it is a Good Friday

Good Friday everyone (for me and my time zone it is still Friday at the moment!)

Today was more of...you guessed it....job hunting!  Josh's job situation is progressing in a positive direction- yeah!  so continue to pray it all stays positive!  I applied to more jobs today- some at the YMCA and the Union Gospel Mission.  Applying for jobs is exhausting- I think I want to develop a universal application for every single employer because they all want to know basically the same thing...so come on America lets get this thing going!

We decided that we were going to attend a 5:30 Mars Hill Good Friday service downtown (one of their 14 campuses in the Seattle area) and then see about purchasing a mattress.  We set out with the Garmin telling us we would be 30 minutes early to the service.  Well let me tell you we ran into some heavy traffic from a small accident, AND little miss Garmin does not know everything and does not always communicate clearly- so we hit some construction and ended up being 15 minutes LATE to service.  Ekk.  Thankfully there was a spot left in the lot- though it was at such an angle I thought the car was going to tip over and start rolling.

Side note:  if you have never been to Seattle/Washington there are some CRAZY roads here.  I heard someone say once that when they were mapping out the roads here that they were drunk, well I am starting to believe them.  And the hills- oh boy, I have never driven so close to vertical in my life- you literally pray your car makes it up because you are not sure if it is even designed to get up at such an angle.  

Anyways- Mars Hill was interesting.  We walked into a VERY dark sanctuary with only a few groupings of lit candles.  They had a creepy/eerie video playing- it was dark and shadowy images of the crucifixion, super loud bass that pounded your body and a narration that sounded like they were telling a horrifying ghost story- but they were actually reading a translation of the bible.  Josh and I made it to our seats only by touch because seriously you could not see a thing- awkward!  The band played a song, showed more video and then did a worship song as a church.  The pastor came out and preached for 10-15 minutes which lead into a time of communion.

Now this might sound weird but I have always enjoyed when a church serves those stale square crackers versus bread.  One of the reasons being is that I do NOT like eating a small piece of really soft bread- eww but more importantly it is because of something I learned at Menomonie Alliance.  While at Stout I helped out with the Youth Group at Menomonie Alliance Church.  One time when the youth group was taking communion Pastor Brent talked about when his dad told him something that has stuck with me about communion.  Brent's dad told him to take the cracker in his hand and to feel the sharp edges and pointed corner on his fingers.  By feeling its sharpness it was to be a reminder of the pain Christ experienced on the cross with His body.  From then on I have always taken the small cracker and rubbed my fingers along the edge and then squeezed it between two finger so i would feel the sharp corners and remember Christ suffered for me.

While this Good Friday service was not my favorite, Jesus still shared truth with me despite my judgmental attitude.  While driving around the valley Josh and I have seen this advertisement on the back of buses that says "Jesus is ___________"  Josh asked me what the first thing I thought of when I saw that and I said "Jesus is Lord".  We saw it enough times that we finally looked it up online.  It is this website put out by a local church that you can go on and fill in the blank.  It is constantly updating and is really interesting to read what people think.  I have been struggling with homesickness the past few days and counting down in my mind the months until we move home.  But during this Good Friday service I felt like God was telling me that Jesus is Lord in Seattle, Jesus is Lord in Minneapolis and Jesus is Lord no matter where you live- that FACT never changes.  To put it simply "Jesus IS" and my life should reflect that.  So no matter how I feel and no matter where I live, Jesus IS and I need to live because He gave and PAID FOR my life!


Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead


After service Josh and I had a mission to go check out this box spring and mattress he found on craigs list.  Lets just say like all things pertaining to craigs list- it was an experience! BUT BUT BUT we got a good clean mattress and box spring for 20 bucks- BOO YAH!  Thanks to Chris having a truck- we got it back to the Renzelman's in one piece.  Thanks to Rebecca and her love of things being clean- she sprayed it down with Lysol for us :) woo hoo!


okay well I have written a lot and its getting late- so I hope you all had a reflective Good Friday.  It is one of my favorite Christian holidays- the chance to be reflective and quiet as a body of believers- mmm beautiful!  


sleep well dear friends and family because its the weekend bbaaaabbbbbbyyyyyyyy!  'night


oh p.s. mom I did see the moon and it was HUGE!  so cool we can see the same moon- love ya!


oh and you all should check this out:
Jesus is_______

Price Comparison

So not a whole lot to report about today which is okay with me.  We had a chill morning at the house getting a few things done and deciding what we would do for the day.

