Japanese family crests

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.08.2006

Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
My Thursday book giveaway is Coldwater Revival by Nancy Jo Jenkins.
My Monday book giveaway is Lost in Nashvegas by Rachel Hauck.
You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the Coldwater Creek and post the title for another book I'm giving away.

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My family tree! You know my little graphic?



It's actually a fancied-up version of my Japanese family crest, or mon. Traditionally, it's passed down from mother to daughter.



This is actually my grandmother's father's crest (Hironaka family) rather than my grandmother's mother's crest (Hirosue family) because we had a hard time finding her mother's crest. My mom just sent me a rubbing from some relative's grave--this is the Hirosue crest (which I should have used):



It's five fans. Isn't it pretty?

This is my mom's father's mon (maternal grandfather):



And this is my dad's grandmother's mon (paternal great-grandmother):



This is actually a crest from one of the royal families because my great-grandmother is descended from one of the ladies-in-waiting or something like that. But I can't claim it as my personal family crest because it's from my dad's side. Shucks, huh? I could be descended from royalty!

Well, I probably act like a spoiled princess as it is . . . ;)

TMI:

Bible in 90 Days: Day 10. I just started Deuteronomy, and one thing I'm seeing is God's power balanced very delicately with blessing. I cannot forget that He is the Lord my God. He has already blessed me abundantly like He promised blessings on the Israelites if they would obey Him. I want to please Him and have that fear of Him at the same time. It's a healthy fear. It feels healthy.

Writing: I posted a short article on developing your writer's voice on my Story Sensei blog.

I also posted a review of Siri Mitchell's chick-lit, The Cubicle Next Door (below).

Diet: I exercised yesterday! Woohoo! Let's hope I can keep it up the rest of this week.