Summer!

Apparently I'm still getting used to blogging... sorry it's been so long...

It is officially (kind of) summer in Seattle!!!  And when it's warm, it's absolutely gorgeous! Since I last posted, I've been to CO for a weekend for a wedding, and also been to Victoria, BC for 2 days. Aside from those two trips, I've just been hanging out around Seattle and enjoying life in the city with friends.

The wedding in CO was an absolutely gorgeous demonstration of God's grace towards us and I'm so glad I got to be there! It was also good to see friends and family there, even if it was just a quick trip.

My mum came out to visit for my birthday and the 4th of July, so I took a day off work and we went over to Victoria. There's a ferry that leaves from downtown Seattle and only takes 2.5 hours. On Friday, we went sea kayaking and saw lots of seals, a bald eagle, and some other cool birds. It was really neat to get out on the water and just calmly look at nature! Then on Saturday we went to Butchart Gardens, which was beautiful! Then she spent a few days with me in Seattle just hanging out with my friends and getting to know my community. It was so great to be able to show her the community that makes me so joyful in the Lord!

Other summer activities have included strawberry picking (best strawberries ever!), Bite of Seattle festival, a visit to Snoqualmie Falls, walks in the parks and by the water, and generally enjoying life!

And, in all of the busyness of life in Seattle, I'm seeing God more and more every day. He has orchestrated a wonderful plan for my life and I am so excited to be seeing Him at work daily. He is teaching me to genuinely love those around me: "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing" 2 Thessalonians 1:3.  As my faith increases, as does my love for everyone - it's so cool to be part of God's story! I'm filled with joy at the works of His hands!

 Butchart Gardens in Victoria

 Snoqualmie Falls

Food from Bite of Seattle (photo from Kelsey)

Strawberry Picking with Michelle

Thoughts on Community

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25


It was Sunday evening. My friends called to see if Amy (my fabulous roommate) and I wanted to go to the Folk Life Festival - a Seattle Memorial Day tradition - with them.  The answer was easy - yes! After listening to some folk music: Bryan John Appleby, the 5 of us decided to get dinner.  It was over dinner that I was (again) reminded of God's grace towards me in the 2 months that I've been here.  God has placed me in a community like none I have ever experienced before. While we were eating, one of our friends started asking questions about God and Christianity.  Nothing prompted these questions, but we were all happy to help answer them. This lead to some amazing discussion about our faith and God's character. As one of my friends was praying at the end of our conversation, I was overwhelmed with joy in the community God surrounded me with. This community isn't just friends, it's a group of people doing life together. We worship together, eat together, walk together, talk together, live in the city together, and share Christ with others together. I've never been in a community that is so actively seeking to include others and is working together to share the gospel.
In other news, Amy finally got here and it has been such a blessing having her here to share in my community.  She has been welcomed in as part of the church family and I am so thankful for her :) We are both really enjoying the apartment and being able to walk all sorts of cool places.

And, just as a bit of a side-note, my love for the community I have been given here doesn't mean that I don't love and appreciate community God gave me in other places. I am just overwhelming thankful for Him easing my transition to this new place.

The following are some pictures I've taken recently.

 A little park that I pass while walking to/from work

Melrose Market - about 2 blocks from my apartment, sells local organic meat and veggies and has a wonderful sandwich shop

Cal Anderson park - about 5 blocks from my apartment, and across the street from Molly Moon's 

 Molly Moon's Ice Cream Shop - it has some very unique flavors like honey lavender and balsamic strawberry, but also does a great job at the more "normal" flavors like ginger lemonade sorbet and coffee and Theo's chocolate

Me and Amy at Seattle Center for the Folk Life Festival

Apartment Pictures

This is my first attempt at posting from my phone so sorry it it's formatted badly or anything...
Here are some photos of my apartment. The kitchen, living room, and my bedroom. I may post more later... And I'll try to get some pics of the neighborhood to post as well.

