my head a-splode.

the past couple days back have been good for the most part. it's cool getting to see everyone again and i know i'm going to miss them all as a whole when the semester's over. but we won't talk about that now... except this one thought.

it's strange to me how fast life goes by... you're only in a certain place for what seems like a moment. i'm constantly changing... always growing... and always seeing things in a different light and through a different perspective. in a way i like it a lot. cause i look back to where i was last year and i realize i've changed so much, praise the Lord. but being here this semester i really have to force myself to slow time down. i'm having a really great time here and i love it, this season in my life has been so amazing. and i know God is doing so much in my heart. it hurts cause it's been through so many "stretching's".  i think it's just because i miss my family and Caleb so much, a part of me wants to be there with them. yet, i know it's so much better to be here for now. so, i'll make it to the end. sometimes i just get really excited about going home though, and it's funny to me cause if i really really really think about it i realize... i don't miss Maui at all. yes, a sad thought, but true. but i know that when i do get back home it'll be the perfect timing and i'll be happy to be there. i just don't like missing people there and then going home and missing the people here. :( hmm.... life is tricky. 

as a regular update, health seems like it's been an issue as of lately... i got sick yesterday after coming back from Vienna. Melli is sick too... and i'm not sure if anyone else is. but hopefully no one will get too sick. so far it's just a sore throat, headache, stuffy nose type deal. yuck, i was just reminded of the summer when it seemed like i was sick every other week. bleh. anyways, i was off gummies and coca-cola for awhile but i'm slowing forming the habit of eating them on a regular basis again. probably not good cause i aaammm sick.... oh well, i'm never good at nursing myself back to health anyways. 

in more exciting news... i received my second package yesterday! it was amazing. it made me so happy. i was pulling it all out one by one and showing Melissa (my roommate) everything as i was doing so. it was lovely. i think i've already eaten a ton of M&M's... delicious. and a bag of cheez-it'z.... amazing. i'm stoked to make the salad dressing and sharing it with a select few... haha, just kidding. but all that to say, it blessed me. :) thank you wonderful family! AND my sister's decorated it for me. :) so nice. 

this photo is for Tamiko, ice cream from Vienna. so lecker!

the weeks are passing by...

well, I'm back from Vienna! it's been a long and stretching week but amazing. God is doing a great work in Vienna and it was an amazing experience to be a part of it and a huge blessing.

i wish i could sum it up really simply but i've decided that it's pretty much impossible. I had an incredible time and I'm so glad that God's will was for me to go there. Annie and I had so many opportunities to do worship and sing it was insane. we also recorded our first cd, "Austrian A Capella" 14 songs in the course of two hours. super rough and all. but it was fun and totally on a whim. we are slaves to music now and there's no turning back. we were both able to share some of our own songs on Saturday night. The church had an Erntedankfest (Thanksgiving type feast) which was a cool event. We sung for like 3 hours straight. it was cwazy. but so rad! i'll see if i can post a video that Allison took of us singing Annie's remix of "Nothing But The Blood" (an amazing rendition!). looking back i feel so blessed and so encouraged by the whole week. once again, i can't help but say, God is good. :) 

i miss Vienna... a lot. and all the inside jokes with the team, and my bananie's for breakie every morgen... and of course crossing at the bunny and turning at the Billa. and the crazy Subway Stations. and stealing all the photo's Maarten wanted to make first. and of course making melodies with Annie!

All of our passports. 3 American, 2 German, 1 Kiwi, and 1 Dutch.

the last two are from Allison's camera. the "couchuzzi is pretty cool, haha. but i'll give a link to more photo's soon. Please keep praying for the team. a lot of us are still really tired and trying to catch up on classes and getting sick. it'sssnot alright. but God is in control. :) only 51 more days left.... cwazy cwazy. 

miss you all! thank you for your prayers. ♥

I'm updating this from my iPod...

hello, today my team leaves for Vienna! I'm super stoked about it. So here's just a quick update while I'm sitting in the cafe... We leave in about 3 hours or so. It's really strange thinking that I'm going to be in a foreign country in less than 12 hours. Please, please, please keep my team in prayer- that would be amazing!


