Autumn in Seattle

...the air is crisp and cool. It smells of freshly fallen leaves, pumpkins, apples, grapes, and rain. Everywhere you go people have donned boots, scarves, thick jackets (but not yet winter coats), and colorful umbrellas. Coffee is always a staple in Seattle, but its consumption has increased dramatically during the entrance of autumn, if for no other reason than to have something warm to wrap cold fingers around. The temperature fluctuates between the mid-30's and mid-50's with a couple of frosty mornings here and there. Last night brought the first dusting of snow. People will stay off the roads this morning, but the snow will all be melted by evening.

Baking has become a delightful pastime for many, and muffins, cookies, and gingerbread have begun appearing on family tables and in neighbor's cupboards. The scents of nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon waft through the air. 

Fires are lit in fireplaces and heaters are turned on. Golden, red, orange, and brown leaves drop to the ground, leaving bare branches exposed for the next three or four months. The evergreens flaunt their ever green boughs, promising to keep refreshing color in the scenery along the way. Dark falls earlier, making 4:30pm feel like 7:30pm and 7pm feel like the deepest of night watches. Strong breezes blow through the trees. Houses are shut up tight and cozy against the wind, for the air is crisp and cool...

Housing Supplied!

It has just occurred to me that I never told you that I have found a place to live next year! I'm so sorry! I know many of you have been praying about that with me, and I thank you.

I will be living with a family from the school. Actually, the mother in the family teaches Pre-K at the school, but all of her kids are grown and don't attend Providence. Her youngest is in college. They are a quiet family, which will be good. And I do get along well with Mrs. S. She has been so sweet and kind this year! I will be renting just a bedroom from them, but there is a little sitting room outside my bedroom where I can go if I just need to work or read or do my introverted thing. ;-) I'll be helping with the cooking a little bit and cleaning the bathroom I will share with their daughter. God has really blessed me with this situation. They will charging only a small amount, and that small amount will include board. I am so thankful, as I have been praying for this type of situation so that I can continue saving for a car. God has provided once again! I am so thankful!

Not only is my rent going down but my salary is going up! God is surely good to me! I'm thankful for the opportunity to save for the things that I need and yet have the flexibility and means to give!

I'll be sending out my new address in a few weeks. 

Please let me know if you would like to know what the new address is! :)

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! 

A New Year: 2014

Proverbs 20:24

A man’s steps are from the LORD,

how then can man understand his way?

A new year. 

The old has passed away and the new has come. 

The year of 2013 played out very differently from the way I had imagined it going. On January 1^st, 2013 I would have never guessed that within one year I would have moved across the country and be teaching in a classical (I didn’t even know what ‘classical’ meant in relation to education!) Christian school. I also would have never guessed that I would have been involved in a serious car accident or that my confidence would be shaken so completely. It just goes to show how little we really know about our own lives. I’m thankful for a God who not only knows the whole course of my life already, but that He also is in complete control of it.

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

But it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Something about a new year really brings out the contemplative and reflective side in people, myself included. Seeing how God has worked this past year makes me wonder about this upcoming year. Now of course I know that not every year will bring such radical changes to my life as this past year brought, but you never know which years will bring the “major” changes. So, where do you think you will be in one year? Where will I be in one year? My imagination isn’t able to conjure up a very different picture right now. I imagine that I’ll be in very much the same place physically. Probably in Seattle, still teaching at PCCS, and attending Trinity Reformed Baptist Church. I hope that my circle of friends will have expanded a tiny bit more with perhaps a close friend or two in Seattle. I’m hoping to have a new car by the end of the year. Spiritually I hope I am more mature and in love with my God and Savior. I want to be primarily concerned with the things of the Lord and not so easily distracted by the world or by the opinions of humanity.

Proverbs 16:9

The heart of a man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes his steps.

It is good to plan and make goals, (it would be much more difficult for me to purchase a car this coming year if I don’t plan and make saving goals!) but it is so important to remember that even the best laid plans are only that: plans. There is no way to absolutely ensure that the plans will go exactly the way you or I had imagined them going. Come to think of it, I can’t think of the last time one of my plans went exactly the way I had planned! And that is why it is so comforting for me to know that my Heavenly Father has every detail of this coming year carefully laid out. He will glorify His own name and that is a plan that cannot go awry!

So, what plans are you making this year? 

Are you ready to see how God takes those plans and makes them conform to His own infallible plan? 

Sometimes it’s rocky. 

