Sweet Friends and La Jolla

La Jolla: Pronounced "la hoy-ya" fyi :) 

We are so so blessed to have had an amazing community in Seattle. We each had our own friends and we also had awesome "couple friends" as well. One of our favorite couples got to visit us last week! We love visitors.

Emily and Joe had a trip planned to Disneyland and decided to spend a night at camp before they flew home. We were SO excited to see them and get to spend quality time together! We hung out around camp and before their flight on Friday, took them to La Jolla to see the beautiful beaches and views. (Thanks Tammy for your recommendation!)

We loved seeing you two and hope we will get to spend a little more time with you next time! Thanks for making the trip up here - we love you guys. Also we won't forget to take you on the zipline when you come back haha.

Seriously, we live here. Soo amazing!

Joe's cool iPhone case! 

Sometimes I Forget to Have Faith.. But HE is Always Faithful

Time to tell a little story I've been wanting to write out for awhile. I couldn't share until it was official but now that it is, I am so glad to share yet another way that God is so incredibly faithful to His children! aka YOU & me :)

OK so this story requires me to back up a bit, I'm gonna try to keep it concise though. In 2007, I dropped out of college to pursue my dream of being a hairdresser. I soared through beauty school, on cloud 9 the whole time, except for my lower back pain. I would lay awake at night with muscle spasms, but I assumed it was normal from standing on my feet all day.

Fast forward two years from graduation [now early 2010], I've been doing hair full time and the busier my schedule gets, the more my back hurts. The pain had spread to my shoulders & neck, and after a full day, I would barely be able to get home, lay on the couch, and beg someone to bring me ice. It felt like a catch 22 because I wanted to build my clientele, and have a full schedule, but all it did was cause me tons of pain. Finally, my lovely friend Devon [start your blog!!!!!!!!] finally says to me, "Katie..that is NOT normal pain. You need to figure something out". I ended up spending thousands of dollars on physical therapy and chiropractic care and it did nothing.

In January of 2011, I got rear ended on the freeway. I was stopped, they were going between 45-55 mph and hit me dead on. Whiplash ensued, headaches, etc. I started with PT and chiropractic, and after a few months of no improvement, my chiropractor referred me to acupuncture. I was terrified, but it ended up helping so much. I was basically cured in about 8 weeks of care. [someday I'll write about how much I loooooove acupuncture!]

In October of 2011, Zach was offered his almost dream job of working maintenance at a Christian camp [it would be his total dream job if we were at a YL camp - but we are very happy here]. Along with his offer came an offer for me to work in "accommodations", which I learned was the housekeeping department. My immediate reaction was, I don't want that job. Not only is it less than glamorous work, but I was concerned about my neck/back pain returning. I knew how much Zach wanted this job at camp and I felt like I just needed to deal with the implications of my new job in housekeeping. I chose not to say anything about my history of neck and back pain when we accepted the jobs, just because I didn't want to seem high maintenance.

A week into the job here, I knew I was going to struggle. My neck immediately started bothering me & I still felt like I couldnt say anything since I was the one who chose to accept this job. I kept thinking I should pray about this, but for some reason I didn't. Don't ask why.. I decided I would go to my immediate boss and then the executive director to ask about switching departments if the oppurtunity arose.

In early January, I was at home laying on a heating pad to relax my neck muscles when I got a call over the radio for me to come down to the director's office. I wasn't worried even though it felt a little like being called to the principle's office in school, lol.

I walked down to camp and was offered a full time position working in the camp office, as an assistant to the Guest Relations Coordinator, aka my dream job! I now get to help coordinate all the groups planning their retreats up here, help with their needs the weekends they are here, and have personal interaction over the phone when anyone calls. I love my job.

After being offered the job, all I could think of was just how faithful our God is! I always put my trust in Him, but in this case I definitely wasn't relying on Him to solve the issue. I was taking matters into my own hands by deciding to talk to my two bosses about moving jobs. I just love how God swooped in and took care of everything before I even could, as if saying,

"Katie, my precious daughter, I know your needs and I will always provide for them."

Amen.

Source: roadcalledlife.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

Kitty Love: Norman & Hadley

It dawned on me a few weeks ago that I never formally introduced our kitties! Part of it was forgetfulness but another part of it was me feeling guilty for getting kittens only a month after we gave away our precious pup. I didn't want to feel like we were replacing him (we were not) with two little kitties (who could never measure up to the pup!).

I love animals. A little obsessed, some might say. Ever since moving out of my parents house, Zach had told me we could get a kitten when we got married. We ended up adopting Hugo instead, which is cool because lets face it, dogs are better than cats. But anyways.

