Four Years Later

Four years ago today, James and I braved a Texas storm to drive an hour and a half to Austin to meet our little furry bundle of joy.  We had been married for only a few months when we decided to adopt a little poodle.  Actually, I decided to adopt a little poodle, and spent an entire month convincing James that I absolutely needed a puppy.  While reluctant at first, James gave in when he saw the personality of a cute little gray poodle shining through a photo online.  I would spend hours browsing the adoptable dogs in our area on petfinder.com.  When this little gray poodle became available, we called immediately!  Unfortunately, the lady told me that we didn’t actually want him, because he needed a lot of work, and couldn’t be around children.  She encouraged us to submit our adoption application, and then to meet two other small poodles, who didn’t need nearly as much attention and training.  I was disappointed, but still wanted to meet these other dogs, so we bought a kennel and drove to Austin, just to “meet” them, of course.  After about 20 minutes of driving, we realized we had a made a terrible decision braving this storm.  We couldn’t see anything and we were literally being blown all over the road.  We pulled over (with everyone else) and prayed that a tornado didn’t interfere with our hopes of getting a puppy.  At least that’s what I was praying for!  I think James was praying for safety! :)



After about 45 minutes, conditions were finally good enough to drive again, and we inched our way to Austin.  The adoption agency was also late due to the storm, and we arrived before them.  We wandered around Petsmart for a few minutes before a tiny gray puffball came barreling through the door.  I fell in love the moment I saw him!  There was no way I was going home without that little dog! The lady apologized for being late, and then explained to us that the dogs we were supposed to be meeting were stuck in the storm, so she brought Rudy instead (the dog we had originally called about!).  I was very pleased! We played with him for a few minutes, and she explained to us the adoption agencies policy about a two week trial period.  During a short ten minute period, this little dog had run away three times, bit the lady who brought him, and growled at a little white poodle.  It made me love him that much more.  He was spunky and had such an awesome personality.  I was sure he was the one.

We had been approved for an adoption (well….for a two week trial), but there were a few things they needed to talk to us about.  Divorce and Death.  Who got the dog if we got divorced? ME!! (No discussion was needed there…. :) ) And then we discussed the importance of having our dog in our will so that our dog didn’t end up in a kill shelter one day.  After those two important discussions, we were allowed to take Rudy home.  Rudy (formerly named Rusty) became little Ambler Johnston Gouger, also known as AJ!

Our life hasn’t been the same since AJ came into it.  He has been the perfect little dog for us, and he has learned to love to travel.  The traveling began after his two week trial when we took him to see my grandparents in Corpus Christi, TX.  Then a few months later we took him on a road trip to Nebraska.  A few weeks after that, we moved him to Virginia.  A year later, he was moving to California, and two years after that, he boarded a plane to Japan.  He is quite the little traveler, and we love him!  For those of you living in Texas, check out Austin’s Little Paws Maltese Rescue.  http://www.lilpaws-malteserescue.org/

"Kit Kat" translates as "Surely Win"

Before moving to Japan, I had no idea there were so many different types of Kit Kat’s.  The only one I knew of was the original chocolate wafers I craved after every “Give Me a Break” commercial.  I admit it.....advertising works on me!

Since moving to Japan, we have discovered that there are a TON of Kit Kat flavors.  I was taking a class about grocery shopping in Japan when my adorable Japanese grocery shopping teacher took me down the candy aisle and told me about the different Kit Kat’s in Japan.  I was hooked!  I bought a bag of Crème brûlée or Flan Kit Kat’s on the spot.  They were sweet and awesome!  Since this first purchase, we have been hitting up every 7-11, AM/PM, and Lawson’s we can find looking for more.

So far, we have been able to find a few, but there are many more we are still looking for.

Crème Brulee: Very sweet, and very awesome!

Strawberry/Banana: Good, but very sweet. Almost too sweet.

Coke/Sprite: I think this tasted horrible.  Especially the coke part!  The sprite part was better.

Aloe Yogurt: Tasted like sunscreen….ick!

Salty Caramel: Soooooooo good!  Tasted exactly like it sounds.

Bitter Almond: Dark chocolate with almond slivers.  This is my favorite so far!

