dulce de leche.

last saturday, instead of our usual big group gathering, we decided to just have a chill family kind of day. we made caramel by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for hours, then ate the warm golden gooey mess drizzled (or spooned) over homestyle vanilla ice cream. (after our lasagna, of course.) the rest of the evening we took fun photos of katy's preggo belly, listened to kelsey's beautiful singing voice, and sat around relaxing. i love that i can go over to their house and sit on their couch and do absolutely nothing, just enjoying being in the same space and doing life together.

they are brother and sisters to me.

love,
tracey

tiger mountain.

last weekend i was a mountain woman adventure queen. by that, i mean i stayed up way past my bedtime (which is usually around 10 because i get up so early) and was at the base of a mountain with hiking boots and a backpack at 10pm instead. katelin, her cousin, ryan and i met up with three friends from church to hike tiger mountain. from the top you can see the city lights from downtown seattle, kent, and sometimes even tacoma. i've never hiked at night before, but our friends do it all the time. i've been wanting to hike so much, so i decided to give it a try!

so we set off, not really knowing quite how long the hike actually was. i enjoyed it, but i think us first timers were a bit surprised when, after an hour of hiking, josh informed us that we were approximately 40% there. when we finally made it to the top around 12:30am, two of the guys pulled out a propane stove, a skillet, and a pound of bacon from their packs....and proceeded to fry it right then and there. i'm not normally a straigh-up bacon eater, but i did enjoy it. after hiking down down down for what felt like forever, we finally made it back home around 3.

exploring downtown before heading to the hike.

pre-hike, ready to tackle the mountain.

the view from the top...kind of. my little camera couldn't quite capture it at all.

made it!

2:30am: at the base of the mountain again, glad to be back on level ground.

it was a nice view, and the hiking felt great, but when it comes down to it, i'm just not a night-owl. i was thrown off the whole rest of the weekend! but one of these days, i'll make it back to tiger mountain to hike again and actually see the trees that i'm hiking through!

love,
tracey

dear craig.

dear craig, thank you for making a list. and turning into a website. a very comprehensive one, with lots of free stuff on it. today i picked up two free dressers (one is ready to use and totally vintage, the other is a project for sure) and some other assorted odds and ends. my car has been a traveling furniture storage unit for the past week or so, everyone around here is having garage sales left and right now that the sun is coming out. i. love. garage sales. and free furniture. and the fact that craig's list clues me into where to find them.

also on craigslist.com i found a listing for a TON of free moving boxes. i'll be moving soon, i can use those...so i picked some up. and then was inspired to start packing. i wasn't expecting it to make me sad, because i'm so excited about the house i'm moving into. but packing put me in a nostalgic mood. there are definitely things i'm going to miss about my quaint little basement room! also, i didn't really think i had that much stuff, but once i started putting it in boxes, i realized that i have more than i thought. i'm glad i have several days so i can pack slowly.

a messy floor and bare walls.

love,
tracey

week in review.

plenty to catch up on, this was a week full of photo-worthy events!

last saturday i got to attend the first pig roast of my life. plenty of pig, plenty of salads. i'll be honest, i ate mostly the salads. and plenty of the desserts. the pig wasn't quite my thing...and the sauce labels got switched so my meat was drenched in HOT HOT HOT and not regular barbeque sauce.

and as of last sunday, meet my new roommates!!! jacqui, emily, and dana, from left to right. i couldn't be more excited to be living with these fantastic women, all of whom go to mars hill west seattle with me. the house is a perfect location, and i think we're all totally excited to live in intentional community, doing things like clean house clean soul (bringing back the a&m days!) and roommate dinners.

on father's day my friends will and alecia hernandez dedicated their baby boy, orion, at church and celebrated with a barbeque right after. katy, tyler, kelsey and i broke out the croquet, which made for a silly game in a very bumpy yard.

on monday i got to go to the compass center with the interns and cook up a LOT of chicken alfredo which we then served at the outdoor meal site under the I5 bridge to the homeless in downtown. that utensil in my hand is very technically called a "paddle." with a griddle/skillet that large, that's what you need!

tuesday morning was glorious. susie and i got to work from home, meaning no drive to tacoma! the other day i compiled an adventure list, things i want to do out and about seattle while the weather is nice. bike along alki was one of them, so on tueday morning i did! the ride was probably 10 miles total, i biked all along alki almost to lincoln park, before heading back to sit at starbucks and read for a little while. there was an old man from turkey sitting all alone who struck up conversation, the people he was waiting for never showed up. he lives in a house with a waterfront view and walks to starbucks every day- what a life!

