Trading Spaces...Amongst Other Transitions...

As the title says, we traded spaces. Maybe not in the sense of the show that was so popular, but there was a lot of painting that went on and hopefully soon-new furniture. Right now, there is just LOTS and LOTS of boxes! We moved from our apartment close to Wrigley Stadium to Rodgers Park (still a part of Chicago), but very close to Evanston, IL-where Northwestern University is. Don't worry, we will NEVER be Northwestern fans (GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!)
Anyway, the apartment is twice the size with a sun room, two bedrooms, a garage, enclosed backyard (for the pups) and other perks too! Hopefully soon we will be able to post pictures.

OTHER TRANSITIONS...
Two weeks ago, Joel was voted in to be interim associate pastor of our church! There are mixed feelings about this right now. I know I have told you all some things, but our church has gone through a lot of transition itsself this year and Joel was there during that time-but it is still going on. He does however feel God wants him here and we know that our God doesn't make mistakes. He also gives us the strength to handle whatever He asks us to do. It will be interesting to see what happens there.
Most of you know this as well, but I also changed jobs just a few weeks before we moved. I am working in the Emergency Room. It is challenging and stressful, although a much different stress than working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I admit I miss my old job-especially the people, but again, I know God knows so much more what He is doing than me-so I will adjust and go with it.
I also started classes 2 weeks ago. I am doing a lot more studying than previously. The classes I am taking are both very invloved-Physiology and Biostatistics. The latter I do believe is my nemesis...not much more say about that...
Needless to say, a lot of transition at once, but we seem to be taking it OK at the moment. We hope to eventually post more pictures from the new apartment. Right now you wouldn't think it was very nice since mostly boxes are filling the rooms.
Happy Sabbath (almost)

Our Mt Fugi Climb

This is when the fog started setting in right before the drizzle came. Right before the climb started getting really hard.





THis is the map at the base of the mountain showing the different trails you can take up. We were warned many times to stay on the path you start out on or else you will end up somehwere that is really hard to get back from.







This is us at the base of the mountain.


So, I promised more pictures from Japan. One of the highlights was our climb up Mt Fuji. I guess I have always taken for granted climbing a mountain when I read it in a book. You know "Jesus went to the Mt of Olives.." Climbing a mountain is just plain hard work!!! The big thing with climbing Mt Fuji is that most people arrange it so that you get to the top for the sunrise. Of course we wanted to be like "MOST" people. We started around 4:30 PM at the 5th station (there are 10 stations, but you only climb 5 of them). A bus carried us to the 5th station. We were supposed to make it to the 8.5 station before nightfall which is about 8PM (that's when they turn of the electricity). Almost as soon as we started climbing, the fog came in as well as drizzle, which made climing the volcanic rock...FUN to say the least. We made it to the 8.5 station in 3 hours and 20 minutes (it usually takes longer) I just had to add that. I was pretty proud of us. We passed a lot of "young college kids" on the way so that made me feel good. Anyway, we got to our $100 hotel which was more lilke a barracks-a hundred or so sleeping bags with bean pillows right next to each other. I guess they can charge that since they are 1 of 2 on the entire mountain. We went to sleep around 9PM and they woke us up around 2:30AM to finish the climb to the top. We did this and made it in time for the sunrise. It was such a beautiful place to be. One of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences and just such a beautiful reminder of God's awesome creation and what a priveledge it is to in the midst of His vastness. It made me realize once again how small I am, but how much I mean to Jesus. Here are some pictures from the start of the trip-read down for pictures from the top...

More Climbing...

I thought about sending these head shots to Hollywood, but then thought I would save them just for our blog-why waste them on Hollywood. Really, this is probably the worst picture ever of us, but I just had to get the head lamps in. This was during our night climb up Fuji-the first half anyway. Please erase this picture from your mind after you see it...







Joel wondering what in the world he got himself into climbing this thing...Or maybe thinking about all the great sermon illustrations he will use from this experience...who knows what he was thinking, I jsut thought it was a fun picture...

A cool picture of the sun rising over the mountain. It was such a beautiful sight and such an awesome reminder of Jesus and His wonderful and VAST creation.

This is us right as the sun was rising over the mountain. Notice the 'peace' sign...that is what a lot of Japanese do when they take a picture. It was hard to find a good place to take a picture because there were so many people. Notice also the BIG smiles and of course...our really cool headlamps!

It was REALLY cold at the top of the mountain. We probably didn't prepare like we should of for it. We also didn't have a whole lot of food at the top or water so almost as soon as we got to the top, we headed back down for water and food. Just to put things in perspective. Noodles similar to the 25cent kind here in the states with tons of sodium and "just add water" were like $5 there and you had to pay for the hot tea too. Needless to say we waited until the bottom...

GO BUCKEYES!!!

GO Buckeyes!
Ohio State fans should be excited about yesterday's win over Cincinatti! They did it again putting them 3-0 still ranked
NUMBER 1!

We are very happy for our Buckeyes and hope they continue with a great season. We are so excited that we get to go see them in Evanston when they play Northwestern in November!

WOO HOO!

More Than Just Sushi...

This was part of our first meal in Gujo Hachiman. We grilled fish over the fire and just had a wonderful night of conversation and lots of food!
This farmhouse is where we stayed the first couple nights in Japan. Eric and Fumiko have friends who live here on vacations and allowed us to come and stay with them. Japanese culture is so welcoming and hospitable. They cooked every meal for us and also showed us around town (Gujo Hachiman). During this time we got to experience a traditional festival where everyone in town dresses in their best and dances in a big circle for hours. It was quite an experience. We loved our time here.
We went all over Japan, but one place we stopped was in Kyoto. For those of you who have read or watched Memoirs of a Geisha, you would recognize this city. It is a beautiful historical city. One highlight for me was "Geisha Hunting". We were actually more like the papparazzi, at least I was. Geisha's which are actually not called Geisha anymore but 'Michael's' (I don't think that spelling is right). ANyway, they are superstarts in Japan. There were tons of people watching for them and Joel just happen to be one of the first to see this beautiful lady. She was kind enough to let us take a picture. For me, this was one of the many great moments.

As much as we love Sushi in the suburbs of Chicago, it is NOTHING like Sushi in Japan. Eric and Fumiko took us to one of their favorite Sushi resturants. We dressed in our best (the boys in Jimbays and the girls in Yukatas). Fumiko didn't wear one because there was no way I would be able to help her put it on. We had a great night and it was wonderful!

Coming Soon...

Soon, I promise sooner rather than later we will have pictures post from our recent trip to Japan as well as more pictures from our mission trip to Alaska. I am sure you are just on the edge of your seat waiting so it will be soon. Hang in there.