Simple Things.

One of the most beautiful things to have come from our marriage has been an appreciation for simplicity. When you marry at 19 and 20, living on a budget becomes a priority and when you spend the next 20 years of life facing giants and overcoming obstacles, that way of life just sticks with you.

J and I had to learn early on how to make the most of what we have and make hand me downs, clearance, and thrift store items beautiful....and, by the grace of God, we did. This same experience forced us to choose between wallowing in our tight circumstances or trying to find beauty and enjoyment out of everything we could.

And thus, our obsession with coffee. 

Over the years, coffee dates became a relatively cheap way for us to get away from our world without breaking the bank. Whether we would steal away at a Starbucks prior to getting groceries, grab a cup to window shop with under twinkling Christmas lights, or sit together as the sunshine filtered through our windows on a Sunday morning, this "friend" of ours has become a constant. 

Sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee represents life to us. It represents the simplicity of enjoying a moment together without placing too much pressure on our budget or our expectations. We know that when we walk into a coffee shop, no matter where it is, we will take time to slow down and just be for a little while. While there, we may make life-changing decisions, discuss the trivialities of a busy schedule, dream our biggest dreams together, or sit in silence and just relax.

Because of grace, we've learned to take a simple pleasure and turn it into a life-defining experience that will stick with us throughout our years. And while we want to see the world, what we look forward to the most is all the places we will be allowed to sit with a warm cup and discuss this wonderful life we have been gifted with. 

"I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world. Present and in awe." ~ Anne Lamott

A Life Well Lived.

This was Saturday. A pretty perfect day filled with laughter, celebration, and new experiences. 

Family on Saturday comprised of Jason and I, our son, one of his best friends at school, my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law.

We spent our day visiting Dillon at school, #gowildcats, attending our very first ACU Sing Song performance (Google it, it's college co-eds and Pitch Perfect with enough Jesus to keep it PG), and celebrating my Dad's 3rd-ish 22nd birthday. 

                

In all honesty, we were all pretty shocked when my dad actually mounted that saddle, albeit a bit reluctantly, in the middle of the restaurant while my son belted out the Texas Roadhouse Birthday Song at the top of his lungs. 

While reflecting on the day and all of the fun during our road trip home, my dad did what he does so well and hit us all with a quick shot of truth. 

If you knew him at all, you would understand he embodies the phrase "a man of few words" perfectly. You would know that he is one of those people who reserves his words for when he wants to say something that really matters. So when we heard the opening phrase, "You know...", we knew we were in for something good. 

"You know, you get to a certain age and you just don't care what people think anymore." 

And while this is a phrase that many people are aware of and live by, when he said it, there was a bit of a different connotation. 

What he really meant was that he was there, celebrating his life, with his family and enjoying himself and the rest of the world just didn't matter in the moment. If he had it his way, I would bet that he would never have climbed aboard that saddle, but we were at his firstborn grandson's place of work with a gleam of excitement crossing Dillon's face and Dad made the decision that what everyone else around thought just was not important.

My dad decided he was going to live his best life in that moment and that was all that mattered. 

As someone who embarrasses easily as well, what I'm sure is a genetic trait I've inherited from him, I appreciated what he was saying and quickly understood how right he was.

I've been thinking a lot about what it looks like to live your best life here lately. It is actually part of why we even decided to start this adventure journey and blog. Coming to the conclusion that we are given this gift of this one life and doing the best we can with it, enjoying it the most we can and living it out to the fullest has moved to the forefront of our thoughts. 

In our short fortyish years on this earth, we have seen and felt enough heartbreak to destroy us several times over and we have decided that we want to live the lives that Jesus promised. We want to live lives that experience exceedingly abundantly more than all we could have ever asked for or imagined. 

And the conclusion that J and I have come to is that living our best lives, giving and experiencing love and sharing the hope we have been given with every single person we come across is exactly what we want to do. We want to do this through our words, the experiences we share, and the way we interact with everyone we meet. 

Our ultimate prayer is that when you see or hear us, that you are drawn to the Jesus in us. 

Reflecting on the life of Reverend Billy Graham today only solidified this idea. This one life, completely dedicated to pointing people to Jesus and the hope He gives was a life well lived. A man dedicated to sharing the hope, freedom, and love experienced through a life in Christ, single-handedly, but guided by the Holy Spirit, had an immeasurable impact on this world. 

And when I think about why Jason and I do what we do, it's only because we have just come to that point where we are no longer caring what people think about us anymore. What is more important to us overall, is that we share this hope, freedom, and love we have been given through our lives in Christ. 

More than anything, we want people to feel what we felt when hopelessness left our lives for good. More than anything, we want people to feel what we felt when we finally understood what real freedom is. More than anything, we want people to experience this life full of laughter, joy, and peace that surpasses all understanding no matter how tough it gets at times. 

You see, our lives have been forever changed because someone, somewhere once heard the story of Christ and understood that Jesus gave his life so that we could truly live and so that one day we could be forever united with Him and cared enough to share it with us.

It is this ripple effect that goes on forever as long as we keep sharing the good news of Jesus through our words, actions, experiences and the way we love others. 

This love, this fire in our bones to share the goodness of who He is to us is just more than we can contain and one day, when we close our eyes only to open them inside the gates of heaven, we can only pray we lived our lives well and we hear the words that greeted Dr. Graham today, "Well done thy good and faithful servant."

"But when I tell myself, I'll never mention Your name or speak for You again, it's no use.

The word of God burns in my heart; it is like fire in my bones.

I try to hold it all in, but I cannot."

