Great is Your love [O God], higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. -Psalm 108:4-5
The Seelens hosted an awesome July 4th bbq again this year. They know how to throw parties! Not sure what the final headcount was, but I think we had close to 40 people.
Charlie grilled the burgers and everyone else brought side dishes. I made potato salad for the first time (had to call my mom to ask for her recipe) and other people made dishes like baked beans, pasta salad, zucchini casserole, Greek salad, and then for dessert we had cookies, fruit, and Texas sheet cake.
Thanks again Seelens for the great time of fellowship!
Today marks one month since I came back to Japan!! I can hardly believe it's ONLY been a month....seems a lot longer than that. The inactivity on my blog and emails recently is a reflection of the hectic pace life has been moving. Though it's been hectic, things are going really well...I'm getting more and more adjusted to Japanese culture again, am using/studying the language intensively everyday, and I'm reconnecting with some good friends while also meeting new people.
I've taken a few pictures here and there but don't have as many to show you as I'd like. In no particular order, here's a look at some of what I've been up to lately...
Barb and I still go to the basketball group at least once a week, and instead of only playing until 8:30pm we have the gym until 9:30pm. What a difference that extra hour of scrimmaging makes! We're usually pretty tired by the end of the night. I've gotten to meet lots of new players who just started coming or who joined while I was in the States. There are also a handful of regulars from last year who still come consistently.
I became friends with Iida-san (above) and Yuko (below) when I was a member at their fitness club a couple of years ago. They worked at the front desk and always let me stop and chat with them on my way to/from the gym. In January Yuko had a baby girl named Koyuri. She occasionally sent me pictures of Koyuri while I was in the States, so I've been dying to meet her in person. What a cutie!
Went to karaoke with the summer interns and another friend one afternoon. I'm not usually big on karaoke but this particular day we had a blast! I even got to sing a few songs in Japanese. Can that be considered language study, hehe?! Moe, Sara, Katie, Izumi, and Allen
First time to do purikura in a loooooong time!
Dinner with Ai-chan and Chris at their apt. Ai-chan created a delicious spread of food. As we were finishing up dessert a surprise visitor knocked on the door. Her mom stopped by to say hi! Over the last three years I'd gone to Ai-chan's house many times for dinner with her and her mom and grown close to them. I was so happy to see them together again.
Yumi has been studying at the YWAM training school in Hawaii since April but recently had short break between semesters and came back to Japan. Shoko and I met her for coffee one afternoon and had an awesome time together. We exchanged stories, looked at pictures, and prayed for each other.
Last Friday my language school celebrated the tanabata festival. The holiday is actually today (7/7), but since we only have class at this particular school on Friday evenings, last week was the better day to have the festival. Some of the teachers helped us students dress in yukata!
Students and teachers chatting
Hanging her wish
Folding origami
Nakai-sensei, my Japanese teacher for the last couple of years at this school.
All the teachers at this school volunteer their time to teach us foreigners Japanese. We really appreciate them!
Went to Shoko and Nori's house to hangout with their immediate and extended family. Their brother Moto just returned home and their cousin Naru-chan came over with her family. She has two kids, Raiki and Hina-chan. They are such bundles of energy, so we took them to the park and played lots of games. Hope I get to see them again sometime soon...they're so much fun!
Friday, 29 May 2009
Mom is so proud of her strawberry patch, and rightly so. This year she's had tons of strawberries come up.
Every couple of days she checks to see how many have ripened
They're delicious!
Last week I went to Denver for my appointment service. Don't have many pictures that I can post from the service but here's a picture with my mom and pastor with his wife. I'm so thankful they could be there on behalf of many of you who've been supporting me.
My friend Jenny also drove down from Greeley for the service! We had breakfast with my mom the next morning before taking her to the airport and I stayed in Colorado for three extra days with Jenny and her family.
Her family lives in Granby, a little town near Rocky Mountain National Park. It's a beautiful part of the country!! Can you see sleepin Lincoln there in the mountains?
We hiked to Adam's Falls
There's Mt Baldy in the distance. This slow moving stream eventually turns into...
a powerful waterfall.
We saw lots of wildlife too, like the elk in this picture.