susie and i worked super hard all day on tuesday, then decided to reward ourselves by fixing a good, home cooked meal for dinner. lobster ravioli with white wine rosemary cream sauce, sauteed zucchini and summer squash, and toated rosemary bread (with balsalmic and evoo to dip in!)- we ate out on the deck and enjoyed every bite.

we've also been picking lettuce from the garden for salads almost every day- it's been so great to not have to buy it at the store!

wednesday night was a girls night- 6 of us ate at west 5. katy and i have been wanting to try the famous mac'n'cheese forever, and we finally did! it was definitely delicious. everyone tasted a bit of everyone else's food, my favorite way to dine!

thursday was another work from home day, though more relaxed than tuesday. i had a good long workout in the morning, then susie and i set up camp at c&p to work for a few hours. when we came home we had HUGE salads out of mixing bowls (my favorite way to eat them, you can mix the dressing around so well!) then finished off our last objectives of the internship. YAY. that evening was a fantastic dinner at agua verde on lake union followed by exploring the university of washington campus- so much fun!!

and today started out with a nice jog to lincoln and back, followed by a quick jaunt down to tacoma (these days, the 45 minute commute feels like normal) for our evaluations before heading back to west seattle. highlight of the day: FINALLY getting to break out the frisbee and throwing it around at camp long (the little green oasis where katy and i hiked once) with ryan for a couple hours.

when it started to rain on us we called it an afternoon...after having a little pbj and orange picnic in my car. i spent the rest of the day visiting with friends (ashley and jeff, who helped fix the dresser i picked up on the side of the road) and having heart conversation with katy. mexican food for dinner to celebrate with kathleen as she leaves for california, and scoping out new recipe ideas from the menu at the restaurant made for plenty of additions to my culinary to-do list!

and now, bedtime for this sleepy girl. can you believe i move in two weeks?

or that i'm done with my internship in 6 days???

love,

tracey



avocado.

since this past week was pretty relaxed with regard to the internship, i got to do plenty of fun things! including cooking, which  means that my freezer is once again well stocked with a plethora of individually portioned frozen meals of beans and rice, homemade pesto pasta, and creamy ravioli with squash. i also have an abundance of extra fruits and vegetables, because when i was looking at one of the houses i was considering renting, i drove past my FAVORITE farmer's market and just couldn't resist their dirt-cheap prices.

the week in review:

my friend emily came in town on tuesday, so naturally we took the occasion as an excuse to hit up the best ice cream shop in town: husky deli. for all you pine-covers out there, think "blue noonday store" for the backdrop. this little shop is part deli, part ice cream parlor, and part general store. it's one of my most frequented places to purchase food, which is saying something because i don't really eat out all that often.  

reeces: my flavor of choice that evening.

i also got pretty creative with the blender the other day...i saw a recipe for an avocado mocha shake. i know, sounds totally weird. but before you turn up your nose, i'd venture to bet that if i didn't tell you what was in it, you wouldn't even know. a fellow intern made some brownies with frosting that used avocado as the base, and they were awesome. so i decided to give this healthy-fat version of a mocha shake a try! avocado + milk + vanilla + dark chocolate cocoa + instant espresso powder + sugar + ice = creamy delight! okay, i admit, the first sip was alright, but it grew on me. with time, i think i could perfect it. with avocados coming into season, i'm interested to try some kind of avocado ice cream. i'm telling you, it's so smooth and creamy!

and the other night susie and i made homemade guacamole and used the leftovers from tuesday's beans and rice to make some tasty meat-free burritos with some of trader joes "truly handmade" tortillas. there was so much left over that we (gladly) ended up eating them for several days! yum.

and the weekend was a total blast, more on that to come!

love,
tracey

irrevocable.

i'm in tacoma this week. or rather i should say i drive to tacoma and come right back home every day this week. this is my last rotation, and thanfully, my preceptor is pretty relaxed. i have some assignments to do, but don't necessarily have to be in the office to do them. so susie and i drive down around 9 in the morning, attend a meeting or a conference, maybe observe a school or a class, and head back to seattle around noon. fantastic from the free-time perspective, not so much for gas. next week's outlook is similar. it's been nice, because i've been able to run errands and get little odds and ends done. today i had coffee with a friend, and tonight i'm hanging out with a couple more. i do need to work on my projects...but that will come soon enough.