We first went to check out the local mall of Westfield.  Our mission- of course- was looking for more rain jackets...a few nibbles but still no bites.  We then went into price comparison mode for getting some kitchen necessities.  For those of you who dont know- we packed up our little Ford Focus with necessities and headed out west, therefore kitchen things did not make it into the car.  We looked at Walmart, IKEA, and Target.  Surprisingly- or not so surprising, Walmart won with the lowest prices (so those cheesy commercials are true).

Fun Fact for you- the IKEA in Renton, WA was the first IKEA ever in the USA- wow!  It was a huge and of course mind boggling layout all on one floor.  We picked up a few must haves like small colorful plastic bowls (great for ice cream), dish brush, small cooking utensils (my FAVORITE ones that I used all the time back home) and a shower curtain.  

After a day of running around we headed back home.  We were able to do a quick skype time with my family- seriously skype is amazing...i love the fact that I can see my family in their own time zone and talk with them live- so good.  We had dinner with Rebecca and ended up talking about taxidermy animals, the circus and NYC- it all flows together right? :)  Chris was suppose to be speaking at a conference this weekend, but didn't find out until he landed in Chicago that the conference was cancelled- bummer deal for him.

Tonight we watched OUR SHOW, Grey's Anatomy, for the first time in Seattle.  I am telling ya Bethany and Karen- come experience the real deal and get the Grey's tour :)  We shall chat about tonight's episode soon!

So as silly as it may sound- pray for wisdom in buying the necessities that we don't waste our money or our time and that we wouldn't be picky!  Also pray that we get more freebies than expected so that we don't have to buy as much!!!!

alright family and friends we love you and bid you sweet dreams and a good night sleep.

Uncharted Waters

First of all- thank you for actually reading me!  It is nice to hear that a lot of you back home are reading the blog- it helps keep me accountable to write every night!

Speaking of back home, today I woke up very home-sick.  I think it started last night with seeing things that have been going on back home and realizing this is real life now!  Things are slowing down a bit and the reality of that this IS my new home is sinking in.  I decided that I have never actually experienced true home-sickness before.  Stout was only an hour away from home so I knew that comfort was not that far away- but this, this is far.  These are feelings I have never experienced before, I am in uncharted waters.

Today was very chill- Josh worked on finalizing his cover letter for Starbucks while I made lists, text friends and attempted to read.  If anyone has an extra laptop, computer or ipad we would gladly take it off your hands!  It is a little frustrating at times when 2 people are trying to find jobs- but only have one laptop.    Once I had the computer in my hands I was able to apply for 2 more places- Bank of America and LA Fitness- when I was filling out the application Josh told me he felt like I was cheating on him..but we all know LA Fitness is NO Life Time Fitness :)

After lunch Josh ran to drop off his cover letter and resume at 3 Starbucks he applied to- please pray for favor he is really hoping to work at the "mother-ship" while in Seattle.  I stayed at the house to keep plugging away at the apps- it was the first time in a LONG time that Josh and I were apart- woah.  Don't get us wrong we love being together and this would be SO much harder without the other but today I was really missing my friends.  So ladies plan your trips because I want to see all your faces!

My love surprised me with an iced coffee from the bucks- yum...by this time it was almost 5 and I had not left the house so we decided to check out some local thrift stores and the dollar store to see what is out there to help fill our possible new place- more to come on that :)

Chris and Rebecca both had commitments tonight so Josh and I warmed up leftovers for dinner and I watched American Idol while Josh surfed the web.  It was a well needed chill night.

well love you all back home, miss you and as always welcome and appreciate your prayers!  sweet dreams twin cities.

view of backyard at Renzelman's

the Renzelman's Home

The Renzelman's!

hunting hounds

oh boy today was a full day...again.  I feel like once it gets to be around 4pm Josh and I look at each other and go, "where did the day go?".  It is crazy to think that tomorrow we will only have been here 2 weeks... seriously it feels like 2 months.  Its not a bad thing necessarily- we just have packed so much into these past two weeks I think it should amount to 2 months.

We are progressing on a good housing possibility.  Things are moving in the right direction but will leave all the details obscure until it is final!

We were job hunting like mad hounds today and trying to find a rain jacket for Josh again- AHH those things are RIDICULOUS.....so expensive for light weight plastic and a zipper...come on America, throw us a bone.

