.keeping him... forever.

san luis obispo - day one - BEST. DAY. EVER.

this man who i've raved about for almost a year now asked me to be his wife :) i'm seriously too excited to sleep. it is so incredible when our faithful God shows up in major ways in our lives. we feel INCREDIBLY blessed by the community he's put around us - in SLO, in Santa Barbara, in Orange County, in Texas, in Haiti, in Holland, in Peru... we could go on and on. Jesus is so good, we are so loved and we can't wait to spend our lives together.

grateful for the beautiful overcast day that became one of the best days of my life - breakfast at seaside cafe in shell beach, a drive and hike through montana de oro state park, a few moments overlooking these incredible bluffs and then my very best friend on one knee asking me to be his bride.

some wine tasting, celebrating with SLO friends at jarred's house and then dinner at novo. seriously, BEST. DAY, EVER.

most of all i'm glad i get to keep him... forever and ever.

.our life.

today we start our life... our life in slo.

a month ago, we moved my man into his house so that he could start his job - i'll give you the gift of the laughter that was involved in his moving-in process... yes, the tupperware won that fight on the kitchen floor :)

jarred's been really really content here these past four weeks.

at noon today, we left this place i've loved so so much. i've lived in some great houses, but this place was one of my favorites - the laughter, the bbq's and fire pitting, the game playing, the wine/appetizer girl chat, the weekend guests, the deep conversations and the couch snuggles made this place earn its way into the top 3. i had some of my best times and some of my darkest times while i lived inside these four walls. it's amazing that just that - four walls can have so much significance.

tonight i lay here in my (gratis) temporary housing for the month, thanks to one of the most generous ladies i know, and i think about what this means for me, for us.

we begin our life here today. slo is now our home and as much as i grieve the life & community i had in santa barbara - slo means that we get to be together. it means that we got to get groceries today and hang out with 50 incredible Jesus-lovin' young life leaders tonight. it means that i'll wake up in my house and he'll wake up in his house and we'll get to drive a mini-distance and have breakfast together. it means establishing the new normal and for that, i'm grateful. grateful for our life... stay tuned.

.lent.

i practice lent every year. i've done it since my freshman year of college. i remember living in the college dorms & giving up dr pepper. i LOVED dr pepper and i knew it would be a sacrifice. the discipline of lent that year was really, really, really good for me. i still crave that discipline. i still do lent. it still helps me to wait expectantly for easter and to remember the significance of the day that defines all i believe in.

today, this post helped me remember. thank you heather.

more later on what this lenten season holds for me, but for now... i hope this gets you thinking.

.more on haiti.

my heart is continually being broken because of things like poverty, hunger, malnutrition, illness and violence. as i learn people's stories and see their day to day lives in places where hope seems a scarce commodity, i am changed. i posted today for work on how haiti is continuing to change me.

click here to read it