.highway 1.

summer + roadtrip = awesomeness

we began our journey in santa barbara and cruised up to pismo beach to spend 4th of july with some of my mom's family. for me, this is the norm, for jarred, maybe a bit overwhelming? if you haven't been around my extended family, your loss... ha. it's true, but what's also true is that it's chaos. i have 18 first cousins, most of them are married & have some kids. so on my mom's side alone, there are over 50 of us. jarred got a small taste in pismo over the 4th. it's beautiful the whole crazy family thing. it was the 4th of july at it's best in an absolutely beautiful spot :)


it was mornings sitting on the porch, overlooking the pacific drinking coffee with my mom's cousins and some family friends. it was mid-day drop-in lunch with my great aunt talking about ministry & Jesus & third world missions. it was evenings with a bbq lit, a glass of wine and about 13 small kiddos running around with my aunt & uncle, their kids & grandkids and more extended family.

we continued up highway 1 to san francisco, making a few stops in beautiful big sur to enjoy the scenery, get some coffee and for jarred to take in what will soon be his new home on the pacific ocean.


we had incredible weather and one of the most beautiful drives in the world.


i am grateful for this guy who loves me well and is willing to sacrifice so much for me.

next up? san francisco!!!

.trippin' down the road.

meet my guy...

his name is jarred and someday i'll tell the story of how we met and fell in love and had no choice but to date, but for now, you're getting our road trip - one day at a time because the whole thing would be too much for you to handle, i just know it.

so he's road trippin' across the united states of america (or portions of it at least). he's an adventurous kinda guy with a tinge of wanderlust... sound familiar? hence the fell in love and had not choice but to date part. :) so i got to be part of his adventure - you can ask him whether or not he regrets that decision, but don't tell me what he says because you can't undo what's already done and the road trip? it's done.

in all seriousness it was sweet time, time we'll probably never get again. here was our agenda in hipsta-collages and over the next few days i'll break it down because i know you care for me to do so and if you don't, stop clicking on my blog for a week or so.

here's where we cruised:

pismo beach - 4th of july with some of my family


highway 1 to norcal

san francisco

klamath falls, oregon (we'd never heard of it either)

crater lake national park

camping in bandon

the oregon coast/dunes

portland



what can i say? we're a happy couple just trippin' down life's road - maybe it was the free ice cream & cheese sampling, but let me tell you - happiness is an orange vw van. stay tuned for highlights and ridiculous commentary. you won't regret it.

.hope amidst loss.

seven of us rode in the car... seven adults who've been friends for the better part of 5 years and not a word was spoken. eery silence. what words are appropriate when the lump in your throat and the gut wrenching feeling won't leave? how do you find "proper words" in the 10 minute drive from the restaurant to the memorial service of one of your friends that died too young? there are no right words for that. there are no right words to say to katie's parents, to her husband, to her sisters. there are not even right words to say to your own friends. so our car remained silent as we each processed our own grief and did our best to walk into the day prepared.

one of the most stunningly beautiful girls i've ever met also happened to be one of the purest hearted, tender spirited girls i've ever met. she had it all goin' on. her love for Jesus oozed out of her being even in the midst of severe pain and incredibly limited lung capacity. katie parsons may was someone whose life touched all those she came in contact with.

yesterday was horrific and beautiful all rolled into one. a 32 year old husband should not be speaking at his wife's funeral. loving parents should not have to say goodbye to their 27 year old daughter. "You give and take away, You give and take away - still my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name," were the words we sang at her service. words that communicate to our God that no matter what season of life, whatever changes may come, we still trust Him, we love him and we believe that death is not the end.

you see, that was the absolutely beautiful thing about this whole week and particularly about yesterday... because He lives, there is hope amidst loss. katie's ashes were scattered yesterday (well half of them - the other half are to be taken to the Ukraine, her other love). as her family & her husband scattered her ashes in the pacific ocean, each of tossed a flower into the water. we lost much when we lost katie, but there was beauty yesterday, beauty from ashes.

the other thing that allowed us to experience hope amidst loss was authentic community.
- i watched katie's dad jump in after the ashes and swim out deeper... alone. and then i watched two of his closest friends jump in after him, throw their arms around him and pray, right there, amidst her ashes, in the middle of the pacific ocean and it was beautiful. it was hope.

- i watched our motley crew of seven laugh together, cry together, pray together, grieve together and just be together and come around our friend, john for 36 hours. this breathed hope into each of us and while we didn't know what to say, it was enough to just be.

i am grateful for real community. i am grateful for hope.

and as our sweet friend john sang at his gorgeous bride's service: "i will praise you, I will praise you - though the tears fall, still i will sing to you. I will praise you, Jesus, praise you - through the suffering still i will sing."

katie may - thank you for living a full life, for caring more about others than you did about yourself, for being someone who oozed Jesus and for teaching us how to continue to hope in the midst of pain. we will miss you.

.i love this.

my quasi-friend, Kristen posted this today. i've always known we had alot in common, but this is probably the post she's written that i resonate with the most. it's a tough subject, something i've struggled with for years, i'd even venture to say almost decades and i know i will probably never get to an "ok" place with it. i pray that i will (in fact i prayed that last night) and i hope that i do, but it's a struggle. my own journey has been long and frustrating - it ebbs and flows, succeeds and fails but never to the point where i'm satisfied.

half marathon - trained & ran 13 miles - CHECK
mudrun - 10k with muddy hills, through a lake, over walls - CHECK

P90X - for the whole 90 days without skipping - CHECK
Cleanses, fad diets, limited caloric intake - CHECK

just read her post & know that i could have written the exact same words with the same emotion behind them... i'll let you know when i figure it out. right. about that...