Sporadic Updates are Second-Rate

It has recently come to my attention that it has been quite some time since I’ve posted about the happenings in Olympia, WA, and needless to say things are good and I’ve been rather busy.

In the month of November I got a job. You are now reading the blog of a Forza barista. Forza is a coffee company based in WA and has one location in Denver, I believe. It’s a pretty sweet set up and things are going well so far. I’m meeting a lot of people and getting to spend after hours hanging with some coworkers. Being a barista wasn’t necessarily my plan when I went to college for four years, but according to USA Today the unemployment rate for college graduates is at it’s highest since 1970, lucky class of 2010 eh? However, I think Forza is a great place to work temporarily. They can only give me part time right now, so after my trip home for Christmas I’m hoping I can pick up another job at another coffee shop somewhere else like the Starbucks in Tumwater, Mud Bay on the west side or Oly Coffee Roasters downtown. We’ll see how things go though, one day at a time.

Thanksgiving was fabulous. Prior to I was thinking I would be missing home and wishing I would’ve bought a plane ticket in order to spend the holiday with my family. But Thanksgiving in the Northwest was one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve had yet, no offense friends and family in WV. I was invited to have dinner with some church planters at Kyle and Terry Lewallen’s house. Aaron Dawson, a friend from home, was visiting that week so he got to come along as well. It was a great time of fellowship and bonding with the Surround the Sound team and it’s always great to spend time with Aaron. It was all something to be very thankful for, that’s for sure.

Aaron’s visit was wonderful. Picking him up from the airport was one of the greatest moments in the past four months. I’ve felt so alone over the past three months, being without a job and not in school made it a bit hard to make friends my own age, and it was an indescribable feeling to be amongst my best friend again.

We spent time in Seattle at Pike Place and downtown and also hung around the U-district. Aaron looked at UW as a potential grad school and we did some coffee shop hopping around town so he could get a feel for what he would be in for in case he decided to apply. Obviously he loved it. This place fits him to a tee. We also spent a lot of time in Olympia at the cities various coffee shops and delis reading comics, essays and The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (aloud mind you). It was a wonderful visit, and I was so glad to have him here for the holiday.

In other news, Sound City is growing and we’re now looking to rent a new venue because we are outgrowing Russell’s house. We’re hoping to find a new home for the church by Feb or early March, at the latest. It’s exciting to see the new faces and who has been consistent in attending our monthly meetings. I have yet to get any of my friends to attend. They’re pretty much uninterested, which is totally okay with me by the way. We may have different worldviews, but we agree on most anything related to music, coffee, art and literature, so we enjoy each other’s time.

Thus ends this brief update about my life in the Northwest. Find me on Facebook for more updates that are less sporadic.

Something Worth Blogging About.

You may now welcome me into the “job club” if you want. I got the call from Forza Coffee Company today and I go in tomorrow for some paper work and to get some training. I know it isn’t within my degree, but that’s okay. It’s something I’ve really been trying to wrap my mind around over the past few weeks. I’ve come to realize that I want nothing more than for my parents to walk around town telling their friends I’ve done something great, something that would make them feel proud, and in my mind making coffee isn’t the job they were hoping for. But then that’s what I’m telling myself and not necessarily what is true. According to them they’re proud of me regardless, what a load off my back.

So I embark on my Forza journey tomorrow.

My friend Tyler came to Oly this weekend for his birthday, and what a weekend it was! It’s always great to have him here, someone who has been in my inner circle of friends for quite sometime and someone I know I can be real with. You just can’t beat those friendships. We spent the majority of our time talking and drinking coffee in various shops such as Mud Bay Coffee Roasters, Wagner’s Café and Bakery and Cutter’s Point. We celebrated at Cascadia over an awesome dinner and “Birthday Questions”, The Clipper where we sang our “go to” karaoke jams “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey and “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn, and later we ended up at Jakes where we danced to hits like “Single Lady” by Beyonce and “You Can Do It” by Ice Cube with various European techno jams in between until purchasing Tyler a birthday hotdog and calling it a night. I think he had a good time, I know I did and hopefully he can move west very soon and get out of Eastern Washington.

So the weather has been pretty intense lately, it’s been getting dark at 4:45 and it’s been raining basically non-stop, but I’m still enjoying it for some odd reason. I must be made to live here because with each week that passes I love it more and more. A friend from college is flying into SeaTac this Sunday and words can’t describe how excited I am! We’ve been counting down the days since I left in August and the day in nearly here! Only six more days to go!

