Delayed

This is the sign we got to look at for an extra eight hours while we waited in Osaka's airport. I have no idea still what it was that we were waiting for, but it took a long time to get it done. I had to change our connecting flight in Detroit twice while we waited in Japan, but by the time we got out of customs in Detroit we had already missed all the flights out that night.

I got over it, :) but I was pretty irritated about the whole thing. We were dreading the flight already, but the wait just made it worse. Add our continuing recovery from third world cuisine and you have a literal soup of disaster. Haha!

We can't complain about the whole trip though. We were able to get a few hours of sleep in a Best Western in Detroit before flying into Pittsburgh. Because of the flight change, I had to change our car reservation as well. I was able to upgrade from a Pontiac G6 to a 2007 Jeep Liberty for an extra fifty bucks total for the ten days we have it. The Jeep is awesome!! Cruise Control, power everything, no wobble at 80 miles an hour! It's even got Sirius Sattelite Radio with a Christian station, #66!! What a steal of a deal. We'll drop it off this Sunday on our way to the West.

Thanks to all of you for praying for us to get in okay. Even though we were delayed in every airport we stopped at (8 hours in Osaka and 45 minutes in Detroit), we still had a good trip. I'm glad we purchased a portable DVD player, and now we have a long life external battery so we can watch movies for 14 hours straight (one flight from Detroit to Osaka)! It'll come in handy on the way back and forth from Korea if we ever decide to come back to the States after we get there.

We're excited about Saturday, and we're finishing up the last few details before the show starts. We look forward to seeing those of you who are coming. If you're not coming, you can see all the highlights here in a couple weeks.

The Ride to Mawi Beach

Bali and Lombok

Eyes Wide Open

So, at last I am adding my "two cents" to our blog. My excuse is that I have been busy with other things . . . but the truth is I just haven't taken the time.

We are now in Lombok - an island in the Indonesian archepelago. The island is beautiful, the people are very friendly, and I realize again how ungrateful I am for all I have. When you visit a place like this (pictures will follow soon), you realize how materialistic and petty you become. We have so much and are still unhappy - many of these people have so little (when you unfairly compare them to "us"), and yet have little to complain about.

Cory is looking at his watch, and as the price to use the internet is high, (10 cents/minute), you'll have to get the rest of the story from this adventure when we have more time to sit and share stories and pictures of this unforgettable place.

Until next time,
Jen

The only thing better than WORKING on a tropical island...

...is taking a VACATION on a tropical island!!

It's Saturday, the 23rd of June. Tomorrow Jen, Gideon, Mike, and I are getting on a plane for Bali, one of the hottest surf spots in the world as well as a kick-butt place to vacation. Gourmet meals for ten dollars, 4 star hotels for $40 bucks a night, and sun-sand-surf-sleep. I am excited about going. We'll spend the first few days on the island of Bali, and then go to the neighboring island of Lombok for a week. While we're there, Uri, Ted, and Michelle will join us for a week or so. Jen and i will come back to Guam earlier than the others to make sure that we finish last-minute stuff before we leave for the states on the 11th of July. We spend ten days in WV until the wedding and then we go on a honeymoon! More traveling after that, but I'll fill you in later about all of that. I'll be sure to take lots....eh, some pictures of the trip and let you all see them. Feel free to pray for us, Lombok is a predominantly Muslim island. I don't think we'll have any problems though. Thanks for keeping in touch. Have a great two weeks. I'll leave you with a timeline and traveling schedule for those of you who like to know what's going on.

June 24th to July 6th - Bali and Lombok
July 6th to 11th - Guam
July 11th to 22nd - West Virginia
July 22nd to 28th - That's none of your business! :)
July 28th to Aug 2nd - Kansas with my family
Aug 2nd to 6th - West Virginia with her family
Aug 8th (we lose the 7th when we cross the date line) to 20? - Guam (we're not sure when we're going to Korea)

Here's a couple Indonesian links for you.

Hotel Wina in Bali

Novotel Home Page, check out the photo Gallery

I was getting kinda bored so...

...I wrecked my friend's car. I can't believe it!

I was pulling into my friendly neighborhood Golden Arches and as I was going over the speed bump in the parking lot I heard an awful sound. I had never before dragged going over that bump in any car. So I looked around to see if somebody was around and sure enough, the guy in the truck next to me had his butt bumper kissing my butt bumper.

The funny thing is that after I got out of my car and stood behind his truck, it took him forever to get out and say something! It was like he just wanted to wave it off and go on. It didn't do any damage to his redneck truck, so I can understand his lack of concern. His first words were, "I'll claim it on insurance." I guess that's fine. We went through the whole police report thing and shook hands before leaving.

There are several things to be done still. I got an estimate...$400. I have to wait five days to pick up the police report and then we can get down to haggling with his insurance company. Then I have a vacation in Bali!! Here's a couple pics of the damage. Take care, folks.

The Dyck's go to Guam!! (This is a bigger deal than you think.)

My parents came out here a couple weeks ago and had a great time. I couldn't spend much time with them for a while because we had school work to do until the 26th of May. But let me tell you, we made the most of the last three days they were here! Okay, maybe not, but it was still fun. I'll leave you with a few pics of the fam. Shoot.



Three Dyck Men.



Justin and his son Joshua at Talafofo Falls.



I helped coach the HS Girls Soccer Team this year. We lost in the Quarterfinals.



Parents and us in a Tiki Hut.



Justin, Becca, Joshua Justin Dyck.



Joshua is one of the healthiest babies I've ever seen.



Jonas and Rachel (Macapinlac in December).



Plenty of room for the Holy Spirit.



So my parents renewed their vows while they were out here. Justin got to give Mom away for the wedding.



I got to play "Grow Old With You." I finished with "I've already grown old with you." I was surprised they laughed!



Nate's an awesome friend of mine who marries people for a living. Thanks Nate.



Nothing to say here...



or here...