The Big 200!

Wow! This is my 200th post! That's a lot of writing! Of course it took me 3 1/2 years to get here, but hey! I made it!

Anyway, today was a great day. I was able to go to the prayer meeting after missing a couple of weeks. That was nice. Then I had lunch with a couple of friends. We laughed so much the shop workers were a bit worried I think. Then I went to Trash Box Jam's live! It was great!

I had one student and three friends come. (it's great, because I have a point card, and if I get 30 points I get a prize. I have 10 now, one for me, and one for each friend. It's great. I think I have the most points so far!)

Among the other bands was this one girl I had met two lives back. Of course it was pretty easy for her to remember me and pick me out of the crowd. I was looking forward to hearing her again, because the first time had impressed me. I bought her CD this time. So she decided that she had to take a picture with me and will put it up on her blog! How embarrassing! Haha. So my student also took a picture of the two of us together and then sent it. So this is Remi and me. She has a really awesome voice!

I also got a "present" from my friend Jenae. She has this thing where she likes to buy me really big, gaudy hearts to put on my cell phone. And because I'm a good sport, I use them. Haha. So here is the latest huge heart for my cell phone. This time it's really red and fuzzy. I've already gotten lot's of compliments for it (and I just got it today.) Haha. It's a great conversation starter! Thanks Jenae!

Anyway, it was a good night. I really like going to lives. They are really exciting and fun. Tomorrow will be a "normal" day. Church, Bible Study and then watch the band. After that I have a whole week off! Enjoy the 200th post pictures!

Shinjuku.

Last Monday I went to Shinjuku (a really busy part of Tokyo. There are business areas and shopping too. Very exciting.) with a friend. We went to eat at one of the few decent Mexican food restaurants in Japan. (she ate Mexican food, I improvised my own meal. Haha) It was a nice time. It's been a while since I'd been in Shinjuku. I like the place. Monday was really nice weather too, and I took some pictures of the buildings and the sky. It's kinda fun. So I decided to share.

Two pictures are of the first Krispy Kreme's in Japan. It's really popular, and it always has huge lines. Can you imagine, standing in line for over 40 minutes for donuts? It's the minimum wait time there I think. Somehow, I just don't think they are worth it. haha. When it first opened, the lines were even longer. Over 2 hours!

Gingerbread House

Last weekend was Gingerbread House. This is one of my Children's Outreach events. They come on a Saturday and play games, have some snacks, and then they hear a Bible story. I want them to get some exposure to the Bible, and have good memories of being at a church. Jenae, one of the missionaries who lives in Tokyo, came and helped out. She's really good with kids. And Fumi took some pictures for me. I do this event at least twice a year now. Here are some pictures!

いい天気だよね！

Wow, today is one of those really nice, beautiful days, that make you happy to be alive. It's wonderful.

Today I went to my student's house. His wife makes crafts from old kimono. She's really good, and today she was having a gallery of sorts at her home. So I went with another student from the class to go see it. It was nice. Afterwards we went to lunch.

On the drive, we saw many beautiful flowers and it was just a beautiful day in general. The temp is just perfect! I saw a beautiful walkway lined with blooming dogwoods that I woud like to go back and walk along sometime. Unfortunately, starting tomorrow it's going to be rainy for a while. Maybe I'll be able to make it next week.

So my first class today is a class of gardeners. We talked about flowers the whole time. We saw some beautiful pictures and heard good stories. One student brought me some bluebonnet plants. I had given seeds last year as souviners from Texas. They are just starting to bloom, so now I have my own bluebonnet plants for in front of my house! Horray!

After class we went out to my house to check out the flowers there. I don't actually garden at all, one of the church members who likes to garden, but lives in an apartment takes care of it for me. It's a happy situation for both of us! We spent about half an hour of our Bible study time looking at flowers. But it was really good. When we went back inside, instead of reading our scheduled text (we are in 2 Samuel, David, war, etc) I decided to change it up. (the change was just too big!) So we read Psalm 19 instead. I really love the description of God's handiwork and the beauty and awe it inspires. It was a good way to share a different aspect of God's character.

Then I walked to get my "lunch". It was such a nice day, I ate cold ramen for the first time this year! Horray! I also bought some little ice cream snacks to eat. Ahhh... such a nice day... I'm happy.

These are pictures of flowers around my house and church.

Pictures!

Well, here are the pictures from my trip to America. I finally finished editing all of them and uploaded them to the web so I can post the slideshow now.



In other news, I just got back today from my second visit to the dentist. The good news is that I haven't had to had anesthesia either time and neither time hurt. This time was even cheaper than last time. I am so far satisfied with my trips to the dentist. I still don't know exactly what my problem is, but the dentist took out my filling (the problem was in a tooth that was already filled) and then somehow applied medication to the tooth. Then put in temporary fillings. He put in more medicine today. It looks like I'll have one more visit next week for medication, and then the week after that should end up with a permanent filling put back in. That's a whole month of dentist visits! wow!

