I love the reminder this time of year of God's loving gift to us. Jesus is so much more to us than a little baby born in Bethlehem...He was born to be the intercessor for us with God and to die on the cross for our sins (those mistakes we make daily, intentionally and unintentionally). He is the only way we can have forgiveness over our sin nature. I'm so thankful for Him. I pray daily I can learn to be more like Him and focus on His business instead of my own agenda that falls so short of what He plans for me. My Christmas was good. It was just Mom, Dad and I. I got up early to beat my mom to the kitchen and made Aebelskivers (Danish pancake ting) for breakfast. It's a family favorite and every other roomate I've introduced it to favorite ;-). Then we opened presents and rushed off to church. Then Deer Harbor Inn( where I worked this summer) puts on a free Christmas dinner, so they asked mom to play the piano and dad and I helped out with tables, then we ate there. It was nice. Other than that, I'm currently listening to Casting Crowns. I am 8 pictures away from finishing my Uganda Scrapbook. I ran out of glue. :-( Now I'm not sure what to do with my left over pictures. Unfortunately I still have Japan to do.....keeps me busy I guess. I'm not complaining. Hopefully I'll have a lot of subbing to do when school starts up again next week. My mom has a cist behind her knee so has been in pain so is looking at surgery (no insurance) and dad has interviews next week since his current job ends on Friday. Dave has a principal at his church he's supposed to get me a phone number for. The principal told me to call him directly- it's a public school there in Union County where Dave is. So that's a possibility for the fall of next year. But Dave and Susie and Baby Carson (pending) are all doing great. Love you all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So, I'm feeling a bit down. I'm enjoying being with mis padres, but am feeling other absences. Perhaps I'll always be that way, I don't know. Mom took me to a concert tonight that took place in this little Victorian Chapel, it was all decorated for CHristmas and was beautiful. The concert was fabulous and had humorous parts too. All in all good. Still sad and bummed though. I need to snap out of this!

I am the boot camp director of my home. Low Calories for everyone and as much exercise as can be handled...which turns out, isn't much. I think it will be good though, we shall see. It gives me a project at any rate and helps me monitor myself.

So how is everyone else doing this Christmas season? Write me stories, I might find them entertaining.
Until next time...

Grandpa at the burial service.

My mom, aunt, and 3 uncles

cousins and Aunt
Brother Cousin and I at Carlsbad Beach

Hello, I'm not sure if anyone still reads this since I'm not good about updating it very often. I apologize for that, but life goes on. I managed to mail off what I needed to mail today and I sent a package to the wrong address...sorry Grace, hope you're able to get it anyway.

THis past week has been bitter sweet. My Grandmother on my mom's side passed away. She was 83 yrs. old and has had failing health for the past few years. She recently had a surgery to remove a tumor and it was too much for her and she didn't really recover. I was able to fly down for the Memorial Service and then extend my ticket to stay for the burial which was 3 days later. When I scheduled my ticket the dates weren't firm yet. Anyway...the miracle of getting all my Aunts and Uncles together and they sang together was wonderful. And seeing cousins I hadn't seen in 7 years due to location etc... My brother flew out but my dad couldn't make it. My grandpa is doing alright. He has his moments...they were married for 62 years ( a beautiful legacy), but has been keeping busy and my uncle has been with him until tomorrow (Friday).

I subbed for 8th grade yesterday, so I've officially begun subbing here on Orcas Island. It was a good day, so I'm thankful to the Lord for that. Aparantly a bunch of the kids- church and non church- go to the youth group on Wednesday nights and a few recognized me from my missions prayer card that was on the bulletin board at church. I'm hoping to help out a bit with the youth in the New Year. I think it will be a bit different from the international youth in Uganda, but not completely different. Well, That's all I have for now.
God Bless!

Okay so the pictures I tried to upload had nothing to do with what I wrote, but those pictures are not yet in my computer and the power is supposed to go off in 10 minutes. Oh, the reminisce of Uganda power cuts. I feel like the one here may actually be punctual though. THey didn't upload anyway and I have to try to post this and shut down. chow.

