Out & About | Safeco Field

The secret to marriage...

... I haven't found... but one thing I know has been good for us. Days away. We don't have any kids but we've got jobs and a home that is good to escape. Get away for the day and do the things you love. Be in the place that makes you feel most at home...

Seattle.

We recently headed north for the Seattle Bike Expo. And a day together in Seattle is never complete without a trip to TopPot & Zeeks pizza.

Where do you go to get away?



All photos taken via instagram, @chrisklas or online!

Proj366

Man, I remember typing up my last 366 post thinking I would have more time the next week to do some posting.... Not so.

Maybe next week??

Saturday night... March 10th - late night reading session of the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Two separate strangers I spoke with today brought these books up in conversation... Have you read them yet?

All photos taken via instagram, @chrisklas or online!

Inspiration (or lack thereof)

Went into the archives for today's post... but I've been longing for these summer evenings...

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So... I did a pretty good job making this a "Wordless Wednesday" post but then decided in the end I needed to come back and add more. My title is absolutely true of my life right now. I am confident that I'm a "blip on the radar screen" and need to live for eternity more than the now... But I'm torn lately because I so desperately want things in my life to clear up NOW. Life is good. But I am tired. I read this post and was reminded of how tired I am of my current routine. I'm so busy "yelling" at the kids at school (work) and sending them to put their head down that I have no time to care about them, or sit down with them and find out about their lives... What makes them  little brats  act the way they do...

You know what Kent and Alan told me this morning? (local radio for those who don't catch the reference)... 

They told me my "horoscope" (don't actually believe those, but it's fun to compare to see how close they are to reality) said I should

"Do what I love and the money will follow"...

Everyday I come to work and I click on a few links I have up in my tool bar.

Local counseling agencies.

No part time jobs posted. (part time's all I can accept right now)

I'm a Masters Level Graduate and no one takes me seriously. 

blah blah blah

I'm just ready to do what I thought I was supposed to do... What I thought God gave me a gifting in.

...or did I just THINK that's where God wanted me?

Let's not even get started with photography... now THAT is something I love to do. And I'm trying to do it. but the money's not following...

Lost and Found

So - I've been having some memory card issues. Once before when I'd taken a lot of pictures on a trip to Seattle, I plugged the card into my computer and it said "Unable to format"... Needless to say, I freaked out. No pictures on the card. None on the computer.

Over the weekend I did a photo shoot with a one year old boy and got back to the house... Plugged in the memory card - Nothing. "WHAT???"... I started having a minor heart-attack and pulled the card out... put it back in, Voila! The pictures were all there... Not only that but some other pictures began showing up - from our trip to Seattle! "WHAT???" Apparently I was using the same memory card (which I thought I'd thrown away?) and even though the pictures didn't show up on the camera as I flicked through the photos - there they were, on the memory card when I plugged it in a second time.

I don't begin to understand how that worked out - I'm just grateful that it did! Now you get to see the gum-wall (which, if you've travelled to Seattle - I'm sure you have seen!)

On another note... I won the "Snap and Share" Contest over at Grace Loves The Beatles ! My first photo contest winnings! Pretty cool stuff.

Travel

Strangest post I've ever made - it's sans photo! Contradictory to the very nature of this blog. But I've just got nothin' today. Not for lack of inspiration - but for lack of time.

Thursday night Sept. 29th 11:59pm - unload the last batch of laundry into the basket to be sorted through on Monday (at least it's clean)... finish off the last bit of dirty dishes on the counter... take out the trash - one of those compulsive moments of "House needs to be [somewhat] clean before I leave for the weekend".

Friday morning, Sept. 30th 3:00am - hit the snooze alarm until I'm coherent enough at 3:30am to realize "This alarm is going off because I have a plane to catch!!"... commence running around the house like home alone. Friend is coming to pick us up at 4:00am...

Fly to San Diego. Sit in conference sessions. Worship the Lord. Learn.

Friday night Saturday morning, 1:00am Oct. 1st - hit the sack.

Saturday morning, 7:00am - Sit in conference sessions. Coffee. Worship the Lord. Coffee. Learn.

Saturday night Sunday morning, 1:30am - hit the sack... hard.

Sunday morning, 7:00am - Husband leaves earlier than me to get in line for Coffee. Sit in conference sessions. Coffee. Worship. Coffee. Learn. Coffee. Coffee.

Sunday night Monday Morning, 12:45am - wishing I could hit the sack but the plane is just now touching down in rainy (beautiful) Seattle.

Monday morning 2am - hit the sack.
Monday morning 7:30am - alarm wakes me up and beckons me to work.

I'm exhausted.

The whole time though... I've got this stuck in my head. One of the first things I heard when we arrived and it stayed circling my brain the whole weekend...

Our God is greater.

Our God is stronger.

God you are higher than any other.

Our God is healer.

Awesome in power.

Our God.

Our God...

And if our God is for us, than who could ever stop us.

And if our God is with us, than what could stand against?

To see the power of the Lord moving through a room of 2,000+ youth workers... I'd do it all over again.

Music

I've been busy these days... Noticeably more absent from the blog than I'd like to be because it's just the kind of outlet I need. Just too busy to focus on the things that are just for me. I headed home for the day last night around 9pm and forced myself to practice the cello. I hate the thought of knowing that when I show up to my lesson on Friday - my teacher will know that I haven't picked the instrument up in two weeks...

