Friday, June 17, 2005

   Mission Trip
Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this going. This week has been busy. But, anyway, I thought I'd share some stuff from our mission trip with you all... Here goes:

We left Fri June 3 from Denver, flew to Houston, and finally to Oaxaca on a really tiny plane (Continental Expressjet.... yeah, really tiny....) We got to Oaxaca pretty late. It was dark when we landed. (It was so cool to see the lights of the cities and the stars at the same time from the plane!!!) Some people from the church picked us up at the airport and took us to the hostel. It was really cool. Kind of a mix between outdoor and indoor--you couldn't really tell which was which sometimes!

The Sat after we arrived, we went sight-seeing and shopping. First, we went to Monte Alban.
It’s a site on top of a mountain with a bunch of ancient civilization pyramid ruins. Very cool! Later we went shopping in some markets around Oaxaca. Oh! And we got to se an old Catholic cathedral. So beautiful and ornate! Sun. was basically spent at church in fellowship. We sang a lot, gave some testimonies, and the sermon was given in Spanish and English. Later, we had a nice meal provided by the ladies from the church.

Mon, we started work, which continued till Fri. Each day, we drove out to Zaachila (the town where the church is at) on a bus. They had us do various things, like haul bricks, dig the foundation for the church’s fourth wall and the fence/wall around it, haul and sift sand, mix and haul concrete and mortar. Yeah, it was hard work in Mexico’s heat, but it was a lot of fun. By the end of the week, the wall/fence thing was finished, and the foundation for the 4th wall was done, too. The Mexicans will continue to build the 4th wall.

We just did construction in the mornings and early afternoon. Afterwards, we got changed from our work clothes and ran a sort of Vacation Bible School. Mon and Tues, we worked at an orphanage doing crafts, songs, Bible stories and games. The kids really liked the song, “Gloria a Dios” and the LOVED playing games. One little girl taught Courtney and me to play kickball baseball. It was amusing, because we had no idea what she was saying. ^^ It was hard for some people to leave on Tues. I’m pretty sure at least one person from our group is going to go back to Oaxaca after high school, she loved the work she was doing so much!

Wed-Fri we ran VBS at the church for the neighborhood kids of Zaachila. I only did VBS on Wed—then they had me do construction all day Thurs and Fri. It was about the same as the orphanage, though I think the kids at the church behaved better. ^^ On Fri, we got to hand out Operation Christmas Child gifts. Our church is a big supporter of Operation Christmas Child, so it was really cool to actually see the presents being handed out. The kid’s faces were so amazing.

Sat, we got to do some more sightseeing. We went up to Mitla to see the petrified waterfalls. Yeah, *petrified* waterfalls! So cool! We did some more shopping there, too.

Sun was spent at church again. From about 12-4:30. Really cool. Our pastor gave the sermon while a lady from the church translated. We gave more testimonies and sang a lot. Afterwards, we ate lunch at the church and said our good-byes. Yeah, that was kinda hard. ::sniff:: We got back to the hostel, did some final shopping, and got packed up. It was an early morning Mon, as we left at 5:30am to be at the airport, ready to go at 7:55. We got home safely at about 9:30pm.

Well, I guess that’s all I’ll write for today.
Thank you, God, for allowing this trip to happen and allowing it to go so well.
Thank you all for your prayers!

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Tuesday, June 14, 2005

   I'm Back
Hey all! I'm back from the mission trip to Mexico. We got back late last night, and I'm so happy to be home!
The trip was cool, and I'll write more about it later, k? Got some stuff to do today, but... ^^
Thank you all for your prayers!
Later!
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Thursday, June 2, 2005

   Mission Trip
Yay! It's finally here!!!! We leave for our Mission trip to Mexico tomorrow It's finally here!!!! I'm so excited, especially because this is my first one! There are 14 high schoolers and 5 leaders going.

