, and recouping from our adventure-and-travel-filled month, but we're very grateful for all the happy memories we have from the last few weeks! Big hugs to you all!

---Arielle

Food, fun, and fireworks

abcarlson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:50:00 GMT

We had a wonderful, albeit, whirlwind of a trip to PA for Joy's wedding. Between squeezing in some appointments, speed shopping, and dress fittings, we were able to catch up with some of my family and friends. We even got to watch a Steelers game on TV with Mimi and Pappy! (Steelers won! Yay!)

Thursday night we had a campfire out back of my parents' place with lots of wonderful food and plenty of laughter. Being acclimated to the subtropical weather of Okinawa meant that I was still quite chilly even after I layered in two fleece jackets, but it was well worth the shivering! (And Mimi provided us with lots of hot chocolate which helped!) It was so nice to see everyone that was able to make it and to stock up on hugs while I could. For those of you who we didn't get to see - hopefully we'll be able to connect next year when we're back again. We don't have our travel schedule for next year hammered out yet, but we're going to try our hardest to make it back to the States (PA and NE) once a year while we're living abroad. There are a few fun photos from the campfire in our gallery, so check 'em out. Thank you to everyone who brought food, fun, and fireworks! :)

---Arielle

"We all live in a yellow submarine!"

abcarlson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:59:00 GMT

While Mama was here, we purchased the latest RockBand game, "RockBand: The Beatles," to provide us with hours of fun and a good way to unwind in the evenings.

For all you who aren't familiar with RockBand, it's a video game where you choose from playing lead guitar (using a plastic guitar-shaped controller), bass guitar (again using a plastic guitar-shaped controller), the drums (yes, we actually own a four-headed plastic drum set), and vocals (complete with a microphone.) Depending on what instrument/s you choose, the notes and/or words appear on the TV screen for you to play. For the Beatles game, we sang and played to all Beatles songs. (I have many happy memories of harmonizing to Beatles songs with my Daddy and Uncle Richard on our two hour drives to the ski slopes each year.)

Brandon played lead guitar, I played bass, and Mama did an incredible impersonation of John Lennon on lead vocals. She rocked! :) We had a lot of fun playing, and Mama - we're still practicing for when you come back!

---Arielle

Rawhide!

abcarlson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:51:00 GMT

Mama and I went out for lunch with Megumi the day before we flew back to PA. We had a fun time wandering through American Village and ate at "the Depot" for a curry-filled lunch. Mama had "Prime Rib Curry," I had "Chicken and Cheese Curry" and Megumi had "Vegetable Curry." I'm always amazed at the number of "curries" there are to choose from. And these curries weren't even from other countries! (For you PA-folks: you'll have to ask my Mama about her adventures with the Thai curry soup she had at our favorite curry cafe.) We also had beautiful and delicious desserts (three different types of cake, but it was the presentation that really set them apart, as is the case with almost all food in Japan.)

At one of the stores we stopped by, they had a section out front with a large trunk filled with all sorts of cowboy/cowgirl costumes. Megumi and I naturally had to have some fun and Mama got some cute photos of us "cowgirlin' around." (Thanks, Mama!)

A very fun afternoon to be had by all!

---Arielle

Guess where we went!

abcarlson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:38:00 GMT

To the Okinawa Aquarium, of course! We had a lot of fun showing Mama around the Aquarium and taking her to the ever-changing dolphin show (it's always completely in Japanese but we've never seen the same show twice!)

When we got back from our trip to NE, Brandon and I were pleasantly surprised to find the summer humidity had finally broke, so we were ready to get out and about again. (We've been hiding inside under the A/C most of June/July/August due to the oppressive humidity coupled with the heat.) The weather was feeling quite nice to us (still feeling in the 90s F, but not nearly as humid), but Mama pointed out we must have acclimated to the temperature because it was still very hot and humid to her. (We now agree that our bodies have acclimated - if you didn't see me physically shivering most of our trip to PA, it's because I was wearing two layers of Polar Fleece! Craziness! Even Brandon was cold in PA...and that's saying something!)

On the way home from the Aquarium, we stopped at a small restaurant Mama had spotted along our route. She got no disagreement from us, as, who can resist a sign that says "Hawaii - Open." We haven't been to Hawaii State yet (it's on our to-visit list), but we can now say we ate at Hawaii. :) Turned out to be a cute little restaurant where we ordered yummy Japanese food. Brandon and my Mama ordered delicious sampler platters (check out how colorful they were in our gallery!) and I had some very good katsu curry (a combination of tonkatsu [breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet] and curry rice.) The verdict: we'd go back again, after we've tried out some of the other restaurants along the route.

