SEATTLE

On Saturday Mike, Saki, my bother Josh and I went to Seattle. On the way we stopped in Tacoma and visited my sister and her husband Jason. We had not seen their place since they moved in so it was nice to stop by. Then we made our way to Seattle to see Pikes Place, the Pier and downtown. Saki and Josh had never been! We had a blast sightseeing but it was busy!! We bought some Rainer cherries, looked at all the flower bouquets, smelled the fish, euh.... and enjoyed the breezy sunny weather.
The whole inspiration of our trip was my friends Pam and Oliver where in Seattle from Budapest enjoying their summer break. In Budapest they teach history, English and share their Christian faith with the students. They have been there for 4 years and love the experience. It is obvious they’re having an impact and it is inspiring to hear their stories. I met Pam while we were RA's at Biola and have traveled to Budapest to visit her, enjoyed her wedding last year and try to see her once a year. It was a totally blessing to see them and hear about what they’ve been up to. As you can see, we enjoyed ourselves.

Sushi

I could not love Sushi more than I do. I would eat it 2 meals a day if I could and this past weekend we made it. We went to Ywaimaya market to get fish, rice and nori for our sushi and then we cooked an authentic feast. I was so sleepy after that that I had to take a nap at 7pm. ;) But the "girls" our exchange students, spent the next hour swiping strawberries from our neighbors yard thought the fence. You have to understand that our neighbor never goes into his backyard and yet in June he has many strawberries that go unpicked. So they rigged up ways to swipe them through the boards in the fence. Yeye!!

Working to Live

I'm going to throw out a "little love" about my work crew. We recently celebrated the accomplishment of reaching some steep goals by going out to an extravagant happy hour at Portland City Grill. Nice chance to hang out with the peps I work with…I love that. More than anything it helped me recognize that my job is a gift in my life. I enjoy seeing accomplishments met. I look at my job as a chance to help people recognize their strengths, coach and counsel them and ultimately see them succeed. Ok, I am a creative recruiter. But I love my job!

I see many of my friends running around with their families, having kids and all kind of wonderful other things. And I think to myself, how long will my downtown “workin’ girl” life last? Or how long will I be in the job I'm in? Just you know...life questions. You never know. I see many people in downtown who live to work but I am working to live at this point. Trying not to let myself be defined by what I do, but whom I impact. And trying to make impact and make things happen. One day at a time.

The Snake

You might be wondering what is up with the snake? Well, we have wierd friends. Allen likes keeping a snake for a pet so he can bring him out when everyone is around to get freaked out. But the braves ones held Standly a 2 year old corn shake.