I had my first ever wedding nightmare last night. Everything went 100% wrong in my dream. In fact, for some reason, the wedding was 2 months early. I was wearing a really heinous pink veil that was attached to a pink rhinestone tiara with a single pink feather. I looked like native american barbie, but in a really bad way. My dress was too big, gappy and awful, and the comb attached to my hair ruined my hairstyle, so I looked like I stepped out of the 80's with poofy hair. I woke up and was so glad to find it was all a horrible nightmare! Hopefully that will be the end of that.

A month of thankfulness - day 1!

Today I begin my journey to a thankful heart. Well, I think I started before today, but I just started my basket of blessings project (thanks steph!).

Day 1: Choosing gratefulness.

It can sometimes be difficult to see the good in a horrible situation. Right now I can think of the storms in the south, the earthquake in Japan, or any time where it seems easy to think God is 'picking' on a certain region, "exercising wrath on sinners". Everyone usually blames either karma or God (or lack thereof), thinking that bad things happen to people that deserve it, or wondering how a good God could let something bad happen. What most people don't think of is the good things that can come from all the horrible things in the world.

I feel like I have led a pretty charmed life. Don't get me wrong, I have had my share of trials (the start of college a-HEM), and several things ranging from high school age and beyond, I'll leave out the gruesome details. I have learned nothing on this earth ever goes as planned, or as we think we want them to. What I do know is that in my life, the things that I have gone through have definitley affected me in BIG ways. I have learned to appreciate the challenges, because I learned from them. They really have made me stronger, and have also made me rely on God, I think that's why He gives us challenges.

Moving on to the topic of the day, I am supposed to write about someone who has made a big impact on my life. I could choose the obvious, but instead I will choose my dear friend, bridesmaid, and former roommate, Jann. We lived together for 2 years, and it's crazy how bonded we became. Sometimes I think the best friendships are the most emotional ones. We used to have hours-long conversations about who knows what. These weren't silly little conversations either, they were philosophical discussions about ALL THINGS. She probably knows me better than most people because somehow I was able to be completely real with her, which is difficult for me.

As roommates, she and I both went through big life changes, and she helped me to survive mine. When my world seemed to be shattering, she helped me to move forward, and I have always been grateful for that. She is the person who asks the hard questions, and helps me to be honest with myself. I know that it goes against her normal tendencies to be close to someone so far away (I'm the same way), and she and I have had our arguments, but I am grateful to have her friendship.

Blessings

What a wonderful Easter!!

Started the day off with an amazing service at QWEST FIELD! That's right. 17,500 people attended, over 600 were baptized. Praise God!! If that doesn't affect you just the teensiest little bit, I don't know what will.

I spent the afternoon baking an apple pie, then having dinner with wonderful friends.

This Easter, I am feeling especially blessed. The past couple of years have been a HUGE change, but things just keep getting better. There are always difficulties, as nothing can be perfect here on earth. But I have the hope of heaven, the peace of Christ, the joy that only love can bring. (Sounds cliche, but makes you jealous, doesn't it?)

It's like a different language or something. Hey come check out my phlog!

I managed to sleep the entire night and wake up at 5:30 this morning (that's about... 12:30 in the afternoon for you over in the US). I have some pictures now, so this is officially a photoblog - or phlog. :-)

So from the airplane, I have pictures of the meal, but no one really cares about that, so let's show those AWFUL MAPS that they display so you can make the trip feel even longer than it actually is.

Woof. 4794 miles... My rear-end felt every INCH!

After a 9.5-ish hour plane ride, I got to sit in a bus for another couple hours to get to Yokosuka. We passed Yokohama, where there is a giant ferris wheel. It looked really pretty, but the photo I took must have been a version of what my eyes saw, because it is very blurry so I won't bother posting that here.

When I got to my hotel, I had many complex gadgets to contend with...

Temperature modifier. I think. Television control - I think I need to know the secret handshake to use it though. Actually, I just figured out how to turn the tv on! If you want, leave comments with your guess as to which button it is. Hmmm... there is a VERY EXCITING show that seems to be math-related.