My New Home

I officially have a home in Seattle! I moved into my apartment in Capitol Hill last weekend and so far it has been absolutely wonderful!  It's a 10 minute walk from work and downtown, church, grocery stores, and friends are all less than a 20 minute walk. After I moved my stuff in on Saturday, some of my friends came over to hang out and it was a great glimpse of the community-building activities that will be able to happen now that I live closer to everyone. I won't have to be as careful about planning my time with buses and things. Also, one of my friends made it very clear to me that God had His hand in providing this apartment for me.  I've been struggling a little bit with the though of living downtown because of all the big buildings and the lack of green. But, as Clara pointed out, God gave me an apartment that has a bunch of big trees right outside - there's even a tree right outside my bedroom window! And we have a balcony that faces the trees with some flowers below. I also really like my new neighborhood.  People warned me that Capitol Hill is known for being a little weird (much like Boulder), but that hasn't bothered me at all. I've already found one really good sandwich shop that uses local organic ingredients and I'm sure there are many more fun restaurants nearby. My roommate, Amy, will be arriving this Monday, so I'm really excited for that! She's a fellow engineering grad from Calvin and she'll be moving here from Ohio. I can't wait to introduce her to all my friends and show her around the city! And to top off my wonderful week, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous! Today it's 65 and sunny :) 
I don't have internet at my apartment yet so I'm going to try posting pictures later today from my phone.  Hopefully it works! I know some of you are anxious to see the apartment!

Vacation!

Last week I took a vacation.  Yes, I know I just started a new job and it's not advisable to take vacation right after starting a new job, but I'd planned this one long before I got the job.  So, I went to MI for a week and it was really fun!  I got to meet my nephew, Oliver Patrick Mosby, and got to see a bunch of friends from college for a wedding. The trip was pretty much exactly what I needed - time to rest, bake, and hang out with family and friends.   Michelle and I did some experimental baking.  We wanted to try to make digestive biscuits (if you don't know what these are, ask and I'll tell you.  Or, better yet, buy some from World Market and try them!) so we tried two different recipes.  Both turned out okay, but not like McVities.  My quest for the perfect digestive biscuit recipe will continue as soon as I move into an apartment (hopefully soon!).  We also decided to make some bread (without a bread maker).  As a first try, we chose honey whole wheat and it turned out really well.  The three of us finished off a loaf in a matter of hours! And, finally, we wanted to make Party Rings (another British biscuit, but might be harder to find... we'll just have to figure out a good recipe so I can make them for people or post the recipe here).  Actually, Michelle made the Party Rings, but ran out of time for frosting, so they were pretty much shortbread cookies - but very yummy! Again, I'll work on perfecting the frosting when I have an apartment.  I think my new coworkers will be happy about all of these baking plans - someone has to eat all the goodies!

My adorable nephew :)

Firsts

Looking back on my first few weeks in Seattle, I feel like I should make a list of "firsts."

1. First time really enjoying a cup of coffee. I had the best mocha ever last week at a little cafe called Arosa that is a block from work. Hans, who owns the shop, is from Switzerland and uses real Swiss chocolate flakes in the mocha - so tasty!

2. First time looking for apartments. I wish this experience was as wonderful as the mocha... but it's been hard. There are a lot of choices, but none of them have been really good options for me. I may have found somewhere, though... more details to come! (if it actually works out... one thing I've learned is that apartments go fast in Seattle!)

3. First time dealing with the difficulties of public transit in a big city. One day last week, I took the bus from work to Queen Anne to look at a condo. Not only was the bus 20 minutes late, but it was also crowded with some very interesting people.

4. First time to see what living under an overpass means. I was walking to visit a different condo and had to walk under the I-5 bridge. It was pouring with rain (shocking, I know), so not many people were walking around, but I took a moment to look around as I was under the bridge. I was shocked and heartbroken by what I saw. There were tents and sleeping bags everywhere. Not just a few, but many of them. I took a minute just to stand there and reflect on what I had just experienced. I had always heard of people living under overpasses, but had never really been exposed to it. I'm not sure what this experience means for my time in Seattle, but it has left a deep impression on me.

And that's the end of the list for now... I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any right now.

My Cool New Job

I survived my first week of work! So far, it seems like my job is going to be really interesting. For those of you who don't know, I'm working for the Infectious Disease Research Institute. We are working to develop adjuvants for use in vaccines for diseases like TB, malaria, and leprosy. Adjuvants are a component of vaccines that make them more potent, so less antigen is required. I'm still not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but so far I've done some particle size experiments and a lot of paperwork and reading... For those of you who are interested, the adjuvants are in an emulsion, which is a solution of water in oil that has been mixed so there are very small droplets of water suspended in the oil, so those are the particles we need to know the size of.

Along with work going well, everything else is also still great. Community is still developing around me and I'm really enjoying it. Tomorrow is the big launch Sunday for Downtown Cornerstone, so today I helped some of the ladies get food ready. It was wonderful to be able to spend some more time with them and get to know them better.

This week I got to experience some of the typical Seattle weather... today was the first day I saw the sun in a week. But it's not that bad. Everything is gorgeous and green :)