So true it's not even funny... ok, it's still funny.

As most of you know, Jason and I met because I happen to love the Sports Guy on ESPN.com. His columns rule, and I was actually googling some stats for a letter I was writing said sports lover when I stumbled across Jason's blog in July of 2006... we just celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary Monday so you can figure that one out!

Anyway, as a devoted Sports Guy fan I was excited to read this week's mailbag where he responds to readers' e-mail. I love Tom Brady- and have since his first season when they won the superbowl and rocked my world!- but Seattle is my sports town. I happen to love this particular letter:

Q: Brady's out. That really sucks. But it could be worse -- you could be a Seattle sports fan. Let me break it down for you: The Mariners are struggling through one of their worst seasons ever. Our Sonics, the only team to win a professional title in Seattle, moved the team to Okla-friggin-homa and stuck us with the Storm. And the Seahawks -- in Holmgren's final year, mind you -- are now without their TOP FOUR RECEIVERS! Imagine losing Moss, Welker, Gaffney AND Kelley Washington. Plus our quarterback is having back problems (including rumors of bulging discs), and our best running back left last week's game with an injury. Of course, a 6-10 record might win our division, which means we get to lose in Round 1. Oh, and the travesty that was the excessive celebration call on Washington's Jake Locker. But on the bright side … well, I give up. Be thankful you don't live in Seattle.
-- Dan Gomez, Seattle

SG: I have to say, that made me feel a little better. Maybe the good people of Seattle should form an organization called "It Could Be Worse," in which they send e-mails to suddenly traumatized sports fans from other cities to talk them off the ledge.

To the Sports Guy, aka Bill Simmons: that's actually a very good idea. We Seattle sports fans are professionals in handling torture and trauma at the hands of our local teams (not to mention referees: don't even get me STARTED on that one... the 2005 Suberbowl will forever be the single worst day of my sports life) so perhaps our grief would best served to comfort others.

Why We Live in Seattle

I keep up with a few Seattle blogs, and one linked to this post in the West Seattle blog.  It referred to Mars Hill, so I decided to read it.

I was impressed with the fact that the author wasn't harsh or criticising, just reporting the facts.  But then I read the comments-- read them, even just the first 5 or 10-- and it made me so sad.  Despite wanting to reply to them and share The Truth! I realized that most of these people aren't coming to Jesus via an online convo, because that's where they can be harsh and critical and hide behind words clearly meant to offend.  If these people were talking to someone from Mars Hill in person they'd never be as brash or intentionally rude... and that is why we live in Seattle, to build relationships with these people who are clearly hurting and in desperate need of Jesus.  That is why so many people live in West Seattle and are sharing Christ with the people they build relationships with there. 

You can find people willing to say dirty things like "I'm wet for Jesus" anywhere, but Seattle seems to cultivate a different breed.  Being faithful to God's word is always going to throw us into the like gay-hating, misogynistic, holier-than-thou religious people bucket even if we are nothing like them.  Choosing to honor the Biblical standards for the roles of men and women will always cause the world to hate us-- apparently my husband and every man at MHC hates me and is intentionally oppressing me to continually push for male-world domination, and I'm just too beat (and dumbed) down to realize it.  I think I'm pretty smart and don't let anyone push me around, so I'm pretty sure this accusation has no grounds other than feminist rhetoric that is causing far more harm to what it means to be a woman, how God created women to be in His image, than help us.  But that's for another day.

Suffice it to say, though it's not popular, we're seen as crazies, and apparently Mark Driscoll is totally rich and duping us all with false spirituality in order to fatten up his coffers (so you know, this couldn't be further from the truth), our family will continue to serve the Lord and to rely on the Spirit to determine our steps and opinions.  Most of all, we'll keep loving Mars Hill for the way it changes our life and, as a result, the city of Seattle as we Mars Hillians keep on loving our neighbors and sharing the love of Jesus with them.

Countdown to September 30th!!

