good finds.

me getting ready to go work out- ha!

Seriously another bright and sunny day here in Washington- the mountain was out.  Josh and I began the day getting our butts in gear!   We went down to the sweet fitness room here in our building to do a mini workout.  WE both definitely want to get in the habit again of working out because we like desserts and French fries J They have all new equipment and a good variety.  I watched the Today Show, which always makes me happy- it makes me think of my mom, of early mornings at home and of our trip to NYC. 

Josh and Chris met for a few hours at their home and I tagged along.  It was nice to be in their house again and to have a chat with Rebecca in the kitchen.  It was also good to see Sadie their chocolate lab- she likes to sit at your feet while you’re at the kitchen table.  Once again the Renzelman’s were gracious enough to lend us a TV stand, a coffee maker and some homemade chocolate chip cookies- yum. 

I have decided that Washington has such whimsical plants.  Some look like they have come right out of Dr. Seuss.  It is what adds to the beauty of WA- so many different unique types of plants all over! 

Afterwards we went on another Craig’s list adventure and got 2 small square IKEA tables, a cooling rack, a bread knife and a serrated knife for $8.  We have decided that looking on Craig’s list is kind of addicting AND when we need to furnish a place again will so totally not rule out c-list or random crates on the side of the road.  

We also got so much needed computer speakers at Goodwill and then to Walmart to buy clippers.  Yes clippers.  Josh and I embarked on an adventure of me cutting all his hair off with a clippers! YIKES! We were both really nervous- but it ended up going well.  He decided that in effort to save money cutting it all off would be best.  To celebrate our success we headed to the roof for a dip in the hot tub- seriously bring your suit when you come because it is sweet to sit in a hot tub and look at mountains on multiple sides. 

We spent the rest of the evening incorporating our new furniture and are so grateful so how things have come together.  In total to furnish our apartment we have spend $28.  Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

Oh and the best surprise of the day- we got 2 packages from my mom.  She was so gracious to go through our things stored in their basement and grab out a variety of kitchen utensils.  We also got some awesome surprises like Easter candy- Bethany you know what kind J and the DVD “We Bought a Zoo”. 

Thankful for:  the chat I had with Rebecca at her home today.  I am starving for relationships out here and it is nice to sit and chat with an older woman whom I have come to respect so much in a short amount of time. 

ALSO- for my amazing mom to send us our things that remind me of home- love you Mom!

Please pray for protection from anxiety and “attacks in the night”.  There have been a few times that I wake up in the middle of the night feeling panicked about being far from home and from loneliness.  I know these are attacks of the enemy and my own sinful flesh- I do not want them to have any sort of power over me and what I accomplish here.

Market in the morning- so we are trying to decide if we should watch a movie or a Grey's episode...hmm either way miss you all and sleep tight!

Before

During

all the hair- I put my hand in there for scale :)

After!

Pictures!

Wow today we woke up to so much sunshine pouring into our apartment.  It was so clear out we could see the mountain really well.  So in attempts to be a native Seattleite I would say, “the mountain is out today.” 

I spent the morning doing more job-hunting down in “The Hart”, while Josh took a lot of good pictures of our place- yeah finally some pictures!   After that was pretty much a chill day of put-zing around the apartment and catching up with some friends.  Josh was able to Skype with Ben who currently lives in Australia and I was able to have a nice phone conversation with Maggie.

It was crazy to watch the clouds roll in and out today.  We could see in the far distance heavy rain at the beginning of lunch and by the end of lunch it was not far from down pouring on us.  I think the mountains help create the curves, dips, and dives of the clouds- because they seem to be always moving and always interesting. 

Finally we made some tacos for dinner- yum- one of our absolute favs and we had reserved the media room here to watch Grey’s.  Unfortunately when we went down there at 8 to get things going we could not get anything to work, apparently someone has been messing with the wires.  We then went down to “The Hart” to see if we could watch it there only to discover the same three people who were there the other night.  Thankfully they were willing to let us watch Grey’s at 9 and watched it with us.  We figured out that the three of them all live alone and it seems they meet there every night to watch TV and hang.  It’s kind of comical!

Thankful for:  all the colors we see out our apartment window.  I could try and describe it, and there is mostly a picture of it below-but to really appreciate it you’ll have to come and see if for yourself! J

Enjoy the pictures and have pleasant rest!

lobby of our building

"the mountain" from our window (Mt. Rainier)

sunshine coming in our window!

our bed"room"

bathroom- with washer and dryer in the closet!

kitchen- notice the MN towel :)

kitchen/dining/living room (and check out our blue IKEA couch we got for free!)

colors from our window

deck crossings at our building

The Hart

The Hart

Light Rail on "milky way"

skydeck 360- with hot tub and grills

parkside- view from sky deck

true

*misty*

Today was more of a “typical” Seattle day.  Woke up to gray skies and low hanging clouds.  It started to mist mid-afternoon and grew heavier as the day went on.  Josh and I spent the morning budgeting.  I know, I know sounds super boring but it was actually very joy giving to see how God provided through the body of Christ.  We are so grateful for those who have financially supported our journey and us.  It was a delightful morning to realize once again how we are supported and loved!

