Dr. John Piper

Most of you know that Mike and I have been attending Mars Hill Church (www.marshillchurch.org) for a little over a year now. Well, he has been attending longer, but that is neither here nor there. Mark Driscoll is the pastor at Mars Hill, and he is an excellent communicator, speaker, teacher, pastor, etc. His preaching style is controversial because he doesn't sugar coat anything, but I find it refreshing and true. Most of the time, I am pretty right on with what he is saying.

This week Mars Hill hosted a conference at which Mark and John Piper spoke. Monday night I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Piper lecture on why he believes the scriptures. This man has an absolutely deep and amazing mind, and to hear him focus on something so instrumental to even the simplest of faiths was humbling and awesome. The words he uses to describe Jesus are compelling. I would encourage you, in your free time, to download some podcasts from the Mars Hill website. In case you were needing direction in that, my favorite sermon series is through the book of 'Ruth'. Mark does a fantastic job of describing their beautiful, Christian relationship and how it actually applies to us today.

In other news, Mike and I have been reading 'The 5 Love Languages' by Dr. Gary Chapman. I really hate that the cover of the book is purple and pink, because that almost seems like it's something the woman is coercing the man in to reading. Why not green or tan or anything remotely masculine? It's a good thing Mike is colorblind =) I think I am learning that my love language is 'Acts of Service'. Is that the nurse in me? I have a hunch what Mike's love language is, but we aren't to that chapter yet. I will keep you updated. Otherwise nothing else is new. We are both working 40 + hours, Mike will finish his class in about 20 days. My goal of the weekend is to find wedding invitations and finalize my bridesmaid dress decision. We close on the condo March 26, and we'll both start spring quarter classes March 31st. We are just tearin up the town.

Thanks for reading... and really, check out the Mars Hill website!

Updates

1. The inspection went really well... what a blessing! There are just a few minor things to fix, but we really are a go!
2. There are exciting things going on in Boulder. Kim has accepted a job in Boulder and she is moving soon!
3. Chelsea is battling the baby bulge in Boulder as well.... for the most recent update on her baby belly.. please visit www.salinasbaby.blogspot.com. The baby is coming in July!
4. Mike will be thrilled that I posted this picture, but he has been working very hard on the class that he is taking this quarter. This below pic will be the theme of his week! Good luck on your midterm babe!

Mutual Acceptance

This is the phrase real estate agents use when a buyer has offered, the seller has countered, and they come to some agreement on price and conditions. Mike and I have found an adorable little condo in an excellent location. Right now we've mutually accepted, and the status stands at 'subject to inspection' which is to be held Monday at 3pm. You can keep that in your prayers! If you want to see pictures, you can go to

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.ListingDetail&ListingID=19224610

Hip Hip HOORAY!

One Year Photo Booth

Mike and I celebrated our one year anniversary yesterday! Time flies when you are so happy, that is for sure! We are so blessed with trust and confidence in our relationship, and we are learning daily how to communicate and navigate new situations. Yesterday we met with our realtor, Kristin (she is fabulous!), and hunted around some more for houses/townhouses/condos.. depending on the area. There is one condo that we really like, but so do several others, so if we decide to make a move, it will need to be quick. If anyone out there is good at making money appear, just let us know! Please enjoy a few self portraits from last night. This first picture turned out great, but then we thought we should take our coats off.

Oops, Mike's eyes aren't quite open...

Oops.. what the heck am I doing? I totally missed that one.

Ah, at last! We had so much fun. Mike put gel in his hair, I put on cashmere, and we went to our FAVORITE restaurant Palisade (palisaderestaurant.com). We had a delicious seafood dinner while we looked out at the Puget Sound, the Seattle skyline, and rows of docked sailboats. Oh, AND the space needle was all lit up with red! SO awesome.