So there’s a small update from me to you. The Northwest is treating me just fine.

No plans on leaving this place anytime soon

So now we all know how easy it has been adjusting to the Northwest, and when I say easy I mean the hardest thing ever. I know my blog posts have been lagging and there’s no excuse for that, other than that the rain has kept me from thinking about anything. It’s sad to say, but I can understand why so many Washingtonians would want to end their lives. It’s a bad atmosphere. It will only get worse from here on out, as far as the weather goes. We’ve definitely hit the Winter season in WA. I laughed at how dark it was this morning at 10am.

Anyhow, I continue to remain jobless. It seems like every couple of weeks I get a lead on a great job, I get my hopes up, I send in my resume and I never hear anything back. It’s hard to not take it as “there’s something wrong with me” instead of “God has the job, I just need to find it”. If I’m on your prayer list then please pray for an open door somewhere, and if I’m not on your prayer list then please add me!

A lot happened in the month of October. My sister, brother-in-law and niece came for a five-day visit. It was perfect timing, I was really starting to miss home. We had our second church meeting at Pastor Russell’s house, always encouraging, especially when we see new faces. I started attending Life Church Dupont and since then have been asked to help lead worship until Sound City starts weekly meetings. I had a meeting with State Farm, still waiting to hear back from them, and of course have continually been adjusting more and more to Olympia as each month goes by.

November has also brought about some exciting days. Last week I scored a free ticket to see Ben Gibbard live in Seattle. It definitely ranked high on my list as far as some of the best bands I’ve ever seen. (Thank you Bobby Ball for that ticket!) I also had the opportunity to take a trip to Vancouver this past week to go to the Passion World Tour Conference. Vancouver is an amazing city, one of my favs, and the worship that night was amazing. We also had our third church service with Sound City. We had our regular attenders, but we're hopeful and praying that several unchurched folks will come next month.

Throughout all of these experiences, and my good days and bad days, God has been teaching me a lot. I’ve just recently realized that somewhere over the course of the past four years I have developed some pretty severe worrying and it hasn’t been until I moved here that I’ve realized that it is the core issue to a lot of the problems that I face day in and day out. I heard a sermon preached by Kyle Lewallen at Life Church and he said a lot of significant things that even three weeks later I am still thinking about.

-You can’t serve two masters.

-We are the pinnacle of God’s creation.

-I’m not thinking like a believer.

-One day at a time.

-Prayer is where you redirect your worry.

Duh. So elementary right? Well leave it up to me to have to learn things the hard way. So I’m not going to go in depth about how all of this struck a chord in my mind, but I can say that it has changed my thought process in a lot of ways. At the beginning of Kyle’s message he had us write down what it is we are worried about and by the time I was finished I probably had a list of ten things. I had no idea how bad it was. If you’re a worrier you can click here and give this sermon a listen.

On another positive note, I got to check out Mars Hill Olympia this week. It was awesome! The people were friendly, Driscoll brought a sweet message (as usual) and the congregation consisted of mostly young believers my age. Finally, just what I’ve been looking for. We’ll see how this evolves over time. Maybe I can make some new friends.

So things keep moving right along in Oly. I’m adjusting well and I’m not as homesick as I once was. Now that I’ve been here nearly three months I can’t really imagine being anywhere else. I really love the Northwest, though my parents probably wouldn’t be happy to hear it. I love the culture here. I’m enjoying the rain (as of right now), and I’ve met some amazing people. I think I’ll stick around.

Things to look forward to this month:

-Aaron Dawson is coming for a week long visit in 12 days!

-Sound City outreach with Homeless Backpacks Organization in Oly

-Sound City 4th Monthly Service

-Preparing seeds for my garden

-Spending more time with the Mars Hill Community in Oly

Thanks for reading. Picture updates to follow over the next few days.

I've been gone for two months now

Time is flying by! It doesn't even seem real that nearly three weeks ago we had our first launch team meeting at Russ's house and this week we'll be having our second. I'm definitely used to the area by now, but still dealing with the absence of friends from home. I miss them. There is a laundry list of reasons why I love living in the Northwest, but that's the one thing that makes it hard. Being away from friends and family is going to be a continual adjustment I'm afraid. However, my sister, brother-in-law and baby niece are coming to visit me this Wednesday. I'm overly excited to say the least.