We make no qualms about our utmost respect and admiration for Pastor Mark Driscoll at our beloved Mars Hill Church. His books- namely, Radical Reformission, Confessions of a Reformission Rev, and Vintage Jesus- have been integral parts of our continual transformation from two punk kids who were steeped in sin and trying to figure out how to get ourselves out of it, condemning everyone else along the way, into a young man and young woman continually seeking to confess and repent of our sin in order to see redemption in our lives and those of the people Jesus has us in relationship with.

So, with that, we're uber excited about Pastor Mark's new book, Death By Love. It comes out in September and this is an awesome flash video that gives you a taste of what it's about. I'm pretty sure it's written in the form of pastoral letters from Mark to congregants whom he was shepherding at MHC, so this is a taste of some of the issues he's tackling in those letters. Enjoy!

Dave Niehaus: Seattle Legend

We Haggster's are big Mariners fans. Yes, we are aware that they suck this year- we still love 'em. Tomorrow arguably the greatest baseball announcer of all time, Dave Niehaus, is being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. We think that is much deserved and we're excited for Dave- I can't think of a sweet Mariners moment without his voice yelling "My oh my!"in the background of my mental play-by-play- and no true Mariners fan can!

Word on the street is that the mid-90's M's pretty much saved baseball and the Dave was a huge part of that, so here's a big congrats to him.

This is a funny video with Dave in from YouTube :)

Le Hair Cut

For any who are interested, there is an album of Tami's cute new haircut when it's straightened.

Feel free to visit the Facebook photo album (you don't have to have Facebook to see it, but FB is AWESOME and if you're under 30 you should have it!):

Hair Photos

So Happy Together!

Well, how one's countenance can change in a few days!

I (Tami) am going to be a nanny. I am absolutely thrilled about it. There is a wonderful family who loves Jesus that goes to our church with a 7 mo old cutie named Brody. The mother has an amazing opportunity from Microsoft to work from mostly from home Tues-Thurs on an AMAZING project that helps equip organizations like the UN to utilize technology to respond more quickly and efficiently to natural disasters, as well as helping provide medications, clean water, food, etc to places in the world with limited access to such life staples. Their family's conviction is that they can only do this if they have a nanny who loves Jesus and loves their son to help out, and, alas, I have been praying about serving a family who loves Jesus as a nanny.

The entire situation is just so perfect and so the hand of God. I have been praying about being a nanny after having the realization awhile back that I have been particularly gifted in helping with children and that until I am a mother myself this would be the best way to serve God and a family desiring a nanny who loves Jesus. Plus, I'm getting renewed vigor to fight the health problems I have and be a better steward of the body Jesus has given me. The family is completely understanding and really works to eat healthily and wants to support me in this, and it will be so awesome to have a job where I'm chasing a kid around all day and not just sitting at a desk. Plus, I'll have Mondays and Friday's off to focus on being a better housewife and not coming home exhausted from a stressful job where all I want to do is escape into the world of TV. I'm simply overjoyed about the entire situation :)

One great thing is that the family completely understands the back situation- the wife, Teresa, actually had an undiagnosed ruptured disk for over a year that required back surgery-- scary! Mine is healing really well and I really expect to be almost fully recovered by the time I start (in a month). Plus, the baby will end up sleeping about 1/3 of the time I am there so they really respect that if I need to rest during that time, no problem. I'm just blessed that they are so great, and that they never judged me for a second and saw who I am and not what I look like. I'm just thrilled. And having a job that doesn't stress me out so much will make life without Jason on weeknights far less painful.

One last note... I was always careful not to get into details about my other job, but it just was not a good place. I recognize the lack of faith on my part here, but there were times where I basically had to lie to customers and basically steal from the manufacturer, etc. It was a finger pointing place where everyone is waiting to blame someone else for any problems and I am just not cutthroat and I hid in the bathroom stall crying more times than I can count. Jason and I started thinking about health problems I have had, and we realized that on days where I had my blood pressure taken after working my rating was VERY high- upwards of the high 140's / high 90's range. Yet when I hurt my back and was all hopped up on narcotics and in crazy amounts of pain my blood pressure was always perfectly healthy- 120/80. And I haven't had any migraines since working there.

