Ruth and I (Tom) have now been here for four months.  Most people ask, "How are things going?"  And, "what are you doing?"  And, "why is your wife so much better looking than you?"  With these things in mind, a little run-down on our Seattle experience for friends and family is called for:

First, we are doing pretty, darn well.  We have been again and again overwhelmed at how great things are for us here.  We love our church.  I (Tom) love my job and the staff here at Grace Seattle.  We really like our little apartment and our upstairs neighbors.  Really, the only thing that kind of stinks here is the parking in the city.   It is far too expensive and it is a little bit of a pain to have to drive around block by block to look for an open spot.  This, of course, forces us to walk a ton (which is good for me).  Gone, I guess, are the days when I want to go the the store and am able to drive right up to nearly the front door. 

Ruth's job has been a surprising blessing.  We have been amazed at how well the company treats their employees.  Unfortunately it is a rare thing when a company treats its employees with respect and dignity.  Ruth's company, Quotewizard, would be the rare exception.  Moreover, the job itself and the corporate environment there fit right up Ruth's alley in regards to mutual care, challenge, giftings and personality. 

We are playing soccer on a co-ed team.  One thing about getting older (there are a few new experiences that I am learning as the months slip by) is that my skills and fitness are pretty much in the pooper.  My body knows what it wants to do, but for some reason it just can't get there and do what it needs to do.  Just about every touch on the soccer ball seems like a miserable mistake in judgment.  On top of that, my speed is gone and so is my ability to run well for more than 10 minutes.  Sheesh. 

Ruth, of course, doesn't have to worry about the fitness part.  We are beginning to try and do something about it for me.  Gone are the days when I could eat whatever I wanted, sit around for weeks on end, and still run 3-5 miles when called upon. 

We have been pretty surprised by the weather here.  Frankly, we were expecting it to be rainy just about every day.  While it does rain a lot here, it is often times just a mist.  Moreover, on these rainy days there are many, many hours of such days that are not rainy.  And, there are a ton of clear days.  These clear days, make it all worth while.  Because it is here that you are reminding that there is water on both sides of the city (Lake Washington and the Puget Sound), with two amazing mountain ranges over looking.  Frankly, I think the weather reputation here is similar to the lie perpetuated by the namers of Iceland; ie. it is told to keep outsiders away.  Some of the pictures below represent visual landscape here that is often a part of our daily commutes and experiences.

We don't have any new pictures to post.  Sorry.  Below are some from a google search on Seattle to let you know the city a bit.

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure to attend a going-away party for one of our new, dear friends Susan.  She is heading to the London L'abri, with a few stops here and there on the way. 

Apparently, Susan is old friends with Rosie Thomas.  Thus we had the amazing pleasure of having a small concert with Rosie in the house.  It truly was a treat and we felt like we were able to look in on an intimate event, with Rosie's voice and songs taking us to ethereal, transcendent place. 

If you have not listened to Rosie Thomas, Ruth and I highly recommend it.  You will be thankful.  She is both hilarious when she talks and uniquely transcendent when she sings.

Thank you so very much to our anonymous benefactor who sent us money to go on a fancy date, with the above note/instructions!  We went to a movie and had a wonderful evening trying out a sushi restaurant here.  :)