Now this last gadget has my quite intrigued...
It is on the handle of the toilet. I haven't tried it, but I'm not gonna lie I'm tempted.

This morning, I was going to attempt to get a coffee from the vending machine by the elevator.

I would have been happy with any of the coffee substances, however I was unable to operate this strange machine; I came back empty-handed.

Later on this morning while walking around, my rent-a-friend tour guide instructed me on how to use the vending machines. Apparently my hotel's vending machine is faulty, because I did the exact same thing as before, and I ended with a semi-hot bottled cafe-au-lait/tea flavored substance. Yum.

The last (and most exciting) part of my morning so far was experiencing pancakes from a can... aka cancakes. These are of course from a vending machine as well, and they are 'served hot'.

Yeah that's right. 'hotto ke-ki's' is what it says in the blue banner there. Like 'hot cakes', if you couldn't figure that out.

One more pic: my hotel's breakfast menu. Thankfully they have a western menu, I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try 'boiled food'. That seems a bit... vague.

Alrighty, well it is now 10 a.m., and I have the rest of the day to myself, and a shopping mall across the street. I picked up a couple pamphlets of stuff to do in the area from my hotel lobby, but of course they are all in Japanese. I guess I shall go exploring now. :-D

Dewa mata!

You would think 4.5 yrs of college would prepare me for this...

The 'this' I'm talking about is figuring out how to turn on the lights in my hotel room! I think my main room light is activated by the remote control on my wall. Not really sure, though. I can't figure out how to turn on the t.v., but I did discover the light switch for the bathroom. That much is vital.

It was a little frightening though, when I sat on the toilet seat all of this water started running. And I don't mean from me. (sorry for the gross visual).

Brian tells me that I must stay up until about 10 p.m. here, otherwise I will be screwed up by this time change for even longer. I'm not going to lie, it is pretty weird that the clock on my computer says 4:17 am, but here it is... well I don't know what time because I don't have a clock in my room. This is a predicament. Well lucky for me, I brought my old cell phone which I also use as an alarm clock, and it is showing the current time to be 9:31 p.m. Sounds about right.

Let's see.... what else did I do today. Not a whole lot I guess. Brian was able to find me at my hotel because (surprise, surprise) there were communication issues with the front desk staff. He met me at my.... building of residence.... and we went to the infamous coco curry restaurant. I was under the impression that it was coco (like chocolate) curry. This is not correct. It's pretty delicious though. Then as you leave the restaurant, all the people working say/yell 'arigatoo gozaimashita!'. It's pretty entertaining.

Well I am very tired, tomorrow I will try to post some pictures but don't get too excited because it's boring stuff like my flight and hotel room. I tried to get actual pictures of the cities but it was too dark and I fell asleep. :-D

Now I am going to relax in my cozy little slippers and robe attire while I try to figure out how to turn on the t.v. It's harder than it sounds, I swear...

Things I Forgot to Pack

1. Left all cables that connect zunes/ipods in my checked luggage. It is difficult to transfer movies from my computer to my ipod without the usb cord.

2. An adapter that is suitable for plugging my computer into the wall when I arrive at my destination.

I got to the airport 3 hours early, thank goodness. For anyone who cares, a lincoln towncar costs the same as a taxi, is clean, and comes with free water. Thanks Licious for that tip.

The best thing about airports is that it is highly likely you will run into someone else who is travelling. I ran into the lovely Mrs. Julie McGinnis (haven't seen her in probably 2 years!) and we had a nice little chat by gate A5.

Well, apparently my flight is getting ready to board, so if I happen to find an adapter for my computer, I will blog again when I arrive. Otherwise, it will be about 18 days til my next post. :-D

Preview of My Wedding Dress

My b-e-a-utiful wedding gown! I just love it so much. The perfect rosy shade of pink, and who wouldn't love the nice, full ballgown? I especially adore the polka-dot tulle. It comes with the nice, bushy veil too.

What a perfect dress.




But seriously. I googled 'ridiculous wedding dress' and this picture came up, so don't you worry your beating hearts. This dress is heinous, and I wouldn't be caught dead within 20 miles of it.