When we first moved here, we wanted to find a church home fairly quickly so we'd be able to make some friends. We started going to First United Methodist Church of Seattle, nicknamed "First Church," which back then was located at 5th and Marion downtown. We only went to a few services in that building before the church had to move to a temporary location while a new building was being constructed. The old, historic building at 5th and Marion had sustained over $600,000 worth of damage during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, and was beyond any affordable repair. We temporarily worshiped at the Seattle Children's Theater for almost two years. It was a decent place, but it certainly didn't feel like a church.

It's taken a lot of time, work, and money to make everything happen. Troy and I volunteered last Saturday to help move boxes and furniture to their respective rooms in the building. The moving company had moved everything into the fellowship hall, but everything had to be moved from there to the right place. It was kind of fun, I helped open boxes of hymnals and distributed them to the pews. The church provided Top Pot donuts and sandwiches and chili for lunch. The church still had another week to prepare for the first service.

Finally today, our new church building at 2nd and Denny opened its doors and we had our first worship service there. Everyone was really excited and dressed up more than usual. I'd never seen that many people at our church before. It was emotional for lots of people too. It's nice to have an actual church to go to now, instead of the secular Children's Theater. The building itself is very nice and the sanctuary has great acoustics. Everyone's singing just filled up the room, it was really nice. We sat in the balcony, which has three rows of seats. The ceiling is made of wood on the inside and has side windows for lighting.

The outside looks nice too, with red brick and titanium in the front. We also have our own parking garage, which is nice. After the service, everyone went down to the fellowship hall underneath the sanctuary and had snacks and desserts. It's very nice to have our own church building and I'm happy for First Church.

We take the bus about once a week, aside from when I take it to work, and the route we take most is route #8. We often take it to Capitol Hill (usually to get bagels on Saturday morning) and it also goes to Lower Queen Anne. However, despite being such a convenient route, it only runs every 30 minutes. Fortunately, starting on February 6, it will run every 15 minutes.

I think it's significantly more challenging to drive here than in Texas. Urban Seattle, a walkable, urban city is a much different driving environment than the open roads of sprawling Texas.

When driving in Texas, I hardly ever had to watch out for anything other than cars, but on any given street here there are lots of things to watch out for, like bicyclists and pedestrians. Many roads are used by bicyclists, so I have to give them room, especially when passing. And many arterial streets have a lot of crosswalks, so I have to watch out for people crossing the streets. And, aside from crosswalks, pedestrians technically have the right of way at any intersection. There are also relatively few protected turns, so when turning left, not only do I have to watch out for oncoming traffic, but once there are no more cars coming, I also have to make sure there are no bikes coming, and make sure there are no pedestrians in the crosswalk or about to enter the intersection. And turning right isn't that much easier.

Plus, on top of all that, there are many hours of darkness and frequent light rain in the winter, with the occasional snow dusting. And, there are also hills, some of which are really steep, which makes the whole thing more difficult. While Seattle follows a pretty standard grid pattern, a lot of streets are ended or diverted by hills or water, making it important to know which street takes you which way you want to go. And because many arterial streets aren't much wider than normal neighborhood streets, it's not always easy to figure out which way to go.

And the streets are pothole-riddled and loud. Plus some parts of the city have bad traffic (not that traffic in Texas is much better).

All these factors combine to make it challenging to drive around urban Seattle. Furthermore, with only a couple short driving trips per week, my driving skills may have declined somewhat. The good thing is that alternative means of transportation like walking, biking, and taking the bus are a lot less challenging here.

I mentioned before that my department at work had been eliminated and that I was looking for a new position at work. I had been staying busy with small projects for a few different people until recently when I was given a temporary position in another department.

While I had been enjoying the freelancing I'd been doing within the company, this new position has been good for a few reasons. Now I'm part of a team, and a team that wants to do a great job. I've also become much busier completing some relatively urgent tasks, which have made the work day more exciting because of their urgent nature. It sounds like I will get more ownership in this department and hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with and lead others on projects to improve processes and solve problems.

While this position isn't technically permanent, it's very possible that it could work out well for my boss and me, though I may have multiple opportunities with this company to choose from.