Other positive news is that I scored an interview this past week. On the 20th I'll be heading up to Dupont, WA, about twenty minutes north of Oly, to the Statefarm building to chat with the AFC of the Pacific Northwest. Finally I feel like I'm getting somewhere! I'm really hoping and praying that Mr. Caldwell can help me get my foot in the door with the company by providing some sort of PR job or receptionist position. He oversees 46 agents in the area so I have a feeling he can help me out in some form or fashion. When Angie comes to visit we're going to hit up some shops and look for some business appropriate clothing. I can't wait to walk into the office with my heals on, all confident.

Throughout the last few weeks I've been seeking out various avenues in which I can serve and help other churches in the area. After hearing that two out of three churches in the Northwest fail, it's the least I can do. Click HERE to watch a video of Bobby Ball, Nathan Rayas and myself leading worship at the Vintage service at Sunbreak Missionary Baptist Church.

The service I attended last night in Dupont was amazing. It was just the encouragement I was needing for the week. The church is called Life Church Dupont and is the first church plant of the Surround the Sound project. They are two years into their ministry in Dupont and God is really providing big for them. They currently are meeting in the coffee shop downtown called Forza, and by the way this place makes awesome coffee, probably one of the better Sumatras I've had in my day.

Anyway, it was great to see how God is working through Pastor Kyle Lewallen, the leadership team at Life Church and the congregation. It's exciting to watch Life Church grow in Dupont and think about how God can use Sound City in Tumwater/Oly. Who knows how things will look as months go by, or even years. So glad I can be a part of it!

This past Wednesday I got to head up to Mount Rainier for the first time. It was an awesome day. The weather was beautiful. It felt so good to be outside in the sun. Standing at the bottom of Rainier at Pardise you can see Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens, pretty cool. It was a great day and here are some pictures to prove it.

Stay tuned trusty followers. Who knows what will happen next!

Moving to Oly has brought about so many fun new past times for me including: getting coffee at Mud Bay, cold press at Café Vita, seafood at the farmers market, karaoke at The Clipper with deejay Starling and reading The Volcano Weekly. The Volcano Weekly is a newspaper that is distributed throughout cities south of the Puget Sound such Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Olympia. I recently read an article entitled Rise of the New Atheism- Godlessness Takes the Offensive ironically by writer, Christian Carvajal. Anyway, I read some interesting statics in it that I thought might interest you too.

In 2008, a Pew Foundation poll found the percentage of atheists in

America had risen from 3.2 to 4 percent in only a few years, and a

whopping 44 percent of Americans abandoned the denominations

of their childhood. Only the percentage of Catholics (23.9) out-

numbered the percentage of the “unchurched” (16.1). A year later,

almost a full quarter of Americans surveyed by the American

Religious Identification Survey professed no belief in a personal

God.

Washington is hardly the most fervently churchgoing state in the

union. Even in 2001, before the rise of the New Atheism, a full

quarter of Washingtonians polled claimed no religious affiliation

whatsoever, the highest fraction anywhere in the country.

These are some pretty serious statistics I’d say, but also not shocking. Anyway, I love this newspaper. If you’ve got a craving for some liberal writing this will indeed. You can check it out here.

Spending time downtown has been a blast. I met up with my new friend Carrie at Eastside last week. It was so fun getting to talk with her and meet some of her friends. This girl knows everyone in town too, no joke. It’s been awesome getting to chill with her. We have so much in common and some of our backstories are so similar. I feel like we really relate well with each other. We’re meeting up for lunch at The Bread Peddler, a little café downtown, on Thursday. This past Saturday one of my best friends from home, Tyler Parnell, came to visit Olympia and we all went downtown to the Clipper to sing karaoke. Carrie and I sang “What a Girl Wants” by Christina Agulaira and I sang “Private Eyes” by Hall and Oates with Tyler. It was a stellar time. We definitely made some great mems.

Tyler’s visit to Olympia was long anticipated, and I took some time to document our weekend to share with you all.

BBQ Sandwiches and live music at the farmers market

Hanging out downtown along the waterfront

Puget Sound and the capitol building

I tried to snap a shot of Mt. Rainier, but this doesn't do it justice. It was such a beautiful day!

