but my husband liked it and thats what matters to me

This week has gone by incredibly fast. I dont know why either. It has been rainy or hot, so its not like i was all busy running around. Me and the babe stayed inside most of the time with the AC on and rusty was at work. Huh.

Anyways, monday was our final meeting with immigration for Adelle's permission to stay in Japan. After 2 interviews we got the final lecture on our mistake and then we got the visa sticker. Its so nice to have that ordeal over with!
We did enjoy our time together as we traveled to Shinagawa and had a lot of laughs while waiting in boring colorless rooms. We got stared at too. We played like eye-spy and stuff. Rusty is really ruthless with that game. He picks like skuffmarks and stuff and i pick really easy stuff like someones hair ribbon.

It was an interesting experience though. Spending so much time at immigration. It seems like every country was represented while we waited there. Its hard not to stereotype, but sometimes certain people really do fit into their types. We knew who would be loud, who would be quiet, who would be pushy, who would be well dressed. We could even anticipate who would stare at us and who would pretend we where not in the same room as them. But one thing in common was that they all loved Adelle :)

But one thing i did notice was that we had the most joy.
I think its because we believed whatever happens was God's will. We knew that if she was rejected, that God wanted us back in the US, but if not then we would continue in our ministry in Tokyo. We could laugh and play games in the waiting room because we had ultimate trust in Jesus. And believe me, those particular waiting rooms are serious business. We saw one pregnant lady with her Japanese husband so uptight. then i realized she was waiting to hear if she would be allowed to stay on living in Japan with him or be sent back to her home country. Yikes! Some where foreign business men, and some where mothers with children (probably similar cases to Adelle)

But we knew everything would be fine, either way.



Tomorrow is Saturday, and i believe we are going to a 4th of July party on the american military base. It should be a lot of fun and we will get to see some friends before they leave Japan!

Oh yeah, and i made hollandaise sauce yesterday. This was one of those things i always thought was near impossible to make so i was pretty happy that i made it successfully. (recipe here)
Now, i can probabally count how many times ive eaten it before on one hand, so i don't know about the quality, but my husband liked it and thats what matters to me.

team jerseys

Adelle world is getting much larger and about a foot taller. She can do this all by her self now. I thought it was pretty cool she could sit without any help but I was more than astonished to see her put herself into a standing position like it was no thang. So, yesterday I had to lower the crib. Which is pretty annoying. Do you know how hard it is to put a sleeping baby on the lowest setting of a pack'n'play? It's hard. But we will adjust.

This weekend was fabulous. As a birthday gift to Rusty, i took him to a pro baseball game!! I have been wanting to do this for almost a year, so i was thrilled to actually plan it out. Everything went so well. Tickets, food prices, weather, team jerseys, everything. Except our team got stomped! But its ok, we had such a fun time we didnt care that they lost.
It was kind of a hard decision, as the church had a youth event the same day. Its a really hard decision to make when it comes to balancing church/ministry/family time. Really hard. But we where blessed. We plan on going more often.




Also, rusty bought a guitar on sunday. Im pretty happy that he is picking this up as a new hobby and i think Adelle is too.

Here's to a beautiful weekend.

So i figured i would share it with you

I was asked by my midwife to type up a little summary (in english!) of my experiance with her clinic (moriane or better known as もりあね) as they send out a newsletter every 6 months or so. So i figured i would share it with you.

