Settling In

Seattle is slowly becoming home. We found a church that we enjoy going to. Last week their was an involvement fair. It definitely reminded me of Wartburg's involvement fair. :) This church has A LOT of different things to get involved in. I talked to the Sunday School coordinator about helping out and she seemed really excited to have another person to teach. For being in the middle of a huge city, the church is rather small. Sunday School is divided into two age groups: lower elementary and upper elementary/middle school. I think I will be working with the upper elementary and middle school group. Tyler and I may join the Dinner's for 8 program. It would partner us with a group of about 6 other people. We would have dinner together about once a month. It would be great to get to know some more people in the area.

I have been unable to find a teaching job due to the poor economy. However, I was accepted to be a sub in Renton! I will continue working at Safeway and hopefully get plenty of opportunities to sub. I have the Substitute Orientation next week.

Fall has taken hold in Seattle. It has been rather chilly and rainy. I'm sure it will only get worse before it gets better:) I was told that it didn't snow at all last winter! However, they are predicting more snow than normal for this winter. I just read an article about how the city is preparing. It will definitely be interesting to see what winter holds.

New Loves

We welcomed an adorable black kitten named Darcy to our home on Sunday. He is three months old. Darcy is a very friendly and adventurous kitty. He has explored every inch of our apartment including places he should not be including the refrigerator, behind the refrigerator and behind the TV. He has already grown a little in the few days since we brought him home. He longed to discover what was kept on the kitchen counters. He tried to jump up and failed, clinging to the counter by only his claws. However, a few days later he succeeded in jumping on the counter to his enjoyment and my disappointment.

Having not had a kitten since I was little, I didn't realize how much trouble they can get in. Darcy finds it fun to jump on my face in the early hours of the morning. He loves the chase the toes under the blanket game even though I do not. Even though he can be a little trouble maker, he is still adorable.

Another new love is Grocery Outlet. I have never been so excited about groceries! :) Grocery Outlet is a grocery store that buys discounted food directly from the manufacturers. The have some great deals! According to their calculations we saved $60 when we went shopping today and I tend to agree.

Catch Up

It has been forever since I lasted posted and a lot has happened!

Notice the cruise ship in the water? We see cruise ships all the time. It really makes me want to take a cruise!!

We have been trying to find a church that is the right fit for us. We have gone to four churches over the last four weeks. Trying a variety of churches has been an enlightening experience. Ultimately, Christians are Christians, but worship practices and beliefs can vary greatly. As all people have their own private ideas it is important to find a church that fits well with each individual. We have found two churches that are comfortable, but I think we will continue looking before we make a final decision.

I have been working at Starbucks for about 3 weeks now. Training was a tedious process!! Because I work at a Starbucks inside a Safeway, I am actually a Safeway employee. I had three days of computer training for Safeway; three days of "always use good customer service skills." It was much better to actually be behind the counter to learn the on the job. However, my first day behind the counter was spent reading training manuals and watching.... :( Now that I am actually working it is much more fun. It has been interesting to learn many drinks that Starbucks makes.

I have had little luck on the teaching job front. I have applied to many districts within an hour radius and have not heard anything back. So hopefully, I will be able to sub and continue working at Starbucks.

Summer in Seattle is filled with activities! It seems like there is always something to do (although, we have not experienced nearly all of them). There are several farmers markets in the area that include music and entertainment. I would like to go to one at some point. Tonight there is a free performance of Othello at Seattle Center. We are excited to see it! It is an outdoor performance so hopefully it doesn't get too cold!

A Bite of Seattle

First off, good news! I got a job...at Safeway...but a job! Actually, I will be a barista at the Starbucks inside Safeway. I spent two hours with the hiring manager interviewing and filling out paperwork. I have new employee orientation tomorrow.

We ventured to Seattle Center for Bite of Seattle, a festival show casing mostly food, as the name implies, but also exhibiting local bands and vendors. We had already eaten dinner (which was not the smartest plan), but the food smelled wonderful. There were many different types of food mirroring the many different people of Seattle. We may go back for dinner tomorrow or Sunday night.

The Scenic Route

We have begun to plan extra time for trips considering we never fail to get a little turned around. However, I am proud of my ability to get us home even if it takes a little longer. These situations have taken us to knew parts of the city, and by doing so are helping us learn the area. Another challenge is the one way streets (or streets that randomly turn into one way streets) and streets that suddenly end or turn into other streets.

After turning around only once, we made it to Discovery Park which should be a short 15 minute drive from home. I was amazed by the little patch of nature tucked into the big city. I expected a short, leisurely walk to views of the mountains and Puget Sound, but it turned into a 4 mile semi-strenuous hike. However, it was well worth it.

According to a sign there were four distinct habitats: meadow, forest, bluff, and beach. We hiked through all except the bluff because it was more like a sandy cliff. The ocean was in low tide, so there was a great deal of beach filled with tide pools. While we were there, the tide started to come back in. It was interesting to see life come back to the drying tide pools.

Finally here...

Well, we are here despite the snags along the way. Dropping off the truck was the final straw in a list of trials. However, we are here no worse for the wear.

Now the hard part is unpacking. I think I dislike unpacking almost as much as I dislike packing. It is so difficult to find a home for everything. Like I've said before, it will all be fine eventually.

We are starting to get our home set up and get used to the area. We will get internet in our apartment on Friday. For now, we are frequenting the library and Seattle Center to use internet. Having internet will make the job hunt much easier.

We have gone to Fred Meyer, which is amazing. It is like a giant Super Target. They have everything you could ever need, pretty sure. I have also applied for a job there.

Seattle is a funny place weather wise. It has been rather cold and a little misty the last two days. Today was incredibly nice and sunny all day! However, I noticed that Seattle has a weather watch for high temperatures. Those high temperatures happen to be in the 80s. That's a nice day for Colorado or Iowa summer. Gotta love the cool Pacific weather.

Even the mechanics were puzzled...

We spent 3 hours in the lovely town of Baker City, while the many different mechanics worked on the truck. We had a tire blow out while driving on the highway. Luckily we were only a short distance from Baker City so U-haul sent us to a tire shop to get a new tire. Easy fix, right? However, when the tread stripped off the tire, it caught on the exhaust pipe bending it completely backward on top of the tire. So, we called U-haul again and set off to another mechanic. Three hours later we were on the road again.

It wasn't all bad, though. It could have been way worse! We even managed to miss driving in the storm because we were waiting for the truck.

I'm loving driving across the country and seeing new places. It is so pretty! I was surprised by the mountains in Oregon. They are not the mountains that I have seen in pictures. There were very few trees and they had dry grass. Near the Washington border the mountains became more familiar.

Even with the delay, we made it to Yakima, which is well into Washington. Only about 3 hours to go tomorrow!

After quite a day, all is well and we will finally be in our new apartment tomorrow!