This afternoon Chris, Josh and myself met with Bobby, the Director of Youth Services at the Union Gospel Mission.  It is very cool because the apartments we just moved into are directly across the street from the UGM and after meeting with Bobby today we are excited to get involved.  Bobby seems like a very genuine, down to earth guy who has a passion for the youth that no one else knows what to do with.  The UGM offers a lot of opportunities and programs that seem to run along side what Josh and I have been thinking.     

After our meeting we attempted to meet with another person who is involved with a different ministry, but unfortunately she wasn’t there.  BUT I am excited when we will get to meet with her because she has some things going involving the arts- yeah!

Josh and I ran another errand before returning home and GUESS WHAT- we found Josh a rain jacket that should last for a long time and more importantly RESIST the rain!  Josh will be working at the Starbucks less than .5 miles from our apartments meaning he will be walking to work everyday- so it was important to find a good coat to keep him dry in the Seattle rain. 

Josh so excited for his new rain coat!

We ended our evening with 3 rounds of pool down in a common room called “the Hart”.  There was an older couple in there watching American Idol- they had some pretty funny conversation involving the show J

Well I wanted to end this blog with a couple things.  My wonderful mom sent me the devotional “Jesus Calling” and I have been trying to read it everyday.  My hope is to share something from it on a regular basis to be an encouragement for those who are reading and a refresher for me. 

Today there was one sentence that really stuck out to me: “Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life.”  For me, it seems I have been in Seattle for months upon months versus 3 weeks.  Don’t get me wrong it’s been great, but at the same time hard for the obvious reasons.  BUT when I read, “brief portion of your life” it made me realize that before I know it- I will be back in MN thinking how fast our time in WA was.  We are here for a reason and a purpose and I don’t want my emotions to let me loose sight of that vision.  Really this statement could apply to ANY stage in life- so acknowledge that in the grand scheme of things its only a brief portion so don’t waste it, see what God is doing!

I also was thinking tonight how I tend to be more of a negative person.  In light of some conversations today and what I wrote about last night I realized negativity is poison to my soul.  So I am going to attempt to counter it in a small way by posting at least one thing I am thankful for in that particular day.

Thankful for:  Family, friends and RVC who have been an encouragement and support for our vision and for friends who have been lifting me up in prayer J

Alright all time to walk down the hall and post this bad boy with the internet floating around the building.  Sleep well my soggy Seattle.

move in day with our new apt. keys!

cooking our first meal in our new place

horses, horses, horses, horses....

Well we made it through our first night in our new apartment.  We have been working to get this place cleaned up and things put away- and let me say it looks a whole lot better this evening than it did last night. 

I must say today was a roller coaster of emotions for me.  I made phone calls to the places I applied and it was not very fruitful.  It is discouraging when you know you are a capable person, but it doesn’t always seem to be expressed as well on paper.  I will admit it has had me down today.  A job is obviously needed for financial reasons but I am also starting to realize I need it for relationship reasons as well.  Yes we have met a lot of people- but the majority of those we have met live all over the country.  We have not yet had the chance to attend a church more than once to see where we might land and hence have not made any connections with people our own age.  I am in need of friendships, people to have a relationship with- even if its kind of shallow- I need people to connect with that live here. 

After my lame phone calls we went on a errand run to Fred Meyer and Target.  If you don’t know, Fred Meyer is basically every store combined into one.  It has fine jewelry, clothing, cosmetics, sports gear, household items, groceries, garden and more!  Rebecca told us it is one of the cheapest places to shop so we were able to scope it out and find some more household needs like sheets, a blanket and a rug.  We then did the daunting task of grocery shopping at Target for the first time in a long time.  Now we are loving our new place and building but it is almost TOO new in the fact that it doesn’t have any ghetto shopping carts.  In our old apartment there were a handful of carts from stores nowhere near the apartment building.  At first you think, “wow that’s really ghetto”, but then you come home with 10 or more bags of groceries and go, “wow that’s really great!”.  The Station doesn’t have any carts- nor do they allow any- so I guess that means we will be gaining some muscles!

We had our first home cooked meal of spaghetti and mini salads with bread.  We put more things away and then wound down the evening with a classic Meg Ryan “Sleepless in Seattle”.  Hmmmm so great.

Tomorrow brings some ministry things- meeting with Chris and Union Gospel Mission, it will be good to have some focused things to do. 

Please pray for a positive attitude for myself- today has been very negative for me and as corny as it sounds I know that is not good for my soul. 

Oh also if you grabbed an envelop at our Open House or if you like to write letters- email me and I will get your our address.  Sorry no pics yet- still settling in!

Love you all- its time for bed because frankly this girl is NOT sleepless in Seattle J

The Station

Well today was another move for Josh and I.  We moved into our apartment in the Rainier Valley neighborhood of Seattle.  We came in at 11 to sign our lease and then headed back to the Renzelman’s to load our car and their truck.  We do not know how we got everything in our car to get here- because it took 2 car loads to get our stuff to our apartment.  I don’t think we were ask determined to get everything in just right. 

