A Walk in the Woods

Vince and I found a great trail through the woods not far from our home, and we thought we would share the view with those of you who haven't seen Washington yet.

Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Mother

Happy Birthday to an amazing woman. My mother is not only incredible because she has a dozen children, she is amazing because she has loved and sacrificed for each one of us untiringly. The example she has given of strength in the midst of heartache, trust in the face of uncertainty, courage to take on battles bigger than her, and a constant love for the broken are lessons that have not only shaped her children, but everyone who has the blessing of being a part of her life.

We love you, Mom.

Miracle Backpacks

Last week The YC we were visited by a miracle! Our miracle was delivered by a group of men from Reality, a local Olympia church. We were getting ready for closing time when the group of men showed up to our building each carrying several heavily filled backpacks. The men just kept coming through our door, one after the other, each with several bags, each bag a different color and style. When the delivery was done the final count on backpacks was 44! Now, these bags were not just backpacks, no, that would have been amazing enough, but each bag was STUFFED full of school supplies to be given to 44 of our students at The YC.

One of our staff members, Drew, had stopped by an evening service at Reality church and spoke about the work we were doing at The YC and talked about the need for backpacks and school supplies for some of our students from low-income families. Families at Reality promised to bring us 15 bags, but in the end the loving families gave us the gift of 44 bags.

That evening the staff was able to pray over each bag and the student that would receive it, a student who now will walk with a little more confidence at school. We were also overwhelmed to see that several families had even written cards or letters to our students, sharing encouraging words and some even included a family picture!

Watching students receive backpacks throughout the week has been the best part of the miracle. It is amazing to see the excitement on their faces as they pick out their favorite bag and then begin to explore the supplies within. It has been Christmas all week long. Thank you, Reality for showing the love of God to our students in such a real way.

God is good, and He provides for His children!

Trip to the DMV - I need to rant

I've decided that what the government needs is just a couple of logical people to run things. I'm not even asking for everyone in office to have logical skills - just a few would be fine. This point was proven in excess today while Vince and I tried (unsuccessfully) to become proper Washington state residents. The trouble all started when we pulled up to the State Licensing Office where the visitor parking was closed of for remodeling. A logical person would think that because you have closed off all visitor parking you should provide a temporary lot and signs to direct people to this proposed lot - no, not in Washington. In Washington the government employees decide to mark every parking spot, and several parking garages as "employee only" and proceed to let all non-government employees to fend for themselves when visiting their public offices! Well, being resourceful Californians we finally found a non designated parking spot and proceeded to walk to the state building complex where the DMV is located.

Due to the aforementioned lack of logic in the government we soon discovered that there were no maps of the grounds on the whole capitol building complex, and no signs identify which building held what department. Frustration added to frustration as we wandered the capitol complex for a good 10 minutes in the rain.

Finally, we found the DMV, and discovered that in order to get a state ID or drivers license you must first have 2 documents that prove residency - sounds reasonable. Until you realize that all the documents require that you have either: a home that you own (and proof of insurance), a job that has already given you a pay stub, a utility bill, or to top it all off, a cable bill. Well, Vince has been given a pay stub, that's one document for him, none for me. We don't own a home and so we don't have homeowners insurance, we don't have cable, and our electrical bill hasn't come because we just switched it into our name a few weeks ago! . We do have a renters lease for our apartment, that seems pretty concrete evidence that we actually live here, but not to the government, no - they would rather see that I waste my money on cable every month! What does a cable bill prove that an apartment lease doesn't? Logic people, logic! So, we are now in the dilemma of having no acceptable proof of living in WA state and yet we are required by law to get a license with them because we established residency when we signed a leas (the lease that doesn't count as a proof of residency, yet it establishes residency - make any sense?)

So, I guess we are waiting for an electric bill to come in the mail before we can be legal here. I've honestly never been so eager to get a bill in the mail.

Thanks for listening to my ranting,

The YC

I thought I would introduce you all to The Youth Connection, better known just as The YC. This is what brought Vince and I up to Olympia, WA earlier this month. The YC is a local nonprofit in downtown Olympia that works with at-risk teens, providing a safe place for youth from the city to hang out, find food and clothing, get connected with resources and have positive role models. The ultimate goal is to help these kids develop the confidence and skills they need for a productive future. The YC has been open just under a year now and part of Vince's role here is to start up support groups for the youth, make connections with the local high schools, and start new programs for the constant needs that are uncovered every week. At the moment, I have the privilege of offering some administrative support to The YC while I am looking for a job. After I find a job I'm excited about continue to volunteer time in the evenings working with the youth.

The staff, volunteers and youth at The YC are an amazing group and we are so excited at the opportunity that was given us to work with them. Vince and I have been praying and dreaming about a position like this and at just the right moment God opened the doors, we couldn't have planned this better ourselves.

Here is the link the The YC website so you can learn more about what we are up to.

The Family Visit!

There is nothing quite so nice as moving to a new state and having the chance for your family to come out to visit (it also helps motivate you to finish unpacking all your boxes and get the house set up). The Quiz family had already planned a visit to the Seattle area to visit my grandparents but since we had just moved into town we got to see them too.

On Thursday Vince and I drove up to Bainbridge Island and met up with our family before taking the ferry across to Seattle. Once we made it across the Puget Sound we visited to the Seattle Aquarium, Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. The best part of the day had to be Anna realizing that her ice cream cone from Pike Place had been melting all over her clothes for the past couple of blocks on our way to the Space Needle.

All in all it was a nice couple of days, after the Seattle visit we all drove up to have dinner with Gramma and Grampa Quisenberry and then on Saturday the family drove down and stayed in Olympia for the night and we got to show them around our new neighborhood. Let's just say that the tour of Olympia was considerably quicker than the tour of Seattle a few days before.

Welcome to Washington

Vince and I made it safely to Washington and to our new home. This is the view I had all the way through California, Oregon and on into the beautiful (and rainy) state of Washington. Needless to say, I am glad to be out of the car!

We moved up earlier this month and right now are working on getting out new apartment set up and unpacked. For those of you who haven't heard, Vince took a job working at The Youth Connection in downtown Olympia. The YC is a new non-profit that works with at risk teens. We couldn't be more excited about the work we get to do here, but more about that later.