"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!"

Oh what a week! Apart from getting Marshall the Female towed (as Joanna and Ebay named my paint chipped Corolla), life has been full of good music, tasty food, spiritual deepening, and quality conversations with friends and family. Here’s a brief overview of last week’s highlights:


My mom and Cameron came up to Burien last Saturday and whisked me away to the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery for a warm evening spent with Jamie Cullum. If you don’t know him, please do yourself a favor and check his music out. He is the most talented performer I have ever seen.

We celebrated my Grandma Helen’s life in Spokane. As with any Johnston family gathering, distant cousins were popping out of the woodwork and there was no shortage of new babies. I hitched a ride back to the West Side with my cousin Barbara and her kids and am looking forward to a crabbing trip with her family in a couple of weekends.

I got my first s’mores fix of the summer at a friend’s house in Burien. I met the host through church and realized how nice it is to be counted as a part a group of friends close to “home.”

With only one class left for the rest of the month, I devoted more time to understanding polynomials (nearly) stress free!

On Friday I met Ande at Pike’s Place to wander without direction through Seattle. She bought me flowers to kick off my birthday weekend and we shared pizza and wine on the Puget Sound while we waited for Analisa, Ebay, Claire and Joanna to arrive.

Saturday brought a relaxing morning and a drive out to Wallace Falls. After a hike and a late lunch of burgers in at the Alpen Drive Inn in Start Up, we toured Edmonds and headed for Thai food in Burien. We rounded out the day with my second helping of s’mores for the week, wine, and a campfire (compliments of Fire-bay) on the beach.

I thank God for 22 years of blessings—a solid family, food in my belly, and friends with whom I share everything. THANK YOU!