[I know this is the same topic but the paragraph REALLY needs a break :) ]Plus, the last week or two of knowing that I would be going back to work there sent me in a downward spiral healthwise and now that I don't have to go back (except for one awkward session to get my personal effects; I'm going to call my boss to officially quit probably late this week after the details of my new job are worked out and I've signed the paperwork to officially accept the position, so Jason and I will go get my stuff a week from Monday) I feel like a literal weight has been lifted and I physically (and mentally, emotionally, and even spritiually) feel SO much better.

Whew! So life is just looking up. I could gush more, but for now I'll just let it rest. We love all of you friends (who have become our family) and hope to see more of you in person :)

Grown-Up Life Can Suck

So, hello. Things here are good, but we are anticipating some possibly tough times ahead. Jason is 95% certain he's going to get an IT degree, and he was hired yesterday for a second job (he still works full time cleaning pools during the day), package handling at UPS. The ups are that the benefits are amazing, both of us will get awesome health/dental/vision coverage for free, they'll pay for 2/3 of his schooling, on and on. The blessing is that even if I can't go back to work or they lay me off (I guess I never mentioned it on this blog, but I have a herniated disk in my back that is healing painfully slowly... double entendre intended) this job will allow us to pay our bills until I can get back to work. The big drawback is that he has to work basically 5-10:30 M-F.

This is a bummer on multiple levels. For one, we won't see each other much until weekends, and then when he's in school he'll have to study all day Saturday which means Sunday will end up being used for life stuffs (cleaning, finances, etc). But even tougher than this is the fact that he's basically being removed from Community- he won't be able to go to Community Group during the week, I'll have to go alone, and he won't be able to pursue leadership for awhile. It will be ok, and I know the Lord will bless us for being faithful and pursuing Him, but it's just... rough.

I think what makes this hardest is that we were here- Jason was working two full time jobs all last summer, and through most November after we were married (in September)- and we thought we had finished with this phase of life. I've become so spoiled with the time we get to spend together, so having to lose him again will be rough. We're praying that he'll be able to quickly switch to the dawn shift, circa 3-8 am, but there aren't really any guarantees. Just waiting. So that's our life update. Hopefully the next one is happier, no?

So Happy Together

So, now that we're official Seattle-ites, we have to poke fun at our beloved city. Who better to do so than this funny site found while reading the paper (ok, the Seattle Times online... same difference, right?):

The Naked Loon

Don't worry, it's not porn.

The thing with satire is that there are rules. For example, the only people allow to really love this site and make fun of Seattle are Seattle-ites, with one exception: Portland, OR. Potown is like our kid brother and he can laugh at us because, like any younger sibling, he acts like he's so cool and over it with all things related to Seattle but everything he does is a less original version of what we've done because he wants to be us. When he makes fun of us on his blog for being self-absorbed under our raincloud, sipping our macchiato while on our laptop in a non-Starbucks eclectic joint with our earbuds in, so no one will try to have a conversation, listening to music that will no longer be tolerable tomorow because five other people will like them, thus making them too pop(ular)... well, we see through his hate and ruffle his hair and tell him that all of his girlfriends used to hit on us when he left the room to go get more snacks.

Beyond Portland, there really is no one else with room to laugh and judge. California cities? They toss their fake hair over their spray tanned shoulders while soaking up skin cancer and scoff at us until they realize that their 2 bedroom dump of a house at least gets a Ballard craftsman in Seattle. Then they move here and pretend they're one of us. No one's fooled for a second. Texas cities? They can think whatever they want, so long as they stay in Texas. Other random cities? If you're from, say, St. Louis and you think you're all kinds of awesome and you beat down on Seattle because (you've heard) it rains here a lot... well, have your fun, but no one even regards you as a real city. Don't even get me started on OK City. Not even in the same league. As for a place like NYC... well, we need not compare nor waste our time because what's so great about Seattle is that it's not NYC. It's Seattle. And it's incredibly awesome. And we can make fun ourselves and no one else will even get it anyway and that's what makes us so great.

