On my mind...

It's been awhile since I have done a random~ on my mind~ post. So I thought I would take some time and update you all what's on my mind...

In three days I am boarding a plane for a quick trip to California. I can't wait to share life with Mikey, to see his life in CA, to meet his parents, to hang out with the people he hangs out with, and to have moments like this... little "daily life" moments.

Long distance has been fun but it'll be a blessing we don't deserve to take this trip...Lenora has been on my mind since she will be a big sister in a month or so... I love this picture of her in her pjs and tutu!! What a doll. The last time I talked to her she asked, "Do you have a little sister?" and then Becca and I tried to explain that I am a little sister. Too much, perhaps, for a two year olds mind...

Check out Lenora's blog to the right.... *I'm Your Fairy Godmother* to catch up on the latest pictures and videos!
I feel like it has been awhile since I've been a little sister... I forget sometimes that I am "that role" along with the roles I am here in Japan. Mostly, I am the foreigner, teammate, friend and person able to eat an intense amount of sushi.... but I am not a little sister to anyone here in Japan. It's a "role" I have been missing recently.

Watching my eldest brother Jeremy and his wife Alaina become parents has been a joy. I catch up with little Eddie through Jeremy's blog to the right *Chubby Little Cheekies*

Check out their blog to see my favorite video, Alaina is talking to Eddie and I had the hardest time trying to figure out what she was saying to him. Turns out "jonseies little peeky is actually "chubby little cheekies." ha ha ha
Aw, the last time I saw Miss Waveland she was just a wee babe. And now she is developing her personality and love for life... you have to check out her blog which is *On the Corner Of* She is a delight in my life and always on my mind as well...

I found this picture on my friend's blog and I love the feeling of this particular picture. Check out the beauty that is Sara Fitz on her blog to the right *Soul Sister*. I like this girl in the picture, standing there... life before her, standing in a place where she is about to run through the field but lingering to enjoy the openness before entering it... once you enter a season of life, you can no longer go back to the place where everything was all new and fresh. So it's good for me to remember to enjoy the newness or the seasons as I am in them... once I have entered this field, I will no longer be the girl who once stood at the edge of it...

One of the hardest things about being away is missing the things back home... it was hard to miss my dear friend Katie's wedding... but God gives strength to endure and perspective to embrace the joyous life He has given me. What I am experiencing now is precious and fleeting... if I don't take time to enjoy this season of life, I will miss out on the joy it offers.I am thankful for pictures.

Really interested in reading Jerry Bridges's book, "Respectable Sins" a book about the sins we have become "used to" in our lives. The list includes; anger, anxiety, envy... I am hoping to get a copy when I am in CA. listening to Tristan Prettyman right now...
Saw this picture on Jamie O'Donnell's blog *Lewis and Kindred Spirits* and had to share it. I laughed so hard. Jamie is a new mother who openly shares her life's lessons with all of us on her blog and even more in person. I hung out with her this past week/weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the peek into her heart. I feel like I could sit with Jamie and listen to her for hours. She has a lot of wisdom and insight into life. Pray for her, her husband and their son Jones as they adjust to life in Japan. Jamie enjoys coffee as much as I do, so I thought this picture was HILARIOUS!!!

Here are some pictures from my weekend with Kie and her family...
the strawberry greenhouse we visited...

I was in awe of the process of strawberries being created. I kept thinking how when strawberries are this greeny color they are sour and inedible... yet, if we wait and watch we can enjoy the sweetness of the juice when it has filled the berry. I really can't wrap my mind around how the strawberry is made... Where does the juice come from? It just floored me to see that even the strawberry is unique and beautiful... sorry but evolution seems like the worst explanation for life... this strawberry couldn't happen by chance.
beautiful...
and delicious (the strawberry not me!)
Kie and I ate our fill... we didn't even need cream or sugar with the berries. They were amazing by themselves. The Japanese version of Grandma Schupbach. After we had filled our bellies to the limit on strawberries, she picked FOUR BASKETS full of strawberries for us to take home... she wouldn't take no for an answer and kept telling us to eat more, eat more. She was adorable. The berries were huge.

Kie's parents
Kyle's parents came into town.... it was great to meet them and take them around. It was fun to talk about crocheting, sewing, cooking, and baking with Kyle's mother.

The Witthofts brought me ST.LOUIS BLUES from the Java House. I started to cry because I was so touched to receive such a sentimental gift. :)

This coffee got me through many late nights and early mornings for four years in college. Not to mention I smelled like this coffee when I would come home from working at the Java House...good memories....

And last but not least... my little doggy nephew turned 5 (35 in dog years) this March. Little Lewis P. Schupbach has had quite an adventurous life... it's about to get even more adventurous when Adelia True is born and he has two little girls trying to ride him...
and yes, Becca made Lewie a doggie cake... don't ask what it was made of. :P

And now I am off to bring my laundry in from hanging outside drying...