loving life...

Here I go again! This is what made me smile this week :) Enjoy!

-a picnic in the park on a 23 degree day in November!

-watching young families enjoy the beautiful day in the park... and critiquing some crazy outfits and some interesting parents!

-having my door opened for me (I know I've mentioned this one before, but it really does make me smile every time it happens!)

-pictures... I love looking at pictures... of anyone or anything! (but I especially love pictures of people that are precious to me, and breath taking pictures of God's creation)

-correcting one of my students' diary... she was talking about finding a centipede one day and then the next day she wrote "When I woke up, something bit my left hand. I thought that was a revenge of the centipede." Now do you see why I love being an English teacher so much?! My students always have such funny stories to tell me :)

-a sparkling clean bathroom and kitchen sink! (and the fact that I cleaned them at 11pm... I always tease my Mom for doing that because I think it's so funny that she just can't stand to go to bed with a "dirty" bathroom!)

-adventures with Yumi... including a "treasure hunt" for her cell phone!

-playing in the leaves :)

-mountain dew!

-sentimental presents :)

-a co-worker AND my sister reading the title of my blog post as "a falling out with Yumi" instead of "a fall outing with Yumi"!

-chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! need I say more?!

-other people making smile lists :)-telling the student that tried to 'sell Bobby' to me a few weeks ago that we are actually dating... (I was waiting until we told the ladies in the church before I told any of our students) Even though I told her it happened before she was teasing me, I think she still felt pretty proud of herself for coming up with that idea!

-getting told that my hands are beautiful because of my 'cute nails' (French Manicure) and because my skin is as white as a rice cake!... thanks... I think!-cozy rainy days :)-one of my students asking if I was the one who wrote the sentences (in English) in my testimony and then responding with a "wow, they are good!" after I said yes, I wrote them. another one of those "thanks... I think!" moments! Good to know that my English is good! :P

-My Mom calling me Sweetie Pie :)

-Introducing the phrase "terrible two's" to one of my students with a 2 year old! (She loved it and thought that it couldn't be more accurate!)

-getting a Japanese kid to smile at me... usually they just stare!

-freshly washed sheets that smell like my french vanilla dryer sheets :)

-running into my homestay Mom at the train station!

-playing Monopoly Jr with my conversation class... and hearing Pastor Nakamura (whose office is downstairs from us) say that we were very "lively"!

-realizing that my English is slowly becoming more Japanese as I was playing Monopoly... I was saying "chan-su" (chance), "star-to" (start), "ra-ki" (lucky) (I guess that will only make sense if you understand Japanese pronounciation!

-little white and purple daisies on the side of the road :)

-having my Japanese teacher compliment me on the examples I came up with on the spot :) ...yay! I guess I'm learning something after all!

-a random girl literally running up behind me just to say Hello and ask me if I lived in Tabuse and if I was an English teacher... we chatted for a couple minutes, then she disappeared as quickly as she appeared!

-trying a new recipe... and finding a new use for avocado, even though I didn't really like it!

-rekindling my love for mittens :)

-getting a full 8 hours of sleep... and feeling the difference when I woke up!

-going on a road trip with some friends, listening to old school English pop music such as Backstreet Boys and Hanson... (yes, as in "mmm bop" Hanson!)

-a group of elementary school kids giving up their seats for me and my friends on the gondola ride up the mountain :)

-this baby... if this doesn't make you laugh (or at least smile!) there's something wrong with you!


-getting to say Happy Birthday to my Grammie over skype (thanks to my parents holding up the phone to the mic!) and continuing the tradition of calling my Grampie an old fart and him calling me a little fart! :) (yes, our relationship is unique!)

-the facial expressions of a 7 year old girl when the things that I was teaching got a little over her head!

-the fact that both of my students and I were all wearing pink and black today :) (I'm such a nerd that I notice those things!)

-a surprise desktop background picture change when I turned on "my" computer :)

-the fact that my messy house is driving me crazy! (yes, this is unusual!)

So there ya go... I hope this is evidence that I'm doing really well here and loving life! I've got so much to be thankful for! What made YOU smile this week?!