Saturday, June 25, 2011

This is a long one....Part Two

Ok so on with the show....this is the best part I think.

Zack finally got to come home in June for a quick visit.  By quick I mean like 9 or 10 days.  We were super excited to see him and super excited to hear all of his good news.  If I tell you I will ruin his story telling skills.  And since I think he can tell this much better than I could ever re-create so I am going to just share his email...with his permission of course.  :-)

----------------------------- From Zack

Hello friends!
So....I did it! I proposed, and it was a success! I had a good solid 28 hours worth of traveling with very little sleep to try and think of a way to romantically propose. I had thought of trying to have a romantic dinner set-up on the beach; surprising George with flowers, candlelight, and a personalized song as she walked in the door from work, or trying to take Georgia to this nice overlook in Kuji to watch the lunar eclipse, etc. etc. etc. But as I pulled into the train station in Ninohe, I couldn't help but feel like those were rather stereo-typical proposals and that I was driving myself insane trying to think of the "perfect" way to ask Georgia to marry me. I had those 28 hours to think of something "special" in yet nothing I came up with felt that way and then all of the sudden like a bolt of lightening it hit me how incredibly special and unique our relationship already is. I guess I have just been so wrapped up in my thoughts lately I have been unable to fully appreciate the truly romantic nature of our relationship and story and the settings in which it has developed. I mean I was riding on a bullet-train over the mountains and through the back country of northern Japan, pulling into a station bathed in Moonlight from the full-moon and cloud free starry sky above me, with the woman of my dreams and mother of my unborn child standing on the platform in excited anticipation of my arrival. What could possibly be a more romantic setting than that? I realized then and there as the train was coming to a stop that I needed to stop trying to be something I wasn't and just be the hopeless romantic I know I am and revel in the moment. 

As I hopped off the train and passed my ticket to the conductor, he smiled and slightly motioned his head towards the direction of Georgia (the only other foreigner in sight) as if he were trying to say to me "Go boy, she`s been waiting." As I walked to Georgia I could see the impatience beginning to grow in her as she could barely stand still; her feet tapping, her body swaying to and fro. I walked through the gates and just peered over her and felt my heart begin to flutter; it was as if I was looking at her for the very first time again. She stood there with her hair in adorable, Shirley Temple-esque curls, a black silky top, and a bright blue skirt. As I was finally in grabbing distance she ran and grabbed me and hugged me so tight that my suitcases literally fell from my hands. We told each other how much we had missed the other and I promised to never leave her again.

From there we began walking to the car, hand in hand, as I shared my stories of America. The weather was amazing that night; it was a cool crisp evening, with a completely cloudless sky and a big full Moon above. It wasn't until I was finally off the train and out of the station that I was able to completely take in the amazing weather. As we neared the car I felt like I never wanted that moment to end. I began stumbling about my words as I told Georgia "I have something I want to give you before we get in the car." She grumbled about it being cold and I told her it was worth it. I literally lunged to take my backpack off as I began searching through its contents for the ring I had bought just a few short days ago. Once my hands found the smooth black box in which it was resting within, I grabbed Georgias hand pulled her close to me. I told her again, for perhaps the 1,000th time how much I had missed her and told her I couldn't bear being away from her for that long ever again. Then, I pulled the box from my bag and assumed the proposal position on one knee as Georgia gasped upon the realization of what was happening. Then I opened the box; the moon and bright stars made the ring sparkle and dance in the dark parking lot. I told Georgia that she is my one and true love and that she is the romantic I have longed for my entire life for, then I asked her to marry me, which she very quickly said "Yes, Yes, Of Course!"

So there you have it! The complete proposal! I woke up the next day wondering if I had rushed the proposal, but as soon as I saw Georgia's hand and the ring on it I knew I had done the right thing. She is going to make a beautiful bride, and even greater wife and best friend. I am so incredibly blessed to have her in my life, and I am equally as blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family such as all of you.

Love,
Zack
----------------------------------------

So there it is!  Wonderful right??  I am getting a new sister-in-law and a new niece or nephew!  What a huge blessing.  God is so good and so amazing and his blessings are never ending.  Through all of this, I think my brother will be a stronger man and husband and father.  I am sure he has learned a lot about himself in this short time.  I can't wait to be a new Aunt and sister in law!