It did my heart good to sit and talk with Tyler in Cafe Vita over coffee and Scrabble

After singing karaoke downtown we got hotdogs from Jakes. In Olympia, people put cream cheese on their hotdogs. Sounds crazy, but it's delicious! :)

Lehua, Carrie, Me, and Tyler

Four Weeks In

This past Saturday marked the fourth week of my new life here in Oly. It really hasn’t been an easy transition for me, but the good news is that things are looking up. Despite the fact that I remain jobless, I’m meeting more people and getting more acclimated to the area every day. The feeling of knowing where I am going without a GPS is comforting. I really do like this area even though it has been an odd adjustment.

I’m still running around trying to find a job. I’m still applying through careerbuilder, indeed and the state government website, but I haven’t heard anything from anyone. Regardless I’m going to keep at it, even if I have to work at QFC, a grocery store down the street from my house.

As far as building relationships within the community goes, it is a slow process, especially when you don’t have a job and you’re not in school. However, I went downtown to sing karaoke last week and happened to meet some girls who remind me so much of my bff’s back home, Sara and Kristina. They were really cool and we sang some Brittany Spears together, danced and acted like goofs. It was so fun. I’m meeting up with one of the girls, Carrie on Thursday, and I’m so excited! She’s 22, from Seattle and she goes to Evergreen, it’s her last semester. We have a lot in common and I’m so thankful that I have someone my age to hang out with.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time with Lehua and Bobby Ball, a young couple from Sunbreak. They’re totally awesome. It’s been such a blessing getting to hang out with Lehua and process my life out loud with her. She moved to the Northwest from Orange County California a few years back, so she knows a thing or two about how it is adjusting to this area. She told me a few days ago that she was worried about me my first few weeks, like I would give up and go home. After I reassured her that I am here for the long haul she was relieved and proceeded to tell me more about preparing for the rainy season and seasonal depression. Yay.

The rain has started falling more consistently within the past week and people are telling me I won’t be seeing the sun until February! I’m going to have to plan a trip to San Fransisco to see my cousin after Christmas. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand five months without seeing the sun. Lehua told me that the weather is one reason why so many people here commit suicide in Oly, it’s cloudy and raining as we speak.

I’ve got to be honest, last Friday it started to rain and I put on my pajamas, watched neflix and slept all day. When it’s raining you basically have to force yourself out of the house. Some people in Oly buy lamps to put in their house and when the sun hasn’t been out for months they turn them on and sit under them to get vitamin d, that’s how bad it is.

I’ve gotten to do a lot of fun things in Oly and Seattle though thus far. I attended Bumbershoot my first full weekend. I got to see bands like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, David Bazan, Jamie Lidell, Ra Ra Riot and HEALTH. This past weekend Lehua and I went on 5^th Ave in Seattle and looked around in the stores, which was cool. The northwest is a totally different world when compared to the east coast, it’s unbelievable.

As far as ministry with Sound City goes, it’s rather slow, but we have our first launch team meeting this week which is really exciting! We’re going to have a cookout at Russ’s house and he’s going to talk about our next moves as a group and what is coming up. This meeting has been long anticipated for me. I can’t wait to hang out with everyone.

Until our church gets off the ground, which will take about a year I’m assuming, I’ve been invited to hang with the young adults at Sunbreak. Mark Pruitt, the youth pastor, sent me an awesome facebook message this week saying he wanted me to get involved and do some worship leading, which is cool. I went out to his small group last week for a deep fry party. I guess all that work I did at the gym that week went down the drain when I went there! But it was really fun and a great to spend time with people who are passionate and desperately wanting to see God work and move in the lives of people in the Northwest, plus the deep fried pickles were bangin’.

It has been a crazy journey so far in Washington, and I’m learning a lot about myself and about God. I have found in my walk with Him that every day I am waking up and completely surrendering my life His ministry in the Northwest. I don’t want to waste one minute not doing whatever it is He is calling me to. I’ve never felt more surrendered in my life. It’s a great place to be in but when you are the type or person who likes to have somewhat control over where your life is heading, it can be kind of scary. I feel a lot like Paul did when he wrote his letter to the Philipians

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

I have arrived pt. 2

First picture of the trip. Goodbye West Virginia.

First gas stop, somewhere in Indiana. The car was seriously loaded up for the 3,000 mile trip out west.