So, with no further adieu, here are two pics we found on the The Naked Loon that are TOO funny, and so Seattle.

It Would be a Lie to Run Away

[The Cure for Pain, Jon Foreman, Spring EP]

We don't check in on here nearly enough. I (Tami) have my blog about my battle with sin and obesity that I update multiple times a week, and Jason is in the midst of super-busy pool season so his time for writing is about zilch. That said, for those who attempt to keep up with us via this lovefest of a blog, we should update you on life :)

We've spoken of it before, but we go to Mars Hill Church in Seattle now. We love it because the doctrine is sound, Jesus is preeminent, and the focus is on loving people and loving culture so that more can come to Christ. It's not about a happy-clappy Christian bubble where everyone has their tight-nit niche of friends and Jesus never travels farther than the next Christian-family gathering backyard barbeque. I used to think that was the goal of Christianity, but it's not. The goal is to love Jesus, live for Jesus, love others, and share Jesus with them so they can do the same. We became members and are prayerfully pursuing leadership of a community group.

We currently live in Bothell, a suburb about a half hour from the campus we attend in Ballard, and Jesus has captured our hearts for our beloved Seattle, so we're moving into the city! In mid-June we're going to be moving into a MIL unit of a godly couple from the church. He's a deacon over community groups and she's also in that ministry with him. He'll start training Jason up to lead and we really anticipate them being a couple in love with Jesus whom we can have true fellowship with. It's near Green Lake, a few blocks from the Zoo (woo-hoo!) and only about 10 minutes from the church. We're absolutely thrilled for the direction Jesus is taking our lives.

I'll post a few pics of our (soon to be) new digs, as well as my absolute favorite new pic of Seattle.

Thanks for the love!

Captions are below each pic ;)

The outside entrance- we get to use the driveway! I can't wait to buy a sweet gas grill and grill every night all summer long!

The lovely (HUGE!!) kitchen. We love to cook fresh, natural foods so this will be glorious :)

The entrance- look at the great natural light! It's only about 3 years old so everything is in great shape, like new windows, doors, great carpet, etc.

Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to call this place home :)



Isn't this pic amazing? I love it. I stumbled across it on the web, so know that we didn't take it. Something about it realy resonates with me- the majesty of God over the city of Seattle, and the pillars of strength in Jesus that the city is so desperate for, so that His name can become great here. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord- I just pray as many Seattleites as possible do so before it's the day they face judgment.

Must Have

Do This:

• Go into iTunes
  
  
• Click into the Podcasts
  
  
• Search for Mars Hill
  
  
• Subscribe to the Mars Hill Church: Everything Audio channel
  
  
• Sort by Name
  
  
• Find "Music: Oh My God" and click "Get"
  
  
• Listen to the song
  
  
• Be deeply moved in your spirit
  
  
• Trust me when I tell you that what you are feeling is nothing compared to worshiping to the song live at the Ballard campus in Seattle.

Joy!

Yet another reason why Gmail is (Tami's) second-most favorite inanimate item after milk:

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html

It Just So Happened

I just can't get over something- I frequently listen to podcasts at work of sermons from my pastor and last week I started listening to the series he preached on Ruth.

One of the things that I just can't get out of my head is where Ruth ends up in the field of a kinsman redeemer- one of the only men who could marry her and restore their family, quite the equivalent of finding the back of your earring that fell out yesterday and you have to go everywhere you went and hope it's still there. As most may know, Ruth ends up being (I believe) grandmother to David, but far more important is the fact that she was in the direct lineage of Jesus Christ... I'd say that is the equivalent of amazing.

