This year so far...

This has been one of the most full and best years of my life. Wow! Can't wait till 30. Okay, I can wait. There have, however, been a lot of cool things that have happened this year. Let's see. To recap,

I graduated in May of 07

Lennie, my brother got married to an incredibly fun woman named Jill who has amazing fondu nights on Christmas Eve by the way and I gained a very fun new family on her side.

In August of 07 I started my career in Human Resources at Bayview. I can't imagine loving a job more at this point in my life

In October of 07 I met one of the coolest guy friends I have had so far in my life and I have had this amazing November and December.

Family and friends, I want to introduce you to one of the sweetest friends in my life so far, Jonathan Santos, Mr. Wonderful. I'll tell you much more about him later, but I wanted to start with an introduction and a myriad of great pictures from this last month.

Not to mention, that I have spent this year with a connection at a church that I really love and I have had the opportunity to make some great friends who have been such a blessing a long th way. 2008 has been a more full and incridible year than I could have imagined or hoped for. What a ride.

Only in Seattle

We were in Seattle the day after Thanksgiving and I just wanted to share this fun fact. There were guys walking around with signs saying "Free Hugs", and they were really giving them out to everyone. The guy in front of me shouted, "Free Hugs, no hiden agendas, no strings attached!" Really? I'm not sure if they were from an organization or if they were just fun loving Seattle friendly guys, but it was interesting watching others come up and feel very happy to have a free hug. Hey, why not?

Some things I'm thankful for

A friend recently asked a question about what I'm thankful for...I'm thankful for so much in my life and it takes a question such as this sometimes to really stop to sit and be thankful for some of the most important things in our lives.

My favorite author, Henri Nouwen says it best...

"~Gratitude ... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. --Henri J. M. Nouwen

First of all, I'm thankful for God's love. Without Him I am nothing and my human nature merits nothing outside of Him. He has brought me through every age and stage in my life and provided the only love that makes me whole.

Second, I am so thankful for the friends that have surrounded me as family. I love my blood family members like my brother and aunts and uncles and cousins, however, I have felt especially blessed by those who have opened thier hearts and homes to me when I needed a sense of stability and belonging. I am so thankful for the encouragement, acountability, and rich experiences everyone in my life has provided. When God created people, he did it so intricately to provide us with different personalities, features, gifts, etc. When I stop to think about what that really means....it blows me away...

I am excited moving into this Christmas season to be around some of my greatest blessings

A New Season

I love the Fall! I love everything about it, the changing of the leaves, the way the crisp new air pierces through your skin, the refreshing smells the air brings, pumpkin spice lattes and all things spice in general...and the color orange! So fun. As much as the changing of the season is happening, I beleive there is a new season in my life right now. There is so much to decide and I am starting to prioritize things in my head about where I really want to be. I know that I have talked about with many of my friends the desire to work with those less fortunate, but I wasn't sure how. By word of mouth, I stumbled across a ministry in Seattle called New Horizons. New Horizons is a youth center. They feed and build relationship with homeless youth in inner city Seattle. I met with Aaron, the volunteer coordinator the other day and it seems like it may be a good fit for me. My first opportunity to serve will be October 10th..this coming Wednesday. I am open to what God might have for me in this season. My whole heart sighs with releif knowing I have wanted to be here for so long. Not sure what it's going to look like, but what in the world do I have to loose?

Favorite Bus Moments This Week...

Waiting for my transfer bus from Queen Anne to downtown: A man in a tiny Red car with his window open drove by singing opera at the top of his lungs! (Anyone would have to smile at this one)

On my transfer bus: An older man was swaing back and forth singing and serinading the entrie bus to, "One day we'll meet again!"

It's like cable T.V. I love it!

First Few Days

First and second day at Bayview have been great. I love the nature of my new position. It's a great fit so far... The commute is something I'll have to get used to. I have managed to make it onto the correct busses to get myself home. Took a long walk in Seattle today rather than taking my first transfer bus. I have lived inside my bothell bubble for quite a while now, so having to trust God for my protection in the city on a daily basis is pretty new. Lo and behold, my very first King County Bus in downtown started with a bang! A guy in the back was yelling at the bus driver to call the police because the guy next to him was threatening to kill him. The lady sitting next to me could tell I was a newbie. She said loudly, "You'll never come on one of these buses again, will you?" I felt embarrassed, but was able to quickly shrug it off. There is definately something about being in the city that makes you feel like you are really living your life. I'm hoping this experience makes me more comfortable with being there. I would like to start volunteering my time in the inner city and my internal discomfort has always felt like a bit of an issue. I'm sure that if nothing else...I'll have a lot more interesting stories to tell.

"From the Inside Out"

I was taking some personal time out this evening and a book I'm reading had a short verse with it from The Message//Remix. It's an interpretation for Roman's 12:2 that I want to take with me this week and I thought it was worth sharing too. It reads;

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it wihtut even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragining you down to its level of immaturity, God brigs the best out of you, developes well-formed maturity in you."

~Romans 12:2

Good stuff...