and it's monday again!

but that's okay, i don't mind... we had a great weekend - relaxing, and low-key. i love that.

the trip to dad's friday night was unusually long - due to ferry waits - but we made it in time to visit, and dip in the hot tub before bedtime. saturday, we were up early, and out exploring. dad took matt and i up to one of the old cemetaries in the area, then to anderson cove - a little inlet on the hood canal. i shot almost a full 1 GB memory card. matt and i met my grandmother, and my cousin tim, later for lunch. afterwards, we decided to head to "downtown" seabeck (three little false-front buildings, on the water, which used to include a marina, destroyed by fire, i believe, a few years ago). we took tim with us, so that grama could have some time to herself. the guys sat on the beach, skipping rocks, throwing pebbles, and enjoying the view. i used up what was left on my memory card taking photos, of course. (will post later!) i'm not sure if i've mentioned this, or if you'd even remember it, but tim has down's syndrome, and was orphaned when my aunt suddenly passed away 5 years ago. my grandmother takes care of him now, which i know takes a toll on her. anyway, one thing i really admire about matt is how he interacts with tim. very much a buddy, very much a big brother. he tries his best to understand what tim is saying, and doesn't feel at all socially awkward around him. i really appreciate his efforts. when i privately suggested to him at lunch on saturday that we take tim for a few hours, his response was without hesitation. i just really appreciate that.

the rest of the day was pretty quiet. i got a lot of knitting done this weekend, which was lovely - i really enjoy having something to keep my hands busy while i watch tv - and we tend to watch a lot of movies and home decorating shows at dad's. i love that.

of course, we couldn't watch a bazillion home decorating shows without getting bit by the house-buying bug. we came away from dad's feeling more motivated than we were before to pay off our debt and buy a house. we have no down payment, and our credit is only decent, and we can't really afford much in the way of a monthly payment, but i know that God provides. He'll take us where He wants us, and if it's right, He'll make it all happen.

last night, we had a leader's meeting with the other kid's church leaders. afterwards, matt and i spent a few minutes just chatting with dan, our children's pastor (and the pastor that married us) and his wife, rebekah. we love these two so much - they're great mentors, great support, and always willing to take the time to listen to us and pray for us. last night, they spoke words of encouragement and reassurance when we were already frustrated and hopeless about home-buying. it felt so good to hear positive things. we never really have the opportunity to tell them what a blessing they are to us.

on the way home, we took our time getting back to the freeway and drove down a few side streets. one house for sale had flyers up on the for-sale sign, so we stopped to see what we were contending with. out of our price range, but we took the flyer home. it's hanging on our fridge now, serving as a reminder of how badly we want to move to this next stage, and hopefully, will help motivate us to do what needs to be done.