It was hard to see Zack leave again, but I know he is where he belongs with Georgia.  This is what was meant to be for him.  God had a plan and knew what was best.  It may have been a different road getting there, but he got there in the end.  

Thanks for listening to my long long story.  I just couldn't hold it all in any longer!

Love you all!

Amber

Thursday, June 23, 2011

This is a long one...Part One

Just FYI this is going to be a long post.  I don't think there is any way around it.  Just have stuff to get off my chest and figured I would share it.  :-)

I have been thinking a lot about my little brother lately, Zacky Poo.  He is going through a lot of major change in his life right now.  Well really he's gone through a lot of change in the last 10 months or so.  Last August we all gathered and tearfully said goodbye as Zack left to move a universe away to Japan.  He left us for Kuji City, Iwate with a two year contract through a teaching program to work with the schools in the area teaching English.  We prayed for a safe trip there and that he would be happy.  He was gone a short time and came home for Christmas.  Again we said a tearful goodbye, but new he was happy there.  He had made friends, gotten settled and now had a girlfriend, Georgia.  His overall safety in Japan never crossed our minds.  Japan is a major world power after all.  It's not a third world country nor is it war stricken and even more so the crime there isn't what we see here.  He seemed safe and happy.

Then on March 11th came that call that no one wants to get.  It's the middle of the night, way to early phone call.  The one that you immediately know something isn't right because people don't call at those times to say they got a new puppy or are getting married or are having a baby.  They wait until reasonable hours to do those things.   No this was my mom, a little before 6:00AM, calling to say that we needed to get up and start praying that there had been a horrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan and that they couldn't reach Zack.  We had no idea if he was ok.  I jumped up shaking and got Ryan and ran to our computer.  (We don't have cable or satellite so no news channels.)  I pulled up MSNBC and found the most devastating and scary pictures one might see when your loved one is potentially in the middle of that.  The first headline was "Nuclear Emergency Declared in Japan" and below it were pictures of fires and rubble that was unrecognizable.  There was video after video of this enormous "wave" of water inundating these towns and cities that line the coast.  Unfortunately, my knowledge of Japan was so minimal it was so hard to tell where things were and what was going on.  All I knew was there had been a 9.0 earthquake (one of the largest in history) and a tsunami that was recorded in some areas as high as 30 feet or more.  High enough to demolish some 2 and 3 story buildings, strong enough to move entire houses, it picked up cars and put them on top of large buildings, tore families apart and devastated a country.  This is where my brother was.  Somewhere in the midst of this.  My heart felt like it was failing me.  How could this be happening??

We immediately called on friends and family to begin praying for safety and that we would hear something soon.  If I have ever been thankful for social networking it was at that moment.  I was able to post my prayer needs and within minutes I had so many people joining with my family in prayer.  It was an awesome thing.  Somehow we all pulled ourselves together enough to go to work that day.  Although we spent a majority of it checking the news, calling each other and emailing search and rescue through the US Embassy that had been set up.  It wasn't until that evening that we got word in a round about way that my brother was ok.  He was alive, but had set off on foot to the town where Georgia lives which would usually be a short drive away.  The stress continued for all of us not know about her safety and whereabouts and Zack's continued safety.  We hadn't actually heard directly from him and unfortunately in situations of this magnitude communications are wrong and people are misidentified.  The next morning we all received emails from Zack that he was safe and after 20 hours of hiking and trying he found Georgia also safe.

This is something we never in a million years thought we would have had to go through.  The concern and fear I felt over this, I am sure I have never felt before.  I didn't sleep well for weeks.  It seems that just hearing he was safe wasn't good enough.  It took several weeks for me to stop checking online for aftershocks and checking the US Embassy's website to make sure they weren't ordering an evacuation.  Even now, I still check on the size of aftershocks from time to time. Because they still continue, just yesterday there was a 6.7 aftershock or earthquake. 

The country is cleaning up and things are turning back around.  Their bravery and the way the Japanese people handled themselves is amazing.  I watched the news and read stories and was amazed at the way they handled themselves in the face of disaster.  I am not so sure the same would happen here.  While I would like to say that there wouldn't be looting or crime here, I am not so sure.  I am so proud of my brother.  He has grown up so much.  He isn't really my baby brother anymore.  I would say he's officially a man.  I am proud of who he has become.  He has gone through more in his young lifetime than most will go through in their whole life.  We love him very much.

