End of the year

(Ben)
Well it has honestly been what feels like a short year for me. I suppose that any time I am gone underway for almost half of it it should be short. I am looking forward to 2008 of course, as there are many more adventures to be had, and the biggest one my wonderful wife. I guess in a way I do look at our new life together as an adventure but also as we grow together I am curious to see how we will mature and change throughout the years, and I know it has already begun as I look back on a year spent with her. It's really fantastic to me, and humbling in a way. I suppose it's selfish to have thought I would never need another person in my life like I have now, but I can honestly say it has been the best thing for me and I have grown and changed for the better because of her. All in all, I look forward to another year with God in our lives, and striving to become more like Jesus. It has never been easy, but I'm glad to have someone with me again this year.

Christmas was a great time for Kristi and I, although we spent last Christmas together this year was our own as a family. We may have spoiled each other a bit, but alas that is how a first Christmas should be I think! =D

We have been busy the past few days preparing for a few new changes in our life, and that is always exciting but a bit stressful. It's been amazing to see how like minded Kristi and I are on things, despite being so different. I appreciate her help in the littlest things, and in the big ones!

Well time to eat some dinner, a few more hours and the new year will be upon us!

Thanks for all your comments and kind words friends, we appreciate them! Have a Happy New Year!

december in japan!

hello! hope everyone had a nice christmas! sorry its been a while since we posted, seems like we have been going non-stop since ben got home - he has been busy working everyday, and i had my first week of full-time teaching last week! (crazy!)

i was like a little kid on christmas morning, waking up before ben and trying to get him to get up to go open presents with me. haha. 2 of my favorite things that ben got me: 1. a really amazing teacher bag that i can take all my school stuff around in! =) and 2. a "sun jar" - its a mason jar with a little solar panel in it, you put it in front of a window during the day to collect the sunlight, then when it gets dark at night, it glows with the sun that it collected! so you can have sun all day long! isn't that neat? he is amazing, and so sweet. =)
here is the bag:


and here is the sun jar:


ben got his license at the end of last week, and we have been both driving to get more comfortable. on christmas day we took a treck out to the other housing - called "hario" where some of our friends live, (20 minute drive each way) and spent a few hours cooking, talking and hanging out with some of the people from ben's ship. =)

also, its been unusually warm here this week... so much so that we were actually able to go to the zoo the other day! we walked there, the sun was shining, and it was in the 60s! sure didnt feel like decemeber! the ishdake zoo and botanical gardens is only 2km (a little over a mile) from our apartment, so it took about 20 minutes to walk there - and even less to walk back when ben found us a shortcut! =) so here are some pictures i took... (ben has more pictures on his flickr)














well, that ended up being kind of long! oops! all-in-all, we are doing well... constantly reminded of God's goodness and faithful provision, enjoying this time we get to actually be in Japan at the same time, and missing all of our wonderful friends and family back home. hope you all have a blessed start to the new year! =D

next week...

ben will be home!!!!!!!!!! =D
i'm so excited. i'm trying to do last minute things that i've been putting off or just too busy to worry about since he left (haha) and i can't WAIT til he walks in the door and sees the apartment decorated for christmas.... and i can give him a hug!! =D
i got my hair colored yesterday, too.. and had her straighten it for fun:



i start teaching full-time a week from monday - and i'm in there a lot this week to start transitioning in. kind of crazy! please keep us in your prayers as we'll both be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks. hope everyone has a great weekend! i'll post pictures of us together once he gets here, too. =)

ps: i started mailing a few christmas presents today! they say tuesday is the deadline for them to get to the states in time. only 18 days left! crazy! =)

a saturday in japan...

as the first of december comes to a close here in japan, its just starting for all of you back in the states! that's still so weird to think about. =)
things i did today:

-drove on the left side of the road. =)

-participated in a craft show put on by some navy wives and sold some of my cards.


-made a new friend - melanie - the girl i shared a table with.


-bought and ate some "mikan" - little japanese oranges. =)

-practiced my chopsticks by eating leftover fried rice with them for dinner

-did some online christmas shopping (gotta love amazon.com!)

-learned how to say "how are you?" in japanese -- "ogenki desu ka?"

-missed ben.

but good news! he's coming back in less than 2 weeks now!!!!!! woo hoo! i cant wait. =) hope you all have a good saturday! 24 days til christmas....