Spring and Summer Fashions

One of the advantages of being on the west coast is getting a glimpse of the up and coming fashions and trends. It is always interesting to see what *new* things will be marketed this season! So, without further ado let me inform you of a few trends that I have observed this spring. You can expect these fashions to be coming to your area soon!

Fashions!
Prepare yourselves for the comeback of the... overalls! These showed a slight upwards trend last summer, but most people just looked at them with surprise and amusement. Well, they are back this year and I have actually seen several people wearing them! Both pants and shorts versions are available. Dark denim and washed out denim are options. Fortunately I have not seen any acid washed overalls yet though! :) Another shocking comeback is the jumpsuit! I can just hear you now...

*gasp* "No!" 

But yes, they really are back. They are not only in the stores but I have seen them being worn frequently, even more often than overalls. They come in all sorts of patterns and lengths. I have seen full length jumpsuits (which remind me of clown suits really!) and then the short-sleeve/shorts version. The shorter version is definitely more popular. Another, more general trend this year is the vintage styles in clothing. This seems to include lighter weight shirts with some embroidery around the necklines and hems. Horizontal stripes and polka dots are some of the more popular patterns this year in fabric this year.

Another trend I have seen this year, although not a fashion clothing trend, is a car color. Many newer cars that I am seeing driven on the roads in the greater Seattle area are a deep brown... almost burgundy color. It is actually a very rich and luxurious color. It will be interesting to see if it catches on and is added to the common color swatch for cars.


Summer Plans
The school year is over and summer has begun. I did a little re-arranging in my classroom and have put a few ideas for next year on the back burner to simmer all summer long. But for now I am just ready to rest and relax after this school year. :)

My new library area in my classroom. This is what you see now looking in at the door. I'd like to make some pillows for the floor. :)

The Seattle area summer weather is absolutely glorious. It really makes me sad that I am going to miss it! I am thankful that I had the privilege of experiencing it for four or five weeks before heading out for the summer. My main goals this summer are to visit family and work on my "current reads" shelf.

I realized that I had too many books that I have not finished yet. So this summer I'm going to try and finish most of these books. :) We'll see how far I get!

My cousin Mary flew up to Seattle and spent a few days with me there. Then we flew together back to her new home in Arizona.

Enjoying Molly Moon's ice cream in Seattle with one of my favorite people. I'm so glad Mary came to visit me in Seattle!!!

We have enjoyed a couple of days together in the dry heat of Arizona already. :) I'm hoping to avoid a sunburn while I'm here! ;-) Mary and her husband Caleb have been quite consistent in pointing out the advantages of living in Arizona. I have an inkling that they are trying to get me to move here... ;-)

This weekend I will be attending the Building Tomorrow's Church Conference here in Arizona, then I will spend another week with Mary and Caleb before flying to Indiana. I am so looking forward to being with my family! It is the hardest thing in the world to be apart from those who you love most. There is peace in knowing that you are where God has you, but peace is not necessarily synonymous with easy. In fact I rather think that "peace" and "ease" are rarely found together. In mid-August I will head back to Washington. I am planning on visiting Victoria, B.C. with a couple of other teachers from the school. This is a "just for fun" trip that I have been wanting to take since I moved here. I've heard that Victoria is both gorgeous and a darling place to visit.

Then my summer will be nearly over. I'll have about a week to unpack, deal with my car a little bit more, get together with a few people, and acclimate myself back into the Seattle weather, traffic patterns, driving times, and prepare myself for the school schedule.

Teacher work week is the last week in August and school begins September 2nd. I'm looking forward to a beautiful and refreshing summer.

Roots

Roots. The part of the plant that collects water and nutrients from the soil around and transports these life-giving things up to the rest of the plant. A plant cannot have life without healthy roots. And people cannot live a full life without putting out little rootlets into their surroundings. But they are hard to put out! It really takes a lot of work! ...especially for an introvert like myself. But little by little I can see my circle expanding.

