Wrap-up of 2008

I have been reading others' blogs about their 2008 and I have really enjoyed reading about their year in a paragraph so here I go.
Here are some great things that happened in 2008:

1. I FINALLY graduated with my 4 year degree in Business Management!

2. We moved into my parent's loft for the summer. We saved money, had most meals provided for us, and had a great time hanging out with my parents!

3. We packed up our Honda Accord with camping equipment and what we needed for the year. Everything that didn't fit either didn't come or got sent out to Oregon.

4. We quit our jobs and had off for the longest period of time in our history!

5. We said goodbye to our friends. That was the hardest of all. We left the people that have meant the most to us during our life and the ministry that we loved.

6. We drove 6,000 miles across the country! We visited family, friends, and 8 national parks. We went 6 days without showering and camped out by the fire most nights. It was great for our transition and our marriage!

7. We moved to Washington Family Ranch and are blessed by the ministry here and how God uses this place to impact peoples' lives.

8. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as the "Goad's".

We had many firsts this year and were blessed by how our friends and family have supported us through every step! We can't wait to see what 2009 holds for us!

New Year, New Layout

Its 2009 which means I desperately needed to do some work on the blog since I am trying to post more about our numerous adventures and whatnot.

The retreat at Cannon Beach was amazing! Our speaker was Bill Reihl who is the Regional Director of Oregon. How crazy is it that he is originally from Baltimore/DC area and started new areas of YL there before being called to the Portland area? Him and his wife, Terry, were such a blessing to us and really encouraged us in our move and what God is doing in our lives. The retreat was great because we got to get to know people better and relax. I had the opportunity to lead the morning worship times which was a blessing and a challenge. It was the first time I had a led a group but all in all it went well.

It was great to get out of the canyon and visit civilization. On the way to the coast we stayed in Portland. What a wonderfully unique city! We really wanted to experience the "granola" side of Portland. (Granola means organic/earthy). We went to church at Imago Dei, Donald Miller's church, which was really cool. It is made up of a youthful group of people who want to use their gifts and artistic abilities to share Christ. It was very Portland, which was awesome!

We also went to Stumptown Coffee, where the espresso was thick and every drink had latte art. They even roasted their beans in the lobby, how cool is that?

The Northwest is so different from the East, especially Salisbury. The culture is different, the people are different, and the scenery is different. We saw probably 10 waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge on the way home and its not even spring yet! I have heard it said that the Northwest is God's country. I can agree that God's creation is very evident here!