Car Troubles

I must admit, one of the most daunting parts of moving across the country was the car part. Cars inevitably have problems, and I really, really, really liked my mechanic in Indiana. He would tell me what was wrong and explain it in great detail so that I could understand it. Then he would explain the different options for fixing it, and finally how he decided to fix it. He would even show me examples of what he had done! :) And he did it all really inexpensively. I'm really not sure how he makes a living with the prices he charges people! 

While my car was in the shop in Indiana, I always had a way to get around. My family is awesome like that. They are very selfless and give up a car or give rides to other family members who need it. Moving away I knew that I wouldn't have my family to fall back on. I dreaded the inevitable car troubles and how I would deal with them. 

Well, this past week it finally happened. My brakes started acting funny. Or rather I should say that they were getting gradually worse and this week was the point where I was sure that there was a problem. I knew that my brake pads should still be good since I had had them checked at my last oil change, which was only a month ago. So I started paying attention to what exactly they were doing so that I could describe it to the mechanic. Basically, they are not maintaining the pressure when I press down on them. If I pump them, then I can come to a complete stop, but if I just press down gradually on them, the pedal goes all the way to the metal and I'm still not stopped. I seem to get braking power back if I release it and then re-apply. All that to say, my brakes are not in tip top shape right now. 

Now in Indiana this is a problem that should be corrected sooner than later. I could probably get by with caution. In Seattle, with the traffic and the hills, it is not safe at all. I called to make an appointment at the mechanics, but since it's a holiday weekend they couldn't get me in until Tuesday. Of course, I agreed and set up the appointment, but then I had to figure out rides. Asking family for help is one thing, asking other people is a whole different matter. It is so difficult for me to ask people for help! My first plan was to drive super slow and super careful, but the teachers at my school would not hear it. 
--Two different teachers had me talk to their dads who have worked on cars, and both of these men told me I should not drive the car around. 
--Another teacher told me that she was going out of town for the weekend with her family and that she would be much more comfortable if I drove her car for the weekend. 
--One of my students' parents picked me up and took me to school on Friday. 
--Another teacher offered to give me a ride back from the mechanic's on Tuesday. 
--Another teacher is willing to give me a ride to and from school on Wednesday
--Today, my pastor and his wife told me that they really didn't want me driving the car to the mechanic on Tuesday, especially since when I can drop it off it will be rush hour traffic with a lot of starting and stopping. They offered to use their Triple A to tow it to the mechanics.

I am truly blessed. This is a stretching experience. I do not like to ask for help, and feel really bad accepting it when it is offered. I know that this is pride and that I need to work on it! What a gracious God! He gives us lessons in the things that we will not teach ourselves.

Please pray that it is a simple and inexpensive fix! I'm only planning on keeping this car until October. I have been and will continue saving furiously until then so that I can buy a car that is hopefully more reliable. I pray for this car every day... praying that no serious and expensive repairs need to be made. So far God has answered! 

The Simple Things

One of the benefits of being a teacher is that I get to witness childlike faith and childlike simplicity every day. Every. Day.

My students believe (almost) everything I tell them. Why? Because I'm their teacher! They trust me! They trust that what I say is right and true. When we study God's Word together they simply believe. Why? Because they trust that whatever God says is right and just and true and holy. Their simple faith in their prayers is so uplifting and at the same time challenging to me. Why do I feel the need to make my conversation with my Heavenly Father complex? It shouldn't be! I am His child and He is my Father.

And then there is there sweet, simple joy in the little things in our day. Some examples:
--> I hand out two folders to each student each time they take a test or quiz. They are supposed to set them up so that they have some privacy and so that wandering eyes don't "accidentally" see their papers. Anyways, I have 17 students, and so I need 34 folders. Just because I'm rather OCD, I like all the folders to look the same. So I use the same red folders each day. The problem is that I only have 28 red folders. I do have 6 green folders though... just enough for one row of three students to get the green folders each time. I hand out folders randomly, but the students get so excited when their row gets the green folders. There is absolutely nothing special about these green privacy folders except that they are different!

It's the simple things.

--> At the beginning of the year I discovered that this group of kids loves to play the quiet game... you know, the game where no one can make a sound? They love to play boys against girls. It is really convenient. At the beginning of the year we played it for fun, but now it is a rather handy trick for when I need to leave the room for minute, or need a minute to get the next activity set up, or a teacher comes in to talk to me, or if they have just gotten too rowdy and need to settle down. I don't explain that we're going to play the quiet game or anything like that. I simply say, "Ready, set, go" really fast and they all basically freeze and hold their breaths. It's marvelous! It's wonderful! It's so simple! Simple. Simple for me as a fall-back. Simple for them because they know what it is and how it goes... and they love it!!!

It's the simple things.