---Arielle

Let me explain...

abcarlson — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:41:00 GMT

To quote "The Princess Bride," "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

We've had a very busy, very fun last few weeks. And we have plenty of photos to prove it! When we got back to Okinawa from NE, we brought my Mama back with us for two weeks. Two glorious weeks of me being on the beach with my Mama! We didn't do much sight seeing on the island, but we did thoroughly enjoy the beach (Mama collected sun rays, sea shells, and lots and lots of sea glass), the Sea Wall, and as much Japanese food as we could feed her. We had a lot of fun! Then we all climbed back on the international flight and spent a week back in PA for my best friend's wedding.

So, lots has happened, but there's just too much to write about now. So, I'll hit some of the major highlights in the next few posts and catch you all up. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

---Arielle

Bender Wedding

abcarlson — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:42:00 GMT

We had a wonderful trip back to Nebraska last week. It was a whirlwind of a trip - arrived around midnight Wednesday and departed around 7am Sunday morning - but it was well worth it! We had so much fun with the Carlson (and Jones) family and can't wait to see Mom, Dad, Dustin, and Steven again when them come out to visit us here in December!

We were so happy to be able to be in Nebraska to celebrate our friends Jesse and Ana's wedding! Both Brandon and I were so honored to stand up for them as part of the wedding party and we had such fun celebrating with everyone at the reception. Any wedding that has the wedding party dance to a fast-paced Flogging Molly song, is one we want to be part of! :) Thank you, Jesse and Ana, for making the reception so much fun!

On Sunday we caught a early morning flight back to Okinawa, and met up with my Mama in San Francisco. She flew back to the island with us and we've been having a wonderful time showing her around.

Overall, a wonderful trip to NE. We had such a great time visiting with friends and family and look forward to the next (hopefully a bit longer) time! Love you all!

---Arielle

Renaissance Resort Beach

abcarlson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:55:00 GMT

Last weekend, Megumi and her husband, Roger, invited us to go along with their group to the beach at the Renaissance Resort, a ways up Rt. 58. We had a wonderful time and couldn't have asked for a nicer day! It was hot and humid enough to enjoy a swim, but not have the humidity be overly oppressive like it has been the majority of the summer.

Brandon got to swim in the sea for the first time! It was so much fun watching him float around in the high salt content. He was pretty jazzed about it! :) Brandon also went with Megumi, Roger, and one of Roger's coworkers on the "Dragon Boat." Check out the pics in the gallery. They had a lot of fun and came back thoroughly soaked. All-in-all, a fun day to be had by all at the beach!

---Arielle

I'm so proud!

abcarlson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:40:00 GMT

I'm so proud of my wonderful husband! Brandon passed his Security Plus certification exam Thursday! Yay!!! We won't get the actual certificate for a few weeks, but I had him pose with the print out he got to prove he passed. He thought I was a bit silly for wanting a photo, but I knew you'd all want to be in on the celebration and be proud of him, too! (I made him brownies to celebrate.) I'm so proud of him!

---Arielle

Combini no bangohan

abcarlson — Mon, 7 Sep 2009 10:05:00 GMT

"The Dinner of the Convenience Store"

Brandon and I wanted to get something quick to eat the other night, but neither of us wanted to cook and our favorite take out place was closed, so we decided to head over to Family Mart, our local convenience store. I know, I know, when you're looking for a tasty meal in the U.S., a convenience store probably doesn't make the top of your list. Ah, but in Japan, a meal from a "combini" isn't considered strange at all. In fact, many "bento" (a packed lunch) are purchased at combini on a regular basis.

Our Family Mart had a wonderful selection of assorted noodle soups, breads, sushi (some of which they will heat in their microwave for you), onigiri (a sort of rice and seaweed sandwich), and even a nice selection of adorable desserts! We posted photos of our dinner in the gallery for you to see. The noodle soup was delicious and very easy to tailor to our individual tastes. (For example, I don't like anything pickled. The toppings come in a small tray with each topping in its own compartment so nothing touches! Yay! This is sheer happiness for picky eaters!) Brandon enjoyed the sushi and I helped him with the fried chicken and tonkatsu that came with the set. (I am a big fan of sashimi - raw fish - but avoid sushi whenever I can. Again, that intense dislike of vinegar and all things pickled. Or for Aunt Amy, "That does not appeal to me.")

As for the desserts, well, they were really cute. So petite and detailed! Brandon's had a delicious strawberry jam and whipped topping, but the actual dessert was evidently more of an acquired taste. I chose mine due to the Italian flag on top (thinking happy thoughts of our trip to Italy), and ended up with a whipped topping on a vanilla-y pudding-like substance as the main dessert and a layer of dark, bitter liquid on the bottom. The presentation was cute, but I'll pass next time. I have my sights set on a piece of white cake with white icing for our next combini no bangohan! :)

---Arielle