Kyoto, Japan : Northwest Kyoto // Nijo-jo Shogun Castle

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 15: 

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 1 Timothy 4:4 (NLT) 

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We are (surprisingly) only half-way into blogging about our Japan trip last November. So, back to the adventures...

Welcome to Nijo-jo, a magnificent shogun castle is Northwest Kyoto! I was swooning as we walked through these ancient buildings with worn wood and charming architecture. This was one of our favorite historic sites to visit, mainly because (1) it was a shogun castle so there were several displays of armor and descriptions of how warriors prepared for battle along the tour and (2) we were fascinated by the nightingale floors. 

Built in 1603, the palace was created to demonstrate shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu's prestige and to demonstrate the demise of the emperor's power. He built in concealed chambers where bodyguards could keep watch and spring out at any moment's notice. Ieyasu also had the interior fitted with nightingale floors to detect any intruders, as the floors would 'squeak' or 'sing' like a nightingale.

You better believe JD and I were trying out our best ninja moves in that palace. But the floors just kept squeaking.

Some of you may recognize this photo (imagine it in black and white) as our Christmas card picture from this year. 

We ran into another group of kids that wanted to practice their English with us. 

Throughout all of our Kyoto sightseeing adventures, we followed the walking tours described in the Lonely Planet Kyoto travel guide (with a few detours, of course). 

The Holy Spirit & A Free Scripture Memory Print // Romans 15:13

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 11: 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV)

This verse calls for a free print... seriously. In every study I'm going through, in every sermon or lecture JD and I have heard in the past four weeks, the Holy Spirit is the main focus. And yet the Holy Spirit immediately directs the attention right back to Jesus. I can't imagine that this topic is a coincidence. I'm embarrassed to say that I am constantly amazed by God - I mean, it's a good thing but shouldn't I know by now that God is God and He is consistently faithful in being great, just, merciful and loving? And yet He still shocks me by His goodness, His grace and His provision. 

For those of you that don't know the backstory of the Dwell Richly printable: JD's sister (Theresa) and I were sitting at the dining room table at Christmas. I told her that I felt led to put together a supplemental tool for the 2015 Agendas. Within a few hours, the Spirit led us in creating the printable, without phones, apps or Google to help us find verses. It was such a sweet and beautiful time I will never forget with my sister-in-law, us depending solely on God and getting super excited about the verses to where the Lord would lead us. 

The greatest thing has been to see the way God has orchestrated events in our lives to synchronize with the verses at the perfect timing. And by 'our,' I mean, all of the friends, myself included, who have texted or emailed me about the way God is speaking to them in the verses. This week has been no different.

The Holy Spirit is entirely infiltrating and transforming all of the knowledge I thought I knew about Him. Confession: For so long, I have thought of the Holy Spirit as a sidekick, a little brother who picked the short straw, the one in the Trinity who was least of the three. I referred to the Holy Spirit as an "it" because I failed to realize that the Holy Spirit is very much a person and very much relational. Even to talk about the Holy Spirit, it was a little 'too charismatic' for my southern baptist background. In John 16, Jesus says,

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:7-15)

It blows my mind that Jesus says it is good for Him to go away, so that the Holy Spirit will come and dwell in us. But it was good. The Spirit teaches the truths of the bible to God's people (John 14:26), convicts people of their sinfulness and need for the Good News (John 16:8), gives believers power over sin (Galatians 5:16-21) and the power to live a fruitful life (Galatians 5:22-25), helps believers and prays for them in their human weakness (Romans 8:26-27), and affirms salvation and believers' identity as children of God (2 Thessalonians 2:13). My favorite is that the Holy Spirit, in all of His glory and responsibilities, His most important job is to bear witness to Jesus and to bring Him glory (John 15:16 and 16:14). God, the Holy Spirit, directs all of the glory straight back to God, the Son, who then directs the glory to God, the Father. I won't pretend to understand the mysteries (or even the non-mysteries, the actual things God lays out for us in scripture) of the Trinity but I'm deeply grateful for what the Spirit is revealing to me about Himself, and in return, what the Spirit is revealing to me about the Father and the Son. I pray that He is doing the same for you.