"I am an American currently living in Japan with my husband as Christian Missionaries. When we first learned that we would be having a baby, we knew we would not be returning to America for the birth. This decision brought about many questions on top of all the questions you already have with the birth of your first child. I was worried about the language barrier and was anticipating a lot of stress over medical procedures and practices I was unfamiliar with.
We asked around, and thru our church, we received three recommendations for Moriane.
After the first meeting, we knew right away that it would be perfect. The feeling of the house was warm and inviting. The staff was friendly and provided care that was above and beyond what we could have asked for. Every visit to Moriane during the pregnancy was calm and the care we received was genuine. We could tell this was a place where life was valued the way it should be. This was very important to us.
We knew hospitals in America could be intimidating, and our few trips to a Japanese hospital was even more so. Every time we visited one we had the joy of knowing we would be having our baby in the cozy setting of Moriane.
December came along quickly and before we knew it, we where calling the ladies to tell them the baby was coming. When we arrived everything was already in place for my and my husband. It was so important for my husband to be by my side the entire time and Moriane understood this. Even though we did not speak the same primary language, our communication was unhindered and the early morning brought about our healthy baby girl.
My recovery week was the perfect way to ease into being a mother. My health was monitored and there was never a shortage of delicious food. It almost felt like those ladies knew my needs (and cravings!) without ever being told!
My husband and I both hope to have any other children we are blessed with at Moriane.

-Amber
"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward" Psalm 127:3"

5 favorite things - June

This one is just for fun.
5 of my favorite things for this month.

1. My Husband
2. Adelle's new personality
3. Cake and Frosting



4. Cafe Latte



5. Kaiten Sushi (sushi-go-round)

just because i felt like it

Thats just not scientific.

Today is a beautiful day in Tokyo.
Im pretty excited because its been gloomy and rainy (which is actually my favorite kind of weather) so my laundry pile was turning into a metropolitan habitat in my closet.
Well, actually i don't think anything took life inside of it. No bugs and i didnt find any mold. But its 3pm and ive gotten two loads done. Im feeling really accomplished. In addition to that, Adelle is napping. This is her second nap, which means today should be pretty enjoyable for her.

-via ragecomics

This is how i feel today.

which means either today will be boring because it cant get much better, or something is about to go wrong. hmmmm

Well, im not really a glass half full or half empty person because that saying is dumb. A glass is meant to be filled. So you count it from the bottom to where-ever the liquid stops. You don't count its contents from the rim of the cup. Thats just not scientific.

"I believe in science"
I love that movie.

Im really tempted to make a microwave mug cake today for dinner. Im only cooking for myself because rusty eats dinner at work on wednesdays. Is this a good enough excuse?

I knew i was making a mistake when i learned that recipe....

I kind of dont want to think about it.

Now that I am somewhat stable I need to explain.

So on Thursday i had my interrogation, it went just fine. We got a bit confused as to what office to go to once we got the to building, but we found it and after about an hour in the waiting room we got to see the officer. They let rusty come back for a few minutes so that helped my nerves a lot and then after they asked him to leave the guy was pretty nice. I watched him write stuff down more than i answered questions. He was nice and used easy japanese for me. I really appreciated it.

They seem to feel like Adelle will be cleared for a visa in about 2 weeks. Really great news. Its not all the time you break the law unintentionally and then everything works out.

The only down side to this, is that it means i will not be attending Mandas wedding.
Im really bummed about it.
I kind of dont want to think about it.

fight on

Today I am fighting the very strong urge to be a big baby.

i don't think im there yet, so this is one of my current missions.

I don't have anything in particular to share today but I have a few spare moments today.

I have my interview with Immigration tomorrow. Actually its an interrogation if we want to be technical. They want to talk to me about Adelle's visa problems. They did tell me this would be step 3 out of 5 to this whole mess. But it's hard to tell how long step 4 and 5 will take. We will keep praying.


I'm working on expanding my cooking capabilities.
Last night I made Chicken Cordon Bleu and Thursday im making lumpia, or egg-rolls.
I would prefer to bake, but its way to expensive out here so ive settled to cooking. Ive always liked the idea of my husband telling people "Man, my wife can COOK" and i don't think im there yet, so this is one of my current missions.

I downloaded the foodgawker app for my husbands phone and im pulling a lot of my inspiration from there.

I really love my husband by the way.
Im so blessed to have him in my life.
He really is my best friend and my hero.