Semi-sweet: Dark chocolate.  Tasted a lot like the original.  Very good!

Let the Kit Kat search continue!  I will update you when we find more flavors!

Walls Need Love

Moving from a gorgeous apartment with granite counter tops, hard wood floors, and vaulted ceilings in San Diego to a 1960’s apartment with industrial tile, brown walls, and a brown tiled bathroom left me in a bit of a funk.  How were we going to turn our military housing unit into a livable, modern home that was fresh and fun?  After countless hours of Google searching, I found our answer: WALLS NEED LOVE!! Yes!! Our walls DO need love!!  Most of our rooms are coming together nicely, but the bathroom had a lot to be desired.  Our brown tiles from floor to ceiling made it impossible to hang any kind of decorations, so vinyl wall art seemed perfect.  With Walls Need Love, you can pick out all of your colors, and we went with a black and red Japanese cherry blossom tree (perfect….I know!) to match our shower curtain (which is 6 inches too short here).  I was stoked when the art came in, and James and I spent last night hanging it up.  The tree branches were a bit difficult, as the branches are very skinny, but overall, the process was extremely easy.  I think the tree looks fabulous, and it has completely transformed our bathroom.  We also purchased flying red and black birds, but we haven’t decided how to use them yet.  For those of you looking for something to spiff up your room, check this company out.  It’s definitely helping our place feel more like home.



WallsNeedLove.com comes with the following warning.... (It's too late for me!!)

“WARNING!! Wall Decals are addictive and may induce uncharted levels of fun & creativity. DO NOT use if you are: spontaneous, creative, fun, unique, stylish, trendy, fashion forward, progressive, or just simply love to decorate. You just might be prone to a seriously fun decals addiction. :) ”



Grape Wine > Rice Wine

I LOVE WINE!  I love going to wineries to sample local varieties.  I love smelling the aromas, the way my taste buds tingle during tastings, and holding my glass up to the light to inspect the liquid in my glass.  I love talking to the owners and wine makers, hearing their stories about the winery, and getting to know the winery dog.  I especially love going on wine trips with my girlfriends!  All in all, I just love wine.  I love the wine itself, and the experience that is wine tasting.  I was really hoping that this love for wine would transfer into a love of sake tasting, but so far, that is not the case.

Before we moved to Japan, I had tried sake a few times, and I never really liked it.  I thought maybe it was because I had never had good sake, or that perhaps it was an acquired taste.  If it is in fact an acquired taste, it is a taste I would like to acquire while we are living in Japan.  The O Club was holding a sake tasting and seminar, so we bought tickets and were excited to learn more about sake and to do some tastings.  This was truly a seminar, and included a three hour lecture on every aspect of sake brewing, tasting, serving, and purchasing that you would ever want to know.  The seminar was taught by a Sake Sommelier, Ad Blankestijn, and most of it was a bit over my head.  Some things I learned about sake:

• Sake has been the national drink of Japan for almost 2,000 years.


• Sake is made of rice, koji (a mold), yeast, and water.


• There are more than 1,400 sake breweries in Japan.


• Rice comes in different qualities, like everything else.  Who knew?


• Japanese sake only uses Japanese rice.


• They have to polish the rice first.  The more expensive your sake, the more polished your rice.


• There are four grades of sake: Honjozo, Junmai, Ginjo, and Daiginjo.


• I still have no idea how to tell the difference between the four.


• Most quality sake is served in wine glasses.


• Sake is closely connected with Shintoism, and you will see sake barrels at Shinto shrines.

During the lecture, we sampled a variety of sake with food pairings.  I greatly enjoyed the food pairings, especially the sushi and tempura.  The sake on the other hand….not so much.  While I’m glad that we attended this sake tasting, I still have no taste for it.  Most of my glasses stayed full, as I couldn’t bring myself to have more than a few sips.  Despite our first sake tasting lacking anything I could drink, I haven’t given up hope yet!  We still have three years to acquire a taste for sake!

Happy 60th Anniversary Howard and Ethel!

We received this email today from Dad G and thought we would share it with everyone! Happy Anniversary GM and GP!

"We would not be here if not for this event 60 years ago September 2, 1950.  La Plata Md."