Ruth and I celebrated our five year anniversary this past April.  As a delayed anniversary present we went away for the weekend to Port Angeles, WA.  Now, Port Angeles isn't (apparently) the nicest place in the world.  The surrounding country, however, is.  To boot:  Part of the Twilight movies was filmed there at a restaurant.  Thus there were a number of teenagers dressed in black giggling their way through a walk. 

During John Liu's visit we had the opportunity to spend two nights at Deception Pass State Park to do a little camping.

June and July have proved to be a busy two months for us with a number of visitors.  Ruth's brother, Silas, has been living with us for a short time while he completes a graphic design internship up here.  We've also had a number of St. Louis friends visit. 

On top of that, and what has proved to be the most exhausting, was the flooding of our apartment.  One Sunday morning while we were at church a water main pipe broke and began to fill up our basement apartment with water.  Fortunately our neighbors spotted the water and were able to contact our landlord and a plumber quick enough to stop the problem for getting too out of control.  Our landlord has proved to be awesome through the whole thing.  Much repairs were needed,however.  All in all, we've spent a total of two weeks displaced from our place--one week while cleanup was going on, and another while the walls were fixed--and a total of 4-5 weeks of craziness.  This week new carpet will go in and we can finally get back to "normal."  We are excited about this.

Below are pictures of the last two months (there are a bunch of 'em).

Along Lake Washington there is a small park on a hill (next to a Starbucks) that has served as our favorite Saturday or Sunday afternoon spot to read when the weather is nice.  You might be able to see why.

Ruth and I had the pleasure of going camping with our Community Group.  Every year the first full weekend in June is a "free" weekend of oystering and clamming.  Meaning, one does not need to purchase a license to dig up oysters and clams that weekend.  Thus, we headed out of town for a beautiful weekend. 

Along with some fresh oysters eaten on the beach, we also dug up too many clams to count, made some fresh clam chowder, and "hung out" with some local bald eagles checking out our progress.  Alas, we forgot to bring our camera.  So the pictures that we do have are from someone else.  :(

April has been a busy month for us.  We've come to enjoy, immensely, the coming spring weather and flowers here.  However as spring goes, we've been busy with "life."  Nothing super special, just the rhythms of life keeping us busy.  Below are some pictures that we've taken.  

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.  :)