There are so many other amazing characteristics of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to listen to the lesson given by Karen Burke about the characteristics of the Holy Spirit (all of the ones listed above came from this lesson): Journey Through John - The Holy Spirit

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

To download the free print, you can click here. The logo and desktop background are not included on the print. Please do not redistribute the actual file on Pinterest or professional / personal websites or blogs without permission. Thanks!

Jitney Life / Product Update 2

What else is happening in the life of Jitney? New projects. Not new products, per say, just projects. I'm smitten with this current handlettered / handpainted piece. My friend, Lindsey S., painted the board with about 10 layers of paint. It looks so awesome!!! The texture of the board ended up being a smooth surface, basically like tile, so it made it easy to paint, wipe away if I didn't like it, then paint some more. I can't wait to show you the finished product (and maybe even make one for myself)!

LARGE and in charge. That's been the theme of the past month's projects. Most of these pieces measure a minimum of 3 feet. I fell in love with one of the barnwood pieces requested by a husband for his wife's birthday present. Please excuse the backgrounds of all of these photos but I didn't have a blank, neutral space to hang the large pieces in my house (because I hate bare walls). 

Once again, not the best photo but I hope it will suffice...
I'm LOVING this Grace Upon Grace skinny barnwood sign commissioned by Sarah Y. Her and her husband will hang this above their dresser.

The Ruth 1:6 pieces were requested by my friend, Pam W., who will be hanging these as a headboard. [swoon]
The big box? That's a custom cake riser, ordered by my sweet friend, Leah, who got married this past weekend!! She also requested the burlap table runner that fit in perfectly with her reception decor! (If you stare at it long enough, you'll realize the monogram is not centered... I noticed it an hour before she came to pick it up but was able to make a new one for her right before she arrived! Whew - close one!)

Photo taken by the lovely and talented Rebecca Bond Nichols of Shabby & Chic Events/Rentals. She did the majority of the decor for Leah's wedding and added SO MANY beautiful touches!!!! You can check out all of Leah's Wedding on the Shabby & Chic Events/Rental FB page!

Photo taken by Rebecca Bond Nichols of Shabby & Chic Events/Rentals. The gorgeous wedding cake was created by Jennifer Evans of Initially Cakes. There is a rich decadence to her cakes, my friends! My mouth is melting just thinking about it! 

Photo taken by Rebecca Bond Nichols of Shabby & Chic Events/Rentals. Not gonna lie, I'm SO GLAD Rebecca got a shot of Leah's beautiful bouquet. I love the accent succulents tucked into the arrangement. Update: Rebecca is a superstar. She was the florist for the wedding too. That woman has a gift, folks. 

Congratulations Beautiful Bride!!! 

And the final big update for this series... Renovation on the garage has started. Water was coming in from the bottom of the garage wall and mold started to deteriorate the baseboard and drywall. Don't worry. We're leaving these renovations to the professionals. They've already added a french drain and water barrier to the exterior of the garage and will now replace the deteriorated wood and drywall.

If you aren't familiar with our renovation plans... the next step will be to replace the driveway and wrap it around to the back of the house. Build a carport out back then turn the garage into a full-blown living space (aka: my future studio). So far, so good. 

Jitney Life Update 1

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 10: 

The Lord will watch over your coming & going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:8 (NIV)

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It's been a while since I've written an update about our lives... so hold onto your seat. Here's the skinny on what's been happening around the Todd Nest the past three weeks (broken up into two posts).

We began constructing a massive chalkboard onto our dining room wall... 

And we finished it just in time for JD's surprise birthday party! JD turned the big 3-0 in February. How did I pull off the surprise? I spoiled all of the little surprises I had for him leading up to the big surprise. I also had lots of friends helping out along the way (i.e. my neighbor Elizabeth who let / helped me cook everything at her house during the ice storm the day before, Julie for making sure the guys got together so that a group of friends could help me set up the party in the house)! 

Unfortunately, the cake was pink but he LOVES Newk's strawberry cake. I couldn't resist. At least I could top it with a few black mustaches to give it some manlihood? We also had a few stacks of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle rub-on tats that the kids were loving (thanks for this recommendation, Katy Jo).