We fly from Denver tomorrow, and will arrive about 9 pm in Oaxaca. Mon-Fri mornings, we'll be working on a building project. Mon and Tues afternoons, we'll be doing some stuff for an orphanage, and Wed-Fri we'll be running a Bible day camp! Plus, we'll get to do some sightseeing sometime... maybe Sat!

Got all packed today! All work clothes will be thrown away, so that leaves some room for souvenirs! ^_~ We have a really strict dress code... Hehe, I worked out some of my over-packing problems. My big suitcase is not really full, and my carry-on is a backpack! W00t!

Well, I'll post more when we get back! Please pray for us that we have a safe, powerful trip!
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Saturday, May 28, 2005

   Graduation
Hi all!
Graduation was yesterday!!!! I'm so happy! And my finals boosted my GPA, so I'm 3rd in the class. Not quite first, but hey.... The ceremony was cool, and there were soooo many people there! Our Valedictorian's speech went really really well!! So funny! She even had Oni-san laughing (that's the nickname for our principal...^^;;). It was just so exciting to actually realize that we're done!!! Sugoi na!!!!!!!
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Songs
Here are some songs (well, parts of songs) that have really helped me. The awesome artists are after the title:

“He Will Carry Me”—Mark Schultz
I call, You hear me
I’ve lost it all
And it’s more than I can bear
I feel so empty
You’re strong
I’m weary
I’m holdin’ on
But I feel like givin’ in
But still You’re with me

And even though I’m walkin’ through
The valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I’ve been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need
He will carry me…

…And even though I feel so lonely
Like I’ve never been before
You never said it would be easy
But You said You’d see me through the storm...

“Let it all Out”—Relient K
…And You said "I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse.
If the burden seems too much to bear,
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

And I'll let it be known (the times I have shown)
Signs of all my weakness
But somewhere in me, there is strength
And you promised me (that you believe)
in time I will defeat this
'Cause somewhere in me, there is strength....
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Monday, May 16, 2005

...
Gomen ne minna-san. I’m sorry, but I kinda need to get some stuff out, so I thought I could write it here… Maybe someone will find it poetic… ::shrugs::

I wanna go inside my dreams for a while—get out of this world. I hate the world I live in now, and I’m not sure how I’m gonna deal with living in it. Maybe it’s not the world… no, the world itself is fine. But people—do I wanna escape from people? Maybe that’s it. But my dreams are different, you know. They’re not the world. They are either happy—making me happier than I’ve ever been because wishes come true—or scary or sad. But they never *hurt* like this. I mean, even when I get killed in my dreams, it doesn’t hurt…It doesn’t feel like my heart is being torn to shreds…

Gyaa! I hate life sometimes! I suppose I should find out what God wants me to do now. I’ve been listening to music—mostly Relient K (yes, that is “ent” not “ant”…Relient K is kinda like Christian punk) a bit. Couple of their songs are fitting. Also, there’s this video we’ve been watching in youth group to prepare for our mission trip. “Amazing.” But anyway, the word “elevate” is hugely significant. Just a while ago, I was reading a magazine and the word “elevate” was written in big letters. D’ya think He’s trying to tell me something? ::sigh:: What’s wrong with me?

Well, I’ll stop now. I’m feeling a little better after writing that. But still, does anyone know of a good way to numb yourself from all emotion and feeling that (a) isn’t illegal (I’m under 21) and (b) doesn’t cause injury or death? I’m considering a shoujo marathon of something or another, but I can’t find the time to watch. Goodness, I need a laugh right now....

