Moving On

For those of you who haven't heard we are moving to Birmingham, Alabama, and we leave Seattle in two days to drive across country. I am sitting here in our empty apartment and reflecting on leaving Seattle and what it will be like to be back in the city that I spent 4 years during college. Casey and I started our married life off in Seattle so I think it will always have a special place in my heart because of that. Most of you know that I moved out here for my job for a year in 2005 and that's when I met Casey. At that point I knew that I would only be here for a year and I tried to take advantage of living in a new place, but I never really felt like I had to commit to Seattle. Even after we found out that we were moving back here for a new job for him after our wedding, I never really thought about what it would be like to live here permanatly. I was so focused on the wedding and getting married, I never really thought that about how life would be once we moved back. 

First, here are my top 5 reasons why I have enjoyed living in Seattle. 

5.  Mountains! Mountains! Mountains! On a clear day on our drive into work, Mt. Rainier seems to tower over the city and it truly takes my breath away every day that I see it. It never seems commonplace to see such majesty!  On that same day, I might be able to look to my right and see the Olympic Mountain range and then glance to my left to see the Cascades. Awesome!

4. Seattle Casual Cool. It's nice to live in a place where you don't really  have to get dressed up a lot. Coming from the South and Samford, where we dressed up to go to class, it is nice to not worry as much about what you look like. Don't worry, I still wear make up and dress nicely. This can also be a negative as well, b/c there are always people who take it too far and look like slobs. 

3. Coffee. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but if I was, I think I would appreciate all of the coffee mecca that Seattle is I do like to go to coffee shops, but I just get Chai Tea. No matter how you feel about Starbucks, you can't deny that it has made this city what it is today. 

2. Public Transportation: Although there are days that I have cursed riding the bus, it has been a blessing for us to be able to live in a place with one car to save money. Public transportation is also on my negatives as well! Stay tuned.

1 Mars Hill Church. The  saddest thing about us leaving is having to leave our church. The teaching, worship and people have really helped us grow these past 2 years. Mark Driscoll is truly one of the best teachers that I have ever heard and while people listen to his sermons all around the world it has been wonderful to hear him live so many Sundays. More importantly, we were able to serve in the hospitality ministry of the church and it has been awesome to think that we have had a small part in what Jesus is doing in Seattle. Let me tell you, it is a lot! Check out the website at www.marshillchurch.org and listen.

Ok the Top 5 reasons why I will not miss Seattle on most days. 

5. Extreme cost of living. While Seattle is not quite up to California prices for real estate, it's not far behind. The average cost of a house in King County is $420,000 and that will only get you a little cottage. Condos and townhouses are cheaper, but the cheapest Condos start about $250,000. It will be nice to live in a place where we can afford a house. 

4. Constant talk of politics and ideologies. Maybe it was just because it was an election year, but people always want to engage in political conversations. I was brought up that you just don't talk about those things, unless you are with close friends and family or you know someone agrees with your position. It didn't help that most of my opinions where the opposite of what people where saying. I am so glad the election will be over soon and that I can talk with people about much more important things than politics. 

3.Protesters. Seattle is a town with all kinds of people and many of them seem to not have jobs and always want to be protesting or marching in honor of some stupid cause. Well, I guess it's not stupid to them, but whatever. There were these old hippies that lived in a really wealthy area of the city and every Tuesday and Thursday they would  be out on a pedestrian bridge over a well traveled highway with signs against the war, Bush and anything else they felt was wrong with the world. They totally have the right to do that, but it just irritated me that they didn't have to work and can spend their time making signs similar to the ones I made for football games in high school!

2. The bus. Most of you know that we sold Casey's truck shortly after we got married to pay off bills and become a one car couple. In retrospect, it was a very smart move as we watched gas prices soar over the past year. On most days Casey would drop me off from work and pick me up, but I spent a good amount of time riding the bus. I never seemed to mind public transportation in Europe, it was actually thrilling and fun at times and it was the only option to get around, so I had to use it. There was something about being in America and not having the freedom of my car that really got to me sometimes. This feeling became stronger when I would have to deal with smelly or mentally disturbed people on the bus. It didn't happen often, b/c most of the riders where professionals, but there were days when I just wanted to scream and run off the bus. Our carbon footprint was definitely lower for 2 years, but I can't say that I would trade that for the freedom of having MY OWN CAR!!!

1. Rain rain go away. You never get used to it. People that say they do are lying. For me it wasn't even the rain so much as the gray, day after day. January and February were the worst. Most people are surprised to know that Seattle doesn't get that cold. Usually the coldest it gets is in the 40s, but I would rather have it 20 and sunny. I always tell people that when it's beautiful outside, Seattle is a sight to behold, but when it's gray and rainy for 2 weeks in a row, it loses it's magic real fast. 

Seattle will always be special to both Casey and I because it's where we met and spent our first years as husband and wife, but I am hopeful about the future and moving on.