Then we had the snow storm one week later. Huntsville shut down, per the usual. Before you tell us that we're crazy, let me suggest that our town is simply not equipped with the types of machines, cars or tires to drive in the snow that then quickly turns into ice. It was easier to drive around in the 4 feet of snow in Japan than it is to drive in six inches of snow / ice in Huntsville. All that to say, JD and I put on our snow boots, trekked through the trails on the 'mountain' and came back home to hang out with the neighbors later that evening. 

A few neighbors came over and sat with us by the fireplace, hot cocoas in hand, while the kids were secretly building us this snowman (this came after the boys threw snowballs at our windows - all in good fun, right?). 

Then we woke up the next morning and hit the golf course slopes for some sledding...

A couple of weekends ago, JD and I had the opportunity to sell merchandise at the CORE15 youth conference at Summit Crossing. Casey Darnell led worship for the weekend then KB had a concert Saturday night. 

Basically, the concert was super intense and so much fun. Imagine JD, myself, Katy Jo and Matt (all pictured above) jumping up and down, pumping our fists and having a great time... The day after, we learned that we just can't keep up with high schoolers anymore (at least KJ and me can't). We're old and walked around in pain for about three days after that. 

Tune back in Thursday for the rest of the update...

How God Used a Dishwasher to Reveal My Sin

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 8: 

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 (ESV)

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This is the moment…

where I can choose to be angry about our dishwasher with standing water or I can choose to be grateful for the fact that we even have a dishwasher

where I can curse the realities of home ownership or I can be grateful for the beautiful home God has given us as shelter and as a place for friends and family to gather in community

where I can choose to get agitated with JD for not pushing a magic button and fixing it within minutes or I can be grateful for a husband who didn’t let it sit there untouched for days, and tries everything within himself to figure out a way to make our dishwasher work so that we don’t have to use our finances to pay someone else to do it

where I can flip out about having a messy kitchen for a day or two or I can be thankful for everything in it and be reminded that messes are necessary so that God can restore order and make us clean

where I can choose to be frustrated about having puddles of water sitting on our kitchen floor or I can choose to be grateful for absorbent towels that I can throw into a working washing machine later tonight

where I can act like a child of selfishness for not being able to watch “my Monday night shows” or I can stand tall as a daughter of righteousness, washed by the blood of the Lamb and remember that it’s more important to support my husband than it is for me to watch “my shows” (plus, it’s not like I can’t stream the shows tomorrow)

where we can be bitter at the fact we’re up late working or we can choose to be grateful for the day of rest we had yesterday and be thankful for a comfy place to lay our heads after a hard day’s work

where I can choose to be a child of darkness, cloaked in sin 
or I can return to the Lord and walk in His light
 

While I’d like to say “I choose to return to the Lord and walk in His light,” it’s a choice that can only be made because of Jesus. It’s certainly not the initial reaction I had last night.

I prayed yesterday morning that God would reveal to me the depths of my sin so that I may have a better understanding of the depths of His grace. [heavy sigh] It didn’t take long before my ‘not such a big deal’ sins came to light. 

But it especially hit me last night as I stood (and tried to help) in the kitchen for two hours, watching my husband work tediously to figure out the source of our dishwasher’s problems. All of the former thoughts above were my legit thoughts. Thoughts of selfishness, ingratitude, anger, impatience. Quickly following, the Spirit convicted me, revealed my sin and reminded me of the response I should have because I am a temple of the living God. He dwells in me, purifying me and reconciling me to Him on a constant basis. 

So what was wrong with the dishwasher? We're not entirely sure. JD completely disassembled the inside, only to find that nothing is broken or blocking the filter, sump, etc. He put it all back together again, ran a cycle and it ran perfectly. Once again, we were faced with the choice of being super upset about time wasted and a faulty dishwasher issue or we can laugh it off and be super grateful that all is well, we don't have to pay a mechanic, and praise God for taking care of us. 

