end of the year goodness!

So Christmas was really good. But it was also just one day, and was just like most other Christmases. This year, one day can't compare to a season of pretty sweet blessings. I'm gonna try to give the highlights!

First we have a bunch of silly pictures with me and my beautiful, lovely roommate Erin on her birthday. Living with her has probably been the greatest blessing of the semester! I love you Erin!

I also love Alyssa's frequent visits to our room :D

ISF had its annual square dance party! I was so glad to join! (I also went to the Ns square dance party too, which was also fun, but I have no pictures)
Natsuko came with me to stay at my parent's house for Thanksgiving weekend, and her birthday! Natsuko, I love you!
Also over Thanksgiving weekend, a whole bunch of ISF-ers came to Phoenix to eat together and Sezchuan (sp? sorry!) Palace! We got to join them.
My whole women's Bible study went to see Denai's dance concert together! I love all of you!
We did our annual CESL trip to Kartchner Caverns and Tombstone. Here's my favorite picture from the trip. Lung's such a nice guy...
(praise the Lord, we got past the border security check placed right outside Tombstone with a van-full of id-less internationals!!)

Another CESL closing ceremony. Really I hate these closing ceremonies...they're always my last chance to see so many people. Oh well. Hopefully someday my life won't be full of so many goodbyes. Here's just a couple of pictures.

Clara and Joe (my co-worker?! weird!)
goodbye :(

As soon as our finals were done, Michelle, Ross, and I rushed down to ASU to visit Susan and her family (including Kev who had already gone up) before she leaves for California! She gave us a tour of the Sun Devil campus.
And where else to eat but Toh Zan? (the only authentic Japanese food in Phoenix). oishikatta!
aww! I love you Susan! and Michelle!
After the night in Phoenix, we rushed back to Tucson so I could usher for the graduations at Centennial Hall! I loved being there for my graduating friends! First was Pick Chung, who double majored with honors! Impressive!
ISF held a graduation party for him and Makiko. That party was really fun, and he, Makiko, and Amanda (the girls are leaving! ;_;) all gave some good speeches.

The next commencement was Ariel's! This was a big week for her! :)
This isn't a good picture, but if you look carefully you can see Meaghan sitting 4th from the left in the back row. She got to sit on the stage for being an Eller college outstanding senior!
yay seniors!

Next is a whole bunch of pictures from the Mullarkey wedding!
It's been such a blessing learning from these two throughout almost my entire time at UofA, seeing them grow as a couple together at school and long distance in Japan for two summers (Ryan was on my Japan team in 2006, and Ariel went the next year in 2007). The ceremony was beautiful celebration of the Lord bringing together two people who have truly desired to honor the Lord and each other from the very beginning of their relationship.
When I was driving back to Phoenix on the I-10 (always a spiritual experience for me), I listened to my freshman year mix CD. On it was a song Ariel sang often that year and shared with everyone, For My Love by Bethany Dillon. It made me so happy to listen to the words again, look back, and see that Ryan has been and will be the man Ariel was singing for. He has fought well for her love. :)

The voice talents of Danny and Andy were once again featured in the ceremony
Katie, Sydney, me, and Sarah at the wedding
Ariel and Lydia dancing. Both are so beautiful
Me and the bride. :)
Their wedding was also a SIJ reunion! Look at all the people at their wedding who are forever members of the Tokyo BEST club!
Me, Ashley, Ross, and Yasushi! I haven't seen Yasushi since I was in Japan 2 years ago!
Back with Joanna!
yay Joni!
I met Sae, finally!
Ryan and Ariel's first dance as husband and wife!
A picture just won't do, so here's a video of them dancing!.. but what makes this video even more fun is Jo's commentary! XD

Ryan and Ariel's first dance, and memories from Christy Randl on Vimeo.


She's referring to back in 06 when she and Ryan were teaching all of the Tokyo BEST students how to swing dance.
ah memories! (read the whole story here)

It was a fun night for everyone. Here's some pretty fun pictures of all of us dancing.
(oo I met Saaya too!)

oh there's Mary!
soon to be married as well! this picture is so fun

Goodbye Mr. and Mrs Mullarkey!(for some much more professional pictures of the wedding, check out the ones Michelle took on Krista's blog [with more on Facebook, so I hear])

Katie let me stay at her place until the wedding! We had a lot of fun together, including coloring our own Aladdin posters! (notice how random my picture is! When did they go riding on a horse?)
My first day back home, my mom, sister, and I made Christmas cookies and candy!


I don't have any Christmas pictures, but the highlights include the time with my family, getting my car fixed as a present (no more duct tape on the taillights!), my grandma not being stressed out over Christmas dinner, my sister winning the Apples to Apples game I bought for the white elephant game, and playing it with my mom's friends that stayed at our house.

Finally, after Christmas I had another wedding, Melissa and Corey! Melissa looks so beautiful and happy in this picture.
Congratulations!

I don't have many more pictures from this wedding, but this one was also like a big reunion. I got to see so many of my old friends from East Valley Bible Church back in high school!

So on the whole this semeseter and year ended great. Bring on the new year!

...starting with 2 more weddings!

the god of money is dying

and the harvest is plentiful. These sermons on giving were awesome.





