Catch up

It's been a while, we know. But really, who expected us to keep up the blogging pace we had going for those first few posts? We have both been busy. I'm studying quite a lot and Stacy is working full-time teaching at Golden Gate Academy, taking three classes at the seminary (which is required by her job at the preschool), and keeping our house clean and me fed with scrumptious meals. We were very thankful to find out that we barely made the cutoff for getting a 50% break in my tuition because she works for the seminary. As of Sept 1, PhD students are not eligible for that scholarship; she started on Aug 27.

These are our friends Leah, Samuel, and Ed (who's in my program).

Since the last post we have made some good progress in finding a church to call our home here. There is one we have been to a couple times that we like. The pastor is one of my professors and there is another guy from my program who attends there with his wife and kids; as well as at least two other couples from the seminary who we have met and spent some time with. Please pray for this process as we want to be wise and patient in settling down somewhere we can be used and worship together. Thank you.

Two weekends ago we took a drive after church up Highway 1 north to Point Reyes. It is a beautiful drive with some spectacular coastline, scenic farmland, and some fun little towns.

Last weekend Stacy's sister Signe, her husband Jonah, their three kids, and Stacy's other sister Cynthia were down for a wedding and spent Friday evening here. It was great to have a little time with them. Thanks for coming and thank you Mom Ortman for all the groceries (especially the very timely and needed ketchup:).

Signe, Jonah, Kacy, Caleb, Levi, Cynthia, and us at Strawberry Village

Then just yesterday we took another Sunday drive, this time south down the coast. We left early and went to a cool church in Santa Cruz called Vintage Faith Church, which is seeking to reach the "emerging" community of that town and to do so in a Christ-centered, historically-rooted, and biblical way. Then we kept going south and did the famous 17-mile drive. It is between Monterey and Carmel and is where Pebble Beach and some other great golf courses are. After going through Carmel we worked our way back up the 1. We made it to Half-moon Bay just in time for an amazing sunset and then some dinner, and then came home. Pebble Beach was a highlight (for me especially) and so was the beautiful coastal scenery; but a break from the busyness and a chance to be together was the best part.