Suncadia Resort

Our church was going on a marriage retreat to a nice resort in the mountains called Suncadia. Ryan and I had decided the price was more than we wanted to pay for what would be less than 24 hours, so we hadn't signed up. The night before the retreat, we got a phone call saying that there had been a last minute cancellation and that we could take the spot, all expenses paid. We said yes. It was fun to get to meet other couples in our church. It was nice to getaway, even though I had a lousy cold and woke up every 30 minutes throughout the night. Insomnia has still been a continuing problem for me. (Actually, the last 5 nights have been pretty good, which I thank God for.)

The resort is about a 2 hour drive away. There is a pool with water slides, a small, outdoor ice skating rink, and fireplaces in the rooms.

Left: View from main lounge. Right: View of lodge and mountains from our room.

Our room. It had a nice kitchenette as you can see.
This is the view from our room. They are still doing a lot of construction and landscaping.

We saw a few deer as we took an evening stroll, and then we took a break to warm ourselves in front of the fire by the outdoor ice skating rink.

There are many nice homes going up around the resort.

Meadow at Suncadia.

Roslyn Cafe--about 2 miles from the resort. This place has been made famous from its role in the 1990's TV series Northern Exposure. Northern Exposure's storyline was set to be in Alaska, but the main street and cafe were actually filmed in Roslyn, WA.

Spring Break!

It's spring break for us, but I mostly feel like sleeping on the couch since I've picked up a lousy cold. Actually, I'm glad that I've got it now and not when I need to work. Speaking of work, after much prayer and deliberation, I have accepted the position to teach job readiness skills and ESL to refugees. I'm excited about it except for working full-time. We'll just save the extra income and maybe use that for another overseas trip. We've had our eye on an island in the Philippines.

I'm looking forward to working with refugees and learning more about their lives. Around Everett, I've heard most of the refugees are from various parts of Africa, former Soviet states, Bhutan, and Iraq. Classes start on March 30th.

During the next week and a half, I'll be resting, gardening, visiting with new friends--we've got a crepe brunch date with another couple and their kids on Sat., lesson planning for the coming quarter, and maybe taking a few day trip down to Portland. Ryan and I have never been to Portland beyond driving through it. I've done a little research--which I do a lot if you know me; I'm a planner--but if you have been to Portland and have some "must do's", please send them my way. Ryan took this picture of me earlier today. I'm trying to get some things in the ground while the weather is decent. As you can see, I try to dress my best. : P When we moved in, the only things in the yard were a couple of trees and shrubs. The grass was about half moss, and the rest of the yard was dirt. We put down moss killer that helped a little, but as is evident from the picture, it's left the grass "splotchy" from where we pulled up the moss. There is a tacky chain link fence around the front yard that we'd surely rip out and replace with a wood one if this were our house. But since it's not, we're trying to make small, cost effective advancements to this neglected yard.

I'm putting down mulch in parts so that it looks nicer and will also help keep weeds away. We may only be here a year, so I have to make sure not to go too crazy. Flower seeds are cheap, but I want to see color in the yard now. : )

That's probably enough of my gardening rambling for now.

Not For Sale

Last Sunday we went to hear the author of the book Not For Sale, David Batstone, speak at a local church. This is the audiobook I promoted a couple of posts ago about human trafficking/slavery in the world--and yes, U.S.--today.

If you are interested in listening to the Not For Sale audiobook, please leave me a comment with your email. I'll contact you for your address. I think it's legal for me to make a copy to send to you since it was free all of February.

Check out this link--slavery map--of recent news reports on human trafficking in an area near you.

These videos will give you more information on what modern day slavery involves.

IJM Video




Stats from the Seattle area...


The Seattle P.I. had an article saying Seattle labeled 'hot spot' for human cargo.

There is a modern day slavery film festival at Mill Creek Foursquare on Mon., March 30th--6:30-9pm--if you're in the area and would like to learn more and get involved. On May 8th & 9th, is the Unbound Conference near the University of Washington. It will feature Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International as the keynote speaker. There will be workshops and presenters from IJM, Not For Sale, WARN, World Concern, and more. Ryan and I have already registered and are looking forward to it!

Job Readiness for Refugees

Iris in our front yard with the snow and hail we got a few days ago.

Woops! I haven't blogged in two weeks! We have been doing things that I mean to write about, but then I keep putting it off.

Right now--as in this weekend--I'm trying to decide whether or not to take what is a full-time ESL teaching position. It's a bit different than what I've done before and it will be more demanding due to the fact that it's full-time, and I will be lesson planning a lot more. It is a Job Readiness course for refugees. These would be students who have been allowed into the U.S. on a refugee status because of the conditions in their home country. My job would be to get their English and basic job skills up to snuff to get off of the government money they currently receive and get a job. This would be 16 hours of teaching, 4 days a week. Yes, in the community college world, that is full-time because of the amount of outside prep time that there is.

I really don't want to work full-time, plus try to take care of a home, husband, and trying to have a social life. On top of that, I've been struggling with insomnia quite a lot and worry about being over stressed and exhausted all the time. I don't want repeat the previous two quarters where I was so busy with work and my masters that I also had sleeping problems, lots of stress, and my hair was falling out due to the aforemetioned things.

On the other hand, this would allow me to keep my medical benefits that I'm in danger of losing (but if another teacher takes this class, then I could likely take his/her then vacant class), we could save a lot of money, and who knows what the summer holds for work. Plus, it could be really enriching working with refugees. I want to do what God wants me to; I'm just trying to know what that is. I told my boss that I'd let him know my decision at our staff meeting on Monday. Please pray that I'll discern His will.

Sushi Land

Last night, my brother and sister-in-law (Don & Mandy) came down to visit Ryan and me. We had a really nice evening. We went to Sushi Land in Lynnwood. It has sushi of various prices that comes by on a conveyor belt. When you see something you like, you just grab it off the belt and enjoy. It's not the highest quality sushi, but the price is right.

Edamame and sushi coming by

Ryan got this....I'm not sure why.

If you don't see something coming by that you want, you can also order things specifically from the guys in the middle who are making the sushi right there.

After dinner, we came back to our house for some homemade dessert and board games. Thanks Don and Mandy for coming down! We had fun with you guys!! Let's do that again soon. : )