Newspaper

You may have already read the article via the link I gave you, but here's the hard copy with a picture!  Here we are with the Ambassador of Macedonia, Zoran Jolevski.

The Methow Valley

That's where we are now!  Before we go any further, how about a lesson on how to pronounce Methow because it's not what you think. :)  It's pronounced Met-HOW. Say it with me...Met-HOW.  Good.  Now we can move on. :)

As soon as we got back from DC we started working on moving.  Sunday was the official farewell/commissioning service at church.  Let's just say there were quite a few teary eyes.  While we were all excited at what the Lord was doing, it was hard to leave everyone.  It still is hard, but honestly, it's not quite what I thought it would be.  While I miss everyone, it feels natural to be here.  I think it's just another testimony to God and how He prepares us for what He calls us to do. 

Anyways, Monday we ran errands, cleaned out the travel trailer, had dinner with friends and stayed the night with Josh in his apartment.  A small studio apartment was not made to sleep 5 adults. Haha...it was interesting, but worth it to be able to spend our last night with him. :) 

Eight o'clock Tuesday morning found my dad and I at the Uhaul place.  We picked up our big truck and then while he packed up the truck (with help from a few men) I stopped at the bank to close an account and also submitted a change of address at the post office.  It was really neat, because these people that I've known for several years especially because of working at the church were sad to see me go and wanted me to keep in touch.  Have you ever had your Post Office clerk say keep in touch?  Haha...I have! Lol!

Eventually we all ended up at the Majors where a few friends and our pastor gathered to say a final farewell.  We loaded up, lined up our 8 car caravan and headed across the mountains! 

We got the Majors Uhaul unloaded and stayed the night with them that night because our house wasn't available until the next morning.  Wednesday started the grueling task of cleaning and unpacking.   We're still working on it because unfortunately the previous dwellers didn't leave the house very clean, but there's been alot of progress made.  I think we're finally done with the upstairs, which includes new paint jobs in mine & Maggie's rooms (I'll be doing another post on my room in the near future)!  Now we'll start on the downstairs! Our goal is to at least get the family room cleaned and painted by the end of this week. My mom, Maggie & I leave for Oregon on Sunday and when we get back we should have some new furniture delivered and we wanted to have the living room and family room ready for that delivery!  Our current furniture will go downstairs and the new stuff will be upstairs!

For the 4th we went to a demolition derby in a nearby town.  It was really neat!  They had races and then the demo derby at the end, followed by fireworks!  Here's a video of one of the races!

We held our first official service on Sunday, and it went great!  We didn't have as many people as we hoped to have, but at least some came, right?!  I've been given the ministry of church pianist and am actually surprised at how well my playing is coming along.  Once again, God enabling us to do what He has called us to!

Oh!  You may have noticed I changed my header to...**Welcome To The Valley**  While I'll always be an Island Girl, I felt it was appropriate to change the header since I'm now living in the valley! 

Are you ready?

**Already read this post?  See the addition at the end!**

Be prepared for a long blog post, because I'm going to attempt to catch you up to what's been going on! 

Oh goodness...how far do I go back? Ummm...we moved out of our house about a week after this post. Maggie & I stayed with the Howers for a week, while my parents and Josh lived in the church travel trailer.  During our stay at the Howers, Alyssa, Linnea, Maggie & I decided to have a girls night and went to see Cinderella at our local playhouse.  Can you believe that it was the first time I had even been to our playhouse after living there my whole life??  I can't either...oh well!  The play was great and we had alot of fun spending that time together!  I hope to start going to the local playhouse here!

Once Josh got into an apartment, Maggie and I moved to the travel trailer for a few days at least.  That week was busy getting ready for Washington DC, as we were leaving that Friday night.  It was also my last week of work...it was very bittersweet.  I'm so blessed to have been able to work/minister at the church for the past 5 years with a great staff team!  I couldn't have asked for a better job!  They threw a farewell luncheon on Friday and got me a really neat blanket with a map of Whidbey Island on it, as well as some delicious chocolates!

On the day we left for DC a certain someone celebrated a birthday. 

Merry
Available
Goofy
Generous
Imaginative
Enthusiastic

We were in Washington DC for a week.  A very busy one at that!  Once we got there we pretty much hit the ground running!  We were busy morning to night with lectures and sightseeing.  Lectures included: How World Views are Formed, Humanism in Public Education, Islam, Martyrdom, etc.  We were able to visit: Monuments & Memorials, Smithsonian Museum, Holocaust Museum, USS Barry, Macedonian Embassy, night tour of the Capitol!, etc. We were also able to meet several different people from different organizations such as Concerned Women of America, Focus on the Family, etc and we also had the opportunity to lobby with Senator Cantwell!  It was an awesome week.  I learned alot and was really encouraged to get more involved in politics and becoming aware of what's going on in the world.  Along with the pictures I'll post, here are links to more pictures as well videos!

Are you still with me??  It wasn't as long as I was thinking it would be, but that's pretty much what's been going on leading up to the move.  Come back tomorrow and I'll have more on that!

**Addition** We made it in the paper!  Here's the link.