Sayounara TIU, Hola Mexico!

I said goodbye to my Tokyo International University students on the 9th, as they left for their final Grand Canyon trip before returning back to Japan. It was really hard and sad saying goodbye. But hopefully we will meet again! I'm so glad I got to be their counsellor even if it was for just a short time. I'm sure I learned a lot more from them than they learned from me.. ganbatte, friends.

Here are all my pictures of me and the TIU students

Then that afternoon, after lunch with Taro and Heyoung, I packed up and headed off to Nogales, Mexico, for our spring break mission trip! It was so great!! I learned a lot and feel like I got to know all my friends so much better. I would love to write out all that happened and all my thoughts but I really can't...I need to get cracking on my end-of-semester school stuff. You can go to Krista's blog and read a lot about all that happened. Yes I got left behind at a restauratnt. :P I actually found it pretty entertaining, and like Krista said, God totally provided for my protection. All in all it was just awesome, probably the most fun I've had in a long time, as you can tell from the pictures and videos

Here's my pictures from Mexico

...and Mary, Masashi, Naoko, and Saori are coming to Tucson this Wednesday! cho cho tanoshimi!!

Conference woot woot!

A few weeks ago was our regional conference! It was great! And I loved seeing my Japan team again...seriously I can't explain how great that was. If any of you are reading this, know that I seriously love you guys a ton, you are wonderful...We seriously had the greatest team.... but another great part of the weekend was meeting the California people going to Japan this summer, those who will be teaming up with Ariel and Megan. Jo, from the little time I got to spend with them, I'll say I think you'll like them - I approve! :P

Jerry, Mike, and Cole
Ojen and part of Ryan...haha. Also Chris (left) is considering going to Japan
Me and Priscilla
Me, Priscilla, Vivian, and Ariel (Vivian's not going to Japan..that's ok too!)
Me and Joni

I'm glad I got to spend some sweet time with you all. Let's do it more often ok?

it's been a long time

Well, it's been forever since I really wrote anything. That doesn't mean I haven't done anything...really it's been my life has been too exciting. I have stories about all that I've learned this past month and the fun I've had with everyone. Well, I got a job working with students from Tokyo International University that keeps me busy! And U of A students just started a 24/7 prayer for 40 days movement that has been pretty awesome so far, and I'm excited to be a part of it, I've already learned a lot just getting ready for it to start! And it snowed in Tucson (about a month ago now, though) and I watched the Saw movies and we had another midnight bbq and tests and adventures and super bowls and just so much... what I just listed are the "big" events but the things I've learned from just living life have been the most amazing parts. I remember having this problem before with livejournals etc. where I get so behind on what's been going on that I end up just not posting since whatever happened is old news by the time I have time to write about it. Well I know I need to get better and to be happy with making just little posts...ahh...this is why I'm not a creative writing major! I want to include every detail and then write too much!!

Well, in all this busyness I've really loved this that we read in Bible study...

"He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young me shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31. pretty awesome.

Anyways here's some pictures.

It snowed in Tucson!! Jen and I had so much fun in this rare experience! We made a snow man! And we found out that you can tell he's America-jin because he's made of 3 snow balls. Taro, Mizuki, and Taka laughed at ours cuz nihon-jin snowmen have only two...haha!

The pic below I stole from Jared Grinney when I snuck onto Kyleigh's facebook account....anyways, gorgeous!!!

TIU students!! I have the best job in the world!! As crazy as it's been it's been a lot of fun! Here are the girls at Amy's superbowl party, from left to right/top to bottom: Marie, Eri, Sachiko, Stacey, Stephanie, Chiaki, Yuko, Amy, and me. Marie and Sachiko are my girls! (I'm their counsellor!)
fun pic of Nori, Tomoya (aka Hashi) , Amy, and I (though I wish I could have gotten all of Tomoya's face!) I'm these boys' counsellors, too! Stephanie, Marie, and Sachiko. Along with the superbowl, we've also enjoyed swingdancing, the mall, Tucson high school, and more...just sharing life!
The other counsellors are Brian and Celeste! I've really enjoyed working with them!

Below is Takatoshi, the last guy in my group. He's one of the quietest of all the students, but that's totally okay because I enjoy him and respect him a lot, a lot because he can slow things back down when the rest are going crazy... :)

O has hung out with the guys a lot, which helps so much - thanks man! Tomoya's the first on the left (it's a better pic than before) then Minoru, O, and Nori. Daniel (Brian's friend), Brian, Marie, Sachiko, and Masa. Oh, here we're eating at a way-overthemed Japanese restaurant..but it was good real Japanese food!
lastly, here's some pics from my hitoride adventure in Sabino Canyon...

Let's just say that day told me how stupid I was but also how gracious God's love is for me and how beautiful His creation is...absultuely beautiful!