i had coffee with my friend dana on wednesday morning- we're both early birds, so we met at 7am. (which is actually late for us, because the last time we met it was at 6:15.) it was a really great conversation that made me think, we talked about all kinds of things, including good bible truth. at the end we both had things that we have been praying about lately, so we prayed before we left. an hour later, as susie and i were driving to tacoma, i remember thinking (as we sped down the highway at 70mph) that if something were to happen, and we were to crash, or a bullet were to fall from the sky, or our car were to get struck by lightning, it would be okay because my heart was "right" with the Lord. but what was i basing that "status" on? the fact that i had a God-glorifying conversation and time of heartfelt prayer that morning? as if those things can earn salvation or make me right in the eyes of God. heart check. God cannot love me any more or any less than he already does. time in prayer or truth-centered conversation doesn't change my "salvation status," if you will. the Lord is pleased with these things, yes. but regardless of if i had had that conversation that morning or not, my soul is still securely declared righteous in the eyes of the Lord, not because i have done the right things, but because He has deemed it so. because Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins, to justify my soul before a righteous God. He chose to redeem me, nothing i do or don't do can change that.

this mindset is pivotal! to understand that we're not earning salvation, we have already been given it, and act out of thankfulness in response. we talked about this same concept at community group last week, that so often we do things because, as Christians, we think that we "should." a distorted perception. there is so much freedom in understanding that WE ARE SAVED when we truly confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead (romans 10:9), and that nothing we could ever do could earn that for ourselves. it's only by grace. i pray often that this mindset would be my default, that i would be operating out of the truth that i can't mess up God's plan, that i don't have to earn His love. i just get to rest in it.

i am irrevocably His.
motivation rooted in thankfulness, not laden with duty and obligation.

love,
tracey

daily life.

today! in cliff-notes form.

-slept in (until 6:30) and still woke up before my alarm (love it when that happens)
-leisurely morning, including my favorite breakfast (cereal)
-a fancy cup of coffee (new creamer!) and time to read and think and write
-last first day of work! (last rotation) didn't have to be in until 9, pretty uneventful, and very easy (lots of listening today)
-got off early (2pm)
-odds and ends at home, subconsiously planning how i'm going to decorate my room when i move in a month (sketches included)
-a couple of phone conversations
-a quick run around the neighborhood as the rice was cooking on the stovetop (pro-multitasking)
-cooked a massive (seriously) pot of black beans, veggies, and rice- yummo.
-susie cleaned the kitchen!
-susie brought the neighbor's vacuum cleaner over so i could fully finally clean my room. (our vacuum is broken. it says something about how much the floor was bugging me that this might have made my night!)
-ice cream at husky deli with my friend emily stewart, all the way from texas!
-time to read by lamplight before bed!

and tomorrow, anticipating a lovely early morning coffee date with dana :)

love,
tracey

clean floor, happy girl. (please ignore the untucked bed and lack of bedskirt.)

flashback: yesterday susie and i had loaded salads (lettuce, broccoli, cucumber, red bell, red onion, tomato, avocado, walnuts, parmesan) out on the deck and soaked up some sunshine!

pooshka decided to give me a little kiss right at the last second.

roller coaster.

these past few days have been a roller coaster. i'll blame it on katy's preggo hormones (haha), the emotional aspect of them must be rubbing off on me. then again, i have been praying for a tender heart and a season of tears (the kind that allow you to live out romans 12:15) since late-march. i've learned a lot from the answering of that prayer.

most recently, i'm facing the prospect of living in a basement for another year. any of you who know me know that another year in the basement is like a sentence to live in the dungeon, i'm such a sunlight junkie. i've been eager for the day when i would move out of the basement since the first day i moved in. there was a tiny sliver of chance that i might have the opportunity to live above ground in a room with windows, and i think i put more hope than i realized into that tiny sliver, because when that opportunity didn't actually become a reality, i think i briefly entered into a half-hour of depression before snapping out of it. i didn't realize i had built up this picture of what my ideal community would be like, how i could love and serve my roommates, all from the perspective of living in the room that fits the picture of my ideal almost to a tee. that wasn't very realistic of me, considering i was putting hope in something that wasn't even an option when i heard about the open room in the first place. even so, those desires to  love and serve my roommates aren't contingent on where i live. now, faced with a room that is almost the opposite of what i wanted in every way, i have to decide whether to live there or not.

