Bodies Exhibit

The national Bodies exhibit has hit Seattle, and last week Jon and I decided to check it out. I didn't really know what to expect, and although I think the admission fee was steep it was a very interesting experience.

One of things that hit me as we were leaving was the complexity and interrelated nature of the thousands of things that work together so seamlessly everyday. I don't understand how anyone can walk out of seeing this and NOT be convinced that a Creator designed us. The body is simply too impressive to conclude anything else.

The impression Jon got was similar, but from a different perspective. The veins and blood vessels were dyed in the exhibit to give you a sense of how large and expansive this system is. When colored, some of these end up looking like a fern or a tree. Again, it reminded him (and me) of how God created both nature and our bodies, so it would make perfect sense that similar elements, albeit on a microscopic level inside our body, would be the same. Our creator has a wonderful imagination.

Sometimes it is a good reminder for me that God is in charge of all of these HUGE, epic things because often times I forget this and just think of Him on a more personal level. It is very Job-esque to be reminded that He created the universe and everything in it. When I think of this, I am reminded that I need to trust God because He knows more than I EVER will.

Relaxing weekends

Jon and I have had a very relaxing few weekends. For Jon's big 28th birthday we went out to eat some lip smackin' BBQ in downtown Seattle at a place called Frontier Room. I made Jon some mocha cake, a Gray family tradition, and Jon opened up

his gifts. As usual Jon got lots of good Wii games, some DVDs, a "NerdKit," and some computer things which I can't really go into detail about because I don't understand them. :)

Then on Friday night we went to the DBacks v. Mariners baseball game at Safeco Field. We had some pretty good seats, althou

gh surrounded by Mariners fans, and we had fun cheering on the DBacks when they hit a home run or scored some points. We decided to leave at the mid point of the 8th inning which ended up being perfect timing because the DBacks lost in the bottom of the 8th. We sure would have been harassed if we were still there! Then on Saturday night we went to an improv show in the UDistrict of Seattle. It was pretty fun and we really enjoyed ourselves.

This past week was Fourth of July, and we had a very relaxing 3 day week

end. On Friday we hiked Snoqualmie Falls and went to the bottom.

We were so close we could feel the mist whenever the wind picked up, and believe me this felt good after a long hike. There were a few people fishing, but luckily we got there early because when we left the place was PACKED. Nearby are

a few factory outlet malls, and I ended up scoring some great deals on a basic GAP shirt and some heavily discounted ski pants. Now I need to make sure I use these pants come winter time.

Saturday was the 4th, and I knew I wanted to see fireworks because it had been such a long time since we had the chance to do that last. (A year ago exactly we were on a plane to Europe).

We had heard the fireworks were the biggest at GasWorks park in downtown Seattle, but we didn't want to brave the crowds and the rumors of two hour traffic jams. Instead we opted for the Kirkland fireworks, a small suburb on the Eastside which was having their fireworks on Lake Washington. This was a huge plus for me because I t

hought it would be romantic and fun to see fireworks shimmering off the water. Not knowing how early people arrive

d in Seattle for fireworks, we packed a picnic dinner, playing cards, some books/magazines, a few party poppers (which we could never get in AZ), and we headed out.

We arrived at Houghton Beach Park around 6:00PM and we found parking on the opposite side of the street. We picked our spot, looked around, and we quickly noticed that we were the only people there for the fireworks. Everyone else was in swimsuits tanning it up! So in retrospect we got there about three hours

earlier than everyone else, but as Marie so astutely pointed out "how often do you get to just lay around and do nothing

!" Well, that's so true and we had fun hanging out together and just relaxing. We ended up really enjoying the fireworks and from our vantage point could see 3 different shows (GasWorks, Bellevue, and Kirkland) in addition to the numerous illegal little shows that were occurring along the water.

Troy got in town for a brief stopover late Saturday night, so we made arrangements to meet up for breakfast in SeaTac (we couldn't have picked a nicer locale) at the local Denny's. I really enjoyed seeing Troy and catching up with him about his Beyond Malibu YoungLife trip and updating him on how we were doing in Seattle. It was a really enjoyable time.

On a totally different note....I really appreciate how so many of you have lifted me up in your prayers during this difficult transition time. You know who you are, and you are wonderful!

There is no way to wrap up all of these random updates, so I'll just say bye for now.

The Three Hour "tour"

There’s not many things I am willing to wait 3 hours in line for.

Front row seats to Les Miserables, a free trip to Europe, a shopping spree at Fashion Square, a year of massages…sure!

But food? No way.

Or so I thought.

Jon and I were in the area around Pizzeria Bianco a few weeks ago on a Saturday night. We had heard great things. “The best pizza…ever,” “that place is delicious,” and, “they know how to cook pizza there” were just some of the samplings of positive feedback. In fact, a few years ago Oprah sent Gayle there to try the pizza, and in 2005 it was named the best pizza in the US. We had to find out for ourselves.

The restaurant opened for business at 5;00PM, and we arrived at 5:20 and were told it would be 2.5-3 hours before we’d be seated. We decided to suck it up and wait. After all, we weren’t in the area very often. We tried to use up the time by going next door and ordering some drinks and appetizers. We were starving so we ordered what appeared to be the largest on the menu, especially if price is a good indicator because it was the most expensive: a $10 cheese plate. When it arrived we wolfed it down and there wasn’t a bite left to be found except for the wax from one of the cheese samples. And we were still hungry. It was only 6;00 o’clock.

Then we sat in the crowded room as it started to clear out. Maybe we’d get a table earlier than we were told. Finally after sitting there for another 45 minutes we decided to walk around Heritage Square. Five minutes later, and feeling sweaty because of the heat, we parked our behinds on a park bench and tried to play games with the menu.

You’d be amazed how much fun you can have when you are bordering on nausea from lack of food, heat, and boredom. We walked around some more. We sat. We talked. We tried to make nice conversation, but we were both getting antsy. We moved to a closer bench to the front door, and every time it opened the smell from inside kept urging us to stay a bit longer. Finally, over 3 hours after we arrived, we were called to our table at 8:45.

Jon and I new exactly what to order since we had ample time to decide. The food came out quickly. I expected perfection. Heck, when you’re as hungry as I was anything should have tasted like the best pizza…ever.

But I was disappointed. Jon was disappointed. In fact one of the pizzas we ordered had such spicy sausage it started to make me sick to my stomach. Was the food hot? Yes. Was the service fast? Yes. Was the food worth the wait? Unfortunately, no.

So when is the next time I’ll be willing to wait 3 hours for food? When I’m being paid for waiting.