When we moved to California, we decided we would get kittens after Christmas since we would be gone for a week and that would be the responsible thing do to. So of course, after living here an entire two weeks, I slyly suggested we "just look" at kittens after church on Sunday. For some reason, Zach obliged and we found the most timid little grey kitty. We decided we'd better take her home with us, because who knew if there would even BE kittens after Christmas, right!? So we told the Humane Society we were heading to Petco to get  all the kitten essentials, and we would be back that afternoon to pick her up.

We drove to the other side of town where Petco is, and when we pulled up to the door, would you believe what they had there?! Kitten adoptions! Instantly I spotted the most adorable white and grey kitty I'd ever seen! I asked to hold him and fell in love. We had already decided we wanted a girl kitty though, so I moped to the kitten aisle to pick out a collar, litter box, and food for our little grey kitten waiting for us. As we were looking at collars (I picked out the cutest white collar with a rhinestone bow) Zach happened to spot a tiny camo print collar. When he saw that, he didn't want to put it down - I reminded him we wanted the grey kitty at the Humane Society, not the white one here - and that's when he said those magical three little words,


"Let's get both".


To which I responded, "I love being married."


And that's just how the story goes :) Meet our children.

This is "Princess" Hadley. She likes to be around us all the time, but you can only pet her on her terms.  She is spunky, playful, and full of energy. She keeps us on our toes (mainly because we are always tripping over her!) and we love our little girl. Plus she has the silkiest fur of any kitty in the world! Her favorite perch is sitting on top of the couch looking out the window at the horsies.

 Meet Norman! "Stormin" Norman is kind of, how do I say this, special. He's pretty slow on the up-take, is really floppy, and spooks himself pretty easily. He is a total lovebug which captured my heart from day one. If he isn't cuddling with his sister, he's usually on one of our laps. He will play with Hadley about once a day, and he sleeps the rest of the time. He lets me pick him up and hold him whenever I want (well, for the most part) and oh gosh, how could I forget this, he purrs as loud as a lion! I swear! I am such a deep sleeper, and the dang cat wakes me up in the middle of the night. Hey, atleast he is happy. 

Best Friends :) We are so glad they have each other!

Is This Real Life?

Sit in that six-lane backed up traffic
Horns are honking, I've about had it
I'm looking for an exit sign
Gotta get out of here, get it all off my mind
And like a memory from your grandpa's attic
A song comes slippin' through the radio static
Changing my mood
A little George Strait 1982

And it makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road.

I've been cooped up, tied down, 'bout forgotten
What a field looks like, full of corn and cotton
If I'm gonna hit a traffic jam,
Well it better be a tractor man
So sick and tired of this interstate system
I need a curve and wind-a-twistin'
Dusty path to nowhere
With the wind blowing through my baby's hair

[source]

Take a Backroad - Rodney Atkins

Six months ago, whenever this song came on the radio, I would cry. I was commuting an hour or more each way to a job I didn't like; I had somewhere to be every single night after work; I didn't get enough sleep; I didn't exercise; I had no time to do anything I wanted. All of my commitments were things I didn't want to cut out though, so I felt stuck. I was leading Young Life, and the coordinator for that school, I was part of a bible study, I wanted a social life, and to spend time with my extended family. None of those things are anything to get rid of, but they all take up time, and in my case it was taking all of my time.

**********************************************************************

Today as I drove to the post office, I literally got teary eyed thinking, "WOW.. this is real life!". I had country music blasting, the windows down, sun shining, breeze blowing, not a car in sight as I overlooked the valley and saw the ocean in the distance. All I could do was tell myself - I actually live here. This is my real life. I am sooooooo happy!

So I took some pictures to share :) And, I love visitors. 


All photos from my iPhone; all photos unedited - if you can believe that.

See the grocery store way down there?!

Just imagine what this looked like in person. Breathtaking.

Weeeee! [ok maybe this one is a little edited]



Bottom Line: I am BLESSED!

The Big Move

Where to start... Well. First things first, we're here. I am thankful we made it, although the drive from Seattle to San Diego was long, emotional, stressful, and tiring. We're here. When we arrived, it was pouring rain. Lunch was being served a half hour after we arrived so we got to meet a few of the staff that was working. Since it was Sunday, most people had the day off for church.

We didn't unload the moving truck that day (because of the massive amount of rain) which made me a little uneasy; I wanted a home. As soon as we drove away from Seattle, I felt homesick. Moving is familiar to me, but to be transparent, as soon as we got to my grandpa's house the first night, I broke down crying and told Zach "I just want to go home." I don't know what it is with me lately about having this "home" I keep talking about. I just want to feel settled, permanence, comfort, and not so many things up in the air.