the hope of living above ground: high point
the realization that this is not an option: low point
the understanding that i can live in a different house, with a kitchen and windows: high point

which brings us back to the next low point, because this morning i woke up all of a sudden afraid of being alone and not having community. as people have moved on or moved away these past several weeks, the number of those who know me well here in seattle has dwindled. i suppose i should say it's in transition, because these past few weeks have certainly been blessed with the beginning and deepening of many very beautiful friendships. at the same time, i know that if i don't intentionally seek out those who are in the same life stage as me, deep community doesn't just happen. which brings to mind the consideration: would waking up in a sunny room all alone every morning be worse than waking up underground all alone but with community outside and upstairs? i'm eager to love and serve roommates. i'm eager to do life with them, to cook for them, to sit on beds and talk heart things with them. these roommates and i are all on the same page with regard to how we want to do intentional community: high point. would that be feasible if i was living disconnected, in a separate floor underneath them? it would certainly would take effort, it wouldn't be convenient. is that what the Lord has asked of me? to give up what i hoped for with regard to lifestyle for the sake of living in community? should it matter if i have to live underground?

all this indecision: low point

one bowl of my favorite cereal and one cup of coffee later... (high point as always :)  )

i go pick up my friend katelin from the bainbridge ferry terminal downtown. she came to church to visit today, as did another friend, ryan. (well, they're my friends now. we just met for the first time today) i. love. hosting. people: high point. i love to show them around and tell them all the inside secrets. i like to get to know them and hear their stories. i like to make them feel welcome and answer their questions. after church we went to husky deli with linnell, then fought for 20 minutes to find parking on alki. we walked for a couple of hours, enjoying the sunshine and the people, seeing people we knew and talking about everything from internships to bikes. katelin's low point was probably the man walking around with his huge snake hanging around his neck...i mean really, who takes their snake for a walk??

anyway, it was a wonderful afternoon. relaxed, leisurely. i appreciated the time with the both of them.

husky deli sandwiches: messy.

great day for an iced tea.

and now i'm home, with a long to-do list, and totally exhausted. it was a busy day, and i couldn't sleep last night because i was running through all the possibilities about where i might live in my head. there have been other high and low points to the weekend, such as this being the end of my week long break (low), the prospect of the end of my internship in 3 weeks (high), making chinese food and playing banagrams with the saturday crew (high), talking with my dear friend sarah on the phone for a long time (high), spending hours researching car insurance (low), seeing so many people today that i love and care about (high). some of these things have just made me think, some have made me wonder, some have made my heart swell, and most have made me thankful in some way or another.

who knew that the friends of preggo ladies get a little loco too??

love,
tracey

gourmet meal for one?

i ate a gourmet dinner tonight. at least i felt like it was gourmet. it was the first time in a couple months that i've fixed an entire balanced meal for myself, a nice one, put it all on a plate together, and sat at the kitchen table to eat it. i know, i know. i'm totally guilty of grabbing some of this, eating it, going back to the kitchen for a little of something else, then eating that, and going back for one last little bit. often eating down in my room and running back upstairs, and often all out of the same bowl (rinsing between, don't worry).

i know that's not how food should be eaten, and it's certainly not how i enjoy it most. but in a culture of busy busy and making the most of every minute, sometimes even mealtimes become opportunities to multitask in the world of a single gal.

today i had an abundance of time, a rarity. i spent the afternoon sitting out at alki in the sunshine, reading and thinking and praying, trying to figure out where i'm going to live starting in july. on my way home i stopped at one of the houses that i'm looking into. it's the first time i've seen it, and it's charming. wood floors, french doors, a fireplace, a goldenrod yellow exterior. basically i'd be renting a room on the main floor, and the main leasers would be living downstairs in the basement. i'd have my own bathroom, and they would really only be upstairs to use the kitchen. it's newly renovated, well-kept, and stylish. there are big closets, tall ceilings, and windows. and it's totally affordable. it would be like having a nice house and nice kitchen practically all to myself (they don't cook much).

yes, this is all relevant to the gourmet dinner. stick with me.

tonight i had salmon patties with capers and a buttermilk sauce, and lentil salad packed with veggies, grapes, and topped with a lemon/evoo dressing. on the side, a handful (or two) of fresh raspberries, and a mint brownie for dessert. i would have taken a picture, but it was all looking so good that i didn't want to run downstairs and get my camera.

i put it all on a plate at the same time (instead of eating in stages), and sat at the table with a glass of water. i had music playing, but didn't get on the computer or on my phone. i just admired the view of the water through the window, and thoroughly enjoyed every bite. the way food should be eaten.

