Well, it's official...

What's official? Well you just have to wait until the end of this post to find out.  And no looking ahead.

Rules, people.

So I just got back from my fourth trip to the Seattle area in 5 months.  And my trips to WA never fail to be "the best weekend ever".  I suppose a certain guy has something to do with that, though.

This trip we: 

Went to a shooting range 

(where I shot my first gun...being from a small town in MN I was way overdue).

Watched his Godkids play soccer.

Carved pumpkins.

Watched football.

Visited with his grandma.

Took a ferry ride!

So, the ferry.  Maybe not a big deal to people that live in Seattle, but I was pumped.  However, I was expecting maybe like an extra large pontoon type thing or something.  But this thing was massive.  And you drive your cars onto it.  And it's got a cafeteria and a bunch of seats and stuff.   AND we went and bought junk food before getting on it.  Actually maybe that's why I liked it so much--sugar high?

"OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER IN A MILLION YEARS THAT I'VE EVER SEEN! THIS IS AWESOME! I WANNA GO ON THE FERRY EVERDAY!!"---Kirsten with sugar. Or caffeine.

But really, it was pretty cool for never having been on a ferry before.  And as we got closer to the Seattle skyline I took like 57 blurry pictures of it--because it was beautiful.

Anyway.  The other highlight was a surprise date night on Sunday night.  I love surprises.  Really, I do.  But I always get a little nervous just because what if it's a lame surprise? Then you have to act really excited about it so the person isn't disappointed.  And I'm not a great actress.

But I really wasn't too worried, because I have a pretty fantastic boyfriend.  We pull into a parking lot and I have no idea where we are.  I see people walking...he asks me to guess where we are...I have no clue...he says look at what people are wearing.  Uh, clothes?

Oh some sports jersey.  Football? Nope, not football.  Look closer. Hockey? Hockey! They're wearing HOCKEY JERSEYS!!

I'm from Minnesota.  Fill in the blanks.  I was excited.  And I didn't even have any sugar that night.

So that was fun, too.

It was rainy the whole time, but I didn't even mind.  I hardly noticed until I got back to Denver today and walked outside and felt like I just walked out of the Eye Doctors after they put that stuff in your eye to dilate your pupils. Except I didn't have those sweet flimsy plastic sunglasses they give you.

So bright.

But guess what? As of today...it's offical.  I'm moving to Washington :)

Of course it's been in the planning/dreaming mode for a few months now, and boyfriend got the job at Boeing in Seattle so he won't be going anywhere...and the idea of getting to hang out with and go on dates with my boyfriend on the weekends sounds pretty good.  Texting/Skype/Phone calls are great but...

And World Vision's headquarters are in WA, and I have family 3 hours away in Oregon, and to be honest, I love Denver...but I'm just not loving my life in Denver, if that makes sense.  And it's just not home here to me.  At all.

So that's the official news.  You heard it here first.  My boss has been in the loop the whole time, but he said if I could know 'for sure' by this week it would really help the transition for the next employee.  So I told him today that it is 'for sure'.  Ahh!

Here's how it's probably going to go down: I fly home to MN for Christmas.  From MN I fly to Missouri for a work event (Urbana--ever heard of it? It's a huge student missions conference. Pretty sweet).  Josh is also helping out at that event. Both of us will fly back to Denver on Dec. 30th.  We will load up hopefully JUST my Subaru and drive the 1300 miles straight to Seattle and get there in time for New Years Eve.  Ambitious, we know.

Things to still figure out? Well...I don't have a job...or a place to live yet.  Minor details, minor details.  God's in this.  I'm not worried. My lease here is up January 4th so that works out.  What about my stuff? Well, at some point we will fill my dad's truck (parents are going to store stuff at their house temporarily) and then I'll fill the Subaru, and whatever else doesn't fit gets sold, donated, or thrown.  Easy enough, right? Well, probably not, but I have two months.

(Holy cow I'm moving in two months....)

Side note.  This will be the 10th time I've moved in 6 years.  Yikes.
Life changes fast.
--and if you're bored tonight, here's an old post I wrote about some of that: finding adventure.