--> In history and geography we are learning some songs to help us with our timeline in history and to help us with the geography of Africa. They're just short little songs with the catchy little tunes. But when I announce that we are going to sing our history or geography songs their reaction is priceless. They react as if I have just announced that we are going to the moon! They love singing these little songs! 

It's the simple things.

--> Today our Bible lesson was over how the LORD gave Jericho to the Israelites. At the end of the lesson I thought maybe we could reenact the battle of Jericho. I divided the students up into priests blowing trumpets, priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, soldiers before and soldiers behind, and then a couple students to act like the people in the city of Jericho. The plan was for the citizens of Jericho to hang out inside the boundaries of the playground. The rest of us would line up in the procession described in Joshua. We then marched around the playground. Once for day one. Stopped and rested. Once for day two. Stopped and rested. Once for day three. Stopped and rested. And so on through day six. My little students acting the part of the Jericho citizens acted afraid at the beginning and then each day progressively got bolder until they were taunting the Israelite procession. 

For Day Seven we marched around the playground seven times, and I just have to brag on my students a little, not one of them complained about the amount of time we had just spent marching around the playground! No complaints at all! What troopers! It was not short distance! Not only that, they did it with almost no talking since the Bible says that the Israelites said not a word until the seventh day. The only noise was marching feet and trumpets blowing. Little feet were marching and paper trumpets were blowing the entire time. At the end of the seventh time on day seven my little Israelites gave a mighty shout (and what a terrific noise they made!) and went to conquer the playground, er, City of Jericho. 

They loved it. I thought they would tire of it quickly and want to call it quits but nary a word of complaint did I hear! One of my moms wrote me tonight to tell me that her son was so excited and was explaining to her in detail all about how they conquered Jericho. I love that little things like this excite my little darlings. I love that these simple things still have the power to engage them and impress them. 

It's the simple things.

It's nine o-clock in the evening now, which means that it is my bedtime. It's amazing how much our bodies like schedules, isn't it? I can pretty much tell what time in the evening it is based on how tired I am. 9:00pm on the nose and I start yawning like crazy and wilting like a flower out of water. I am going to enjoy one of the simple pleasures that God has given to us... sleep!

Little Brother Comes to Seattle!

In April I was blessed to have my not-so-little little brother come to visit me! We planned to go camping along the Oregon Coast for the week that he was here. People had been telling me how absolutely beautiful the Oregon Coast was, so I was glad I had my buddy with me to drive down to visit it! :)

It's getting harder to take selfies with my little bro! He's getting too tall!

When we used to go camping as a family, when we were kids, Dad would make this dish with ground beef, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and whatever else it was. When we asked Dad what it was called he said he didn't know... that he just made it up. So us kids decided that it should be called "Grub". And so "grub" has lived on in our camping trips as a staple of tradition. :)

When donuts start to get dry at home, you pop them in the microwave. When they start to get dry on a camping trip, you grill them over the fire. Paul said they were pretty tasty!

Paul playing with fire while waiting for supper...

He amused himself for a long time with this little piece of wood.
He called himself the "master of the fire" or something along those lines.
Goofy kid!

We didn't get very far down the coast, (only to Tillamook, Oregon). We visited Christ Reformation Church in Tillamook on Sunday and met some wonderful people. They were so hospitable! While in Tillamook my car started acting funny, so we decided that it might be better to turn around and head north again. I didn't want to end up in southern Oregon with car trouble.

We got back to Seattle on Tuesday and finished up the week doing some touristy things. I think Paul enjoyed them. I certainly did!

We ascended the Space Needle and took in the views of Seattle.
A bit pricey, in my humble opinion, but still pretty cool.

The views from the Needle:

If memory serves, this is Lake Union. Lake Union unites the Puget Sound to Lake Washington.

Downtown Seattle.

Another thing we did was the Underground Walking Tour. You see, Seattle is actually built on top of Old Seattle. When Seattle was first founded it was built right up against the water... at low tide. This caused major problems during high tide! The Great Seattle Fire occurred in 1889, giving the city to start over again. They rebuilt the city in the same place, but with plans to raise the streets 8 feet. All buildings had to built with brick or stone (to prevent another great fire), and had to be at least two stories tall. Essentially what happened was that over the next several years the streets rose and the second floors became the first floors. The first floors and storefronts became the basements. This change prevented flooding when the tide came in. It's a really cool tour! I can't explain it all here... you should go on the tour yourself when you come visit me!

One of the original first story doors between buildings.

Seattle's original sewer system was a mess. A literal mess. In more ways than one. This wooden pipe was an original part of the original sewer system.

When the streets and sidewalks were raised to the second story, the city installed skylights so that the underground storefronts could have natural light. Pretty cool, huh?

