Beautiful Japanese Typography

I'm going to be doing some posting that I meant to do over the last months here. I have some more camping trips to post from last summer as well as my Nepal update that was never finished.

Before that, though, I want to post another series of photos from my Japan trip- these are photos I took of typography that I found interesting. Mostly these are signs that I saw while there- in Japanese. I don't know what they mean, and many of them are cropped and wouldn't have a clear meaning without their full context anyway- but I enjoy them for their aesthetic beauty, shape and color.

Anyway- take a look, enjoy.

I went to Japan to see a girl who I am in love with, so it was a bonus that I also fell in love with the country. As I near 3 months since I came back, I find myself missing it! So I'll have to go back one day with that girl and experience it all over again.

2016

Hey! Just a quick update on the end of 2015 and the start of 2016.

Last summer I reconnected online with an old friend from college, then she visited in September and we decided to date. She is from Michigan but lives in Japan for now. Anyway, we've been dating more than 6 months now and I'm in love. She will be moving back in less than 2 months (permanently), so I'm obviously excited to do some real dating. Since we've known each other for years, things have actually gone really easily. We know each other well and it feels like a perfect fit. 

We've kept in touch long distance, but in December I went to Japan to visit her and had a complete blast! We traveled around the country a lot and saw the sights. Japan is a beautiful place full of wonderful people. 

My time in Japan was a once in a lifetime experience. I loved every second of it. The food was fun (mostly), the scenery was gorgeous, and the company was incredible. I can't wait to have her back in the U.S.!

In other news, a group of my friends have just arrived back from Israel and I've loved hearing stories of the trip, but it has made me very nostalgic about my own trip in 2011. I looked through my photos from that trip and decided to finally put together a gif that I've been meaning to make for a while. Here's to you, Israel/Palestine team. I miss you guys.

I always find it strange how much I miss the sun but don't realize it until spring when the sun shows itself again. The weather is heating up little by little and I'm excited to get out and do some camping and fishing and travel. This time of year I always get that itch.

2016 is alright if you ask me! God is good!

Camping Weekend 3

So this is all long overdue. I've done a lot of camping this summer, and didn't slow down enough to document it all here, so I'm going to fill in the gaps as well as I can now.

In may my housemate and I joined some guy friends for an overnight/weekend at a buddy's "cottage" on the lake a little ways north of us. It was a great opportunity to test out my Coleman stove- which I bought a couple summers ago at a garage sale. I had to do a little repair work, but now it is a fantastic piece of gear for any car camping trip.

Night came and we spent a lot of time around the fire, talking about deep stuff- everything from spirituality and the Bible to politics. Smores were had, of course, and it gave me the opportunity to try out the "S'moreo". 

Just a roasted marshmallow added to the center of an oreo. It was fantastic, by the way. I highly recommend it. But it was a beautiful night, and it was great to be by the water in the quiet still of the night. I'm finding more and more- maybe I've said this in a recent post? But I'm finding more and more that being by a large body of water sort of reminds me of who I am somehow. It's a reminder that I'm small, and that God is big, and his works are vast and mighty.

So while it was a cottage, there wasn't room for everyone, so I knew I'd be sleeping in a tent. It was pretty late when we all turned in for the night, I was pretty beat. It rained through the night some, which I find to be really comforting, actually. I love the soft sound, as long as it isn't leaking into the tent. But I woke warm and dry the next morning, and made some cocoa on my Coleman stove.

Though it was sprinkling a little, the host of the trip and I went out on his boat for some morning fishing. He knew some good spots, but none of them brought us any fish- though I'll be the first one to tell you that fishing isn't all about catching. A lot of time it is about conversation shared with good company and connecting with God in the quiet. And what better note to end this post than that? Make sure you take time and be still. God is good. 

New posts to come soon...

The summer has been packed full of adventure for me, and I have a lot of updating to do, but for now, I just want to post this GIF I made from my photos of the full blood moon last night!

It was a beautiful thing.

Rebuilding Nepal

I’m going to Nepal!

A week ago, a friend of mine came to me with a last minute opportunity. He wanted me to go with him and a group of other men on a trip to Nepal to help rebuild homes and schools for people affected by the recent devastating earthquakes. It required that I be able to go soon (I had 10 days to prepare), and that I be able to leave work/life/responsibilities here for 2 full weeks.  Amazingly everything has fallen together, and at 3:30am Saturday, I’ll be headed out.

The details of the trip are hazy, because we don’t really know what to expect when we get there. Our partner there will have better details about exactly what we’re doing once we’re there. What I do know is that we’ll be camping in tents at about 10,000 feet at the beginning of the rain season. We’ll be helping people in the more remote parts of Nepal that are harder to get to with aid.

So here’s the part where I ask for help. I need financial help to make this happen and I need people to join me in prayer. If you can spare some money to help me get there, I would be eternally grateful! But even more, I need people to be praying for Nepal and the people of our group.

If you want to help me financially, you can give online here:
https://kensingtonchurch.org/nepaljunegiving

If you want to be praying for my team and me, here are a few suggestions:
- Strength and endurance for us in the long hours of work ahead
- Flexibility for the unknown challenges we’ll be facing
- Safety from injury and disease

- Safety travelling

- Help for the people of Nepal- pray that we would be useful
- Pray that our attitudes and work would speak to God’s love

Sidenote- how appropriate that I'll be camping for 2 weeks in Nepal during my summer of camping. In light of this trip, my "summer of camping" banner seemed out of place, so I present to you: Nate's trip to Nepal. If I get wifi along the way, I'll try and post here.