Pastor Mark pointed out is how the Lord is so intimately involved in every detail of our lives. What is beautiful about this is that he used the language of the Bible to really emphasize this- it just so happened was a phrase that he used again and again.

I love this, because things in my life seem so utterly random, and often come from heartache or at least adversity. I did TFA largely in part because I was deeply hurt by a church and needed a fresh start. I met Jason as a result of not getting a job that I was supposed to have. Jas and I are going to an amazing church because the Lord used problems at our previous church to reach out to Him. Some of the most tangible growth in our life as a married couple has grown out of a heartbreaking family situation where we were completely... well, wronged.

This all seems so coincidental, mere happenstance, and yet the hand of God never ceases to amaze me- it just so happened that I was hurt, that I was rejected, that I was robbed spiritually by weak leaders. It just so happened that the Lord turned what man intended for evil (whether it was under a cloak of spirituality that even the perpetrator fell for) into being useful for good. It just so happened that the Lord has used my own sins and errors and used them for good. I will never get over this- the Lord, Jesus Christ, is far more powerful and able than I will ever begin to understand, and He alone is worthy of my worship.

I don't need to whine about a job I don't like, a relationship I'd rather not deal with, a material possession that isn't up to what I think I deserve. Instead, I can see that every circumstance is always part of a "it just so happened" that the Lord always uses to make me more into the woman He intends for me to be. I can say nothing other than a humble HALLELUJAH to that.

-Tami

*Whew!*

I am so glad that the 'Hawks are holding onto Trufant!

I close my eyes and fly out of my mind...

... into the fire [Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin]

I would just like to say that burning down your house is more than a few small repairs, and in that same vein, to call it coming home with a vengeance is quite the understatement.

Only Becca P. will likely have any idea what I am talking about.

In other news, I really think today should be Thursday. My mind and body both think it's Thursday. To be quite frank, I was rather pissed off when I suddenly realized that it's only Wednesday.

Meh.

There really isn't a lot of purpose to this post, other than to say that Jason and I are well, and that we're just really busy. Because I like these things, let me share with you our normal week.

Monday: Up at 6:30 (Ok, I hit snooze from like 5:52 until 6:45. Bite me.), shower, quiet time, grab a bite to eat in truck, Jas drops me off at work. Work 8-5. Jas picks me up, we go straight to the gym, and usually get home between 7:30-8, depending on traffic, how full the gym was, etc. Monday's at the gym are always busy. Then we eat a salad (usually spinach and salmon, with various additives), do our Community Group Bible study together, read our Community Group book, pray together between 9:45 and 10, and try really hard to be in bed with the lights out at 10:15. Monday nights, btw, are no TV night. It's rather wonderful. This means that we watch American Gladiators later in the week, but next week is the finale so that's happy- less TV!

Tuesday: Same deal with getting up and work. Then, after work, we get home around 5:30, eat a quick dinner (usually something like stir fry that's all ready to just be cooked up real quick), and leave for Community Group (basically, the small groups at Mars Hill, our church) at about 6:40. We usually get home around 9. Then I try to squeeze in watching The Biggest Loser and American Idol before 10 as much as I can. This means that we usually get to bed around 11. Sometimes J watches the shows with me, and sometimes he putzes around on the internet under the premise that he's blogging. We pray and then it's sleepy time.

Wednesday: Wednesday is, for all intent and purpose, the same as Tuesday, except that we have Gospel Class at the Ballard campus of Mars Hill. This means we have to leave around 6:15 because it's in inner Seattle and we live in the suburban sprawl that is Bothelliarmus. We tend to get home close to 9, and I watch American Idol and I work on making J watch with me :)

Thursday: Pretty much the same as Monday, except that after the gym we get home, scarf down our salads, and then jet back out at about 8 to go watch Survivor and LOST with friends from our Young Married's group. We usually get home around 10:30 from that, and pretty much go right to bed.

