However, things are progressing quickly! Our opening day will without a doubt be August 15th. So much has happened over the past month: Our tables are complete and looking amazing, our bar construction is done and looking stellar and super original, all equipment is in place and we're brewing and grinding Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. single origin coffees by the cup using various pour over methods! Training has begun with Will Frith of OCR. It has been totally solid spending time with him and chatting about coffee, music, literature and life. He's such a solid dude and becoming a pretty solid friend as well. Basically, the only step left to take before we can serve our community is acquiring our occupancy and other various permits from the city. This Tuesday we will be having appointments to try and get these permits in our hands. August 15th is a perfect time to open not only because by then will we be very confident in our product, but it also allows for time to obtain the permits needed to open.
I'm so super stoked! I can't even begin to tell you! I can't believe that all of this is happening. I can't wait to wake up every day when it's still dark out and go open the shop. I can't wait to serve my community and meet people. I can't wait to serve a solid product and discuss all things coffee with our customers and our roaster. I can't wait for cupping events at our awesome cupping table. I can't wait to actually be good at latte art. I can't wait for my friend Honor to come join me in the shop and help me improve my barista skills. I can't wait to grow as a barista. I can't wait to have a pay check. I can't wait to work with my friends. I can't wait to make some friends. I can't wait to love on the people that walk through the door regardless of whatever walk of life they are on. I literally can. not. wait. It's going to be so, so, sooo fun!
As slow as this whole process has seemed to go at times I am amazed that I am approaching the end of what has been my first year here in Olympia. So much has happened. It's mind boggling. It's crazy to be sitting in the shop and looking at all of our gear, tables and our bar. It's weird to think that there are going to be people sitting in those seats every day that I can chat with and relate to on some sort of level even if it's only coffee. I can remember back to December thinking, "How in the world am I going to make it through this year?" But God sustained me and provided for me, and I'm super thankful for that. I'm super thankful that I didn't decide to go home and that I now know I'm not leaving any time soon. This whole year has been a process of being refined and learning more about God and who He has created me to be. It definitely hasn't been easy and it's still not, but there's also a lot of peace amidst it all.
I'm sure if you flip back through posts I had written in September and October of 2010 you would read something like "It's so strange that I live here and work here". I STILL feel that way and I can't believe I'm STILL here. It's not a bad thing. It's a great thing! I am in total awe of what God has done in just a year and I'm super excited for what He can do in another year, and another year and another year. I'm so super thankful that He let's me be a part of all of it. I get to work in an industry that I love and serve God all the same. It's such a huge blessing.
So that's kinda where I am right now. Baffled by God's goodness. Sound City Church has seen progress as well over the past month! We had our fourth preview service in the coffee shop today! Nearly 40 people attended and we had about 11 first time guests! Russell did an awesome job speaking and I got to play some good music with some good friends for some good people. All in all it went without a hitch. The church also had a few visitors come out in June and July to investigate Sound City Church and decide on whether or not to move out and get involved.
People all over are hearing about Surround the Sound and wanting to help church plants in the Northwest. In June we got a visit from a boy down south, Wil Sanders. Wil had never met Russell, Belinda, me or any of the church planters with Surround the Sound, but heard about the opportunity through a mutual friend of his and Russell's. He took a huge step of faith, came to visit anyway, loved it and is now back home in Mississippi raising support to move in about three weeks! He's a bold guy and is going to be a HUGE asset to our team. It's definitely something to be excited about. I've been praying for so long that God would build a team of young people within our church and I think this is just the beginning of it. I can't wait to have Wil here! I mean, he's pretty great.
It's been so encouraging getting to have people come out and take interest in what's been going on and watching Surround the Sound grow. I keep thinking over and over "What in the world is going to happen in another year!?" :)
Things are moving along quickly here in the great Northwest! Pictures to come soon along with more coffee updates! Totally stoked for August 15th!!
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