Thank you, I love you. :)

Hooo-san-naaa!

mmm, such a good song. 

so right now i'm contemplating eating a delicious banana. :) it says it's from Ecuador? That's such a long trip from there to Germany for such a little bananer...

i'm listening to Hillsong right now and it's making me miss the telecaster an extremely large amount. It's that pathetic that I miss a guitar? well, it's true! i do... and i'll admit it. today i was recording some stuff and just messing around on garage band trying to make my acoustic sound like an electric through all the affects. it was sad... cause it didn't sound anything like it.

hmm, i lost my phone charger... figures... i use it as an alarm (the phone, not the charger... obviously.) so i'm using Alisha as an alarm and having her wake me up in the mornings. haha! i really need to find it though cause it's really frustrating and i looked through ALL of my stuff and i can't find it... God, please open my eyes. 

in other news my friend Anjulie gave me this amazing scarf and then she made an even more amazing hat. they're both so lovely. haha, and i'm going to be a total macnerd and upload them from photobooth... you know, just so you can see. 

and this one's for mom... hi mom!

mmkay, i'm done.

the zoo!

this past weekend was the long weekend and I went to Cologne with some friends and hit up the zoo. Ah, it was a ton of fun... and there were so many animals (except for Kangaroo's and Panda Bears...). Then when we were heading back to Siegen we stopped at the Starbucks and right when I walked in I felt so comfortable. It was like I was right back at home. so strange, but nice.

Today Allison and I met up with our Auslander person... She's 19 so I can't really call her my "mom". haha, but it was really nice and she took us out for breakfast at IKEA... it was delicious! but now I'm sooo full so I'm skipping out on lunch. 

I also received a card from my mom today... so ridiculous. it was one of those song cards from Hallmark, you know the one I'm talking about. I thought it was really funny... but I think I may have broke it cause now it doesn't play every time I open it. =/ hmm... but it was funny. I can't wait to show my roommates, they'll love it!

Oh, here's an update for outreach week. I'm going to Vienna! we bought our tickets yesterday, sooo crazy! but I'm so excited. :) it's going to be amazing!  

title title.

so. i'm super stoked on this beautiful day! it's been raining for the past couple days and today when i woke up it was beautiful and sunny and the air is nice and crisp. so lovely.

today i'm going to go out and shoot so i don't have any photo's for this post... but perhaps the next one? we'll see. 

sooo... growing up in Hawaii i've always had this desire to see the leaves change, to experience a season. and now i actually am... it's amaaazing! the leaves are beautiful and i'm so excited to go out this afternoon and explore. i think i'm going to take a walk up in the woods cause i haven't been up there yet... hopefully i won't get lost? i'm sure i'll be fine. or maybe even go on a bike ride? oh my, i'm so excited. 

i'm learning to appreciate the sun more and more. i love rainy days and when it's overcast cause i like being nice and cozy inside. but sometimes... when it rains for three days straight... it makes me kind of sad... but today it's warm and sunny and beautiful. 

oh geez, i'm blogging about the weather... haha. 

I never realized...

addiction |əˈdik sh ən|
noun
the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity


i hate to admit it... but... i will and i must confess that, i'm pretty sure i've become dependent on fancy espresso drinks. good thing? not so much... bad thing? i don't know! it's not like it's an expensive addiction... i'm keeping my eye on it and at times won't even bring my wallet with me. it's in those times of weakness though... i just can't control myself and say no.

anyways, i'm glad i could get that out.

in other news, i'm hoping that I can go to Vienna for outreach week. I'm not really quit sure yet. I should probably talk to Annie about it. I'm really excited though, just to see the amazing things that God is going to do through all of us leading up to that week, during that week, and after... and pretty much with the rest of our lives. it's gonna be sweet. :) we all have the great opportunity of sharing our testimonies in Guest Lectures... over half of us went today and it was super rad just hearing everyone's in the course of three minutes each. It's amazing how dynamic God is and how He's personal with each and every one of us. He speaks to us personally and He's definitely not systematic.