School
I'm a learning more and more names and matching them to more and more faces. Providence is really a tight knit little community. But not at all clique-ish, which is wonderful. The teachers and other staff and reached out and plucked me off of my lonely little path and have done so much to make sure that I feel welcomed and included. A couple of the other teachers invited me to a Bible study that meets on Tuesday nights. I attended with them last night and met several other ladies who have beautiful souls... it is so good to know and SEE God's remnant meeting together!
Parents have also been so welcoming. It's especially nice when I meet another parent who doesn't even have a student in my class and they say, "Oh! So you're the Miss Wesner that we've been looking forward to meeting!" or "Oh! You're HER! We're so excited that you're here!" or "We've heard so much about you! We're so thankful that you are a part of Providence!" This has happened so many times over the past weeks and it has been such a blessing.

Today one mom came into my classroom after school to talk to me. Her husband actually just took a teaching job at Providence as well, and the whole family just moved to Seattle from California. Anyways, she had home-schooled all of her kids before the moved here, and so my heart just really reaches out to her son who is in my class. He has so many of home-school traits that I can identify with! Most of all he has had trouble adjusting to the structure of being in a classroom and having to sit and remain seated, to have good listening posture, raising his hand, standing to answer... all those little things that you simply do not have to do when you home-school! Anyways, she came in to talk to me this afternoon and she told me how much her son is just loving school every day. She told me that he is always talking about "My teacher this" or "My teacher that". And then she said,

"It must be so special to be 'my teacher' to 17 different children! You are the light in their little lives right now! I can just see it in my son's face or hear it when he talks about you and what you all are doing in class." 

And it dawned on me... I really am their teacher! And we ARE having a wonderful time in class! And I DO love being the "my teacher" in their sentences. This really is a one of a kind profession and I feel so blessed to be called to it! Thanking the Lord for equipping me and giving me the education I needed to have this job! 

How has God equipped you... and when have you last been thankful 

for the gifts and skills God gave you? 

When have you been full of joy because of the gifts God gave you?

I know for me it has been far too long. And it is absolutely shameful that I have not given thanks more recently or more often for the gifts which God has so lovingly and thoughtfully imparted onto my person.

Church

Church has been good. I have really been enjoying some good fellowship with the ladies there. I do wish it was more often than just Sundays though. I miss the mid-week meetings. And I feel as if I am not really truly a part of the lives of the people there. I know that it is difficult to have a meeting in the mid-week but I still miss it. For one, we rent the building on Sundays, and don't have in the rest of the week. For another thing, so many people travel from such a distance (I learned this past Sunday that one couple travels 45 MILES!) that it is really hard to meet in the middle of the week, especially when you take the Seattle traffic into consideration. 

So that is an item for prayer if you are praying. I long for some good, deep, meaningful fellowship times with like-minded believers. Pray that there would be perhaps a Bible study or something that would allow me to get to know some of these other believers better than Sunday fellowship allows. Thank you! :)

Roommates

It's an interesting thing living with other people... so many different personalities, so many different backgrounds and life stories, so many different convictions, preferences, and ways of doing things. And so many different types of friends! I have met friends of each of my roommates now, and I realized... a person really is very much like his/her friends. Not only do friends often share interests, but also a sense of humor, a similarity in the way they look at life, and lots and lots of common experiences. 

Other areas that my roots are growing outward

I'm actually finding it much more difficult to put rootlets in other areas besides school, church, and roommates. But I'm trying! I've been visiting the Saturday Farmer's Market (love that place), and am slowly expanding the map in my head. I'm using the GPS less and less and have a better and better idea of where things are at. I'm enjoying trying out the Northwest way of doing things. I guess the hardest part of putting little rootlets out in areas other than church, school, and roommates is that I really just hate doing things by myself! There are so many things that I would love to just go and do, but quite honestly, I can't seem to make myself go and do them by myself. I have also caught myself talking to myself a lot... and I mean A LOT! It's getting a little out of control. I need a good friend to talk to.

So if you're taking requests, this is request Number 2: Please, please pray that God will send a good friend for me. Someone that I share interests, convictions, the same love for the Lord, and a sense of humor with. Someone that I can just call up for a coffee date to chat and spend an evening with. Someone that will go with me on these crazy little adventures that I want to go on, and someone who I can join on their adventures. I know this is a tall order and that a good friend like this is hard to find. But our God is not intimidated by tall orders. Actually, now that I come to think of it, this really isn't a tall order at all for him! After all, He did speak the world into existence! He can bring a friend across my path. So please pray with me!

Hope this little update gives you an idea of what's going on here. I would LOVE to hear from you! Missing all my Midwestern friends so much!