I'm back....home in Washington. And had a beautiful snowy Dec. 1st. It's been a long time since I've seen snow, so I was very excited. Naturally Dad wasn't excited as he had to go outside in it and do the mail run on the boat.

I'm flying down to San Diego on Sunday. My Grandmother passed away Wednesday Night. She was 83 yrs. old and ready to go. I had a really good and cherished visit with her and my grandfather in August which I am so thankful for. She was still at home at that time, so it was nice.
Blessing: The largest number of my relatives will be together at the funeral than have been in over 10 yrs. It will be good to see everyone.

Life: I've almost got myself settled into my room downstairs. Mom and Dad rearranged it for me so that the heater isn't blocked, which I appreciate VERY MUCH!!! (It's cold here!) And some things were moved out so I'm working myself into the space. I'm hoping to start substituting soon, but by the time I get back from CA, Christmas Break will be around the corner..so it may not be until after New Years. Other than that...I'm not making any decisions right now and I'm enjoying that. I need a break to recoup.

Talk to you all later

I'm back....home in Washington. And had a beautiful snowy Dec. 1st. It's been a long time since I've seen snow, so I was very excited. Naturally Dad wasn't excited as he had to go outside in it and do the mail run on the boat.

I'm flying down to San Diego on Sunday. My Grandmother passed away Wednesday Night. She was 83 yrs. old and ready to go. I had a really good and cherished visit with her and my grandfather in August which I am so thankful for. She was still at home at that time, so it was nice.
Blessing: The largest number of my relatives will be together at the funeral than have been in over 10 yrs. It will be good to see everyone.

Life: I've almost got myself settled into my room downstairs. Mom and Dad rearranged it for me so that the heater isn't blocked, which I appreciate VERY MUCH!!! (It's cold here!) And some things were moved out so I'm working myself into the space. I'm hoping to start substituting soon, but by the time I get back from CA, Christmas Break will be around the corner..so it may not be until after New Years. Other than that...I'm not making any decisions right now and I'm enjoying that. I need a break to recoup.

Talk to you all later

I'm back....home in Washington. And had a beautiful snowy Dec. 1st. It's been a long time since I've seen snow, so I was very excited. Naturally Dad wasn't excited as he had to go outside in it and do the mail run on the boat.

I'm flying down to San Diego on Sunday. My Grandmother passed away Wednesday Night. She was 83 yrs. old and ready to go. I had a really good and cherished visit with her and my grandfather in August which I am so thankful for. She was still at home at that time, so it was nice.
Blessing: The largest number of my relatives will be together at the funeral than have been in over 10 yrs. It will be good to see everyone.

Life: I've almost got myself settled into my room downstairs. Mom and Dad rearranged it for me so that the heater isn't blocked, which I appreciate VERY MUCH!!! (It's cold here!) And some things were moved out so I'm working myself into the space. I'm hoping to start substituting soon, but by the time I get back from CA, Christmas Break will be around the corner..so it may not be until after New Years. Other than that...I'm not making any decisions right now and I'm enjoying that. I need a break to recoup.

Talk to you all later

I just read your comment Viv, sorry but I haven't had steady internet connection for the last LONG weeks. It sometimes takes me over an hour just to open and read a few emails let alone reply, so the blog was out of the question.

Japan....ummm....Cold, beautiful with CHristmas decor. DOn't you just love cities at Christmas time? THey're gorgeous!!! All I do hear is teach all week and then on the weekends seek out a train station or two and hit all the starbucks for entertainment...okay that's not all I do. I did do the walk around the Imperial Palace...can't see the palace from anywhere on the walk, but there is a sidewalk and moat all the way around it. I also bought my build-a-bear a CHristmas dress...so cute. Now if only I had access to my elephant build-a-bear which is in the unfortunate position of being located in a box in storage in CA somewhere. Dave and SUsie gave her to me the last CHristmas I was with them....4 yrs ago? WHen you came to see me VIV, when was that?

