Invitation to the President's House!

Ok, so I wasn't exactly invited to the Presidents house... but we were welcomed to tour it (for a small fee, of course!)! After Grammy and Grampy picked me up at the airport in Nashville we stopped at President Andrew Jackson's house, The Hermitage. I thoroughly enjoyed our tour as we strolled through his garden, peeked into the old slave cabins, explored his mansion, and trekked his grounds! Though he was president before the Civil War and did have some impact on the events that lead up to the war not much about him will be on my test, but it was still a great way to spend the afternoon! The only problem was... I was freezing! I don't know what I was thinking but I hardly brought more than my jean jacket and a sweatshirt... I could have used my winter jacket... and gloves! :) I guess I thought I was going South so it would be warmer, and it is, but just not as warm as I had hoped!

Entrance to The Hermitage

Smoke house

Dish design that President Washington chose

Back of the Hermitage

Slave cabin

Andrew and Rachal Jackson's grave site

"The General's" headstone

The view of the house from the garden 

Family and close friend cemetery in the garden

Inside the slave cabin.  20x20 living quarters!

The house that the Jackson's moved into before The Hermitage was built, they later became slave cabins.

A "sample" field of cotton. 

Up close cotton plant

Almost Opposites!

My journeys continue... to TN!

When I was in Japan, my host family offered me their sky miles to book a round trip flight somewhere. The list of possible destinations was rather long! (I’ve got the traveling bug!) I decided to visit my grandparents in TN for a week! Japan and TN are extreme contrasts, and, even though I'm still not sure which side of the road I should be on, are introducing me to new sights, sounds, and thoughts! I've been to TN before, but it was many years ago and I hardly remember the trip! I'm so thankful for this opportunity to get to know my grandparents better and get a taste of what life on a farm is like! A bonus feature of my trip destination and timing is all the Civil War battle sites and museums! I'm currently studying the Civil War to prepare for the DSST exam!

Here are some pictures of the farm my grandparents live on. They just moved here recently so they are in the process of building barns, putting up fences, etc., but it's still beautiful! 

View of the house from half-way up the hill

Chickens and Roosters!

The woodshed on the left and the old tobacco barn on the right

The horses! I don't have a picture of them, but they also have 4 cows in there.

Kallan and Kenzie! Very big babies! 

The skittish Belties (Belted cows)!

Inside the old tobacco barn

Old trucks!!!

A few "flowers" can survive these frigid climates! (I've been freezing the entire trip thus far! I don't get it! I'm supposed to be a thick-blooded Northern girl.... but I'm just not! At least I'm not thick-blooded!)

Sewing Alterations Experiments...

Though I never blogged about it, I had a lot of opportunities to sew in Japan! (Maybe I did blog about that...?) Mrs. Winters helped me and taught me a few new skirt and culotte patterns and tricks and tips to sewing! I'm so thankful to her for this! :) Being able to sew (clothes, household items, quilts, etc) is a life goal of mine, and I am excited to be working toward accomplishing this goal!

I have always greatly admired my Memere who, I believe, posses great crafting skill and expertise! It was she who inspired me (perhaps unwittingly) to "go at" some of my clothes with my seam ripper, scissors, and sewing machine! I had a blast last night altering a skirt, a hooded shirt, and some PJ pants. After I did these, I ran up to my room to see what else I could alter!

Of course... I forgot to take "before and after" pictures... but maybe I'll remember to next time! I took a pleated panel out of the front of the skirt and sewed a straight seam instead (it's hard to explain, but the skirt looked almost like culottes, so I took that piece out, which removed the under pleat, and sewed the two sides together).

The shirt was just way to baggy on me... which is why it has been sitting in my drawer for a few years, untouched. So, I put it on inside out, Mom pinned it where I would sew, then I took it off, drew a line, and sewed both sides to take in the tons of excess material that made me look so frumpy! Viola! Cute shirt that I no longer have to get rid of because it fits!

For the PJ pants... I cut the old waist band off and just made a new elastic casing and stuck a new elastic in it! Someone... please get me a Staples 'easy' button! :)

Blessings!

I May Just Be Biased...

But my niece is ADORABLE! Here is the evidence!

I love that little smirk!

She looks so much like my cousin Chloe!

Modeling her Ukata from Japan!

I love the big pink bow!!!

Laughing at her Mommy!

Happy Girl!

My little sis, Dani

Concentrating on the leaf!

Got it!

"Is it ok if I eat this, Mom?"

"Don't mind me, I'm just gonna snack on this leaf!"

Amazing Autumn Colors!

Sleepy girl after all those pictures! (This is one of my favorites!)

My little niece, Elisabeth, is a blessing from God! I can't wait to teach her about Jesus Christ and help her learn to love and follow Him!

Let's Go.... at 3:00 AM?!

Before I left, my missionary host family wanted to take a special trip to give me a taste of "old Japan" and spend some time with all of us together. So, we planned a trip to Kyoto, to old capitol of Japan. Here, we saw many temples, shrines, shopping streets, and traditional style buildings.

