Weekend in Seattle

Hello All! We pray this blog entry finds all of you doing beautifully! When I looked at the weather for the week, I saw that our WA weather is going to be the exact same as your MN and IA weather! So, it's kind of like we're home! :)

Spring has Sprung! Or at least that was what it felt and looked like last week. Friday was a wonderful day so when Ben got home we went for a walk on the trail close to our house.





We spent Saturday in Seattle! It was a beautiful, sunny, 60 degree day! We enjoyed it but I now know for sure that I was not made to be a big city girl. I think Bellingham is going to be as big as I get :) Too much craziness!






In this picture I am showing you why I am not loving the big city!

Here is some more of the craziness I wasn't loving in Seattle. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is beautiful and fun, I just could never live there.


This is Qwest Stadium and Safeco Field.

It is always fun to walk around Pike Place Market.


Then we were able to go to this amazing restaurant on Alki Beach thanks to Steve and Nancy (Ben's aunt and uncle). It was called Salty's. Not only did it have unbelievable food, it also had beuatiful views.

That is Salty's in the bottom left corner.

There was a great view of downtown Seattle.


We even got to see some scuba divers near the beach! Ben loved that! Now Ben aspires to be a scuba diver :)

We both had yummy salmon, Ben's was stuffed with crab. Sorry, I had already eaten a little before I took the picture. Not that you care, but I just wanted us to remember it! I'm a nerd!


There even happened to be fireworks during our meal. Ben said he had them arranged....hmmm...do any of you believe that! :)

Here is our Super Giant Cookie Ice Cream Sundae...that was seriously the name and believe me, the name fit it!!!!!



We had a great weekend together, then it was back to the real world! I start at the YMCA tomorrow. I am ready just to get started. That is it from the Wetzells. We miss you and love you all so much!

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

Different Views

This blog entry will be a little different than those before it. We haven't done anything too exciting...which is great! So, I will update you on a few things and then I will tell you about Ben's idea of "different views" for you to enjoy!

Last week was a bittersweet week for me. I got a job at the YMCA which is about 1/2 mile from our house. I will be working with the 3 and 4 year olds, which will be great. I need too be grateful for my job, but I was kind of getting used to being at home:) Haha! The part I am anxious about is now that I have a full time job I may not get to do some things Ben and I had planned. I was hoping to have a lot of free time with all our family that is coming within the next few months. Now I'm not sure how much time I can take off...and lets put it this way, this isn't my dream job I was thinking of, but I AM really excited to work with that age group. I need to remember (as Elizabeth keeps reminding me) that God's hand is in this and He wants me there for a reason. And like Jenny says, I am working for the Lord, not for man (because man is not paying much)!! :) Anywho, so that's my news.

Ben is still doing good! His job has good and just ok days, like all jobs, but he is always good at figuring things out!
He had been wanting to go to Avatar for a long time so finally this weekend we saw it in 3-D. He loved it and it was much better than I had expected. But our favorite part had to have been the glasses!


Then Ben had this great idea! One thing we have always commented on since we moved here is all the unique vehicles we see. So Ben thought it would be neat or funny (whichever word works) to show you some of the dandy things we see on the road in Bellingham, WA! So, here you go!



We also started a class at church this weekend to get to know the church more and to learn about their vision. It was great! The Lord is doing amazing things at this church and we are excited to learn more about it!

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

Kind of a "poopy" weekend! :)

Well, you will get the meaning of the title as you read this weeks blog!

Ben and I weren't sure what our weekend was going to entail but when I got my new passport in the mail on Friday afternoon we knew we were heading to Vancouver to check out the Olympics. We had heard so much and seen so much we knew we had to check them out being only 40 miles from them. So Saturday morning I packed some treats, since we figured we could be in the car for awhile at the border, and off we went. We were pretty excited.
We started driving and saw that the border wait was 100 minutes...YIKES! It actually ended up going pretty fast. There were some pretty views along the way! There was a national park called Peace Arch Park. It started in Blaine, WA which is right on the border and it goes past the border into British Columbia.



