Korea: my life, my story: I MADE IT!

( Group Shot )

So I arrived at Des Moines International Airport yesterday at 4:30pm after a grueling 24 hours of travel. It was relatively painless, but it was still a long damn time to be traveling. I did hit a few snags along the way though. When I arrived in Tokyo, I found that my plane was delayed about an hour, which also meant that I would be missing my flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Des Moines. The new tickets were taken care of by a really friendly Japanese man, but after that was taken care of, I proceeded to leave my hoodie in the Narita terminal. UGH. But I eventually got back to Des Moines and was pleasantly greeted by my mother, father, Penley & Brodie. After this little reunion, I went to pick up my baggage, only to find out that my checked bag had been lost. I shrugged it off and went for pizza with everyone. It really is great to see everybody again.

This morning, I woke up and some breakfast. Shortly after this, my luggage arrived and everything was smooth from there on out. Kristen, Yahrmaan & Penley came out for lunch. We ate, talked & I played some Stratego with Yahrmaan. I have really enjoyed playing with Penley the last couple days. He is talking up a storm and is SO MUCH FUN! He's getting so big! I feel like I've been missing out on a lot of his growth, but I'm just really happy that I'm getting to see him now.

( Penley on his trike )

( He was showing me how he grows )

( Kristen & Pop )

( Penley & Kristen )

( Penley & Yahrmaan )

( He really likes to swing )

After the family time, I took my dad's Jeep Wrangler out to Des Moines to meet up with Brodie & Thomas. Seeing as though it is Sunday, and everything in America closes early on Sundays, we just hung around for a bit. Then, we drove out past this house that Brodie is thinking about buying. It's pretty run down, but I think he really would be committed enough to put in the work that it needs to live up to its potential. After the look around, we drove out to Mars Cafe to meet Wendy, where I was lucky enough to see Cammie, Jameson & Sesha. We had coffee, then we moved on for drinks and more pizza down at Fong's. Before we actually made it out of park, there was a bang on the window! It was April! She and Adam had seen us standing on the side of the road, so they stopped to say "HI!" That was a nice surprise. Then we went out to the bar, where we met with Thai, Chris & Avalan. I got to see so many people tonight, and it was pretty wonderful.