New Season Update

Well, as the Christmas season begins, I am starting a new season of my own. I have been offered and have accepted a full time position with Apex Learning, an online curriculum company and virtual school. I have been contracting with this company for about a year, now and designed and wrote for a reading course for secondary struggling readers that is now being used across the nation. This is a great opportunity and a wonderful provision while Danny is in grad school. And so...on Monday, I will join the Seattle bus commuters destined for downtown and begin a new job as an English Producer for Apex Learning.

I will not pretend that this decision comes with no regrets. There is a small (or not so small) part of me that has really enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that contracting has afforded. However, with three days in the office and two days from home, I really can't beat the flex (or benefits) of this job. I will also be working with an amazing team. In all honesty, this is a dreamy job. I will just trust the Lord for the time, energy and enthusiasm as I get ramped up and into the swing of things.

I also thought it might be nice to catch you up on what we are doing in our church, Mars Hill. Danny and I have been leading a newlyweds community group in our home since the beginning of the fall. It has been a wonderful group, and we look forward to walking beside them through the rest of their first year of marriage. What a blessing and a joy to be focusing on marriage! I have also been asked to head up Women's Ministry for the Wedgwood Campus (the campus we attend) and have been asked to speak at one of four sessions during the church-wide women's retreat in February. This is both humbling and exciting, and I look forward to being a part of vision casting for women's ministry, Wedgwood style!

In other news...Danny will finish his DTS degree this year! Praise the Lord! He will fly to Dallas once in January for a week long class and then 4 times to Austin for a weekend class. A rather intense way to finish things, but he will be finished, and that's the goal! Whew!

So...no new pics for this update. I'll be taking some shortly, I'm sure, and blogging away. I am determined to stay on top of this! :)

If you think about it, would you pray...
* that we will have enough of ourselves to go around in this season of working, serving, learning.
* that I will have great joy in this new job.
* that we will have wisdom in decision making as we go forward.

Love to you all!

Thanksgiving Visit

How fun it was to have all my family here for Thanksgiving. Danny and I enjoyed hosting, showing off Seattle, and just hanging out with my mom, brother, sister-in-law, and sister. What a blast! Unfortunately, I was a terrible photographer this weekend, so the pickin's are slim in the photo department. Here's what I did manage to capture.



My sister and I in front of the Troll...Jeana spent her fall break here...we managed to see some of the sights and eat some Pho!



Ashley (Jonathan's new wife...yea!) and Jeana in front of the Pike Place Fish Market. Strangely enough, they both had to watch a film for a training session at work that featured this fish market. The film was encouraging fun at work! I guess throwing fish is fun. :)



The newlyweds being a little silly at the Market.



Thanksgiving dinner prep...lots of hands...lots of mouths!

I didn't manage to get any shots of the actual dinner...maybe I was ravenous by the time the TWENTY-SIX POUND turkey finally came out of the oven! It was a lovely meal with family and friends. What a blessing to be where we are. Danny and I were counting our blessing out loud last night, and we have much for which to be grateful! Thanks be to God!

Oh, and I couldn't pass this up...little Bennet (the sweet pea I nanny for once a week) lounging all over my Mishka dog. What a cute pair!




Love to you all! Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Ashamed!

So, I am the worst blogger ever...ah, well. Here are a couple pics from the last couple months. There are so many more I need to upload and so much life I need to chronicle. I'll try to be better.

Miscellaneous Snapshots
Danny's parents and grandmother were here for a week at the end of October. Grandma B. is 91 years old and amazing! Here is one picture of us when we took her to Pike Place Market (Danny did not get to go, unfortunately). This is the famous pig (famous for what, you ask? And I must reply...I have no living idea.), and in the background are the famous fish throwers. I think they were throwing crabs in this pic.

And here is our sweet friend, Louisa, who lives in the garage apartment of the Bugler Compound (our pet name for where we live). The precious little gal is Bennet, who I nanny for once a week. She is the daughter of our friends who are our landlords. We live in their basement apartment...the whole arrangement is such a blessing from the Lord! And of course, Mishka is looking on and being furry. :)

And then there is the shot our niece took of us in San Diego. Not bad for a ten year old. This was a great trip with Danny's whole family...minus Grandma B. We did the beach, Sea World, the bay on jet skis, lots of grilling, game playing, shopping and family time. It was a blast!

And my awesome mom out here for a little R&R (at least that's what it turned into when we sent Mishka to doggie boot camp...ahh, another story to be told). We hiked around Mt. St. Helens, and it was absolutely breathtaking! I never knew there were so many live volcanoes in this area...many due for a big blow-out. Y'all come visit! :)

And the one major hole in this catch-up post is my brother's wedding...I'll post more on that amazing event when I figure out where in the world I saved those pics. Yikes! I guess he and Ashley deserves their own post, anyway.