Another Hisashiburi post~!

We were married on November 7~! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we were totally blessed by our family, friends, and guests. :D



After our honeymoon in Tokyo and Hakone, Japan, we quickly went back to Okinawa to pack my things and say our good-byes to peeps... This is about half of all the food I sent to the states. I could seriously open a store with all the Jp foods I have.



We're keeping busy here and trying to get plugged in as much as possible at church. Chase is teaching a grappling class on Sundays at noon. It's called "Grappling with the Word." They do that then a bible study that relates with the moves they've learned. I sit back with my coffee and do my readings in Systematic Theology while they're doing their thing.



The Women of CCJacksonville put together a Christmas Tea. It was a really awesome time of snacking, crafts, chatting, and a really good message. :D






I've been cooking a LOT. I get bored pretty easily with food so I've been experimenting with all sorts of food. The first one was a beef roast that I had braised pretty much all day. Behind it is a challah bread and in the front Parmesan garlic potatoes. I think my favorite in that meal was the potatoes. The picture underneath is a lox (smoked salmon) salad with a nice balsamic vinaigrette. I love salmon. <3



We're getting settled in nicely in Wilmington (NC). I'll leave you this sign (above). Does anyone know what's wrong with it? God bless you guys and Happy New Years!

Hisashiburi post!

Phew! Hisashiburi dane? I've been quite busy these past couple of months. God has definitely outdone any expectations I've ever had and has blessed me quite profusely. :D A quick update is in order, huh?



First off, I visited my then boyfriend a couple of months ago and now I'm engaged to a wonderful man of God! That's my ring on top of my piano, btw. :)





Then, the chickas threw me a bachelorette party. There was games, gifts, kareoke, and so much laughing! It was one of the best parties thrown for me. I love them. ^.^ Aaaand, yes. I am wearing a teal grass skirt over my jeans.



















This afternoon, my mom, Anna, and I went to the restaurant "Daikon no Hana" for lunch before going down to Itoman to see my obaa-chan. Daikon no Hana is an all you can eat organic place. Even after totally pigging out until you can't eat anymore, you really don't feel guilty because... it's organic? The food was delicious and I totally love the decor. It's kinda Wafu (Japanese) circa Meiji era. I think it's more of an adult place unless your kids dig eating organic foods (AKA mostly veggies). Definitely hitting this place up again.



Afterwords, we went to a couple of beaches where I tested out the new lens the fiance graciously gifted me with.





After the sun set, we saw a sign for a cafe so we explored. It was probably one of the best views from a cafe. My only qualm with the place was that the windows were open and I was definitely getting eaten. Everyone else was safe though (as long as I was around). Cafe au lait was good though.

VBS Week

We had VBS this past week. I got to hang out with the peeps from CC Montebello. I'll post pics from that later. For now enjoy the video.



And a lot of people got sick this week, including me and Anna. I pimped out her mask with an Autobots symbol.

Of Beach Baptisms, Tomas, and Cheesecake

On Saturday, God blessed us with some really awesome weather with a breeze. I, with a lot of the members of the Harbor, joined together for some beach, bbq, baptisms, and bonfire.



Absolutely gorgeous beach near Torii. We had some wicked waves that day.




Here's Mark with the seven that were baptized that day, including his cute daughter Zoey.



This is my friend, Janae, getting baptized. Praise God! (she had to keep holding Mark's hand because those waves were throwing her off balance)




A silhouette of Tara. I like this picture. :)




On Monday, since it was Umi no Hi (Or Beach/Ocean Day) and most Japanese were off from work, the Tomas invited us and the Konnos over to their house for dinner. Here Yoshi-san is explaining to Roy-san how hand-eye coordination improves the capacity of the frontal lobe of your brain. Deep stuffs.



We had dinner and for dessert my dad bought a Sara Lee pound cake and I made french cheesecake. Usually I'm not a fan of baked cheesecake, but this one was fluffy and creamy and mmmm.... makes my mouth water thinking about it.




After dinner everyone minus Joseph, Halleluyah, and Me played Mexican Train, a dominoes game.



While everyone else was playing their game... we played some Wii. Here's Halleluyah picking on Joseph. J/k. Actually Joseph smoked us in everything except Smash Bros. Brawl (I smoked them) and Mario Party 8 (Halle. won). It was definitely good times with good friends. :D

Psalms 34:3 (KJV)

O magnify the LORD with me,

and let us exalt his name together.

I shot a yamori.

So I take a million pics a day... I've been having this ongoing battle with this yamori (sci. name: Hemidactylus frenatus, common name: House Gekko) for quite some time now. I'd want to take a picture of it and then when I'd go to a) get my camera or b) switch lenses out.... he'd run away! It was so frustrating. Finally today he was in the corner and had relatively no where to run. Muahaha!



I think I'll name him Hemi. He hangs out in our room quite a bit. Doesn't really bother me too much.



He's about the length of my index finger. Maybe...3.5-4 inches?


He got really annoyed when I started using the flash at point blank of his face. He decided that it really was worth-while to run away. He ran away in zig-zags. I think I may have blinded him a little?

