So much to say

This morning I wanted to sleep in to try to make up for the amazing lack of sleep from this past weekend. I had no such luck because the neighborhood dogs began barking at 7am and continued to bark every few minutes after that. So annoying. I hate waking up early against my will.

I don't want this to become the world's longest blog entry so I will try to stick to the important highlights. This weekend I went home for the wedding of Emily Ray and Van Hardin. I arrived Friday morning, which turned out to be a very stupid idea. I should have scheduled myself to arrive earlier. I barely got to spend any time with Emily, half of the reason I was in town. I felt like the recurring theme of the weekend was not enough time. I got to see some of my most favorite people in the whole world but for painfully short periods of time. It was like I had forgotten how much I love all these people until I saw them in person. It made me remember all the incredibly fun times we had had in the past. Knowing that many of those times cannot be repeated was quite painful. Maybe this is why I teared up every time Fred sang a single note. It so reminded me of the amazing times at camp.

I cried so much this weekend. I don't know why I was so emotional. I think it may have been a combo of lack of sleep, jet lag and more. At the reception I was also on a sugar high since the only food left to eat when I got there was fruit and chocolate fondue. It was so good to see so many people I love together at once. I spent much of my time at the reception talking to Zach and Erin, who I miss so much. I almost cried when I heard they were in town. I told you I was emotional. I got to see lots of fun Cho-Yeh friends including those who play for the other team. We seem to have quite a few of those these days.

I have decided that in order to retain my sanity, I must return home for a longer period of time in the Spring. As of now, my plans are to say yes to leading the summer DTS. This would mean I start training in May, the students have lecture June through August and then we go on outreach to a foreign country from September through November. That would mean I could not go home at all during that span of time. So, I think I will come home for 2-3 weeks in the Spring. Then after I get back from outreach I will probably come home for X-mas. After that I won't come home until I am leaving YWAM. Thinking about coming home in the Spring makes me happy. I just need more time with the people on the mainland I love.

So, despite the tears and excessive emotional times, the wedding was really good. It was standing room only in the church. Emily and Van are very beloved people. During the reception, there was a line to talk to them at all times. They made these little cards that said instead of giving out parting gifts, they made a contribution to their missionary friends: me and this guy named Jeff. That blessed me so much and of course when I found out, I started to cry. The tears should come as no surprise.

I got to spend some quality post-wedding time with Jocelyn, Jason, David Morgan, Sarah Mo'Bryan, Devin and Lee. It was good to get some chillin' time since pre-wedding and during wedding time was pretty rushed and hectic. During the hang-out time, Jason Fowler fixed my N key. This is huge since I was becoming angry every time I used my computer because of that pesky N key.

On Sunday I had Christmas with my family. It went really well, despite my fears about being crunched for time. I got a bunch of TV box sets. Yay! My grandma made my favorite meal and good times were had by all.

I stayed with my DTS friend, Misti on my overnight layover in L.A. It is weird how it was not weird to see her even though it had been more than a year. I love friendships like that. I am now back in Maui. This is good but I am glad to have a tentative date to return to the mainland.