Thirty

Happy THIRTIETH birthday to this handsome guy:

Your hunger for adventure is enthralling and captivating. With everything you do, you work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Because of that, countless men and women are continuously blessed by what the Lord does in and through you. Your laughter is joyous and resounding. I seriously can't get enough of it. You have the 'humble confidence' thing down to a tee. You challenge me on a daily basis: to think more analytically, to articulate my beliefs and opinions more clearly and to strive for success more wholeheartedly. You're silly, mysterious, unpredictable and I love communicating with you via our secret languages. 

When I asked you about your thoughts on turning thirty and about all of your successes in life leading up to it, you said, "All of my greatest accomplishments in life are only by grace." 

It is an honor to be your bride. It is a joy to love you and to follow you as you follow Christ in building our family. 

I love living life with you, J.D. Todd.

P.S. We're well on our way to completing our dining room feature wall! Only a few more frames to build then we'll post the whole process / finished product. Thanks for spending the last day of your 29th year helping me to build this, lovey.

Kyoto, Japan : Northwest Kyoto // the Golden Pavilion

The Golden Pavilion (or Kinkaku-ji) was extraordinary. Don’t be deceived by the photos… This site was PACKED! The pavilion is surrounded by a serene body of water so it’s fairly easy to get a fantastic photo. Plus, if you stand at the fence and put up your blinders, it’s almost as if you have the place to yourself. Almost. 

Even the maples were breathtaking here. You're basically walking under a canopy of autumn, if there were such a thing. 

Remember reading about the students who would stop and ask us questions for their English class then give us a gift thanking us for our time? Most of the groups asked us at this site. I still can't get over their yellow hats. So stinkin' cute.

Don't forget to Like and vote for my designs on the Minted challenge here.

Kyoto, Japan : Arashiyama

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 6: 

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:16-17 (ESV)

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The bus was packed from S. Higashiyama to Arashiyama. We were lucky enough to get window seats. A small group of high school girls stood beside us and overheard JD and I talking in English. “Oh! You speak English?” Thus began the delightful thirty-minute conversation we shared where we discussed Japan, America and our interests. They snapped a quick group selfie with us before their stop then waved goodbye to us through the window. It's amazing how interested and willing they were to speak with us in English. They recognized it as an opportunity to practice a new language with new people rather than fear it. The Japanese are incomparable in their hospitality.

The ride into Arashiyama is exhilarating. I wasn’t able to take photos but it’s an image we will (hopefully) never forget. A river flowed along the road with autumn trees lining the Japanese mountains. I could sit there for hours taking in the beauty. 

We planned on starting at the Bamboo Forest but we accidentally passed by the entrance. When we finally stopped to get directions, we turned back around and started the day off with a coffee break instead. The Bamboo Forest entrance is a little hidden but we finally found it near the north gate of Tenryu-ji. 

We’re also pretty certain we missed most of the forest. Don’t get me wrong, we saw a LOT of bamboo (and it was awesome) but the path we took lasted less than .5 mile. It was a rough morning for the Todd Navigation Duo. We quickly found our way out of the forest and headed toward Jojakko-ji, a temple perched on top of a mossy knoll. The photo below isn't great quality but I LOVED how the moss covered the gate's roof. Nature's inspiration at its best. 

We stopped for a fancy bowl of noodles at Komichi and were not disappointed. This is one place we would definitely eat at again.

We continued walking, searching for a bus station and ended up here:

In other words, we had nowhere else to go. We hiked up to another road and waved down a taxi that drove us to Kinkaku-ji (aka: the Golden Pavilion - we'll post about this next).

Between the hills and long distances, there was a lot of walking this day. So much that I thought I wasn’t going to be able to get out of bed the next morning. Even my Crossfit, buff-of-a-husband was a little sore. Our navigation skills failed at the end of the route when we couldn’t find the correct bus or hail a taxi. If you take this route, I wish we could give you better advice but we ended up walking another solid mile before finding transportation back home. By the time we finally got back to the house, we were filled with nothing but laughter. 

After a full day of poor navigation but breathtaking sites, there’s no other reaction you can have. 

twenty7

I apologize for the lateness in the week, but f you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 5:

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25 (NIV) 

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I was hoping to have an amazing post ready for today that would blow your mind and motivate you to no end. But that didn't happen. [today is my 27th birthday - whoop whoop!]

