a solid week

I really love having people over for dinner, and this week I got to twice. Last time, Yukiko and Naomi ordered Pizza Hut for us Americans, so this time I cooked Japanese. I didn't get to the miso soup, but I made yakitori (like chicken kabobs) and fish and served some tofu with ginger and crushed peanuts. There was also some salad with sesame dressing. It was a pretty big hit, thankfully, and I even enjoyed it too. We went to see the soft cream man afterwards.

Then, tonight, I made tacos for three students, a Japanese staff woman named Ayumi, and my roommate Shyla. Unfortunately, my camara didn't make it out for this one. It was cool though. The idea for this "takos" party started when I first met Aya. We somehow ended up talking about Mexican food and bonded immediately. Nao and Haruna also came and tried tacos for the first time. I'm still so excited, because Nao is the girl that lives two hours away but comes all the way to hang out. Tonight, I also realized that she is very interested in learning about the Bible. She comes to our English lunch at Sophia, so she asked me to teach her about the Bible next Friday.

I'm really thankful for these awesome times! It's been a rough week in some ways too though. Maybe I make way to big of a deal out of it, but my birthday is coming up. This week I got a package from my mom and my grandma and realized that I won't be spending my birthday with them. Usually I hang out with my family or really close friends, so this year will be somewhat different. I love it when it's my birthday. I really love it. It's just hard because I usally have a little more control in planning who I celebrate with and how.

I forgot to mention last week though, that I got to see a family from my church in Fallbrook! I hung out with them two Sundays ago, and it was so refreshing to spend time in Tokyo with them. They spoiled me too and just made me feel really alive and blessed!

The leaves are gorgeous right now.