Jeremiah 20:9, The Voice

***Kathy Lee Gifford explained the impact of Dr. Graham and the reason we celebrate his life today. THIS is the reason we have hope in Jesus and can celebrate in times of loss. Click the link to watch.***

French Food & Funny Romans

It really was a great night and that really was some amazing water. 

What can I say? We are impressed by strange things.

Our intention Saturday morning was to get up, hit the trails, go home, nap and head out for our first date night of the month. True to Texas winter form, we woke to 29 degrees after a 65-degree night, strong northern winds and my runny nose. Just like that, the hike was off...again.

After a day of rest and a couple of doses of vitamins and allergy meds, it was time to dress up and head out. We were all set for my first date night of the year! February is my month to plan and I wanted everything to be perfect.

 And honestly, it wasn't, and it kind of was. 

It wasn't because we got a late start and I was pretty stressed we weren't going to be able to make dinner and the show on time. If you ask my husband, I don't mask my anxieties very well and I kind of let them bleed all over everything else. It wasn't perfect because the activities I picked were both very new to us and J (love him more than life itself) takes awhile to warm up to new. It wasn't perfect because I spent most of my evening worried whether or not I had done as good a job as he did when he planned our first date last month.

I almost ruined the evening with all of my "it wasn'ts". 

But then, there were the perfect parts too. 

 It was perfect when we stepped foot into a warm, peaceful environment with soft French music playing and were seated near some friendly faces we haven't seen in years.

It was pretty perfect when we ordered sparkling water and were presented with this gem of some amazingness called Found that we can't seem to find anywhere else! As an aside, we have decided that it is definitely our new favorite and will find its way into our backpacks as a treat for completing long hikes! Amazon is the only place we have found it so far...it will find it's way to our doorstep soon. 

It was near perfect when these beautiful dishes were delivered to our table and after the first bite, we finally understood how French cuisine can really be considered art. 

All it took was one bite, and life as we knew it was forever changed. 

Like, for-ev-er. 

We have never been to a French restaurant and we left wondering if we ever need to eat another type of food again.

 Ever. 

The ambiance, the food and the company (my husband is pretty cute) lent themselves to two very happy, and soul-filled French food first-timers stumbling out and heading over to our next first.

Just across the street, we entered a quite unassuming storefront under a marquee. What we actually walked into was a whole other world. Reminiscent of only what I can describe as the Roman Coliseum squeezed into a local bar, we entered a raucous room full of noise, laughter, noise, people in togas, noise, families dining together, noise, flying popcorn and noise. 

It was a bit overwhelming to the senses, but it was a new experience and I was all in. Because God is good, we were seated in the far wing of the room, instead of dead center. Just the spot where my forever-a-cop-in-his-heart husband could survey the land and keep an eye on the only visible entrance to the place.  And..it was out of the way of most of the projectile popcorn. Score. 

As the Final Adventures of Hercules (it's Heracles...you had to have been there) began, the constant stream of humor littered with just enough innuendo broke through my favorite perfectionist's armor and we were able to really begin to enjoy ourselves. 

We learned two things from our theater experience: 1) We have to do this again and 2) Throwing popcorn in a way that it actually manages to hit someone on the stage is not as easy as you think.

Even though there were a few hiccups, the night was really a success. We started this date night adventure with the main goals of spending time together and making the effort to experience new things. And for the night, both items were quickly checked on our list. 

February date #1 was a win thanks to Edith's French Bistro, Pocket Sandwich Theater and two over 40 first timer's with big ideas!

(Not pictured: My completely eviscerated Short Rib Poutine)

It's amazing to me that two people can spend almost 30 years together and still find new ways to fill their time. It just takes a little thought and a willingness to stretch yourself outside of your comfort zones. 

We are always looking for fresh ideas. Please feel free to share with us any suggestions you have!

"You'll never get bored when you try something new. There's really no limit to what you can do."

Dr. Seuss

Where's the Adventure in That?

So, here we are. Same view for five, yes F-I-V-E days. 

Allergies = going on one full month, Kara = wah, wah...

Is that a real score? I feel like it's a legit score. 

Here's the upside; I work from home so while this view is the same, I can see it in my pajamas with my personal tissue box and trash can by my side the entire time. The upside is, my hubby is the best and will go to any length to get me what I need to feel better. The upside is, I have a small army of friends praying down heaven and earth for me to feel better soon....there are actually several upsides to this. 

Fortunately, the rain came to our neck of North Texas today and settled all of the pollen in the air enough for me to be able to actually breathe through my nose again. 

And depending on what this little guy looks like on Saturday, we may actually get to hit the trails!!! 

Thank you, Zyrtec Allergy Cast! 

While I have been less than thrilled with my current circumstances, and even, may I say a little pouty, God has been faithful to remind me that nothing is wasted. When I spent a solid ten minutes crying on my couch this morning because I woke up feeling bad yet again, He was quick to show me that we have a busy schedule beginning to take shape in the upcoming months and this is my time to rest. 

When I settled into taking this opportunity to let my mind relax and not be so engrossed in self-pity that I was not living life the way I want to (I hate for my schedule to be dictated by my allergies), I actually enjoyed my day. And when the rain came and my eyes stopped itching and my nose cleared up, I think the angels actually sang. 

It is a strong possibility that it was just J yelling out, "Hallelujah!" because he didn't have to listen to the sneezing anymore. 

Yeah, it was probably that. 

So tomorrow, I'm thinking I'm headed back to spin and with all my fingers and toes crossed, we will be back on the trails again this weekend. 

Here's to a life of adventure...even when you're stuck on the couch.