I do get nervous and stressed out at times trying to figure out all these "minor details" but then I remember how He provided for my Denver move (you can read about that here if you missed it). I had peace about that move and I have peace about this one.  And that's important.  I wouldn't move if I didn't have peace about it.  All the doors might not be open yet, but I'm learning how to be okay with just walking through one at a time.

And maybe splash in a few Seattle puddles along the way :)

Green Means Go.

The other night I hit 24 green traffic lights in a row.  Yes, I counted.  And guess what I did when I got to the 25th light and it was red?

Got mad and went "Ughhhhhhh".

It ruined my streak! I could have been a world record holder! How could God possibly allow that one light to turn red when everything had been going SO well!? 

Yep.  It's analogy time.  Because I realized right then, that's exactly how I react when I hit a red light in 'my' life's plans.  

Everything is going just how I like it, I'm planning everything all out....and then a light turns red and I have to hit the breaks.  I get mad and go "ughhhh".  Because I've been spoiled.  And I don't like hearing "no" or "not yet".  

But guess what? The light will eventually turn green again.  You don't want to run through the red light or you'll crash into the other traffic.  Sometimes we just have to be patient and wait our turn.

I've had a bit of a red light lately.  But I'm just now starting to see the other traffic light turning yellow...which means my green is coming shortly :) 

Stay tuned...

So there's a softball sized creature that lives in my apartment...

Normally I'm the queen of being able to make it to last minute plans.  Which has gotten me many-a-free tickets to things like sporting events and concerts when other people bail.  But the past week or so has been crazy. I got back from our big roadtrip, then 

Tuesday night Josh went back to Seattle. Brutal. 

Wednesday night I had small group.  

Thursday night I went to the RHCP concert with Alex (see second sentence). 

Friday was our annual Audit day at work...which was a pretty big deal.  Then Friday night I finally unpacked from the roadtrip and bought some groceries blah blah blah.

Saturday I worked and had dinner with my dad who was in town because he had a Charter Bus run here.  I loved that :) 

Sunday I flew to Pittsburgh for the World Vision-Day of Prayer...we got to spend it with the WV Pittsburgh staff and sightsee a bit---which was all awesome.  I often take it for granted, but WOW do I work for an amazing organization!

So I got back to Denver on Tuesday night.  

Then on Wednesday I got to practice my volunteer coordinating skills....and lead 98 middle school students (who were honestly so much fun) in a sort project at work since Ashley (regular volunteer coordinator) is on vacation this week.  That was...an energy filled and lots-of-coffee kind of workday.  Which resulted in an "I know I brought my lunch, but I need some Qdoba and Coldstone" kind of lunch break. 

So today? Today I finally realized it's fall in Denver.  So I went for a 3 mile run at lunch because when it's fall...you're supposed to run outside and then post on Facebook about how much you love running outside in the fall. I then made it through the afternoon on a wonderful runner's high. 

I went to Target after work just for cat food (aka hedgie food)....and left $72 later.  Target is like a crazy evil vortex.  You can never walk in and leave without spending at least $50.  But I really just needed that pumpkin coffee creamer.  And 'Fall Leaves and Spice' air freshener for my apartment.  Yes. I did need it.  Because it's fall. 

Then I got home and checked on the softball sized creature that lives in my apartment (that's Quincy)....and he was out cold.  

Literally.  

He had begun hibernating because it was too cold for him.  Hibernating is normal for hedgehogs in the wild to do....but deadly for domesticated hedgies.  This was the third time this has happened so I knew the drill.  I put him directly on my stomach and covered him up.  45 minutes and a very red and scratched up stomach later....my hedgie is now running on his wheel without a care in the world.  It was a little scary though.  My favorite part is when he finally wakes up...because first he just stares off into space.  Then he acts drunk and kind of wobbles around. 

And he's just cute. 

Coming out of his stupor. 

But he's okay now.  And the busyness should settle down for awhile...so I can actually talk to my best friend who is finally back from Alaska :) And maybe go see a movie. And maybe do some shopping since I haven't bought any new clothes for months.  Oh and do my laundry. 

Priorities.