Moving on to more interesting things... Work is going well. I have 23 classes this year (plus 5 Bible studies) and 63 students (plus 8 or so who only come to Sunday Bible class, the number changes every week though.) I'm a little busier than last year, but I don't have to go to meetings in Tokyo anymore, so that helps out a bit. And this week I was able to start studying the Bible again with my pastor. We do it in English and Japanese, so it's a good chance for me to study Japanese a bit more, and learn some of those "Christian words" in Japanese. During the fall it's just too busy to do it, but spring is a little more relaxed.

This weekend I went to a birthday party for two girls I know. It was quite the event. We went to an Arabian themed restaurant. It was really elaborate. I wish I had pictures, but my camera was out of batteries. There were 12 or 13 people in the end. It was fun. I got to walk home with Sensei too. We had a nice conversation. Speaking of Sensei... It's been really exciting lately. One of the members of my church here has become a fan of the band, and she made friends with Sensei. It's been really good. She even brought him to church week before last! As we were walking home he told me he is going to come back to church. (he draws people's faces, and he did that for the Sunday School Kids, and I think he's going to come back and do it again maybe. But then afterwards, he stays for church.) I wasn't sure what he thought of church, but he said it was interesting and not bad. So I'm glad he didn't have a bad experience. And some of the church members recognized him from when he played with the band. This is really super exciting for me! God is good.

It finally feels like spring is here. It's great. Not just weather wise, but in general. I feel like a lot of relationships that had been in "winter mode" are now in "spring mode", growing and opening up again. It's wonderful how God uses seasons of our life.

I'm learning more and more how to deal with tiredness and such in my life. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do more with my time (like keeping my house clean, and e-mailing more people.)

Well, I think this is good for today. Hopefully soon I'll try to put up the pictures I took on my trip to Hakone. Those are some fun pictures too.

Finally done with travel

Wow. It was a bit of a crazy spring break for me. Two trips packed into a small space. But it was good. I am back safely from my trip to America. I meant to post sooner, but as soon as I got back, I was busy again. I was so busy in fact that the jet lag couldn't even kick in until Monday. Haha.

The big news is how much God continues to bless and provide for me. I am now the proud owner of a new laptop. Not only that, it's another VAIO, which I love. My wonderful church in America, who so generously supports me, raised enough money to replace my poor dying laptop with a new one. Buying it was quite the adventure, but now everything seems to be fine again. I am always so blessed by that church and everyone there. I am so thankful for all the support.

So now, I have no excuse for not updating as often. I have to figure out a bit of the fun things you can do with the new Vista, and finish transferring some files, but hopefully I'll be back at 100% in no time. Of course, that's assuming I have time. Haha. My teaching schedule went up again this year. I am now the proud teacher of 23 classes a week, and 63 students.

Hmmm... Anyway, my trip to Hakone, Odawara and Yokohama with Aya went really well. I'll put up some pictures once I get them on this computer. It was a really great time. I think it was the first time I have ever been on a "road trip" with a friend. We were a good match. We both like very similar things (like samurai and ninjas...) and she was very patient with my inability to communicate past the level of an intelligent 5 year old. haha. But she's good with kids, so that probably had a lot to do with it. Haha.

My trip to Texas was also good. By that time I was pretty exhausted from travel and work, but I did manage to get some sleep in there. The biggest shock for me was to go from living alone to sharing a house with six other people! My brother came down with his family to visit while I was there. I had the unique problem of having jet lag, waking up every night, and not being able to move from my bed because I had two sleeping children (very cute sleeping children I might add) in my room, and my brother and his wife were in the living room. Next time it might be better for me to sleep in the living room so I can at least get up and move around during the night. hahaha.
There wasn't nearly enough time though. I just barely missed one of my friends who made it back to Texas the day I left. But I was totally a bum and I didn't contact anyone else. Sorry! I was super tired and there just wasn't a lot of time.

Well, I think that is all for this update. Today I have to go to the dentist again. fun. It seems there is something wrong with one of my teeth. I have no idea what the problem is as the name of the condition was given to me in Japanese and it's not in any dictionary I have access to for now. I think I might be having a root canal, but I'm not sure. I think the root, or nerve or something inside my tooth is dying, and leaking out or something. Anyway, he has to drill and remove it, but I guess it's gonna take three visits to get it done. Not happy about that. Actually, I just really hate the local anesthesia. And I have to teach with that stuff in my mouth! Fun stuff. Ah the joys of medical problems in a foreign language. You learn a lot of trust. haha. At least the insurance is good.

Well, ok, because I need to go to the dentist, I need to stop writing now and get ready to go. I will try to put up some more pictures soon. The first two pictures are on my way to America, sunrise in the plane and a beautiful sunset that God blessed me with once I got home. The last two are from the bus I was riding home in Tokyo.