We are very grateful for the Renzelman’s helping us move, letting us use their truck and lending us some furniture and household needs.  We showed them around the apartment a little bit because it has some SWEET amenities including: new fitness room, sky-roof deck (with grills and hot tub), media room and more.  They told us multiple times they were going to miss us and we are going to miss them.  I told Josh that if their house was located in the Valley without a doubt I would live with them the entire time.  Their place is our home away from home out here and it has been really nice living with them- it gave me a sense of warmth and comfort. 

Once we finally got everything in our apartment, we headed out for a Walmart run.  We picked up the $10 pizza box from Pizza Hut for dinner (yum) and have spent the rest of the evening trying to organize everything in our new place!  Once we are more settled I will post pictures. 

Unfortunately- we find ourselves once again without internet in our apartment- but they do have access located in the common areas of the apartments which is nice.

So we are beat and ready to hit the hay BUT dear readers we now have our own place with a hide-a-bed couch and a signed lease for 12 months MEANING you have only a certain amount of time to get out to experience Seattle with free lodging!  So don’t delay this offer won’t last long J

Sleep tight MN and let us know when you have scheduled a visit! 

The Station 

Its All About Jesus

Happy Easter!

Today we went to the downtown Mars Hill service at Benaroya Hall.

It was large and beautiful in there- as you can see and it was a FULL house.  They also had the Seattle Symphony playing with the worship band making it wonderfully beautiful.  They started off the service with a song we ended with at Good Friday.  The sound of the symphony and the worship song brought instant tears to my eyes.  I really was holding back tears when they led into "All Creatures"- the song the wedding party and myself walked down to at our wedding- ahh so wonderful.  Pastor Mark Driscoll spoke live at our service and it was ALL about Jesus.  Pastor Mark let Jesus speak for himself and went through a handful of main points where Jesus said: he descended from heaven, was sinless, forgave sins, IS GOD.  One of the things he said that has made an impression is  "you need to deal with the REAL Jesus".  He was saying that you can reject Him or love Him but it needs to be the real Jesus you are either rejecting or loving- not a made up one.  It is easy to reject or love something you have altered to make whatever you choose more acceptable but to reject or love the REAL Jesus is the REAL DEAL.

big news! Jesus is Alive!

After the message was a PARTY!  There were around 100 baptisms done while the band and symphony continued to play worship music.  Like Josh said, "baptisms never get old" it was an emotional, worshipful, joyous time!


After service we headed to the best possible place to have an Easter meal- an irish pub!  Josh and I struggled to find a buffet and or a brunch that we wouldn't be paying out our noses- so we thought our favorite restaurant our here would be a good choice.  We enjoyed a breakfast plate and a Bally Castle Sausage Roll at Kell's Irish Pub in Post-Alley of downtown.

We strolled the Pike's Market in the nice warm sunshine- lots of beautiful flowers and fun arts and crafts.

We each got a chance to skype with our families- which was great, but it always makes me miss home that much more.

We have spent the rest of the evening hanging out and are currently watching "Up" on the "big screen".  This coming week brings more job hunting for me and Josh getting started on mapping out our time here with the different ministries.

Please pray for

• my job hunt that something would materialize soon.  
• Josh starting his job at Starbucks- that training will all go well
• finding a home church and developing some quality friends

once again- Happy Easter and remember- its all about Jesus! :)  night and sweet dreams

ferry boats

Wow- today was beautiful!  We woke up to sunny clear skies in the great state of WA- while I heard MN was a little rainy.  We slept in and had a nice chill morning.  We went for a walk and made sure to just stay on the same road so we won't get lost :)

Heading out a little later than we should both Josh and I left for his 1pm interview.  It was a stressful drive but we made it there on time.  Though confession time- I have not driven since March 19th.  Driving is not one of my favorite tasks- especially in a place I don't know.  I am the type of person who needs to visualize where I am going before I go.  Soooo- seeing that we are in a completely different state I am very intimidated to drive, but I drove for about 10 minutes today.  Seeing that we were cutting it close for the interview and the lack of a parking lot- Josh went inside while I drove around looking for a parking spot....seriously big moment for me- ha!  BUT great news- Josh got a job at Starbucks- YEAH!

After the interview we headed downtown to ride the ferry.  Because it was such a clear day you could see the mountains incredibly well and they were incredibly beautiful.  I hope all that come out to visit get to experience a clear Seattle day- it is unreal seeing all the mountains, the city, the water and the evergreens...wow.

On the way home we saw a large storage crate with furniture inside that said free.  We stopped to look and got a decent sofa sleeper!  woo hoo! another good deal on furnishing our place...again more to come on that :)

We ate dinner, watched some of the Mariner's game, enjoyed some dessert and are now watching "Night at the Museum, The Battle of the Smithsonian" in the basement.  They have a projector and speaker downstairs to watch movies large- sweet.

Hope you all have a blessed Easter tomorrow- but for now I am going to focus on watching one of our favorite movies :)  night all!

Mt. Rainier

Olympic Mts.