World Vision - my favorite christian humanitarian org.

The Village - donate to my church so we can love Tucson better!

(I hope to make a real post with all the awesome stuff that's been going on lately before tomorrow, but if I don't, merry Christmas!!)

floored!!

WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Those statistics are sick. So the world water problem can be stopped? What are we waiting for? Let's do it!

"Don't lament Christmas consumerism. Do something about it!" (pastor tom)

Who am I trying to kid?

Although I do agree with and get excited about the lyrics in that previous post, I'm not nearly as giddy one may think I am after reading it.

Please pray for me. Today has been a really rough day.

Satan sucks. Lord, please return soon.

by the way, Road Rally was great. Here's my favorite picture from the trip:

Greater Things

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the light in this darkness
You're the the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
in this city
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
here

You're he the Lord of creation
The creator of all things
You're the King over all kings
You are
You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the silence
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
in this city
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
here
To be done here
To be done here

There is no one like our God
(x4)

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
in this city
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
in this city
May your work begin with me
Fill my heart
Move my feet
Your kingdom come!
May your work begin with me
Fill my heart
Move my feet
Your will be done!
Your kingdom come!
In this city!

(Free download of this and other great songs here)

videos from a very grand canyon

The Canyon


Then later at night in Williams we found a "cute" new friend?

shocked...

I've been home from Turkey for almost 2 months now. It's been quite an adventure...

I'm shocked...

that so many of my friends have been in intense reverse culture shock themselves.

enjoying Turkish cotton candy back in the states

I'm shocked...

that I've actually readjusted pretty well!

me and my friends at my 21st birthday dinner

I'm shocked...

At how much I love my friends. Why? For example, the first thing Liz said (after initial "long time no see!"-ish stuff was "Do you want to walk the Great Wall of China with us?!" ...Oh but seriously, I have felt so loved by so many people. I've been surrounded by amazing friends, in Tucson, Gilbert, and so many other places. I love them all. :)

I'm shocked...

Living in Gila dorm is a lot of fun.

I'm shocked...

Erin Riley is a spectacular roommate!

Kelsea and I at a weddng last year.

I'm shocked...

I miss my friend Kelsea. She got into a car accident while visiting her family in Idaho. She's suffered serious injuries and may never walk again. She'll be in Idaho for a long time so I won't see her for a while. I love her and miss her and hate that all this happened.

I'm shocked...

at God's goodness in all of this and other trials.

I'm shocked...

at how much I love my church family at the Village.

I'm shocked...

at how I missed all the love and support I get from ISF

A weekend CESL activity to the Pima Air and Space Museum

I'm shocked...

at how enjoyable my job at CESL has been so far this year!

I'm shocked...

at how I can't handle Facebook. Ok, so here's some more info on that. Having Facebook for a month was okay for a time, and I enjoyed getting back into contact with many people. But I found myself, more than before, starting to constantly care about what was happening with others, why I wasn't included in things, and judging people from their pictures, etc. So let's call that what it is: insecurity and sin. So I had to get rid of that trash in my life. I know most other people can have a Facebook and not let it ruin their lives, and I really respect and admire those people. I've just been humbled and have realized that I'm not one of those people :( I still hope to keep in contact with people though! I didn't have Facebook for two years, so I know it's possible!

My mom and I at a Narnia movie exhibit in Phoenix

I'm shocked...

at how God fixes and redeems problems in my family. I had a wonderful time with my parents before coming to Tucson.

I'm shocked...

Christ is always victorious

The Grand Canyon!!!

I'm shocked...

That I just went on a crazy trip to the Grand Canyon with some awesome Indonesian CESL students!

Sunrise at the Canyon

I'm shocked...

At how much I've been learning about Ramadan this year. It's an important month...

I'm shocked...

at how much I've been cooking in my dorm. It's been fun and I've met a lot of people!

I'm shocked...

at how freezing it is in every building on campus!!

I'm shocked...

shocked to find that there is gambling going on here!

I'm shocked...

I'm such a nerd :P

I'm shocked...

I'm finally realizing people have their own lives and problems and I shouldn't force people to be concerned with what I'm concerned about or expect them to be. I can raise awareness to things that break God's heart, and that's good, but even after that I got to remember that it's okay if other's don't respond...because God's still sees, and He will redeem the world.

I'm shocked...

Pray for things you think are impossible. Jesus talked about it all the time.

I'm shocked...

I have no reason to be ashamed of the cross! I have no excuse to hold back! Do I not believe Christ is in control?

I'm shocked...

that I'm seriously thinking about working in Turkey after graduation now!

I'm shocked...

That I'm not thinking about being in Japan after graduation. Seems like I always have. But I want to love God more than Japan, and be obedient. He knows the thoughts He has for me.

I'm shocked...

Japanese Language 421 is haaard...yet I still enjoy it!

I'm shocked...

at how much my Turkish 101 teachers don't care if I know Turkish :/

So this is just the beginning of the school year. Thinking even bigger, as my roommate's refrigerator magnet so poetically reads, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

No matter how shocking, exciting, painful, or whatever my life may be, I know Who holds it. I am always in His care, and I love it. Even in the hardest times, it seriously rocks. This is my God, who died to save the world, and rose again to conquer death: Jesus Christ