Beware!

Hiking around the Badlands, South Dakota

The Badlands are crumbly

Sunset at the Badlands, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore, Keystone South Dakota

Canyon at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

This waterfall lies somewhere between Kennewick and Olympia, between Tyler's house and my house.

Moving into my new place in the great state of Washington

End of Week One.

Big apologies goes out to all of you Olympia Living followers, yes, all ten of you, for not posting sooner. This week has been crazy. I got here Saturday night and Sunday morning was totally overwhelming. It felt so strange to wake up here and realize “ok, this is it.” I took Bryan to the airport Monday morning and came home and tried to get settled in a little bit. After a few hours of unpacking and organizing I had nothing to do. Leona, a lady from the local church in Olympia who I’m living with, worked that day so I didn’t see anyone all day long. It was super difficult. After I had unpacked the last of my boxes it was kind of like “ok, now what?”

It has been a long first week to say the least. I’ve really been missing the comforts of home, mainly friends and family. Olympia is such a great place to live, I really love it, but it’s really hard to enjoy when you’re alone. I know, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and it’s only the first week, but it’s been hard being without my pals especially when I know the majority of them would really love it out here (please visit).

But I must say there are definite upsides to living in Olympia such as eating local. I can only think of one time that I haven’t eaten local food all week, and that was my first day (at this point I didn’t know any better). The local farmers market is amazing and surprisingly enough, affordable. This week I stocked up on fruits, veggies and some homemade bread, and maybe next week I’ll really splurge and get some jam. I think if I consistently buy from specific venders then eventually they’ll know me, I can only hope.

I’ve really been trying to think of creative ways to make friends in the down town area, but I gotta tell you, it’s not easy. I had the opportunity to go to four coffee shops this past week: Traditions, Café Vita, Batdorf and Bronson and Sizizi’s, all of which were superb. I’ve been tipping the baristas and striking up conversation while they make my drink in hopes that they’ll remember me next time I walk in. I’ve actually had some good conversations with the people in Sizizi’s; they’ve been totally awesome.

Thursday I went to the Catalyst conference with the group involved with Surround the Sound. It was a great time of fellowship and learning. I was told that this would be the day I would meet Mark Driscoll, but sadly enough it fell through. Kyle had the names wrong, the lunch was actually with Andy Stanley and Craig Groechel. I didn’t really know those guys so I passed. It’s all good though, one day I will meet Mark Driscoll, if it’s the last thing I do (haha). Andy Stanley did say one thing though that was rather profound:

“God has equipped you with everything you need to do the ministry in which He has called you to”

Since I’ve been here so many lies have ran through my head, and this statement spoke volumes to me. I’m realizing more and more that I don’t need another person, friend, look, sound or style to connect with the people God wants me to connect with. He is going to use me in the exact state that I currently am, and that’s comforting to know.

After the conference I went down the The Loft on Cherry. I had seen a flyer earlier in the week that said “Vincent Moon film screening featuring music by Eleanor Murray,” I figured I couldn’t go wrong, and I was hoping to make some friends out of it too. Eleanor was amazing, she played some really beautiful songs and then of course Vincent Moon is a total bro and I couldn’t stop smiling because he’s amazingly talented. I talked to a few people here and there, but it wasn’t like I developed some long lasting friendships or anything. Once again, I must remember I just got here a week ago, haha.

Today Sound City Church, that’s right, we officially have a name, had its’ first outreach with the Capital Kids Connection. CKC is an organization in Tumwater that is providing back to school supplies for foster children in the area. We met some locals there and provided some much need assistance organizing and packing backpacks for the kids returning to school this fall. This Tuesday they’re going to be having a big picnic for all the foster kids and their families in the area, so we are excited for the opportunity to help and to do some more networking.

It’s hard to not feel as if I’m living outreach to outreach or church service to church service, it’s pretty lonely all the other times. So I guess you could say the week has progressed rather slowly as I’ve been trying to make friends, learn the area and find a job. But I have to praise God for how He has been providing for my life thus far

1) I have a place to live with a wonderful woman that I totally look up to, Leona Foley. She has been such a blessing to me in the fact that she’s checking in on me, asking me how I’m doing and you can tell she’s totally genuine and concerned. She’s helping me in more ways than just being an encouragement and financial saving. I really feel as if she is someone I can bear my soul to and be completely comfortable around. She already feels like family and it’s only week one.

