the Steadwich

Well, we’ve made it through day two almost now! Woo hoo! The weather continues to be strange though. I woke up with about an inch of snow on my car. What the heck!

Still not too bad though. After spending some time admiring the snow, Zach’s dad(Zack!) made us some eggs and fantastic sausage. My goodness. It was sweet. We spent some time sharing about the mission trips that Zach and I just got back from. Very awesome. It was good to hear more about Zach’s trip to Vancouver, BC.

Our breakfast conversation ended with a discussion about how God has perfect timing. We talked about mission trip projects and Jr. High kids. Sometimes you just don’t know if you’re doing anything. Especially true with Jr. High kids! The conversation flowed to the truth that God calls us to keep doing these things sometimes that we have no clue why we’re doing. Our job is just to plant the seed, and God will take care of it from there. Zach’s parents are both so knowledgeable about the Bible. It was very encouraging.

Zach and I took off into Portland a little later to see everything. As we drove in, I began remembering random facts and stories from my time in Portland this last summer. Especially the community that I was able to be a part of at red sea church. It wasn’t a community of college students, but rather college students, adults, children of adults, and more. Incredible.

We visited Gift & Mail Solutions, my aunt’s store. It was great to see her, even though it was quick. She had some computer questions, so I helped her with those and we went on our way. We found parking downtown for only $1.25 an hour(?!), which absolutely beats whatever Megan, Mike and I paid in San Francisco this year. We walked to Powell’s and I was in awe at the enormity of selection. We probably spent an hour in the Christianity section, which was a good three aisles. I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything though, and I think this is because I’ve become too addicted to amazon.com’s book recommendations. Maybe that’s smart, but I also wish I could just buy a random book and enjoy it.

We then walked to the farmer’s market. We took a quick pass through and then walked along the river back to the garage. We drove out to St. John’s and enjoyed Burgerville, a great classic. Afterwards, Zach and I drove to a starbucks and met up with Tori to catch up. Tori was part of the small group I joined last summer and had a huge role in making my summer the growth experience that it was. Looking back, this year has been fantastic, probably largely due to the time I took away in Portland.

We visited a huge WinCo, see below. Now its games and dinner, with a side of Mike Ylinen tonight if he makes the trek out from St. Helens, OR. What a day!

New winco in van. So big!

While I’m at this blogging thing, I forgot to share that I got my bus driving license( Class B CDL with air brake restriction lifted and Passenger(1) endorsement)! Woo hoo!

Fake picture, but good interpretation anyway!

Well, I’ll be honest. I’ve always wanted to be a travel blogger. You know, one of those people who travels the world, and tells people about it in a beautiful combination of words and pictures during the trip. Something like a newsletter, but more real. More current. More exciting. Something that allows friends, family members, and random people on the internet to enter into the sights and sounds of wherever I happen to be. Not that they would necessarily be interested.

So, today begins it. I am going to be a blogger once and for all. No guarantees on post quantity(or quality), but a greater attempt at using this fantastic internet tool while I’m out and about.

Here it is:

Today Zach and I left Bellingham for Vancouver. He was originally supposed to sing at sabbath tonight, and I was looking forward to going. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been feeling so great, so he wouldn’t be able to sing. On the upside, this allowed us to leave bellingham a little earlier.

Traffic was terrible. The whole way down through everett to tacoma was stop and go. The only thing that made the drive bearable was some good conversation about the next few years, small groups, INN stuff, life, and a few comments about the weather. The weather was especially commentable because it snowed on and off. Just lightly, but just enough to be strange too.

About 7:45, we arrived at Zach’s brother’s house where his mom and dad live. It’s a beautiful house with a great view. On the weekend agenda is see my aunt, visit portland, have coffee with Tori, see the Wells family(and baby Wells!), and hopefully squeeze in a little racquetball. More pictures to come, as we see more! I left my camera cable in bham, so we’ll see if I can rig someway to get pictures up!