Time before Time

Phil and I just spent a few days in beautiful Seattle, where we started our marriage 12 years ago this month. What an interesting couple of days full of "half" memories. So much of it was familiar, and yet there were many things that seemed vague and unreal about those 2 honeymoon years. I was amazed that Phil could remember his bus number that he took to school, then I was thrilled when I remembered mine that I took to work!! We sure love that place and the foundation it gave our marriage. My brother always has the greatest self-portrait shots and since we didn't have a photographer following us around, that's what you get. Here 's a little trip down "half" memory lane.

Our first little apartment was a studio at "The Dolphin" apartments. Phil did such a great job chosing our apartment with his dad. Little did he know that my cousin lived in the apartments next door, and we had a park with a Ravine across the street...
Back in the day, we spent hours and hours walking through our Ravenna Park talking about the future, challenges and just enjoying each others' company. We were pleased to see not much had changed about it!

Phil's rock..

After living there a year, we walked through our park and discussed the possiblity of upgrading to a whole one bedroom. Would we be able to make it work? Somehow we did. 2315 NE 55th St was our next stop. And yes, it was on the other side of "our" park.
As we drove around the city and remembered the good old days, we decided those days were the "time before time." We were both busy, Phil with school and I with work, but our time was our time. We spent so many weekends on special outings, walks around magnificent parks, different adventures. I don't know how we had so much time to walk in our Ravine and figure out life, but I think their names are Jacob, Benjamin and Micah. It was fun to retrace our steps.
We headed to one of my favorite hang outs, Pike Place Market:
I worked downtown and came here often on my lunch break. I always loved and wanted one of these:
We also made a stop at our Seattle Temple, where we found comfort and peace in those newly wed days.
The reason we were in Seattle was for Phil to attend a work meeting. One of the fun things was meeting up with the class mates of Phil's that are still in Seattle. What a great group of people. They were funny then, and they are still funny!
We didn't have much time to hit all our parks, but green lake and the arboretum were two of our favorites and they made the cut!
I also got to make a quick trip to visit my little sister and her family who get to live in the beautiful northwest. They live in a nice area and it was fun to meet little Aubrey. As you can see, she really likes me!
As we drove through Seattle, it was easy to see that not THAT much has changed. There is still that Seattle rain that makes everything so green, there is still a lot of Seattle traffic (oh yeah, I remember the traffic!), and it is still a great place to visit. Yes, Seattle has stayed much the same. But in our lives, much has changed. Since leaving Seattle 10 years ago, we have become parents. We are no longer just Phil and Jennie, we are the Stevens family. We have lived all over this blessed country. We've had several jobs and life has changed drastically. How fun it was to remember our start. To look back and see how our lives have been blessed. To recognize the Lord's hand, even from the beginning. What a wonderful life. Thanks for the memories Seattle. We loved stopping for a visit and having a little "time away from time"! Oh, and thanks for the incredible blueberry cream cheese russian pastry at Pike Place Market...now THAT's something to remember!