2) I got a HUGE check in the mail from a supporter back home. I don’t want to name names or anything, but it was amazing. The money is going to help me out so much here in Olympia. When I was talking to him on the phone and he gave me a figure of how much he wanted to give toward the ministry in Olympia I was in shock. I can’t even begin to describe how thankful I am that God has provided this money through this person.

3) I recently have inherited a bike and a desk from some very generous people in the church. I haven’t gotten my hands on the bike yet, but the desk was dropped off this evening and is currently getting put to great use.

4) Zach Murray and Tyler Parnell live close by. It’s a huge comfort to know that when I am feeling totally homesick and I can’t bear it any longer I can hop in my car and drive to see these guys. Zach is currently living in Seattle so it makes it a little bit easier to go see him, but Tyler is only 3.5 hours away, so it’s not too bad. It’s a comfort just knowing that it’s an option.

The Lord is providing and things are panning out. Tyler told me this week, “The first week is over, and that’s great, because the first week is the worst. It can only get better from here,” so I’m anticipating that. I listened to a Driscoll sermon tonight on Luke 9:51-62 and in it he said,

“I would rather be broke, sick and sad with Jesus then rich, healthy and seemingly happy without Him.”

Leave it to Marky D. to bring my focus back onto what is really important and the reason behind why I am here in the first place.

Mark also mentioned putting Jesus before our past (Luke 9:61-62). He said, “Those who look back want to go back.” He mentions how Jesus was always looking forward all the way to the cross and how He plowed His row in a straight line right into Jerusalem where He was crucified. It’s only common since to say, “You can’t go straight and forward while looking back.” You don’t drive your car facing the back window you look out straight and forward in order to drive straight and forward. I have thought a lot about being back home in Morgantown this week and how nice it would be to just go back and sit in Andy and Aarons’ living room with all my friends cutting up and having a good time, but if I live for the past and always try to recreate college, I can’t affectively live for what’s forward in the future. So now, I need to focus on putting my hands to the plow and plowing a straight and narrow path forward. I can’t just keep trying to recapture my college days. If you want, you can go to this link and listen to it.

Now, it’s into week numero dos. I’ll keep you posted.

I have arrived pt. 1

What a week it has been folks, and after 3,305 miles I have finally arrived.

Sunday evening (the 15th) my brother Bryan and I left Parkersburg. I had quite an emotional goodbye with family and friends, but all those feelings somewhat faded after the first few days and reality began to set in. That evening we drove straight to the Badlands in South Dakota, 20 some hours. My brother wanted to see if he was able to drive the whole way on his own, so he never let me drive, but I was okay with that, and he really did make it. I was shocked. After a long day of hiking and milling around we headed back to camp and Bryan passed out while I proceeded to watch a quite beautiful sunset. It was a great day.
Tuesday we woke up around 6:30 and headed toward Wyoming to Yellowstone with a few stops in between at Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We found a little diner in Keystone and had breakfast. I found a Minnetonka store so I bought some new moccasins and then we checked out the mountains, pretty cool.
Later that evening we arrived to Yellowstone upon which every campsite was full, so we drove up to Gardiner, Montana and found a room to stay in. The next morning we found an open spot in Norris to camp, and after we put up the tent and paid our fee to the biggest jerk park ranger ever, we drove the loop around Yellowstone. I believe this was the best day of the trip. Old Faithful and the Canyon were on the top of my list as some of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
Thursday morning we bounced out of Yellowstone and drove to the Grand Tetons. We decided that we would make it to Boise, Idaho by the end of the day so we just drove the scenic route around the park and jumped out to take snap some pictures here and there. Around the Grand Tetons and Boise we saw some pretty sweet towns: Cody and Jackson to name a few.
Boise, Idaho was awesome. There were lots of neat cafes, bookstores, shops, pubs and breweries, and we could hear music playing from the sidewalk as we walked by.
I woke up the next morning pretty excited to make the 4-hour drive into Kennewick, WA to spend time with my good friend from school, Tyler Parnell (I can’t even tell you how great it is to know that he is so close to Olympia). I also got to meet his new puppy, Truman. He is about the cutest little wiener dog you’d ever see. I’m glad Tyler got him to keep him company as he continues to get acclimated to Kennewick.
That night we went out to dinner and sat along the Columbia River and talked and talked and talked. We stayed out pretty late and woke up early the next morning to head to my new place in Olympia. After lunch in Kennewick I said my goodbyes to Tyler and we began our final stretch to Olympia. As if the trip wasn’t already amazing enough, Bryan and I talked basically the whole way there. I would definitely mark it down as one of the best talks we’ve ever had. I know he’s always going to be my brother, but now I definitely feel like he’s always going to be a great friend of mine too. (awwwww).