Sometimes it tough. 

Sometimes it seems like the world simply cannot carry on. 

But it is always under His complete control 

and for His ultimate glory.

Have a happy New Year and a blessed 2014!

Pike Place Market... and other sights

Hey guys! 

Time is passing really, really, really quickly here! I'm keeping busy! 

This week I spent about a half of each day in my classroom. The classroom is probably about half of the size of last year's classroom. And there is one cabinet for storage. You saw how many boxes of school stuff I brought with me, so that has been my challenge this week: how to find a place for everything and still make the room attractive? I think I have most of the organization done and I'm ready to start beautifying the room and working on boards. 

I've also spent some time being lost in Seattle (kind of sounds like the name of a book or movie, huh? "Lost in Seattle", lol). As I've run errands here an there I try to turn my GPS off on my way home and just let myself be a little lost. I head in the general direction of home and wander through the streets. Then when I've taken in as many sights as my little eyes can see, I turn on the GPS again and find my way home.

And of course, I've spent some time seeing the sights. It still takes me by surprise when I come up over a rise in the road and find a mountain or mountains on the horizon on the other side. I never, ever, ever thought I would live near the mountains. It makes my heart sing to see them all around me. 

I've been down to Puget Sound and really enjoyed the water. I'll have to take my camera down there and get some decent pictures. I'm not pleased with the way the ones on my phone turned out. Meanwhile, you can enjoy some pictures of Pike Place Market. I visited twice this week, once with my mom and then again with one of my roommates (C) and her mom.

Excuse the bugginess and blurriness of this picture. I wanted to show you my view as I drive to the school. Can you believe that I am still very much in the city at this point? I love how nature is so intermingled in and embraced by the city of Seattle! It hardly feels like a big city!

Hey, hey! I use this website ALL. THE. TIME!

Lots of people. Oh. And the original Starbucks. ;)
The line to go to this Starbucks reached all the way down to the end of the block (the end of the red brick building).

They have the original Starbucks logo here...

Seattle is all about fresh, organic, locally grown foods. This place looked really good, but I didn't try it. Maybe next time when I go and am hungry.

Locally grown, fresh herbs.

All natural!

Locally grown fresh produce!

Locally caught seafood!

More locally grown, organic, fresh produce... are we sensing a theme here? Haha!

There are so many fresh flowers all around Seattle, not just at Pike Place or the Farmer's Markets. They are everywhere! And they are so cheap! You can get many of these bouquets for just $5-$10!!!

There were lots of fun little things to see around Pike Place Market as well...

These were really yummy donuts.

We ate lunch at this place. Mom's blackened salmon salad was super good!

"Down Under" the main street market there were even more shops! And below that, there are even MORE shops! I'm not sure that I've even seen them all yet!

This pic is a giant piggy bank. Put your spare change in to help... someone. (I can't remember who exactly. oops!)

This is a "living statue". She would move around for a few seconds after someone put a tip in her jar. She did a really good job... didn't blink ever when she was in her frozen position!

Such an adorable little shop! I want to stop here sometime!

Tall buildings! They are so pretty.

This is the "Gum Wall". Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww! And it had a nasty smell too. So much gum!

Creative. Spell your name with gum, haha!

A Seattle totem pole! The birds seem to appreciate it.

The ferris wheel downtown, and some cool-looking bridges.

This is a nice little park area to look out on the Sound. But it appears also to be a haven for lots of homeless people. There were so many homeless people with their packs sleeping all around the park.

I love the flowers growing on the roofline at Pike Place Market.

This is the view mom and I had as we ate lunch at Lowell's. 

Beautiful mountains! I can't believe I live here!!!

More mountains. :)

Mount Rainier... I pop over a rise on the freeway and bam! The mountain is there in all its glory. I get to look at it as I drive for a little bit as I head south on I-5. I think that it is a bit hazardous to have such beautiful scenery around when I'm driving! Haha! This is what I see as I get off on my exit. (And yes, I am stopped as I took this picture)

And my classroom. This is the mess I've been working on this week. The teacher before me was pretty organized, but then I brought all of my stuff and I had to reorganize everything. This is looking in from the door of my classroom.

And this is looking in the other direction, with the door leading to the outside right behind me. The classroom is green! It matches all of my decor from last year! Yay!!!! 

I'm glad that I go against the traffic both ways to school. I head north (leaving Seattle) in the morning, and south (heading into the city) in the evening. This picture was taken at about 4pm.