3948 1st Ave. NE Seattle, WA

Written by Meggie on May 26, 2008 and republished

Finally...here are some pictures of our home in Seattle.














WARNING: Derek Zoolander and all of the rest of you aspiring male models be prepared to eat your heart out at the sight of the following masterpieces

















We love our little place. It is the downstairs "basement" of a cute little craftsman house in Wallingford, a neighborhood on North Lake Union that looks out on Downtown Seattle. We've heard it's one of the best places to watch 4th of July fireworks.









My two favorite aspects of our place are 1) the oversize claw bath tub (although we have quickly realized that it is bigger than our water heater so we've heated pots of water on the stove to compensate) and 2) the garden we've started.
Take note that this picture is nearly a month old and the lettuce in this picture has grown 5x larger. We have already been able to taste the "veggies" of our labor.





The last picture is of Chris and I at a Seattle Sonics game. Sadly, the Sonics are a terrible team and not doing a good job of making us fans plus they will be moving next season anyways. So we are staying faithful to the Sacramento Kings...and getting excited for the MLS team that is supposed to come to Seattle next year.

On Bikes and Birds...

Written by Chris on May 1, 2008 and republished

I’ll start with the confession: I stuck up my middle finger at someone yesterday. It was 100% intentional and with a dose of rage. Afterward, the regret set in and then I felt bad. To the assumingly nice woman I flipped off: I apologize for my malevolent response to your horn.

In Seattle there are a multitude of bike commuters. We live on the Burke-Gilman trail where thousands of commuters ride and recreational runners and joggers stay in shape, rain or shine. In the green spirit of becoming a Seattleite, I have made the commitment to ride my bike to class as often as possible. Through the first 4 weeks, I have ridden each time and I really enjoy the 3 mile ride to class. Surprisingly, despite how rainy it has felt, I have only gotten wet on one occasion. I am beginning to take pride in calling myself a bike commuter.

Yesterday, as I was riding to class, a middle-aged woman in a gold Camry laid into her horn at me. As I turned, my left hand came out and I flipped her off as she sped by me. I caught up to her at the next intersection and pulled in front of her avoiding eye contact. I beat her to my destination by over a minute because she had to stop at so many red lights. When I pulled into the parking lot I watched her drive by, still pissed but with a weird hope that she was coming to my Biblical Exegesis class with me.

I vaguely remember a story about a Seminary hiring a missions coordinator and posting someone in the guise of a homeless person outside the office in the path of those invited to interview. Not one of the potential missions coordinators on their way to the interview offered help to the disguised homeless person. In the midst of our personal interests, we tend to glaze over the big picture.

Written May 1, 2008 and republished

As an urban cyclist I am caught up with my personal interest, for good reason. I ride more aware and more on edge than any drivers I know. I don’t have metal around me to protect me and drivers can be very unpredictable. On the other hand, I ride aggressively and intentionally in order that drivers around me are aware of me and understand where I am going and are not invading my personal space. This preoccupation with my self-interest is a detriment to my ability to offer grace.

I pondered the reasons why this woman blew her horn at me. My best guess is that she felt inclined to scold me for leaving a couple seconds early before our green light. My opinion is that was just an excuse for her to vent her misunderstanding of how and why bike commuters ride. I’m sure she is a nice woman. Maybe I’ll run into her at church or something. We can talk about misunderstandings between drivers and bike commuters and exegeting the Hebrew word shalom, which is a much better greeting than horns and birds.

Life In Seattle

Written on April 23, 2008 and re-published

It's true...it rains a lot in Seattle. In fact, it snows too. It's been quite cold since we have been up here. We have had two snows in the last 4 weeks, which I've been told is uncommon, but it's the Northwest so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised.

Things we especially like about Seattle are the people and the fact that they get outside and run, bike, garden, etc. even when the weather is crummy. They are pretty hearty folks. Sometimes in Sacramento I would run in the rain and get a lot of strange looks from passerbys....We feel pretty at home here.

My new job is going pretty well. The first week was spent in classroom orientation. This past week I worked on the unit (a Pediatric Surgical Unit at Children's Hospital that focuses on nuero, ortho, urologic, gastric, and ENT surgeries) with a preceptor. I will have 6 weeks working with a preceptor and then I will be on my own. It is quite different from the PICU where I came from. I like that the kids are awake and interactive. I also like that I am not constantly stressed by the critical physiologic status of the patients and the potential for them to go down hill quickly. Thinking about that last statement, I wonder if I have chickened out by choosing not to work in the ICU. I have all this great training and I was starting to feel fairly comfortable and capable in the ICU...but I am still just as capable...and comfort will come as I continue to establish myself in this new place of work.
It has been refreshing to start anew and get more training with experience under my belt. Also, I see my work in my current unit as much more practical to my end goal of working as a FNP or PNP. I plan to pursue grad school in the next year or two and, as I understand, Children's Hospital will help pay for it.

Chris is doing pretty well too. He is three weeks into his final quarter at Fuller Seminary (he is going to an extension up here) to finish his Masters in Theology with a focus in Biblical Studies. The classes he is taking are some of the most challenging thus far and are keeping him busy. He has spent most of his spare time job searching, writing cover letters, and revamping his resume. He has been applying for positions in HR in some of the tech companies close by (ie Microsoft, Google, and other smaller companies). This kind of work corresponds to his undergraduate studies in Cognitive Science. He has been spending a lot of time talking with people in the field to develop a better understanding of what HR Directors are looking for. Chris is a man of varied experiences and passions so I am hoping that there will be a company out there in need of a rock climber school teacher urban planner cognitive theologian. I have no doubt that there will...he is a wonderful man!