Monday morning we woke up to BEAUTIFUL blue skies and not a cloud in sight. Already I felt refreshed. Two guys that work here helped us unload the truck, and it only took about an hour. I was beyond thankful for their help.

from our front porch

Every single person we've met at the camp has been so incredibly welcoming. The first morning, I went into the dining hall to get some coffee, and a girl named Jodi approached me, told me how she'd been waiting to meet me since she heard we got hired, and mentioned that she knew it must have been hard to leave our friends and family in Seattle. Already I knew I would like her, because immediately she showed compassion. Then, she came out from behind her counter, and with a smile on her face told me, "I just want you to know how glad I am that you're here. I can't wait for our friendship to develop, so we can look back and say 'Remember the first time we met?'" and gave me a big hug. Tears welled up in my eyes. She will never understand how much that meant to me, to be welcomed with a hug and such intentional words. If you ever read this Jodi, thank you.

Before leaving Seattle, I told Zach I was going to be intentional about my attitude. I am pretty good at always putting on a happy face, especially around new people.  I am making a conscious effort to be real, not just happy. I want my smiles to come from joy, not from what I feel like people want to see.

Speaking of being intentional, I now live an hour from any sort of grocery store, and an hour and a half from big stores (Target, Michaels, Costco, etc). And half of the hour is a 7 mile road with 12 switchback turns, at a 7% grade incline. Yup, we live on the top of a mountain. In San Diego County. Makes for incredible views. But, it means that unless I want to burn up a ton of gas and time, I better get real organized, real fast. So far I have been keeping a list of things we need from town; and I will have to be really good about meal planning too. So much for the late night runs for ice cream, or more importantly, a forgotten ingredient for dinner. I have a feeling we will be learning how to be innovative with our food, space, and free time.

We've majorly downsized in our home. Which is great. I absolutely love our new space, just is taking a lot of creativity to find a spot for everything. But who doesn't love a good challenge :) I am so excited to share pictures of our new house just as soon as everything's put away. Those that know me, know I am not very tidy. But trust me, I will be now! There is no room for untidiness and I am honestly excited about keeping a clean and clutter free home; I think it will be refreshing.

Here's who has been roaming around our house since we arrived, he is just one of about thirty we've seen!

Did I mention that the property is actually in a State Park?

So here's to simplicity, fresh relationships, becoming tidy, pulling together my emotions, and being content that I have a place to rest my head, and a husband to hold me through it all.

We're here.

This is Really Happening!

Ever since leaving Trail West in 2009 (the camp Zach and I met at), we have both felt a very strong calling to work in Christian Camping ministry. Over the last two and a half years, we have applied to a handful of camps around the country, and have gotten rejected from almost every one.

This spring, Zach was offered a position in Oregon at a Young Life camp, but not working for Young Life, it would have been a separate ministry being run at that camp. He felt it was the right job, so I drove down with him the following weekend to see the place, meet the people, etc. As soon as we arrived on camp property, something felt off. I just knew it wasn't the right place for us, but didn't have the heart to tell Zach. I went through the whole weekend pretending to be ok. Once we got home, and went to church the next morning, Zach asked one of our pastors what he thought, and he said "I always say, 'Go until God says no.'" Well, I immediately felt this was the time to speak up so I told Zach that I just knew that this wasn't God's best for us. He was heartbroken, he finally felt he had a job at a camp and I had taken that away from him. He knew we needed to trust the Lord that He had something better for us, but that isn't always easy to do!!

Time moved along, we got married, we settled into our home and our new life together. Zach had still been applying for other camp jobs and was getting rejection letter after rejection letter. That is so not easy to deal with. I was sad for him, I just wanted someone to give him a call, talk to him on the phone, before simply saying, "Sorry, you don't look as good on paper as these other applicants. God Bless." All along I have had so much respect for my husband getting up every day and going to a job he does not enjoy at all. It has given me so much faith in him, knowing that no matter what happens he will always take care of me. We continually prayed for the right job to come along. We love our friends and community in Washington, but neither of us felt that we had to stay here forever, and so we were not limiting his job applications to this state.

Last week (yup, just last Tuesday) Zach sent an application to a camp just outside of San Diego, CA. At 10:30 pm. I have to admit, I was just dreading the email I expected to receive from them, the same one we had been getting from all the other camps. Boy was I wrong! The very next morning Zach recieved a phone call that they wanted to get to know him. He called back and spoke to the camp director for a few minutes, and when he realized how far away we live, he asked Zach to do a Skype interview. That interview only last 15 minutes, and they called back that afternoon to ask Zach when they could meet me! Ahh!! Well, Saturday morning we plugged into Skype and had an amazing half hour conversation with the three men on leadership at this camp. When we hung up with them, we both noticed that the most important principle was so apparent through these men, that their lives and the mission of the camp is incredibly Christ centered. How refreshing.