Antelope (running so fast my camera couldn't get a clear picture)
Big horned sheep that we saw on our drive down the mountain. I couldn't believe how close to the road they were!
Took the boat out on Lake Granby one morning even though it was pretty cold outside. Cold or not I'm really glad we went!!
Fly fishing
We drove up to a place called "top of the world," though it wasn't without a bit of good drama! =)
Finally made it to the top, with mud splattered all over the car and tires. Jim's determination and 4-wheel drive jeep got us through the muddy road.
Found some snow to play in!!!
We're on the top of the world!
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Yesterday I went to Gentry's last lacrosse game of the year for her Kirkwood JV squad. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful spring day!! And to top it off, their game turned out to be very competitive and
Coach Gentry paces the sideline, waiting for the game to start. Meanwhile, the official checks all of the girls' lacrosse sticks prior to the game.
Kirkwood was down 3 goals with about 12 minutes remaining in the game when they started their comeback... Gentry and her assistant coach are hoping the girls will end the year on a good note.
They came back to tie the game with about 12 sec left!
The game ended in a tie, but that was just as good as a win!!
Amanda came to visit me in Osaka two years ago! This time I got to return the favor and visit her in Raleigh, NC. She picked me up at the airport and then treated me to lunch at Pei Wei, an Asian restaurant.
We went to Southport with my aunt and uncle for a weekend. Though Southport is a coastal town, it doesn't have much of a beach. So we drove to Oak Island and Caswell Beach. Within a few weeks I got to step foot in both the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean--pretty cool!!
Oak Island Lighthouse
We both had work to do while I was in town, so we camped out in Panera for several hours and worked. Even though we're both chatty people, we managed to stay focused and got lots of work accomplished. I wrote a good chunk of my paper for seminary while she managed her babysitting business (www.sitterconnection.net). Just a little plug for her!
That's Barb! Amanda and I talked with her on skype while we were at Panera.
I also got to hangout with Amy throughout the week. She and I hadn't seen each other since last October, so we had lots of catching up to do. Amy came back from Tokyo about a month after I did; she's now going to seminary in Wake Forest, just 15 mi or so from my aunt's house where I was staying. I'm soooooo glad we got to see each other several times during the week!!
Amy and her Japanese friend Mamiko invited me to join their Bible study on Wednesday.
And I met some of her friends from seminary.
I was delayed an hour leaving from the Raleigh airport due to lightning and tornadoes in the area. But once the storm weakened and the plane took off, I was blessed to see this beautiful sunset above the clouds.
While in Thailand last year I bought Brody some Thai boxing shorts. They're still a little big and make it look like he's wearing a skirt =)
The usual family picture, and this time Grandma is with us! People do crazy things to make kids smile for pictures. Cheryl and Dave were singing kids' songs and making all sorts of funny faces to make Brody smile!
This was the first time Grandma got to see Brody. They became instant friends.
Wow, is Grandma showing Brody how to do crunches?! She never ceases to amaze me with how active she is. Not long ago she started taking tap dance lessons plus she's always involved in line dancing classes and other activities.
Cheryl had been wanting to make a quilt, so she and Mom worked on it all weekend. By the time we left it was almost completed. Looks awesome, Cheryl!
Content playing by himself.
Brody is such a squirmer, especially when he's eating.
Mom and I got to the ballpark a little early and saw the Astros taking batting practice
We had great seats
Here's a shot of Pujols trying to avoid getting hit by the pitch
Then in the 5th inning Pujols hit a grand slam! I like this picture because you can see the bases loaded and the ball as it came off the bat, heading out of the ballpark. I think this was my first time to witness a grand slam in person.
Pujols' trademark salute as he touches home plate
Mom and me with Gentry and Lauren
The Cardinals ended up beating the Astros ,11-2 and they got 19 hits. It was an awesome game to see in person!
The inactivity on my blog and emails recently is a reflection of the hectic pace life has been moving. Though it's been hectic, things are going really well...I'm getting more and more adjusted to Japanese culture again, am using/studying the language intensively everyday, and I'm reconnecting with some good friends while also meeting new people. 
Chatboard (0)