One of the things I love about my lifestyle here is how I have multiple ways of getting around. I love to walk and am glad that it's often a convenient mode of transportation. I've also come to really enjoy riding the bus - relaxing and looking out the window. And, I sometimes take the Streetcar, which is consistent, clean, and contemporary. Seattle also now has light rail, which is enjoyable to take. And, we still drive often enough, and I enjoy the freedom, comfort, and speed that driving can offer. I've also thought about getting a bicycle, which would give me another great way to go places.

I've realized that traveling by a variety of modes keeps each one a little exciting. There's not one perfect way to get around the city - it depends on where and when I'm going, how much time I have to get there, what the weather's like, and other factors too. It's nice having options, though.

I would become frustrated at being limited to one option, such as if I had to drive everywhere, or had to walk everywhere. It's tough to choose a favorite mode of transportation, they all have their advantages (and annoyances). While I have lots of options available, I'd probably say that walking is my favorite way to get around whenever it's a convenient option. What's your favorite mode of transportation if you could have convenient access to all these?

Though the days are lengthening, there's still a lot of darkness in the evenings, so I went out a couple days ago to take a few pictures. Our neighborhood is fairly quiet at night and there's not really much to photograph, but I took a few pictures that I'll share.

Looking south towards downtown from Cascade Park. The church on the left is Immanuel Lutheran Church:


Here's a nearby Indian restaurant:


The Seattle Streetcar, or SLUT (South Lake Union Trolley), as we call it:


Whole Foods Market. I'm not sure why the trees still have their lights on them:


Local movie rental:


One of several Amazon buildings under construction:

Since I posted about the 5 days of rainy weather in the forecast, we've had hardly any rain. So, I got all upset about the weather when the forecast was very inaccurate.

The day I posted, Friday, actually did have quite a bit of rain - over half an inch. But, since then, we've just had mostly cloudy skies without much rain. The weekend started with some fog, and there was a total of .12 inches of rain, which must have fallen overnight because I don't remember it. Then, yesterday and today there wasn't any rain (although it's raining some this evening).

It's interesting how the forecast so strongly predicted rain and we had hardly any, but it's not uncommon for the forecast to be wrong. The weather here is somewhat complicated and meteorology just isn't as much of an exact science as it tends to be in other parts of the country.

Or, maybe it's that during the winter, meteorologists join in with other Seattleites who like to perpetuate the kinds of myths that keep too many people from moving here. All that rain seems like a good way to deter too many prospective residents from taking over the city. But I think I'd rather just have an accurate forecast.

I had the day off yesterday because of Martin Luther King Jr. day. It was nice to sleep in a little and get a few things done. Troy still had to work though, so I woke up when he did at 6:30. I didn't actually get up until about 8. I cleaned up the dishes and also swept and vacuumed. Then I just played my video game for a while until lunch. I got my hair cut in the afternoon and then it was time for Troy to come home from work. The day flew by unfortunately, but at least it makes the week shorter.

This morning we awoke to find a lot of fog outside our window. This picture was taken around 9 am:



The fog cleared up though, as you can see in this picture taken around 10:30.



We went to the Space Needle later and took a few pictures from there. I was hoping to catch a few more pictures of the fog over Seattle, but as you can see, it had already mostly dissipated, though there was still a blanket of fog over Lake Washington and the Eastside. Click the image below for more photos from the Space Needle:

The weather we've had lately has been very wet. For much of the past week, it's been cloudy and rainy the entire day. And, unfortunately, it looks like it will be that way for at least a few days more.



Often we'll have several hours of sun on the days where the forecast expects rain, but I never know whether to expect the sun. I don't mind cooler weather and clouds, but I do get tired of consecutive days of rain. But, on the bright side, the days are getting longer, and I'm sure we'll see the sun on a few of these rainy days.

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be here soon. We watched some of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) channel, which we thought had much better coverage than NBC. They showed more live unfiltered footage of events and they also weren't so biased towards US athletes.

Unfortunately this year, CBC won't be showing the Olympics in the Seattle area. We're only 140 miles away, yet we won't get Canadian coverage. I guess it doesn't matter much to us though, since we don't have cable any more and only get local channels.

An article from the Seattle Times summarizes it pretty well:

CBC, the Canadian network available on cable here, won't be carrying the games. Local fans will have few alternatives to NBC, which tape-delays coverage of most premier events for West Coast audiences. CTV, the largest privately owned network in Canada, outbid CBC for the broadcast rights in that country. But CTV is available almost nowhere in the state of Washington.