Through this I was reminded of how important it is to lean on God.  To rely on Him as our comforter and provider, the one who brings peace.  I know that he is in control through the good times and the bad. I think more importantly I am trying to remember that God is worthy to be praised even in those horribly uncertain times.  The times where it seems like things are falling apart or that there is no good happening, I have to remember that God is in control and he has a plan.  If God knows the number of stars and has given each one a name (Psalm 147:4), how can he not know and have control of the details of my life or my family?  I continue to pray for peace and for comfort for the families in Japan and throughout the world who weren't as blessed as we where.  The ones who waited for word that never came.  I pray that they will feel God's overwhelming love and know that he is the one providing it.

You can still donate money towards Japan relief.  Here are a couple links if you want to:

www.redcross.org
www.shelterbox.org (you can't specify Japan here, but it's a cool organization)

Monday, June 20, 2011

Love 'em, Love 'em, Love 'em

Good morning all!

Recently I had a chance to spend time with my brother and sister, just the three of us.  To be honest, I am not sure when we last did this.  It was wonderful to just have time with them!  I am the oldest of three and have a brother and sister.  It is starting to appear that the two of them may end up living far away from me.  I hope that one day they will be closer, but you never know.  Tabby is away at college and I think may want to move away to LA when she's done.  And Zacky Poo is in Japan, which has been quite the interesting little not so little adventure.  (There will be more on that later....I am working up to it.)  And now it appears he is going to run of to New Zealand.  I hear it's beautiful there and full of hobbits.  Ok, no hobbits just normal people.  I am pretty sure of the beauty of New Zealand.  I guess if my siblings live far away I will always have places to vacation.  Anyways, we had a wonderful time together eating, hiking, talking and laughing.  I miss those two and wish we could spend more time together.  Alas we just have to cherish the moments we have.  And cherish them I do!






Where would I be without my brother and sister?  I am not sure.  Who would I offer unwarranted advice to?  Who else would put up with me offering unwarranted advice to???  They won't admit to it, but they like that advice...I know it!  I guess what I am trying to say, is I just love them!  They're the best!

Hug your family today!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father's Day

Today we celebrate our awesome dad's. I am so very thankful for my step dad also.  He has been the best Father we could have asked for. He has our best interest in mind and loves us always.  I hope he knows how much he is loved and appreciated! I couldn't have asked for a better father for my children.  He loves them in every way, takes care of them, hugs them, kisses them and tells them how much he loves them.  And they just adore him.  Lincoln wakes up in the mornings and runs from room to room looking for Daddy and Arabelle cries out for Daddy when she is hurting because she knows he will come to her rescue.  I love him so much for all that he is to our kids and to me.

I pray though that as much as my kids look to their real Dad they learn to look towards their heavenly Father also.  I pray that they learn they can rely on him just as much as their Daddy here.  And I pray that Ryan continues to be that Godly example for them, because God is our Daddy just as much and more than our Dad here on  Earth.  That can be hard to grasp as an adult sometimes, so I just continue to pray that my kiddos learn that at a young age. 

Happy Father's Day everyone!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Come fly with me...

Well hello!

Yesterday we went to the airport to greet my brother, whom we refer to as Zacky Poo...mainly because it sounds so incredibly manly and strong.  I kid, well not about calling him Zacky Poo, just the other part.  Anyways, the kids had never been to an airport before and thought it was the most fabulous place on earth.  It was like we were at an amusement park.  Lincoln especially was thrilled by the parking garage.  Strange, I know.  He was so excited he was practically shaking!

We had about an hour to kill due to a delayed flight.  In this time, the kids explored all facets of the airport.  Well, except for the concourses of course. They will never know the joy of walking someone all the way to their gate and watching them board the plane.  That all went away with crazy terrorist attacks.  Anyways, here are some pictures of our wonderful time at the airport taken by my husband and a couple I think I took.  Enjoy my friends! Oh and excuse the randomness of the picture placement...I was struggling getting them arranged.