So that catches you up on my travels. I hope you enjoyed that because I’ve seriously told that story probably 20 times since Sunday, haha. I would have liked to post pictures along with this post, but I left my camera USB chord in Parkersburg, so I’m waiting for my Mom to mail it. We’ll just go ahead and say this is a two part series and the pictures will come soon after.

Zero days and 16 hours to go

1:37 AM.

Saturday night or Sunday morning, whichever you prefer.

Parkersburg, WV in my green painted bedroom

Currently listening to The Microphones- The Moon

Keeping the best company one could ask for, Mr. Aaron Dawson

Tomorrow is the big day. I’m moving nearly 3,000 miles from home, to a place I’ve visited once, and I’m okay with that. My car is packed, though I’m sure tomorrow afternoon I’ll have to do some rearranging, my poor Honda Fit has no idea what it’s gotten itself into. I’m feeling great outside of the fact that I know tomorrow is going to kill my parents. They’ve both already cried at least once, and in all 22 years of my life I’ve never seen my dad cry, it’s a bigger deal to them than I thought. Dad would prefer if I didn’t leave to begin with and it makes me sad to know that I’m the cause of his unhappiness, but I just can’t stay here any longer, it’s time for a change.

So we’re really down to the wire now, only 16 hours left till my brother and I hit the road. This isn’t going to be an easy transition, but I know it will be good for me in the end. I’m anticipating learning a lot about myself this year and totally ready to dive into new hobbies and learn new trades.

But seriously, let’s not stray from the focus of this gargantuan move that I’m about to make. All I’m sayin’ is that if I didn’t completely believe in the Gospel of Christ and all of the things that the Bible says I wouldn’t be doing this, I mean, I couldn’t do this. I’d probably just chill in Morgantown with my friends. But I do think that what Jesus said, what he preached and how he lived makes a ton of since. So, I hope that somewhere along the line someone I meet can make since of it too, and if they don’t, it’s still going to be a stellar time.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Oh, Haruki Murakami...

12 days to go.

Currently I’m in Borders in Parkersburg drinking some Seattle’s Best, and guess what, the barista gave me a large coffee on accident, instead of the medium that I ordered. Yay! I would say that this is the highlight of my day, but I would be lying to you because guess what else? Today I finished my first Haruki Murakami book, Sputnik Sweetheart.

Oh. My. Gosh. I love this man.

I owe Aaron Dawson a special thank you for turning me on to his writings and then also Andrew Slater for telling Aaron, and then whoever told Andrew, so on and so forth.

So I ended up coming to Borders this evening to snatch another one of his books, Kafka On The Shore, which is supposedly way better than Sputnik Sweetheart. I’m already through the first few chapters, so far so good.

…

It’s so unreal to me that I’ll be living in Washington in 12 days. Throughout the summer I’ve seen myself go through days where I think, “How can I move so far away from so many people that I love?” But then other days I’m ready for the adventure, and ready to meet more people that I can learn to love just as much, you know, without replacing, or forgetting, my current inner circle of friends. Over the past week though I haven’t thought much about being sad or saying goodbye. It’s strange. Nearly seven days of pure excitement and no uneasy feelings about the big move at all. I guess this means I’m ready!

Now, back to Kafka On The Shore…

My Highly Anticipated Coffee Shops in Washington Pt. 1

I’ve been home in Parkersburg all summer, which means that I’ve been coffee deprived for the past like 8 weeks. I’m working an 8-5 job Monday through Friday and that leaves no time for me to drive 25 minutes to the only coffee shop in town, Panera, to grab a cup of coffee and relax. It’s pretty miserable. Don’t get me wrong, I love to spend time with my family and I love that I grew up here, but I can’t help but get the feeling that it’s simply not where I belong anymore. I guess I could be wrong though, we’ll see.