and as i ate i got to thinking. the only thing that would really have made the meal better would have been someone to share it with. cooking for and with people brings me much joy, but my roommates now have such different schedules than me that it only happens once in a blue moon. and then all of a sudden i had this picture in my head of renting the room in that charming house and having a nice, well-kept, stocked kitchen and fixing many delightful meals, only to eat them by myself at the clean and orderly dining room table. (not to say that there wouldn't be people over sometimes, but that wouldn't be every day. and also not to say that i wouldn't have community with my married couple housemates. just thinking out loud here.)

i got to thinking about what it was like to live in community in college. where the 5 of us had roommate dinner once a week, and clean house clean soul every monday. where we sat down and had intentional time together, did daily life things together, sat in the same room and read books. made hot chocolate and watched movies. went on walks and bike rides. stayed up late sitting on someone's bed just talking until entirely too early in the morning. got up before the sun to eat oatmeal and study anatomy flash cards (glad those anatomy lab days are over).

those kinds of things just happen spontaneously when you're living in intentional community. you sit at the same table and sleepily eat your cereal. you fumble over the coffee pot while someone wanders around with half their makeup on, trying to find their other shoe. you laugh together, you cry together, you know what's going on in each other's life, and in that, grow towards the Lord together, just as a result of intentionally sharing space.
so in the end, what benefit is there to nice floors, big closets, and plenty of homecooked food it there's nobody to share it with? it's empty. it's missing out on the beautiful blessing of fellowship. life may be clean and in order, but there's much to learn in the mess. this verse shouts that at me: "where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strenght of the ox." proverbs 14:4

and though it's regarding a slightly different idea, this quote gives a glimpse into the richness of life that is true community: "i think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation it is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete until it is expressed." -c.s. lewis

in the same way, i think we fully enjoy things when we do them with other people. we weren't designed to be alone. it's when we get to share an experience that it fully comes to fruition.

so those are my thoughts. maybe i should fix a nice meal and eat it on a plate more often.

my afternoon on alki.

love,

tracey

escape.

yesterday katy and i escaped the city (drove down the street) and went to a land abounding with lush green plants, orange berries, and slugs. we traversed rushing rapids (creeks) and climbed mountains (hills). we had a picnic in the middle of a meadow and dined on the finest cuisine (husky deli sandwiches). we perched atop a tree (wooden bench) and overlooked the cliffs as we rested our weary legs from the rigorous (1 mile) hike (walk). we reminisced on days of working at summer camp and rugged backpacking trips we took growing up, and decided that soon we're going to make a trip to lake chelan, where we'll float in the water, cook smokey good campfire food, and not shower for days.

thank you, camp long, for being a little oasis of green conveniently sandwiched between 35th and delridge way.

love,
tracey

mahi mahi tacos.

my friend kelsey and i decided that the two of us should go do fun things around seattle every once in a while. a date of sorts, with a sister, because katy, kelsey, and tyler are practically my family up here in seattle. a great excuse for opportunities to get out and see the city!

so on tuesday night we went to duke's chowder house along alki- i had a coupon for a free meal there for my birthday (cheap date, haha), so it was a deal! we both got the mahi mahi tacos- seriously the best i've ever had in my life. that's all i've ever gotten there. i know other things on the menu must be delicious too, but i just can't bring myself to miss an opportunity to have the mahi taco. i DO switch up the cup of chowder that comes with it- this time it was the northwest seafood chowder, which was very yummy indeed. we chatted about Jesus and life, studying the bible, and being intentional with our time and those around us. a little bit about our stories, the things that have shaped us, and about the people we love and appreciate. then we went outside and admired the sunset from the beach and took some pictures. i'm sure we looked pretty silly running around and jumping up and down to the beat of the camera self-timer, but we had fun. and the pictures turned out great!



a treasure in the sand

on the agenda today: a mini hike through camp long, a little oasis of green in the middle of west seattle, with katy. this adventure (and heart-to-heart) is way overdue :)

more to come.

love,
tracey

the twenty-third year.

birthdays and the new year are always good chances to take a look back and evaluate. this is something i learned to do at pine cove after my director, craig langemeier, recommended it to all the summer staff. it's biblical to look back and learn from what we see, the Lord commands us to remember what he has done (deuteronomy 8), and explains that those who don't learn from their life are foolish.

so the other day i did.

a lot has happened since my last birthday. a year ago i was an administrative assistant at camp, where i learned that i really do enjoy planning, organizing, and coordinating. i learned what a blessing it is to work for people who live out what they say and believe, and who genuinely love those who are serving them.