We also went on the "Ride the Duck" tour. It's a tour that takes you around Seattle and shows you key spots, then the bus converts into a boat and you go out on Lake Union and see Seattle from the water.

House boats! All different shapes and sizes.
Hmmm... do you think this person is a fan of "Where's Waldo" maybe?

Our driver wore different hats for different legs of the journey.
He was a pretty funny guy with all sorts of jokes.

Just me and my little bro riding the duck!

It was a good visit. It's hard to believe how old my little brother is getting! And so tall! He's growing up so fast all the sudden! 

A review in pictures...

I was looking through my phone today and realized just how many pictures I have taken while here. Some were taken with the purpose of sending to my family, others were taken for the purpose of posting here... which I promptly forgot to do after taking the pictures!

Anyways, enjoy a little taste of life in Washington. :)

We don't get snow often in Seattle. In fact, if there is any snow fall at all the city shuts down! This happens for two main reasons:
1. The city is simply not equipped to deal with snow... no salt or sand for the roads and only a few snowplows. I believe someone told me that all of Seattle had less then 20 snowplows. Wow!
2. Add snow and ice to the hills around here and *BAM*! Quite literally... bam. Accidents everywhere. People don't know how to drive in the snow. And people who come from snowy areas (*ahem* Yours truly) don't know how to drive in the snow on the hills. It's quite a different matter. And so. I had one snow day this year. And this is what it looked like outside:

Just a dusting shuts down the city!

I went back to Indiana for Christmas and nearly froze my nose off! It's amazing how quickly our bodies acclimate to new climates. Besides nearly freezing to death, I got to spend a wonderful nine days with my family. I'm so thankful for the long breaks I get on a teacher's schedule!

Lots of hugs from this kiddo! My Sethie is growing up so fast!

Levi and I hanging out at Nana and Papa's on Christmas.

After Christmas, school picked up again for another month and a half before our next break: Mid-Winter Break. Now, before coming out here, I had never even heard of a Mid-Winter Break! My first thought when I realized that I would have a break in February? To surprise my family with an unexpected visit home! It was tricky saying goodbye after Christmas break because my family was all sad thinking we wouldn't see each other until summer. I tried to be honest and appropriately sad at our parting. 

The surprise went better than I expected. I was sure that at least one somebody would be suspicious! But it all went off without a hitch. I even got my parents to pick me up from the airport without them knowing that they were picking me up! I told them someone from Seattle was flying into Chicago and needed to be picked up from the airport. Of course they agreed to pick her up (because they are awesome and generous like that :). I set up a fake e-mail account and even went so far as to put google voice on my phone so I could text them when I landed and they wouldn't recognize the number. The look on their faces when they saw me standing outside O'Hare was priceless! The surprised looks continued all week long. :)

The timing of my surprise visit was perfect for Christy.
I was so glad I could be home with her for this week!

My Scott and Seth! They are such cuties!
I miss them so much!

In March my mom came to visit. I was so glad she could meet my class and fellow teachers! We did some sight-seeing and just general hanging out. I have the best mom ever!

Mom brought me a new hat. I usually can't pull off hats
but Mom did a spectacular job picking this one out.
I wear it a little less than all the time. ;-) 

While Mom was here we drove to the Washington Coast. The drive was a bit lengthy, but completely beautiful! We stopped at Port Angeles and could look across the water to Canada:

The visitor's center lady in Port Angeles gave us some excellent suggestions for spots to drive to to see. Here are a couple:

I don't remember the name of this little fall, but it was beautiful!

And then there was Crescent Lake. Words fail me for this part of Washington. The pictures will do a better job, but even they are not sufficient:

We did make it to the Pacific Ocean, even though we kept stopping along the way to take in the views. And the Ocean... well, the Ocean was (and still is!) magnificent. If you wonder about God's power, that is the place you need to go. There is no doubting His greatness and might as you stand on the edge of the Ocean.

The Ocean's waves are not like Lake Michigan's. They come up much farther than you think they will.
Watch out Mom! Here it comes!

Whoops! Well, now you know!

Wait... I thought we already had this lesson!
Run Mom, Run!

Foamy, salty waves

Spring started peeking out in March. The flowers and greenery have just blown me away. And the aromas... oh my goodness! They are so lovely! You can be driving down the road (or even the freeway!) and catch whiffs of heavenly aromas. They just fill the car and you can't help but break out in a smile of appreciation for God's creation. He could have just made the flowers beautiful without the wonderful smells. Or he could have made them smell good without the wonderful aromas. But he made them both look beautiful and smell beautiful! And here in Seattle they haven't stopped looking and smelling beautiful since March. Most of these pictures are from March and April. (Yes, I am trying to make you envious so that you will move out here! ;-)

The tree in my front yard is just filled with these blossoms!

Lawn freshly mowed... in March.