(no subject)
You can use the present tense short form and 前に to describe the event before which something happens.
verb A (short present) + 前に verb B (B before A)
国に帰る前に、もう一度東京に行きます。 （とうきょう＝東京）
I will go to Tokyo one more time before I go back home.
日本に来る前に、 一学期日本語を勉強しました。
I studied Japanese for one semester before I came to Japan.
The verb that precedes 前に is always in the present tense, whether the tense of the overall sentence is in the present (as in the first example above) or in the past tense (as in the second).
To describe an event after which something happens you can use the て-form of a verb + から.
勉強してから、友だちに手紙を書きました。
I studied and then wrote letters to my friends.
けんさんが来てから、食べましょう。
Why don't we (start) eat(ing) after Ken has arrived.
Hey, look what I found again! Although after this I'm pretty damn sure it's time for a review of the last few chapters.
Tired. Very tired. I'd take a nap but it wouldn't help, this is just the kind of tired that will end when I finish slogging through everything I have to do. Which won't be for a while. At least soon it'll hopefully change into a different kind of slogging. Or I can put the slogging off onto someone else.
I feel like I should have something else to say here but, no, I don't. I'll have a new Alcatraz tonight! This makes me happy. Other than that, still chugging along on things and attempting to put the pieces of my brain back together in something resembling order so I can pick up my responsibilities again. Or at least, my courtesanly duties. Stuff like that.