i moved up to seattle and saw the Lord provide community, after many months of asking for it in prayer. in that, i've seen that change is good and necessary, and that though we may resist it, we learn from it. i've learned (for what feels like the umpteenth time) the importance of good communication, and not hiding inside my shell with my thoughts and opinions, but letting them out even when it might make things uncomfortable (because it asks for or necessitates change). and doing so early on, not bottling them up until they just explode, which only makes things messier.

i've learned to do everyday life with a few close friends, and been challenged to love them enough to call them out on sin instead of being complacent and letting them live in it. i've seen idols exposed in my own life, and desired to be messy and broken, not so in control. the Lord answered that with the help of some wonderful community who speaks truth and makes me think.

i've found proverbs 14:4 to be very applicable to my life: "where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strenght of the ox."
professionally, i've gone from student to (soon-to-be) registered dietitian, and will hopefully be entering the workplace soon. i've found areas of the field that i enjoy, and some that i definitely don't prefer. in the midst of a packed schedule, i've learned the value of a sabbath, and of getting enough sleep every night.

i've learned that when the Lord gives conviction, it is foolish to ignore. though we aren't above that, because even as new creations in Christ, we still sin. i've seen my own depravity in that, been surprised at myself for the times that I have chosen my way over His, and never been more thankful for a grace-giving God.

i've taken many blustery walks along the sound, admiring the mountains beyond and soaking up the beauty of creation, considering perspective, and how a texan like me ended up so far north. i've learned to be patient, and that sports related injuries take forever to heal. i've decided that greek food might be my favorite genera, and that i need more winter clothes.

i've learned to pray confidently and with persistence, enduring and trusting, and seen the Lord answer some of these prayers. i've visited many museums, seen plenty of great art, and sipped on an abundance of perfect cappuccinos. i've been a regular bus riding commuter, read plenty of good books, and spent many lunch breaks getting lost among the bustling streets of downtown finding all the little nooks and hidden treasures there.

i've learned that sometimes to let go of what i hold tightly (because i think i know best) is simply better, because i serve a trustworthy God, who knows me more than i can know myself. but also that even in that, i do not cease to care about those who have had access to know my heart, who have cared deeply for me and who i have cared deeply for. and that's okay. most of all i've learned to desperately seek truth, because it is the only things that stands. i never want to stop being a thinker or a seeker.

those are just a few thoughts, scribbled out on a spare piece of paper in a coffee shop over a latte on a cold and rainy june afternoon (how many things are wrong with the last 5 words of that sentence??).

here's to another year of learning :)

three day weekend.

a weekend of refreshing fun, clif notes version, plenty of pictures included.

friday: kelsey and i went over to the gillebos for homemade pizza and a movie night. my contribution: mint brownies. (i seriously have the BEST recipe i've ever had in my life.) what started as casual conversation quickly turned into life on life gospel encouragement between the four of us.

saturday: i took a nice little jog in the sunshine, then headed over to community group where we talked about idols, and how they are revealed by how we spend our money and what we find "not funny." katy and i headed back to her apartment afterwards for some pool time- first really warm sunny day in seattle- clear skies all around! we laid out (and got a little tan!!) for a couple hours, then headed back inside to shower and clean the house.

saturday night was my birthday celebration. on the menu: greek pasta and carrot cake. there was supposed to be salad in there too, but it didn't quite come together. so many FRIENDS came over to celebrate: people that i know from all parts of my life up here. i loved having them all there, even though i was busy cooking in the kitchen. the carrot cake was a hit- we didn't have candles, so i blew out three tea lights instead :) after we were all thoroughly stuffed, we played some games and laughed a lot, then called it a night.

sunday: sunday school (with all our crazy little 5 year olds, love them). service at west seattle. homework in the afternoon. service at ballard. the sermon at ballard was really a great one on how Jesus opens the eyes of the blind- i'll post more on it at another time.

monday: kicked off the morning with a 4.5 mile jog, with a stop at the gym in the middle to do some weights. it was a great little workout. class was pretty low-key, and we watched a video that will definitely make me think twice about eating meat. i'm not a vegetarian by any means, but i don't eat meat often. after watching, i think i might spend a few more dollars and make sure that i'm getting the good stuff when i buy it. i'm pretty sure all the interns enjoyed a meat-free dinner that evening. as for me, i made homemade pesto for susie and i after sitting out on the back deck and reading in the perfect weather for a couple hours.

is this weather here to stay? (no, it's back in the 50's and raining today...)

the makings.

yum.

and now onto the project of the day: finding a place to live and some car insurance. fun fun.

love,

tracey