Outside of making a pot of coffee in the morning and my few trips to Panera, I have been completely miserable in the coffee world back home. Luckily, my life will soon send me to coffee heaven where I can bask in all of the coffee goodness I can get my hands on.

So I’ve been doing my research for weeks now and wanted to share some of the places I’ll be trying out in Olympia throughout the next few months. (If you’re already in Washington then give me your feedback on these places and if there’s a great place I missed fill me in on that too.) I’m so excited to pack up my backpack with books, my journal and my computer, head down to these local shops and do nothing but read, write, blog, sip on some fine espresso and relax. I’m seriously dreaming about these days to come.

Cutters Point (http://www.cutterspoint.com/)

So this place seems pretty awesome. It’s actually franchised, but from what I’ve gathered it started in Gig Harbor, Washington. They have various shops throughout Washington, California and even in Georgia. They seem to be pretty serious when it comes to hand crafted coffee, but I’m going to have to go and find out for myself. I think I’m more into non-franchised local coffee shops, but could cutters point change my mind? We’ll see.

Olympia Coffee Roasting Company (http://olympiacoffeeroasting.com/)

After reading up about this place, it’s a must see. These people seem to be seriously dedicated to making the perfect cup of coffee, so much that they “obsess” over it, so they say. The owners of this local shop actually travel overseas and buy the coffee face to face with coffee farmers then they bring it back, roast it and when you buy a cup they say it’s never one week old out of the roaster. The website says that we’ll be shocked at how good the coffee tastes. This is going to put my current coffee lifestyle in Parkersburg to shame. I can’t wait.

Black Bear Diner (http://www.blackbeardiner.com/)

For the sake of the name, obviously, I have to see how it measures up to our infamous Black Bear Burritos in Morgantown. Seems to have a bit of a different feel to it than Black Bear back home, but we’ll see. It’s franchised throughout the west coast with emphasis on family and “old fashion” values. Doesn’t seem to be a place where I can catch a good cup of joe, but it would be cool if it had some sort of Morgantown atmosphere to it.

Sizizis (http://www.myspace.com/sizizis)

So, this will be awesome, and even though it isn’t listed first it will be the first place I go. There site says it’s a place where you can get a huge variety of specialty drinks, even though I’ll probably stick to an Americano or French Press. There seems to be some hype over their spiced mocha so I may have to check it out.

Regardless it seems to have an awesome atmosphere; the wood paneling gives off a somewhat vintage feel to the shop. Some upsides include free wifi, live shows and 24-hour service. If I could compare it to any shop back home I would say it defnitly has a Blue Moose feel to it, which is great, but I bet there coffee is a million times better, no offense Blue Moose goers. Definitely can’t wait to check it out and hopefully catch some fun local shows there too.

Dillanos Coffee Roasters (http://www.dillanos.com/?action=qualitystory4&subm=s_qstory&title=qualitystory)

There are a couple of locations in Olympia, and I’m anxious to see what they’re all about, it seems to me they take it pretty serious. Before serving their coffee they put it through extensive aroma, visual and taste testing. They seem to be a very passionate bunch of people and really love what they do. Their site says they want to have fun and make friends, and I’m into that. I seriously need to make some friends in Olympia, that statement in itself is enough to draw me in for now.

Mud Bay Coffee Company (http://www.mudbaycoffeeco.com/Why_It_Matters.html)

What’s cool about this shop is how focused their business is on helping out small farms. They realize how hard the coffee business is, and they focus their attention on buying their beans from farmers who may be suffering financially and need the cash. I think that’s pretty cool. Their site seems to talk more about the farmers than the coffee, so I don’t know what all they have to offer, or what the atmosphere of their shop is like at all for that matter, but I guess we’ll find out.

So, as you can see by the title of this post, it is only Part One of the short "My Highly Anticipated Coffee Shops in Washington" series . Part Two is yet to come, and will consist of feedback on these places from yours truly. Did I love it? Hate it? Mediocre? Well, we'll see, so stay tuned coffee lovers!

Finally, I’d like to leave you with this statement posted by liveolympia:

“Olympia has some of the most unique coffee houses in the Puget Sound area. If you are looking for a unique blend of coffee you will find it in Olympia. You will find a coffee shop or espresso stand on just about every street corner in Olympia. Many coffee houses in Olympia offer free wireless internet. Olympia has many coffee shops that will satisfy any appetite.”