So now our first task of getting across the border was complete. Our next task was finding the hotel where we were going to park and figuring out how to get on the sky rail. We found the hotel pretty easily and headed right to the parking garage...we then found ourselves driving around for almost 45 minutes in a garage with no open stalls left. Now, In MN there would have been a sign outside saying the garage was full, but in Canada they must not do that. :) Ben, was a little irritated to say the least! :) We ended up parking on the road...not even sure if it was legal. We were just hoping our car would still be there when we got back that night. Once we were parked we knew we had to find a bathroom since we had, by then, been in the car for 3 hours. After that we found the sky rail and packed onto a car like sardeans. At this point we saw there were about 4 different places we could get off. We had no clue where to get off, so we got off at Yaletown which was the street with a lot of vendors and entertainment. We had no idea that our first step off the train was our first step into total chaos!

We, again, really had no clue where we were going and things were not labeled well at all. To make it even a little more difficult the streets were so packed with people you could barely move. Ben told me to tell him if I saw anywhere I wanted to stop, but we couldn't even see anything because people were everywhere. We just started walking. That walking took us absolutely nowhere. We did see some pretty scenery!





This was the clock used for the countdown until the opening ceremonies. Now they are using it to countdown to the closing ceremonies.

This is the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The side of the gallery was beautiful!

After about an hour and a half of just walking, in the much colder weather than expected, we decided to head back to the street we had started on to look for a map...or something. To no avail, Ben finally asked a worker where the flame was. He pointed us in the direction and we were off walking...again. By this time we were tired, crabby and hungry. And we really weren't talking to each other much because it was so loud and crammed there wasn't much to say! The closer we got to the torch the crazier it became. We saw a few neat things along the way.


There was a zip line in one of the main areas that people were waiting 6 hours to ride on for 6 seconds...crazy! There were long lines everywhere we turned.
We finally got to the torch...WOW...not really Ben and I thought! It was so crowded and there was a huge fence around it so you couldn't get very close.



As you can tell we were a little cranky by now. We decided we saw what we wanted to see, now we were outta there. I was a little bummed because I wanted to see the Olympic rings, but we had no clue where there were. I felt like I didn't get many pictures that even looked like we were at the Olympics.
Our next adventure was to find our way back to the train, oh boy!We found a train station and went to buy a ticket. We knew this wasn't the right place but we figured somehow it would get us where we needed to go. Thankfully a young guy asked us if we were lost :) We said yes and he led us in the right direction. We got to our destination and waited in line...again! We finally got on our train and it was unbelievable how they packed us on there. Ben and I couldn't believe it. We were literally on top of eachother and then other people were RIGHT on our back. After what seemed to be a very long train ride, we made it back to our car. I don't think I was ever so excited to get back to Bellingham! :)
Sorry this seems like such a bummer day, but we really didn't have much fun. I know, I know...we were so fortunate to even experience that, right?? Hmmm, we aren't sure! :)
At least we can say we went!

On Sunday, I had my first day of helping in the 3 year old room at church! It was great! They were so cute and I was able to meet some really neat people. Then we went to church and had lunch with some friends. It was another beautiful day so we went for a run and then Ben got to hit some golf balls! He loved doing that! Now here is where the rest of the "poopy" weekend comes in...I went #2 and somehow clogged the toilet...oops! :) Ben gets so annoyed, even though he is always laughing about it! So I went to get the plunger while Ben was in the shower and I couldn't find it. Ben said he would look when he got out. Now remember, we live in a 700 ft. sq. apartment so there really aren't too many places too look. Ben started looking and couldn't find it either. So for the next hour we tore apart closets looking for that goofy plunger. We were so frustrated! And sorry folks this story desn't have a happy ending...we never found it, even though we know we have used it since we have lived here. So, now we have the case of the missing plunger!

And that was our "poopy" weekend! :)

Hope that didn't gross anyone out! We love you and miss you all! Thanks for reading this downer of a blog! Even though it was a crazy weekend...we still enjoyed eachother and can laugh about it all!

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18