Psalms 104: 24-25
How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.

Wednesday night~

We came down to eat to a line of plates. Worship teamed is loved. ^.^



I LOVE taking pics of the sky here in Okinawa. The clouds are awesome and the sky is crystal clear blue!



This is a view from the worship leader's mic. I thank Him for me being able to be on worship team. We have too much fun. You have NO idea. <(^.^)>

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus

New lens

ただいま～！
I haven't updated on the blog recently and I've had some complaints about it (actually maybe one each from the boy and sister). So, I thought it was time to update. I bought a brand new lens for my xsi. It's the 50mm. I love the thing to pieces. It really takes some quality pics (not me, the lens. I'm really not that good at taking pics). ^.^ See for yourself~



I told Anna and Kiara that I would name this pic "同い年" (same age) because they're the same age and Anna is a giant compared to Kiara.



I think the plant got watered enough today...



That's a raindrop that exploded and is now extra-hardcore with spikes.



Pastor Rick telling his fish story. My mom looks skeptical. (Actually I have no idea what they were talking about. Lol.)



And finally a self-portrait. Lol, you can see my freckles. >.<


I'll probably be posting more pics soon. More than likely food pics.... Hey, food doesn't complain about the angle the pics are taken from or that it looks fat.

A surprise and 20 cloves chicken~!

It's been a good day thus far. I love Saturdays. Normally there isn't a bagillion things to do and I can get a little more rest than on the weekdays (which is SO needed). It was nice going to worship practice, hisashiburini. I especially enjoyed the drive over there in my new red sports car, which my friend gave to me for FREE. Thanks God! Last night after the Harbor, I came home and there was a plastic bag on the door handle. I thought to myself "Hmm... this could either be really bad (poop) or good?" So I opened it and to my surprise I found these:



That is a bag of origami cranes (and the faces behind it are me and my sister's emo-ji onigiris). I was having a hectic time at work on Friday. There were a million things to do and I didn't have nearly as much energy as I would have liked. During the day, the coordinator for the Asian American Pacific Heritage month thingee at our school asked me for some Japanese things for a table. As the room I'm in is not really mine, nor is the stuff in it mine, I was hesitant. So I asked a couple of my students to make some origami real quick so that I could give them to that teacher. The celebration was a success (and I got to eat a WHOLE bunch of Filipino food, yay!) and it was over with so I didn't have to worry about it anymore. I have a student who lives next door and I guess he overheard me talking about the origami. So when he went home, he and his brother made a BUNCH of cranes for me. I just about cried. God has an interesting way of making me feel like a complete idiot for being a cranky jerk to my students. Thank you God for humbling me.

Today I felt really ambitious after watching cooking shows and going to Mihama to get a cookbook. So I made 20 cloves of garlic chicken! Recipe:

It really reminded me of my Thanksgiving Turkey recipe though after eating it. It was just... okay. I gave my brother a piece (along with the veggies I made) and he said that it was "Awesome" and "Umai". If it has Henry's vote, I guess it's aiight.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/content/videolibrary/index.cfm?cm_type=gnav

20 cloves garlic chicken with diced potatoes, tomatoes, onion, broccoli saute. I'm practicing for my future husband~! :P

Avocado Burger?

Today was a pretty good day at work. I got a lot accomplished. Gave the kiddies quizzes, made up a project that they have to present to the class, and took them to the library. All in all a good day. In my random free time I perused the top 20 recipes on Allrecipes.com and found this recipe for Guacamole. It turned out okay.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Guacamole/Detail.aspx
I decided that I was too lazy to make tortillas and instead made an avocado burger. Avocado burger= wheat buns+ mozzarella+ beef pattie+ romaine lettuce+ guacamole. It was really filling and I guess kinda healthy?

Woah! I'm updating!

I thought the next time I would update would be on my new laptop, but unfortunately... Aafes SUCKS. Anyways, hmm.... what should I make you read about? I've been working a lot lately which makes me extremely tired (substitute teachers really get to see the worst of kids). But it's okay, my job is extremely gratifying and I love it. I recently went on a trip over Valentine's/Presidents' Day weekend to an Island called Izena which is off the main island of Okinawa. It was too much fun. Our crew met up with an awesome Swedish missionary named Karl and his family. It was a great time of fellowship and definitely a much needed get away for me. On our last day five of us tried to go to a smaller island called Iheya to deliver Bibles. We boarded a small fishing vessel and were rocked by the massive waves. You may think that I'm exaggerating "massive" but I kid you not we almost capsized. I really hated the ferry ride on the way to Izena, but that small boatride was increda-fun! I think it's because the ferry is much larger so it makes me feel like I'm on an airplane (I'm aviophobic). Anyways, here's some pics!



Organic bread from La Mer cafe that's right around the corner from our new house.



Soup and Salad from the La Mer lunch buffet.
Salad: Poke!
Soup: ...Stop it!




This is basically a video of how freaked out I am on our way to Izena Island. So freaked out in fact, I say "But that's okay." ....twice. Do I _really_ sound like that?