summer trip 2009

well, it was a fun few weeks. it was jam packed with shopping and seeing people, and it was such a blessing to have a change of pace for a little while, especially while ben is away. the only thing missing on the trip was BEN! it felt strange to be there without him, and i'm glad that won't be the case much longer. when he's gone, a part of me is just missing - no matter where i am or who i'm with.

but speaking of ben! he's amazing. he passed another computer certification test and is already working towards another one! he's plugging along and will hopefully be home soon. i'm sooo proud of him! he works so hard and does so much. i can't wait to have him home!!!!!!!



as always, here are some pictures. i took a TON!
if you go HERE you can see the rest, but i will just summarize and pick a few to share now.

i left on jul 6, having an overnight layover in korea (:X no fun!) and arriving in atlanta on tues jul 7. i was a zombie! my parents picked me up and i spent a few days with them, then thurs night i flew to north carolina to surprise the charity and jan and join them and charissa for their beach getaway. here are a few pictures from that trip. it was so refreshing to get to spend time with dear friends! i hadn't seen charity or jan since our wedding over 2 years ago!









sunday afternoon we even got the treat of meeting up with rachel thorpe for lunch, and having jan's boys come up for the day! i hadn't met matthew yet. what a cutie!!





sunday night we met up with gwen and RK and i got to spend a few days hanging out with them while joel was away on a pastor's retreat. what a sweet time! we went shopping at our favorite: TARGET, watched girly movies, and had long talks on the porch. it did my heart a world of good. love you gwen!! :)





look at this precious smiley riley!


we took RK to a grassy spot outside starbucks and did a photo shoot. there were too many to choose from! but here's 2 :)





i headed back to atlanta on the 15th and spent 2 weeks hanging out in atlanta with my parents. mom and i did lots of shopping :) dad and i went to have thai lunch, and it was great spending time with them. i also spent the night with yammie (my sweet grandma!) and we got together with my aunt, uncles and cousins for an evening, too.





here's my mom with her brothers and yammie


and yammie with a few of her grandkids


my parents and i met up with my friend Adrian (who i've been friends with since 8th grade) and got to meet her sweet TWIN girls!


i also had the pleasure of getting to spend a day with kent and brook, and a photo shoot of sweet lilley! the lighting was perfect and we got some great shots here are a few of my favorites from that! brook and i spent the evening catching up while lilley slept and kent was away at a lock-in, it was a great time!





isnt she precious?


this is definitely my favorite picture from the whole shoot, (maybe the whole summer). her eyes just sparkle! she's such a sweetie.


jul 28 i boarded yet another plane to head to arizona to visit jodie and jess. more shopping, eating out, helping jess set up her classroom, an afternoon in the pool where i became a lobster, and lots of laughter! it was a quick visit, but such a fun one. i also did one more photo shoot - this time of sweet cambria joy! i was so glad to get to meet her!

look at this grin! she's adorable.






here's the 3 muskateers:


and here's cambria with sunburned aunt kristi :)


i got back aug 1 and spent the last few days in atlanta before boarding the looong flight back on wednesday. now i'm back in japan, feeling jetlagged, counting down the days til ben gets home. school starts back in a couple of weeks, and once it does i'm praying the time will fly and our life in japan will be wrapping up! Lord willing we will be finished here this coming spring, and heading on to new adventures. :)

so that's my trip in a nutshell! i got to do lots of shopping, eating out (i started my diet yesterday! haha), visiting, chatting and lovin' on sweet babies! it was great to see some of you, and hopefully we'll get to see even more of you in 2010! thanks for all the love, support, prayers and encouragement you've been to us over the last 2 1/2 years! :)

surprise!

go here to see what i got to do last weekend :)

God is so good!

last weekend i was able to pull off a HUGE surprise to my sweet girlfriends and show up in time to go to the beach with them! i'm in the states for a couple of weeks while Ben is away, and it's been exactly what my lonely heart has needed. the Lord provided some great plane ticket deals, and i've been able to see lots of friends in the last week that i've been in the states.

pray for my sweet hubby as he's working super hard, and that we can get through these next weeks before we can be together again. i'll be back in japan the beginning of august.

ps: i can't put any of my pictures up now, but i'll post a ton when i get back.

happy summer! :)

it's beginning to look a lot like....

christmas?! well, not really! haha. i say that only because i got my first christmas card order on friday! so i busted out all my christmas paper that has been tucked away since last year, and got started. here are a few i've done so far (the order is for 50)...







funny side note - her name is "MERRY" (spelled just that way) - seems fitting for christmas cards, doesn't it? :) she is actually my kindergarten aid at school, and is a big help to me in the classroom! we got together on friday to do a little classroom shopping at the wonderful 100 yen store, and when i showed her the cards i've been making, she told me she wanted some! she also ordered 25 thank you cards, and i've been working on those too:



what a blessing! the Lord is so good, and knew i needed something like this to put my energy into. He always provides. this summer has been tough and exhausting emotionally, but the Lord is teaching me, and using this time to show me i still need to work on being dependent on HIM alone.

ben has had a few days off this week to relax, and got to go snorkeling the other day! he said it was very neat :) i'm always thankful when he gets a break cause he works so hard!

happy 4th! i spent the 4th here working on cards as i didn't really feel up to a big crowd, and we can actually see the fireworks from our apartment, so i watched them from the window in my pjs. exciting stuff, i know. :P hope you all enjoyed your holiday! love from japan...

July!

A new month when Ben is away means it's just a little closer to when he's coming home. :) That's always encouraging to this girl who's here anxiously waiting for him. :)
It's been raining NON-STOP all week. Today was the first break, and it was a welcome one! Because it's been so dreary, I haven't really done too much this week...
Except of course make a few more cards, and today I painted a sign to use in my classroom this coming August. Here, take a look:

I am still trying out that card book and playing around with different layouts:






And here's the sign. Let me preface it by saying I am definitely not the world's best painter! At all! And I wasn't the happiest with how the "welcome to" turned out, but I think it will still work. :)


So that's all the news here.
Ben's been able to relax a little this week, which is a blessing! He works so hard. We are planning a little vacation this fall too, which we are super excited about! We haven't really taken one since our honeymoon, so it will be wonderful. :D

Let me leave you with these words for today...
Very familiar verses, but ones that hit home especially as we are trying to figure out our future, and what to do next. It's such a comfort. I read it today in the Message, and thought I would share it with you, too.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
He's the one who will keep you on track."