Friday: Getting up and going to work is the same as every other day, and then once we get home around 5:30 it just depends on the week. On the first and third Friday of each month we have our Young Married's Bible Study. It's technically supposed to be a group from our old church, but over half of the couples don't go to that church, either, so it's just more of a bunch of people who love Jesus and one another. It's grand. On the non-YM's weeks, it's a blessed night off. We usually veg on the couch on those weeks, grateful that we got through another busy week, and grateful to just be together, resting. These nights tend to include lots of Law and Order- both the original and SVU. Oh, and Celebrity Apprentice, because it rocks. We still aim to get to bed by about 11-ish.

Saturday: We try to get up by about 8. J is better at this... I tend toward 9, and if we stayed up too late on Friday, then closer to 10. Jas works lunch shift delivering food, so he tries to go to the gym to swim in the morning beforehand (his shift starts toward 11, but varies), and I usually do a DVD at home to get in a solid cardio workout. He usually doesn't get home until about 3, sometimes 4, so I try to clean the apartment. If I'm lazy then I just veg on the couch and catch up on shows from the week that we didn't have time to watch that J doesn't care about (think ANTM). I try to be good about not doing that, though. Once J gets home, we usually leave again by 6 at the latest to go shopping at Trader Joe's for the weeks grocery run, and then Saturday night is date night. If money flow is decent, we might go out, but we usually tend to make a yummy (healthy) dinner and do a Netflix. Once again, the aim for bed is 11, but tends toward midnight on Saturdays.

Sunday: We just recently decided to start attending the 9am service at church, which means we have to be up and showered and out the door by 8:15. This weekend, however, we are starting to serve as greeters, and for that we have to be there at 8:20 to pray first, so we need to leave by 7:40. YUCK. Greeting is every other week, so that's nice. We were going to the 11, but J loves getting out of church at 10:30. After church, we stop at Costco and get a rotisserie chicken and usually milk :) Then we go home, eat the drumsticks off the chicken for lunch (and J eats the wings because he LOVES them), and then I use the breast to make a chicken salad that then becomes our pre-workout meals that we eat on Mon & Thurs around 5 so that we don't pass out during our workout. I should put the general recipe on my foode blog because it's yummy and healthy. Maybe sometime :) Anyway, usually we would watch football... my life is now empty and I dunno what we'll do on those afternoons. Maybe play board games, or if it's not raining, we'll go for a walk.

[Insert: That's right, it rains in Seattle CONSTANTLY. It sucks. So don't move here. Ever. Does that scare you away? I hope so. And please tell all your friends, especially if they are from out of state.]

Jas just recently decided to work his food delivery job on Sunday evenings to help out a little financially, so that will likely be from 4-9 most Sundays. I'm not sure what I'll do. Probably get meals all prepped for quick cooking for the week. And watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition b/c I LOVE it!! Then we'll go to bed around 10 and Monday it will start all over.

I told you we are busy. And for Jas, until May, he does all of his pools during the first week of the month, and then after that he cleans his weekly units on Thursdays and does lunch shifts delivering food all of the other days. On those days he goes to Starbucks to read after he drops me off at work, does his lunch shift, then either cleans a few leftover pools he didn't didn't get to in the first month, or goes home, ostensibly to clean up a little and get in some blogging. Usually this means he reads about politics for hours on end until it's time to come pick me up.

Whew! That's our life. Ugh. It makes me tired just to write about it. I'm sure others are just as, if not more, busy. But now you know :)

PS We can't wait for The Office to come back, and possibly Heroes. Plus, I miss Grey's Anatomy. Not like a heck ton, but I do miss it.

Wake Up Call

Tami: Ooooh! I LOVE this song!!

Jason: I don't.

Tami: It's awesome!! Have you ever listened to the lyrics in the chorus?

Jason: Uh, no. But there's something about shooting someone dead.

Tami: Exactly! It kicks so much ass!!

Jason: Uh, you're white.