The past week or so, I've been working super hard trying to get art pieces and some of our travel photography ready for the Three Cheers! Minted x West Elm's 3rd Art Challenge. It's the first challenge I've entered (thanks for the encouragement, Ashley O.) and entering a Minted challenge was one of my top goals for the year. Since I've gotten to the point where I set my goals for the year on my birthday rather than New Year's (procrastination has gotten the best of me), I'd say I'm knocking them out pretty well so far. ;) 

You can help! Click on the 'Minted | Vote for Me' button to the right or here and vote on some of my entries. Be careful though, Minted can warp you in and before you know it, you've voted on 99 pieces and saved at least 110 to your wishlist. All in good fun, right? 

JD and I will be picking up my new annual Moleskine tonight so be on the lookout for the real twenty7 post coming soon! (The Moleskine helps me to collect my thoughts.)

And, because I know you've missed reading about Japan this week, I can't leave you hanging... Here's one of our favorite souvenirs from the trip: A manga artist from the Kyoto International Manga Museum drew / painted / manga-nized this canvas for us. It's currently hanging on our travel wall and we just can't get enough of it. 

Kyoto, Japan : Southern Higashiyama Part 2 // Scripture Memory: Week 4

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 4: 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

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The lovely foliage and views in Southern Higashiyama in Kyoto, Japan.

Welcome to the second part of S. Higashiyama. I'm not gonna lie, we actually have no idea what this temple is called. It's been around for hundreds of years, so surely someone can tell us what it is, right? 

How we ended up here: Remember how I said 'we followed the walking tours described in the Lonely Planet Kyoto travel guide (with a few detours, of course)'? Well, this was one of those detours. JD found a path at the top of the cemetery behind Chion-In that led to the woods (it sounds a lot creepier than it really was). So we follow this path with no clue of where it's leading us. Halfway up, I try to coerce JD to turn around but lo-and-behold, someone is walking down the mountain and persuades us to keep going up because there are some amazing views (beginning to sound like the blowhole detour in Hawaii, right?). We keep trekking up and see this amazing temple... with a chainlink fence surrounding it. It took us a solid thirty minutes before we could find the entrance. But we did. And it was well worth it. 

This is also where a lady told me I was pronouncing "Arigatou" and "Kyoto" incorrectly. [The link will pull up the video we made at this location. Please disregard the knappy hair and the horrific pronunciations (it was only the first day! I promise it got better with time.)]

#jitneysjourneys

Higashiyama New construction at the front of the temple.

Higashiyama The massive platform where you can look out onto the city of Kyoto.

What did you eat? This was typically one of the first questions people asked us when we returned. Answer: Noodles. Lots and lots of noodles. 

Kasagi-Ya It took us a few laps up and down the street before we found this dessert place suggested by the Lonely Planet guide. Also, well worth it. We drank our fair share of hot tea and enjoyed a couple of interesting desserts . Please take notice of JD's giant hands holding the tiny, delicate tea pot. Once again, we were giants. 

Omen Kodai-Ji These were some of the best udon noodles we had on the entire trip; and trust me, we had a lot of udon noodles. They have a list of suggestions when making your noodles. If you go to Kyoto, you must eat here. 

Omen Kodai-Ji The udon noodle setup, complete with vegetables, sesame seeds and kinpira. And, of course, warm washcloths to wash your hands. The Japanese are super clean. We loved it.

Issen Yoshoku This happened. If you've talked to us about our trip in person, you've heard the story of the mannequin. Well, here she is! The story: We walk into this restaurant and notice a mannequin sitting at every table. The waitress then takes us to an empty 10-person picnic style table (except for the mannequin) and motions for JD and me to sit on the same side as each other and to scoot in close to the mannequin. This was potentially one of the most awkward, yet enjoyable, meals we've ever had. We could not stop laughing. JD was a huge fan of their okonomiyaki, which is a mix between a thin pancake and a crepe filled with meat, seafood and veggies. Don't you want to dine with a mannequin now?