My sister Lauren and brother-in-law Adam are expecting their first child in about a month! We won't be able to be there when she's born in February, but we'll be visiting in March to see our little niece! It will be weird to be called Aunt Sissy (Lauren calls me Sissy) and Uncle Troy. Lauren and Adam have been working on setting up Evelyn's room and just need a few more things to be done. The baby shower is next weekend, so I'm sure they'll get some of the stuff they need. I can't wait to see my niece and take lots of pictures of me and Troy holding her!

Today has been a fun day so far. We started out by taking the #8 bus to get our usual bagels at Noah's. We brought an asiago and two super onion bagels back to the apartment to eat for breakfast. After that, we went downtown to go to Pike Place Market. The weather has been nice here the last few days with highs in the upper 40s and even the 50s today, which is much better than most of the rest of the country. It was nice walking around the market with such great weather. We got some wild blackberry honey from the Snoqualmie Valley honey farm stand that we've gotten honey from before. We also went to World Market where Troy found some red tea he'd been wanting recently and we also got some balsamic vinegar since some recipes we've wanted to try call for it.

After that we went to Gap so I could look for more winter clothes. I was surprised at how much winter stuff was on clearance and really cheap. I got 4 long sleeved shirts for $28 total! I should do all my shopping at Old Navy and Gap from now on. Then we walked all the way through Belltown and Lower Queen Anne in an attempt to eat at Tup Tim Thai that we'd been wanting to go to for a while. Unfortunately we found out that it's only open from 5-11 Saturday, so we went to a Greek place called the Athina Grill instead. Troy had been wanting a gyro for a while. We both got one and it was really filling and good. I got a salad with mine and Troy got fries with his.

We hung out in Counterbalance park for a few minutes waiting for the bus, which we took home. What a great day to be outside in Seattle! Pike Place Market is definitely one of my favorite places to go to.

When we signed up for cable with Comcast a little more than a year ago, we were offered an introductory rate of about $30/month for basic cable. We thought it was only a 6 month introductory rate, but it lasted for about a year.

Then, last month, our introductory rate ended and our cable bill more than doubled to $67. I called Comcast to see if we could continue our old rate, but supposedly they didn't have any deals available. I asked to reduce my level of service and they told me that I'd have to return my cable box to the service center.

So, Lesley and I decided to cut our level of service to limited basic cable, which gives us channels 1 through 29 and costs $13/month. Our TV antenna doesn't take an analog signal and we watch enough local TV to make it worthwhile to pay for it.

When I got home, I prepared to return our cable box. On the box, there was a sticker that said to call a certain number to return it, so I did, but I figured that I'd just have to take it to the service center anyway, so we left for the service center while I stayed on hold. I was on hold for about 30 minutes and almost made it to the service center before they picked up the phone and told me that I didn't need to call them and just needed to drop it off. Anyway, we got to the service center and there were more than 10 people in line in front of us, but it didn't take too long. We dropped off our box and will basically save more than $600 this year over what we would've paid if we kept our service at the inflated rate.

So, we no longer have ESPN or other cable channels, but fortunately there's nothing major on cable that we'll want to watch in the next few months. We will miss watching Mariners games on TV this summer, as well as the occasional soccer game. But you never know, maybe they'll offer good rates again.

The department I had been in at work is being eliminated. Nobody is losing their job, but I don't have another job yet, so I am in transition. I've been offering to help other departments and have come up with a couple projects that have been keeping me occupied. I'm still looking for other things to do in the short term so that I stay busy until I find another position. I don't know what my next job will be, but I've talked to various people within the company that I may be interested in working with. I don't know how soon something will open up, but I may have some options. I'll have to be patient for now, but I am looking forward to having some clarity on how things will go.

Here are our favorite pictures that we took last year. Vote on your favorite below.

Go here to see our favorite pictures from 2008.

Seattle was named most literate city in the country. Here's some about the study:

This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources.

Based on my perception of the city, I'm not surprised about that at all. Bookstores are pretty common, though they've been struggling lately and the city's landmark Elliott Bay Book Company is moving from Pioneer Square to Capitol Hill. And many people here have graduate degrees - Seattle is a very educated city (almost to the detriment of diversity). The city also is big on libraries and overwhelmingly passed a measure in 1998 to improve all neighborhood libraries and build a new central library.