THE AMERICAN IN ME

As much as I love Japanese food...there are moments when I just crave something covered in sugar, or salsa, or condensed milk...and my American heart leaps for joy HAHA

1) I was meeting my friends in the city last weekend and had an hour to kill before seeing them and what does my mind randomly jump to for no apparent reason??? CINNABON. 

2) Shaved ice isn't a uniquely American thing, but the size of this one was! HUGE and amazingly delicious with that peach sauce all over it...MAAAAN. I'm convinced small portion size is the reason Japanese people are all so healthy and thin...making it hard to find something here that is actually too big! This shaved ice was a rare, glorious find. 

3) BURGERRRRRRSSSS! My good friend Miri took me to 3rd burger, this cool chain in Tokyo and I got this incredible set meal (Japan is all about having "set meals" for everything). I got the SALSA BURGER which basically is a burger with a bunch of REAL SAlSA on top with cream cheese!!! AHHH and it came with fries and a green smoothie all for 1200yen! hallelujah.

Of course I love Japanese food and it will forever reign supreme on the cultural food tower for me...but there are moments in time when it is necessary to just have a excessively sweet, sugar covered cinnamon roll or a burger drenched in salsa (real salsa).  THANK YOU TOKYO. 

2年

FOR 2 ENTIRE YEARS I have called Japan home. wow. 

I have tasted the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord more in these last two years than I have in my entire life. Sitting here, thinking back on the days right before I moved here...I was so afraid. So afraid of teaching, of living alone, of leaving my family, of feeling homesick, of adjusting to a new country, of finding a church, of making new friends...I was terrified. And let me tell you people...GOD IS FAITHFUL because I love teaching, I have grown so much living alone, I love my family more, I have yet to feel homesick (not even for a day!), every adjustment has felt like a fun new experience, I have found a home church I love and I have made some of the most incredible friends here. GOD IS FAITHFUL! 

In the process of seeing the Lord in so many new ways and deepening in my dependance on Him, I have also learned a lot about myself. Mostly that I am NOT a winter person, I am an extrovert through and through, I love city life and don't mind long train rides, I can survive living on my own, I cry a lot (tv shows, nice people, too much thinking), I love being a teacher...and so on and so forth! Living abroad has really stretched me and challenged me personally, and I am discovering who I truly am and where my heart really comes alive. It's been quite an amazing two years of life here...and I am stoked for all that God has planned for my third and final year!! THANK YOU JESUS! 

MINA + AKI + BABY

I don't really consider myself a photographer, at least not professionally. But sometimes I take photos of people..special people!...and i'm reminded of what a gift it is to capture precious moments in time. This time around it was for my good friends Mina and Aki who are welcoming a baby girl this October!! 

HOME <3

One of the best things that has happened to me since living abroad is discovering a deeper appreciation for "going home". This is a gift, no doubt, and something I believe you can only truly gain if you spend many, many days away. This time around, it was 8 months since I had been home...and nothing beats that big sigh of relief when you walk through those familiar doors and into the embrace of your mother and your childhood home. THAT is a feeling I never want to forget, a swell of appreciation in my heart I never want to lose sight of. 

boy, was it good to be home!

Beautiful plumerias growing outside our front door//and my very pregnant sissy! 

D and the boys with their "funny face!"

Cam loves to do yoga since my bro Russ (his dad) does it all the time. 

PITA 360...I've been dying to try this place and it knocked my socks off!!! The hummus, the vinegar veggies, the pita bread....OMG OMG. And I had to get me a cup of HONEYMEE ice cream! YUMMMM

No trip home would be complete without some good mehicannnn tacossssss! 

Coffee+Journal+Jesus....can't start my day without 'em!

I love how my dad still has the same morning routine. Walk the dog, read the sports paper, eat his breakfast...some things never change! 

My mom is awesome and created "Thrilling Thursdays" for the kids, where every Thursday during summer they get to do something fun! I was in charge of monitoring the painting frenzy outside. Mom ordered paint, bird houses, elephant piggy banks, dot paint pens, etc all for this event! These are some lucky kids!

Hunty and Len, the two oldest :) love them

Len was SO into painting...she's totally going to be an artist when she grows up. She stayed focused the entire time and meticulously painted each side of the birdhouse a specific color. She was singing Lion King songs to herself whilst painting and she was cracking me up!! Also, a true sign of an artist is that she did not care ONE BIT if paint got on her hands, her face, her legs...nope...she just stayed so focused on the painting itself! impressive.

Kacie and A.Julie brought us all chick-fil-a YAYAYAYAYYA!!!!!!!!

I LOVED THIS...when I was walking downstairs with Eden after her nap she stopped and looked at the wall and said, "LOOK! ISSAAA RAINBOW!" and she was totally right! Shining through the front door was this tiny rainbow...and she lifted up her shirt trying to catch it. 

LOVE THIS GIRL!!!!

ahhhh....KOMAE CHICKEN!!! If you know my family, you know this is my mom's signature dish passed down through generations! It is THE BEST chicken in the world and if you've had it, you know what i'm talking about. As my last meal at home, it couldn't have been more perfect. 

and that, my friends, wraps up yet another trip back home. The main message that the Lord spoke over me this whole trip was, "I HAVE PERFECT TIMING"...the timing of this trip, of seeing all my college friends in Chicago, of spending time at home with family...it was all so incredibly well timed by the grace of God! And of course, things ended with a BANG when I boarded my plane at 2pm and my NIECE TAYAH WAS BORN AT 4pm!!!! That will be a moment I never forget...buying wifi on the plane so I could facetime my sister at the hospital to meet baby girl #3...WOW!!! The timing was so funny, so crazy...and I just cried on the plane because my sister had a healthy baby girl and I was so happy!!! God is so good. Sometimes things are unexpected, or the timing doesn't always make sense right away...but theres an indescribable peace that fills you when you know you're in the will of God and fully dwelling in His perfect timing :) amen! 

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA

Of all the beaches in the world, this place will always be my favorite. 

After a few days in Chicago, I was able to head to LA for the week and spend some quality time with my family. Tuesday night, my dad, Jen, D, the boys and I headed to the pier for a sunset walk. Ahhhh....Californiaaaaaa :) 

MAGIC. PURE MAGIC.