We planned to travel to Kyoto by car because it was the least expensive way to get there... other than walking, I suppose, but that wasn't an option! :) Mr. Winters is super savvy at saving money and finding great deals! One way we could cut back on half of the tolls was to get on and off the highway between midnight and 4:00 am. In order to do this, though, we had to get up at 3:00am to ensure that we got on the highway by 4:00! It was fun to get up in the middle of the night and grope to the car, just to fall back asleep!

Pictures are worth thousands of words, so I'll let them do the talking!

Entrance to the Emperor's Palace

A man in traditional dress

A women dressed in traditional dress

Notice the flower, this is the Emperor's crest. Also, the thick wood roof, this is many layers of thin bark strips.

Explanation of the roof layers!

Lines in the sand, painstakingly created by palace gardeners.

Palace gardens

Natsuki and I

The Emperor's crest

Again...

More to come!

Don't Worry....

I SURVIVED!

In the back of my mind, I have been conscious that I haven't blogged in quite a few weeks, but a friend and my sister both prompted me to blog, because my last blog post was about the typhoon that passed by! I'm so sorry to have worried anyone! :) The typhoon passed with just a little bit of wind! It was not as bad as we were hoping... I mean... fearing... :) (I love storms!). Anyway, my days have been filled to the brim since my last posting, which is why I have been absent so long!

I had a life-changing time in Japan! God brought that trip at just the right time, and it was just the right length of time! I was so blessed, and I'm still realizing ways that this journey was a blessing to me! Not only did Mrs. Winters teach me how to sew clothes (which is a big life goal of mine), the Lord helped me overcome some trials and fears that have been plaguing me for over 6 years! Furthermore, I learned that I can live without so many things (truly, luxuries), such as a bed! Actually, since I've been home (~15 days), I haven't been able to sleep as well as I did the whole three months in Japan! I'm trying to see if I can get a futon here! :) I am also more productive here at home. I am able to get out of bed when the first alarm sounds! I think overall, my self-discipline has increased (if only slightly!).

While I'm speaking of blessings, my journey home from Japan was a blessed time! After a bitter-sweet parting with my second family, I made my way through security, entered the gate just as they were beginning to board the flight (just in time... I'm NOT Japanese, Mr. Winters! :) hehe!), and enjoyed my peaceful, 1 and a half hour flight to Tokyo. Then.... this is where I wasn't as stable as usual... I had a 6 hour layover before the long flight to NY where my parents, older sister, and niece would be waiting to snatch me up! I had a good book to read, so that held me over for about 2 hours, but then, I just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry! I just wanted to be home! I did feel quite small and alone in Tokyo. Though I was quite comfortable with Japanese and had good instructions from Mr. Winters about where and when I needed to be places. Finally, though, we boarded the B747-400 (that's for you Ethan!), and 30 minutes late, made a noisy and shaky takeoff. It was one of the older planes, so I think that's why it was so noisy. As we left the runway, I watched out the window and the wings of the plane were heaving up and down quite a bit, and I imagined them just popping off, leaving us 50 feet from the ground! Instead of being afraid though, I was chuckling to myself, and imagining pieces of the plane gradually flying off throughout the trip, and landing in NY with just remnants of the plane! Anyway... the flight was only about half full! So, I had 3 seats to myself!!! That was a HUGE blessing! I spent about 4 hours total laying down... trying to sleep! I probably slept only about 30-40 minutes in reality, but, laying down was still much better than trying to sleep sitting up... like the poor guy in front of me!

After anxiously waiting about 30 minutes in customs, I quickly scanned the various bags and luggage, looking for the yellow ribbons of my own! Finally, I found them, and, in plain view of an airport employee, struggled to heave the 50 pound bags off the moving belt! Then... I started running for the exit! :) I saw just a glimpse of someone down the long hallway, and I knew it was Mom! She about ran past the security officers to meet me! After our glad reunion, and my shock at how grown up my niece was, we headed to our car for the long drive home... still about 5 hours!

Honestly, I had WAY more culture shock coming BACK to American than I did going to Japan! When we were taxiing to the gate, I was shocked by the TRUCKS! It was so familiar, yet so strange looking at the same time! And I kept having that same feeling. When I walked through JFK, all I could think was, "It's so dirty here! And... everyone speaks English... and the signs are all in English... and the CARS are so BIG! and... AGH! Which side of the road are we supposed to be on, Dad! :)" It has taken me a while to get used to cars driving on the right side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right side... wait... it's on the LEFT! Oops! Ok, so I'm still getting used to it!

Throughout all, God has been SO good to me! He has blessed me, taught me, stretched me, helped me, comforted me, and loved me! His Word, the Bible, has been my closest friend, and prayer has been my life-line! I'm so excited to be back home, and I'm seeking to apply all the things I learned in Japan to situations here! I'm seeking to further strengthen the relationships I have in my family and church family, and I'm seeking to be a better steward of every moment that God has given me!

For my last Sunday in Japan, the church had a lunch and gave me a special desk calendar with pictures and notes! It was such a sweet surprise! It was a sad time of parting, not knowing when or if I will ever see them all again!

My precious siblings!

Playing a "Stand Your Ground" game

Still playing...