First Moments in the Emerald City

We have arrived in the Emerald City! Hard to believe we woke up in our apartment IN SEATTLE!!! this morning. So crazy! But here’s lots of crazy stories:

1)   Where we are living. We have an AWESOME apartment in the Capitol Hill area of town. Capitol Hill is considered ‘the most hipster neighborhood in the country.’ Aka: lots of young people, food of every origin you can imagine, and stuff to-do galore from bike polo (witnessed it ourselves last night) to wine tasting to live music. More importantly, the apartment is pet friendly, literally about 200 yards from all the hospitals I’m applying for, less then a mile to downtown where Seth is applying for many of his jobs, and bonuses: has a washer & dryer and dishwasher. Super bonuses: has a rooftop deck, work out room, and a bike storage room.  Super duper bonuses: it is a brand new building, certified green/energy efficient, and our apartment has a view of the mountains. The story of how we got it: we found it by way of a family friend spotting it on craigslist for us. The couple moving out needed somebody to take over their lease by January 2^nd (the day we were arriving), so they were willing to hugely subsidize the rent to get somebody in there, AND they were leaving ALL of their furniture (everything from the couch to the toaster to a few rolls of toilet paper. EVERYTHING). Did I mention Seth and I didn’t own a single piece of furniture? We put our applications in ASAP frantically from my sister’s kitchen table in Boise, our family friend came and checked it out for us just to make sure it was legit, and we got it. We had to pull over in the middle of nowhere central Oregon en route here and create a hotspot to sign our lease online. Thank God, literally, for modern technology. Upon picking up our keys, the property manager informed us there was a long line of people behind us wanting it too.  So long story short, we have an awesome, convenient apartment that came full of furniture that we could have never originally afforded.

2)   Totally different way of life for us. I walk to the grocery store (found one only 0.6 miles away! Hurray!). Our apartment building is certified “LEED” energy efficient, and Seattle is super ‘green.’ EVERYBODY recycles, you won’t find a single plastic grocery bag in the city, you have to pay for paper bags (bring reusable ones), and starting this year, you get fined if you don’t compost (all food waste gets recycled).  Parking is a nightmare on purpose to get people to walk and bike more, and there are really safely sectioned off bike lanes. I like it. It feels good to take care of our planet. 

3)  Church. Went to a really good church this morning! It was such a strange sight seeing an entire auditorium of hipstery, young people all singing about Jesus this morning, but also really cool. In a shifting culture and one of the most liberal (if not THE most..Portland maybe is #1?) cities in America, young people still gather to worship and learn about Jesus. I liked that too. Lots.  

4)   Jobs. We don’t have them yet (emphasis on YET!). But other awesome thing that happened: My dream job that I was declined for in December actually called me literally as we were driving into the city to set up a meeting to talk about the position some more. Also, found out my cousin has an awesome connection at the company Seth is really interested in working at. So things are in the works!

Overall, we have been incredibly blessed, and God is taking care of us in huge ways and in the small details. In large ways: finding us this ridiculous perfect apartment and working it out so it was in our budget. In small ways: so many examples, but here’s one: Obviously since we don’t have jobs we are seriously pinching pennys anywhere we can to survive while jobs are worked out but today we had to get new phones because Seth’s totally died (perfect timing, right? Applying for jobs and have zero extra money). BUT! We were able to get some $$ credited to our account unexpectedly so our phone bill will actually be smaller next month!! So many things like that have happened, and to God be the glory. We left Roanoke in a huge leap of faith with a car full of stuff, our animals, and a small savings account for how expensive this place is, and over and over again God is providing for us on all fronts. Only by His perfect grace and planning are we able to make this giant transition as smoothly as it has gone, and we are so thankful for the people who have helped us in so many different ways during this transition. 

Hello again mountains, conifers, and Pacific Ocean. It feels good to see you again.