Is Anyone There?

So one of my goals this year is to update my blog weekly. I have been doing very good at this one! This however, is the last day of my week but I am getting it in. But, I am beginning to believe that even though my blogging skills are increasing, I don't have anyone that is interested in them!! If you are reading this, then I do appreciate you!!! I know that I am not very good with words, but I am trying my best!

This last week was CRAZY! We are in the season of Summer Camps right now at my school. I helped with the 1st and 2nd grade camp on Monday. Deborah and I were in charge of the Slime Box. It was fun but we all got soo dirty and sticky! The slime did not come off as easily as you would think! It was very fun though! Tuesday I had the day off, then Wednesday and Thursday were spent preparing for my Summer Camp. It started on Friday and our kids stayed the night then they went home on Saturday. I was so happy to see my kids again! It had been about a week and a half and I was beginning to miss them. We had tons of fun! We set up tents in the in the play hall to sleep in. We had 8 tents for our 4 classes. There were about 8 kids in each tent. I slept outside of my two tents, girls were in one and boys were in the other. I only had to get up once in the middle of the night to comfort one of my little boys that woke up crying (remember, these kids are 5 &6 yrs old). Melanie's kids on the other hand were crying left and right! haha She had a fun night! I would have to say that Summer Camp was a success!

Now we have summer school for 3 days and then VACATION!

Karen and Brissa are coming here tomorrow so I am so excited! On Friday, we will then go to Kyoto. I am so glad that they are coming to visit me! We are going to have a fun time! I hope we don't get lost...! Then on the 12th I am flying back to the states for about a week and a half for Clay's wedding and to hang w/ family and friends! I won't be making it back to Carlsbad but I will still be in the States so that is just as good! I miss that country!

The Challenge

Well it's been a week since I have started my list and it has been a lot harder than I thought! Let me tell you why! I will just start at the beginning:

1. Read the entire Bible- The plan I am following has me reading once a day. I didn't even make it 3 days before I had missed a day. I am back on track now, but let's just face it, the Old Testament is not a page turner. Just to let you know, I am not reading it from Genesis to Revelation, I will be bouncing around.

9. Learn to play the guitar....well!- I picked up the guitar last night, I have a long way to go! I am borrowing a guitar from my school since mine did not make the big flight over here. The guitar I am using is older and it has 9 strings! I couldn't even play the 6 strings, this will be a challenge!

22. Take 1 picture every day.- I only have 10 pictures and it has been 11 days! So I have already failed at this one but I plan on continuing regardless. I accidentally forgot to take a picture yesterday. Yesterday was Marine Day in Japan, one of their many National Holidays. I made the best out of my holiday and relaxed the majority of the day, so there was nothing exciting really to photograph. When my alarm went off at 5:00 this morning I remembered and became very frustrated w/ myself. Hopefully I can keep it at 364 pictures now! Here are a few that I have taken:

July 16- One of my students w/ 2 LARGE beetles we caught outside of our building.

July 17- At the mouth of the Temple Area at Matsushima--This is as far as I got, I didn't pay to go in and I didn't have the time either. Melanie and I were in search of one thing on this trip, Kokeshi Dolls. We found them, and in doing so we also found the Temple Entrance.

July 20- I forgot to buy toilet paper and laundry detergent at the grocery store today. Melanie was nice enough to give me a roll of toilet paper and sell me some detergent. I bought the detergent for a good 350 yen!

1 Down, 23 to Go

24 Things Before 24 has officially started! On July 9th, I drank my last Coca-Cola and ate my last chocolate! I can honestly say that they never tasted better. I really don't drink carbonated beverages too much so I don't think it will be that hard to sustain for a year, but chocolate, that is a different story! I bought the Coke when Ally, Melanie, and I were waiting for our Shinkansen to take us to Tokyo. Ally then gave Melanie and I a gift: chocolate Mickey and Minnie! This moment marked the beginning of our trip to Tokyo Disney!

Good-bye!

My last few bites of chocolate!

At the gates of Disney Sea on my BIRTHDAY! We left our hostel at 7:00am! We arrived at this magical land around 8:00am. The park opened at 9:00am. We stayed till it closed... 10:00pm! That is a total of 14 hours at Disney! This is the second year in a row I have spent my birthday at a Disney resort! This might be a tradition I will have to carry on!

Ally & I with some of the essential Disney Gear: Duffy, Minnie Bows, Donald Duck hair clip, and Goofy hair clip. Let me introduce you to Duffy. Duffy is a Disney Sea SENSATION! Everyone at this park had a Duffy, so we had to get one of course. Duffy was given to Mickey by Minnie. She gave him this little stuffed bear before he went out to sea. Duffy also has a girlfriend, Shellie May. I have a mini Shellie May as well! Please google Duffy, your life will be changed forever!

Melanie and me! I wish you all could truly experience the greatness that a Duffy brings. Hopefully this bear will make it's debut in The States at some point! Until then, just come visit me and I will take you to Disney Sea so that you can purchase your very own Duffy!!!

Well #6 on my list is now complete! Only 23 more to go!!

24 Things Before 24!

So, tomorrow marks my 23rd Birthday! I have made a list of 24 things to do before my 24th birthday. My journey begins tomorrow and here is my list:

1. Read the entire Bible.

2. Read the complete "Oz" series by L. Frank Baum.

3. Hike Mt. Fugi

4. Make a "Build a Bear" bear.

5. Go to a country I have never been to.

6. Go to Disney Land in Tokyo.

7. Run a 10K.

8. Watch my first class ever graduate from Kindergarten.

9. Learn to play the guitar....well!

10. Write a song.

11. Record the song that I have written.

12. Stay off Facebook for an entire month.

13. Read 25 books.

14. Do not change Facebook profile picture for an entire year.

15. Do not eat chocolate for an entire year.

16. Be a vegan for a month.

17. Do not drink carbonated beverages for an entire year.

18. Update blog once a week.

19. Lose 10 lbs.

20. Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef.