Yesterday (only one week after Zach's initial interview) they offered us both a full time position at the camp!! Maintenance for Zach, and Accomodations for me. As soon as this became a real possibility, naturally I freaked out. All the peace I had been feeling all week immediately turned into fear, nerves, and anxiety. I kept praying for it to go away but it wasn't! I decided to send an email to our family and a couple close friends, asking for prayer over our decision. I went to bed last night and told Zach I knew in the morning I would feel better, and then I would tell him that I felt 100% confident to move.

I woke up this morning with more nerves. Not what I wanted. Now I was afraid that all these nerves might be the same thing as the Oregon feelings, and I wanted to make sure if they were that I knew for sure. I called three people on my way to work and no one picked up. So I said outloud "Jesus if these nerves are really you saying no, then make that clear.. I need you to take this. If you want us to go, tell me loudly so I can't deny it!!" Two minutes later, my dad called back. He said he was not going to make the decision for me but that Zach and I have thrown our anchor down here, and it is now time to cut it loose. He said, "you can't try to set sail and still have that anchor dragging behind your boat, just let it go, and be on your next adventure!" Of course my dad would relate it to boating :) I felt this was such a good analogy because of my previous post and how this would mean starting over, yet again. When we hung up I felt pretty encouraged about it. Then I arrived at work and I had an email from my auntie Michelle, ending with this:

You and Zach are being offered a JOB to SERVE the LORD.  GO.  SERVE. BE HAPPY.   We support you in every way. Jesus is so happy with you. I know this.

At this point, I am definitely not able to deny that Jesus is indeed telling us to go. Just incase I didn't believe Him enough, I received a text message from my dear friend Breanna literally five minutes after reading the email, that read:

Take the leap of faith!!! :-)

So guess what?!

We are going!!

In THREE WEEKS!!!! And I am beyond excited knowing that we are definitely doing exactly what God wants us to.

This ain't half bad either.

Planting Roots

For those who don't know, I grew up moving around all. the. time. I am 23 years old and have moved 11 times. You can do the math and realize that I've never really been able to plant roots. I am great at making new friends, and  pretending I am comfortable in a room full of people I don't know, but I have never had what some people talk about as their childhood home, home they grew up in, the house that built them (name that tune..), etc. I do not resent moving, I would not change the way I grew up for anything, because it would change who I am and where I am right now, and I love where I am now.

Anyways, the past few weeks I have been noticing an underlying anxiety that makes my chest tighten every so often. Nothing too serious, but I knew there was something deep down bothering me and I just couldn't place my finger on it.

I work in the mortgage industry, and right now the most common demographic of people purchasing homes are "first time home buyers" - mostly people around my own age. All day I am organizing and setting up these files, just lots of paper, sometimes I get to see the people whose home I am helping them purchase, but usually I don't. I get to see appraisals and photos of their new homes. I see their income, how much they have in savings, their bank account statements and where they spend their money day to day.

Right now Zach and I rent. We live in our friends' basement, which we are so grateful for even if there are tons and tons of spiders. I constantly talk about owning a home, and I see the stress in Zach's eyes when I do. I'm pretty sure home ownership to him just means being broke. Which doesn't have to be the case if you are smart about it!! It was today I realized why I get little palpitations of anxiety. I found this tutorial to make the budgeting envelopes, which are SO cute they actually make a budget look like fun (weird), and when I thought about budgeting and saving for a down payment I got the flutters again. AH-HA!

I have an overwhelming desire to own a home, our very own space to build our life, a family, and years of memories. I don't have one of those and I think this whole getting married thing is making me want more. It's no secret that we both really want babies, and I want a place to dream about them, and prepare for them to come. I want to have a yard of my own, to plant pretty flowers, vegetables, a white picket fence built by my husband (no joke, I've made Zach promise he will build one). Renting to me is so temporary. At any moment you can just pick up and leave and I don't like that feeling hanging over my head. Because of always moving when I was younger, I want somewhere to grow roots as a married couple. I have an image in my head of a green lawn, leaves falling on the sidewalk, and a cozy house with a fire to heat it.

But, that image isn't quite tangible right now. As I sifted through these thoughts while writing them down, I kept remembering I need to live in the present. We can pick up and leave, we can afford a few small vacations throughout the year, we can still be saving and dreaming of our future. Although I desire to plant my own roots, I know that where I am right now, like I said before, is perfect. We both have jobs, we have incredible friends, live in a beautiful place where there are a million and one things to do. So here's to being content with what I have & planning for the future while enjoying the present.

 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
   for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
   for to you I entrust my life.

{Psalm 143:8}