That all being said - I thought I'd just share some new music with you (well... definitely not new) but a few shows I'm headed to in the next few months.... Music is from the soul - I don't think you need to be a Christian musician to bring glory to God because He's created a lot of talented people out there. I can hear the hand of God even if that isn't the artist's original intention... All that being said, the hubs and I LOVE going to live shows. We live in the perfect spot to do that - not all of them are "Christian Bands" (whatever that really even means) but all of them are musically gifted. Here's what's on the docket for the next few months:

I don't actually get to go to this one... The hubs is going though. He's been wanting to see Ryan Adams forever. (side note... I miss those two buildings in the back ground)

Dates

One of my favorite ways to spend the evening is hanging out with the hubs. And like I good American - I like to go out to eat - but not to the same burger joint every time. I like to find the hole in the wall location (with good food) or something a little off the beaten path. Last night my husband took me out on a belated anniversary date to a place I didn't know existed. There are no signs because I guess "The Pink Door" is supposed to be enough... So as we walked down the alley at Pike Place Market and saw the pastel wooden door we figured.... "Well, I guess this must be it".

This place was a little strange at first, I'm not gonna lie. We gave eachother "the eye" as we tried to make our way to our table and not get kicked in the face or sat on by the gal swinging from the trapeze. I didn't know what to expect - but, believe it or not, every Monday night a gal swings from the hoop in the trapeze dining room. You have to make reservations to see her because the place is so packed. 

Forgive me for the lack of inspiring photos - the lighting in that room was awful for any sort of photography. 

And these less than stellar photos don't do the restaurant/venue any justice.

We settled into our seats - right next to the trapeze artist and as the food began to arrive and the atmosphere started to envelop us we realized - this is such a unique spot. A fun way to enjoy the night and the food.... Don't get me started. I did mention I was a good American - so I loved my meal. :)

Afterwards we made the short trek to Ballard to check out a place we'd been dying to visit.

We are big fans of games - card games, board games, puzzles - you name it... You know those things that people used to engage in that was interactive and social?... prior to video games/facebook/internet/BLOGGING? We love that stuff. So going to Card Kingdom was essentially like traveling to Mecca for the hubs. You can buy games, or "check out" games and take them into the adjacent bar/dining area and play while you eat/drink the night away. Brilliant.

Linking up with:

Weddings and Nerdy Things

On this day - as two of our friends join in the bonds of "Mawwiage" and my husband officiates the ceremony, I'm going to blog about blood.

Warning... this blog contains a confession regarding my inner-nerd... Also, the following photo, while not in high definition (cell-phone shots today - let's not talk about the fact that I left my new camera at HOME), may be disturbing.

I'm the best wife in the world. My hubs is good at reminding me of that. Because, while I eagerly await the official start of the football season - I can also dabble in all things nerdy (everything in moderation). So, as the hubs and I were strolling around the Seattle convention center for PAX Prime this past Sunday, I stopped at this booth of bloody gauze and cotton swabs, looked at my husband and said, "Give me your iphone. I need to take a picture and blog this." So here you have it. Bloody gauze. Aren't you glad I thought to do this??

Turns out the zombies we saw walking around were all volunteering to be painted up like this for the afternoon. They were all walking advertisements for this video game. This guy had no idea that showing up for PAX would equal submission on my blog... Isn't his charred right arm just lovely?

A few other lovely things we found while we were there... I love to be reminded (and to remind others) that Christ loves all of us. That HIS blood was shed for everyone of us. No exceptions. No matter how weird, no matter how nerdy, no matter the last time that you showered, and it doesn't matter if you walk around the streets of Seattle all day dressed as Master Chief (which was awesome by the way). He loves you just the same.

It's true he does.

Here's a shout-out to GAME CHURCH. Shoot them an email and I'd bet they'll send you one of these:

Yes. This is the New Testament. Wonderful right? (Sacrilegious?) I thought some people might say that... but I think it was CS Lewis who said "The best translation of the Bible is the one you'll read."

We're gonna order a bunch of these and if it gets our youth group kids reading the Bible - so be it. They have to start somewhere.

I was so happy to see these little give-aways working... While the hubs and I stood back and watched. A "gamer" walked right up to the booth and said, "Ok, who is this Jesus? Who are you guys? And why should I care?" YES. People asking questions. THIS. is. fantastic. This person willingly walked away with their little Bibles after more questions and more non-threatening answers. Huh. Who'da thunk?

Little Goodies

It’s been a good past couple of days in my little world... If you follow along you know I took a little day trip up to Seattle looking for a new camera. I absolutely love my little Nikon D50 - given to me by my parents prior to getting married. “This is our last chance to spoil her... It’s your job now.” They said to my hubs. (lucky him ;)

While I love the D50... It’s been needing an upgrade. It has traveled the globe with me (quite literally) so, as any photographer knows - my camera became a part of my family... but now, it’s time for my family to grow a little. 

Please. Take a gander at the baby I found (eep! It was love at first SIGHT!)

Yes. yes. yes. So - while I’m completely in love with this sweet little find from an antique shop along the Seattle waterfront I did also stop by Glazer’s camera supply (another new love of mine) and it was the easiest sell the salesman ever made.

I’d already researched online. I knew what I wanted. I walked in. I bought it.

Last week we were in Seattle trying to make our way to Glazer’s but it closed before we could get there. This week. We were there on time and they had started an AHHmazing sale... that very day. Perfect timing. I saved up money for a long time in order to make this purchase - but still. I like a good deal.

And... FINALLY.... guess what arrived in the mail? 

Do you see those super cute earrings? No. Ya. I know... the picture doesn’t really do them justice - so check out the etsy shop Love is Rising... right now. Such cute stuff and I’m excited to order my next pair.

Good stuff these last couple days.