It was more of a typical Seattle day with spots of heavy rain and then sunshine and even heavy rain while the sun was still shinning!

We enjoyed yet another delicious dinner with Chris and Rebecca.  Rebecca made Lasagna Soup- quick and easy, but very yummy.  I will miss sharing meals with them on a regular basis- they are truly delightful.

After dinner was laundry and more job stuff so we are ready for sleep.  We would greatly appreciate continued prayers for housing and jobs- even more specifically that all that could be figured out within the next week or two.

Well the frogs are singing us our lullaby so time to sign off and say good night!

Pics from Portland

Boo stuffed animal

line outside of VooDoo Doughnuts- crazy

our delicious cart gyro

Doesn't look like much- but it is HUGE

Josh and Marshall

Learning how to make omelets

Shelley and Lesley

our new city

Hello dear readers.  I am sorry for the delay on my blog post- we were having internet connection issues!

It was very nice to sleep in a little today- I was tired from our trip and travels.  We woke to Rebecca’s delicious scones for breakfast- seriously….soooo goood- white chocolate chip and cranberries, yum. 

As soon as we were dressed we started our online search for jobs and housing.  I found a posting for a job at the Woodland Park Zoo, which sounds AWESOME- so of course I applied.  

After finally finishing the application and searching for others we ate some lunch and headed out for the afternoon.  It was a beautiful Seattle day.  Bright, sunny, calm winds and warm sun- delightful after the monsoon we experienced in Portland.  We first went to Kerry Park which has a killer view of downtown, we then made a quick stop at REI still in search of a good rain jacket for Josh- no luck.  We then started looking at possible housing.  The first one we went to was nice- but not great, I quickly checked it off my list.  When we were on the way to see the next one we learned they no longer had one rooms available- oh well.  After a few other phone calls we remembered a house that had a for rent sign out in front and

The view from Kerry Park

thought we would make our way over there and call Willie to check it out.  On our way to call Willie- we saw these new apartments (in the valley) close to the Union Gospel Mission, light rail and more.   They are awesome- Josh and I loved it right away.  So we will see!

We came home to a yummy dinner of bake potatoes, broccoli and steak- oh really good.  But for now we are just chilling and enjoying the evening at the Renzelmans.

Home again, home again, jigg-ity-jig!

Ahhhh- we are back in Renton, WA!  but let me start at the beginning of the day....

This morning we joined the Bridgetown Inc. Team as they spoke to 2 different churches about the ministry.  Long story short there are 2 different churches that meet in one building and the churches we went to are the ones who helped initially start Bridgetown.  For the first church we did an omelet breakfast.  The bridgetown team made the omelets while Josh and I manned the ham on a griddle.  It was fun to be a part of a church breakfast- and the Bridgetown team is pretty fun.  After the second service we all went out for lunch at Red Robin for one last hang out together.  We learned so much in Portland- we have a lot to chew on and think about.

After lunch before heading back to WA we decided to check out a HUGE outlet mall- the Woodburn Company Stores.  Seriously- it is huge and has an outdoor feel.  It reminded us of the Woodbury outdoor mall but much bigger.  Our goal was to find Josh a good rain jacket and some surprises because...another fun fact.....there are NO TAXES in Oregon?!?!!?!?!  How or why I don't know- but on anything you buy- no tax.  Unfortunately we did not find anything (within our price range) so we walked away empty handed.

The ride back to Renton did not seem to take as long as getting there but was difficult because of miscommunication during car ride conversation.  Josh and I are both sensitive people which can sometimes make conversations a little harder to navigate without getting some hurt feelings.  We resolved our disputes, pulled into the drive way and walked in to hear, "Welcome Home!"  Oh man did that make us melt.

Renzelman's have another family staying with them currently- good friends from the past.  They had had a bunch of people over tonight from their old small group that used to meet with Chris every thursday morning at 5:30am!  So when we had gotten back there were still a few here and also so yummy food leftover...yum.  It was nice to sit down with the Chris and Rebecca and share about our week- it truly felt like home.

After a warm welcome, good conversation, yummy food and a hot shower I said to Josh, "I'm sorry I forgot that we are a family...you and I are in this together...we're a team!"

the hunt begins tomorrow- but for now we're going to sleep! Good night good ol' washington :)