Anyway...what else....tried to see the goths at Harajuko, but it was raining and they weren't there. Seriously, there are girls who dress like Little Bo Peep met madame Goth and stand on this bridge by the trainstation and people take pictures of them. I still have found out why they do this, but they where these really high platform type shoes too. I saw a number of them walking that last time I was down there, but they weren't at the photo op. place so no snaps. SOrry.

hmmm.....okay, I guess that's the wrap up. Oh! Aya, who was my Japanese aide at school...made me the sweetest little picture memory book of the kids on my last day and two of the boys made me cards. I can't believe how far those 2-3 yr olds came while I was there. It's cool to watch actually, though it is still not my age group of pref.

Ciao...

ok, Here is another post. (I told you it wouldn't be very consistant, Grace)..My internet doesn't work well on overcast rainy days and that's what we've had a lot of lately...so you see I have great Excuses! Grace you never did give me the specs on the yarn you want.

So...Yesterday (Saturday) we went on a field trip to this amusement park/ farm. There the kids and their parents (family field trip) dug sweet potatoes and then rode on rides, etc... The race car thingy was fun! They had this haunted hosue too...not the typical BOO! haunted house, it had a lot of gorey, gruesome fluorescent paintings along the way highlighted with black lights...Poor kids are going to have nightmares...all crying and stuff. Anyway, It was fun, but a long day none the less and I was happy to get home and put in a video and vedge.

Today I plan to meet Cheryl and go into Akabane and then from there I'll go on to Ikebukuro to church, but it's raining and chilly so I'll have to see. I've been fighting a cold as valiantly as possible...the cough subsided and now a cold really wants to take over.

For my birthday (which is coming up...cough, er, uhem...) Trisha and Yas are taking me to Mount Fuji! Fun times! My fourth grade class that I have for an hour and a half each week, make fun of the way I say Fuji, so I have no idea how I'm supposed to say it. Oh well.

I have a very special visitor planning to come to mi casa for Christmas con mis padres. Yeah! I'm so excited!!!!!!!

Here are some more pictures, though they were probably at the top because it seems to be beyond my control to put them where I want them on this blog. Enjoy!

New discovery...umbrella lockers!!! Some things are really funny here. I went to an art museum and they had unbrella lockers for peoples umbrellas. You see, rain or shine, people use umbrellas here. Umbrellas and bikes...everyday views. Here are some more shots of my classes too. I don't have a picture of it, but the kids enjoy dogpiling me now. :-) Great fun in the morning!

bathroom












Window Sil desk.....kitchen.....bedroom/livingroom/office....washing machine
My Apartment

BANGS! I got sick of my hair....

Asakusa Gate

Some kids during sports day.
Here are some pictures of my area.
The other pictures won't load. Sorry! Today I went to a Japanese Denny's. It was a bit different and not as cheap as the US. I got salad with thousand island on it with my eggs and bacon....different.


Later!

Hi...so this is my first blog and I may never remember to write in it again, so read up! I have now been in Tokyo for 3 weeks and it's growing on me a bit. Nice city, with cute small proportioned everything. There are a zillion bikes here, narrow cars, narrow streets (seriously! the street I'm currently looking at is US standard- 1 lane, but it's a 2-way street!). Things are outrageously priced and I see my savings idea dwindling to nothingness. This photo was in Ginza- Time Square of Tokyo and PRICEY! See the Kimono in the background? Meidi-Ya is an International store where you can buy US brands of some things.

I bought a box of what I thought was lasagna noodles at a store and when I opened it today found it was a lasagna kit with everything included and two tiny little foil pans as well. It's interesting trying to figure out what is what when it's all in Japanese. There are some English translations on the buses and trains which is VERY handy. I found a church but can't go tonight because I have a very bad cough and that is just unpleasant for everyone around including myself.

The little preschoolers I'm teaching are sweet and I have fun with them. The 2-3 yr. olds I have for most of the day are limited in responsivness to English and Japanese, but we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I watched the entire Pride and Prejudice saga.... and went in to Akabane to go to Starbucks (my treat for the week), but it was raining and probably not the best day to be out sick. Akabane is the nearest train station and it is a 25 minute bus ride away from where I live and work.

I think that's enough for now. Ciao'