21. Do not eat Fast Food for an entire year.

22. Take 1 picture every day.

23. Go to an onsen.

24. Do not dye hair for an entire year.

Bonus: Complete this list!

This year might just change my life!

Japanese Weddings, Haircuts, and Pregnant Cartwheels

So I think one of the reasons why I don't blog very much is because I never really know what to write about. I am doing so many new things daily that it is really hard to decide what needs to be told and what is really of little or no importance. So within the last few weeks I have done things such as:

1. I ran sound for the Kindergarten Graduation
2. I attended my first Farewell Party for the teachers who were moving back to America.

• At this party, I did a cartwheel on stage while wearing a wig and a kick ball under my shirt in honor of Kari! (She just had a baby, but I played pregnant Kari). Immersion stole the show!

3. I went to a Sendai 89ers Game!

But I have also done other things that are worth talking more about such as:

1. I went to my friend Hiroe's Wedding Party!

• In Japan, weddings are done quite differently than in the states. It is basically just a more formal reception. And, the bride and groom actually give you gifts! If you want more details you will just have to ask me specifically to explain because it would be to hard for me to explain on this I think (I really need to work on my writing skills). My friend Hiroe looked absolutely GORGEOUS though! She looked like a princess (she wore 2 different dresses) and she looked so happy. The love between her and Takeshi was so evident!

2. I got my first haircut in Japan!

• I went with my friend Aki to get our hair done! I got it short again. I was a little nervous because of the language barrier and everything, but Aki was able to help me communicate with my hairdresser. The guy that cut my hair was very nice. He tried to talk to me a couple of times and I did my best to talk back. I am gettin used to awkward conversations!

Ok so I will do my best to keep you all posted on my life in Japan! I am still compiling my list of 24 things to do before I turn 24, so please let me know if you have any ideas! In my next post I will let you know some of the things that have made it on my list! Well good-bye for now!

List It Up!

Hello again. I am so sure that all of you have missed me deeply! It has been forever again since my last post and I have so much to say. So much that I don't really know where to start or what to emphasize the most so I am going to make a list again. I like to make lists so here ya go:

1. Have had 2 very successful meetings for my book club! (my friend Katie Wendland and I started it)

• 1st meeting: Persuasion by Jane Austen
• 2nd meeting: Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

2. New teachers came which means I have new friends!

• 2 of which I am hanging out w/ right now... shout out to Melanie & Ally

3. Endured 2 weeks of formal training for the MeySen Curriculum.

• consisted of long talks, study guides, reviews, final exams, and many many sweets

4. Successfully celebrated by 22nd Valentine's Day of singleness!

• to celebrate, I wore a kimono... they def aren't made for American girls, if ya know what I mean...

5. Decided I am going to make a list of 24 things to do before turning 24.

• I turn 23 on July 10th. I have time to make a list, any suggestions?

6.. I survived a tsunami, it was only 10cm!

7. I ate raw whale, and it was good!

• The boy who was selling it looked good too!

8. I'm sick of snow.

9. I got bored one day so I cut me some straight bangs.

10. My friends and I have found a great burger joint called Kame House.

• The manager is also very good looking and I will refer to him as mohawk boy.

11. My future students found out that I will be their teacher and only 1 kid said, "No!"

So here are the top 11 things that have happened since my last post. Like I said before, I suck at blogging. Don't expect much, but do expect a little.

I'm Sorry Folks

Ok so I apologize for my lack of blogging. I knew that I would be awful at this, but I will still continue to try. Right now I should be sleeping, but I just don't want to. It is 11:32 pm and I am waking up at 5am! I started to do the workout, Insanity, last week. It is INSANE! I have been getting up at 5 every morning with the exception of Saturday and Sunday. Sunday I don't have to do the workout and then on Saturday I just do it whenever I wake up. Week 2 is going good, but man it is rough. I can do it though! I just have to "Dig Deeper!" (that is for those of you who have done Insanity yourself).

I didn't have hot water this weekend! It stopped working on me mid shower Friday morning! That was not fun! But luckily I have a great neighbor so I was able to shower at her place while I was waiting for mine to get fixed. Yeah, I was the only one in my whole apartment complex that didn't have hot water! I'm telling you, weird things like that always happen to me! But it just makes life a little more interesting.

I was able to go home for Christmas! It was fun to get to hang w/ my fam and friends! It was harder to leave this time knowing that I probably won't be home for a year...

My BFF came back w/ me to Japan! She helped me at work for a few days and then we hit up the streets of Tokyo! It was fun! We tried sushi and stayed at a Hostel! Two firsts for me! We met some great people there! YOu never know what kind of characters you will come in contact with throughout your life, but I can tell you that I am truly blessed that I got to meet the individuals that I did on this trip! Shelby and I had a blast!

It was hard to get back in to the groove of things as far as work goes, but I think I am basically there. I got the list of students I will be having when the new school year starts in April! I am SUPER PUMPED! We will have a great class!

Well I know that this blog is super random but this is what happens when people like me get a blog. We just try to cram as much info we can into one blog so that we can wait 3 months till we write another one! Ok, I will try harder this time to keep all of ya'll up to date on my life! I know that you will just be anticipating the next post!

Oh and I love onions now!