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Saturday, May 7, 2005

   More about Japan
Well, I'm kinda bored today, so I'll write a bit more about Japan. ^^
The third day I was there, I got to go with my host sisters to Tokyo. We road the train to get there... took about 1 1/2 hours. When we got on the train, there were hardly any people, but then it started getting really crowded as we got closer to Tokyo. Buildings were EVERYWHERE... Of course, that's to be expected, but it was so COOL! (I'm a small town girl, so it was soooooo awesome to see all the buildings in a city as big as Tokyo. I mean, even Ibaraki ken was big for me... ^^). Once in Tokyo, we road the subway to get everywhere. I was amazed at how clean and tidy everything was. I was kinda expecting a dark subway, you know, but everything was so bright. I think my host sisters thought I was funny because I wanted pictures of the trains and subways! ^^
We went to Shibuya first. I had asked if we could go to the 109--it's in so many anime, you know, so I wanted to see it in real life. It was the 109 Birthday Fair, plus it was a holiday, so Shibuya was really crowded. My host sisters and I hooked arms so we wouldn't get lost! ^^ There were so many little shops inside the 109 building! It was awesome! They had a bunch of clothing stores. But everything went by so quick. It wasn't like a leisurely stroll through the shops--it was hurry hurry. We ate lunch in Shibuya at this "Italian" place. I met my host sisters' brother--he had been on TV earlier that day! Cool, ne?
Then we went to Tokyo Tower. Again, there were a lot of people there, but it wasn't bad. I mean, you would have thought that it would take forever to get to the elevators, but it didn't. We only went up to the main observation deck--about 800 yen, I think was the cost. We walked around and saw Shibuya, Shinjuku, the Rainbow Bridge and a bunch of other places. Sooo cool!!! OMG! I loved it!
Then we went to Asakusa. It's a famous temple, and my host sisters wanted to show it to me. You walk in through these HUGE gates! So cool. (Type in Asakusa in google images or something and you'll see what I mean. ^^) Then they have a bunch of little outdoor shops lining the street--all kinds of stuff for sale. We went there at dusk, so all the lights were on and it looked so pretty. At the end of the street is the temple. There were random people walking around in traditional dress--kimono and all! Cool, ne?

Ack! Think I've written enough? Maybe more later, k? I'll leave you to your lives now. ^^ Thanks for stopping by and reading!
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Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Life in general
Well, I guess I could tell you about my life in general. Not that it really matters, but...
I got my cap and gown today, and I graduate May 27. I'm happy. It really started to sink in today when we actually got all our stuff, you know? Sheesh. I wanna get out of school, but I'm sooo nervous for college. Thankfully, School of Mines has an anime club, judo club, and they offer Japanese. i'll at least stay a *little* sane....ish... ('m not sure if you could call how I am now sane. Especially recently. ^^ Anime seriously takes over your mind, doesn't it? LOL)
Hmmm....like I mentioned, I have serious senioritis. And I'm not like this...ever! But this year is really bad! LOL.
Most of my scholarships are done. Just a few more to fill out (for now at least). Hopefully I'll get some. I really didn't think it would be this hard! >.< Fill out scholarships and DON'T STOP!! Even though they are annoying as heck.
Mission trip planning is going well. We're still working on fundraising. We have a car wash this weekend... should be interesting. We're goin to Mexico this June for about two weeks. it's my first one, so I'm excited.
Well, I doubt anyone is still reading, so I'll stop now. Maybe I'll write more about Japan later! ^^ Bai-bai!
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   X
Hehe! I got the whole X series last week! W00t! I'm sooo happy! Originally, I didn't want to finish it because it was different than the manga. I wanted to read what was written first...the "real" story, especially after I started watching X and saw just how different the anime was. They had to leave out a LOT of stuff from the manga. It made me really sad. I was all looking forward to seeing some scenes from Vol 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18.... Yeah, anything where Fuuma is...er... messing with Kamui's mind. To tell you the truth, the anime really ticked me off for a while there. I know they couldn't fit everything in, but...! But now the end redeems the whole show. SOOO good! I love it! Lots and lots and lots of pretty pictures, and even prettier ones in the manga! X is so cool!!! Waaaa! Can't wait to read more. Imagine how much better the end' gonna be in the manga, ne? ^^
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Saturday, April 30, 2005

   New Art
By request of a friend, I'm posting some new artwork. Well, most of it is pretty old, but... ^^ They're sketches from art class. Please enjoy!
::bows::
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