Till next time, which'll hopefully be sooner!

6 months and 1 day

So yesterday, before I started walking to class, I was a little upset with myself and how all I felt like doing was bringing other people down with me in honor of the sad anniversary. And I knew it was lame of me but I didn't care: the day was going to be horrible and I wanted everyone else to feel the same way.

But it wasn't going to happen that way.

I told Taro what day it was before class started. And it didn't phase him. And though my selfish little heart wanted to be upset with him about this...instead, I found myself laughing again at how, as always, he couldn't stay awake during lecture. And how it's so fun to watch Japanese people sleeping.

And throughout the day, it wasn't like I forgot what day it was. But as much as I wanted to force myself to be upset, since I thought I should be, things just kept happening. I recalled every sad moment of that night but I couldn't stop from remembering the amazing things too. I couldn't keep "Yesterdays" stuck in my head like I wanted to. The day kept going, and it kept going smoothly. And I wasn't expecting this, but I found myself just enjoying myself with the friends that, 6 months later, God has graciously given me. 6 months ago, John died. 6 months later, look at where I am. Wow.

And I'm sure John is not upset about being in heaven :D

Thank you, John.

Thank you, Taro.

And thank You, Jesus, for the hope of life after death, with YOU.

6 months

I wake up today and I'm reminded. It's been 6 months. Can't believe it. Amazing.

6 months ago I woke up and started hearing rumors that something had happened. When I first heard what happened I just assumed it was bad English. Then more and more, together we realized, it really happened. And our lives are still changing.

John, thanks so much for everything. I've learned and changed so much through your life and death.

"I woke from a dream last night
I dreamt that you were by my side
Reminding me I still had life
In me
I remember you like yesterday, yesterday
I still can't believe you're gone
I remember you like yesterday, yesterday
And until I'm with you, I'll carry on.
Every lament is a love song
Yesterday, yesterday
I still can’t believe you’re gone
So long my friend, so long"

Well, we know you're having a totally awesome time now, John. Can't wait to see you again.

"JESUS IS COMING BACK FOR US!" -Joni

MLK Weekend 2007!

"22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

This year's Navs annual MLK weekend Gilbert at Krista's house (who now has a blog too!) was awesome! 60 people came this year! There was fear that the amount of people would take away from the fun and personal nature of the trip, but I didn't feel that... I don't think I realized how much I needed this trip and time to be around my friends until I was there... one of the greatest parts for me was to get unexpected one-on-ones and unexpected healing through them. I love how God loves imperfect people and gives us the body to learn and grow from each other in Him, that He knows exactly what you're going through and gives you exactly what you need at that time... :) He is good...

But as for the more tangible events of the weekend...

All of the Nav boys took all of the Nav girls on "dates" after our time at the park! We teamed off into groups of five or six and just did whatever we wanted to help us all get to know each other better! I went with Tim Lin, Matt, Ross, and Liz. We drove around looking for a board game Tim wanted to buy and ended up playing with all of the toys in Target for a long time! Then after getting coffee, we went to my house to play board games! It was an awesome afternoon! Thank you, guys!

We also kept up the tradition of going to Joe's Real BBQ for dinner.

Me and Erin R. I'm glad we sat next to each other :)

Steve tries on Dan's new jacket :D These guys always make me laugh!

Sarah and Liz enjoy authentic Gilbert food!

(Another) Sarah, Ariel, and Kelly enjoy playing with their food!

Sunday morning, we sang worship songs and then Krista's parents gave a really awesome, unforgettable talk about generosity, one of their passions.

Then we went to the Morrison dairy farm!

Denai, Stephanie, Katie and I in the back of the van

We got to see the thousands of dairy cows that Krista's family takes care of.

But of course the favorite part of the tour is the cotton jumping!

Sarah, Denai, and Alicia at the top of the hill!

^ I really like this picture of Katie and I!!

Here the guys are rolling down the hill!

Click here to see Ryan diving into the cotton!

I'm burrying Michelle and Kevin!

Sunday night we had a big feast of steak, potatoes, and salad, and played a lot of really fun games! It was really chill and all around a sweet time. I loved it!

Even our drive home was pretty fun! Poor John was stuck with us girls! But as it always is, it was fun talking about man/woman differences and laughing about John's plan to not have his wedding around big sporting events or us girls' girly reaction to Lifehouse's "You and Me." :D We also stopped along the way to Tucson at a rest stop/gift shop that had some very interesting displays!

Finally, what happens when you let Thart play with your camera?

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! You can see all of them at http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p50/uofachristy/MLK%20Weekend%202007/

Also, I just found a link from Jerry's Xanga to Eddie Han's website, facethefool. Eddie was midterm staff in Tokyo, Japan for 2 years. I've only met him once, but I respect him a lot...and I really like the stuff he has on his site, especially the poetry. Check it out!